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Roxy Roller

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Posts posted by Roxy Roller

  1. My DD11 is in 6th Grade this fall. I am planning Apologia General Science for 7th Grade. I was looking at the CLE 6th Grade Science program, and it looks like a pretty thorough overview of science. Would this be a good pre-cursor to the Apologia? We have done interest-led science to this point, and I want something that she can work at independently, but that would help her prepare for Apologia.

     

    Any thoughts?

  2. I am lusting for the NEST Animated Hero videos. Our library doesn't carry them, I can't justify the cost, and I don't know anyone who has them well enough to borrow them.

     

    We have all 50ish NEST DVD's - I splurged on them a few years ago. The cost was over $1200 Canadian, but they are one of the best investments we have ever made. My children watch them over and over and they have learned so much from them.

     

    My wishlist has 'Teaching the Classics' at the top.

  3. Is there a curriculum out there that uses real books for upper grammar? I am looking at CLE Reading, but I would really like something similar that uses real books.

     

    My DD11, is a late reader, and is probably reading at a 5th grade level, instead of a 6th. She is not ready for Lightning Lit, but I am looking for something similar.

  4. I have just received my R&S English books. I ordered Grades 3-6, just to see where my children would place. I really like the look of it - I wanted something effective with no fluff.

     

    I am wondering if I should look at their spelling as well. I have really liked All About Spelling, but I need to move to something that is a little more independent and that has the phonics reminders built in. I will probably keep AAS for my K, but I am wanting some feedback on the R&S Spelling for my older DC.

  5. I would recommend going through 'The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking' by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker.

     

    It is a big cookbook - over 1000 pages, but it gives you so much information. It really is an encyclopedia, as well as a cookbook. For instance, in the Vegetable 'Pepper' section, the first 6 pages are devoted to explaining the different types of peppers, with black and white drawings. Then there is a page about different ways to roast and prepare peppers, before going into the recipes.

     

    My DD, almost 11, reaches for it first if she wants to cook or bake something. She really likes it, because the recipes are written in the order you do things - not a list of ingredients, then the instructions. She is already asking for her own copy so she can make her own notes in the margins.

     

    You can probably check it out at the library to take a look.

  6. I am right in the middle of the fog - Week 2 of Year 1 Unit 1. My children's ages are listed in my signature.

     

    Up until this summer, we have always finished school before lunch. My children always had the afternoons off. This year is changing, with history and science being moved to the afternoons. After only a week of TOG under our belts, we love it. I do pick and choose what we will do. I posted our first week last week on this board. I am not sure how to link it.

     

    This morning when one of my 7.5YO DSs asked what we were doing in the afternoon, I told him we were doing our history program. His exact words were, "That is dessert! All this other stuff (meaning math, handwriting and language) is like the main meal." Those kind of comments are what makes it worth the extra work on my part.

     

    We are already talking about the projects we will do on our next round through TOG.

     

    I would recommend printing off the three sample weeks from the website and reading them through a few times. Honestly, I didn't get it until I had gone through them 3 times. After that, it clicked, and I couldn't wait to place my order. I am looking forward to the years to come and even if I do not do everything listed, I know that my children will have learned much more than I ever did in PS.

  7. I am using our library and ILL. At the beginning of the year, I spend the time to go through the books that I know that I will need and put them on my library wish lists. Then I go through and just have to request them a couple of weeks ahead of time. I also found out that you can request books for longer than our allotted 3 weeks, as long as you do it when you pick them up.

  8. We just completed our first week with TOG, and I wanted to talk through some of the things we experienced.

     

    1) I read all of the pages that were assigned in the Usborne book for UG, as well as the history core and in-depth spines for LG. I learned that this is too much. I have already gone through and chosen the Usborne pages that we will read next week. It will be half of what was assigned. Focusing only on the threads I want to cover in depth.

     

    2) I found that I had to read the UG Lit book with my rising 6th grader, because she was glossing over the names and vocabulary that weren't familiar to her. I learned that this is going to take more time, but if I want to transition her to Dialectic next year, I will have to lay the ground work. I will also have to figure out how do add in the vocab work with each week.

     

    3) Geography was great, but took a long time to do with my LG boys. I am not sure what to do here. I ended up doing the writing for my rising 3rd graders, because they were not writing small enough for the maps, and they were getting frustrated.

     

    4) We did notebook pages. I wrote out 3 or 4 sentence summaries that they dictated to me and they copied them on to their pages. I was amazed at the quality and variety of output that they produced. They also did a sketch of something that peaked their interest. My DS9, who rarely draws or colors anything, did an elaborate drawing of King Tut's mask and colored it in gold and blue. I will be working to have the boys do their own writing by the end of the year.

     

    5) We didn't get to any activity projects, because I only school 3 days a week in the summer. I know they would all enjoy these, so I have to try to fit these in whenever possible, but I have to give myself permission to maybe only attempt a couple a month.

     

    6) I had my rising 6th grader do a one level outline on the corresponding SOTW chapter. This went okay. We have not done any outlining up to this point, and I want to incorporate it in. We will go to two level outlines after Christmas. I found that she wanted to summarize, not outline, so this will take some work.

     

    7) I had a Dialectic discussion time with my rising 6th grader. I will be gradually incorporating more in-depth discussion times through the year, so that we will be ready for full Dialectic next year. This went well, but I realized I need to keep it light for the first little while.

     

    I feel like we covered the basics of Ancient Egypt, and the kids learned a huge amount. Even the 5 year old was answering comprehension questions from our reading. I asked everyone if they liked doing history this way, and the answer was a resounding 'YES'! Now I just have to figure out how to schedule it in to our full school day for the fall, without letting it get in the way of the basics.

  9. I would love some input. My DD, who is almost 11, going into 6th Grade, is a horrible speller.

     

    Here is the list of programs that we have done:

     

    Abeka - K4 to Grade 2 - full language arts program

    Spelling Power - in Grade 3 - She did fine for the first little bit, but then things went downhill fast. It progressed too quickly for her.

    All About Spelling - Grade 4 - This lasted until she realized her brother who was in Grade 2, was in the same book that she was doing. Then she asked me to find something else. We floundered.

    Sequential Spelling - Grade 5 - This has been okay, but I am finding that it isn't translating to her writing.

     

    After Abeka Grade 2, she completed Book 3 - 8 of the Explode the Code series for phonics.

     

    I think that some of it might be laziness. Today I implemented the rule that if she spells a word wrong, she writes it out 25 times. She had 3 lists to write today.

     

    What do I do for 6th Grade?

     

    Do I make her going through All About Spelling from the beginning and zip through it? Her brothers are all working at various spots in the program, but I am tempted to lay down the law on this one. Is there an alternative?

     

    Thanks in advance,

  10. Get the hardback WWE textbook, if you don't have it already. For each level there are about 6 weeks worth of assignments. Go through those until they begin to struggle, or are appropriately challenged. That's where you would then place them.

     

     

    I love this idea! You are brilliant!

     

    I have the textbook, have listened to all the writing audios and have downloaded all of the pdf's of all four level workbooks. I know about the evaluations, but I was still feeling that placement was still not clear after the evaluations.

     

    I have to think this through, but I think I will just print off the student sheets that correspond with the text samples. I will have my older two kids go through those until they get tough, and print off the remainder of the workbook and go from there!

     

    This has made my day!:party:

  11. Hi Susan...I don't know if you are going to check this thread, but I do have a couple of questions.

     

    I have just dicovered your writing program, and I have listened to your audios on writing, bought the Strong Fundamentals book and purchased all four levels of the workbooks downloads. I am in the process of printing them out.

     

    I have struggled with teaching writing, and I want all of my children to do your program. Is there a place that you address how to fast track an older child through the basic four levels? I know about the placement/evaluation tests, but if you have to do back and do more work in an area, do you do the entire year before, or is it better to do every other week, or just back up a few weeks?

     

    I am thrilled that you are continuing the writing series, and I can't wait to see it.

     

    :bigear:

  12. I am needing to do some remedial writing with my DC.

     

    My twins are going into Grade 3. I am starting them at Level 1 and doing it as written this year. The long term plan is for them to be finished by sixth, if not sooner, because we are starting to school all year long.

     

    My DS9 will be going into Grade 4. I was thinking about having him do the last 6 or 8 weeks of Level 1 and then moving him into Level 2, to do as written. He would still be finished by sixth grade or so. Will this work? Or should he do the last half of Level 1, maybe every other week?

     

    My DD11 will be going into Grade 6. She has always struggled with just about everything Language Arts related. She only just started reading fluently at the beginning of 5th Grade. I would like her to work in Level 3, but I know she needs to do some of the copywork, before she gets to dictation, because I don't think the visual pattern of the words is there. She has improved tremedously this past year, but her Language Arts skills are still probably at a beginning 5th Grade level. Do I do Level 2 with her, starting her at the last 6 or 8 weeks before moving her into Level 3? Or would it be better to start at week 18 or so of Level 2 and just do it as written, then going into Level 3 as written. Another possibility would be to do both Level 2 and 3 this year, but, every other week. I will also have her doing one level outlines for the first half of the year, and then two level outlines for the last half of the year in history, as well as, summaries, per WTM recommendations.

     

    I would really love to hear from those that have used the program and have BTDT!

     

    :bigear:

  13. My DD is going into 6th grade and we are going to finish MUS Zeta, as well as work through LOF Fractions and Decimals and Percents. I am looking ahead to 7th grade and although MUS has served us well, I am feeling the need to possibly look at other options as a main program.

     

    I guess my questions are:

     

    1) What are you using for Pre-Algebra?

     

    2) Is it working? What is working or not working?

  14. Has anyone used this? Is it worth the $? I could make my own planner, but I really want something that I can input some information into, print and then add my own handwritten notes. It looks like their planner will do all of that and then some. Any feedback from those who have used it?

     

    :bigear:

  15. My DS9 has just finished A Reason for Handwriting Transition, and he has come a long way. His manuscript has always been okay, but not really neat. His cursive, on the other hand, is beautiful now that he has finished the Transition book, it is much nicer than his manuscript. Now, we just have to keep it up...:tongue_smilie:.

  16. ... could you take the columns for the five days and turn those into your week planner for each child. So your weekly plan for each child would be a list going vertically, with the subjects listed on the side. KWIM? I think it could work and be as simple as crossing out the names of the days of the week and writing in your children's names instead.

     

    Maybe I could just print up some labels with each kids name on it and stick it over the day of the week...that might work...thank you, Chris!

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