sewpeaceful
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Posts posted by sewpeaceful
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I didn't think SOTW looked that interesting but best friend loved and figured what the heck. Kids enjoyed it. Mom got bored around Sargon. Bought SL1. Kids balked and complained they missed their coloring pages, map work, activities and stories. In the end, it was the kids who loved SOTW and begged me to bring it back. Though they did explain they liked the read alouds from SL so we kept those. We won't discuss how my return to SL box got stolen and I never got a refund. Ugh. lesson? Always insure your packages! I digress.
SOTW all the way at this house.
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We are over half way through ES Biology this year and my kids love it. I have a "1st" grader and a "3rd" grader. Since ESBio is written with a first grader in mind and I also have a 3rd grader, this is what I do that seems to work well: My 1st grader comes up with one sentence as his narration, I write it on the white board and he copies it. My 3rd grader is allowed to copy that sentence but then has to come up with 2 more sentences (3 sentences for 3rd grade preparing her for short paragraphs in 4th grade per WTM). Sometimes this means my 3rd grader has to dig deeper into the Usborne Science Encyclopedia and or Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia (I bit the bullet and bought both because I need them down the road anyway). This has worked well for us.
Now you are talking about older students. I know Paige is getting ready to, or has recently, released ES Bio for the Logic Stage. I have seen preview pages for the Logic Stage version and I think it would suit your ages well, assuming you are open to Biology next year.
The kids have really enjoyed ES and I have actually executed ES! I know the author graduated from a top notch university and incredibly qualified in her science knowledge. I think you would be pleased.
HTH and good luck!
HTH!
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Here a few that my son loved:
anything by Beverly Cleary (Ralph and the Motorcycle, Henry Higgins etc.)
The Moffats by Estes (there are a few in the series)
I will reply with more soon!
I have to go ask my son!
:iagree:
My ds also enjoyed Tarantula in My Purse. He learned a lot about animals and enjoyed the silly mishaps with the animals.
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My kids really like My Father's Dragon or books by Cynthia Rylant or Dick King Smith.
:iagree:
Currently my kids are enamoured with Follow My Leader.
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My pastor's family uses Calvert exclusively and never looked anywhere else. Their youngest is 2nd grade and their oldest is 6th grade. long and short: mom loves it because it all planned out, has accountability (check point system) and is pretty solid overall. The kids, on the other hand, don't enjoy their education, as many/most don't who use workbook/textbook exclusive programs. So it depends on your goal: educate the kids or guide the kids to be able to educate themselves in time and enjoy the pursuit of knowledge. I rarely meet a kid who has slaved to textbooks and workbooks who enjoy the pursuit of knowledge. That reminds me... need to go make a list of the upcoming projects during our next 6 weeks of school. :)
HTH
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FIRST is an official Lego robotics league. They typically start around age 7, but individual groups make exceptions for extra driven kids. We had a homeschool group in Houston. Many public schools have them too and depending on your feelings and their policies, your ds could participate.
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We find the food at the AG Bistro here in Atlanta to be poor and overpriced.
We had a poor experience in Atlanta at the Bistro but a few months later had a FABULOUS experience at the Dallas store. It depends on who is working.
Yes, food is overpriced. You are paying for an experience like Disneyworld. We can all go to a cheaper amusement park but there is just something about the Mouse. :)
I would do it once, special outing, take a photo or two type thing. My dd still remembers.
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We had the same issue last year. We opted for an 8G Sony from Toys R Us last year. It STILL runs, works great, stores photo and plays short video too (doesn't take photo or video, just plays), has AM/FM radio and is super easy to use. You can get 50 hours of play before recharging it (wall or through USB cord to computer).
Toys R Us has them this week for $59.99. I highly recommend. You can attach and play through any base or speakers with a cord.
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I made the jump and got SL Core 1. I wasn't in LOVE with SOTW, it was fine, just not exciting. My kids loved the days I tracked down "extra" books and devoured them. So, I figured, SL was all about "extra" books and switched over. Under advisement, I started reading one of their spines last night, Childs History of the World (Calvert). Um, sweet overview but there is no meat. It covers ALL of history in one nice volume the size of SOTW Vol.1.
Is the meat for Core 1 in the Usborne History Encyclopedia and few "extras" or is Core 1 simply more summarized than SOTW 1?
I know a few of you have done and read both. Are they kind of balanced in volume of material presented? Does it matter at this age?
Example: CHOW barely mentions Mesopotamia. SOTW spends a few days on it. When the kids come back around to Ancients again, I would hope that even if they don't remember a thing about Mesopotamia they at least remember the term and are more easily able to absorb more in the Logic stage?
Thoughts???
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We opted to go back to SL for these early years. Too much to plan with SOTW, book lists, etc with a toddler underfoot, an 8yo with ADD, and a gifted 6yo after a big move. SOOO, my decision for our family is as follows (we're younger, but it echoes what many other moms have said and may help you determine what you want to do):
History: SL Core 1 with notebooking added (my kids LOVE notebooking! - I never imagined this would be the case, but they do!)
Science: SL is too disjointed for 2 science/math/engineering geek parents who have come to embrace WTM philosophies. We opted for Elemental Science and will continue this. Logic stage biology is being released in the spring if y'all haven't heard yet.
LA: dictation spelling and R&S grammar (my 1st grader is doing FLL)
Literature: it is covered with SL for now, plus I continue to raid reading lists for my voracious 6yo reading well beyond his years
I think blending is a wonderful idea. The preplanned schedule with SL will do our family very well for the next year or two until the little one gets a little older.
The SWB audios are AWESOME. I have listened to several and echo the recommendations of previous posters.
HTH.
Laurie Beth
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Agreed. And if your dc is struggling on one topic, slow down and practice extra. Good luck!
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How long is this book used? Is it worth the price? Which weeks is it used?
Same questions on Houses and Homes.
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:lurk5: :001_wub: :thumbup:
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I used to worry about this until I realized how many story lines they were able to hold in their head for television.
If you can remember the soap operaesque stories behind half the cartoons on tv today, then you can read two books at once.
:lol: I love it! So true, so true! :D
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I don't use file folders. I do use a binder with tabs, so it's similar. I like to have all the materials for the week in one place. So I printed out 6 weeks of materials from each book. For physics, I have them in this order in my binder: teacher page (week 1), student pages (week 1), quiz 1, teacher page (week 2), etc.
I also went through the 6 weeks of printed material and made a shopping list of any supplies I would need, so that I won't be scrambling to find things every week.
We do it the same way. We are using Elemental Biology, but I can't imagine the general organization is any different.
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I have both kinds of readers in my house: a voracious 6yo who just read HP book 1 and is currently reading the Sign of the Beaver and my 8yo who prefers to only read what is "suggested" or assigned. With both kids, I have found they have no trouble keeping 2 books going at once, regardless of difficulty level. I will make the following suggestions that seem to keep it "under control" at our house:
1. Explain to him that you LOVE he is enjoying reading so much BUT he must get his daily class reading complete first.
2. Only allow 1 class book and 1 free book at a time.
Between those two guidelines, we have never had a problem.
I hope that helps! :)
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YOU are a blessing and a huge help. You have very useful perspective because you have done both curriculums in question. Your answer was very thorough and thought out. Thank you SO much for taking time out of your busy day to help the rest of us out on this matter! :D
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Um, BJU is about as Christian, God centered, conservative, protestant based (not Catholic based) as you can get with curriculum. We loved BJU for that reason, BUT here are the issues to consider with BJU:
- You have to be okay with Christian curriculum. By middle school, it is tougher to take God out of the text. Sure, a lot of it is in the side bar but if you are looking for independent work, your kids are going to see it.
- BJU *new* is quite expensive but you can find the textbooks and teacher manuals used easily. The problem is they update it so often, the workbooks/notebooks don't always tie in perfectly so pay attention to version.
- BJU was written for Christian School classrooms. It is like taking a public school textbook, tossing in God and tada. It is homeschooling in a box. No digs - we loved it.
- BJU can be a challenge to use with more than 1 kid because it can be teacher intensive, granted, not so much so at the upper levels where you are looking. Still expect to have to grade papers, proctor, etc.
BJU gets great reviews from Cathy Duffy. We loved it but it was time intensive, particularly in the lower grades and I couldn't hack it with multiple students and I didn't want to throw them in front of videos all day (nothing wrong with that, simply not how I want our homeschool to look - not judging others, really - it works great for many friends).
I hope that helps.
- You have to be okay with Christian curriculum. By middle school, it is tougher to take God out of the text. Sure, a lot of it is in the side bar but if you are looking for independent work, your kids are going to see it.
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First, I LOVE your response. It was very helpful. I love how you referenced the library situation (I've gone from awesome to rural, so I get it). Thank you for reminding me just how much time I spent reviewing books and scheduling them for this year.
My kids have enjoyed the mapwork (SL has their own), coloring pages and occassional activities (they would love more but with a toddler at my ankles and VERY clingy these days, well, there is a reality to a homeschool mom's life with little ones. ;)). Did you SL users find coloring pages, activities or anything elsewhere? I don't want busy work, but something to keep them content. :)
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Although SOTW and Core 1 both cover world history, they do it in different ways and from different view points. I don't think there is a lot of duplication at all. Of course, we are only on chapter 7 or 8 of SOTW at this point.
THIS is what I am looking for. Can you elaborate on how Core 1 and SOTW are different? Similar? What you like and dislike, or maybe prefer is a better way to say this, about both?
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I agree with previous posts. R&S is so solid and we love the short and sweet lessons. If you want, maybe let them work ahead, do a lesson and a half or two lessons in a day but don't skip - not with R&S anyway.
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My youngest son loves elemental science so much that he actually does it for FUN. He is very scienc-y and wanted to study animals this year along with what he is studying in HOD. He absolutely adores elemental science (biology) and actually BEGS to do it each day. For such a small investment, it is something I would definitely recommend.
:iagree: We are on week 7 and my kids ask to do science first every day. The only thing we do different is I bit the bullet and bought the Draw Write Now books that correspond to the animals (there is a list on her website as to which books these are) and I make my kids draw the animal every day instead of cut and paste from her pages in the back. This gives them science, writing/copywork, and drawing all in one lesson. Yippee!!
The author, Paige, has a great grasp of what kids that age should be getting and doing. Per her recommendation, my 1st grader copies 1 -2 sentences per animal whereas my 3rd grader composes her own 3-4 sentences per animal. They have learned a lot about animals. I can't wait to get to the human body study. It has been a GREAT fit for our family.
AND Paige herself responds to emails, questions, etc. How cool is that!?
And for those of us with older elementary, kids who just can't get enough of science, every week has a box in the teacher's manual "Want More?" It suggests additional animals to read about and suggests an extra experiment to do.
OH! That reminds me- I have yet to come across an experiment that required me to go shopping for something specific. EVERYTHING has been in house. some of the experiments fall into the category of "Why are we doing this?" but the kids LOVE those experiments and it starts to introduce them to the scientific process; there are experiment write up pages and everything.
Great science curriculum, especially for the price. She could up it $10 per packet and it would STILL be MORE than worth the money.
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First, ALL preschool curriculum is a total waste. Read to the kid, let them play with scissors (supervised), and draw lines and circles (correctly) to prep them for writing. Why must we buy a curriculum to tell us to do these things?
I've learned, for my family, teaching writing prior to late 3rd/early 4th is a total waste of time and money. I have learned it is better they get a reasonable handle on spelling and syntax first, let them develop some creativity, etc.
For that matter, spelling curriculums have beena waste too. I found a dictation spelling program from the 1920's on Google that has been a MUCH better spelling program for our family than any spelling program we have seen on the market, including the dictation programs for sale. Too many weeks of memorizing a short list of words, A+ on Friday's test, can't remember the word 2 weeks later. Ugh.
I think that does it for now.
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Yes. Or from SOTW to any core for that matter. I just happen to be at the beginning.
History for Jr. High and Highschool age children?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
Many move over to Mystery of History or Tapestry of Grace and use TOG twice.