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SevenDaisies

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Everything posted by SevenDaisies

  1. Check out Schole Academy. We are an MPOA family but chose Schole Chemistry because they have a live lab that is completed during class. They use the Novare text and the calendar matches up with the MPOA calendar very well. There is a new teacher next year, but the course has been great.
  2. I use a Really Useful Box 1.6L for my Form flashcards. The AAS dividers and sponges fit in them perfectly. After completing 2FL, I combine 1FL & 2FL in a Really Useful Box 2.1L. I trim down blank AAS cards as dividers and sort the cards by part of speech to make review easy.
  3. We love AG here, and I find it to be very independent. If you don’t mind printing it is a little cheaper to buy it digitally, but if you consider that you don’t need to buy additional materials year after year, it’s not too bad. Also, if you sign up for emails they run sales with free shipping and a percent off.
  4. In grades 3-7, I skip MP math, spelling and grammar. I use the science, but I skip the Tiner books. In high school I use everything, but I pick and choose math and science. Some of their math and science choices match up with mine, and some don't.
  5. It's definitely worth doing the trial and checking out the classes. Recorded courses don't work for my oldest because she needs deadlines, but it was a good chance for me to check out some of the teachers I was considering for live courses. HSC is very different than MPOA in that there seems to be a much looser affiliation between the teacher and provider. HSC finds some great instructors. The theology teachers are published writers and apologists for Catholic Answers. Anthony Esolen is teaching a literature course this summer. However, there is variation among how involved the instructors are. The instructor for dd's Didache course was great, but he showed up to lecture. A moderator ran the class and kept order. Quizzes were computer graded and the parent issued the final grade. I don't know that all courses are handled that way. Some of the teachers are former teachers, and they may be more involved outside of lecturing. I am trying to get more information regarding the Jurgensen class at the moment. With HSC the format of the recorded courses seems to vary greatly, although they are trying to make the courses more uniform. Some of the classes are recordings of live courses. For instance, my daughter's Didache course was recorded and it will now be offered as a recorded course. Some of the courses were recorded specifically to be recorded courses. One of the math instructors has a recorded lesson that kids watch once a week followed by a live meeting each week. Those recorded courses are available among the recordings. Due to the varied formats of the classes, your best bet is to do the trial.
  6. You could ask this on the MP forum because that is where I heard about HSC. I know there is a frequent poster there who uses the recorded courses. I have only used them for a live theology course, but we loved it.
  7. We school in the basement and have done so since my 9th grader was in kindergarten. I have a walkout basement with full-sized windows in two rooms and French doors, so perhaps that is why it works so well for us. It is finished like the upstairs, and has been well worth the money to finish it. All of our school stuff is stored in the basement. I have a table and a white board in each room. The larger room does also double as a space for the kids with TV and sofas, but kids know that TV is never allowed on before 4. My kids also have desks in their rooms, but do most of their work downstairs. All lessons are done in the basement. I love my basement and cannot imagine not having it available for school. I love having everything school stored downstairs.
  8. Thank you! I don't mind buying a different kind of calculator if needed. I just don't want to be sorry that I could have upgraded this year and saved myself from buying another similar calculator next year.
  9. Can anyone tell me if a TI84 Plus is an approriate calculator for a student who is not planning to major in math or engineering? Needing one for a senior and don’t want to have to purchase another next year.
  10. Anyone know if I am required to follow the GA graduation requirements? Does she need to have a lit class that is specifically American Literature? Does she have to have World History or is it okay to have taken Greek, Roman, Medieval and European History? And does she have to take Economics?
  11. I didn’t find Physical Science to be too rigorous, but it is more rigorous then the Tiner books. The Novare HS texts do split off into a standard track and an accelerated track, but the middle school books have a single track.
  12. I don’t know how familiar you are with MP, but they believe in reading less but deeper. The reading load is pretty light in my opinion, leaving lots of room for free reading or reading in other courses. The guides are assigned but never checked. My daughter used to complete the guides, but now she usually marks where the answers are found in the book as she reads. Some of the teachers will go over the questions in the guide, in which case she will write her answers in the guide because she likes to answer in class when there is opportunity, Most of her teachers have discussed the material without actually sticking to the questions in the guide. There is usually one extra assignment per book or per quarter. It is usually an essay but there is some variation here. There are weekly quizzes over the reading, but they are actually due once a quarter. There is usually an exam after each book. There is a lot of conversing in the chat box, but there is reading aloud and some discussion on the mic. My daughter loves getting on the mic and she has plenty of opportunities. I do not think MSII is much harder than MSI, although I do think the books in MSIII are a bigger step up in difficulty. My daughter has had Ms Dewberry the last two years and she’s great. She has enjoyed her classes. She’s never had Ms Lacy, but she will have Ms Golden next year for two classes. I’ve been very pleased with all her teachers. There have been a couple that she has not loved (generally the ones who are more strict) but I still thought they were great teachers, and I know other parents who have said their kids loved them. We’ve never done science classes with MPOA, but she will take Bio next year. Are you looking at the MS Science classes or Physical Science/Earth Science? I would recommend the latter two as they are more rigorous courses. I have used the Novare texts and I LOVE them.
  13. My daughter has taken Latin, literature, classical studies, and composition with MPOA. We’ve had great experiences. Love the classes. Love the teachers. She will be a freshman next year and it will be her 5th year taking classes there. Do you have specific questions?
  14. Mea culpa....you are correct. I do often interchange Guerber and Mills. Yes, MP uses Guerber for US, and Mills in 7A/8M and 8A/9M. Mills Rome & Greece are used in their entirety, and chapters of Middle Ages are intermixed with lit in 8A/9M. I suppose that explains why I did not see the discrepancies ? Honestly, I'm not sure I've ever given much thought to my goals for history study, although clearly I must have some or I wouldn't be giving it so much thought. One of the things I love about MP is the balance they strike between Catholic and Protestant, so I suppose faith is a factor. I don't need an explicitly Catholic source, but I do wish to avoid anti-Catholic bias. And, I do love how nicely classical studies are woven together with literature. All the reasons you mention seem like worthy goals. Perhaps I should give some thought to articulating those goals. Off to ponder a bit more.
  15. Thanks for your thoughtful response. Those were interesting reads. I have purchased the SWB lecture but have not listened to that yet. Regarding historical thinking, MP history is certainly not taught as the teacher in that article teaches history, but I don't think that means MP doesn't teach kids to think. I think the MP philosophy is quite different in that they do believe in mastering the material, but as students get older they are taught to think and respond thoughtfully. I am interested in your response to Famous Men, and appreciate you taking the time to respond thoughtfully. Is Famous Men perfect? No, it is not. Is it a cohesive history of Rome? No, it is not. It is a series of mini-biographies or short stories. Is it an age appropriate introduction to the people and places of Rome? I believe it is. Are details left out? Yes, they are, but there is still time to fill in those details. Famous Men is used by young students and is followed up in the middle grades by Guerber, which is a more cohesive history, and I think having done Famous Men, my daughter was better able to use the Guerber histories. She was already familiar with the people and places, and so she could add more detail to what she had already learned. What about the Famous Men flash cards? Do you find fault with those? Those are the bulk of what the students are expected to remember, so I am interested in what you have to say about those as well as an errors you have identified in the text. Thank you!
  16. Can you elaborate on the substantial errors you have found in the Famous Men series? How do you know they are inaccurate? What makes Guerber (which MP also uses) a better source than the Famous Men series? I have been through both and have not picked up on any major discrepancies between the two. Maybe I am not paying good enough attention. In general, how do you know that one source is accurate and another is not? I really struggle with this. Isn't all history biased by nature? I feel like I can find a history to support any view I choose to hold. How is one to know which is true and which is not? What do you mean by MP history not building historical thinking?
  17. We use MP history (including classical studies, geography/modern studies & Christian studies). The only thing we will add to this is the history of the Catholic Church. We love it, and it gets done. My oldest has used MP History for grades 4-8. She will be taking APUSH with MPOA next year. My younger two have been using MP history for two years now. My kids retain it quite well as it is mastery-based and concentrates on depth over breadth. It is very focused on western civilization. SOTW is assigned as summer reading to expand on the breadth.
  18. This is what MP recommends and is how we handle the guides as well. My kids never write in all the answers.
  19. My oldest started MPOA lit in 5th grade. She wouldn’t keep up with her reading, so I signed her up. I think the classes are great for kids who need deadlines or for parents who don’t have time to discuss the readings. In in my experience, most of the teachers discuss the material, but do not directly review the questions in the guide. Online quizzes are required and there usually some other written assignments - not many in grammar school, but more are required in middle school. My younger two will be using lit 5A/6 next year. They will not be taking the class online. My youngest is signed up for the Delectare Online discussion group, and this is just enough outside accountability to keep us on track. We do still struggle to get to the quizzes, but hope to improve this next year. ETA: My decision not to enroll my younger two does not in any way mean that I am dissatisfied. I am actually quite pleased with MPOA. My youngest likes Delectare because the kids all get on the webcam, and my son prefers to do his work on his own and does a great job keeping up. Both will, however, take comp with MPOA next year.
  20. We used linking cubes and base ten blocks more than anything else. The other thing we used, although less frequently, was place value discs.
  21. Your best source for information at this point is probably the Singapore Forum. If you post there, Jenny will answer or point you to the answer.
  22. Novare Physical Science is aimed at grades 6-8. They do have other, HS level texts.
  23. Competitive figure skating is very expensive. If I had known then what I know now, I would have pushed my daughter in a different direction. Group classes only get you so far. They exist to teach basics, but mostly to connect you with a private coach. You will need a private coach to compete. Private coaches choreograph programs and you can’t compete without a prgoram. Kids can start competing almost immediately. Private lessons here average $20-30 for a 20 minute lesson, and I imagine that is on the low end of the national average. My daughter started with one coach and one lesson a week. This past year she competed at qualifying regionals and had 4 coaches and was doing ten private lessons a week. Add ice time at roughly $10 per 40 minutes. My daughter skates about 10-15 hours a week, and that is on the low end. She can do all the jumps and spins to pass the highlest levels on USFS, but she is not competitive at regionals. The kids who are most competitive at my rink probably skate 3 times that much and spend well over 3 times what I pay. You will also have to pay for boots, blades, costumes, testing fees and competition fees. I often consider pulling her out, but if I give in now, I would have wasted so much time and money. I at least want her to pass all her USFS tests.
  24. And in the lesson plans for (Prima and Latina) they will often add 3 weeks of cumulative review to take the course to 33 weeks (these weeks are in addition to the 5 unit reviews in the book).
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