Embassy
-
Posts
3,394 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Classifieds
Store
Posts posted by Embassy
-
-
For those who have corrected it by watching their child like a hawk, do you have your child come to you everytime he writes? My son writes a lot and I'm not sure how it would work. For instance, today he was downstairs writing up clues to a game he was making and I had no idea he was writing.
-
How often does RS revise their product? Does anyone know how long has homeschool V3 been around? I noticed that they now have V4 but I believe that is only for personal.
I remember. V3 came out right after I bought V2 :glare: I bought V2 in the Fall of 2007.
I didn't receive any free offers for an upgrade and I believe I purchased the Homeschool edition directly from Rosetta Stone. I received offers for a discount for version 3, but didn't do it since I had just laid down $$$ for version 2.
-
My kids are still young. I get the "you are doing too much" statements quite a bit. It is the "too much" that makes school into something enjoyable. If we did the minimum we would miss out on the best parts of school.
Here are a couple blog posts I wrote on the topic:
-
Just curious how cursive will help dc stop starting at the bottom when you start at the bottom in cursive to make letters?
LOL, good point. I'm not sure what the answer is though.
-
My two younger children love MCT, but my second son would have hated the elementary books. He likes straightforward teaching, and very much dislikes having a story approach for grammar or math.
As for the vocabulary, which level are you using? I got all of Island and all of Town except poetry this year. The Island vocabulary book was much too easy (and almost as much about aqueducts as vocabulary), but my daughter really liked Caesar's English. We haven't studied Latin, though, so that would make a difference.
Starting next year we are just going to use the grammar/practice/writing books from MCT. I might add in an upper level poetry book some time in the future, but not right now. We don't have money or time for vocabulary right now, so they will just go back to learning new words in context from their other school books.
I have been using the Island level. We've done a couple years of Rummy Roots and are studying Greek too. I do like Music of the Hemispheres the best. My son did too.
-
How many The Paragraph Books would a child typically go through in a year? Anyone know?
-
I was a little worried about that. The picture looks to be mostly Chinese children who probably have at least one parent who speaks Chinese at home? I'm not sure though! Here's the link:
http://www.awvchineseschool.us/Class_0.aspx
It looks good to me. The description of the class sounds like it would be a good fit for a beginning class. If you look at pictures of other classes you will see it isn't just children of Chinese descent attending.
-
Here is a re poem from MCT Island from my almost 9 year old. It was slightly edited and he received a little help from me.
Out to Battle
I recalled my troops.
Repaired my helmet.
And treat my troops with respect.
Should I repeat?
-
I have been searching and researching this topic the past week.
I attempted MCT this year with my whole to parts learner. He is more of a think it through - auditory - whole to parts learner though. I thought it would be a great fit, but he hated it especially the writing portion. The writing was too open ended and gave him instructions on what to write, but not how to write. It looks like I am moving to CLE and Killgallon for the grammar and Jump In for writing. He loved the classic literature we added this year as part of MCT though. He used to love grammar and now it is his least favorite subject. So we are going to a workbook method with diagramming for grammar and see how it goes.
When I think whole-to-parts I find that my children may excel at a "higher" skill while still learning the parts. MCT LA seemed like the parts were put into a storyline which actually made it interesting, but more difficult for my son. Since grammar is the "parts" that he struggles with it seems like it needs to be approached sequentially. I chose CLE because it has the visual element of diagramming that my son expressed interest in learning. Also, I chose it because it is a workbook method. We do little workbooks and do more of snuggling up reading books together. My boys seem to like workbooks for some strange reason so that was a motivation for going a workbook route. The other reason is that it is spiral and has constant review which is necessary for the "parts". It also provides additional handwriting and spelling practice which my son can use. Killgallon will give him practice expanding his grammar and writing skills in the context of literature that he loves. The Jump In will help take him through the writing process and help him find what works for him. At least that is my hope.
So, that is my experience. Figuring out my kids has been a challenge. I'm pretty sure I am visual-spatial, but I'm not sure about my kids. I know they are non-sequential and like depth, but I'm not sure about the visual element yet.
-
Three languages are not too many, but you have to plan to keep them going.
I think it may depend on the languages and the approaches used. My kids have shown no confusion having several languages introduced at once. I don't use the same type of curriculum with each language and each language is very different from one another (Arabic, Mandarin, Greek, French). Maybe there would be confusion if we were doing French, Italian, and German at the same time though.
For Chinese, I would not recommend attempting it without native-speaker tutoring. The tones are pretty much impossible for a foreigner to achieve without one-on-one drilling.
Not everyone is able to start off with a tutor. That would be ideal, but it is certainly possible to learn the tones without a tutor. You have to first train the ear to hear the differences. Once you hear the differences it is then much easier to produce them. I used to do some work in accent reduction and the key to being able to produce the tones or sounds unique to your language is to first hear them correctly. To do that you need to listen to the different tones or sounds and correctly label which tone is being produced.
-
I have started with Dance Mat Typing and then moved on to Mavis Beacon typing. I tried Roller Typing, but my son thought it was too boring.
-
who has a child that does not enjoy MCT? I like the program. My son does not although he is learning well with it. I'm thinking I will probably go piecemeal next year. The grammar portion is a good fit, the writing is too hard, and the vocabulary is way too easy. On an upnote, I have integrated reading classics into our language arts based on MCT's program. My son has loved that. I'm sticking with it for the whole school year and see how things pan out.
-
Thanks for the replies. I understand some things can take awhile to get here. The lack of communication concerns me. I left a phone message today so I will open a claim if I don't hear from them by tomorrow.
-
I ordered from a place 2 weeks ago. It is possible that the items may be in transit. The website takes you to PayPal once your order is completed. The receipt I have from the store says if you haven't paid click a link and go to PayPal to pay. I paid with PayPal right away. I didn't hear anything from them so a week later I emailed to ask if my order had shipped. It was supposed to ship in about a week. I emailed them again several days later and no response. I have attempted another email and a phone message today and am waiting for a response. Assuming there is no response, when would you think it would be reasonable to initiate a PayPal claim?
-
Hmmm ....... that's interesting. On my invoice there is a Rod & Staff Canadian website (http://www.rodstaffcanada.com) noted as well. I see you're from Texas, so perhaps it's different in Canada ......... ???? I'm not sure. I just know they're at both the B.C. conventions, and they sell Rod & Staff, and only Rod and Staff products.
Has anyone purchased from this site? Has it been reliable? How long did it take to get your order?
-
Here is our space tucked down in the basement.
-
My spirited/intense girl really thrives on structure. I hate HATE structure but I'm working on it because she needs it.
I am the same way. I like going where the wind blows, but my boys need to see things all planned out. So I'm off to write out tomorrow's school day on the white board for them.
-
My kids use blogspot for their blogs. They are set up under my email address. I have to sign them in and all comments come to my email inbox to approve or disapprove before they post on the blog.
-
I think as a parent I need to distinguish between the intense feelings and the actions of the child. The intense feelings are part of who my child is. The actions may need to be changed. For instance, I have no problem with my child being intensely angry, but he is not to hit or sass or slam his door. I aim to work with him to find more appropriate avenues for his intense feelings.
As for sensory issues like seams on socks or loud noises I take my child's perspective into account and try to find ways to help them be in a loud environment without breaking down in tears.
We have all 5 overexcitabilities present in our house, but with varying degrees in different children.
-
How have you attempted to correct it?
Thanks for the ideas. We have gone through HWT and Italics. The copywork I have him do right now shows the direction of each letter and where to start each letter. I don't watch everything he writes though. That would be difficult because he writes quite a bit outside of copywork. Whenever I watch him write I remind him of where to start his letters. I can try watching him more.
If I start cursive is there a style that would work better? I like the fountain pen idea. He will probably like using one too.
-
"How do we start our letters? At the top!"
I don't remember the rest, we sang that first part a lot...
Yes, we sing that too. He knows the song well, but still writes most of his letters from the bottom.
-
I first heard it from Andrew Pudewa at the VA conference about six years ago. I think it's very common with VSLs based on what I've heard from other parents.
Thanks :)
-
My first grader habitually starts letters from the bottom. I have attempted to correct this for a couple years now, but he still does it. I think part of the reason is that he started to write letters on his own when he was 3 and has continued to use the bottom up method he used when first writing letters. Would cursive help break that pattern?
-
I can share what works for us. Rosetta Stone didn't - that was after 3 years of trying to make it work. I don't know the languages we are learning, but if we all sit down together and learn together learning happens. I help them make associations between the word in a foreign language and the word in English to help make it stick (i.e. Remembering the Arabic word for door (baab) by imagining Bob the Tomato at the door). I have to be diligent and not let things slide or progress is lost. Because I am learning with them I can add little conversations using words learned into our daily life. A tutor is ideal, but isn't always possible.
There are many resources available for Spanish. I would supplement it with DVDs or music or books with a CD.
Starting letters at the bottom.
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
Out of school writing is abundant - sometimes more and sometimes equal to what he does in school. He has always loved to write. Maybe we should do more writing in school.