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mom&nana

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Everything posted by mom&nana

  1. I thought it looked easy too. That was until I tried to implement it. Then I found Marcia's Video on her blog explaining how to get started. I always thought the readings would be stretched throughout the week and that seemed doable. I was thinking along the lines of SL or WP where we read a little of the book each day. I didn't realize until I watched the video that all the reading is supposed to be done on Monday and Tuesday, maybe Wednesday. This is done so mapwork, discussion questions, activities can be done the rest of the week. Some weeks that would be ok, however, on others that is just way too much reading to be doing in 2 or 3 days. And that's just for history, there are other more important subjects to cover. I can see TOG being very time consuming. I realized that some people were actually having their students doing reading over the weekend to be ready to do the discussions at the end of the week. Or they were stretching a week's worth of work into 1/2 or 2 weeks. I just didn't think that would work here. In the end, I just felt like TOG was just way too much on all counts...too many decisions to make, too much money, too many books, too much information... If you are good at making decisions as to what is more important to study when and how much.... If you have good library and can juggle when to reserve books, or can afford to buy all the books upfront... if you/your kids can handle a lot of reading..TOG might work for you.
  2. Many people on the SL forums will recommend doing Core A for 1st grade. Also in the SL catalog Sarita says Core A is perfect for 6 and 7 years olds and advanced 5 year olds. I just started Core P 4/5 (only 7 weeks in) with a newly turned 7 year old and a 5 year old. It's a perfect fit for them, and a little challenging at times for the 5 year old. So when we move to Core A I'll have a 2nd grader (7 going on 8 years) and a 6 year. My 7 year old probably could have started in A, but I don't feel like she's under-challenged at all by using P 4/5. We are having a great time. :D Remember SL cores are not grade levels, and when I used it with my older dd years ago I much preferred her to be on the older end of the age range. They just get a lot more of out the core that way.
  3. LOL Kris. I was thinking maybe I was mistaken because I do edit on the fly as well. Or I thought I might not be remembering correctly. :) I totally agree about the readers.
  4. Well Kris, I guess we were posting at the same time. I thought the main text had some Christian worldview. I didn't think it was overtly so, but I thought it was there. I'm Christian so I didn't take any issues with it or anything. I'm not sure how one would feel if they were secular. I can't pinpoint any one thing, it just seems like I remember there being some of that in the main text. Maybe, I'm mistaken.
  5. I also wanted to say that I wouldn't consider this program to be secular. The books used have a lot about God, people's faith, Christian themes, etc. Also the Columbus book portrays him as a hero-- the Christ-Bearer who came to bring the Christian religion to the heathens. So I know so people may take offense to that. It very much paints him in a positive light. I think TGTL probably leans a little towards providential history just because of some of the books it uses. There is some Christian worldview in the main texts as well. I haven't used the Bible supplement so I can't speak for that.
  6. As much as I really wanted to love TGTL is just didn't work here for us. We did all of Volume 1 in Paths of Exploration last year. Then we moved away from it for a few months and went back to Volume 2 only doing the 1st unit. This year we picked up Paths of Settlement. We worked through Volume 1 and 1 unit of Volume 2. It just doesn't work for us. I have a love/hate relationship with the program. For one, I love how everything is integrated. That is really nice, but I feel like the program needs supplementation in many places. The language arts is kind of sporadic and the Science is weak. However, because of how integrated the program is, it's very difficult to leave things out and also makes for a very long day if you begin to supplement with other programs. The geography is one of the best parts of the program. I found the books to be hit and miss. Some were much too easy, some we enjoyed, and others were a little dry. I was using POE with a 6th grader and this year we moved to POS (7th grade). I tried the middle school supplement with POE, and while I felt like it added more in the quantity of work, it didn't seem to add quality. It still needed supplementation for us. I have other issues with the program that really bug me, but may not bother others. I can't stand reading partial chapters of books each day. The readings would end in odd places, it would say, "stop on paragraph 2 page 80", for example. Sometimes it was hard to tell what they were counting as a paragraph and I'd have to flip to the next days work to figure out where we should stop for today. A small annoyance, but still one nonetheless. I also didn't like that it's not chronological. Since it's based on themes, it will have you covering various parts of American history in POE and then sort of backtracking (with time periods) in POS. I prefer to study American history chronologically. I also felt like we spent too much time on certain topics, and because of this they skip other portions of American history. However, I think that's also due to the way the program is put together, it's meant to be more of a unit study. I liked having the copywork and dictation scheduled for me. I also liked the narration, but they stop narration in the second volume in favor of something they call "Reflective writing". The Language arts is based on the teaching of Ruth Beechick. So it would probably depend on how much your goals and ideals line up with hers, as to whether you would appreciate that approach or not. It comes with a cd of notebooking pages to print. Be prepared to use a lot of ink and paper, as there are thousands of pages for each level! It is a LOT to print! Overall, I think it's been well thought out. The integration is pretty neat. I really wanted it to work. In reality it just doesn't meet my goals for our homeschool.
  7. I just got the email from them this morning. I have long drooled over EK but ruled them out because of the price. Now this throws a monkey wrench in all my plans! What a great deal!
  8. :party:YAY!! BOX DAYS ARE SO MUCH FUN!! Enjoy! :D
  9. This is how I feel about all the book changes.
  10. I believe I saw the Usborne book still included. I think it's a 5 day option now though.
  11. I was really surprised to see this change. We have not used Core G. We are currently doing Ancient History with TQ/MFW combo. I was considering using Core H this fall. Now I wonder if they have plans to remove the other Foster books from Core H as well. I know Judy mentioned something about H possibly changing next year. Sorry I have no real opinion, as I haven't read the Foster books. I know I've seen many reviews and it seems that people either love them or hate them. I'm interested to hear what others think, so thanks for asking this.
  12. Yes, me too. I couldn't find the new catalog online, so thanks for posting the link. :)
  13. I saw that in the email this morning, and I think that's pretty neat. Although, I doubt I'll be using WP anymore in the future, I'm sure this will be great for some people.
  14. I remember reading somewhere on the SL forums that Judy plans to have a list of all the updated books posted on the forums sometime this week. Also the digital catalog is supposed to go live this week as well. I can't wait!! :)
  15. I plan on ordering the new Core A and Core H. I doubt it will be on April 2nd though, probably a few weeks after. But I'm really excited about all the changes they have made and can't wait to see the new books they've added in. :D
  16. Sonlight put up their latest video of the changes to come. We are currently using P 4/5 and I'm considering core A and Core H for this fall. We also used Core B+C in the past. I'm excited about all the changes. They look awesome!
  17. Yes, I think you are right. I also feel like the workload is uneven in PR. My dd really HATES the building codes. I'm not really sure how to review either. I know Mrs. Beers mentioned having your child read the previous spelling words. That would take up quite a bit of time though. I have wondered, repeatedly just this week, if my dd is really going to be prepared enough to read Little House when we get to Level 2. I don't think she will be but I could be wrong. I also wanted PR to be our only Language Arts program. I love the AIO approach and I do think that PR comes really close to being an amazing AIO. I think it's probably the best AIO program I have seen. But still I find myself needing to supplement. :tongue_smilie:
  18. I've just heard of this program. We are using PR, and I'm interested in hearing how it compares to LOE. We are doing ok with PR and overall I'm happy with it. I used PR 1 and 2 in the past with my older dd at an accelerated pace. We stopped because she found it so babyish. Now I'm using PR with my 7 year old (1st grader). We are on week 20 in PR 1. I found that we needed more reading practice, so I bought AAS Levels 1 and 2 and ETC. She doesn't care much for AAS and I think it's because it's pretty far behind where we are in PR. Another thing I have noticed with PR is that even though she knows all the phonograms well, and can spell many words with coaching, she doesn't seem to be carrying over the skills learned in PR. I think PR also lacks review. Anyways, I'm just wondering what I'm missing not using LOE. :D How does the writing instruction and grammar compare? Does LOE do literature studies like PR?
  19. Hi Crystal, We haven't been doing the reports. Apparently, I missed that in the introduction. We usually just do narrations. To us, it's the reading that doesn't feel like enough. We haven't used the book basket much, but I've been told that one doesn't have to use it. I'm not crazy about relying on the library. I think MFW is just not what I'm after and that's ok. I think it can be the perfect curriculum for another family. We're not that crazy about the spines. In fact we have dropped Streams. But even before we dropped it, it still didn't feel like enough. We added in the TQ Beginnings Guide and more Bible reading. You're right that everyone is different. So I'm glad there are many options out there. :)
  20. This has been our experience with it as well. Except we are using Creation to Greeks with my 7th grader. It just feels too light. I won't be using MFW next year.
  21. I agree. I'm excited about the changes as well. :D I just wish they would release the information a little sooner, but that's because I'm just impatient. ;)
  22. Just wanted to say that I can totally sympathize with you. Last year, I did the NoS diet. It worked pretty well for me, I lost a pound a week for the first few weeks and then kind of stalled out. I wasn't exercising any. Then Christmas came around and I quit the NoS diet. 4 weeks ago I started back on the NoS diet and also exercised with Leslie Sansone. The first two weeks I did the Walk At Home on youtube. Then for the last two weeks I bought a DVD of the Walk Slim 4 mile walk (a 1 hour routine). I exercise 4-5 times a week with it. But I have NOT LOST 1 SINGLE POUND! I am so frustrated. So I have been considering a more extreme diet approach. The Atkins has crossed my mind because my mom has done it off and on for years. I like No S because it feels like something I can live with forever. All those no carb, no sweet diets would not work for me long-term and I know it. However, it is quite annoying to be exercising for 4 weeks with NoS diet and lose nothing! I just wanted to say I feel your pain. :grouphug:
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