profmom
-
Posts
1,545 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Classifieds
Store
Posts posted by profmom
-
-
Thanks for your help!
Chris, I guess my first thought was why try to reinvent the wheel. Personally, I have a love-hate relationship with detailed plans made by someone else! I tend to tweak them some (or a lot) as I use them with my kids. However, I'm thinking about a group of families, so I think it's better to have more of a plan for what books will be needed. I think after this year together, we all have a better idea of how quickly our kids read books. Still, I wanted to ask if there might already be a good go-along literature plan available before we dig in and make our own.
I'm glad you like the activity books. Do you think 5th and 6th graders are too old for the SOTW volume 1 activity book? I haven't seen it in awhile, but I'm remembering a lot of coloring pages.
-
I'm wondering if there is an option out there that uses either SOTW or MOH as a spine and then schedules go-along literature with page numbers and some other activities, preferably for multiple grade levels.
I know that some programs include a schedule of SOTW or MOH as optional with that program's own history schedule (BP, TOG...). Also, MOH and the SOTW activity guide include book suggestions by chapter, but no schedule. Is there such a thing as a program that focuses on and reads through SOTW or MOH in order over 4 years AND schedules go-along literature (readers and read-alouds) with page numbers like SL? I'm looking at Ancient history for kids 1st - 6th or 7th.
-
I'd love to hear your opinion on these books with a 4th and 5th grader in mind. Are they good? Which are your favorites? Are there any that you'd drop if time seems short? Also, which of these should not be read with younger children in the room?
Read alouds:
A Letter fo Mrs. Roosevelt
Across Five Aprils
Walk to the World's
Rim Caddie Woodlawn
In Search of the Source
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Little Britches
Miracles on Maple Hill
Moccasin Trail
Johnny Tremain
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Readers:
By the Great Horn Spoon
Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman
Helen Keller
Hero Over Here
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
Old Yeller
Om-Kas-Toe: Blackfeet Twin Captures an Elkdog
Pedro's Journal
Phoebe the Spy
Pocahontas and the Strangers
Sarah, Plain and Tall
Shades of Grey
The Cabin Faced West
The Great Turkey Walk
The Great Wheel
The Lewis & Clark Expedition
The Matchlock Gun
The Seventeeth Swap
The Story of Thomas Alva Edison
The Wright Brothers: Pioneers of Amerian Aviation
Thimble Summer
Toliver's Secret
Turn Homeward, Hannalee
What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?
I'd appreciate your help!
-
Thanks for all the input! I appreciate your help!
Is this for your dd(11)? Xtramath is good - you might want to start her at the 6 second level. In the parent program, set her up for Multiplication 6 seconds instead of just putting her at her grade level. If you keep the standard program, it'll start with Addition (3 sec.), Subtraction (3 sec), before moving her to Multiplication (3 sec).
I like to build up their confidence with the 6 second program and get them used to the interface. Once she's completed it -- you'll be able to track her progress, see which ones she's missing, and which ones she knows but takes more time to get -- you can put her down at the Multiplication (3 sec) level. All levels are three seconds as a default.
One thing I wish they would do is add the multiplication/division facts up to 12x12. They only go to 10x10 and my dd#3 needs more work on 11x11, 11x12, and 12x12 so we're adding it in as part of our regular work. It is just so much easier to have her add in Xtramath.org and call it good. :driving:
RootAnn, thanks for the tip on the changing the seconds! This is for my dd-9.
-
I've been using flash cards with her and had her write out some tables, but I'm hoping you guys will have some magical ideas for helping her to increase her speed! Do you? :)
-
What do you like for a year of American History for a group of 1st - 3rd graders? I've been looking at MFW's Adventures in American History and BF's Early American History. I also briefly looked at WinterPromise.
My concerns about MFW are that it could be dry, and I don't see a sample for their history text Story of the U.S. Can anyone give me a review of that? I like that it includes a study of the states, but is that an interesting study with them? Is this enough for 3rd graders?
My concerns about BF is the point-of-view. Should we skip the guide and just read the books? Is this enough for 3rd graders?
Is there another good option? We'd like to do a year of American history before diving into Ancients the following year.
-
How young? 4th and up is ok to do SOTW 4, in my book.
If I had a particularly sensitive bunch, I'd prob do a year of geography, or Prairie Primer/American Girl or have a bangin' science year with them while the older went thru SOTW 4. I'd hit it later.
Thanks! You wouldn't even pull in the 3rd graders?
-
1st -3rd. We have a group of families with various ages ready for modern, and we're not sure what to do with our younger group.
-
What do you do with your younger kids when you reach SOTW 4 in your cycle?
-
I agree that CC and TOG are very different! For CC, the focus for grammar school really is on memorization. For TOG, the focus is more on books -- lots of great books for history and literature. TOG is much richer! There are also go-along timelines (some dates are recommended for memory), vocabulary words, maps and geography, worksheets to go with the literature books, suggested hands-on activities, etc. For dialectic, there are discussion questions to complete from the history reading and socratic discussions once a week, which I assume would happen with the co-op. I'd choose TOG!!
-
Thanks for the ideas so far, guys!
-
Interesting. I've not heard of the Simply Charlotte history stories. I'll have to look into that.
We are doing cc this fall and also looking for what books to use. I did find a schedule that lines up kingfisher encyclopedia with the cc history.
You might also check Half a Hundred Acres' free reading plans! SOTW is scheduled by CC week.
http://www.halfahundredacrewood.com/2014/04/classical-conversations-cycle-3-reading-plans.html
(I'm also considering starting here and adding in more SOTW along the way to stretch the 24 history sentences into 36 school weeks.)
-
My dd enjoys & easily memorizes the CC history sentences, but I want context and go-along reading. We won't be in a CC community, so we can space these 24 cycle 3 history songs across the school year and spend more time on important events. Has anyone created such a plan?
I've seen Half a Hundred Acres' wonderful plan for scheduling go-along reading for the CC 24 weeks, but I want to spend more time on explorers, pilgrims, civil war, etc. I'm also not sure what skipping around so much in SOTW volumes 3 & 4 will do to the story line.
Another thought is to try to combine the Half a Hundred schedule (with CC history sentences) with ideas from Sonlight's core D+E to expand on events & stretch it over the school year. ???
I'd love to hear your thoughts & suggestions!
-
Shurley would be a good start. The jingles give you memory work that matches the material being taught. There are used copies easily available. If you want diagramming, their sentences can certainly be diagrammed after labelling them. I personally wouldn't mix programs, when you do that, sometimes the definitions of parts of speech and such can get very confusing. Adding diagramming to Shurley won't conflict with it and is easy enough to add. And you can use the jingles for memory work. I was never a fan of the copying part of Essentials unless a student really learned best that way, and IMHO most that age learn better from a select set of memory work and focused practice. There needs to be balance.
Thanks for your thoughts! I've never used Shurley, but it seems like it could work well to do just as you say. I don't like to mix programs for the same reason -- differences in definitions and labeling methods and abbreviations. The school has already decided to use Latin for Children, which, I've read, uses Shurley labeling and definitions.
-
In CC, so much depends on the tutor!
-
We ended up dropping our (what I felt was superior) grammar program in order for my son not to look like he was unprepared in Essentials.
Just wanted to let you know our experience...
Which program did you use that you felt was superior?
-
I appreciate all your help!
I do like Rod & Staff, and if I homeschool next year, that's the route I'd likely take -- unless a group of friends gets together for a little co-op and we figure out something for my former Essentials teacher friend to use legally with us! However, I am mostly asking for a new university model school that I'm helping to advise. Some of the families are former CC Essentials users and would like to use a similar program. CC is adamant that the school can't use their program, and a school wouldn't be able to use an Essentials guide from eBay.
Does it seem like the best substitute would be to use Shurley and have the teacher take it a step further and teach the kids to diagram the Shurley sentences (using the Rod & Staff English Handbook as needed)? I haven't seen Our Mother Tongue, but I'll look into it! Or, would it be better to use something like OMT or R&S and add the Shurley jingles??
-
Writing is being considered separately, and I'm trying to learn about IEW now. (Any comments comparing IEW to other classical programs like Classical Writing, Writing Tales, or the new Writing & Rhetoric by CAP are welcome!! My thread with that question isn't getting responses. :) )
I've heard that the grammar in Essentials is like a combination of Shurley and Rod & Staff. Can anyone comment on that and what we'd need from each? I've used R & S, but I've only read about Shurley. Does Shurley include diagramming?
Thanks for your help!
-
Can anyone give feedback on this? I've used Classical Writing Aesop and Homer in the past, as well as Writing Tales I & II. Writing & Rhetoric seems similar to those (?). I've never used IEW and wonder how it's different.
-
If we're not in a CC group, some of the pieces are available from CC, but not all, right? How can I put together a grammar program that is very similar?
-
I haven't used either, but we're looking at both. I would appreciate your help!
-
I've used Rod & Staff in the past and really liked it, but we're currently using The Logic of English for spelling, which has a grammar component, for my 3rd grader. I hate to double up on grammar -- ain't nobody got time, right? LOE is kind of expensive not to use all the parts, but we do LOVE it for spelling!! Is there a supplement we could add for sentence diagramming?
-
We have one near us that we would consider when things get more academic. The one near us is more University model than the ones described here. You can truly just sign your kid up for X class. Or you can sign your kid up for all classes M-F like a regular private school.
We are opposite how I think most parents are. We can eagerly do Science, Math and Latin at home up to college. But, Art will be someone else, and a Writing class would be nice, and maybe PE
Dd currently takes art, writing, and PE at co-op (for a lot less $$). :)
For me, the draw is that I will also have a senior who will continue to be homeschooled (using online classes and dual credit), and I'm nervous about doing 4th grade well while also learning everything needed for college scholarships, admissions, etc., on top of everything else (cooking, bills, a high schooler who recently started a full-time classical school, etc.) I've homeschooled 4th grade well twice before, but there wasn't so much else going on. ??
-
We have one locally (classical UM). Unfortunately, it's very protestant and the SOF excludes Catholics, so it's a no-go for us, as we can't/won't sign it. I would give my right arm to have one around here that we COULD use though.
Sorry! I think with this one, you sign that you acknowledge that instruction will come from their SOF, but you don't have to sign it for yourself.
Elemental vs. NOEO vs. Christian Kids Explore? What are the differences?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
I'm looking at these options for a WTM/classical science program. What are the differences between some of these programs? Are there any others that I should consider too? I'm looking at separate programs for both grammar and logic stages. Which is your favorite?