Poke Salad Annie
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Posts posted by Poke Salad Annie
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I am not sold on buying a writing program that I may not necessarily need. I already use copy work and dictation, and also use an old grammar program (Sheldon's PLL) that has writing activities included. I am trying to integrate more writing activities into our work as we go along. For example, Wednesday is our letter-writing day, Tuesday and Thursday are independent research with which I require several sentences written about the topic I assign. Fridays, we use some of the ideas from the Chateau MeddyBemps website for story starters, and so far, they have been very useful.
I can think of plenty of other things that can move us along the writing road, but I'm not sold on the idea of buying a program to teach me how to do so. Does anyone go with a more natural type writing such as this? What could be wrong with having different things to write about assigned at different days?
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Thank you, that is very helpful. I agree that the writing is very engaging.
I am going to order her books Bible Days and America, Land of Freedom. They both look very nice as well.
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Bumping this very old thread up as I found it on a search, and have this book too. I'm interested to hear if anyone has used it or the other books in the series.
Edited to add that I like the way it reads so far. At the end of each chapter there are some nice discussion questions, ideas for projects, book titles for extra reading (granted, most may be OOP), and some map work and fill-in-the-blank type of questions.
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FWIW, I assign copywork three days a week. The following day we get it back out and make a quick grammar lesson of it. We are using passages from Farmer Boy right now, so it's been rather easy to show plenty from just using these kinds of passages. And, you can't get much cheaper than that! :D
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We love MEP here too. It's been a success for us, and it seems to help the way we look at math in new and different ways. I know I've never seen the way some of the problems are approached before, so it keeps me on my toes as well.
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Congratulations!
I haven't succumbed yet either. :D
I am using a mix of two free grammar programs---Sheldon's Primary Language Lessons and KISS grammar. I have read somewhere that the KISS grammar program is similar to MCT program. I don't mind using a bit of ink and paper, as I can print very cheaply. That way I have no buyer's remorse when something doesn't work out as planned. :D
Good luck to you, and I hope you can continue such awesome restraint. I know I'm going to try---and I've probably drooled over the MCT program just as much as anyone else. It's just that I've decided to go a different route to arrive at the same place.
Oh, forgot to add...we'll be right there with you, slobbering idiots and all.
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Now I love CSMP - I plan to use it, along with MEP, as our main math program. But that's b/c I value the specific types of thinking CSMP is teaching - they fit into my overall goals for math. Also, I think it is grand fun :D. At any rate, if your kids are mathy, they should have no trouble picking up the CSMP way of doing things, and then you can pick and choose activities from across the curriculum for as long (or as short) a time as you want to use it. But if they have problems figuring out the CSMP methods, then, unless you plan to do a fair bit of CSMP, I'm not sure it would be worth putting in a lot of time learning them only to then drop CSMP for good.
HTH
Are you using MEP and CSMP in full together, or is that how you plan to? Or are you pulling some fun things from the lessons and just doing those?
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I'm not sure you need another full program; rather, you need a step-by-step approach to problem solving and plenty of problems to practice those fledgling skills on.
But the key is that you need to help your dd learn to how to visualize a problem from the written description - to understand what it is asking - and then be able to translate the problem into "math language" - an equation or expression that she can then solve to find the solution to the problem. The Singapore bar model method is one successful strategy for visualizing problems, but it is not the only one. You can use any number of physical manipulatives or written visual aids to model the problem and thus help your dd sort out what the problem is asking.
I agree with this also. If it were me, I wouldn't spend any more money on a math program right now. I would go back to the basics. Get out your math manipulatives. We use lots of things, but a cheap bag of those colored stones from Dollar tree is just as nice to start out with---even a bag of pinto beans could be used too!
Get out your manipulatives you would like to use and then start from there. Get out 8 beans, stones or whatever, then tell a number story and demonstrate adding to, taking away from, multiplying, and dividing into groups. Try this with some of the problems you're having difficulties with. Ask her what she thinks you are trying to find out from the question. Does she think it would help to add more, take away, divide it out into groups, or multiply. Demonstrate this over and over. It may take a few days or a couple of weeks or so, but I think the visual demonstrations with the word problems will help her to see. Then let her try a few on her own.
I don't think jumping to another math program is always the answer, unless the one you're currently using is just not going to work in the long run. I'm not a believer in expensive programs for math in the grammar stage. Maybe all she needs is just time to play with numbers and manipulatives until she feels comfortable with adding to, taking away, splitting up into groups, or multiplying. JMHO...
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I looked at the Atner Guide but there are not any samples online that I could find. Does anyone know where I could see some? It does say it is for 3rd-8th which is good since mine are 2nd & 8th.
I don't know how much different this might be from Truthquest History, but I have just ordered a copy.There is a link under the pic. of the book. Here:D
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Can I bump this up for any opinions?
The reason I'm asking is because the older "Modern McGuffey Readers" seem to be different from the newer readers, of which I have many copies. I don't like the newer readers as much. The older reader I'm using now is called, Paths to Follow, published by American Book Company, 1964, 1982. I like that there are some grammar, spelling, writing exercises at the end of the stories. They are very helpful, and would like to have these exercises instead of just the Bible verses as the additions to the stories.
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Thanks. This is the problem I seem to have run into all morning. Every time I email a seller, to verify, they inform me it is the 2nd edition. sheesh! I've already accidentally bought another 2nd edition thinking it was the 1st and have been trying to cancel the order.
Same problem here too. I have seen the 1st edition at a library (not my own local, though) then ordered the newer edition. I was not happy with the 2nd edition, as it seemed to veer away from what was in the 1st that I loved so much. Who knew it would be so hard to get our hands on a 1st edition now???:confused:
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Yeah, that's what I meant by introductory material. I wasn't looking at it and couldn't remember off the top of my head what it was called.
They are finishing up their times/division tables.Will be done with them next week. I want to review with them so they wont forget until we get back to doing MEP. Will the supplemental material be a good place to start?
The only thing that gives me a bit of pause is that I looked through it the other night, and it looks like it would take close to 300 or more pages to get the whole thing printed out. There is also the same type of introductory thing in pdf for starting with a 4th grade student. I don't mind the printing, and I'm thinking it might not hurt to work through this on a 3X/week basis if possible, just to introduce more logic or a different way of looking at things.
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Just in case you hadn't noticed, there is a Primary Entry Supplement (pdf) for kids starting in third grade.
Yes, this is what I had posted a question about the other day, so I'm glad to hear that someone else is interested in it also.
I am currently using MEP and we do Strayer-Upton a few pages at night after supper to help with math facts. The thing I see in the CSMP that gets my interest is that the arrows lessons seem to blend in well with MEP. I don't want to get overwhelmed with too much math, but on the other hand, I don't want to miss out on something that might help turn a light on with my little guy. MEP has definitely done that, and I think I could see the same thing happening with CSMP.
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Thank you! That's just the information I was looking for, so I'll go forth with my older (red) edition of WRTR. Looks like I all I need now is a spelling notebook to get started and we're good to go.
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We are also doing something similar in that we're using the Strayer-Upton Book One (1934 ed.) in addition to MEP, which is our core. I do have all the Ray's books downloaded onto one CD which I found at google books, so I have them for future use if I go in that direction. I think the Ray's math is nice, as are most of the older math programs from that time.
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I also just recently (over the winter break) spent some time really thinking about the ways in which CM brought connections to the surface with her students. I knew that we should use our narrations for this, but we had always kept our narrations to retellings and I wanted to expand this. As I read further I realized that CM doe expand retelling with her students as they get older. Oral narrations should include retellings followed by discussions about the motives of the characters, your students thoughts and feelings about the reading, cause and effect, etc. This can be transferred into written narrations. Her narrations could include drawings (a map, a picture of a scene from the reading, a model/design, etc.) or questions which compare someone to someone already learned (ex. compare one king to another). I found a great site with a pdf of narration questions you can download and print. I printed these and added some (and threw some out) and glued each one to an index card. I filed them in an index file box and now we have easily added this to our narrations. I added drawing and watercolor lessons to our schedule so that I can help them fine tune these skills and then they can apply this to their nature notebook and narrations which include drawings and watercolors. I realized all of these elements of CM are essential to the overall approach. Without them we are missing something.
This is the site with the narration cards:
(Narration command cards pdf)
http://planningnotebook.blogspot.com/2008/11/narration-cards.html
Fantastic idea. I really like the narration cards.
I think it's a matter of wrapping your mind around the CM writings, but giving it a present-day twist. I know the ideas I've come up with on my own to add in to our readings have been more enjoyed than the ones in the packaged program we've used. I also think it depends upon the child as to how much hands-on is needed, as some kids just seem to need more of that. I agree with what has been said about letting them kind of stew things over in their minds too. Maybe it's a mix of both. It's hard at this juncture to see the fruits when we're all still in the planting phase, so to speak.
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I just received a copy of the nuts and bolts guide to WRTR, and it suggests using the 5th edition of WRTR. I have the older 3rd edition that includes 69 phonogram cards in pages within the book.
I don't think I can get the 5th edition from the library, so I'm wondering how much difference there is between the 3rd and 5th edition to justify buying the latter.
Help please? :confused:
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Are these books taken from the original McGuffey readers? Are they somewhere in between the old McGuffey readers and the newer Abeka readers? We are using these for a read aloud (child reads to me) each day, and I have noticed that my child seems to enjoy the stories. I have several of the Abeka readers, but have noticed that some of them are labeled "The Modern McGuffey Readers".
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I'm here with you, and I feel the same way. I have a boxed program that I have a love-hate relationship with too. As a matter of fact, it's sitting on my table, and I've skimmed through it again this morning. I've also got a schedule that I made up last night to work with Ambleside, and I'm very happy with it. It's just that interactive thing that I can't get past. I want to do something to bring our readings alive more, but haven't yet figured out how.
I will say that the connections I see made from Ambleside are amazing, and we have really enjoyed the readings. I just think there's a missing element, and I'm not sure what the answer is. I do feel that a hands-on science segment to our days is imperative---and extra time spent with math. Maybe that's where I diverge with following a true Ambleside schedule.
So, I guess I'd say that yes, I'm here nodding my head in agreement with you. I just don't have the answer.
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New here...I've been reading the boards for a few years, and many times wanted to get in on some of the discussions. I have been reading through some searches for a couple of days now on CSMP math. I need some direction now, if anyone here can help me.
We are using MEP for our math program, and dearly love it. I've also added in Strayer-Upton Practical Arithmetics (the first book--1934 ed.) for some extra work to help with knowing math facts. I don't see dropping it, and would like to continue using it as a supplement. We do the Strayer-Upton in the evenings after supper, usually working two or three pages.
Now I've become interested in the CSMP math that I've researched a bit here. I don't want to get overwhelmed with too much math, or cause any confusion, as what we're using now is going nicely. However, I do like what I've seen of the arrows and strings part of CSMP, and feel that it somehow blends well with parts of MEP.
So...I am looking at a part of the program called the "Primary Entry Supplement" which is aimed at third grades just starting the program. This seems to be a condensed version, which would be nice to work with, but I'm a bit confused about what I'd need to download and print to carry this off. Then also, I don't want to go overboard with math and start anything confusing.
Am I making sense? I guess my questions are would this be too much of an add-on, and if not, what do I need to get started with the Primary Entry Supplement?
Thanks!
Builders of the Old World by Gertrude Hartman...????
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
Yes, there are nice discussion questions and other suggestions at the end of the chapters.
Something else I noticed this morning is that many of the book suggestions are those that are mentioned here quite frequently---Van Loon, Jennie Hall, Hillyer, D'Aulaire, and the Famous Men of Greece, Famous Men of Rome books by John B. Haaren.
The really great thing is that the book tells just which chapters in the ancillary books are pertinent to the chapter's readings. I am liking this book more and more as I read through.