Forgiven
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Posts posted by Forgiven
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Okay, I really need to stay away from these boards! I just bought the 10-volume set. The price wasn't too bad (13 bucks), so I couldn't resist. I know my dd(11) will love these. She loves reading classics.
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I'm doing Romans, Reformers, and Revolutionaries this year. We like it, but I don't follow it 100%. We stopped using the workbooks for the kids. I only use the teacher's guide and the reading lists and then use Simply Charolette Mason's Medieval Ages plan and meld the two together. A lot of the books for SCM's program are recommended in RRR, so it has worked wonderfully. I do wish that I could have executed Diana Waring's curriculum how she has it, but it just didn't work for us. I do love the concept of it. I just don't have the time to harp over my kids to make sure they're doing their individual research. I assign books now instead of letting them pick what they want to do, and the final unit projects sometimes don't take place.
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I am using AOPS Prealgebra with it. I do't know if I am going to start the next book before she finishes prealgebra or not; the topics in the next two books are just algebra, I think. I will most likely buy the next two books and use them just before or along with the topics as they are introduced in AOPS.
In my opinion, JA is a good introductory/supplemental book, but I don't think it has enough review or goes deep enough to be a full program (in case anyone is considering using it that way). It is very mastery-based, going through topic by topic, but it only gives one lesson per topic - for example, the chapter on negative numbers has one lesson introducing negative numbers, one lesson on adding with negative numbers, one lesson on subtracting with negative numbers, one lesson on multiplying and dividing with negative numbers, and one lesson on absolute value. So they get introduced to negative numbers, but it is just an overview - it does not go as far or as deep as AOPS, for example. But the way the topics are introduced is phenomenal, so I will continue to use it as an introduction to prealgebra for my younger kids, as well.
Thanks for this review! I've been trying to decide between AoPS and JA and was having a hard time doing so. After reading this, I think we're going to do the same as you--use both.
Would you mind explaining how you've been blending them? Do you do the chapter in JA first and then the corresponding chapter in AoPS afterward?
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I find this topic interesting. I watched a movie a few years ago called "The Genesis Code" on Netflix (it was on streaming, but I'm not sure if it still is). This movie was in the genre of "romance", which is why I watched it, but it really wasn't romantic. It was actually about reconciling old Earth versus young Earth viewpoints. It has me believing both. I don't want to spoil it, so I won't go into details here, but it gave me an entirely different way to look at the issue.
Something that Bill Nye said in his 30-minute portion of the debate actually reminded me of some of the stuff in this movie. I wanted to call him up and tell him to watch this movie. Same with Ken Ham. Maybe if the two of them sat down and watched this movie alone, they may both find themselves thinking differently...One could only hope. ;)
Point is: what if both sides have it wrong? What if the two can be reconciled into a third option?
Anyway, I don't need Science to prove that God exists. I know He does, and I know that we only know a fraction of how the Earth was made. Why do we keep trying to fit God into what our little minds can conjure up? He is more than anything we can even think or dream.
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I think using JA alongside MM6 is the perfect combo. MM covers some things that JA doesn't, or doesn't in much detail - decimals, unit conversions, percents, lots of work on ratios. JA also doesn't do any geometry or statistics.
I lined them up, and we work through the MM stuff quickly - meaning, I give her the chapter review first, and we cover only as much as she needs to in the MM chapter (though we do all the word problems) - then tackle the topic in JA, which goes a lot deeper. Although I skipped the Integers and Equations chapters in MM, because JA does those thoroughly.
You'll find a rhythm. They go really well together.
Chrysalis, Are you using the old MM6 or the new one in conjuntion with JA?
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We're currently in the middle of "Son of Charlemagne". I can't believe how much they're into it. It's amazing how I'll think they'll really like a certain book, and then they hate it, or when I think they'll hate a book, they love it. Baffles my mind.
Right now I'm reading Crazy Love.
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Yeah, that thread scares me too! I really *want* AoPS to work for us, but comparing JA to AoPS preA (which I have), it seems like a better fit for Shannon - it will get her where she needs to be with less pain. It's much less complete, in that it doesn't cover geometry or statistics or counting & probability, but supplementing is not a problem over here! :lol:
But having read how many people like the Algebra book better than the PreA book, I haven't given up entirely. I need to get the Algebra book and decide for myself, but I can't afford it till March . . . so I'm strumming my fingers till then.
What are you supplementing with?
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I've been wondering the same thing. My DS, who "HATED" math is now loving it thanks to Beast Academy. He told me that it's harder than what he was doing before (MM), but he likes it. He's doing okay, and we fell a bit behind over the holidays, and I'm okay with that because I know there is no rush to get these finished as he may pass publication. Right now he's in 3B, so I'm pretty sure we'll be good to the end of 4, and I'm hoping that the publication dates for 5 will line up nicely with his pace (crossing fingers).
If he can't do 5 due to publication issues, then he'll most likely do MM5 (old version), but I'm not 100% sure yet. I am hoping we don't have to worry about it, but I am all ears on any suggestions others have of what to do if we outpace production. :(
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My family loves this show. A new season is about to start, or maybe it started last week. I can't remember exactly when it's supposed to start, but we've seen commercials for it. This is one of my kids' favorite shows.
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I also had to help with the technical side of getting everything downloaded and set up. I didn't even think to have my son email the company for help. I wish I had thought of that. Since then, my son hasn't needed any help.
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We have the Project Passport Medieval Times as well and use it as a supplement. My daughter did it as a stand-alone in a co-op class last semester, so she is going through it twice, but with us at a slower pace. My daughter has also enjoyed reading Terry Jones' Medieval Lives, and we have started watching the episodes off of Youtube, but we haven't seen many yet.
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My son got this for Christmas as well. He has started it, but he's been grounded from all electronics for a couple of weeks, so hasn't been on it in a bit. He can do it during school, but he struggles to do his work in a timely manner, that he never has time. Maybe if I remind him that once he's finished with his other work that he's able to use electronics for school (ie: Mod Design) he'll kick butt in his school work.
My son won't be 9 for a few more weeks, so I don't think he'd be a good pen-pal for your son. Also, he doesn't even have an email address.
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Thanks for letting us know!
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I can't respond to all of your questions, as I consider myself new to Homeschooling too (We're in our third year, and I still have no idea what I'm doing). What I do want to recommend to you, though, is MCT (Michael Clay Thompson) for Language Arts for your 4th and 6th graders. I am a lot like you in that LA was not my strong suit, I'm more logical: give me a set of rules to follow (like math) and I will follow them.
We had started with different LA curricula in our first year, and it was hard to help my oldest. She was in 3rd grade, and I had no idea what her book was talking about, but she did well in it. I just couldn't help her--she knew more than me. The next year, when she was in 4th, we started MCT for LA, and now I know what's going on too! It's easy to follow and puts LA into a logical explanation that I can follow. Not only have both of my oldest kids grasped the concepts of the different parts of speach, parts of sentences, phrases, and clauses, but I have too. My writing is better now. When I write a sentence into Word, and it gets underlined, letting me know that the grammar is incorrect, I can actually figure out what I did wrong and fix it now. Before I would complain and blame the darn grammar check for not working correctly. LOL
Anyway, MCT is definitely worth looking into. Here is a link to the website: http://www.rfwp.com/pages/michael-clay-thompson/
As for writing, we are using IEW (http://iew.com/), but I can't attest to its success yet...
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Thanks, everyone for your replies. We're still chugging away at BA. We are very far behind, though. I got sick in November and so we didn't do school for two months. We are back to it, and doing well, though I'm stressing over the 2 months with no school. Yikes! We are almost finished with BA 3A, and he's doing very well with it. I looked ahead to see what's coming up in BA 4, and I'm amazed at some of the stuff in there. My DD, who is doing the old MM5 this year, is doing stuff that is in BA4, so I think we'll be fine here.
I am still a bit worried about my DS missing some of the addition and subtraction work in MM3, but he can add and subtract just fine, so maybe he doesn't need all of that, and if he has trouble, I'll just have him do some MM worksheets. We own the complete MM set, so I have all the colors...
I'm feeling better about BA every day, especially since it puts a smile on my son's face and he doesn't complain about math anymore. ;)
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I just downloaded it too.
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Oh, man. I had to get a few things. They were things I was planning on purchasing anyway, so why not? LOL I saw their Facebook message yesterday afternoon, but ignored it because I didn't think that anything I would want would be in the clearance section. I was wrong. So psyched right now. ;)
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I got 14...I can see how some people would miss the minus sign in there...
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Exactly! Please see the thread where someone asked if they were weird for not being able to see mental images. Several of us are the extreme opposite. We SEE, SMELL, and sometimes even HEAR...we can near practically LIVE what we read in our mind as we're reading it. I literally get lost in a book, in words...I only see the printed words for a moment till I'm lost in them and see the visuals and don't even realise I'm reading the print of them. As a child and teenager, it took my mother or my teacher calling my name several times before I could come out of the book and hear them. I DON'T need that kind of experience with this kind of book. Redeeming Love was enough for me and didn't need graphic descriptions (Francine Rivers). Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts is another and it also did not go into graphic detail about the events.
Thanks for bringing up Redeeming Love. That is such a great book and deals with some bad stuff, but it doesn't have all the details, yet was riveting. I haven't read Where the Heart Is, but now plan to. Thanks for the rec. ;)
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Reading about something, and reading about something in intense detail are a little different. Knowing the disgusting nature and having an understanding of what it is about is different than reading or hearing every little tiny detail of what is happening.
I got brave today, or perhaps somewhat foolish. I read the book. I went onto my kindle and got it wanting to read it while I had some quiet time this evening. Yes this books shows some things that need to be looked at, problems in our society that need to be seen. Over all I found it well written. I like that she came at it from numerous points, allowing people to see the back story and how these problems arise not from just one thing, but from numerous different things, from everyone around it. Problems from their past that were left undealt with and after festering contribute to perpetuating the abusive cycle. My problem is that she went much farther than that. Writing about s*x between a husband and wife in the extremely detailed and explicit words what more than I would recommend for any teenager. Is it necessary to talk about the sounds, movements, and sensations of the action for people to know exactly what is happening. I found it rather crude and rough and I am not overly sensitive when it comes to talking about s*x. These explicit 'scenes' are relatively frequent and somewhat unnecessary for a reader to understand what was happening in the book. They seem to be in there for the pleasure of talking about s*x, which I know seems to be rather popular, but not really something I would put on a recommended reading list for teenagers (I wouldn't ban it either, but I've said that in past posts).
I keep reading in the replies on here how sometimes details are needed for understanding. What strikes me as odd is that this much detail wasn't even needed when I had to talk to the police or to CPS. Yes detail, but not nearly like this. This much detail leaves a horrified fascination. I see no benefit in my kids hearing that. When they are older they will hear my story, but wording in the way this book worded it, makes it into another s*x act, not the degrading struggle for power that it is.
People have said on here, that those apposed to the book are apposed to something they won't even read, and have seemed to view that position as a show of ignorance. I've read the book, and after throwing up, I am more strongly apposed to it, despite the good writing in between all the s*x. I am not appalled that someone wrote it, or that someone would read it (after all I have just read it), I am somewhat appalled that it would be something that an adult would hand to a child and expect them to read it. On a recommended list perhaps, because then a person can pick and choose what they can handle, but in a classroom situation, it would be something that would have me well beyond just upset at the school.
Right on. I skip s*x scenes in books because I can't stand to read about it. I don't need the gory details. I know what happens. The s*x scenes in romance novels aren't as detailed as what I've read in the excerpts (I know, I haven't read the entire book *gasp*). I don't need to read the entire book because I turned red and embarrassed just from the excerpts. What gets me is that every thing I've heard about this book from those who are for it, make me want to read it, but then there are those pesky s*x scenes. Ugh. Why do people ruin good stories with them? I can skip scenes like that in romance novels, but the excerpts I read from this book look more like what you'd find in erotica--too much detail. Definitely not my taste.
Hmmm...maybe I can find an edited version, where all the detailed s*x scenes are flitered out, because the premise of the book does sound like something I'd like to read.
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I know this is a couple of weeks old, but wanted to chime in. ;)
My DS (3rd grade) wanted to try Beast Academy this year, so I bought all four levels for 3rd grade. In addition, I already own the entire MM get-up. I bought the entire kit and kaboodle over a year ago, so I figured I'd continue to use MM as his main program, but supplement with Beast Academy. The first week went okay, but my DS came to me the next week and told me that he prefers Beast Academy. These were his words, "Mom, I think Beast Academy is harder, but I like it better."
So, we are now doing Beast Academy as his main program, and I am trying to supplement with MM, but I'm not sure I'm doing it right. I feel like I'm missing something. How much of MM should I have him do? He's actually still in the first part of MM3A because we don't do it every day (now that it's his supplement), and when we do do it, we don't do a full lesson, so he's still in the "review" from last year. My goal is to mostly focus on keeping his addition and subtraction skills going, and then also use it for extra multiplication practice...We'll see how this goes. I just hope I'm not screwing him up. LOL I'm always leary of doing too much for fear that we won't get anything finished.
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No worries! Your interest probably bumped it up and got more responses, which is helpful to me!
We just started today, and I am working on having small, bite-sized writing assignments for other subjects. Because they are each so small, he isn't protesting too much, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed! :001_cool:
We started a few weeks ago and are doing IEW, as I've heard it's a good fit for reluctant writers. The problem is that my DS isn't reluctant--he hates to write. LOL I make him write for 15 minutes and then he's done for the day. It takes him about 4 times as long to do one assignment than it takes my DD, who's only 2 years older than him. He can normally get about 1 1/2 to 2 sentences completed in those 15 minutes. Ugh.
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Hi Forgiven!
It sounds like your son is left handed too! They do everything left handed and it hurts SO much to write with the right!
I had been trying to get him to write up to grade level, but it was so painful. The very first day we switched was helpful.
The first day I had him do English only with the left hand. It started extremely messy like Pre-K writing, but we stuck with it. It didn't hurt at least. I had been having him write math, but I let him dictate that and any other writing for a few days. He also did his Italic book that first day left handed. Messy! The second day looked better. By the end of the first week I remember it really starting to come together. Then I added back math writing. After a month or so his handwriting and the amount he could do was far better than anything he ever did right handed. Now his handwriting is beautiful. The progress is going faster than if he was younger, but he is behind grade level in actual writing. I see potential though for catching up by the end of this school year. His reading comprehension is way beyond grade level and now he is slowly learning to write so that can come together too. My second son is right handed but it has hurt I think for other reasons: putting words on paper is hard. It is progressing really nicely this year and I see it coming more and more together as he gains 8 year old maturity. Step by step.
Thanks you! I'm going to start slowly, as you had. We're starting with his handwriting curriculum tomorrow and we'll take it from there, see how it goes, and add more and more in as he seems ready to do so.
And my apologies to the OP. I came in here because my 3rd grader hates to write too, and found some advice I wasn't expecting. I didn't mean to hijack your thread. :(
Some questions
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
If my husband works from home it's harder to do school with the kids. Now, I love it when he's home with us, mind you, but the kids are excited that he's home too, so they aren't as behaved as they normally would be. We get less done when my husband is home.
Does he help with the schooling? No. But I'm okay with that. He didn't want to homeschool. I wanted to homeschool from before we even had kids, but he was against it, so when our first was school-aged, she went to a private school. It was after our third started pre-school did he realize that we couldn't afford private education for all three kids, and he is in agreement that they will not go to public school.
I originally was going to only homeschool one of our kids, but as I planned for that first year, I couldn't imagine sending two off to school while the third stayed home. He agreed, and so here we are. Does he fully support homeschooling? Not exactly, but he's okay with it for now. I fear that he'll want our kids to go to private high school (as he did...I'm sure he'll want them at his alma mater). We'll cross that bridge when we get there. He knows I want to homeschool throughout all of high school, so it won't come as a shock to him.
Anyway, since this was my dream, not his, I'm okay with doing all of the schooling. He's as supportive as I could ask, in that he doesn't butt his nose in when it's not wanted. He has done a few things with the kids, and he has told me that he'll teach some science subjects when we get around to them (he was an electrician, so he's waiting for certain things to teach).
We do not do school on the weekends unless the kids have a horrible day during the week and get nothing done. That's rare, and has maybe happened twice in three years.
When my husband comes home from work, he hangs out with the kids. I know he'd rather be doing other things, but our kids go to be pretty early, so he has time for his own stuff afterward (I go to bed around the same time as the kids as I start work at 3 am).