[Classical writing...do you use a separate grammar]

We have continued to work through the Rod & Staff English books while using the Classical Writing books. I appreciate the thoroughness and the systematic approach to grammar these books provide.

 

The Aesop books cover capitalization, punctuation, sentence types, quotations, and parts of speech. I know that there are some here that have found the grammar included in Aesop to be plenty.

 

After Aesop, you must use another grammar program. The Classical Writing books have Harvey's Grammar scheduled. We skip the Harvey Grammar assignments and work through Rod & Staff.

[After you complete the SOTW books, what do you move on to?]

We have enjoyed the Suzanne Strauss Art books. They are available at Amazon.

 

My oldest son listens in on SOTW with the younger kids, but then reads through the Suzanne Strauss Art books on his own. There are questions and project ideas at the end of each chapter. For map work I usually have him copy some of the maps that are in the book. I think these books also work well for note-taking or outlining.

[Do you clean/sanitize books when you buy them used?]

I saw freezing books mentioned as an option for sanitizing books. Freezing does not kill bacteria. It simply prevents them from growing while they are cold. As Abbeyj said you would have to find some way to heat all the bacteria in order to destroy them.

[How many weeks are in your school year?]

We go for 40 weeks.

[I'm stumped, can you help me find a curriculum or workbook for music theory?]

I have not used Theory Time, but it is a program that I've seen recommended on this board. It looks very good, and it is on my wishlist.

[What do you do when you like two Latin curriculums ?]

I personally prefer Latina Christiana. For me, LFC moves too fast. I want to take a gentler approach to Latin in the early years. I plan to ramp it up with a Henle & Lingua Latina combination in middle school.

 

If you prefer the pace and instruction of LFC, you should use that program. Latin prayers and songs can be found online and added to your studies.

 

You can also use an online translation program to help you and your children figure out how to saying something in Latin that your program hasn’t covered yet.

 

Best of luck to you! Although choosing can be difficult at times, isn’t it great we have a multitude of programs to choose from?

[Trying to decide on a book for our Ancient Greece Study]

Thank you both for your replies. They were very helpful :)

[Trying to decide on a book for our Ancient Greece Study]

I am trying to decide between these two books on Ancient Greece

 

The Story of the Greeks by Helene A. Guerber

 

The Story of Greece by Mary Macgregor

 

Does anyone have an opinion on either one of these books? For those that are familiar with both, which one do you prefer?

 

Thanks :)

[7th Grade Language Arts help, please?]

My favorite combination is Rod & Staff and Classical Writing.

[Do you have any recommendations for poetry for young children?]

We have enjoyed "A Child's Own Book of Verse, Book One."

 

There are also two more books in the series.

[Spelling for a rising 2nd and 3rd grader]

Zaner Bloser has some extras to accompany their Spelling Connections program, but I think you could use it for your entire spelling program.

 

I think they also have an online game, but I didn't re-explore the site to find out.

 

This is for grades 1-8

 

I've not seen Natural Speller to be able to compare, but I've been very happy with Rod & Staff spelling. My kids can work through the program pretty independently. I also like the fact that the rules for the week are tied to a phonetic concept.

 

You can see samples here

[I want an "English" workbook for my 4th grader. What do you recommend?]

 

Scott Foresman has a free set of grammar & writing books available online.

[I am looking for a state report form]

Also, check out Deanna's (Through the Narrow Gate) fabulous geography lesson plans. She has made state booklets for her kids and has shared all of her hard work.

[I am looking for a state report form]

We are using the geography sheets from Kid Zone for part of our geography unit. There are multiple pages for each state which include a map, flag, state bird, and state flower. We add the abbreviation to the map page.

 

There is also a site called Black Dog's United States Coloring Book. This site has a single page for each state. There is a map to which the capital can be labled and other points of interests marked as desired. At the bottom of the page, there are spaces to fill in the nickname, state bird, and state flower.

[AO and WTM?]

 

Missey Gray posted some schedules which mesh SOTW and AO.

[Abeka phonics pros and cons]

These are the pieces of the program I have used:

 

Readers:

 

Fun with Pets (Abeka Item # 94951)

 

Tiptoes (94986)

 

Stepping Stones (95001)

 

Secrets and Surprises (95036)

 

Bridge Book (95052)

 

Kind and Brave (95060)

 

Aesop’s Fables (95087)

 

Strong and True (95109)

 

(I didn’t buy the teacher’s manual for any of these)

 

 

Phonics Program:

 

Handbook for Reading (94927) Teacher’s Manual Not Needed

 

Letters and Sounds 1 (95125) Teacher’s Manual Not Needed

 

Letters and Sounds 1 Test Key (95168) – I have my kids just right their answers on their handwriting paper instead of buying the student test book. You can’t buy just the student test book without the Test Key, because all of the testing information is on the test key.

 

Home School Phonics, Reading, and Spelling 1 Curriculum (96946)

 

Language 1 (95184) – I bought this book as well, but it is not essential to the phonics program. However, we have enjoyed this book.

 

 

 

They also sell the following items, but I made my own to save money.

 

Basic Phonics Charts (95354) – I made enlarged copies of the charts that were in “Handbook for Readingâ€

 

Blend Ladders (57983) – I used Microsoft Word to make these. I listed the blends down the page. ba be bi bo bu (I did this for all the letters)

 

I didn’t make the blend practice cards (35874 & 36161) because I thought they were redundant if you are already using the blend ladders.

 

Clue Word Cards – I also made these using Microsoft Word. I would find a picture in Word or on the Internet that matched the phonics blend or special sound being covered. I used pages T10-T20 from my lesson plan manual for words for the back of the card.

 

If you have any more questions, I will be happy to try and answer them.

[Abeka phonics pros and cons]

I love Abeka phonics. I’ve used it to teach all three of my children to read.

 

I think the biggest disadvantage of the program is that it can get very expensive if you buy all the pieces. However, I have saved some money by making my own ladder cards and phonics cards. Don’t skimp by not buying the lesson plan manual, it is truly the heart of the program. I didn’t buy the teacher’s edition of the individual readers, and I don’t feel we missed out by not having those.

 

I love how the program teaches a child to break down words into blends, “special sounds” and to mark vowels. I think this helps with early reading. As they progress, I think they learn to see the divisions of a word without having to physically mark them.

 

I also like the readers with the program. I believe they not only build reading ability, but also confidence. Words aren’t introduced until a child has been given the skills to read the words (with the exception of a few sight words). When I bought early readers from the book store, my children would get frustrated with the number of words that didn’t seem to follow the rules. Once my children got through a couple of the Abeka readers, they were more confident reading regular early readers.

 

My children have also enjoyed the colorful workbooks. I believe the workbooks help reinforce the new phonics skills they have learned. My children didn’t find the amount of writing that was required overwhelming.

 

I have only used the Phonics 1 program. After that, I just continued going through the rest of the Handbook for Reading that wasn’t covered in Phonics 1. By the time my children finished the Phonics 1 program they were reading very well.

 

I really can’t say enough about this program. It is a very solid and thorough phonics program.

[If you were going to use textbooks...]

Science – Bob Jones through middle school and then I would probably switch

 

Bible – Rod & Staff through 8th Grade

 

Math – Abeka Grades 1-3, then Rod & Staff ,and finally finish high school with the Lial Series

 

Grammar – Rod & Staff

 

Art – Rod & Staff

 

Spelling – Rod & Staff

 

Phonics – Abeka

 

Writing – Classical Writing

 

Latin – Memoria Press Materials

 

History – ??

 

Spanish – Holt

[What is this link...highland hitch something, notebook pages]

Was it Highland Heritage?

[I need to teach "practical arts" for grades 7&8.]

Practical skills might cover things such as:

 

Emergency preparedness

 

Auto mechanics

 

Fire Safety

 

Home Repairs

 

First Aid

 

Kitchen Safety

 

Sewing

 

 

 

The Boy Scout Merit badges can be adapted for home use and many of them are what I would consider practical skills.

[Anyone know of a Little House coloring book?]

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove sells a coloring and activity book. (Scroll down the page to find the book)

[Important to read UNABRIDGED Heidi by Spyri?]

We really enjoyed the unabridged one. I think it might be a good idea to check out the book from the library and see how different it is from the version you have at home. If the differences are only slight, you might as well make use of the version you have at home.

 

The unabridged version of Heidi is also available on LibriVox if you are interested.

 

 

There is a nice illustrated version online, but I have not checked if it is an unabridged version.

[Is there a placement test for R&S Math?...]

R&S does not offer a placement test.

 

However, you can view samples of their books & you can take a look at their scope and sequence chart to help with placement.

 

HTH!

[Does anyone do Saxon Math for K-3 and later switch to R&S on purpose?...]

We don't use Saxon, but we do use Abeka in the younger grades (1-3). My original plan was to use Saxon in the upper grades, but my son really struggled with the length of the lessons. Now, we are using Rod & Staff and it seems to be a good fit. I still plan to use Abeka for grades 1-3, but then we will make the switch to Rod & Staff.

[I can't get excited about Plutarch]

I'd like to second MicheleinMN's suggestion. Anne White's study notes really make Plutarch manageable. She breaks the readings down in nice size chunks, has vocabulary suggestions, background information, and some good discussion questions/topics.