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khall

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Everything posted by khall

  1. DS is a 5th grader, just turned 11, and is using Year 5. DD is in 3rd, age 9, and is working through Year 2. She's probably not the best example to give you, as she has been diagnosed with a variety of learning disabilities.
  2. I think it's all about learning styles. I haven't even bothered to look at the samples of Beast Academy specifically because it is put out by the makers of AoPS, so I can't even comment on the samples. I had been all excited to jump on board with AoPS with my extremely math gifted DS11, until I actually got to see the program. Why a math program for advanced math students is delivered in such a wordy, language oriented way is beyond me. He is amazing in math, he really has a knack for it, but AoPS is pages and pages of wordy explanations. Even the solutions go something like this "The first step to solve the problem is to find......" and it continues on and on and on. When he looks at a solution, he's looking for it written out in the steps that he should have taken. Written out in math expressions, not written out in a paragraph. Obviously, language arts is not really his area of expertise. :D So I'm going to assume that Beast Academy is going to be an amazing, and complete, program for students that think that way. For others, it won't be a good fit. Just like AoPS. Many many people rave about AoPS, and I'm glad it works for them. We'll keep using MEP, and I'll rave about that instead!
  3. Our biggest hits of the year: Hillyer's Child's Geography of the World Hillyer's Child's History of Art: Sculpture (biggest hit for last year was CHOW...we adore all things Hillyer) Megawords Galloping the Globe Returning to MEP for math after a year with MM
  4. Wonderful article, thanks for posting! I'm the children's librarian at our public library, and I see this played out all the time. Parents wrenching picture books out of their kids hands once they are in K or 1st and steering them towards the juvenile fiction, while loudly proclaiming (usually with nervous glances in my direction) that this is where books at "their level" are kept. I bring home picture books all the time, and my kids (ages 9 & 11) adore them. They both read ahead of grade level, for those of you keeping track. :D Something the article didn't mention is that many picture books have a higher reading level than many popular chapter books. Picture books by Patricia Polacco, Chris VanAllsburg, Robert Mcclosky, and many others are a higher reading level ( and have gorgeous pictures), than Junie B., Magic Tree House, Ready Freddy, and Horrible Harry. I'll be interested to see what others think...
  5. IMHO, you're trying to do too much. Three, or 4? Or 5? things for LA? More doesn't mean she'll catch up faster, it just means more for you to juggle, and quite a lot for her to wade through. If you want to catch her up, why not pick one program and really work hard at it? ILL is full and complete, with plenty of opportunities for composition. Basic outlining begins in lesson 3. Sentence composing is covered very well in lesson 8, and the student is expected to continue to apply those skills in all the following lessons. The 4th grade lessons are the 1st 100 lessons in the book. You could manage that this year and be on grade level by fall. I've never used R&s, but have looked into it before. Most people seem to think it is full and complete, and can be jumped into at grade level with no prior instruction up to around grade 5, so you could just move up a book and just use that. You're making it too hard for you and your child. Pick one thing and go with it for the remainder of the year. You said she needs color and variety, so why are ILL and R&S your picks.? Both are black and white, and not too exciting.
  6. I don't mean to hijack the thread, but I had planned on using this next year as well, and now we are looking at making some changes after Christmas and I was thinking of starting this early. Can you tell me if it would require tweaking to start the program this time of year? The samples show note booking pages about trees in fall in the first few weeks, and we're definitely past that season!
  7. I would love some help picking a math for DD9. She has dysgraphia, CAPD, "deficient" short term memory (that's actually how the neuropsych phrased it), convergence insufficiency, speech delay, and difficulties with motor skills. Also tested as borderline ADHD. So far for math she has used: Pre-k, K, and 1 - attended ps and used everyday math Grade 2- Horizons 2A, followed by MEP 2A (both were much too hard and we just sort of muddled along trying to figure out this homeschooling thing) Grade 3- MM2A (mastery doesn't work....never makes it out of short term memory, it's like all the work never happened), switched to CLE and finally saw some progress, but for some reason she cried doing it, and the length of the lessons was difficult for her, even with crossing out some problems or doing half a lesson a day. She was evaluated last year (3rd grade), and based on her long list of difficulties, and the way she was struggling, and her summer bday, we are calling this year a transition year before grade 4, and are mostly working on various therapies. However, I wanted to keep plugging along in math and we've been using MEP 2A. Today she had absolutely no idea how to add 57 + 2. Obviously not making much progress here! She's been doing 2nd grade math for three years and really has no clue! Any suggestions on what might work for this kiddo? Help!
  8. We use Dictation Day by Day by Kate Von Wagenen. The volumes are free on google books.
  9. As the children's librarian at our local library, I see parents almost daily who drag their 1st-4th graders out of the picture book room, telling them they're too big for the baby books and they need to be reading chapter books. They inevitably end up checking out Junie B. Jones, Magic Treehouse, Horrible Harry, or Ready Freddy books. The reading level of these beginning chapter books is much lower than many picture books. Books by Patricia Polacco, Chris Van Allsburg, and Robert Mcclosky are all a higher reading level, richer content, and visually appealing. If your child wants to read picture books, I say go for it!
  10. Powerspeak has online Latin courses, though we haven't used it for Latin so I can't give you any details. They do a free trial though, so you could try it and see. www.powerspeak.com We use their German and Spanish courses and both kids like them. It appeals to kids, with games and an avatar that they design and can make changes to based on how well they do with the lessons. I imagine the Latin courses are set up in a similar fashion.
  11. I want to use this next year, so :bigear:
  12. Try the publisher's website for some info http://www.eps.schoolspecialty.com/megawords Book 1 is intended to be used in grade 4, and the introduction in the front of each teacher guide explains how the program was developed, based on the needs of learning disabled students and adults. I have two absolutely horrid spellers, and that is why we use this program. Actually, DD is in 3rd grade, so she'll start it next year. We really like the multi sensory aspect of it, and have definitely seen improvements after a year of Megawords. It's also a reading program, but we skip those pages. Reading is easy for my kids, but spelling........ Actually, if I could, I would make my husband work through these books. This is a man who writes lettuce on the grocery list as "letis", and he writes "gass" in the checkbook. :lol:
  13. How about the topical series from math mammoth? Just get the ones that cover what he doesn't know. Plus, they don't have a grade level on them, which might be important for a seventh grader who needs some remedial work.
  14. We use MEP. It's fun, it's fast, and boy is it effective!
  15. I like the post that said that in PS, grades are a communication tool. Most of the people that are saying they do give grades are saying that it's a requirement for their state, or virtual school, or transcript. So maybe grades in the homeschool setting are a way to communicate progress to whoever is interested in whether or not we're making progress? In the past I've never done grades, and the kiddos have taken standardized tests to meet our state requirement. This year we are doing a portfolio review instead, and I am grading work because of that. I can't remember exactly how I explained this to the kids, but it must have been good because they hand me work and say "can you grade this so mrs. c knows what I did?". They usually are handing me a red pen too! :lol:
  16. We use and love LLATL. I've read many, many reviews that complain it's too light, but that's actually why it's working so well for us. Neither of my kids need the amount of repetition that comes with some other popular programs. Both of mine read all the time as well, so I don't need a curriculum that's heavy on assigned reading. LLATL does 4 book studies a year, so we are covering things like plot, character analysis, etc., but they have plenty of time to read their own selections. We also really like the extras included in LLATL, like writing poetry, phone book skills, writing newspaper reports, etc. These are things I haven't seen in other programs.
  17. We're using it this year, and DD9 and DS11 love the course and are learning a great deal. You're correct that it isn't geared to a specific program, but it teaches the basics and those things are usually consistent among programs. They learn things like formatting cells, selecting and editing text, how to properly set up paragraphs or outlines or poetry, how to delete or insert rows and columns and charts. It seems it would be easy to transfer the knowledge to a specific program and then play around with excel or word to figure out anything else you wanted your child to know. How old is your child? We're using the K-5 portions of it, but the 6-8 grade material has longer lessons and includes more info. I know that I use excel and word at home, open office at work, and google docs when traveling. Everything my kids are learning through easy tech work on all of these programs. If you really want classes that are specific to word and excel, Microsoft offers free tutorials on their website. I can't remember the exact web address but just google Microsoft office training. It's just the basics as well, but it is definitely specific to Microsoft products. The downside is that the intended audience is adults, so it won't be as engaging as EasyTech, which is definitely directed to kids. If you want to know anything else, let me know!
  18. DD has a late June birthday, and was 8 last year for third grade. We have always felt like it was the wrong placement for her, and she has always struggled to keep up with her peers (she was in school for pre-k, K, and 1st). We have chosen to do a "transition" year this year, rather than moving on to 4th grade. The difference is amazing! Instead of struggling, she is thriving! At this age, a year makes a huge difference, and it's been interesting to watch her easily understanding things that brought frustration and tears a year ago. Also, it's been a better fit for her in outside activities. She's tiny, and even other 3rd graders are much bigger than she is, and her athletic skills are more like 3rd than 4th. Also, the vast majority of kids graduate at 18, and before DD was going to be 17. Now she'll be 18, and hopefully have an extra year of maturity before taking on the world! Go with what makes sense for you and your child. Reading through the replies, it looks like there is wide variations in the age of third graders. I noticed that most of the posts mention that, regardless if the child is a young third or an old third, the placement is what is appropriate for the particular child. That's definitely important to think about. Good luck!
  19. You also need to remember that standardized tests are based on a typical US scope and sequence. Saxon follows that scope and sequence, so it's not too surprising that students using Saxon are doing well on standardized tests. SM does not follow a typical US scope and sequence, and so a standardized test may not be a very reliable indicator of math ability. People comment all the time that the science and social studies portions of standardized tests aren't reliable indicators of achievement for homeschoolers who aren't studying the same concepts on the test. Maybe using SM is like studying earth science and then taking a standardized test that assumes biology was covered that year? If you look at threads about NEM on the high school board, there seems to be great success in high school and college level classes from students who have used SM. Disclaimer: I don't use Saxon or SM, so I don't know what I'm talking about! :lol: We use MEP and the plan is to switch to SM NEM after MEP year 6.
  20. We go out somewhere almost everyday! In the past we would only go to an activity once or twice a month, and I would not let them do spontaneous outings when people called unless they finished their work for the day. Either we're getting more efficient at doing the schoolwork, or I'm more relaxed, or they are just more mature and eager for social activities outside our immediate family, because our days go so much more smoothly when we have planned activities that get us out and about. We do: Sports through town rec department (DD9) Sports through middle school (DS10) Instrument lessons and band through middle school (DS) Swimming, PE, running club through YMCA ( not all at once! We pick a different class each session) Art class at local Christian school Homeschool group (twice a month) Field trip almost every week Audubon society class once a month Planetarium trips After school enrichment class at museum twice a week DD has speech twice weekly Oodles of playtime with friends Ummmm.....obviously we don't do 8 hours of schoolwork daily. :lol:
  21. :iagree: :iagree: In 10, or 20, or 30+ years, will it be more important that your children have memories of making connections with their relatives (who may or may not still be alive at that time), or more important that they stuck to their schedule and did their work for that week. They probably won't have much recollection of the work, but they might remember special times with family.
  22. You don't need to attach it to your computer, just attach your MM files to an email, mail it to yourself, open the email on your iPad, and download the attachment. First though, buy PDF expert in the app store. It's $9.99, and once you download MM into it, you can write on the worksheets with your finger, and even enlarge font so that only one problem is on the screen at a time. If the MM file is to big to attach to your email, do it by section. One email with 3A (or whatever grade level you're using), next email with 3B, and another one with supplemental material.
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