Rhondabee
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Posts posted by Rhondabee
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Can't remember who sung that song.....and probably anyone reading this is too young to know!
Also can't believe my log-in still works - thanks SWB'
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That must be it - I figured it was either HWOT or one I had gotten but can't remember the name of!
Thanks!
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I know there *is* a handwriting curriculum that starts with "c" and then builds other letters from "c" - but I can't remember which one it is. Does that sound familiar to anyone?
(Asking for a friend whose son is struggling in public school....)
Thanks!
Rhonda
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I have no idea what TPS English is but I can say that after half a year with MFW I feel the English aspect is sorely lacking. It started off well enough but after the first big assignment it is very light (IMO). I'm scrambling now to supplement writing for the rest of the year.
:iagree:
Thankfully, I signed my DS up for a Lost Tools of Writing class with Memoria Press. It's supposed to be a credit by itself, but I will probably end up pairing it with the English scheduled in MFW. I just don't have the time or the expertise to choose books to supplement MFW's literature.
(We are using MFW's World History, if "using" is the right word - LOL! I don't even use their history anymore. It's a shame because the Bible and Church History portion is so well done.)
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Hello High School Hive,
Has anyone here used the Lost Tools of Writing DVDs? I'm wondering if they really help with teaching this course.
THanks,
Capt_Uhura
I know this isn't what you were asking ... but my DS's favorite class this year by far is Memoria Press's LTOW Class. I'm very impressed with everything he's learning, but mostly that he is applying it across the board to all his writing assignments.
Best of luck!
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Joint enrollment or dual enrollment like Bev described in her posts.
Mary
Thanks! I kept thinking "Junior" (as in Junior College) and couldn't figure out what in the world the E would stand for...
I am grateful for this thread, especially since we don't seem to have the same type of Community Colleges as other states. It has motivated me to call the very-close what-used-to-be-called "Junior College" next week. Their website was very homeschool-friendly, so I'm feeling much less anxious about the whole thing.
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oh my heart goes out to you!! I can hear such a hunger! I guess I don't have the lingo of the religious world. I was a sinner set free that serves God out of gratitude and awe, so what does evangical mean?
I always wonder that myself. I really don't know if I am "evangelical" or not. Everyone seems to have their own usage for the word and I sometimes wonder if anyone really knows exactly what it means - LOL! But, I would really like to nail it down as my 13 and 15yo boys are starting to ask if we are, or if we should be, or if we shouldn't be "evangelical" - and I don't know what to say.
(ETA: I went to Wikipedia and tried to figure out if it would apply to us or not. I think I/we are somewhat "evangelical" and somewhat not - LOL! But, I have several beliefs that I hold quietly because I know they wouldn't be accepted by 99% of the members of our non-denominational church.)
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When I was in high school, I did not have time to meet the requirements of all the adults in my life. I had to pick and choose who I was going to disappoint. It was very difficult when adults took it personally when I didn't make their project a priority over that of another adult's.
And on top of that I was given projects without being given the tools to complete them.
I would muck my way through my projects, trying to guess what was best to do, and what would bring the least anger at me, if I skipped, often guessing wrong, and knowing that no matter what, I was going to be told I was being "bad".
It was never about me. It was all about them, as they fought over my attention. And it was always someone else's responsibility to teach me the tools. All each adult was supposed to do was set the expectations, and then evaluate my obedience to their impossible demands.
For many students, high school is a sad and confusing time.
A rubric goes a long way, in at least letting a student know exactly what the punishment will be, for each corner cut, instead of having to guess, when time gets too crunched.
Hunter,
Sorry to detour from the original intent of the thread, but I'm so glad you posted this. I think you nailed my DS's experiences perfectly. Thank you for giving me a glimpse into their world. You've given me much food for thought this morning.
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We went the JE route and transferred to a larger university.
Mary
What is the "JE" Route?
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Actually I haven't decided and we start back Monday :banghead: I am tempted to just forget history for the rest of the year :D
Glad to know I'm not the only one! :lol:
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There is the third volume of K12's Human Odyssey series which covers 1914-present. It is much more coherent than Spielvogel, IMO. It is a high school level book. There is also a Teaching Company course about the 20th century.
I had forgotten about video. (I knew something would come up from the board!)
I looked for the TC at our library. It's not there - but there are *tons* of others that look really interesting.
Thanks~
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A SHort History of the 20th Century by Goeffrey Blainey. It goes up to 911.
This looks great! (Gotta love Amazon...)
Thanks~
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It's not a comprehensive look at the period, but I'd use as many Albert Marrin books as possible for this time period (Stalin, Mao, The Elephant and the Tiger re: Vietnam War)....
Yeah - These are all available from the library!
Thanks~
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(This is somewhat related to my other question, but a different angle.)
If I knew for certain that I didn't *have* to cover 1965-present this year in World History (because maybe it will be covered in American History?), then I would have time to continue reading our narrative history, read from Spielvogel's Human Odyssey and answer the Section Review questions, *and* assign the "once-a-week paper" that SWB talks about in WTM and the high school writing download. I would *love* that! (And I keep thinking of SWB saying everyone has gaps.)
BUT...if you tell me that I *have* to do 1965-present because that's just too important to "gap" intentionally, well... then we'll muddle though. LOL! But, please tell me what you might use in place of the Spielvogel. I am not looking forward to using it exclusively for that time period.
Thanks!
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I have about 6 weeks to cover 1965-present (at the end of the year), and I'd really like to find something narrative that covers the whole world. Something along the lines of a little-more-grown-up version of SOTW-4. Anybody know of one?
I have also thought about using the DK History of the World and let DS choose biographies from the library - kind of like WTM Logic Stage history. But, I know he won't finish a 300-page biography in a week - and the only other choices are the 60-80 pages books from the Juvenile section. (I don't know if that would be "enough" to satisfy high school.)
Of course, we could just do Spielvogel's Human Odyssey - I am using it coupled with a more narrative history from now to the end of the year. But even though I suppose HO is a "good textbook," it still doesn't give the same vibrancy to the story of history that a good narrative does. I would really rather find a good narrative and drop the HO if I had to.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks!
Rhonda
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Harry Potter is a Messiah-figure who defeats his enemy through love - even sacrificing his own life in the last book. (yes, he is resurrected) Not that you need to go into all the literary aspects or compare it to the story of Christ with your child. But, Narnia and the story of Aslan is very much the same. (The "gateway" to Narnia from our world is created by magic.) Yet Christians embrace the Narnia tales, I suppose, because they're more openly didactic.
I avoided the books for a long time because someone told me "they teach kids to do actual magic spells." This is poppycock. Harry Potter is a beautiful love story, (not romantic, but *true* love) - a story where good defeats evil. And if you treat it as such, I bet your kids will, too.
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Hi Rhonda,
This was the ONLY thing that forced our DSs into showing their work: 1 point for the answer, 1 point for showing the steps (even if there was an error in one of the steps of the math). So, to get all the answers correctly but not show the work could only earn at best 50% -- an "F" or failing grade, while showing the work for every problem, even if you don't get the right answer on many of them, will probably boost you to at least a "D" at minimum.
Probably just me, but correct answers really mean nothing; I want DSs to understand the process and the math thinking behind it. And that means showing me the steps. And when they whine that they will never use the math again, I say, "Yep; you're probably right. But you ARE learning the skills of self-discipline, logic, and orderliness. And you'll use THOSE skills ALL your life in every aspect of your life. So, let's get on to the next problem..."
Still have whining, but not so much. I think they are tired of my "it builds character" answer. :tongue_smilie: BEST of luck, Hugs, Lori D.
Oh, you are a member of the Draconian Homeschoolers after all! :lol:
On a side-note, I let me DS read the responses and he said (during out literature discussion later) that if Sir Gawain got "partial credit" from the Green Knight, then surely he should get partial credit in math! LOL
Your method does sound better than my old rule, which was that for each problem that requires a formula, he had to show me the formula. (Saxon always has the monster-fractions-with-scientific-notations and a dozen variables that need to be reduced. I always cross-out things as I cancel them, but he doesn't. Your method would solve that!
Thanks, Lori!
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Rhonda,
Its very easy to get them to write the work down..... offer partial credit if it is set up correctly, has the correct steps, then a careless error doesn't cost the whole entire problem.
I have wondered about partial credit (because he does write down his work for about 1/2 of the problems). Art Reed says not to, and it has frankly just been too many years since I took a math class. I *thought* we received partial credit, but honestly don't remember.
That would definitely raise his grades a long way. ;)
Thanks!
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Thanks.
We'll try it...
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With Saxon you could take the next lesson and use it as an alternate test. Don't count the "new" material in the test grade. But DO count all the questions/problems that are review.
After several times of taking extra tests my son is now more careful and makes fewer mistakes.
Just an idea.
That sounds like a great idea. Thanks!
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My 10th grade ds is using Saxon Algebra II this year, and he *gets* it. At least, when he does his homework. He gets the right answers when I show him just the test and say, "Look at this problem fresh." But invariably he is getting C's on his tests. (sometimes A's, sometimes D's - oh, yeah, guess which one it was today - LOL - :glare:) And most of the errors are negative signs, addition errors - stupid things, kwim?
The problem is I *know* he could do better, and he feels rotten about himself because he knows that he knows the material (but he doesn't know why he makes these "dumb" mistakes). I have begged him (for years) to show his work. But, frankly, he doesn't *think* like I think. He can really do all the work in his head. And when I finally do get him to explain to me how he's thinking about math - it's like a foreign language to me! I don't know how to even begin explaining how differently we approach the same problem.
I asked my brother about it (he has a degree in Elec Engineering from Ga Tech), and he said it sounded to him that my ds thinks "like a guy" - and that he often made the same kind of errors in college. Not helpful, really. I don't know what to *do* about this - or if I should do anything.
DS has the Art Reed videos, and has been doing his work pretty independently. I don't know why, but it seems whenever I try "independent" with my boys, it is a recipe for disaster.
At any rate, I am open to suggestions. I have even considered putting my DD (5yo) into public school so I can maybe squeeze in an extra hour or two to work with him one-on-one. (Not that I will be much help!)
Thanks!
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I've often thought that the best exchange program would be to take all of our kids here on a field trip to a country without free education and have them try to make a living as a teen there for a month or two (if it could be done safely). I honestly don't think kids here (or parents) realize what we have or what life could be like.
I saw yesterday that China topped those world tests for reading, science, and math. While I realize many of their students are not in school if they are trade bound, it doesn't surprise me that they took first in everything if this student is a "typical" example. He MIGHT not be due to "winning" an exchange student slot. I'm not sure. I shudder to think of the stories he'll take back with him, but I do know he's planning on staying for University next year.
OK - when he said kids here "wouldn't be in school" if they were in China, he meant they would go on to trade school? I was wondering what they did. I thought at first that maybe they just wandered the streets uneducated. I know when I was teaching, there were lots of students I *wished* I could kick out of school entirely - LOL!
But maybe if kids weren't forced to go to school (here in the US), then it wouldn't be taken for granted.
Interesting...
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I think I should have asked my original question differently. I think I should have said, "Can you suggest some good movie versions of the plays on the Modern/Eighth grade list?" I am especially wondering which movie versions stay true to the original play.
I just always assumed for plays that any video stayed true to the original. Otherwise, it would have a different name. For example, if you get a DVD labeled "Pygmalion" that will be true to the original play. But, the musical "My Fair Lady" is an adaptation of the play. (We watched My Fair Lady after reading Pygmalion. And my then-5th grader actually read an adaptation while my 8th-grader and I read the play now that I think about it.)
Anyway, all the plays we got from the library were always true to the original...can't say they were the "best" versions out there, just what was free!
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I'm sorry, but I think reading a play is horrible and tedious. The only thing worse is having to sit in class and listen to those horrible tapes day after day after day.:tongue_smilie:
Christine
Not sure if you're "I'm sorry" is directed at me...but it feels like an insult.
I would agree that reading a play by oneself when you've never read one before and the verbage is a little out-of-date and you're a pre-teen is a rather tedious experience. But, when you read a play *out loud* with a group, even just a small group of 3 people, that's a bit different. They even do this for fun on StarTrek - LOL!
(I think LoriD calls it "popcorn reading" - we divvied up the parts. It wasn't just *me* reading out loud.)
I don't really know what I will do when my now-7th grader (who was then in 5th grade) re-reads that list. (He will read it next year.) It won't be the same having only one student, and I will have to do it differently than I did before - but I don't think I could do it any better.
Se la vie~
Self-Education
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
Wow! It's been 7 years since a family emergency stopped our homeschooling adventure mid-school year. Now I teach general music in a K-5th elementary school - using Kodaly methods which are very classical in nature.
Still haven't tossed any of my WTM/WEM purchases, and just wondering if there are any online options for WEM-centric book clubs. From what I remember, and what I see scrolling, this forum isn't really a place where people all decide to read a book together and come here to discuss. But a lot has changed here!!
Have looked for a "real live" WEM book club in Atlanta, but no luck there. If you know of one, please pass on the info.
Thanks!