Anne/Ankara
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Posts posted by Anne/Ankara
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Wow! That is excellent, Beth! Way to go! I know that takes a lot of dedication on proper mindset-- something that can be difficult at times. Congratulations on pulling it off!
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We've used Saxon all the way, now in the middle of Alg 2, and personally I really like the word problems. But can't compare it to other Alg 2 books... still, we like it quite a bit!
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We just listen to them, as a supplement to our reading/discussion. They are ususally very interesting and helpful in understanding the topic. Highly recommended!
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We've done the Apex Learning French Essentials, semester one and two, and that has been good. I think we will continue it next year.
Also, we are soon going to start Art of Problem Solving online math course, Introduction to Number Theory, which looks very interesting. It starts Thursday, so we'll see how it goes...
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We have a friend who went there in sixth grade, and really loved it (violin). There was no problem at all, and the music instruction was tremendous.
For our family, we decided that we'd wait until end of seventh grade before trying these residential camps, because our kids are not that worldly and really we felt there was no hurry to start these programs (also, they are very expensive!).
Just an observation.
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I would have her continue to take the standardized test for one grade ahead, so that you can compare the results of apples-to-apples each year. That would be helpful to see if she's progressing in all areas at an appropriate rate.
But, I would also strongly recommend that she take the SAT test when she turns 12, since she likes standardized tests, and you can really stretch her with that exam. That would open doors to certain programs, and give more validation to where she is in both language arts and math.
Just my idea-- this is what we have done with our kids over the years.
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It's funny, our Kumon center here has many Asian and Indian families-- probably about 75 percent of the clientel. And I can clearly see that the Anglo-American families are the ones with the most reluctant children at the Kumon Center... in other words, it may be that there is an expectation of hard, detail work that is more common in Asian and Indian families, than in other families. Just my observation.
In this case, with Kumon Math, I think it shows that the work is not beyond the ability of any child, just that it takes a lot of dedication and focus, which is not always something that comes easily. That's one of the benefits I see in sticking with the program.
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We have done Kumon for about four years now, and I do agree with the posters that it is a hard, unforgiving program, in terms of needing to be quick and accurate before moving along-- but that is exactly why we have stuck with it! Our idea was that it is really helpful to be strong in fundamentals so that you can progress to higher levels, with good understanding...
Currently my 8th grade ds is working in Kumon Math Level J, which is factorizing and complex numbers I think. My dd in sixth grade is almost throug Level G, pre-algebra. But there is a sense of pride in graduating from each level, because it is a lot of detail work. For us, it takes about 10 minutes/day, and we don't do weekends (that was a decision we made last year since we realized we would be in Kumon for the long haul).
We also completed the Kumon Reading program, which I also highly recommend. There were some very difficult levels in there, studying T.S. Eliot and pretty advanced literature, but the work was challenging and helpful to us. My dd finished the program in fifth grade, but my ds finished it earlier this year, grade 8.
So, I can say that our work in Saxon Math has been easier since we took up Kumon, and I do believe it has helped overall in challenging our kids, but then we never hit the melt-down phase that some kids go through when looking at a stack of Kumon worksheets...
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I think you're definitely on the right track, because Singapore Math and Kumon complement each other very well. We did several years of Singapore Math in elementary, and started Kumon in fourth grade-- that was four years ago. Kumon at the high school level is very good-- challenging and well developed problems (level J, tenth grade is great on factorizing) for instance. Highly recommended!
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This is a nice debate, between Jacobs and Saxon! I'll weigh in for Saxon Algebra I and II, since that's what we use. I like Saxon's incremental approach because the lessons are short and the problem sets are challenging, and my kids never have to worry about "forgetting" how to do something, since the topics are repeated in the problem sets.
For what it's worth, we started Algebra I in seventh grade, Algebra II in eighth grade, without a problem. We typically divide the lesson into several days (depending on what other math activities are going on), and progress slowly but steadily throughout the book. It was not too much for a 12 year old, in our house at least.
Saxon has very, very few mistakes or typos, which I appreciate, and is written for the student to understand, so that relieves some pressure on me. We sit down together to read the lesson, but the student does all the problem sets independently.
We like it quite a bit, and it led to strong scores on the SAT (taken early). Highly recommended!
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Very nice article! Beautiful pictures, too! Wonderful!
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Thanks for updating us, Ria. It does help to know how everyone is doing, and how the homeschooling routine is not "required" of each of us! The bottom line, of course, is doing what is necessary for the family. Good for you-- and keep us informed as you see what's going on in the schools these days!
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Definitely Russia was out-spent-- we just watched a Teaching Company video on US History, "New World Order," which attributed the collapse of the Soviet Union to not being able to keep up the financial cost of the "Star Wars" weaponry of US. Also, losing the battle of Afghanistan, cultural backlash from Solzhenitsyn's writings and all...
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We used to have cleaning ladies come, and the three of them would clean the whole house in about an hour. But later, we started just cleaning it ourselves (after discovering that our cleaning ladies had been stealing from other neighbor's homes-- luckily not ours). It takes me less time than the three of them, but I don't do as good a job! But at least I don't have to straighten up the whole house every three weeks when they were due to come... hmmmm, not sure if things are better now or not!
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Well, it certainly can be the result of the mid-winter blues! Try to find something fun and unexpected (even for Valentine's Day tomorrow), or maybe just remember how quickly each season passes. I was just thinking that very soon, next month, is spring break, so all this snow and ice won't be around forever!
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We started Ancients in first grade, as WTM recommended, with a six year old and a four year old listening in, and the younger child participated to the best of her ability and interest. This was no problem throughout the past 8 years (yikes!), with the older child getting a bit more detail out of the history/science studies than the younger one.
Even Year 4, Modern History, hasn't been a problem because I chose not to concentrate all our energies on studying all the terrible wars of the period-- rather we really looked at the cultural contributions of the time (music, art, people, scientific advances). So it wasn't too "heavy" for seven year old, grammar stage kid.
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I can tell you what we did to prepare ds, age 12 at the time-- we arranged a 3 day trip with dh, just the two of them, which was the first time he spent away from the rest of the family. Later in that year, we arranged for a trip for himself and his sister, to spend about 4 days with good friends, away from parents. Each of these experiences was very positive, as I had expected, and when the time came for the camp, he was ready (age 13 by two weeks).
I'll admit, it was a stretch, having him do the three week residential camp, and several nights we had prolonged telephone calls, when he was tired and missed home. But we helped him count the days until each Sunday, when we went up and spent the day with him. We also wrote him every day, and he wrote back every day, so that seemed to help.
Loneliness can be hard, and I did feel for him, but I really thought that these kind of experiences help children mature and have confidence to tackle the next big challenge. It was the right age and time for him, so I'm pleased that we did it-- and the fact that he wants to return next summer means that it wasn't so bad!!!
Lastly, the food was really terrible at the camp, so I think that affected his outlook, but there wasn't much to do about it. Just made him a bit more appreciative when he returned home!
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We've done the Johns Hopkins one and we're just signing up for next summer (third year doing it). For us, it has been very valuable and worth the expense, especially for the lab science classes. Also, they were helpful about having the parents visit on Sundays, with no problem, but I do think they prefer that the child does not go home overnight during the three weeks. Never hurts to ask, however, if you are concerned... Let me know if you have specific questions.
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It is very nicely done-- we did the French Essentials Semester 1 and 2. I liked it because the student could work independently, and the course was asynchronous (you didn't have to be online at a certain time), and the material was up-to-date and fun. They have quite a few courses at the high school level.
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I hope I'm right in steering my kids to develop some expertise in a few select areas that they already enjoy, and could become quite accomplished in if they continue doing extra-curriculuar activities in that field. For us that would be things like music, writing, science. I think many high schools might offer things like "French Club" or "Leadership" or "Future Business People" clubs, but it is what the student makes of it that should count.
Also, since homeschoolers are already kind of unique, maybe develop an expertise in an extra-curriculuar area that is quite unusual-- kayak making (didn't someone here have a son who hand-made his own kayak?), or whatever. For us, that might be Anatolian History (family background) or something like that...
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There were a few lessons that required the calculator, but not that many. But we did feel it was important to get to learn how to use the calcultor, but not rely on it too much.
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They were very fun! Both kids (ages 13 and 11) really enjoyed them, and we ended up buying them a set for Christmas. They still play with it, for what that's worth. Highly recommended.
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We're working out the itinerary now, Colleen. Maybe you have a recommendation for us? My dh and ds will spend about 6 days in Switzerland, flying into Zurich and taking the train to Geneva, where they will stay in Montreaux. They have a bit of time for some sight-seeing, so they're developing this idea of tracking down the disappearing glaciers. We saw the Alestch Glacier on the internet as one possibility, but I'm not exactly sure where that is (funny Greenpeace photo about nude environmentalists posing in front of disappearing glacier, to illustrate the vulnerability of man and nature!). Anyway, maybe you have some suggestions for us?
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Here is one textbook to recommend, called "World Literature, revised edition" by Holt, Rinehart, Winston. It looks like a high school text (not college level) and covers world literature in a chronological format. The pages are fairly colorful and not too dense (small print). Very nicely done! I bought a used copy for next year as we study Ancient Literature in ninth grade, but the book covers all time periods up to 20th century.
MIT vs. Caltech?
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
Of course those are two of the best universities in the world, so either one would be just amazing, in my opinion! Congrats that you may be choosing between the two! They are both world leaders, with extraordinary faculty and students-- you probably already know that!
You'll get more feedback on College Confidential because many of the posters there are know the two programs in detail. I would definitely read those board and post specific questions.
I would say that it really depends on the particular program that the student wants to study, and then analyze the work done in that field by the respective schools. When you are at that level, it is definitely the particular faculty that you would work with that could make a huge difference.
Cal Tech, of course, is in sunny LA, a smallish green campus outside the city. MIT is big, urban and Bostonian. Sometimes those two huge differences can make a student want one atmosphere more than the other...
Anyway, good luck, and keep us posted! Those are wonderful schools to choose between!
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/