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Joyful_Journey

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Everything posted by Joyful_Journey

  1. Have you tried linking to it via this page? http://runofthemillfamily.blogspot.com/p/sotw-resources-for-vol-2.html And then click the link that reads: Generic list of movies (not documentaries) sorted by historical time period Is that the list you were looking for?
  2. Unbelievable! I've owned this curriculum for two years, and I had NO idea that those worksheets were there! :blushing: I would just print the student pages and the answer key without bothering to look at what was lurking in those other folders. Thank you so much for steering me in the right direction! :hurray:
  3. Has anyone used this? My second grader loves Beatrix Potter stories, so I've been searching for some fun guide to use with the stories this summer. I suppose my perfect guide would have cute little projects (sort of like the Veritas Press lit guides), but I get the feeling that this Memoria Press guide is more "work" and less "fun" in terms of what it has to offer for the stories. Is it just reading comprehension questions and vocabulary?
  4. I can't really think of anything truly missing from MM (we use the light blue series). Perhaps the only thing I can think of is the addition of more review problems. We've spent the year bouncing back and forth between MM and MUS, and the one thing I did appreciate from MUS this year is the inclusion of review problems each week from previously taught concepts. My kids have a tendency to "forget" certain math concepts unless they are brought up occasionally. I wish MM offered cumulative reviews more often through the program. I noticed that Maria now offers review worksheets for each grade on her web site. My plan is to switch completely back to MM for next year and perhaps work in the review worksheets periodically through the year so we do not forget those previously learned concepts.
  5. Oh please don't interpret this to mean that I want to shelve grammar! Although many folks stop pursuing grammar as a separate subject after 8th grade, we will continue to review it through the high school years as we proofread papers, correct verbal errors, etc. I think what I've been wrestling with is which approach is better. For instance, my daughter did AG this year, and she had to label the parts of speech as simply adjective, pronoun, etc. In contrast, my son was working through 5th grade GWG and needed to recognize and label the different types (i.e., limiting adjective, descriptive adjective). He kept wondering why his sister was able to just label a word as an adjective, pronoun, etc., but he was expected to slog through the specific types. Thanks for all of the replies. Lots of great thoughts to consider! Diane
  6. I'm still knee deep in researching grammar programs for my dc (it feels like I've been doing this for months!), and I keep spinning in circles trying to decide which way to go. On the one hand, you have programs such as MCT and AG which appear to take (correct me if I'm wrong) a very straight forward approach to labeling parts of speech. Words are a noun, verb, adjective, preposition, etc. There seems to be less emphasis on needing to label the categories within those parts of speech (for instance, in the case of adjectives there are limiting, descriptive, etc.). In contrast, other programs such as Hake, GWG, VIE, DGP have the student learning the different types of pronouns, the different types of adjectives, etc. Do they really need to know this??? Is the approach taken by AG and MCT "enough"? I'm drawn to their approach, but that tiny voice in my head keeps questioning whether my dc would be missing something in grammar that is necessary in the end. Are my dc going to fail some standardized test in 8th or 9th grade because they couldn't pick out the indefinite pronoun in a sentence? Isn't it enough that they just recognize a word as a pronoun without having to specify which kind? I would really like to be spending more time on writing and literature for my middle school kids and not be slogging away at grammatical concepts that are not really important in the end. Would love it if someone could shed some light on this! Diane
  7. Well, rats! I was hoping that DGP was the solution to my grammar woes! I'm not certain what I should use now. :confused1: I may still use it for my 8th grader since she has already been through 3 seasons of AG and really just needs a little reinforcement next year (but I don't care for the AG reinforcement book). Since she has been through AG, she has already received instruction so she should be able to figure out what to do on her own and doesn't really need a ton of grammar review next year anyway. My 6th grader will be using MCT Town, and I suppose I could follow the lead of highfamily and just add in diagramming. I really would like some sort of capitalization/punctuation reinforcement for him (I just don't think there is enough of this in MCT). I'll check out some of the recs offered by highfamily (thanks for listing them!) for him. I would still love to use DGP for my 3rd grader, but 30 sentences just doesn't seem to be quite enough for an entire year. I could easily see her wanting to do the entire sentence exercises in one day! I wish DGP had more than 30 sentences. Sigh.
  8. I've come across a few older threads where this program was discussed and people were planning to use it. I'm VERY tempted to give it a try next year for my rising 8th grade dd, 6th grade ds, and 3rd grade dd. Would love to find out from DGP users how the program went for them. It just looks sooooo manageable and similar to the approach found in MCT practice books plus more (especially the bottom sections where they add in punctuation/capitalization and diagram the sentence). Any feedback? Love it? Hate it? Diane
  9. This year we worked on MUS until we were finished with the level (in our case Beta for my 2nd grader and Epsilon for my 5th grader). I then went through and printed out from my MM light blue series (organized by grade) topics that either MUS didn't hit that year or went into greater depth than MUS. The kids are working through those sheets for the remainder of the school year. This worked very well for us, but I still wonder if I should be trying to incorporate MM throughout the school year. For instance, I'm considering now skipping a couple of the MUS worksheets each week (they are pretty repetitive) and instead reserve one day a week for MM work. I think I'm going to try this method next school year and see how it works!
  10. Thank you!!!! All of your responses helped so much. If A and B are that similar and the theme writing accomplishes the same goals as the continuation class, it seems to make sense to just use the IEW Ancients book I already own (I could then always attempt WWS with him at the end of 6th grade if he seems ready). Do I need the teacher's notes for the themed history books?
  11. My ds 10 did SWI A this year. Ideally, I would like to eventually move him into WWS which his sister (7th grade) is using this year. He has done very well with SWI A, but I'm not certain he would really be ready for WWS next year. He will be a young 6th grader (fall birthday), but he isn't as strong in language arts as his sister. What would be the best thing to fill the gap between SWI A and WWS? SWI B? The continuation course of SWI A? Given how expensive the IEW videos are (especially the continuation course for A), I want to choose wisely. Another option is just to have him keep practicing what he learned in SWI A in conjunction with his regular narrations in science and history. For this, I own IEW's Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons as well as Imitations in Writing (not an IEW product, but similar format). I'm really not sure what direction to take. I want him well prepared for WWS, but I'm not familiar enough with the materials that typically come after SWI A to know whether I should tackle a new level or just let him practice what he has learned so far. All thoughts and opinions are welcome!
  12. We've used Evan Moor Daily Word Problems books which have worked great for my kids as they work through the MUS levels. I would definitely not describe my kids as "mathy" or math lovers. Evan Moor seems to be a good match for them, as they encounter a greater variety of word problems than they receive in MUS. The complexity of the problems is manageable for them, but they occasionally need help with a problem. Overall, I've been pretty pleased with the series.
  13. We use Evan Moor Daily Word Problems and RS games. I will also throw in some MM if I feel like we need to pursue a topic further.
  14. I've used RS, MM, and MUS, and I personally prefer the RS method.
  15. After several years of slogging through Spelling Workout, I'm seriously considering moving to a non-workbook approach to spelling next year. I use Spelling Workout so it will be independent, but I often have to sit and explain to my 5th grade ds what he is supposed to be doing in the workbook exercise. More time seems to be spent explaining the exercise or trying to find a word in a crossword puzzle exercise than actually practicing spelling! My kids are probably average when it comes to spelling. They occasionally make spelling errors, but I wouldn't classify them as poor spellers. I don't want something terribly teacher intensive since spelling isn't a serious problem for them (I use other teacher intensive materials so there really isn't room to add another one!), so I've been looking for a resource that has organized list words that I can then assign activities to such as alphabetize the words, look them up in the dictionary, etc. before taking a test on Fridays. I looked at Spelling Power and Sequential Spelling in the past, but at least one of my kids is a perfectionist who hates to pre-test words and get them wrong. In looking further, I've been torn between Natural Speller and Spelling Plus with the Dictation book. Unfortunately, I can't seem to put my hands on an actual copy to thumb through and online sample pages are too few to get a solid idea of the lists in the program. If you've used either one of these books, can you tell me how it has worked out for you as well as: 1) How are the words organized (by spelling rule or by word family)? 2) Does it seem to be "enough" to get you through 6th grade? This is when I abandoned spelling as a separate subject for my oldest dd and just focused on vocabulary and spelling errors in her writing. I know Spelling Plus has a 1000 words - does anyone know how many words are covered in Natural Speller? Are the words at the upper grades sufficiently challenging? Thanks for any help you can offer!
  16. Sadlier Oxford has been great for us this year as well. The only problem I've encountered is the lack of an answer key (I have no problem figuring out the correct answer, but I would like my end of the day grading to go a little faster). I don't want to distract from the OP question, but I am wondering where Sadlier Oxford users purchase their answer key? I had purchased the student books through Kolbe, but they only sell the teacher's manual to families registered with their program.
  17. When my dd stalled out in MM in 1st grade, we switched to MUS and have been very happy with it. The use of manipulatives and the ability to "see" the math really worked for her!
  18. I'm also a big diagramming fan (which is what led me to AG in the first place). At the same time, I always want the reassurance that what I think is a good idea really does make a difference. High test scores certainly seem to demonstrate that the program pays off!
  19. That is EXACTLY the kind of thing I had hoped to hear! Congrats to your daughter!
  20. Once you slogged through all three seasons, were you happy with the end result? I've been working myself up into a curriculum research frenzy the last few weeks trying to decide what to do for my 7th grade dd (and the kids coming behind her). She completed the first 10 weeks of AG this fall, but we (okay, maybe mostly I) were growing a little weary of the parse/diagram repetition. I was also bothered that we weren't hitting any review of punctuation, etc. the first year of the program. After looking at a ton of other options, I've now swung back around to take another look at the next two seasons of AG. They look pretty good. Sigh. I wouldn't mind completing the next two seasons next year for 8th grade if I had some reassurance that by the end of the program she would really be rock solid in grammar without any gaping holes. So for those of you who have completed it (or are nearing completion), do you feel as if it has covered everything? Any regrets? Did you supplement with anything like Daily Grams along the way (this occurred to me as a way to mix up the monotony of the parse/diagram exercises while also hitting some of that punctuation review I've been missing)?
  21. Once you slogged through all three seasons, were you happy with the end result? I've been working myself up into a curriculum research frenzy the last few weeks trying to decide what to do for my 7th grade dd (and the kids coming behind her). She completed the first 10 weeks of AG this fall, but we (okay, maybe mostly I) were growing a little weary of the parse/diagram repetition. I was also bothered that we weren't hitting any review of punctuation, etc. the first year of the program. After looking at a ton of other options, I've now swung back around to take another look at the next two seasons of AG. They look pretty good. Sigh. I wouldn't mind completing the next two seasons next year for 8th grade if I had some reassurance that by the end of the program she would really be rock solid in grammar without any gaping holes. So for those of you who have completed it (or are nearing completion), do you feel as if it has covered everything? Any regrets? Did you supplement with anything like Daily Grams along the way (this occurred to me as a way to mix up the monotony of the parse/diagram exercises while also hitting some of that punctuation review I've been missing)?
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