Hillcrest Academy
-
Posts
183 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Classifieds
Store
Posts posted by Hillcrest Academy
-
-
I have come across the 3 major math curricula - Singapore, Saxon and MUS, and have tried MUS Primer and is doesn't work with my DD6. I'm going to try Singapore Earlybird next.
I was wondering, however, how one would describe the different approaches. I have read of a "spiral" approach, and can guess what it means, but would really appreciate if someone could explain it. I think I also recall a "mastery" approach.
What are the approaches and which approach would each of these curricula have been?
TIA!
~Caryn~
-
Praying with you all....
-
Thank you for such a thorough review, April! It actually does look like what I need to create a more cohesive foundation in science. It's something that can can be used in conjunction with other science programs (not that that would be neccessary- just another flexible option!) and I'll probably order it to have a closer look at it.
Thanks again!
-
I'm sorry - I just added a siggy with that info...
Thanks for those suggestions - I haven't heard any of those before so I'll look into them.
I guess I'm discovering that taking the right "road" to my long-term goal is important to me. I was thinking about high school and how when they get there I would like to be using something like Apologia, but I would like them to be exploring all disciplines at once, so that if their preference for one is strong, they won't get bored for an entire year while they focus on another.
That being said, I am trying to figure out the best way to head into Science and cycle through everything properly so that they're well prepared for their last four years.
-
Everything I'm looking at does a year focussing on one particular science discipline, e.g. Sonlight, which does Physical Science, then Biology, then Chemistry, then Physics.
Is there anything that parallels these studies and does all four at once, over a four year period? I really want to avoid having to buy 4 years' worth of curriculum at once *gulp* so that I'm able to pull from all 4 at once.
TIA!
-
I highly recommend Janice VanCleave's "Science Around the Year" for K (and beyond). There are seasonally based themes and experiments which are very easy to execute at home.
-
I have completed K and am currently doing 1st.
My dd flew through K (her 1st year of any 'school') and I had to supplement like crazy because she wanted more. It's a very gentle approached to learning the letters of the alphabet and I think my son will do better with the pace so I'll do it with him. They end with being able to sound out CVC words.
However. The jump from K to 1st is huge. Not only in content, but in pace. They go from at the max 20 mins a day of LA, Bible and Math to a lot more and it only takes a couple of months to transition and build up to the greater content/duration.
Also, in 1st, the phonics moves way to fast, covering a new rule every day in most cases, every second day for the rest. It's a lot.
I have had to replace the LA in 1st with HOP. Also, the Math in K was seriously lacking, and in 1st is too informal and bitty for us. I agree that kids need to learn math conceptually at this age, but that doesn't mean it can't be organized and formal. So we've had to switch to Singapore Earlybird for Math.
The science in 1st is VERY light for my science loving kids, and although science is not imperative at this age, it's the part of 'school' that they think is wildly fun. So I'm pulling things together to add to the science theme for the week.
The Bible is great. We are enjoying it and believe it to be foundational truth that they will benefit from learning at this age for the rest of their lives. Of course, along with the Bible, you get some history and the timeline is also wonderful.
The books that are recommended for Math and Science I have found to be mostly out of print and hard to get so this is a big problem for a town who's library has just shut down.
I also don't like not being able to say "For History we're working on this, and Science is this..." etc. There are so many "activities" that cover more than one subject at once, and that is supposed to cover your hours/requirements in both those subjects. I, however, think I would like to take the opportunity and do a different thing for each subject, and be all the richer for the additional learning/experience, KWIM?
For a boxed curriculum, I'm having to pull a LOT together. I love the idea, I love the approach, but for US it is not everything we need in a box. That being said, I don't know if we're going to move on with adventures. I'm nervous about starting down this path, paying for a "complete" curriculum and then having to pay out for doubles. I'm also nervous about focusing on one area for such a long time, and having to fill the gaps if we move to something else at a later stage with content that should have been learned but is not known.
-
I suppose you could say technically that MFW is a "whole books" program, but on the other hand, we don't do all the reading and literature and it's fine like that. We have a really bad library and can't afford to buy all the books (they're not included in the program) so it works without being book-heavy (like Sonlight).
-
I would use (and am using) My Father's World (www.mfwbooks.com) . It is comprehensive and fun and has a fantastic cycle by which you can teach across multiple age ranges at once. The cycle starts with a year of geography (Exploring Countries and Cultures) and then there are 4 years of history based study.
From 3rd grade on it doesn't include LA and Math, but I have already found it neccessary to use separate programs for that since she is working at different grade levels for Math and LA.
If you have any questions about the program in particular, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer. Otherwise you could go to groups.yahoo.com/mfwfamilies or the forums on their web site.
-
I was extremely excited about La Francais Facille and ordered the Junior level. One of the things I was happy to see on the web site was that they used a Parisienne (sp? I'm having a blank moment) French accent.
I speak french, although not fluently, and learned under a pure parisienne accent. When I got the CD I was surprised at just how "French Canadian" the accent is. It bothered me enough to be a major factor in my dropping the program.
The other think that I just couldn't get used to was how they mix English and French in the conversations right off the bat. Not only does it switch from English to French and back from one sentence to the next, but there are also French words mixed into English sentences and vice versa!
I learned French through immersion and it was fantastic. I am now looking for a program with audio that teaches it as such and am thinking of trying Ecoutez! Parlez!
-
I would highly recommend posting this question at the MFW Families support group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MFWFamilies/ - there are many, many families who have dealt with these very scenarios and who would love to answer your questions :)
-
I have come back to this thread many times to read over all the wonderful advice and encouragement that was given. Thanks again for the input and the encouragement.
I've decided to go ahead with MFW 1st for the rest of the year, using HOP for practice, and adding in Singapore Earlybird in conjunction with the MFW math. Since it's spring time, I thought I would just "suppliment" the science with outdoorsy things, not anything scheduled.
I am reminded that she is only K5, and we are going to focus on the basics, and fun. After all, when I was at school we only started learning to read in 1st grade, so she's doing pretty awesome :)
-
Thank you all so much for the encouragement.I have taken everything to heart, and am going to take a step back and focus on the 3 R's. Thank you for putting it back into perspective, and allowing me to take a breath! I do so appreciate your input!
-
Susie, I started it with her when she was 4 1/2 and finished a few weeks before she turned 6 because we took it slowly. By slowly, I mean that she did an entire week's worth of work in two days, be we only did school every now and then ;) My fault completely, since she used to beg me to do school. She is a bright girl who always likes something new and different. She picked up on the phonics very quickly, but struggled with the math concepts (guess she gets her math gene from me - poor kid ;) ) I'm not sure if the struggle was because she was young or just because math is not her subject (but I guess I won't be able to figure that one out until I've given her a fair shot at math.)
-
Thank you all so much for all that input. I think I'm finally going to be able to go to sleep (it's 1:30am here on the East Coast ;) ) I love the look of Little Hearts ... I will look into that at the MassHOPE conference. In the meantime, I'm going to take a step back and breathe. And I'm going to focus on reading and math. Hopefully everything else will be added fun, because you're right - they're still little. We have plenty of time.
And most of all, I'm going to pray. I really have not looked to the Lord for the answers I need as much as I should have. He has used you all to point me in the right direction, both with HS'ing AND most importantly, back to Him.
He is so good.
Thank you again - since it's 1:34 am and you have all managed to calm me down, I might actually be able to go to bed now!
~Caryn~
-
Thank you, Karen...I think my hyperventilating is slowly beginning to subside ;) I really appreciate the advice to relax and simplify things. You're right - reading and math are the most important right now, and we need to get through that as our focus. I love the gravy analogy. We do like gravy, though!
It's nice to get a diagnosis for my problem! :) I'm going to have to seriously think on that one...
-
Sue, thank you for your response! Do you add all those programs to the MFW that you use? I guess I was feeling despondent and that I must be doing something wrong because it's touted as a program where you don't need to add anything, and as far as all the MFW users I know, most of them don't add anything.
I really went into it expecting that I wouldn't have to buy anything else, and yet I find with every subject that I want to suppliment it. If that's the case, I might as well drop it and use the programs that I'm supplimenting with, KWIM?
-
There's also Honey for a Child's Heart...
-
I really don't know what it was, but we didn't enjoy MFW K at all (and I promise it wasn't me who left that one negative review - I haven't reviewed it at all yet!) My kids love science and we found it to be very light on science. Yes, the whole week was based on a science theme, but other than reading books on the subject and one activity/experiment, there wasn't much else. I found myself searching for additional resources to add to each science theme.
We also found that we were bored with the repetition of the same routine every single week. The pro about that is that as a teacher you become very efficient at your task ;) The con is that my dd knew what was coming and rattled through it before I'd even given her the instruction. It became very predictable, and although it does advance in difficulty, the same backbone routine happens week in and week out.
I found MAJOR holes in the integrated Math curriculum. Supposedly, Math happens without the K'er even knowing it. I suppose it is true, but the problem for us came when we had to put the correct math language together with the concepts in 1st grade. It was almost as if giving it a name made it a different concept for her and she had no idea what I was talking about. I have heard about the "holes" from other people, and since MFW recommends Singapore for the later years, I would recommend starting with it, or another Math program, right from K.
My DD finished K knowing how to read CVC words, but I definitely finished K wondering exactly what we had achieved and feeling like it could have been a much richer year as far as activity was concerned.
HTH!
Caryn
-
I don't know what it is but even though I have been researching HS options since my DD was 3 (she's just turned 6) I am completely overwhelmed and confused. We can't seem to get any sort of routine or continuity going. I suppose part of it is having a 5 yr old and a 4.5 month old in the mix.
I started her out with MFW K when she was 4 (she was begging me to "do school") and she did really well with everything we did. We took it slowly, and did it sporadically, finishing just before she turned 6. At the beginning of this year, we started MFW 1st, and we're moving slowly through that too. I found that the phonics was moving too fast for her, with not enough practice, so we switched to HOP K and are reviewing that. I might switch back to MFW 1st for the next phonics rule, and then do some "practice" with HOP. I am finding HUGE holes in her Math skills - she still doesn't know 10's/units, is not confident with counting above 19, and has no concept of addition or subtraction.
I personally love the fact that everything is given to me "in-a-box" with MFW, but I don't like being able to say, "We did this for science and this for history", but I really have to dissect a project/activity to separate the subjects - and sometimes I feel it's a stretch.
I have looked at so many wonderful curriculums out there, and I have drawn up a partial list of what looks good:
LA: Sing, Spell, Read, Write OR Hooked on Phonics OR Explode the Code
Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears
Math: Math-U-See Primer (not too sure about this - may look into Singapore.)
Science: Apologia Elementary
History: The Mystery of History OR SOTW
Geography:
Foreign Language: Baby’s First Steps in French by Erika Levy / Bilingual Baby - French / “Teach Me Tapes†– Teach Me French / Ecoutez! Parlez! By Katleen Newton
The thing that scares me is trying to schedule it myself and getting it all done. Also, I'm not that great at "teaching lingo" and do much better if someone gives me the words to say to teach a concept (even if I don't repeat them verbatim, but at least I know what approach to take!)
Is it even possible for me to do this? I just feel really overwhelmed by now. I feel like I've missed a really great pre-K and K foundation, and yet she's too "old" to start all over again.
I'm not sure how to find curriculum that works for us without spending too much.
Any thoughts?
Thank you!
Caryn
Abbreviation Sticky
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
I've seen it used in the context of either a curriculum OR an approach. Not sure which or what it is though.