Any comments on these series? I saw them in the Timberdoodle catalog and am thinking of getting some of them for dss 8 y.o. Are they good? Are they too dated? Is there a lot of action? TIA:)

Dss, 8 y.o., are using Cantering the Country for U.S. Geography and we'd love to hear your favorite independent reading recommendations, both fiction and non-fiction. TIA partner. ;)

Since there's jealousy in the mix, saying something to the parents probably won't help the situation. The best thing to do is help your son learn from this. One of the benefits of homeschooling is that we have the time and relationship in which we to teach our kids how to live life the right way. Remind your son that angry children often throw these irrelevant barbs because they know they hurt. If your son wasn't homeschooling those kids would probably find some other difference or distinction with which to jab. Adults are no different. Last week at a soccer game I saw one mother attacked by several women. Race had nothing to do with the dispute, but the women threw in the irrelevant barb, "FWB". If adults descend to irrelevant insults concerning race, weight, education, appearance, why will children do any differently? I once knew of a child that was constantly ridiculed because he tied his shoe laces differently. The mean-spirited will use whatever barb they think inflicts the most pain and if they can't think of any buttons to push they will pounce on any little difference to create new ones. At 11, your ds might welcome a brief discussion of "ad hominem" attacks. There's certainly a wealth of homeschool resources on the subject. As hurtful as the situation is, he has the opportunity to tell these kids that everyone needs to learn how to discuss an argument on the merits without resort to personal insults, that he chooses to do so, and that he will see them another day when they are able to do so. For what it's worth, I hope this helps. :mellow:

Are you affiliated with Lejos Learning in any way? TIA

I'd like to let you know that I don't think that research unequivocally shows anything on this issue. I try to choose my words carefully (especially on controversial topics like this!), which is why I wrote that "some studies show" that at risk children benefit from early education. I didn't mean for my post to suggest that a few studies unequivocally prove anything, especially as it relates to all children, only that the studies are out there and that the government has relied on them in calling for earlier education.

Parents visiting this board obviously care about the education of their children, but not all parents do. As one article put it, an extra year at home is a good think in an educated household, but for "at risk" children it means "another year in the basement watching T.V. with grandma." I think the controversy stems from making early formal education mandatory since it will help some but hinder others and because it takes the decision away from the parents.

They took a year of art lessons at one of the Gluck studios (he has a chain of studios in Southern California) and when they took the summer off they used the DVDs. They resumed classes this past Fall and had forgotten very little. I like the mature and respectful tone of the DVD. The course uses the term the "Gluck Method", which is Gluck's take on, or marketing of, the classical method of imitation.

Thanks for bringing me up to speed!:)

Which do you recommend and why? We have a lot of car time this year and I want to make the most of it. Comments and recommendations on any other portable, hand held math drill devices also welcome. TIA!

And, for a bit of trivia, I'll add that I was in a sense the prototype student for Jean's worship guitar series. About twenty years ago I started taking guitar lessons with Jean and the songs she used were all folk songs--nice, but not what I wanted. I told her I was learning the guitar for the sole reason of personal worship and that I really only wanted to learn praise and worship songs. She changed the lessons just for me and used only praise and worship songs. Jean is a precious lady!

My longtime friend, Jean Welles, is hosting a Worship Song Contest for children, adults and families and she asked me to pass the announcement on to my fellow homeschoolers. http://worshipcontest.com/ For anyone in the West Los Angeles area, Jean often gives free worship guitar lessons at neighborhood churches. The contest is open to anyone worldwide, though. (One year the first place winner lived in Canada). Her instructional DVDs for children and adults are available at her website. Best wishes.

Exactly how will it benefit us beyond what the CDs will do? Thanks again!

I'd like to use CC memory work to reinforce what dss 8 are learning. When I e-mailed CC they told me to use Foundations, but I am not sure if I should order just the audio CDs or if I should get both the audios and the Power Point memory CDs. I already have the VP history flashcards, but I see that CC has its own flashcards as well. Are they really worth getting if we play the audio faithfully and perhaps use the Power Point memory CDs? Also, for those using CC on their own at home, how do you implement it? So far I'm just planning on listening to the audio CDs and having dss recite the information, but I am open to other ideas. TIA everyone!

I found this at the library shortly after dss' grandma brought them Dala Horses from Sweden. It has been a favorite ever since and the illustrations are gorgeous. In fact, the illustrations appeal to me more than those of Jan Brett, and I am a Jan Brett fan. A holiday favorite at Grandma's is pletter (Swedish pancakes) served with lingonberries. Yum! As for the Astrid Lyngren books, I would preview them first. One of the Swedish relatives brought several of them for my boys when she visited us. One of the books (I think it was the "Children on Troublemaker Street") has a character that says "d**n" until the end of the book when she learns how to count to ten and replaces "d**n" with counting. By then, unfortunately, the word becomes part of the reader's vocabulary. Enjoy the study.

has anyone "heard" about these books? Second hand information is welcome. Anyone know anything at all? Thanks.

I saw these books described on the VP website and am thinking of starting them as read alouds for my pirate-loving dss 8. Does anyone know anything about these books? How about the comprehensions guides? TIA

The Hollywood Bowl has a summer long children's program called Summer Sounds in which the crew of a ship named "Global Harmony" visits a different country each week and learns about the music of that country. http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/tickets/summersounds.cfm Last summer I took my boys to the performance of Chinese Music. The musicians played all traditional Chinese instruments--plus a cello. The performance incorporated traditional costumes, art and dance. By the way, Holly, thanks for the You Tube link.

You are not over-reacting with your concern. Physical education is important to health, growth, concentration and attitude so we make it happen with organized sports, biking, playground time, and most recently dance lessons. Our local YMCA offers homeschool p.e. classes. If yours does not, perhaps you could approach them with the idea. A wonderful family in our homeschool support group offered a sports clinic last year. The kids spent six weeks on a sport then moved on to another sport. They even prepared and tested for the Presidential Fitness tests and received certificates for participation and accomplishments. You could do this at your local park like we did. During the summer swimming is a perfect way to get exercise because kids have so much fun they don't realize how much time goes by. Then they are exhausted and mom gets a rest. Good luck!

I don't need anymore mystery in my life.

because the format is a competition among three teams: Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. If you don't have a homeschool group perhaps you could contact the organizers to find out if there is a group near you that is in need of additional participants. For our group the cost per student depended on how many participants there were, so perhaps you could find a group that would welcome extra participants to help reduce the per student price. Also, if a group doesn't have enough students to portray all the historical figures, some of the students will have to take on more than one role, so a group with too few students might welcome your student for that reason too.

Dss (8 y.o.) just participated in the Walk Through the Ancient World event. One of them portrayed Alexander the Great and the other portrayed Nero. They had a lot of fun, especially because their costumes held up through the entire event (despite that fact that I didn't sew a stitch--thanks to safety pins). Students divide into three teams representing ancient Rome, ancient Greece and ancient Egypt and then compete for points based on various activities including each students "portrayal" of a famous figure in ancient history. It was an excellent event and is available to homeschool groups as well as public and private schools. http://www.californiaweekly.com/Walk%20Through%20The%20Ancient%20World.htm The organization that organizes the event also produces a Walk Through American History event and a Walk Through California History event. I highly recommend this event!

Third grade is when some standardized tests begin requiring the student to mark their answers on a separate answer card/sheet instead of directly below the question. Was this the case with your dd's test? If dd exhibits good comprehension to you and other explanations for the lower score are ruled out, perhaps the explanation is that she accidentally skipped a row of bubbles on the answer card and it caused all the subsequent answers to be mis-marked. A ps teacher once told me that test scores drop in the third grade for this reason. Perhaps on the reading comprehension section your dd lost her place on the answer card and began mis-marking answers. Just another possibility to throw into the mix.

:iagree:

I have been researching/reviewing writing curriculum these days and will be incorporating some of the IEW concepts. None of the materials I read mentioned whether Mr. Pudewa held a college degree in writing or a related major. This was not a requirement for me to use a curriculum, but since the program takes the student all the way through high school and presumably prepares them for college essay writing, it was a fact that would have some relevance to me. Here is the e-mail I sent: "Does the developer of the program, Mr. Pudewa, hold any college degrees? In which subjects? Thank you." Here is the response I received: "Nope, Andrew Pudewa does not hold any college degrees. However, the original author of the Structure & Style in Composition method, James B. Webster, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of History, Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS) and holds degrees in Education from University of British Columbia and a Doctorate in African History from London University, U.K. He is the real developer of the program Mr. Pudewa teaches. Andrew just got very good at teaching and presenting the program. His only claim to higher education is having graduated from the Talent Education Institute (Matsumoto, Japan) with the “certification†of “Suzuki Violin Teacher.†He just kind of stumbled into this business of teaching writing, but has had amazing success. Hope that helps. :) Andrew." I have heard Mr. Pudewa speak and once took my dss to a morning writing class that he gave to our homeschool support group. It was excellent. My undergraduate degree is in English and I wish that some of my college professors had been able to communicate as well as Mr. Pudewa does. Come to think of it, I can say the same thing about some of the professors I had in law school. I think that at some levels, in some subjects, specialization and credentials are important, but for many things they are not. I get the impression that Mr. Pudewa found a great writing program for his own children, got excited about it, wanted to share it with the homeschool community and found/developed a business opportunity to boot. I find this inspiring because if he could learn a method to teach something he has little or no background in, then those homeschool moms who lack writing experience can do the same. I have purchased the TWSS syllabus. I plan to use it in our writing instruction, possibly after, or in conjunction with, WWE. I may also use it in conjunction with CW at some point, also. If I didn't have a strong writing background, I would probably spend the money to buy the DVDs. For me personally, the strength of IEW is that it provides a convenient summary of those elements that bring structure to writing. Although the curriculum's stylistic elements seem somewhat contrived, IEW actually seems quite candid about the fact that the stylistic "requirements" are merely designed to make the student internalize certain aspects of writing so that they are automatic. (Presumably, the student is expected to refine the use of them later.) Given all of this, I think that since the information is age old, tried and true, being an effective communicator of the information is more important that being an expert in the field. In light of IEW's candid response to my question, I urge you to e-mail your questions to them. I wouldn't be surprised if you received any equally forthright response to all your concerns. HTH.

Once known as "North Los Angeles"