sandra in va
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Posts posted by sandra in va
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Hi Mandy,
I hate to reply since my oldest is only in 7th grade. We are actively planning our hs plan and researching tons...does that count?
I thought your plan looked good - we're thinking of doing the same thing next year - QMA/LLLotR with some forensics study (limited b/c we're using a different science program). We've used QAW this year. I liked your addition of the TC DVD's. My only questions - would there be enough Bible to count as 1/2 credit without the Bible Survey book? I have the 4-6th grade guide (haven't gotten the older one yet) and there isn't much Bible listed, is there more in the older guide? I think they read through several books in the NT and then Trial and Triumph.
Also, I'm not sure where your son is in his science sequence, but would it be better to have a lab science as your base? I don't think the WP materials contain many labs. I think they could be used to supplement Bio or Human Phys (like from Apologia) quite nicely.
Just my two cents,
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In the summer Office Max usually runs a special on laminating for teachers. One year it was free (I got two entire sets of VP cards - 320 cards - laminated). Last year it was 50% off.
Don't know if you have an Office Max near you, but it might be something to look into.
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Congrats to your boys and you as teacher, Jackie!
We also got our results on Thursday. Both got purple ribbons for the intro exam. They were so excited!
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For us, Sing, Spell, Read and Write has worked. It has worked for all of my different kids. We don't do it as written, tweaking to make it work for us. I find the spelling in grade 1 over the top, so we use them as reading lists. We supplement with Explode the Code.
We're in the 2nd K book with my 5 yo now.
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Yes, it's only available from Hewitt. Unless you find one used. I got my set off the boards here.
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Question: how do you like Rosetta Stone? What level are you doing and have you been doing it all school year? Thanks for any info. We did espanol para chicos y grandes last year (and also Senor Morris -- Elementary Spanish) but he didn't retain very much. He loves the computer so much that perhaps he would find Rosetta Stone fun.
(And for those of you on this board with good memories, I did trash-talk RS in the past, but I haven't seen the full program....:001_smile:)
Julie
Julie,
Unfortunately, we did not do it all year. We took a break this spring when we were working on preparing for the National Latin Exam. He's picked it back up again, hopefully he did not lose everything he learned. It was wonderful how we was starting to interject Spanish sentences into conversation.
We plan on following up RS with a traditional course in a year or two, so this is just laying the foundation for conversation and getting familiar with the sounds of the language.
Hope this answers some of your questions...I'm pm'ing you b/c I have some questions about some of the curricula you are using currently. :)
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We also had our oldest two taking the intro level. We did (per a suggestion I read somewhere) have the kids mark their answers on the test paper, so I have a pretty good idea of how they did. But I'd love the official version. Hope they arrive soon!
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piano - 45 mins
Bible (Explorer's Discovery - Job/Psalms/Prov)- 30 mins
math (TT prealg) - 45 mins
Latin (Henle 1 or Cambridge 1, Famous Men of Rome) - 45 mins
writing (IEW SICC A) - 45 mins
Lunch
lit (PP guide) - 30 mins
science (PH Science Explorer - Earth's Waters) - 30 mins
english/spelling (R&S 5/Phonetic Zoo C) - 45 mins
history (Ancients) - 1 hour
spanish (Rosetta Stone) - 20 mins
Reading
tennis, piano lessons
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We are planning on starting with the Ancients and using Omnibus as a "guide" for the year. I really like the looks of LL but don't see anything on Ancients. Am I missing something?
The other day I noticed Hewitt's list of possible future courses on their website. Ancient lit is one of them. :)
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This summer we'll be doing typing, typing, typing! And math, latin, and one more subject that I haven't narrowed down yet - all at a reduced pace. (Oh yes, and instruments.)
If we can, I'd like to do a little unit on something we haven't spent much time on - like archaeology or art.
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The next year she wants to do Middle Ages with the LL Medieval Lit and one Shakespeare. On the LL site, it says that these are more difficult and that you should do at least 2 other high school level LL before attempting them. Do you find that to be true? I ask before my next child wants to do LOTR in 9th, and Medieval Lit and Shakespeare in 10th. So is LOTR enough of an intro to be able to handle Medieval LL and Shakespeare?
Thanks for any help.
Amy
From my understanding (based only on research since we are using LL7 currently) - LL was designed to use 2 courses a year. So if you do American Lit in 9th grade, you will most likely use both their early-mid 19th cent and mid-late 19th cent courses. I believe this counts as two courses, and you are set to go for Medieval/Shakespeare. You would probably want to double check this with Hewitt. (The only thing I see that might be conflicting for using LLftLotR is that their unit studies use much of the same literature that is in the Medieval LL. You would need to adjust for this, which you did mention in your post.)
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Thanks for your insight! I will continue to show him the concept on the abacus but if he understands it, then he need to use it for his work. :001_smile:
You meant he doesn't need to use it for his work, right?
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Language Arts:
Rod and Staff 3
Spelling Workout C/D
Reason for Handwriting C
IEW Student Writing Intensive A
Lots of reading, trying to use a few comp guides this year inc. selections from VP Narnia and others
Math:
Horizons 3, MUS Gamma
Science:
1/2 year Earth Science, 1/2 year WP Animal Worlds with younger sister
History:
Ancient History with MOH as spine (along with older sibs)
Bible:
VP Bible Cards
Foreign Languages:
Latina Christiana 1/Minimus
Hey Andrew Greek, Level 2
Extra: violin, orchestra, tennis
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Yes, they the TOG lapbooks are made by Knowledge Box Central. Here is a link to the Tapestry website for more options:
http://www.tapestryofgrace.com/tog_fast/lapbooks.htm
:001_smile:
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[Question: My understanding of RS is for them to use the abacus in order to visualize and grasp concepts, but once they understand, then the abacus is not needed. Am I correct in this understanding? Yes
Next question: He understands and is able to work complicated problems, mentally, without the abacus. Should I still use it? We are coming up on the lessons teaching them to use side two. From what I can tell, he already "gets it". Should I skip the abacus? I don't have a problem presenting it to him, but I guess I am wondering what is the point unless he will need to know how for the next levels. My suggestion would be to run through one problem as a demo and see if he can replicate it on another problem to show he understands. From what you've shared, this should be easy for him. I think that it would reassure you that he does understand the concept of the problem before tackling them on his own.
To answer your question about future levels - I don't think that they really work those specific problems with the abacus again - I think the important thing is that they understand how place value works on the abacus and how to trade. If they get those concepts, I would say you're good for future books. FWIW, we did use all 5 levels.
Hope this helps a little!
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You could look into the Tapestry of Grace lapbook for year 2 unit 1 which covers Middle Ages. Here are some of the topics - Byzantine Art Forms, Islam booklet, King Arthur booklet, Coat of Arms, Vikings, Castle, People of the Middle Ages, Crusades, Marco Polo, Genghis and Kublai Lhan, Medieval Towns, Black Death, Joan of Arc, Gutenberg, Wycliffe, and Hus. There are some more, too.
We used many of the booklets for unit 1 and found them easy to use.
Hope that helps!
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Thats what my dc yell as they check the mail each day. I want to thank Newport News (Suffolk), Virginia; Booleroo Center, Australia; and Canby,Oregon. We really appreciate the cards and know that it takes more than a bit of effort - and cost - to get them out.
Alicia in New Zealand
So glad that it made it to you from VA! We realized too late that we hadn't put sufficient postage on it, so we were going to send another one. Thanks for letting us know!
:)
P.s. we get a similar yell at our house when mail is checked!
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No, don't say that - it's never too late! I didn't realize that you had a younger sibling doing it with your older one. I did a similar thing, my 12 and 10 yos do Latin at the same level, I didn't start them until my second one was old enough to join in.
They are also going to be making DVD's for their First Form Latin, but I'm not sure when they'll be out. You could call MP to see if they'd be available for next year. That would still be a great option for next year. As an alternative, I think after finishing LC1, you might want to consider just switching to Henle 1 with the MP guide. It is really easy to use. Both your kids would do fine with it. I have a friend who has a 6th grader in Henle 1 (and he just did LC1 before it). He's doing well.
Just some thoughts. Hopefully you'll hear from the experts. :)
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Sorry I mis-read your OP, I thought your son was 13 for some reason! I don't think LC1 is too slow. I was just reading on the MP forums that the First Form program was written for older beginners (12-13 yos). Henle 1 with the MP guide is also good but might be better following LC1 b/c of the style of the textbook. I was mentioning it as an idea to get you through Latin at a brisker pace to start Greek.
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Not Drew either, but I think with a 13 year old, a better fit might be to use Henle or the new First Form Latin instead of LC1. You could cover more ground and then get to Greek sooner. I also agree it would be good to get a little more Latin under your belt before starting a new language. One alternative is to use the "Hey Andrew" Greek series. They are very gentle and easy to use and would get him learning the alphabet and basics in a way that wouldn't compete with Latin.
I look forward to hearing what Drew and others say.
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I'll second Life of Fred Fractions! It's what we did last summer to cement fractions, and it was fun for them, painless for me (kids do it independently), and did an excellent job cementing all the fraction facts.
We'll be following it up this summer with Life of Fred Decimals and Percents. :001_smile:
:iagree: That's our plan for the summer, too!
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Shannon -
VP has 160 Bible cards (5 sets of 32) as well as 160 history cards. Some of the Bible cards are in the OT/AE and NT/GR sets, but obviously just a fraction of them. Those two sets do cover history and Bible simultaneously. I think you are right - you could use just the WP ones you'd like. Just a note - they are printed 8 to a page with the date and importance facts on one page and the topic on the other, so you do have to get them printed out on cardstock back to back so they will be real flashcards. Hope this makes sense!
:)
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I really like what I see, but I'm not getting a good sense of what is included. It looks a little light on Bible study to me, compared to TOG. If specifically looking at Quest for the Ancient World.
We started the year with TOG year 1, then after unit 2 switched back to WP. We had used WP for AS1 and AS2 and now we are using QAW. We've gone from week 11-19 (at a faster pace). Now we are adding in some TOG to our trimmed down QAW to finish up the year. They are both great programs for different reasons.
To answer your question, the Bible sections that they cover are different. For example - TOG really focuses on the first four books of the Bible in units 1 and 2. QAW doesnt, so after 16 weeks in TOG, I was only on week 11 in QAW. However, QAW does spend more time on the prophets and kings. There is a chart in the back of MOH that links Scripture references to each MOH section. I assign those as extra reading they do before they write up their MYO history page. TOG definitely has more Bible reading, though. For, ex. reading through whole books as opposed to relevant chapters.
About Teacher's Guides: Are there discussion questions listed, or is it just a list of assignments? No discussion questions.
About the history flashcards: What do these look like? Can anyone compare these with cards offered by Veritas Press?
History flashcards cannot compare with VP. The WP ones have topics on one side and a short description on the back. Whereas VP has 32 beautiful cards with dates, info, and pictures. What the WP cards lack in beauty or info, they make up for it in sheer quantity. There are many more cards with lots of topics. It would be easy to add in the VP cards for memory work. Only thing is that you would need to use their first two sets OT/AE and NT/GR. We use the VP Bible cards and love them. We have tried in the past with the history cards but have not been able to make them work as well. I'm still trying to fit them in!
Mapwork: Are there answer keys?
I recommend the Knowledge quest book of maps - it has better (imo) map directions and answer keys built in. I think it is more detailed and easier to implement. I would also recommend the Holman Bible atlas which is a powerful resource for many of the maps required.
Has anyone just purchased the guide w/o the package? If so, do you get the history flashcards with the guide?
I have done it both ways. (Buying the guide alone and the whole package.) I like to buy the guide and the books I want, b/c we don't use them all. I do like the WP schedule, it helps keep me on track! And as you mentioned - requires less planning so it is easier for me.
Any comments or opinions about Winter Promise or comparisions to other curricula that might help me make a decision about what to buy?
WP is heavy on crafts, but that does not mean it is light on learning from books. They pack the program with so many options for how to learn that no one could do it all. We don't do many of the crafts, but still really like the program. I've used SL in the past and loved it, but really wanted a mix of books to reach a wider age range and the option of activities. I also appreciate the corresponding activity (MYO) pages. The independent work pages are nice, as well, b/c the kids can see at a glance what they have to work on each day - directions for the MYO pages, which timeline figures to place, etc. Obviously no program is perfect. WP doesn't always correlate its books well. I use TOG and the SL catalog to supplement with more books b/c we love to read. I use the TOG charts for the kids to fill in and some of the discussion questions.
Sorry for all this rambling. It really depends on what you want from the program, anything can be tweaked to make it more suitable for your needs, however, it helps to pick a main one that fits your most pressing needs.
Best to you!
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Great thread, hope it's not too late for an add-on question. We just started SE and we are using the text, guided reading workbook, and the CD -which we haven't spent much time yet. Thanks for the Labzone idea. Question...what about tests? Does the publisher sell them or do you make your own?
Thanks!!
WP QMA; WP Human Body and Forensics; LLftLotR for 15yo ds?
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted · Edited by sandra in va
:lol:
Everything makes sense to me now! Thanks for reminding me about the two church history books. Also, I like how you are being creative with your science - fitting it to history and including some non-conventional topics. Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into it.
Thanks for sharing all of your ideas and what you've used in the past. It's impressive! It definitely adds to the education I've been getting here on the boards. Sometimes I can get locked into the traditional subjects and sequence because it is known, but one of the best benefits of homeschooling is that we can tailor everything to our kids. :001_smile:
Best to you next year. Hopefully you will get feedback from moms who have BTDT.