jananc
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Posts posted by jananc
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Does my proposed "system" make sense?
Wow, Janice! I'm liking the sound of your system! I'm going the workbook route this year (thanks, Karen, for the step-by-steps!) but your computer-based system might be in our future. Please keep us posted on how it works out.
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Thanks, Jana. I am looking at the TOG sample copy! I appreciate what you and Karen have posted on your blogs but now I am back to being indecisive!! :)
LOL! I understand! There are so many good programs out there, it's a tough decision. Once I decided on TOG, I had to start covering my ears and singing La-la-la-la a lot! I just had to pick and stick with it.
Now if I could just do that with math.....
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Hi Lisa,
the deciding factor for me was 4 years ago, when my dc were 5th and 3rd grade -- and that was just that TOG allowed me to teach them both on the same topic, and it was structured enough to keep me on schedule when I couldn't do that with WTM as written.
Now, though, my dc are rising 9th and 7th grade. The deciding factor now, for us to continue on through a second go-round with TOG, is seeing the wonderful teacher's notes. In my opinion, the discussion outlines are the true worth of this program. I am so excited to be beginning a new cycle with Rhetoric and Dialectic students because of the amazing connections that Marcia Somerville has laid out for me. I believe that any student who uses TOG for a high school program will have had a rich educational experience that would be hard to match elsewhere.
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Hi Pam,
We've just finished up with TOG Y4, and really enjoyed it (my dc are 11 and 13).
Year 4 is only available in Classic right now. Year 3 is currently being revised, and is not shipping yet, so it will be a year before Redesigned Year 4 is available.
The Classic Year 4 is completely fine as is -- a few of the books might be out of print, but I didn't really have any problems with that. We had a great year, and I can heartily recommend it!
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This movie made me a James McAvoy fan. Grrrowr!
Yep -- me too!
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Thanks, Amie. I am thinking this is the way I ought to go. I'm not in any huge hurry to get her into algebra, anyway. She can do the 8/7 in 7th grade, do the 1/2 in 8th, and Algebra in 9th. I don't think this approach will hinder her college plans.
thanks for your input!
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I've heard that in the hardback Saxon 8/7 prealgebra is not covered. It was used for students who struggled with 7/6 and needed an extra year before moving on to Alg. 1/2 The newer paperback 8/7 ones are equivalent to the hardback Algebra 1/2.
Having said that, I do own a copy of Lial's BCM and really like the layout and how much it covers.
I wonder what is considered pre-algebra? This book does cover negative numbers, and finding x in some simple equations. Maybe I can find a scope & sequence of the new 8/7 to compare with the one I have to see what was added for prealgebra.
And the thing is, my dd is not particularly good in math. If this text was used to give an extra year before moving on to prealgebra, maybe this would be a good fit for her.
thanks for the input, ladies!
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Hi Lillian,
I think TOG will definitely give you the challenge and the critical thinking you're looking for with your dc. Especially since you have some in the Upper grammar and Dialectic level. Each level just gets richer and richer for my dc's learning. I was reading through the Rhetoric level questions for my ds for next year, and I'm so excited that he (and I) will be learning so much. And that's after we've gone through the Ancients 2 times already.
As to some of your questions:
Re: coverage of the world: each year plan incorporates some time devoted to other countries, such as China, Africa, India, Australia, South America, and the Middle East. For example, we just finished Y4, and spent quite a bit of time on the Middle East, as the last half of the 20th century was impacted a lot by the history of that area. I believe there is at least one week in each year plan that is devoted to each of those countries.
Re: the division of history -- You are correct that year 2 covers a long time period. And a lot does happen in that time frame, but the other 3 years are by no means skimpy. In Year 3 and Year 4, so much happened in each decade that you really do need to spend an entire year for each century. This is especially true for the Dialectic and Rhetoric levels, as you go into so much more of the political happenings behind the Civil War, women's rights, civil rights, and the World Wars in the 20th century.
Re: planning time -- do most of your planning for your Dialectic, and you'll find the lower levels fall into place. I'd say that, on the average, spend 1.5 hrs. on a Sunday to prepare for the upcoming week. That is for all subjects, not just TOG. I planned for 1 D and 1 UG student this past year.
Re: writing -- I will be using WA for the first time this coming year, so I can't honestly answer your question there. I hope it WA will suit the bill for us!!
I too loved the look of Karen's workbooks, and made ours last week. I'm so excited with how they turned out, and can't wait to see if they answer our problem of papers everywhere :001_smile:
Best wishes with whatever you decide!
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I foolishly bought the 2nd edition of this program, thinking I was getting the 3rd edition. Just didn't ask enough questions.
anyway, I don't know enough about the changes in the programs to know whether I should just use it anyway, or try to recoup some of my money and buy the current edition.
My dd is not strong in math, and will be in the 7th grade. I don't really plan on using Saxon for upper maths. I hope to go to Lial's for that. However, if she continues to thrive in Saxon, I'm not opposed to using it.
She used Saxon 6/5 in 5th grade, then went to TT 6. She didn't like TT and asked to go back to Saxon this year, so I was going to put her in 8/7.
Now, I've got the old edition. bother! I guess my options are:
1) Just use what I have for 7th grade. Then what for 8th? Algebra 1/2 (current edition)? Lial's BCM?
2) Try to sell this 2nd edition, and purchase the 3rd edition of 8/7
3) Switch on over to Lial's BCM.
I don't see her majoring in math or science in college, so I don't think she would really need to have Algebra I before 9th grade.
Any advice??
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We'll be doing Yr. 1 this fall!
We'll be starting Aug. 11 with a week of geography review -- making world maps, reviewing continents, oceans, etc. We'll also set up our base maps for our transparency maps. Then, Aug 18 will be our official beginning of Week 1. Can't wait!
I'll have 1 in D level (12yodd), and 1 doing D literature but R everything else (14yods). This is our 4th year with TOG, but our first with Redesigned, so I'm really excited. We'll also be doing Writing Aids for the first time.
I'll probably start printing maps & SAP's tomorrow!
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I'm bumping this because I'm curious, too. We have to test yearly in NC as well.
Anyone?
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Hoping these will work:
Saxon 8/7 with dd
Jacob's Geometry, Learnables German, and Apologia Biology with ds
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Here's what my 8th grader did this year:
TOG Yr. 4, Dialectic
Finish Lial's BCM, completed first 5 chapters of Lial's Intro Alg.
Rod & Staff English 6
SWR (almost finished -- whew!)
Rainbow Science (whole course in 1 year, but not all the labs)
Latina Christiana I
Misc. vocabulary work -- Vocabulary Cartoons, EFTRU
Fallacy Detective
Speech (competed in Open Interpretation and Impromptu)
Debate (Team Policy -- competed for the first year)
Guitar
Flag football
Gavel Club
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Also, the weeks vary in the amount of reading due. Some weeks are very heavy, but some are also very light. There have been several times that my kids spread the reading for a particular week over into the following week. It's really not as bad as it seems!
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The hardest thing about MapAids might be that they can be very specific, and you may or may not use all of the ones on the disc. There is a new map for maybe 2/3 (estimate -- maybe more!) of the 36 weeks in the program, and they are specific to the topic of the week. That said, I really do love them! They have a map for Grammar levels, Dialectic levels, and Rhetoric levels, and the truly important Teacher map. The younger levels have more things already labeled or marked on them, the D and R levels usually are blank completely. (Ex. a grammar level might have cities marked with dots but not labeled, and the older levels would not have the cities marked at all.) The teacher map has EVERYTHING marked :)
Depending on the topic of the week, the maps might just be of the political boundaries, or important battles, or trade routes, or trails, etc.
These are just the things that have popped into my head. Hope it helps!
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Yes Holly, you're right. "Behind" was not the best choice in words :001_smile: I certainly *should* have pretested her before just placing her in what I thought would be the right level. Perhaps then our experience would have been better!
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I wouldn't see a real problem with this, especially if that is where he placed. TT is a bit behind. In fact, I didn't know this last summer, and placed my 6th grade dd in TT6 -- she's not a math kid, either, so even later I assumed she would be ok. However, she herself said at the end of this year that she doesn't want to continue with TT because she felt it did not prepare her well for her Iowa test. She has requested to return to Saxon. Now, unfortunately, she places in Saxon 7/6, which is what she would have done this past year :ack2: Now I feel like we've just wasted a year of math for her!
If you do put your ds in TT6, will you start him early in Algebra, or find something else to do for a year when that time comes?
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Do you plan to purchase and use Writing Aids with your TOG? If so, your writing instruction will be covered nicely. WA combined with the writing assignments in the weekly plans of TOG will give your dc a strong experience with writing.
Literature is also covered in TOG. For each literature assignment, there are worksheets and discussions that go along with the reading that teach literary analysis.
You do need to use another program to cover grammar, but any program that works for your family is just fine!
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This was the point where we started TOG -- getting ready for our second round through the Ancients. Your dc are the perfect age. They can read many or most of the books, and you can still do an occasional read-aloud if you want. There is lots of discussion, hands on projects, and mapwork.
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My 11yodd can also handle more than one chapter a day. Keep in mind also that the chapters are of varying lengths -- some are quite short. So you might have to adjust your assignment to specific chapters. The books are written in an engaging, easy-to-follow style so they aren't difficult at all.
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Ambleside really is a rich curriculum. I used it several years ago before switching to TOG, and I go back to the website and browse wistfully every once in awhile. I just love their selections.
I do think you could easily do a year lower than the grade level of your dc. Like you said, the books are quite advanced, and I don't think you'd be doing anyone a disservice. At the same time, you would be amazed at how well you dc will understand and retain hard literature, once their ear is accustomed to hearing it. Give it a few weeks and you'll hear some of that vocabulary popping up in their speech!
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When my dc were young, I had them memorize a poem from Child's Garden of Verse each week.
Also, you could talk about meter. Start with some familiar poems or even children's songs like Mary Had a Little Lamb, and clap out the meter. As you read other poems, talk about the meter and try to clap out each one to find the pattern.
Have fun with it!
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I've used TOG 4 years now, beginning the 5th in August.
Up to this point, I bought only history spines that were used more than 3 weeks and literature that were not in my library. I used the library and subsituted the rest. Luckily, our local library system had a good number of the books and I didn't notice a conflict with other TOG'ers in getting them.
This coming year, though, I'll have an R student and a D student. I'm finding myself buying more of the books, mainly because I want my 2 dc to be able to answer the accountability questions with less trouble.
If I still had only younger (LG and UG) I would just rely on the library.
Oh, and I usually just buy books one unit at a time to spread out the cost more :001_smile:
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Thanks for the reminder! I'd completely forgotten, what with the Survivor finale on, too. What to do??
French phrasing help?
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
I'm helping out my dd tonight in teaching a VBS class, and she needs me to "pretend I'm wanting to talk to them about the Bible, but I don't speak English." So I'm relying on my college French. :001_huh:
Can someone help me with how to say something appropriate?
Just a couple of phrases is all I need -- maybe along the lines of "Do you know about the Bible?" "Can I tell you about Jesus?" "Did you know Jesus loves you?"
thanks so much!