I wish I could have a hard copy in hand to see it. I am concerned about how intensive it might be for teacher prep?

Try posting in the "Accelerated learners" place. I am wondering if anybody used this, too.

Thank you for sharing your experience with us! It has been a wonderful reminder.

Thanks everyone. This is very helpful. Those games listed in the book do feel overwhelming to put together, tho. I might be doing some over the summer as my prep work.

Rose said >>>>>Oh well, I guess doing them first will make the CE vocab seem more familiar and less intimidating.<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Rose I think your absolutely correct in your assumption. Remeber MCT says in the intro --these 10 words are the MOST used in great literature that the children will be reading. I love that he adds more in the story with footnotes. Also, a character from Paragraph Town is introduced in the MUD Trilogy, which I think is great, too. I am hoping the introduction of the Paragraph Town will make missing MUD less when we do PT. And Yes, I have a 4th grader and we just finished Building Vocabulary when we started the Trilogy. I also think you should do some of "Music of the Hemisperes" first (atleast the first 2 chapters) because he has examples of using alliteration in literature, which is great to further provide examples of this. I love that it is all connected.

Oh I forgot to add, I used some of the questions from the teacher's Manual after he read 2 chapters, the next day. Have fun!

OMG these MUD trilogy are just awesome! There is so much you can discuss in there. I wish there were more like these books for the elementary age kids. Anyway, it is pretty much laid back on how to use them. I will share how I did it but you will see that you can do anything with these books. It a great, gentle way to introduce literary analysis. I love it! I love the stories so much, I am keeping the books :) So, there are 10 words for definition to go over before you start reading the book. I made him copy like 2 words into a notebook with definition and such and we used it in a sentence. Then he read 2 chapters. After reading them, there are quotes from the story we went over them. Then the next day, we went over more definitions and recalled the story and then he read another 2 chapters. We didn't spend alot of time because sometimes we would discuss the books at other times of the day because he LOVED talking about them and what happened. So, it is one on the easiest things to incorporate them into your day, and it is very flexable. Just have fun with them because they are sooooooo awesome :)

Ah, yes TOPS. A couple of months ago I was thinking of using them with TOPS. I forgot about them. Thanks for reminding me. Rose-- so basically, she spent 2 days on the lesson part and did she do the activities on one of the 2 days that she did level 2 lesson? We have the Isaac Asimov " Photosynthesis" book at the library, so that will be one of the books he will read.

I just bought the book and it looks very intimidating. There is so much in there! I want to use it next year for my 5th grader. Tell me how you used it. I like hearing the examples. It is very inspiring to hear how someone has used a curriculum. Thanks.

I am all ears because I am going to use Tiner with Elements and Carbon Chemistry next yr, too!................

Thank you for this thread. It is really a thought provoking thread as I start planning 5th Grade for next year!!! After homeschooling for 5 yrs, I am actaully in the exact same spot I was when starting Kindy with ds, just like the OP is feeling now! My library has the Why do Students Hate School and I am going to read it. I feel more inspired from this thread than I have been feeling lately, trying to figure out middle school and all! You really do change things as you realize what works for you and your children, year by year.

Is anybody familiar with REAl Science Odyssey Chemsitry Level 1. It's supposed to be geared for Grades 1-5. On the Website, it looks like it might be geared towards 5th Grade, but I don't know for sure? I was thinking of using this with McHenry's Elements.

PEN- I would like to quote her but it's sooooo long. I just want to say that I second her all post. I used Enki Education from Pre-school thru 3 rd Grade. I did the camps and the extra classes with the creator of the curriculum. In the middle of 3rd Grade I got a culture shock when I realized that my son was behind in math and science. :eek: Turns out ds is gifted, too, so catching up in math and science is pretty easy with him. But, I was laying at night worrying of what I done for 6 months before I finally comed down. This year we did more Charlotte Mason and WTM stuff with some ENKI influences and he is loving it and learning whole lot more then he did when we did strictly ENKI. Still, I would recommend doing the Waldorf thing in the early years, but definitely get into a math and science curriculai starting atleast Grade 3, if not in Grade 2. My son would say the same--- he liked Enki but he didn't learn anything, well, I'm not sure he would say he liked it ;) . He did like the finger knitting, and working with wool stuff and the stories. BTW, there is a CM-Waldorf YAHOO Group, if you are interested :)

Thank you, Rose! :hurray:

Here is the link for PPL & ILL e-books workbooks --- Just buy these, it's all you need. http://www.primarylanguagelessons.com/ I really like it and it nice colorful pictures for picture study.

I have the Life 1 and Earth and Space 1 as books. I, too, like to read hardcopy and not a computer screen. I was thinking of buying Chemistry 1 for next year, and maybe the e-book, since the reading is really one to two pages, here and there (not like BFSU). I *think* I can tolerate it :)

Wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love it!

Thanks for the tip :)

Great, it's at our library. I am getting both. DS thinks it looks cool. Thank you CalmingTea=== I need to look at MP more. I have several of their books from MP and will definitely look at Tiner's Exploring the World of Chemistry! This is my problem (regarding the BOLD in quote), he isn't a typical 5th Grader, atleast for science and math. We just went over what he wanted to say about his science project and he wants to talk about decay. Someohow I was confused from going from elements of the periodical table to talking about decaying atom. When he was finished my jar dropped because, after giving a very advanced academic explanation of decay, I was confused and wondered how is everyone, including 5 yrs old going to understand this. He then proceeded to speak in more plainly and give great SIMPLE examples that a child OR an adult (with no knowledge of science) able to understand complex science. Think Fred Gauss from Life of Fred, a 5 yr old teaching complex math. THAT"S how it felt. This is where I am stuck OR getting caught up thinking he needs to do complex science BUT maybe he just wants to mess around in the complex science of it all. My Amazon has these titles in my cart (which WAY TOO MUCH): Marie Curie Search Radium ( biography for science) Asimov on Chemistry ( he LOVES Isaac Asimov stuff) Physics Lab in the Home Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics (Secrets of the Universe) The Chemist Who Lost His Head: The Story of Antoine Laurent Lavoisier [ Janice VanCleave's Energy for Every Kid: Easy Activities That Make Learning Science Fun Adventures With Atoms and Molecules: Chemistry Experiments for Young People - Book I Exploring the World of Chemistry: From Ancient Metals to High-Speed Computers Thinking Physics: Understandable Practical Reality (English Edition) Exploring the World of Physics: From Simple Machines to Nuclear Energy I REALLy need to find the time to read these books :svengo:

Hi, I am looking for a chemistry/physics/botany mix for my advanced science minded (visual-spatial learner) kid. This year my son was obsessed with the elements and the periodical table. We bought him the ELEMENTS: Visual Guide to the Periodical Table. He LOVES this book. He has spent since Christmas time, collecting things around the house that has the elements, just like the book. We are going to bring this to a laid back science fair. He also has collected some books for adults from the used bookstore about Chemistry, so he has a good grasp of atoms/molecules and is trying to visualize with models in his head, how like water molecule, H2O, is connected. He even has drawn a picture. There is the background. I have decided to ask him what he wants to learn next year for science (Grade 5). He says he wants to about Chemistry, more specifically atoms/molecules and such, physics, specifically Energy, and I want to throw in Botany because that would be our nature studies, so I will get something together separately to do in the Fall. My son LOVES hand-on and experiments and making things. So, I was looking at Ellen McHenry’s Elements and Carbon Chemistry. I think he would enjoy making things like 3-D molecules and atoms and the comic strip. But I do not know if he would be in-depth for middle school chemistry. I looked at CPO Physical Science and I like the student manual because it has a lot of visuals for presenting the information more to his level. I am not sure about the experiments I am looking for ANY ideas for Chemistry and Physics for middle school that gears towards visual-spatial learners. Any experience with the above curriculum? Maybe I should just do Chemsitry experiments all year like Thames and Kosmos?? Any intuitive thoughts are also welcomed :)

nm- Thanks.

No but this sounds fantastic! I'm all :bigear:

I hear your pain and sympathize :grouphug: My ds does well on the tests and disctations but when he is writing elsewhere, even making diagrams, he will make mistakes that I thought he knew a word. He even can have a page with one being the correct word and the next sentence he totally spells it wrong. I am hoping it the maturity thing because I remember doing well on tests but getting spelling mistakes on my compositions in school, too. So, I really believe its the maturity thing and contantly correctling their writing papers of their spelling mistakes so they eventually realized they need to spell correctly on their composition papers, too.