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A.J. at J.A.

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Posts posted by A.J. at J.A.

    Traditional Logic II

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    My ds is loving Memoria Press Traditional Logic I.  I am starting to write out our plans for Traditional Logic II.  On the Memoria Press website I know they recommend studying the Peter Kreeft book" Handbook of Christian Apologetics" alongside if you are inclined.  I have the book and am just wondering if anyone has a schedule or knows of a schedule anywhere online linking the two together.  At this point, I am all about not reinventing the wheel ;)

     

    Thanks for any help!

     

    This is exactly my question - what did you decide to do?  I'm not sure how to incorporate the Supplements that MP lists - they say that there is no plan for them included in the MP lesson plans for Traditional Logic I/II.

    Calculating a grade for Foerster's Alg2/Trig

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    I like to give some value for completion of the daily work even if it is just 10-20% of the final grad to give credit to their effort and diligence.  I typically do a small percentage of final grade for daily work, larger percentage for quizzes (if there are any) and then the largest percentage for tests.  That way a student isn't afraid of the final test which causes test anxiety and poorer results. 

    MFW vs ToG for 10th grade

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    I am a SL and TOG dropout. We actually did TOG 4 and TOG 1 in the last two years. I am severely burned out. My boys didn't like to read a few pages from here and there. I was never good at the discussion. Just last week when I tried to plan TOG 2, I was so overwhelmed that I put it away. I have MFW for high school in mind. Even though I know TOG is great for high school, if it doesn't get done, no benefits will come out of it. So I would also like something that will be more likely to be done. I hope you find your journey to MFW worthwhile and I will wait to hear your and your dc's feedback. Right now I have a 7th grader and a 5th grader.

     

    I will be sure to let you know!  Thank you for your kind words!

    MFW WHL - what books are needed the first 6 weeks?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Hi all!  We have decided to switch my 10th grader to MFW WHL - and I need to order by Monday to save on shipping and have my son get a head start...however, on Aug 1 I will be going to a big used curr fair and hope to find some of the books I will need.  Could someone who owns that curriculum let me know what are the *must have* books for the first six weeks so I'm sure to order them when I purchase the teacher pages?

     

    I would greatly appreciate it!!

     

    Thanks so much,

    Angela

    MFW vs ToG for 10th grade

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Crystal,

     

    Greatly appreciate your input and your coffee commentary brought a smile to my morning!  :)

     

    We are not worried about him studying Old Testament (although I know they put a really big emphasis on that) - we've done Bible study thoroughly over the years, and while the AHL approach sounds appealing, we really don't see how to add it in to an already overflowing schedule of activities.  (His schoolwork of course, plus track, cross country, church activities, etc.)  DH was planning on doing a pretty intensive Apologetics with him this year or the next.

     

    Thanks for the info about the first week of AHL - maybe I'll see if I can borrow my friends copy to look at, for information.  I can write well enough for my purposes, but do not feel qualified to grade or teach it - hence the co-op.  I'm so thankful the teacher is IEW certified and comes highly recommended.  So, right now once we get history settled, we'll have next year "figured out" and I can polish up what I'll be doing for my 7th grader.  PHEW!!

     

    Have a great day and enjoy your coffee!!

    Angela

    Sonlight history vs Tapestry of Grace for high school

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Just posted a follow-up to this - now considering MFW.  Would love input on that if any of you have the time.  http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/520483-mfw-vs-tog-for-10th-grade/

     

    Chris in VA - Not really wanting to go back as far as Ancients or Renaissance - wishing SWB had more recent history, but I know it takes a lot of time to put it all together.  :)

     

    Blessings!!

    Angela

    MFW vs ToG for 10th grade

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Forgive me if I repeat a bit from another post (we were considering SL but have excluded it from our options)- we're evaluating whether or not ToG is working for my older son.  We had an epic fail in ToG for him this year (finishing his 9th grade) - mostly due to my inability to retain the info from the teacher's notes and then have a coherent and meaningful discussion with him, plus I about killed him the first several months by assigning many supplemental reading assignments which delayed our progress.  There - I'm embarrassed to admit it, but it is what it is.

     

    So, DH and I are working hard to try to find another quality program that will fit our needs and still provide our DSs with solid instruction.  We are learning more about MFW, but since we are already one year down for my oldest in regards to high school and he does not want to do Ancients - is it possible to jump right into WHL?  He will be completing IEW Elegant Essay in a co-op, so I'm not worried about losing any writing instruction from AHL and will probably leave that out in WHL as well.  One main concern we have is that MWF/Notgrass covers WW I and WWII in a total of 2 weeks, but covers Ancient Rome for 8 weeks.  We did ancients ad nauseam when they were younger, so he is solid enough on that where we feel we could "steal" some of those weeks and supplement our WWI and WWII instruction from our ToG materials.

     

    What do you think?

     

    Main questions...

    * Any red flags I should know about before considering MFW for high school?

    * Would it be ok to jump into WHL with my 10th greater and not do AHL?

    * Would it be ok to spend less time on Ancient Rome and more time on WWI and WWII with supplemental resources from ToG?

     

    Thanks so much for your feedback!  I have benefited from this board for our entire homeschool journey - going on 10 years now!!

     

    Blessings,

    Angela

    Sonlight history vs Tapestry of Grace for high school

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    We have done TOG at the rhetoric level (high school) the past two years and I have been VERY pleased. Previous to that we tried TOG but the discussion times always tripped us up and we did not stay on track.  The difference? We joined a weekly virtual co-op and it has made all the difference. While Tapestry offers their own classes and they are very good, they cost quite a bit. We have only paid $25 a year for the family to participate in the virtual co-op. I do have to teach a number of times during the year, but it is totally worth it because more often it is another mom who has to prepare everything for the week. It keeps my students on track for history and literature, then I get to choose at home which of the other subjects we will do from TOG. Keep in mind that each virtual co-op operates slightly differently, but the idea is the same.

     

    Another benefit is that both my students took the PSAT and SAT this past year and did well on the Critical Reading sections. The reading level of TOG resources far surpasses what I saw when comparing to Sonlight or MFW books. TOG really requires digestion and analysis of difficult material and I am very satisfied with what they are getting out of it.

     

    HTH,

    Pamela in VA

     

    I would love to do that, but believe me, nobody would want me teaching their kid history!  I tried to join a virtual coop at the beginning of the year, but they wanted me to either discuss history or literature - neither of which I am qualified in.  I would have been happy to help with math had it been offered.  :)  Unfortunately, the prices for ToG online are out of sight and we have print-only version so upgrading to DE would just be an additional expense. 

     

    I'm thankful for your input!  :)

     

    Blessings,

    Angela

    Sonlight history vs Tapestry of Grace for high school

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    What do you like and not like about TOG?

     

    Is the issue with Socratic discussion that it's awkward, that you feel like you don't have the right answers, or something else?

    Is it an issue of when and where you have the conversations?  I've found with teen aged sons, most of my good conversations come when we are doing something else.  Driving, eating dinner, cleaning up dishes.  I think a targeted sit down discussion time puts a lot of pressure on a kid.

     

    Maybe listening to Teaching Company lectures about the period or work would help.  We've found that our libraries have many of the series we want to listen to.

     

    I like the depth it goes although that got me in trouble earlier in the year because I was assigning a lot of supplemental suggestions and about killed my student with work!  Live and learn.

     

    Maybe this is a cop-out but even if I read the teacher notes, *I* do not retain the info enough to have an intelligent discussion.  When I'm "discussing" with him, it winds up being me asking him the discussion questions, we chat a bit, and then I basically end up reading the discussion answers to him.  He completes all the acct/thinking questions ahead of time and is very bright, but I just don't feel that I am adding any value at all!  In fact, I have given up and now he just reads the discussion info too...can we say boring - poor kid!  He's a trooper, and I know he is learning.  I just wish there was a reasonably priced co-op he could join where I wasn't required to teach.  I honestly cannot teach this stuff.  Give me math any day!!

     

    I'll look into the Teaching Company lectures, but it just seems like there is never enough time to add more stuff in. 

     

    Thanks so much!

    Angela

     

    Sonlight history vs Tapestry of Grace for high school

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    We have been moderately successful in our use of Tapestry of Grace.  I am a math person and our Socratic discussions with Tapestry have been a joke, to say the least.  I'm looking for another option and was wondering if I could please get some feedback on Sonlight for high school history.

     

    If you are using this successfully (or even unsuccessfully) for high school, I would greatly appreciate any feedback.

     

    Blessings,

    Angela

    Foerster's Algebra and Algebra II/Trig

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Hi All!

     

    We've decided to go with Foerster's for our two sons, but as always we seem to be having trouble locaating it at a good price.  Can someone tell me what is areasonable price to expect to pay and if there is a "best" place to purchase it?  I see that I should get the teacher's manual from the publisher - can someone tell me how much that is going to cost?

     

    Thanks so much!

    Angela

    I'm a WtW failure - what do people think of Excellence in Literature for 9th grade English?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Okay, I'm a math person.  But because of all the wonderful reviews of Windows to the World and my previous good experience with the dvd IEW courses (SWI and SICC), I decided to give it a go.  Epic failure!  The syllabus, student book and teacher book are hard to all keep straight and he and I end up getting frustrated.  I don't see the added value of me reading the teacher text and then trying to remember what it said to "teach" it to him.

     

    So...as I see it - here are my two options:

    * Suffer through Windows to the World (we are following the IEW syllabus and have already finished SICC B the abbreviated approach, Teaching the classics, plus the Worldview supplement and are through lesson 6 in WtW.)  My son is a really strong independent learner, so I can have him read the teacher's guide for WtW and Student guide and complete the assignments.

     

    *Or, I can jump ship and do Excellence in Literature I (Intro to Lit) instead of finishing WtW.   I like that it is self-directed.  He'll have to work through it over the summer as he'll need to do English II for his Sophomore year.

     

    So frustrated! 

     

    Any advice would be appreciated.

     

    Blessings,

    Angela

    High School Guitar I - what should be included for 1/2 credit?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Thanks everyone!  I really like the idea of playing with the worship band and performing at some point (maybe just in some evening church services that are low-key).  He has NO experience, so this will be a brand new thing for him.  Thanks for mentioning listening to guitar music, etc - I don't play guitar and we haven't done music instruction recently so I'm way out of practice of what is required.  :)

     

    I believe music theory will be included in his instruction and I like the idea of him doing some music apprec as well. 

     

    Thanks so much for all the input!!  It is greatly appreciated!

    Angela

     

     

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