sandra in va
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Posts posted by sandra in va
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I'll join in! Here's what I'm thinking right now...of course, subject to continual change! This will be our first year with a lot of online classes.
Bible - Explorer's Quest level (not sure which book though)
LA - Second half of both IEW SICC B and R/S 7, undecided if LL 7 or 8
Latin - Henle 2 at Regina Coeli
Geography - class at TPS (Runkle's Geography) or join in with youngers MFW ECC
Science - Apologia Biology
Math - Geometry - TT or Chalkdust
Computer - course(s) at TPS
Italian - Rosetta Stone
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Yes. I am a member, but it would not let me post yesterday. Rather than fight a computer issue that I did not have the time for, I posted here thinking that someone might be able to help.
I'll try to post a question the that e-mail loop again.
And.. does anyone here have any suggestions as well??
Sorry you couldn't post! I did take a look at the files section and it looked like there were some suggestions for those units there. I think you'd be able to access the files even though you can't post.
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We used EE this year and finished it in less than a semester. I think the Story writing is for junior high kids or high school students who do not have much experience with the parts of a story. If your dd has already written a novel then the Novel book would be a much better fit. (This is what I gleaned from a recent webinar where Andrew was introducing new IEW products.) So, I do think you could do both in a year. My dd went through EE, now I am having her write essays in another subject while she is working on another IEW course - continuation course C. You could do something similar - have your dd complete EE, then do essays with another subject while she does the Novel program, too.
Does this make any sense? :001_smile:
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I agree with Candace. I have only bought one and it was enough for me to know that I will never ever do that again. Yet I am a FIAR fan. We have so much fun, but FnL are not for us. Even my dd didn't like it. And yes, the instructions were vague. I also found the price high.
:iagree: Sorry you bought Ping and didn't like it. I bought the Peter Rabbit one and never used it - there were no instructions! I love lapbooks and FIAR, but just not FnL's.
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Definitely think you should give MOH a try. AAH was very dry for my kids (although they learned lots - they still talk about "that program" where they studied explorers for what felt like forever...) - we used it when they were in 3rd and 5th. They enjoyed MOH 1 a lot more. There are no worksheets like in AAH, but there are quizzes, timeline card work, and projects. MOH is organized very differently, too. It is more biography based and chronological - it has three short lessons on different people each week. AAH had a more cohesive theme for each quarter (explorers, colonies, etc.)
I like AAH b/c it of its organization and thoroughness - but I would definitely use it with older kids- junior high probably.
After one semester of AAH, we switched to Winter Promise American Story 1 which was great b/c I could include my 1st grader in. We used American Story 2 the next year. Sonlight 4 is also a great program.
ETA: Forgot to say....sorry that this year isn't going well. I know all too well how that feels. Would you be open to a literature-based program like SL or WP? I think your kids might really enjoy it. :)
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I would second My Father's Dragon - it is a little shorter. And so fun!
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Are you a member of the yahoo group iewfamilies? Here's a link....
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IEWfamilies/
there are several helpful trained instructors that post there. Also, there is a wealth of information in the files section.
hth!
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We drew a generic checklist chart on a whiteboard on the wall, and for the past month that has helped considerably. Can you check off your math, science, history, silent reading, phonics, spelling, writing, grammar, piano practice, etc.? I can look at the chart and at a glance see who has been on task and who hasn't. We erase it each night, and start new each day. I put an "x" on anything I choose to excuse them from each day because my time is limited. When all subjects are checked off, you are free to choose what you want to do.
In the throes of a busy day, I have often thought of doing this very thing! It would be so helpful to see who has done what each day. We have paper checklists the kids use. (from the 1st grader up through 9th grade) The younger kids just use it to mark when things are done. The olders use it to write down their assignments and plan their week. Throughout the day, I look at their individual checklists and keep up that way, but it would be nice to have it all on a wall in one place. I got the checklist idea from TOG.
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I know 2 companies sell these. Which one do you like best?
We like Live and Learn Press - have only used them for General Science, but my daughter really liked it. Easy to use and I liked that they went onto cardstock and 3-hole punched into a binder - convenient for carting around and reviewing.
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We take a good 8 hours - with a lunch break in the middle. As Tina said, the younger the kid, the shorter the school day. But, I don't have the youngers finish earlier, their work is just spread out over the whole day depending on when I'm available to work with them.
Some notes - there is usually some homework for my olders, as well, depending on the week's assignments and how efficiently they work during the day. Also, instrument practice is not included in this time. And, like others have said, I still don't get to everything I want!
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I looked into AHL for 9th grade, and it looked like they only covered the first 5 weeks (or so) of Notgrass. Do you think you could do those in the summer? Then you could just follow the WHL program as written.
Just a thought...
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Probably so, it just doesn't help that there aren't clear instructions on what to do with the threads, overview, and SAP and how to pull the assignments out. I'm all for simplicity, but as a newcomer to TOG I have been struggling to simplify what I am seeing into the actual assignments. I completely understand!! I think you're brave for trying it! You've gotten some great help here - I've appreciated reading the posts about LG, too. I think if you do decide to go with TOG, you'll just have to jump in and just try different things. Because you're doing the planning, it takes a while to figure out what you want to cover each week, how much time it takes, and when you want to do it. It does take a while to get it all together.
Ok, I'm getting confused. I thought you said to use the SAP for geography. This was my problem before, because the overview and SAP are different.I use the SAP sheets for geography. Honestly, I have brain overload when I try to use the overview pages. I just use them for the vocab and famous people (and timeline, if we did that which we don't at this point) - everything else I get from the SAP sheets.
Is this literature worksheet something on the SAP? The sample didn't have any literature activities for the week. Does LG have literature worksheets?
Yes, there are lit worksheets for LG, UG, and D in the SAP. There really aren't any activities - just read the book and do a worksheet. Only when you get to the R level are there discussion guidelines. I personally choose to add to the lit - we do different books with lit guides, as well as Reading Detective - though the kids do read all the TOG lit. We do the TOG lit worksheet sometimes - the LG can have things like - write synonyms for vocab words in the book, solve for codes, and put events in order. They get more involved in the UG - like describe characters, write summaries of chapters, and true/false comprehension questions.
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1. You said you preferred BHFHG over the LG in TOG. Can you pls. elaborate on why? I will have a 1st grader next year and her sister is 3 yrs younger. I'm trying to figure out if TOG would make sense next year or if I should stick with HOD and consider TOG down the road when I want more of the thinking and accountability questions you were mentioning, and the teacher notes. What are the strengths and weaknesses of LG? (Maybe I should create a separate post on this!) I'm sure you will get many helpful contributions if you do post this separately! Personally, I think that there is great benefit to doing something other than TOG when they are young - we used SL when our kids were younger and have some of our fondest memories from reading books together. I think a program that is tailored to young kids makes a lot of sense - and all the planning is done for you. I think HOD looks great - would develop a lot of skills and be enjoyable for you and your kids. That said, I know that some families prefer to start TOG when their kids are young so that they can self-educate with a higher level as the kids go through LG.
2. What RTR crafts did they not like? Is this the one with the painting every week? We only did a few of the weeks - and they just felt that the crafts took more time than was worth it for what they learned. My oldest has a full schedule and felt that his time was better spent doing other things. CTC is the one with painting. RTR has varied crafts that relate to the history lesson. Perhaps a more crafts-oriented kid would enjoy it more.
3. You said in RTR there was very little to do with the reading they were doing, even though you like the books. One of the pulls for me is the HOD selection of books. But I have been wondering how much thinking type questions go along with them. Can you pls. elaborate a little on your experience? They do have assignments that go with the reading - mostly narrations. I remember there were also things they wanted the kids to listen for (ex. a conflict or something like that). I think the lower levels were fine. If you want a literature program, Drawn into the Heart of Reading looks good.
4. You started to say "In RTR, the notebooking" and it got cut off. What were you planning to write? Sorry! The main thing is that the notebook - though beautiful - was not a good fit for us.
5. Overall, do you feel HOD is a good fit at the lower levels and TOG for the higher levels? I do feel that way. I prefer a more lit-based program in the lower grades - something fun and, importantly, without the hassle of too much planning! (HOD, SL, WP, BF or MFW are some examples). We are finding our way with TOG, though. I think the longer I use it for the early years, I am discovering more of its strengths for our family. One I can think of is that it introduces the same topics that the students will encounter again. It also has a lot of hands-on projects, maps, and lapbooks to choose from. Finally, my youngers love studying the same topics her older sibs are studying. It's just different from what we've used in the past - so I'm having the harder time adjusting - my kids are fine. :tongue_smilie:
Thanks!
Kathy
Kathy - hope this helps. These are tough decisions and sometimes only made after trying the different curricula for yourselves. Please keep in mind that I only used HOD for a short time. We felt pretty soon after we started that it wasn't right for us. Let me know if I can answer any more questions, feel free to pm me if you'd like.
Blessings!
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A friend of mine put memory work in a binder - she had one for each kid. At breakfast, they would pull out their binders and go over the material. This might accomplish the same thing without being so public.
The ideas here are great. Nan's post reminded me of Cheaper by the Dozen where the father had the kids listening to language records whenever they were in the shower - and how he painted morse code on the bathroom wall. Great decorating ideas. ;)
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It seems to me that the 6-7 page length is appropriate for 10-12th graders. I think 3-4 pages would be better for the 8-9th graders.
My 9th grader is doing 3-4 page essays for lit this year and it is a good challenge for her. I am doing one longer paper for her in the 4th quarter.
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I tried HOD at the beginning of this year - using RTR (for my 5th and 7th graders), BHFHG (3rd grader) and LHFHG (1st grader). I tried it b/c I liked the idea that each of my children would be getting instruction appropriate to their level. I also liked that Bible/character training was interwoven. After only a few weeks we switched to TOG.
Here are my thoughts on why we switched:
-it was harder to keep up with the kids in three different levels and times of history, even though the older level is mostly independent - the teacher is required to do some things
-I really liked BHFHG - I thought it was great for my third grader...actually I think I preferred it over the LG in TOG...I liked the copywork, poetry, read alouds, mapwork, crafts/art work all scheduled out in bite-sized chunks. No planning for me!
-RTR was not a big hit for me or my boys. They did not like the crafts, which took up too much time in their opinion (esp. my older son). I did not like that there was very little to do with the reading that they were required to do (the books they were reading were great by the way). I prefer TOG which has the thinking and accountability questions and laid out discussion lectures/teachers' notes for me. In RTR, the notebooking
In addition, what worked for my 3rd grader - the bite-sized chunks of different activities - did not work for my sons. My oldest esp. did not like so many little pieces to have to do each day. TOG is working for us b/c he is given reading, mapping, and questions at the beginning of the week that he arranges on his own schedule.
I also prefer TOG b/c my 9th grader is folded in with my other kids. When we were doing HOD, I had her doing her own thing for history.
In short - I think HOD would have worked for us with my youngest kids and possibly my 5th grader, but given that we have children at so many levels and that it didn't work as well for my older kids (both in meeting my expectations and their personalities), we found TOG to be a better fit.
Sorry this is so long, hopefully something in this long-winded post will help your decision-making!
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Ok, so is TOG similar to SL? I went to their website last night, but am still a little bit confused (I guess I need it to be spelled out for me). I am planning on using SL (core's P4/5, 3 & 100) this next year, but all of a sudden, I feel drawn to TOG. So please, TOG users, tell me about it. Is it easy to use? Open and go? Teacher intensive? What does you day look like using it? Are there scheduled readers/read alouds (like SL)? I really like that it looks like everyone would be studying the same topic, but on their own level. Thanks in advance for anything you can tell me.
Like the other posters - I made the switch from SL to TOG. We would have been doing at least 3 cores this year. I still have mixed feelings about the switch.
Loves: I love, love, love the discussions with my olders and that they are independent outside of those discussions. My UG student is mostly independent, as well, and I love it that he is starting to sit in on the olders' discussion times. I can do this b/c they are all studying the same topic. When I'm reading aloud the LG kids' history books - the other kids overhear and it reinforces what they are reading on their own. I also enjoy having hands-on ideas (missing from SL). We don't do a lot of them, but my kids enjoy them. Finally, there is also a lot of flexibility - I use SOTW with my LG kids - it is scheduled in TOG.
Difficulties: Planning is harder. It is more expensive - I have a lot of books, but I still need to get quite a few. I don't want to depend on our library, I would rather have everything on my shelves...but it does get expensive. Also, we miss the SL read alouds - some of our favorite memories are enjoying those books selections together. I am trying to keep up with read alouds from the younger cores for my little ones and the olders do enjoy hearing them again, but I miss reading to my olders more.
I know that I could incorporate SL RA from older cores into our day - but honestly, the kids' days are just too full with other subjects and I am too busy to add another thing to our day. I do try to do a few RA's for the olders throughout the year, but it's not the same as SL. Oh, and in answer to your questions there are scheduled RA's for the LG-D students - one to two books per 9 weeks. So far for us, they have been nonfiction selections - for ex. Famous Men of the Middle Ages.
All-in-all, TOG is a good fit for our family, but nothing is perfect. I think it is one of those things you just have to try. My suggestions is to print out one of their 3 week samples or buy one quarter of a year and try it.
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Good question. I have the draw and write through history middle ages/vikings and I only saw three references to Christianity. None in the instructions/book itself - just three sentences in the copywork. One about the Vikings ceasing raids b/c they became Christians, another about Marco Polo explaining Christianity to Kublai Khan, and finally one in the Renaissance copywork about how people began to study God's creation through science.
This doesn't seem overtly Christian, though I can't speak for the other books.
hth!
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Congratulations!!
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There is a book called Draw and Write through History - Vikings and Middle Ages. It is pretty detailed, might need to be adjusted for a 7 yo.
http://www.drawandwrite.com/index.html
hth!
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We're using Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings this year with my 7th and 9th graders and it has been a lot of fun.
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So who here is using TOG?What year are you using? Year 2
What year(s) have you used in the past? Year 1
What age students are you using it with? D - 9th and 7th, UG - 5th, and LG - 3rd (1st grader is doing her own thing - joining in sometimes)
:)
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Basically, I had him read the poetics and frameworks. (I strongly suggest you read them as well since you don't have an English background. Or read them together and discuss it together.) He had to do vocabulary cards. He had to read the assignment. I did give him a copy of the questions but did not require him to answer them. Instead, we did them together during our discussion time. Do not be afraid to cut, either.
Christine
That was very helpful, thanks!
Janis in DE - I agree about the discussion outlines...that's why I feel like I want to give the rhetoric lit a try even though it's intimidating. Hope your next year goes well!
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Thanks for taking the time to describe your week...it helped. I also spent some time on your blog (yet again!).
I'd love to hear from others, as well... :)
Talk to me about MFW US History to 1877 for high school...
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
Melissa -
I was thinking of this same idea for my daughter in the next couple of years, too. (Although she'll be in 11th or 12th grade by then). One issue I'm running into is that the "to 1877" course uses just one half of the BJU text book (for one semester credit). The second half is used in the 12th grade MFW course - so essentially to do just American history, you would need to buy both years? What are your thoughts on this?
Also like you, I was wondering how integrated the govt course is...is it easy to take it out? We don't need govt within the American history course either.
We're giving MFW a try next year with ECC...looking forward to it!