
aelgraham
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51 ExcellentAbout aelgraham
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Hive Mind Worker Bee
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Great thought experiment and fun to read everyone's ideas! With TWTM and Charlotte Mason, the ideal is to build our learning around great books. I want my kids to be able to think about what they're reading-- with the level/depth of thinking guided by their developmental stage. This sounds easy, but it's hard, especially since homeschoolers are continually challenged to provide something that they are still trying to attain for themselves. So... along those lines... my ideal would also include the parents. Training and equipping them in the big ideas, methods, and lines of questioning
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Tell me all about MCT Language Arts...
aelgraham replied to Heather in VA's topic in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges
I've used MCT for two students, and yes, it is that simple. I used it after SWB's FLL so they had quite a bit of memorizing parts of speech, lists of prepositions and pronouns... etc. They had also done some simple diagramming. I love that MCT gets to the heart and beauty of grammar, but I also like that my kids had some things memorized. If you do MCT alone, just make sure you work on memorizing the lists that he tells you you should. The prepositions are especially handy. Also, since they had had some diagramming practice, we do the 4-level analysis and diagram. It's not hard to add that -
I've read some of CM's Original Series, and you can't do better than the source... but if you don't have time for all that, I recommend Simply Charlotte Mason-- there's good basic starting info with lots of quotes from CM. I also like A Mind in the Light as a good way to blend CM and classical. She just put up a great document covering narration: http://www.amindinthelight.com/bookstore I like that she draws right from the source-- CM herself and PNEU articles.
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The blog post the OP refers to was really in full swing late last spring and early summer (if my memory serves) and I read every bit of it-- it was fascinating! The thing Christopher Perrin and others kept missing was that Art was arguing something very specific... he was arguing (and I think thoroughly and persuasively) that Karen Glass is in error in her book, 'Consider This' when she argues that Charlotte Mason's ideas and principles flow directly from classical roots. That was the premise of her book and Art directly refutes it in his article. What others went on to argue was that Art
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Charlotte Mason Style Narrations
aelgraham replied to Kfamily's topic in General Education Discussion Board
Thank you so much for this resource-- I've also downloaded, read through carefully, and have compiled a great list of new ways to do narration. I also appreciate your comments on prepared narration. I've been trying to do this for my daughter's readings more this year. She's been reading Robin Hood and I've noticed that in the early chapters, I had a good list of proper names and places, as well as the vocabulary. However, when a student works her way through a novel, the names and places don't really change and you're just looking for the vocabulary and some good narration ideas. Thi -
Years ago my son used 'Ten Thumbs Typing' and then Mavis Beacon. I'm now trying to find something for my daughter. I got the latest version of Mavis and it seems buggy and frustrating. Plus, I only want her practicing 15 minutes a day and the lessons are longer-- it doesn't appear that you can save halfway through. I've currently got her on 'Typing Quest' which is online. It's good, but not enough practice for each letter/skill. I may try the 'Ten Thumbs' with her-- my memory is that the games got a bit distracting. Does anyone here have a strong recommendation? I'd love something
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Math has definitely been our struggle. Here's what has worked well for my DD11 and I, and things have gotten so much better. Last night at dinner when DH asked 'what was your favorite lesson today?' my daughter responded 'math!!' we use Saxon math drills daily. You can use any drill, but do it every day. Math Mammoth doesn't have this built in so you have to do this yourself. Saxon drills are 5 minutes and there's a record sheet to record progress. we're using Rod & Staff and Key To books-- very similar to Math Mammoth in that it is mastery based. I don't leave her alone to do math be
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I love the John Muir Laws books and his website. He offers a free curriculum that you can download that has some wonderful Charlotte Mason style techniques for encouraging students to observe and draw. http://www.johnmuirlaws.com
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TWTM 4th Edition, Logic Stage History
aelgraham replied to aelgraham's topic in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges
She is not recommending outlining in the new edition. I misread it because I went straight to the section on outlining without reading the whole chapter. Jumping in at that point, there's an example of outlining from the Kingfisher book, as well as the caveat I quoted. I was frustrated to see this and am regretful that I ranted before I read the whole chapter. I appreciate being reminded that the goal is to have students think, make connections, and do their own research, as well as identifying most important facts from a core text. I think I just flashed back to some very challengin -
TWTM 4th Edition, Logic Stage History
aelgraham replied to aelgraham's topic in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges
Okay, so I am reading TWTM more thoroughly, and see that SWB's emphasis is on using the encyclopedias for the List of Facts and outlining from other sources. So I have to admit I was reading this incorrectly, just going by the end of the chapter recommendations, rather than the 'how to' section for each grade. I still find all this rather confusing, but at least she is not recommending the outlining from these sources. My mistake! I still find all this rather confusing, and wonder if the List of Facts step is just busywork. I see that reading the encyclopedias are a good overview, but the -
So years ago, when homeschooling my son, logic stage history is where things fell apart. I tried to make it work. I love SWB and I love her curriculum and TWTM, but you simply cannot outline out of the history encyclopedias that she recommends. You can't. We used the red Kingfisher book, and that's okay for a 'list of facts' approach, but as the student gets older you cannot do multi-level outlines from this book. We then shifted to the 'National Geographic Almanac of World History.' This is a great book and you can outline from it, but IMO, it is too advanced for an average middle schooler. I