ssexton
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Posts posted by ssexton
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I have been thinking along these same lines lately. I just received my new edition of WTM and I love both it and MFW! In the logic stage, SWB gives lots of recommendations for incorporating analysis and writing into history studies. Here is what I am thinking for my rising 5th grader (logic stage). Of course, I have not actually done any of this yet, so whether or not it will actually work is another question! :)
1. Use the Usborne Ancient and Medieval books for our list of detailed sentences.
2. Use MFW notebook assignments as opportunities to write summaries of things read. We will pay particular attention to biographies.
3. Pick the most interesting supplemental material from the book basket to outline per SWB recommendations.
We will also do timeline and mapping activities. Along with Latin studies and traditional grammar, I think that gets us pretty close to where we want to be. Hopefully.
Shannon
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Thanks so much for both of your replies!
Katilac, I appreciate the distinction you make between the reading and the actual assignments! That may be the key piece I was missing. I think we'll continue to read our spine together and possibly a supplemental novel. But then, they split up to do work on their own work. It seems so obvious now, but these two are so close in age and ability that they've always done the same thing (well, except for math and LA). But, it's become apparent my ds is moving into logic stage--so it's time. And how encouraging to hear how your dd has taken off in 5th grade! I hope my ds has a similar year!
Suzannah, thanks so much for showing me how you do it! I'm such a visual person--it helps to "see" it in practice through your words. What I'm hearing from you both is that I'm really going to need to think through my schedules and plan ahead for different individual assignments. Knowing me, I need to give this thought on the front end rather than trying to wing it.
Thanks so much!
Shannon
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Any other thoughts? :)
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Shelly,
Thank you so much for those links! I'm going to print that last one out and put it in my teacher's binder--it was tremendously helpful. I'm still struggling I guess on the question of how much reading I should continue to do out loud? Does history become more of an individual study in logic stage? We do read a quality novel together at bedtime, and also enjoy reading some living science books together. Maybe that's enough?
Thanks for your thoughts!
Shannon
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Let me first say that I've had the first edition of The WTM on my shelf for years. I read through it briefly when I first bought it, but my kids were K and preK at the time, and the ideas didn't stick with me. After reading the newest version, I'm completely sold! In particular, I love the logic stage practice of using history studies to develop synthesis and writing skills. I really want to put the outlining and research practices in to place next year. But I have two questions:
1. How do I teach two children who are very close in age, but in different stages of the trivium? My two oldest children will be 9 (4th grade) and 10 (5th grade) next fall. Both are reading well. My 5th grade ds is a history buff, and while he is not a natural writer or speller, I think he's ready for SWB's logic stage history recommendations. My 4th grade dd is not a history buff (but loves science), is strongly visual (struggles somewhat with read alouds) but likes to write.
I'm unclear as to how to meet both of my children's needs this upcoming year. We will be using MFW RtR next year, which seems adaptable to WTM ideas. But, how much do I read aloud? I imagine that it's important that my logic stage child begin to do more readings on his own--but my grammar age child still needs me to read aloud and do narrations. I could really use some help picturing what this should look like in practice.
2. How do I fit it all in? We have timeline, mapping, hands-on projects, book basket (extra reading) and notebooking (summary) pages incorporated in MFW. MFW schedules the Usborne Encyclopedia of World History, which I'd like to use for ds's list of 6-8 important details (per WTM) and the MFW notebook pages will suffice for written summaries. But I also want to add in (ala WTM) outlining of paragraphs and research opportunities. Plus, I need to find time for MFW's hands on activities, for my dd's sake. I know my ds needs the writing practice, but is there something here I can let go for the sake of getting in Latin, Math, Science and LA? Maybe we could do either the 6-8 details page or the outlined paragraphs? Maybe make the research papers monthly or even quarterly rather than weekly? Any thoughts? Please? :D
Thanks so much!
Shannon
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Thanks Jann and Michelle for your input!
How strange, Michelle, that we've gotten conflicting information! I've been really perplexed about what to do. However, Jann, your thoughts are making me feel more reassured. Hopefully, the calculators are only for specific portions of the test.
Thanks so much for your thoughts!
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We used and loved The Reading Lesson, too! It was the book that helped my 5 year old son learn to blend, and my 3.5 year old dd learned to read by watching over his shoulder! But, she's always been determined to keep up with him. :lol:
I will say that for some reason we didn't finish the book. We moved on to something else about part way through. I'm not certain why, but I think it was because my kids plateaued, and in my inexperience, I scrambled to try the next "great" thing.
I'm getting ready to start using The Reading Lesson with my youngest. I highly recommend it for someone working with a young child. BTW, we only used the book, but I've heard good things about the CDs.
Shannon
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Well, it's that time of year, and my older kids (4th grade ds and 3rd grade dd) are taking the Stanford next week through our umbrella school. We've had them tested each year for our own information and to give them yearly test-taking practice. This morning I received a call from my son's proctor, and she informed me that the fourth graders are allowed to bring calculators! :glare: And apparently, in later years, they are provided with papers giving them proofs and formulas. This, I'm told, is a Stanford testing procedure, not something decided here on our local level.
So, my initial reaction is to not allow my son to bring a calculator. After all, I'm testing him for my own information, so that I know where he is, individually. But, if other children have access to calculators, won't information such as stanine scores and percentiles be distorted? Should I worry about this? What about down the road when these tests really mean something, and I don't want him put at a disadvantage? Anyone else deal with this?
Thanks for your thoughts!
Shannon
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Sorry, no answers here, but I'm bumping this for you. We loved History of US also, and we are using MFW RtoR this year. But, I'm eager to see if anyone has any other suggestions. :001_smile:
Shannon
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This will be our first year using MFW, and we'll be using RtoR with a 4th and 5th grader. It's probably not necessary to use a seperate reading program, but we are going to be using the Elson Readers. I love the look of them, and by incorporating the Teacher's Guides we'll be getting vocabulary and some discussion of literary elements. And, I'll be able to check comprehension, too. My kids are reading fluently, but I want to keep stretching them a bit. I noticed that the MFW schedule has a time slot for both book basket (15 minutes) and reading (30 minutes), so I'm hoping to be able to squeeze in both. I won't expect them to read aloud to me, though.
Shannon
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Donna and Trixie--Thank you so much for your help!
Donna, I really appreciate your feedback. It sounds like we would definitely benefit from owning the biographical cds. We take advantage of van time too. :)
Trixie, thank you for those search terms! I had been unable to locate them at Amazon before, but thanks to you, they are now in my cart! I do have an order I'm working on, so I was able to add all three for $12 and free shipping!
I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help!
Shannon
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We are getting ready to start MFW RtoR soon, and while the music portion looks fabulous, I'm trying to save money where possible. I'm wondering if anyone knows how difficult it might be to substitute other classical music cds for the ones scheduled? I have a few on hand, and can check others out from the library, but our library system doesn't have the same ones listed in the TG.
I greatly appreciate any thoughts!!!
Shannon
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Oh, I second John Adams by McCullough. LOVED that book!!
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Thank you so much, everyone! I appreciate all the replies!
Jan - thanks for confirming there are samples at the Lost Classics page. I thought I'd looked everywhere, but I couldn't find them. Your post encouraged me to try again, and I finally found them!
Heathersage - Thanks for the links! I was able to compare the originals and the reprints, and they appear to be very close in content.
Butterfly and Shasta Mom - I appreciate the feedback! I love the look of the Teacher's Guide, but I too, am wondering how much I'll use them. Decisions, decisions. I've bought too much curricula lately that I'm not using! ;) I do like the review questions to use for accountability.
Thanks again!
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Hi everyone!
I'd really like to get the 4th and 5th grade Elson readers for my two older children next year, but I can't decide between finding an original copy or going with the reprints by Lost Classics. Does anyone know of a reason to chose one over the other? Are they substantially the same, content wise?
I'm also wondering about the Teacher's Guides. Does anyone have an opinion of them? I don't honestly think we'd use the workbook pages, but I would be interested in comprehension questions or literary helps for the teacher. Any recommendations?
Thanks so much for your help!
Shannon
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This is where I bought mine: rareseeds.com
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Well, a long time ago, I went to law school in the south. For what it's worth (practically nothing, LOL!) I say loy-yer. :)
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Hi Mandy,
It looks like I'm from your neck of the woods, and I completely understand where you are coming from! My children are younger than yours, and while we are very pleased with their tutorial now, I don't know what I'm going to do when my oldest reaches 7th grade. I've not found any that accommodate all grades, and yet I don't want to deal with tutorials on two separate days of the week.
I'm also not thrilled with the upper level science options--I'd really like a secular science class, but all the tutorials I've researched offer Apologia. So, not much help here, but lots of :grouphug:.
Shannon
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I really love the whimsical feel of this, and I think the idea of the changing daytime/weather conditions is great. What a creative concept!
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Nope. Not watching.
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I guess I'd have to say I'd stay and go down with the ship. :) This is my home, for better or worse. And, as others have said, I have no legal right to go elsewhere...
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We have used Growing with Grammar 3 and 4 and love it! I teach the very brief lesson, and then the dc do their lesson. They are retaining the info, and seem to have a solid grasp of the material. So much so, that I'm considering taking a year off and then going into AG in 6th grade.
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We like both DK's Children's Encyclopedia of American History and Joy Hakim's a History of US.
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We liked the DK Children's Encyclopedia of American History.
Cadam or anyone else who uses MFW with a more classical bent...
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
You know, Donna, I picked MFW before getting my hands on the newest WTM. I loved how it scheduled everything for me, including memory work, science, art and music studies. But, after looking at it in light of WTM, I'm just thrilled to see how well it dovetails with WTM! I just needed to give some thought to adding in the classical writing/outlining for RtR. I really can't wait to get to 1850-Modern with the outlining already included!