Testimony
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Posts posted by Testimony
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Simply put, none of the programs that I own/have owned encompass the entirety of what I personally deem as necessary for a complete writing program. I want a writing program that not only instructs students on how to narrow their thesis, develop their contention, incorporate supporting evidence, and format correctly, but contains excellent instruction on all of those areas. The sources all seem to focus on just a couple aspects at the expense of the development of the other key criteria.
At the elementary level, I can't abide by the focus on fiction and personal commentary. It honestly drives me crazy. (did you see the writing samples linked that were written by 8th graders? I don't want that sort of instruction w/in 100 mi of my kids!)
For my older kids, I want them to develop strong presentation w/topics in science, history, and lit w/evidence in MLA format. I want them to be able to not only write persuasive essays but also research papers......
I have not found a single source that does it all (insert very loud sigh here!! :tongue_smilie:)
(ETA: I don't want to get into a discussion about the pros and cons of the various programs you have listed b/c I simply don't have the time. But I did remember one other major criteria I have for teaching writing......that the process is not complicated. I do not believe that making a simple process complex strengthens/improves writing. I actually believe the opposite......making the complex simple allows students to develop their skills.)
I bolded the part that I wanted to make a point about. I highly agree with those points. I apologize, but I truly became frustrated with CW. My cry was that writing should not be this complicated to teach. There must be an easier way to teach the skills that CW wants you to learn without it being so incredibly discombobulated. I went through CW Homer. I felt like I swallowed a whale. I must admit that I like IEW only because it seems a lot easier to understand and it explains tasks for the children much simpler.
I need to figure out for high school. I was thinking of Elegant Essay. Or I have seriously thought about going back to CW.:tongue_smilie: Maybe I'm nuts.:001_huh:
Blessings,
Karen
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Ok ladies and gentlemen. Go easy on me. I'm already feeling like a failure with my older son and I'm just trying to correct some things before it's too late for him.
He's 12 year old and had a horrible time learning to read. He hated doing anything "schoolish" from the very beginning. He reads fine now but sheesh the early years were so hard and I made tons of mistakes with him. I let so many things slide with him and now we are playing the catch up game in the simple 3 R's area. I feel strongly that I need to go to nothing but the basics with him but I am having a very very hard time feeling like I can let history and science go while I do this. I just feel like the basics gets dropped first if I have too much on my plate since I'm also trying to not make the same mistakes with the 5 year old. He's going to struggle all through highschool if I don't do what needs to be done. Of course we've done history and science but I'm not feeling like it was ever as focused as I would have liked. It feels to me like we haven't done any real history or science even though we have. Clear as mud?
Please tell me it's ok if he doesn't really do any real history or science before high school? I know we could probably continue to read some living books a few days a week. Will that be enough?
Tell me to take a :chillpill: please. I'm scared to death I'm cheating him by stopping history or science beyond reading yet I know I'm severely cheating him by not focusing on the basics with him.
Hows that for manic depressive??
P.S. I'm struggling with some things today if you can't tell :001_unsure:
Please take a :chillpill: Actually, I think you need to take 2 :chillpill::chillpill:.
Get him caught up with reading, writing, and arithmetic from now until High School. Then, teach him science and history. It more counts in High School anyway. You can do it! Don't give up!
Blessings in your homechooling journey!
Sincerely,
Karen
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So would you suggest going straight to R&S 6? :bigear:
I hope this isn't long, but you could go two ways:
a. Go straight to Rod and Staff 6 and if is too hard, take two years to do it or
b. Do Rod and Staff 5 in order to get your child acclimated to Rod and Staff's style and then go to Rod and Staff 6.
Just a thought!
Blessings in your homeschooling journey!
Sincerely,
Karen
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there are so many things that my 8th grader has done so far and things that he has not:
1. Science-Exploring Creation with Physical Science
2. History-reading the constitution
3. Math-Saxon Algebra 1
4. Writing-Essay Voyage and Time 4 Writing
5. Vocabulary-Cesar's English 2
6. Grammar-Rod and Staff 8
7. Foreign Language-Rosetta Stone Spanish
8. Bible-Reading One Year Bible
9. Reading- 20,000 Leagues under the sea, Romeo and Juliet, and Out of the Silent Planet
Just to clarify: My son completed Rod and Staff 8 in November, Essay Voyage in December, and the One Year Bible in December. Also, he finished reading 20,000 Leagues Under the sea in October and Romeo and Juliet at the end of January. He currently follows Ambleside Online year 8 for a lot of his readings, history, nature study, art, etc. He is currently taking an online course called Time4Writing.
10-Physical Education-Frisbee, Basketball, and Indoor Soccer.
11-Music-Violin and Piano and Junior High Choir
I think that is it. In terms of physical education, frisbee is played in the fall and spring outside. Basketball and Indoor Soccer are played through the town and are winter sports. I want to keep them physically active. I just went overboard with it this year.
That's all!
Blessings,
Karen
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If you are looking for logic, how about Building Thinking Skills if your child has never done logic. Try doing Book 2 or 3.
I think that you have a solid schedule. I stopped Latin by 6th grade because I felt that they learned a lot and I wanted them to learn Spanish. I have no suggestions for Latin because I did Memoria Press all the way. I did not mind my children learning prayers in Latin, etc. I wanted that for them.
Overall, you seem to have a great plan.
Blessing in your homeschooling journey!
Sincerely,
Karen
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Blessings in your homeschooling journey!
Sincerely,
Karen
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but one reviewer said it's not a beginner kit and the programming is difficult to figure out. Thanks,
Rondi
Rondi,
That reviewer has no clue what he/she is talking about. Lego Mindstorms is perfect for your 12 year old daughter. I want to tell you that my sons were on a Lego Robotics team for three years. The program starts at age 9 years old. It is so simple that a 9 year old could do this program. The Lego robotics program goes from ages 9-14 years old. Your daughter fits right in that category. The issue with Lego Mindstorms is that it does not teach real program per say. However, if you want to learn Programming C, the NXT brick in Lego Mindstorms does take that language.
I would say, "do it!" Your daughter will love it!!
Blessings,
Karen
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Mine's up! You can read it here. I wrote a very different type of report. It was more around our extra curricular activities. I know I am on extra curricular overload!:tongue_smilie:
Thank you to all who read!
Sincerely,
Karen
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"The odious smell of the flowers wafted malevolently through the house, disturbing the serenity and leaving a profound veil of stench hanging in the air."
This sentence is worth a million dollars and an A++!
Blessings,
Karen
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I currently have the workbook. There are two ways of approaching KISS. The first way is take the grade level the child is on and work it through. The second is a self pace based upon where the child is at grammatically.
Here is the program:http://home.pct.edu/~evavra/kiss/wb/PBooks/index.htm#Intro_to_KISS
I am sorry if you already have it.
I started my 4th grader in 2nd grade. He moved through it quickly. I feel that he did learn a lot because he did Rod and Staff Grammar with no problems. I am going back to it for my younger son. Just my experience.
Blessings in your homeschooling journey!
Sincerely,
Karen
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There are several families in my homeschool support group that have used it in the past or are currently using. At first I was leary of it because it had gotten some bad reviews on these boards. However, I know of two children for two different families who have used Math U See through Calculus. They both scored high on their SATs and one even got a college scholarship to an excellent technical university. I was so impressed. The girl who got the scholarship told me that she has always used Math U See. She is a senior in high school and going to major in computer science. So, I guess you would have to decide, but that is what I have heard and what I know.
Blessings in your homeschooling journey!
Sincerely,
Karen
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I am on the fence about Elegant Essay. I asked on here and that review plus some others I have found since- I am not for sure if that is what we want to use- but I haven't totally ruled it out yet either! What can you recommend? TIA
I am so upset with myself with how the essay life is going with us. I am looking at Elegant Essay too. However, a veteran mom from my group told me that she used Write at Home. She does the 9 week workshop. I want to get into the next one for my son because it is about essay writing.
Blessings in your homeschooling journey!
Sincerely,
Karen
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You can see it here at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony.'>http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony.
Thank you to all who read!
Blessings,
Karen
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony
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As mentioned in other threads, I'm working on putting together our Ancients curriculum. DD will either start it this September or next January. She will be 5 to 5.5-years-old.
How do you deal with all of the death that goes along with studying such a subject at a young age.
For example, in Usborne's Ancient World book, in regard to the first towns, it states...
"Dead people were buried underneath the houses. Their skulls may have put on display, as a way of showing respect."
It goes on to say...
"...the body was left outside to rot. The skeleton was buried under a bench in the house or in a shrine room..."
My DD is pretty sensitive and we do not talk about death a lot (my DH was diagnosed with a pretty rare and serious heart condition a-year-and-a-half ago :sad:).
Anyway, I think the previously mentioned text would freak her out. (She wouldn't go to the bathroom alone for a week after watching the Bubble Guppies Halloween episode. :001_rolleyes: Her bathroom has no window, so it's kind of dark.) Can I effectively teach Ancients by editing out such specific references to death and treatment of the dead? I do realize Egypt might be dicey.
I am sorry about your dh. I would not teach it that young unless necessary and especially if she is sensitive. Couldn't you start with American history first? I never started my children with ancients until about age 7, but that is me.
What I mean by necessary is when my father passed away. It was a good time to talk about it and learn. I guess I may be odd that way. Just my $.02.
Blessings,
Karen
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My dd asked for violin at 6 1/2 years old. Dh said yes. The first 6 months were so slow. We moved/changed teachers and then it got good. We moved again this year and she asked to take off for a few months but is now playing again. I give you this background b/c from day one she said she also wants to learn flute. That request never goes away. Ukulele and guitar are thrown in there every other month. Piano is often and I bought her beginner books and she's teaching herself :tongue_smilie: I think musicians just like music and want to try a lot of different instruments. Perhaps a local music school will have a summer camp where kids can try out instruments? I have seen this before, call around and ask. Oh and drums. She also wants drums :001_huh:
This is hysterical. :smilielol5::smilielol5::smilielol5:
I just wanted to say that last year was the last year that my son played the violin. He was not happy with the teacher. He played for about 4 years. He is playing the drums and he is happy. I cried for a bit at first, but I am OK with the fact that it is his decision. I feel that the child should play for a year first before they decide to quit. He should get a feel for it. The child might like it or really hate it. A year is a better gage than a month.
Blessings in your homeschooling journey!
Sincerely,
Karen
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I think that R&S is similar to Harvey's. I think that if you just line up R&S grammar with what they suggest in Harvey's, you should be OK. There should not be too much difficulty. I did not use a grammar program with CW. After I finished Homer B, I went straight to R&S 6. My older son did very well in the program. He told me that CW helped him a lot with his grammar. I agree.
Blessings,
Karen
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I would look at some books called the Way They Learn by Cynthia Tobias, Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling by Debra Bell, and Cathy Duffy's Homeschool Review. These are books that I started with when my son was 4 years old too. You have a lot of time before you really have worry about homeschooling. If you want to use a curriculum in the mean time to hold you over, there is Before 5 in A Row. It is a great program.
I love the book the Way They Learn because it helped to teach me to understand how my child understand information, but it also taught me how to understand how I learned. That was so important!
By the way, welcome!
Blessing to you in your start of your homeschooling journey! It is a journey that I hope you will enjoy once you embark!
Sincerely,
Karen
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I am the worse mother on the planet. This past week, I have yelled at my boys for a couple of days now. It is usually over a few things like not listening, but this is what I mean:
For example, I asked my son to put his books away in the school bin before he gets the next subject and after the last subject is done. He left his books in the kitchen and dinner was being served. So, I said to please bring it downstairs. He went put it downstairs, but not in the bin. I asked him if he put it in the bin, he told me he did. The next morning, I tumbled down the stairs where the books were. He lied to me and I got hurt. I feel icky that I lost my temper.:crying:
I would say that I loose my temper about once a month.
Blessings in your homeschooling journey!
Sincerely,
Karen
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I just wanted to say. If you wanted to do CW, I personally think that you don't need a grammar program with this curriculum. Even though it recommends Harvey grammar, I would use it alone. It explains grammar in depth. My older son went into Rod and Staff grammar 6 totally understanding grammar. If you wanted to do a grammar program with it, I would go with Growing with Grammar because it is light.
Just my opinion!
Blessings in your homeschooling journey!
Sincerely,
Karen
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I thought that MCT's grammar was like about 6 weeks. My impression is that he did not want you to spend too much time on grammar. So, you did it for the first 6 weeks of school and then the rest of the school year you write. I could be wrong. That was what someone told me.
I was wondering what made MCT grammar harder than a full year's program. I ask because I like his thinking on grammar. He parses the sentences and has the child identify the different parts to the sentence.
I would recommend Growing with Grammar because it is just straightforward grammar. There are no bells and whistles with it. And the best is that the child does it independently.
Blessings in your homeschooling journey!
Sincerely,
Karen
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You can look at what we have done at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony'>http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony
Thank you to all who come!
Blessings,
Karen
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony
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http://is.byu.edu/is/site/
BYU independent study. We have not done any of these yet, so I can't give a personal recommendation. It looks like enrollment is open at anytime as there is no 'live' instruction. Cost is reasonable - about $128.
This stuff looks neat!
Thanks,
Karen
8th grade lesson plans
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
I love it so far. We are currently doing it. I like the feedback that my son is getting on his writing. I like that he is getting an immediate response. You see my son is enjoying the program. So, he is keeping up with the assignments. Everytime he writes something, he gets a grade back. He does not like some of his low scores and so he tries to improve. I enjoy the fact that everything that I have told him the teacher is telling him. I feel that the subject that he is learning right now is simple, but needed.
Just to tell you, I wanted hime to work on essay writing. I felt, however, that he would be better off learning how to improve on his paragraph writing. He is trying to incorporate what he has learned from IEW and CW which is good. He wrote his first official paragraph today. We will see how he did. I think that the best way to have a good essay is to start with a good paragraph. So, my logic was begin with paragraphs and move on to essays.
Oh and the price was right too!
Hope that helps!
Blessings,
Karen
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony