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lindsrae

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Posts posted by lindsrae

  1. The progression of the STOW series is to use SOTW 1 in first grade, SOTW 2 in 2nd, etc. I know lots of people who combine kiddos to make life easier, so I think you K'er would be fine in 2. I would supplement with lots of picture books from the library and not expect much for map work or narrations, of course. But the coloring pages in the activity guide would be fun :)

     

    Either way, I think both of them will benefit with whichever option you choose. I haven't used SL, so while I imagine there would be some overlap if you did ancients again, it would only reinforce the learning for your older child, and then your younger wouldn't be dealing with the heavier materials in SOTW 4 in third grade.

     

    I have waited to start ancients until next year. My eldest DD will be in 2nd grade and my middle DD will be K4 (but highly motivated!) I plan to cover SOTW 1 over two years, mixing in Biblical history and spending lots of time in Egypt next year, and focusing on Greece and Rome the year after that.

  2. Shelve it. Read books, look at worms and bees and flowers. Color pictures. Do delight driven interest led. Enjoy spending time together. Expose him to beautiful music, books, and art.

     

    Relax. Educate yourself, read great books, brush up on your Shakespeare. You don't get a do over on four. Speaking from my limited experience and trying to push less and live in the moment with DD #2, who is four :)

  3. I am by no means an expert, but the rule tunes used in Phonics Road have helped cement spelling rules in MY head...some things I have known intuitively but couldn't name the rule that was used--such as the reasons for the silent final "e."

     

    I am also reading the book Uncovering the Logic of English which I LOVE...but I have a degree in English :)

  4. I've used both Singapore and MEP to jazz up outr math...if we get a little bogged down or just to give my DD a new way of thinking. Singapore 1A seems very basic at first, but 1B ramps it up. I would skip the textbook and just get the workbook if you are using it to supplement.

  5. This is my experience going through all of level A and about 3/4th of B...

     

    Mirror works in place of the geo reflector!

     

    You NEED the AL abacus...a Melissa and Doug one won't do! We haven't used the calculator. Place value cards are second most ised manipulative after abacus. Game cards are essential. You *could* make them from the appendices, but I think they are worth buying.

     

    The math balance is really cool, but we only used it for 2 lessons in B...I think it is used more in C, but right now, the toddler gets more use out of it than the first grader!

  6. If you stay with CC forever, and your kids enter the challenge program, they will use Saxon. But I think there are stronger programs for younger kids, and you can always transition to Saxon if necessary. We use Right Start and MEP to supplement.

     

    If your eldest is already reading, then he is probably ready for something beyond beginning phonics that you would find in most K/1st grade programs.

     

    I highly recommend reading Unlocking the Logic of English. Your local library probably also has a copy of The Writing Road to Reading. The WRTR is a classic--the Logic of English builds off of that research with the latest info on how the brain processes language. (LoE also includes a few more phonograms than the original WRTR.) LOE has a curriculum as well which integrates learning the phonograms and then learning to spell with vocabulary and grammar--the WRTR also contains these things, but I think LOE lays things out in an "open and go" style, whereas WRTR takes some study to implement. (I haven't used LOE myself, but I am considering it.)

  7. I am using PR and have looked at AAS because of the tactile aspect of moving the tiles, etc. I also love Right Start math because it is scripted. For PR, I watch the videos and rake notes, but I do wish that things were written down for me.

     

    I've also just started reading the book The Logic of English on my Kindle. There is also a curriculum for that which integrates spelling, composition, and vocabulary. It has a games book as well. I know I can't buy all three of these programs to try them out next year, so I am prayerfully considering what will be best :)

  8. I'll check out the Troxel CD, I hadn't heard of that.

     

    She plays the Stack the States game, but she can't do it independently because her reading isn't strong enough...and there are lots of questions that seem to require extra knowledge in order to get right.

     

    We have the Scrambled States of America board game...didnt know there was a card game. :) We definitely need to play that more.

  9. My first grader is working on states and capitals. I am using various Ipad apps to help her locate the states (which I feel is the most important skill at this point.) We've read The Man in the Map, which I also think really helps. But how to connect the capitals to the states? We listen to the Animaniacs song over and over :) But I don't see her making a connection to the state with the capital--in this case, the song does not aid in transfer of memorization at all, because she has to go through the whole song in order to retrieve the name of the capital city. She is also not a strong reader yet, so music seems the logical choice...just not that particular song. Any suggestions?

  10. I have three DDs (as you can see in my siggy). The 6 1/2-year-old wears a 7/8, the 4-year-old a 4T, and the 20 month old is little for her age and fits in 18 months things the best.

     

    I have been dreading the day when I can no longer get them matching dresses for Easter and Christmas, and this might be that day. I have been to JCPenney, Kohl's, Old Navy, Children's Place--the only things I can find in all of their sizes is over $30 a dress...and I really was hoping to pay $20 or less :)

     

    I don't necessarily want the super-frilly pastel numbers either--I would rather have something they can wear again later in the spring/summer. I'm a pretty frugal girl.

     

    Any tips or places I should check out online?

  11. I've just heard of this program. We are using PR, and I'm interested in hearing how it compares to LOE.

     

    We are doing ok with PR and overall I'm happy with it. I used PR 1 and 2 in the past with my older dd at an accelerated pace. We stopped because she found it so babyish. Now I'm using PR with my 7 year old (1st grader). We are on week 20 in PR 1. I found that we needed more reading practice, so I bought AAS Levels 1 and 2 and ETC. She doesn't care much for AAS and I think it's because it's pretty far behind where we are in PR. Another thing I have noticed with PR is that even though she knows all the phonograms well, and can spell many words with coaching, she doesn't seem to be carrying over the skills learned in PR. I think PR also lacks review.

     

    Anyways, I'm just wondering what I'm missing not using LOE. :D How does the writing instruction and grammar compare? Does LOE do literature studies like PR?

     

    This is almost exactly how I feel about PR. I know Mrs. Beers says to review words they missed, review building codes, etc...but for the amount of time she spends spelling Every.Single.Word on the videos, she doesn't tell you HOW to review. (And there are some weeks where it seems like all you are doing is writing super long building codes and some weeks you are not. It is not an even amount of work.) One of the reasons I purchased PR in the first place was because it was supposed to be an all-in-one program, but it feel that I keep needing to supplement. I already use WWE1, and there is certainly not enough reading in level one to prepare kids for Little House in the Big Woods by level 2. It seems like PR is "almost" there...maybe LOE takes it to the next level of organization and logic.

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