Sweet Home Alabama
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Posts posted by Sweet Home Alabama
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This is awesome, Donna. I know so many people love TOG, but you've just got to love the pick-up-and-go of MFW. Of course, that's not to say it is without challenge or preparation. It just sounds easier to actually DO. I appreciate your response!
We're doing MFW AHL and CTG right now. My dd is really enjoying AHL. She does it almost completely independently, but there's plenty of opportunity for me to check in with her and vice versa. She's doing a great job.It takes her up to 3 hours a day to complete History, Bible and Lit/Composition, and sometimes less. Sometimes she has a little homework if she's working on a paper, but that's it. The program is very streamlined. It's also more meaty than Notgrass by itself, which is what we started with, but then I quickly bought the rest of the MFW package when we realized Notgrass was going to be too light. Plus MFW gives us the great schedule which pulls together all the resources, and is laid out so nicely for her to go right down the grid and do her work.
I've got a more detailed review of the first 4 weeks around here somewhere.... although she's on Week 7 now.
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Thank you for your reply!
I've heard Streams is a dry text, but if it and SOTW can be spines for reading and outlining, I'm ok with that. There are plenty of other spines out there, but I get myself in trouble when I don't keep it simple.
Could you share what your schedule has been for BF Ancients? How many days/week and how many minutes/lesson. How time consuming is it for kids to read books and work on assignments from the study guide? Do you have any experience incorporating SOTW? I will need to do this because of my youngest child.
FWIW, I don't like Streams of Civilization, but I'm not a textbook type and I suppose that it's OK as a textbook. You need the information that it provides, and so we used it.We added Coolidge's "Gallic Wars" from the high school level readings, and really enjoyed it.
Otherwise I've like all of the books.
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Thank you, Sue! Your response does not surprise me. I hear so much good about MFW.
Anyone else?
I have been comparing/contrasting the very same programs. I received an email response from a WTM member to one of my inquiries about TOG and it was not a glowing report. I was always a bit leery of the cost and it seems that TOG is quite costly...more so than MFW. The benefit, of course, is that you can teach multiple ages with ONE curriculum. I have received great reviews from people who have used MFW for high school. The curriculum is written for the student to use independently with a "conference" at the end of each week for Mom to check in with the student, grade papers, etc. Week one it is suggested that Mom works alongside the student to get the "feel" for the curriculum. I don't have any personal experience with either, so take this all with a grain of salt. However, I have used other MFW programs and love them for the most part. That being said, I have decided to use MFW AHL for high school next year for my dd13 and MFW CtG for my ds9 and ds7. Both study ancients so we will all be doing the same period. You could also use MOH for your 10 and 6yo's if you don't want a whole program. I thought about that as well since I do have a science. Have to figure out our budget! -
I like both of these for high school. Could someone compare/contrast them: cost, time, and *fun* aspects?
Honestly, I am quite concerned about the time TOG might take. (I've never used either curriculua.) Yet, I love the aspect of one curriculum for everyone. I have three kids 12, 10, and 6 years old now. We will do ancients next year which would be a good time to try TOG. I am just most concerned about picking/choosing what to do every week and the TIME it would take. Even though I keep looking at it, this is the thing that makes me shy away.
If I'm going to try it, it seems like now is the best time since we're starting at year 1: ancients.
With highschool in mind, which of these is both easier to do and the most interesting for kids? (Not to mention easiest for mom, considering teaching multiple grades along with house cleaning, meal prep, and all the unplanned surprises that life throws.)
Thanks!
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I am planning to use BF Ancients with my 6th and 7th graders next year. A 2nd grader will listen in too. We will use SOTW as a spine with the AG.
I don't mind making minor modifications to improve interest. If you have done this study, are there any books you would skip or are there any books you would add to enliven the study of ancient history? Films, documentaries, art, music, etc???
Thanks!
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What edition of Lial's BCM do you all recommend? I'm interested in the text, solutions manual, and the DVTs. What is a reasonable price? Where is the best place to buy them?
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Sweet Alabama, I think you missed my point. I DON'T think you need necessarily to go secular. I went to a cs from 6th-8th that used BJU and had NO trouble going to a ps for 9th. Obviously if you are trying to get them to recognize stuff you put on a transcript as high school level work they'll feel free to criticize. But if you're bringing in 7th and 8th gr work, they're most likely just going to take it at face value.
What I was referring to is that each school district has its sequence. If you want her to place in a certain place in that sequence, you have to prepare for that. On the other hand, it sounds like your real issue is trying to sort out whether you can handle homeschooling high school. Haven't been there myself yet, lol, but I evaluated transcripts for a major christian university for a year and can assure you that MANY people homeschool high school, meaning you can too! Apologia is fine, BJU is fine. You have so many good options these days. Have you started reading on the high school boards here? There is plenty of discussion over there about science. If your heart is in homeschooling, I would stick with it. You'll be able to find resources to make it work. :)
Elizabeth,
I've just been looking at Alabama's courses of study, and at first glance, I'm in good shape if I choose life science for 7th. The Alabama COS lists: 7th grade Life Science; 8th Physical Science; 9th Physical Science core (I don't know the difference between the 8th and 9th physical science courses); 10th biology; 11th chemistry; 12 physics.
I'm certainly in a new level of homeschooling. I feel a little like a fish out of water. I am grateful for so many like yourself for timely help. Thanks again.
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Well I've been reading this whole thread, thinking about the online vs. dvd for the BJU Life Science, and then realized no one really delved into the issue of transferring into a ps science sequence. You need to contact the school you'd be considering for 8th or 9th and find out what science their college-prep tracks do those years. That way you can do the prerequisite courses to be ready for them if you decide to go. Some schools are going to a physics first approach, meaning they do physics (yes!) in 9th grade. Some do biology for the advanced track and earth science for the regular in 9th. They may expect those kids already to have done certain courses (earth science, physical science, whatever).
Elizabeth, thank you for getting back to my original question. All of the discussions to day have been so helpful. With your point in mind, a broader (and even secular) 7th grade science might be more appropriate. Ok... back to the drawing board.:001_huh:
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Very good point Elizabeth. I have 2 friends who are dealing with this issue now. One is going private Christian school, the other public. Neither the Christian school nor the public school would accept Apologia Physical Science as a high school credit. They said it did not contain enough evolutionary science (yes! even the Christian school rejected it) to be considered a full earth science credit. I suppose the other sciences would have to be evaluated as well.
Amazing! I appreciate this point.
I can hardly believe I'm discussing ps because we've always homeschooled. My kids don't want to go to ps, but I won't even pretend that I can teach upper level courses. I have a couple of "homeschool highschool" workshops lined up in the next few months that I will attend. If I could "manage" upper level courses, then that would be our ticket to keep homeschooling. I don't mind saying, however, that homeschooling highschool really intimidates me.
I'll certainly take these last two comments to heart. Thanks for the heads up.
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Thanks everyone! I called BJU today, and they will send a sample week DVD to me to view. I hope this is a good fit for us.... I want it to be. I'll compare BJU with Apologia and Prentice Hall just to see which one I like best. CPO is another one I've considered. Their life science program looks interesting.
Debbie, I get frustrated when creationists and evolutionists argue with each other too. I feel more comfortable with the creationists just because I believe God created the heavens and the earth, and I feel a little creepy when the evolutionists weave their perspectives into science. When they argue, though, they all act like children.
Whichever we go with-Christian text or secular- we're looking for the best to communicate science to our children.
Please keep the comments coming. I'm still interested in which science best prepares jr. high for high school work.:001_smile:
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Debbie,
What secular science will you use? I ask just for comparative reasons. Our ultimate goal is to have a great science program for our kids. We are Christians and would present a Christain perspective no matter what. It's important to us to have a compatible presentation of science for our children... (for example, the names of the parts of an atom would be the same whether studying it from a Christian text or secular, but the layout of the text and language used would help us determine which is best for us.)
Holly - I did skip the first chapter for that reason. We didn't like the overbearing Christian tone which I hadn't had a problem with in BJU 5 & 6. We also skipped the chapter on Creation science and revamped the one on Evolution (just too biased). I am a Christian, but not young earth. It was just too heavy handed. The science was so good, I was willing to put up with it though. We are switching to secular science next year though. I have the Earth Science set already, but since I'm not young earth I think I will have just too much conflict with it.As to our schedule, we do 4 days a week 1 hr/day. On Friday we spend half a day at orchestra, so we don't have much time for anything else. Ds usually had a small reading assignment or something for science that day, but it was not as much as we did the other days. Maybe a total of 4.5 hrs/week. We will finish the book, but skipped a couple chapters as stated above.
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Debbie,
How many days/week do you do BJU Life Science? How long do you spend on lessons/experiments? What is your routine/schedule like?
I do think that sounds do-able :001_smile:. My ds was independent in his reading and studying for this. I didn't do a lot of prep - just discussion and labs. If you had a DVD teacher (or online) I think it would be open and go. FWIW, my 5th grader sat in for quite a few labs. Some overlapped with what she happened to be studying, sometimes she was just interested. I think your 6th grader could get a lot out of it, done WTM style and not pushed through the test etc. -
Thanks, Debbie!
We've done Real Science For Kids and the Apologia Vol. 3 book Land Animals on the Sixth Day last year and this year. If we went with BJU, I feel like it would be the most challenging science *ever* judging from what I've read on this board. I'm a little intimidated but at the same time, it sounds like it would be an appropriate (and hopefully fun) jump into logic science.
I would not assume I could teach this class, and I want it to be as independent as possible..... trying to make steps towards independence. That is why I would use the DVDs. The expense.... ugh.... but to get the most bang for the buck means a lot to me. Thorough science, experiments, microscope work, professional teacher: this might go far as far as teaching her how to think and study goes.
I have two other kids who will be in 6th and 2nd grades next year. If I went with the DVD option, I think I would let the 6th grader watch the lesson but then do a more WTM approach of reading a separate book and notebooking/report writing. I would try to follow the BJU scope and sequence and do "fun" science with the 2nd grader to keep science on his level and all of us together.
Does this sound doable or too lofty?
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If I have one year (maybe two) to prepare a child to go to school for 8th or 9th grade. Which one of these would you choose? Is there something better?
It seems like a class that focuses more on biology/chemistry (BJU) would be more appropriate than one that spends time on earth science (Apologia). She is not an earth science gal.
She is science minded, and wants to work with animals specifically horses. She'll be in 7th grade next year, and we have not decided if we will homeschool highschool or not.
For those of you who have used BJU Life Science, would you share your experiences? I've heard it is teacher intensive and tough. I would love to know more specific details. If we used the DVD/Homesat option, would that make science more like independent work for her?
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Specifically, I am trying to find language arts skills that are not parts of speech and diagramming. That is what AG is being used for.
For example:
- Punctuation (covered in Season 3, but I don't want to ignore it until then.)
- Capitalization
- Types of sentences: declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory, compound, complex
- S/V agreement; helping verbs, regular/irregular verbs; tense
- Word usage: Synonyms, antonyms, homonyms
- Business/friendly letters
I think I'll just need to get a basic grammar book and cover skills that only supplement AG.
We used Easy Grammar this year to take a break from Abeka. Rod and Staff gets so many good reviews, but I really don't like having to write out sentences. For some reason, CLE doesn't just excite me even though it also gets great reviews. I might have to study this more. Cathy Duffy reviewed Christian Liberty Press: Applications of Grammar which looked pretty good: straightforward, contains some of the points above, but with no color. It's a possibility.
We really struggle with finishing lessons in a timely way. I'm trying to find curricula that is straightforward. Easy Grammar has been good for that. We could do this again, but the lack of color is a significant disadvantage for my kids. They respond so much better to colorful text. (Abeka)
One more thing to muddy the water: Since spelling/vocabulary are also part of language arts, I would LOVE to find something that helps us develop writing more mature sentences. We used IEW Themed Writing: Early American History this year: fantastic!
Now I need to refine the skills we learned: write really good sentences with mature vocabulary appropriate for upper elementary/jr. high years. I found Great Editing Adventures and Great Explorations in editing. These might help us with this.
Ugh! Maybe AG is enough. I don't mean to make this complicated. Is AG with Great Editing a good combo for 6th and 7th grades, or do I need something more rigorous like Rod and Staff, CLE, or Abeka????
What about Editor in Chief as well?
- Punctuation (covered in Season 3, but I don't want to ignore it until then.)
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We use and love Analytical Grammar, but it only covers grammar for Seasons 1 and 2. (We will be using Season 2 next year.) I have one who will be in Season 1 next year.
What would you recommend for other language arts skills to supplement AG? For example, synonyms, homonyms, antonyms, business/friendly letters, sentence types, etc...
This would be for 6th and 7th grades.
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Ladies,
I read about Kinetic math this morning, and I think they are supposed to be coming out with a pre-algebra soon. I emailed them for more info.
Just wondering about a combo of Lial's BCM with Kinetic. I wonder how that would compare/contrast with Lial's BCM with DVTs.
Any thoughts?
Who has used Kinetic Math? Do you like it?
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We used MUS in grades 1-5 and Horizons for grade 6. Math is not an intuitive subject for us.
What would you choose for pre-algebra? I've narrowed my favorites to these:
- Lial's BCM (DVTs are a bonus)
- Life of Fred Pre-alg with Biology
- Chalkdust pre-alg
- A combination of any
- Other: what is your favorite?
We need lots of hand holding, and this child likes colorful pages like Horizons. I know LoF isn't colorful, but I think the story aspect will make up the difference.
I'd LOVE to hear more from any of you who have uses LoF pre-alg w/Bio. There are not many posts about this.
Thanks!
- Lial's BCM (DVTs are a bonus)
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That has been discussed many times and ultimately, it doesnt matter too much....not worth stressing over...but there is an advantage to leaving Ancients till later, because the books tend to be heavier going.
Thank you, Peela!
:001_smile:
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Thanks, ladies.
Do you all think it matters if high school is begun with Ancients or Early Modern? (Another way to think about it: which is better to use to finish high school?)
Whatever we do next year will, consequently, push us to either start high school with Ancients or with Early Modern.
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It depends on what you mean by "get through" the books. You mean WTM-style, with outlining and reading corresponding literature? I don't think you could do it -- or would want to do it -- in a year. You'd be going through so quickly that your child wouldn't be able to savor the material.
My daughter uses the K12 Human Odyssey course (the middle one, from the Renaissance through 1914), which has a workbook and computer assessments. She spends about 45 minutes per day on the material. It's not an easy course. She started it last August and will be lucky to finish by this August (though that's because she doesn't get around to history every day). There's NO WAY I would try to rush her through two of these history courses in a year.
This is what I was wondering.
This year my olders finished the second of two years of American history while I read SOTW Ancients to my 1st grader. I need everyone on the same history next year. I can either make my youngest repeat Ancients, or I can make my olders skip Ancients and go to Middle Ages, or we could try to do both. This would be challenging, but K-12 covers ancients and middle ages in one book.
There's another issue here: Depending on what we do next year, my daughter could either start high school with early American history in 9th or in Ancients. Do all of you have opinions which is a better start for highschool?
It breaks up like this: 7th: ancients/middle ages; 8th: early/late American; 9th: Ancients; 10th: middle ages; 11th: early modern, 12th: modern
OR...
7th: ancients; 8th: middle ages; 9th: early modern 10th: modern; 11th: ancients; 12th: middle ages
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Do you use this book to complete a study of Ancients and Middle Ages in one year, or do you break these into two years?
How hard is it to study both in one year using WTM suggestions? Has anyone done this?
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Michelle,
I can't answer your question, yet I'm hope someone will soon.
If you don't mind, I'd love to ask you if you liked Apples and Pears. If you could do it over, would you use it again or choose something else? I will have a 2nd grader next year, and I'm thinking about A&P for him.
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I'm curious about homeschooling on computer like K12. (I'm not talking about *live* on-line classes.)
Would you all give me a list of these to research?
Which ones are your favorites?
Which ones are a value for the money?
What are the advantages/disadvantages of schooling this way?
Could you share about your experiences?
This is for jr. high and would eventually go into high school, and would need to be accredited.
I know about K-12 and SOS.... what are other options like this?
TOG vs. MFW for high school
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
Monique and Deanna,
I am thankful you responded in behalf of TOG.
I think I am the queen of the greener grass philosophy..... I look at TOG about every 6 months or so. I WANT to like it!:001_smile: I love the way it is organized. The colorful layout appeals to me. I love that everyone studies the same thing. Maybe even the expense can be kept reasonable.
What about the time it takes to prepare for lessons? My concern comes from using Konos years and years ago. I think unit studies are wonderful, but with Konos, I had to pick and choose (much like TOG) and I quickly learned that I needed a plan. Konos didn't go well for us because I did not manage it well. From then on, I've been careful to purchase curriculum that was more open-and-go and that had lesson plans.
TOG has a plan, but I would still pick and choose. The time factor (teacher-intensiveness) is what I most fear even though I want to love it.