Dassah
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Posts posted by Dassah
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Anyone using the updated Year 2 Guide this year? We had planned to use HOD RtR but I'm contemplating a switch over to Biblioplan Year 2 so I can combine kids (7 & 11). I'm a little weary of using a TM without science, LA, or writing scheduled in after using HOD for so many years. I'd love to hear both about the Medieval year (was it interesting? does it look cohesive with mapping?) and also how Biblioplan(ners) plan their day. What curricula have you chosen for science, for example. Do you typically do a 3 day history week, 2 day science?
I can't seem to find a link to a sample page of the main Guide but the scheduled book list looks wonderful.
Thanks! :confused:
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We had time to do more but we went when there were a plethora of "Bank Holiday's". It was terrible, the Louvre was closed!! :glare:
There was a cheap French CD with a flip book we bought at Barnes and Nobles that contained multiple phrases like "Ou est la toilette" -- of course, I got it mixed up and asked "where the room with the bathtub" was. I even made the French laugh! :) Anyway, my point is getting a cheap French language set was very effective for our purposes (the kids did much better with retention than me!).
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Don't forget to add some Reformation history into your studies. The Greenleaf Press book, River of Grace, is a great story about John Calvin for children. It mentions the Latin Quarter in Paris and the Sorbonne University where he studied.
I am most thankful for our study of french prior to our trip to Paris even though it wasn't necessarily important for the sake of communication.:)
Just knowing Parisian landmarks will add to her excitement and engagement in the city (like the Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, and Louvre -- a little history now will go a long way then).
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I think it all depends on whether you want continuity with high school curricula. We used CLE 500 math at one point and really enjoyed it. My dd loved the change from Singapore, well, actually a tag-on. If you are strongly considering Saxon for high school, I think, I would go ahead and jump aboard that ship.
If not, I would strongly consider CLE. There is a wonderful and pleasant spiral in CLE that kids don't seem to balk at and it definitely includes Pre-Algebra work. I know there are many families that move into Algebra after the 700's.
What are you currently using and could you simply add something like Mastering Essentials (Math Skills) workbook to your current curriculum? That's an easy 15 minute addition that I think would assist greatly with a child in need of more review.
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LOL :) I was distracted and had GWG on my brain. I meant to say CLE. The spelling list was the only thing I found redundant because HOD provides the spelling sentence dictation. We used CLE in place of R&S for one year and it was a nice break. Sorry about that. :tongue_smilie:
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I would take a look at Growing with Grammar. It is straightforward grammar and it's in workbook form. I've used it in the past and now do R&S because it is scheduled in HOD and simplifies my day. :001_smile:
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The Math Essentials for Middle School/High School seems to be comparable to a review book. Each day has a quick review of arithmetic using a wheel model (you write in the number to be multiplied/added in the center of the wheel), a review set of problems, and a new concept with a problem set. At this level, there isn't much depth. It takes roughly 15 minutes to complete. I love this for additional work (in addition to PM Singapore) as it helps with the review I really do feel is lacking for my child. I'm guessing the Algebra series has more teaching and less review but I haven't seen samples. I think it might make a really good addition to the DM series but I don't think I'd feel comfortable using this as my sole teaching method (at least during the Middle School years). Have you been able to locate a sample of the Algebra book?
Here is a link to the Math Essentials Website for samples: http://www.mathessentials.net/pdf/middle_school/book2_samples.pdf
The Pre-Algebra Book is sampled here: http://www.mathessentials.net/pdf/pre_algebra/pre_sample.pdf
This book looks to be more of a stand-alone and has more depth!
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So, is it best to use Life of Fred as a follow-up to TT or MUS Algebra (after completing the curriculum) or should LOF be used in conjunction with a more traditional Algebra program? What's the consensus...?
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Birchbark,
I noticed this recommendation from HOD as well. I ordered the Mastering Math Essentials (Middle School/High School) book for my 6th grader who was finishing Singapore as review and I've really liked it so far.
I'm also curious to hear from others who might have some input about the Pre-Algebra program and whether or not it truly is a stand-alone product. I think the Algebra program is brand new.
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Yes, I regret our first 3 years of the heavy "classical" style memorization we did (for K through 2nd). My dd has the attitude issues now at 11 to prove it (and we've been back-peddling ever since). I burned myself out so much that I went to a literature rich and somewhat student-led curriculum to try and regain some joy in our day. I have tried to warn my local friends (especially new HS'ers) of the consequences of a heavy push at young ages but I've decided that causes too many negative responses from them...so now I'll tell an online forum of 1,000's of rigorous HS'ers. :D
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DD 8, 2nd grade, will be using Beautiful Feet's Horse study alongside the Equine Notebook this year. I really liked BF's lit study that included so much history and Bible. I ordered the WP Notebook after hearing good reviews and believe I will be able to add it in to our BF study independently of the WP guide (at least I'm hoping we can move through the notebook without the guide). Because dd is so young, I knew WP Equine would be overwhelming but she really needs a year of fun after spending way too little time with her and way too much time with older dd the last few years. :001_smile: I believe she is on the lower end of where I'd recommend the notebook. She is an independent reader and very self-motivated when reading about animals (if that helps with age recommendations).
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MUS is a visual, manipulative based approach to learning math. It is also mastery based. At 5th grade, if your child has mastered addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, you will most probably move into Epsilon which covers fractions. If you are coming from a spiral approach (or even many conceptual programs), you might be confused with how easy the first few lessons are. They truly start at the beginning of fractions with visual fraction overlays. I think they are genius. My dd completed through Singapore 6A and did not truly understand fractions. She is finding common denominators now on Lesson 5 using the fraction overlays and having many ahaa moments (even though she could find common denominators quickly on paper, she didn't really understand them until now). What specific questions do you have? What is your child's previous math history?
By the way, the best way to really understand MUS is to go to the website and look at sample lessons, videos, books, etc. I've spoken with customer service in the past and they really helped me to understand where to start.
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Thanks, Happy Grace. I'll stick with my initial plan to use IEW Medieval History. Glad to hear it is a good program for younger elementary kids, though. I'll keep that in mind for my others.
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Is this level of IEW inappropriate for a typical but young 6th grader who writes well but has never used IEW? I would be putting my child in a class with 4th/5th graders if I choose ATFF. :confused:
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Does anyone know what's NEW about the new (3rd edition) of IEW Medieval based history writing lessons?
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No, and I did. :tongue_smilie:
My youngest wanted to test so badly because her older sibling was; so I forked out the $50 for CC testing. She really enjoyed it and scored exactly like I thought she would. No surprises at all.
However, I wasted $50 to learn nothing new.
I can think of 100 ways I would rather have spent that money. ;)
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I'm bumping up this old thread because I'm really interested in reading a review about the Beautiful Feet Horse Study.
Does it get redundant or are the books interesting enough that it keeps a child's focus throughout the study?
Can it be done in a semester or is it important to keep the readings spread out on a 2-3x/week schedule?
Can this be done with an 8 year old 2nd grader?
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Jen,
I wanted to pop in and say that my dd has completed Standards Singapore 5B and I switched her over to CLE 500 (now we are on 600) to strengthen the arithmetic skills that we somehow lost within all of Singapore's conceptual work. It has been a wonderful change for us. I will say that level 600 contains concepts that are not in Singapore 5 or 6 but I believe they won't pose a major problem if you are using CLE as a means to strengthen and review math to move forward with algebraic concepts. Like you, I was shocked with my dd's poor math performance with an end of the year exam after feeling confident in her conceptual math abilities. She is obviously a child that needs more consistent review than the much talked of high performing Singapore math students. I think Singapore math will have served her well when she becomes more consistent in arithmetic, however. :001_smile:
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EXACTLY!
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Pat,
Hmmm....that's definitely something I hadn't given thought to until now.
I just asked dd about this in a round about way and she responded, "we are studying the same stuff in Sunday school and at home and sometimes I'm just tired of doing the same work over and over again".
Sometimes the obvious is hard to spot! :tongue_smilie:
I spoke with her about leaving HOD for a year and she began crying. She told me that she isn't always appreciative of the assignments but she really is proud of her work in the end. I think we need to do some character work on negativity. :glare: It appears as though the questions and concerns I started with are taking a different turn. This might be less of a curriculum issue and more of an attitude one.
Oh...the whoa's of parenting. :willy_nilly:
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What you are seeing is for the 1st light unit only of each grade series. But, to answer your question, YES! CLE is very easy to accelerate. We are doing that now with CLE 500. We do the new material at the beginning of a lesson and not the review. Then, for the second lesson, dd does the entire lesson. We are accelerating because dd really needs to be in the next grade level but we haven't covered all things in the CLE sequence. This system is working very for us in the short term. I wouldn't do this if dd hadn't covered most of this grade level in another curriculum, though.
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What a blessing it is to have a forum for guidance and advice!!! You all have given so many great points! Thank you, ladies, for taking the time to share with me how you have implemented HOD. Nearly every comment registered heavily with me. I'm not sure that I had given enough thought to the end result of the multiple writing experiences. The notebook is absolutely beautiful from CtC now that it is complete and yet dd doesn't look back on it with much fondness or excitement. :( That should tell me plenty about her perceived experience.
I struggle to find the balance between how unenjoyable a good education must be. Obviously, math is going to be unpleasant some days as will grammar. But, don't you believe that history should be one of those areas that kids can both learn AND enjoy? Could it be that it is just my dd's personality and she would have the same experience no matter the curriculum OR perhaps a CM style education doesn't fit her needs. If one of the desires in a CM education is to read literature that is complexly written or old fashioned in order that the child might truly be educated in language as they read, then for some children this might take the joy out of the history itself. :confused: Is that a fair conclusion?
On the other hand, the lack of seeing "the forest for the trees" might be one of the difficulties we are experiencing. I loved that comment and I am pondering that and contemplating how to implement things a bit differently. Maybe all of the sub-subjects ;) in the guide are overwhelming to dd and she just goes about each area as quickly as possible to get all things checked without enjoying much. I need a scientific questionnaire to figure this out. :lol: 1. Do you find the multiple boxes of your day fun or overwhelming? Y/N 2. Do you learn best from reading or listening? Y/N ...I'm seriously over-thinking this aren't I?!
Overall, the resounding 'take some time off of HOD' is giving me enough thought to strongly consider not going half-pace with RtR but leaving all together for a year or two. For someone who has grown very attached to HOD and who loves the neatly organized boxes, lovely notebook pages, all of the fiction, & science, this is daunting and sad for me. :001_unsure: So now what?
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maadrose,
I'm all ready seeing a theme... people are using HOD CtC and RtR beyond the "guided" ages (or at least at the very oldest end). I thought as long as I was square in the middle (and well within the skill set) we would be okay. I am really questioning whether the History spines are the right fit for MY child at the author's intended age range. Thinking back to Bigger, I felt the same way (that older children would get more out of the History spines). Preparing was not that way and I guess that helped me forget my initial fears. Charlotte Mason-ish titles ARE difficult!
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Thank you, Donna, for breaking it down for me. ;)
We have been with HOD since Bigger with this child. Preparing was a wonderful fit for 4th grade (she loved it and cried when it ended!). CtC was not as good of a fit for 5th grade. She didn't really "get into" History until the 2nd semester and I would say she did not enjoy any of the History spines. She loved Storytime...every selection! Any historical fiction has also been very enjoyable. She really loved the science (all of the choices). The Bible time was just ok (even though I loved the Family Bible, she was just trying to get-it-done quickly), we both really enjoyed the Bible Memory CD, however. I am very, very grateful for that selection. She disliked Poetry (I really think many of the selections were too difficult for her) and she got tired of doing the watercolor each week. If I can summarize her feelings, she just 'got her work done' without much enjoyment after becoming disengaged with the history. She became a zombie box checker. I'm not sure that she really retained much of the Ancient World book. It was too deep and specific and she said everything ran together. I am beginning to wonder how she would have felt about it as a 6th or 7th grader. Do you feel like the placement chart is a bit skewed relative to the history selections? She placed squarely in this guide and scores very high on comprehension on Standardized tests and yet this was just not at all something that got her motivated to learn more or feel engaged in history.
Judging from what I've just said, and knowing that overall CtC was a fairly good fit except for that pesky little problem with history :closedeyes: -- would you move ahead with RtR half-pace or not at all? If we slow things down, I really believe it will be okay UNLESS the history lacks flavor (which is the big reason I'm considering something like SL for next year).
Maybe I'm holding on to HOD too much simply because I love, love, love it and wish I would have learned this way. Perhaps we should just come back to HOD in a year or two?! :(
Biblioplan Medieval Yr 2
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
Thank you for the link!
Does BP in any way include the study of the Arts in the given time frame (composers or artists)?