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unity

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Everything posted by unity

  1. I like MCT's approach to grammar (4-level analyses) and I find his grammar books much more interesting than other approaches. (However some of the goofy stuff drives me insane.) Having just finished the Island level, I would say there is a lot of overlap between Sentence Island and Grammar Island, and of the two Sentence Island is definitely the lesser. Also, I did not like the vocab book (Building Language) at all, and you can decide if the poetry book needs to be done this year. You can always just read and enjoy poetry informally this year, and if you know anything about poetic appreciation you can point out poetics as you go along. If you are good at grammar you definitely don't need the teacher's manual at this level. So I think the only books I would say you *need* for this level are Grammar Island and Practice Island, which you can then supplement with Spelling, finding poetry to read, and correcting mistakes whenever your child writes something. (Be sure to explain the mistake). R & S and MCTLA couldn't be more different. I think it's almost axiomatic that one will be an epic fail for any child (or parent) who likes the other one. So I think you need to figure out which one will work for your child and make it happen and not look at money.
  2. I got the Teacher's Guide with lesson plans and the Activity Masters, and when you round out the DVDs with those, I think it's fine. The sound is sometimes a little murky, and a few of the characters have extremely cartoonish voices (make sense?) that make them hard to understand. I think if you try to use it as they sell to parents, without the teacher support materials, it's very weak. But I think the classroom support materials help make it a decent program. I've had all the lesson plans/masters for Spanish I/II available for sale here on these boards for months. I figure someday someone will go searching for it and find it. Definitely not a really hot commodity with this crowd.:001_smile:
  3. I really like Alex et Zoe but the course really requires a French-speaking teacher. It's very structured, has a good audio component, and progresses at a steady pace that teaches just enough with each new lesson.
  4. I am a fan of msnucleus.org http://msnucleus.org/membership/k-6.html I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for, but it has a whole science program for each grade, complete with workbooks, online activities, labs, etc. I've dabbled in it when I need to fill in gaps or want to cover a topic not in my other programs, and I've enjoyed it.
  5. I use the meat grinder about twice/year for homemade ground beef from a roast, or to grind chicken to make croquettes. I use the ice cream attachment a couple times every summer (more often if I'm getting raw milk). I have a slicer/shredder that I only use if I'm shredding a mountain of something; otherwise I just use the Cuisenart. I almost never use the juicer attachment. I use my extra bowl absolutely all the time. At least 5x week. On a budget, I would definitely opt for an extra bowl. I voted for the ebay/bowl option.
  6. Wait...I'm not trying to diss non-native teachers! I was a non-native teacher myself and in the course of many years of language learning I had many non-native teachers and I agree, often the best ones were not the native speakers. As long as the teacher is at near-native fluency, a teacher does not have to be native, especially of students over the age of about 11. The students I had at Yale were just as capable by the end of the course as those taught by my native French classmates, and I had students choose to return to my class semester after semester instead of moving over to a native-born teacher. So I'm all for finding a good teacher, whatever her language of origin. I also heard the whole "you couldn't have learned that in school" routine, but sometimes that seems to me to be more of a reflection of their opinion of schools, as if the only way to achieve fluency is by spending vast quantities of time in the target country. (I totally disagree with that idea; I think a great classroom is a much more efficient way to learn a language than simple time in the country.) You say you have a great accent, and I believe you. Do they think you are a native-born and raised German, and are surprised to hear that you are not? It's pretty darn tough to fool a native speaker, who will pick up on even the lightest accent and peg you for being from somewhere else. The OP is talking about teaching very young children, who are before the magic age when the language ear shuts down. Children of that age can learn and pick up a native accent, and their ear will hear things older people can't. That's why I think it's so important for her children to hear native speakers, even if just on a DVD or CD. To buy a program and intentionally not use the recorded component and substitute an American-accented French seems a shame, especially when there are choices in curriculum. But, I completely agree, ultimately you have to choose whatever fits the budget and will work for your particular family.
  7. I'm pretty positive he only has the French in Actions videos. I was trained in this method at Yale under his supervision, and taught it to first-year Yale students. I saw a lot of Pierre Capretz, and he frequently plugged his course, but never anything but French in Action (and a course he was planning: French in Interaction, which I think did not materialize). You could use clips of them to teach middle schoolers. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with using the French in Action course with middle schoolers except that it's intended to be a one-year college course, so it moves really fast compared to middle-school curriculum.
  8. The problem I have with just "correcting" the weird pronunciation is that you are basically substituting one accent for another. No matter how good your French is (and mine is very, very good), if you're not a native speaker there are subtleties of the authentic accent that you will lack and your speaking will be obviously foreign to a native speaker. For the best French instruction for a young child especially (since they are most likely to actually achieve those subtleties of pronunciation), it needs to be by a native speaker. I think once you're talking about high school aged and up, anyone fluent will do, because the "ear" is lost and a native accent will never be achieved. This is from my personal experience with foreign language learning and teaching, not research. So basically I think your French program should at least involve a CD with a native speaker.:001_smile: I love Alex et Zoe, but it would be hard for you if you do not already speak French. All of the support materials are in French. I have not tried any other program for little kids, but I remember thinking that the "Art de Lire" Nallenart or whatever it's called looked promising.
  9. I can't really evaluate the program, but I knew in a heartbeat from listening to the samples that there was no way I could use that program. The person narrating has a really unusual accent (I would really use the term "twang") and it wasn't just a standard, Quebecois accent but a niche Canadian--and it's really strong. Seriously, if you went to France and talked like that, they would laugh at you. Do you really want the only place you could speak the language and not sound weird to be somewhere in western Canada? I hate to put down a program that seems to be a heartfelt effort on the part of a nice woman, but her accent is a serious limitation to the value of the program imo.
  10. I just got mine for next year and noticed in the paperwork that it says that you can use this program whether or not you have used rs in the past. Also, glancing though the guide, I don't think the abacus is used at all at is level. It looks like a really neat, unique program. Unity
  11. We jumped into om 6 midyear this past year when I realized I was not enjoying wp qma at all. I loved it! OM 6 moved at a perfect pace, had a lot of choices in assignments, lots of writing (a feature IMHO) and didn't try to take over the entire schedule with history. I did not use OM science or math, and I did think the English was light, but the history was spot on. So, from someone who picked up OM not only at a later grade but literally in the middle of the year (we started with lesson 19) I think it was an easy transition. By the way the OM lessn we started with happened to coincide with where we were chronologically in our other studies. The only catch was at the end of the year when the kids were supposed to review a few topics that we hadnt covered in the other program. Unity
  12. I've tried a bunch on your list and right start is my hands down favorite.
  13. I really was going to stay away from this when I saw where all the comments were going, but I guess I'll jump in. My 3 older kids have all read SV Kids, and Babysitters Little Sister, as well as Junie B (actually, only 2 older boys read that) as well as nearly every series I could find for them. I generally operate on the principle that in order to love reading, kids need to be great at it, and the best way to get great at it is to read voraciously. At every level they hit, I get them anything and everything they want to read. I believe anything you can do to make kids love books is good. The theory is that as they become outstanding readers, they will mature out of the fluff and eventually seek out difficult literature on their own. That has been my experience. All 3 of my SVK "graduates" read quality literature on their own. For example, books like Oliver Twist (the original by Dickens), Thousand Splendid Suns, adult nonfiction, Shannon Hale books, Anne of Green Gables, To Kill a Mockingbird, etc etc etc. This stuff isn't assigned by me; they just find it and read it---constantly. FWIW my daughter did try to move into the Sweet Valley Twins books after SVK, but with some coaxing I convinced her to spend her time on more worthwhile books. But if I had to choose, I would in a heartbeat let her read SV Twins avidly rather than have her read only occasionally or when I assign her something.
  14. We used Calvert Pre-K, their music VHS set, and Come Read With Me and I really loved them. It was a great start to our homeschooling adventure. I didn't stick with Calvert because of giftedness issues but I thought the materials I used then were top-notch and well done. Good luck to you!
  15. and just the other day I was glad I could make a 1000 cube out of ten 100 squares. I know I could have done it with tens made out of smaller blocks, but it was visually simple and what I wanted. I am not using MUS, but I love the blocks.
  16. Sonlight. I'm not using much SL formally now, but I still buy almost everything fiction that they recommend. Other than that, almost no curriculum for fun.
  17. For the letter of intent, you can notify your local school district or any one of a number of different "participating agencies" if you'd rather work with a private or Christian school. You don't have to live geographically near the participating agency, and Tri-City Christian in Dover is popular among many because of their privacy policies. I don't know the Lebanon area, but welcome to the state!
  18. This is a lot different than what you've been using, but OM also has an enrollment option where you send in your child's work to a teacher. I like OM a lot, although I don't use their math and I use the whole thing as a sort of spine to build on. I really, really like the 6th grade program we're using and OM 3 is not bad either. A lot more writing than I was expecting in both programs, and overall more academic than it looked when I was perusing it. (Some of those little comments like, "have your child write a few paragraphs 3 mornings a week on the story from the night before" actually turn into major writing projects!) Anyway, I like it. We used Calvert for PreK and K but I didn't like K much at all and have never been tempted by their programs since.
  19. I bought one of the lovely wooden ones with all the people and accessories...and I'm on my 5th child now and I'd say none of them has played with it enough to justify the space it takes up. :glare: A good friend of mine IRL had the same experience. Playmobil drives me nuts because the pieces keep falling off if you bang it slightly or whatever. I wish I could undo every Playmobil purchase I've ever made and get those $100s back! I guess what I'm saying is that I'd recommend being sure your child will play with a dollhouse before spending a lot of money. Maybe get a cheap one garage sale one first and see how that works. And anything but Playmobil.
  20. I'm using the same textbook Calvert uses for my middle schooler. It's a good, solid traditional method of learning French. Calvert offers support for the class and I would recommend that to anyone self-teaching French.
  21. The first looks yummier but the second looks healthier. :001_smile:
  22. Another vote for the Ergo. I back-carried my daughter for a long time, using no help to get her up, starting around a year old, too. She now weighs 26 lbs, I think, and I use either the Ergo or sometimes the Maya wrap (back carry).
  23. We don't have a TV and don't watch TV shows online or via Netflix. We do watch selected movies streaming or on DVDs. My main reason is that TV is addictive and a waste of time. Whenever I see TV now (at the gym, at someone's house, etc) I am struck by how stupid it seems to me. The only time I ever miss it is during the Olympics. Otherwise I could not care less. The movies we watch are largely classics or otherwise high quality, and even then it's generally after a long day when we are all too tired to do anything else, or in the car when there's not much else to do anyway. If I could only give up my real screen-time vice (Internet!!!!), oh what I could accomplish.
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