Jump to content

Menu

gail

Members
  • Posts

    36
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by gail

  1. We read literature as much as we can for history and classical literature. However, the sheer volume of reading required to finish whole books is just not do-able for us. Therefore, we pick some whole works and do excerpts for the rest, using textbooks. For math and science we have used texts since the 7th grade. Gail
  2. What about World magazine? They have a regular adult magazine, suitable for high schoolers as well, and issues which are age appropriate from K-grade 9. We have successfully used these for current events for about five years. I assign the articles, they read them, and we discuss them at the dinner table. Gail
  3. We don't have the DVDs or homesat but we used the 10th grade World Literature books and teacher materials from Abeka this past school year. In a perfect world, I'd have him read all of these books in their entirety. (So many, many good books, so little, little time.....SIGH.) This course fit the bill WELL as a thorough overview of classical literature. It included literary analysis and instruction about authors and time periods. It complimented our study of World History beautifully. He is now familiar with the literature and famous authors over the centuries and he did it all in one year. I needed something that could cover this in one year. I just did not have any more time than that to devote to the subject and still work in all the other subjects he needs. I have not seen BJU's world literature course. In making my own decision between the BJU and the Abeka course last summer, I opted for the ABeka, based on reviews that I read about both. Also, I think ABeka's course is a bit more compact than BJU's, which, again, is a feature I was looking for. Gail
  4. We also tithe 10% to our church. We do it out of obedience too. However, we also tithe as act of worship and trust. If you are trusting God to provide for you, it shouldn't be hard to give 10%. Ultimately, tithing is walking the talk when you say you trust Him to provide. If you cannot bring yourself to tithe, you're not trusting Him enough to take care of you. Any donations given to ministries other than your home church are considered "offerings". These are over and above the tithe. People who give to televangelists or other ministers are not tithing. The tithe belongs solely to your home church. It is God's provision for the functioning of the local church. Gail
  5. Hi, You might look into the Smarr Literature programs. They are available from Rainbow or direct from their website. Here is their link: http://www.smarrpublishers.com Also try this: http://www.homeschoolmagazine.com/Homeschool_Reviews/reviews.php?rid=601
  6. We used Draw Today. It was nice but . . . it bothered me that the "drawing" was really erasing. The student uses charcoal to black out the entire page, then uses erasers to "hollow out" the picture based on a drawing grid. This is not bad, but it seemed counterproductive to learning how to actually draw. I was interested in teaching the rudiments of perspective, shading, etc. Draw Today is one way to learn to draw. I was not satisfied with it as my sole art curriculum. I felt it needed supplementation with other forms of drawing instruction.
  7. Hmmm. That's interesting. I was under the impression that State Farm policies were universal across the U.S. (don't know where I got that impression, just had it) I guess Texas is different than in Wisconsin. We just called our agent about this very question two weeks ago because our son went for his learning permit. Thanks for the information. Looks like it depends on where you live.
  8. OH my goodness! How prices have gone up! I was a high paying babysitter some years ago when my children were young. I paid $5/hr then. The babysitters liked to sit with my kids because we paid well and they were well-behaved. Now, you say it's $10/hr. Whew! Scary.
  9. My little girl used to call a magazine a maz-a-geen. She also called a hamburger a hang-a-ber. We all thought it was pretty cute.
  10. Well! I was thinking of reading this book. Now, I won't. So many good books out there, so little time. No sense in wasting any on this one.
  11. State Farm does not increase insurance premiums until your child has an actual driver's license. There is a discount for good grades.
  12. I'm spoiled. I like flavored coffees-----hazelnut cream is my current fav but that could change any day now. I love Dunkin Donuts brand and Gloria Jean's. Gail
  13. We have found that group field trips are usually a lot of time spent with very little educational return. We have had much better luck just going on our own to the places we'd like to visit. The time commitment to set up group things is an issue. Also, in groups there are always children running off who have to be found, toddlers along who get cranky and need naps, etc. When we have travelled in groups we have found that the group is herded through exhibits by tour guides who have a schedule to follow and we don't get to stop and look or discuss things at our leisure. Unless the discount is significant, we like to go alone or take along one other family. Gail
  14. I ponder the extra-curricular activity question a lot. I hear other parents touting all the activities their children are in and wonder if I should have them involved in more things. I keep hearing about how important it is to have a lot of impressive outside interests in order to get into college, yada, yada, yada. But I agree with some others on this. Running every afternoon and evening got to be TOO MUCH. As it is, even with elimination of activity, we still feel very busy. My two children are very active in youth group, which involves two nights a week. My son is a drummer on the church worship band which involves practice one day a week, playing on Sundays, and drum lessons on another afternoon. My daughter is in gymnastics, dance, and piano. But that amount of activity allows only two nights per week for having dinner at home as a family. There are so many things they COULD be involved in but I really don't know when we'd fit it all in. Their days are filled with school and chores from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm and all this other activity occurs after those hours. It's hard to find a good balance, isn't it? Gail
  15. Well, I really need some capris----------since it won't get warm around here even near the end of May! I have plenty of shorts for warm weather but not much to wear when the temperature is in between cold and warm. :) That's what I'd spend it on. Gail
  16. Yes, it would be better to write the thought in italics. As I think on it, I have read many books that have thoughts written in the narrative in italics. Gail
  17. Write Shop. Write Shop has a Book I and Book II. I used Book I for my children in 7th grade which focuses on basic writing skills. It is Write Shop II that goes into the essay, which we covered in 8th grade. Each Write Shop manual gives detailed instructions to the student in a student manual. The Teacher's Manual gives planning and feedback directions for each lesson. What I like about this curriculum is that it provides step-by-step instructions on how to TEACH writing. I am a good writer but I struggled with passing that on to the kids. This program helped me to do that. Other programs I used only gave writing assignments but had very little in the way of instuction for improvement. There is a detailed grading criteria sheet for each assingment that can be followed so that feedback is immediate and clear. Subjective grading is eliminated and the student knows exactly what is needed to improve. This program can be adapted. You can use their writing assignments or "beef up" the assignments to make them harder, longer, or you may use different topics than those they suggest. The cost for both books and the TM is around $100.00 I think. However, I found mine second-hand online for $75.00. Even if you must purchase it new, it has high re-sale value on the used homeschool book websites. When my children are finished with this, I plan on selling mine there. This curriculum will only teach the basics of writing a good essay. After that, mastery is achieved by practice, practice. I continue to assign essays on a periodic basis and their work continues to look more and more polished. You can continue to use the grading checklists forever. Just make a few photocopies of them to use as originals before you sell the Write Shop manuals to someone else. Well, that is what has worked for us. If the suggestions others have made here don't work out for you, you might look into the Write Shop program. Good luck! Gail
  18. We used Cothran's Traditional Logic 1. I would agree with Phyllis in Canada. The DVDs for TL 1 were very dry. The book explains everything well enough. I believe we could have done very well without the DVDs. I looked over both the Introductory Logic book and the Traditional Logic book and felt that it was easier to read and understand than the Introductory Logic book. This was why I chose TL over IL. Gail
  19. I don't know of an online transcript site but I can recommend a book I bought: Transcripts Made Easy by Janice Campbell. You can get it in e-book version or by mail for about $21.00. I bought the book because I like to read and study a book I am holding in my hands! I found it very helpful. She gives step by step instructions on how to create several different transcript types using ordinary computer programs like Excel. However, even with the step by step guidance I found the steps difficult to follow because I am not a computer savvy person. However, my husband is and easily created one in about 40 minutes for me as he read the instructions. (Just wanted to put that in so that if you were a remedial computer user like me, you would be forewarned that you would need some help.) Still, for the price, you can't beat it. There are expensive transcript software programs for sale for much more than that and I was impressed that this book could help us make one with software we already own. The book includes much advice on many other homeschooling topics for those of us teaching our children with college in mind. Here are two Janice Campbell links, one which sells the book directly and the other is more comprehensive with many other high schooling resources. http://www.transcriptsmadeeasy.com and http://www.everydayeducation.com Hope this is at least somewhat helpful, since I didn't actually answer your actual question. I guess it's good to have several options to look at when doing this sort of thing. If you are like me, you need all the suggestions you can get! Blessings to you and your family, Gail
  20. Total Health? Does it take a full year or would it be a half-credit?
  21. to have my son take the SAT in his junior year which is NEXT year. He will be taking Algebra 2 and Geometry in the same year. (He got behind and we are catching up) I am concerned about him taking the test before he has even had all the math he needs. Why are kids taking the test in their junior year before all their course work is even completed? I don't understand why the test would not normally be taken after high school anyway. I am worried that I have not prepared him properly but I have always felt it better to move more slowly through math at his own pace --- he has always struggled in that subject. I could have moved on when he wasn't solid on the concepts but how would that have prepared him any better? What a relief to know that the test can be taken after high school.
  22. Hi, You might look into Biblioplan's High School Supplement. I seem to remember that they combine World and American History together. I'm not sure of all the books used in that curriculum but it's worth looking into. Gail
  23. Hi Stephanie, I think he only needs one or two "fine arts" credits on his transcript. I was planning on giving him one whole music credit for high school, not one per year. I thought I'd see to it that he got another whole credit for art throughout his four high school years as well in order to have the "full" fine arts in his curriculum. Truthfully, he spends enough time on music that he could probably earn one credit per year, if you go by hours alone. If you track the hours on an informal basis, they add up: 1/2 hr practice per day x 6 days = 3 hr 2 hrs worship practice per week + 2 hrs practice and play on Sun. am = 4 1/2 hr lesson each week = .5 TOTAL weekly = 7.5 hrs Since he does this year round, multiply by approx. 48 weeks (allowing for 4 off weeks due to vacations) you get 360 hours a year. A whole credit is anywhere b/w 130 and 150 clock hours. I don't count all these hours only because they are all concentrated on drumming and thought I would need to include some other aspects of music as well, such as music history and appreciation---which I mentioned in above post. As to the theory, again, he is learning notes and musical terminology working with the others on the team. He's learned to read music as he works on the praise team with the other instrument players, for example. Another thing to consider is that he is not planning on a career in music. Were he planning that, we would be much more focused on music. His goals are to get a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice and become a police officer. Hope my reasoning on all of this is helpful to you, even if it may be a little more detailed than you asked for. :) Gail
  24. Thank you, LisaJ and Stacey in LA, for your feedback on the Math Relief. Boy, MR sure is looking better and better to me. I'm leaning towards it, but am holding off making a final decision until I go to a homeschool conference in April. Blessings, Gail
  25. Hello Jean and Michelle, Just saying hello. I'm in the state of Wisconsin also ---- the LaCrosse area. Gail
×
×
  • Create New...