sweetpea3829
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Posts posted by sweetpea3829
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Yeah, I agree as well. I have the first few books of LoF and didn't find anything "religious".
To be frank...I'm not buying the idea that, "Oh, we want a "safe" place to discuss secular Beast Academy without having to worry about religious curriculum coming up in the discussion." Seriously?
No. Sorry. I mean, it's pretty standard with Beast, that it's used alongside other programs. Who the heck cares if one person uses a secular program with it and one person uses a faith-based? And if you're specifically looking for advice and wish to exclude faith-based because that's not your thing....then I imagine you would say so in your post, kwim? Plus...it's MATH! How religious can a math program get?! (I know, I know...Abeka and some of the Mennonite/Amish curriculums can get pretty preachy but...aside from that...it's not like a math curriculum would typically be espousing religious doctrine).
Again though...it's her group....she can run it however she pleases. I don't choose to be a part of that. I think adults are capable of communicating clearly what they're looking for and not looking for. To exclude the mere mention of a curriculum because you don't like the author's opinion of the LGBTQ community is bunk. And to boot people off the page because they questioned it...yeah. C'est la vie though. Have fun with that.
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I didn't think so! But then, I didn't think LoF was terribly Christian either. I've seen it mentioned on secular forums and it was regarded as *mostly secular with a few God references here and there.
But the admin stated the author had made disgusting comments about the LGBTQ community and that's why LoF couldn't be discussed. I tried finding info on that and came up with nothing.
MUS came up as a Christian option in the survey that had been posted on that original Beast group by someone trying to help someone else. You answered a series of questions and it would rank which math curriculum were good options.
You had to indicate if you preferred secular or faith-based and the questions asked were very different depending on which you identified as your preference.
That's kind of how the whole thing got started.
But no, I personally wouldn't consider MUS to be religious at all.
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From the comments she made this morning (which, if she kicked you off, you wouldn't be able to see, I think), it seems like discussions about Life of Fred, in particular, have grown heated in the past and distracted from the mission of the group. She also clarified which programs were of limits, though I doubt it was an exhaustive list.
No, I can't see any of the posts.
From what she said last night, she has a difference of opinion on politics with the author of LoF. Which...cool. Maybe he's the most awful person ever.
Does it matter though? It's a Beast Academy discussion page. People use all kinds of different curriculum alongside Beast Academy. Secular and non.
If it's a problem for people to discuss LoF, for whatever reason, than as the moderator, shut down that comment thread. But to tell people there will be absolutely no discussing faith-based math curriculum because Beast Academy is secular?
Nope, sorry. That's micromanaging and controlling.
We're all adults. I'd expect to be treated as such on a homeschool curriculum group. Like I said last night...this is math. Not politics.
ETA: Like I said earlier...it's her page and she's free to run it however divisively she chooses. I think it's ridiculous but...such is life.
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I recently joined that group. When I joined, it was already a posted rule that only secular curricula were to be discussed or recommended.
It's nice you made another group for those who would be open to religious options.
Yeah, it was something that head never been enforced as far as I can remember. But somebody mentioned LoF and the admin shut it right down and then reposted her "rules".
Whatever her reasons are, it's silly to state people cannot discuss any faith-based math curriculum because Beast is a secular program. Some of those are excellent options and correspond well with Beast. And what constitutes a faith-based curriculum? A diagnostic tool that had been mentioned on that page stated MUS was faith-based. But I have used MUS and don't recall anything faith-based at all.
It's her page, and its clear she has a problem with faith-based stuff. I'm guessing she probably has a problem with faith-based anything.
No matter though. Now there is a place where people can discuss it without having to worry about being kicked off because somebody mentions LoF.
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It's administered by a private individual. Beast has not endorsed it.
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Not sure if this is allowed and if not, please delete!
Last night, the admin of the Facebook Beast Academy Discussion group decided to censor and forbid any discussion of any faith-based math curriculum that folks might want to use alongside Beast.
Obviously, that kind of handicaps the discussion and not for nothing but, there are some pretty solid faith-based math programs.
The admin then deleted people who spoke up.
So I created a Beast Discussion Group where folks can come and not have their hands tied with what that can say.
If anybody is interested, it's here: https://m.facebook.com/groups/121220141919460?ref=m_notif¬if_t=group_comment
I'm not looking to profit or anything, I just want folks to be able to freely discuss without being censored for mentioning LoF or something innocuous like that.
Again, if this is not allowed here, please feel free to delete!
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We're ALL failing at parenting our tweens.
Because tweens.
My 10 yr old DS is such an awesome kid. He runs to open doors for me (including our car door). He goes the extra mile in being helpful, being giving and kind, etc. At times, I look at him and I think, "YES! Character training right there, Baby!"
And then, quick as a flash, he is my most difficult. Challenging my authority. Second guessing. Talking back. Mumbling under his breath. Throwing shade whenever I (specifically me, never his father) corrects him, tries to teach him anything, etc. You should have seen the attitude the boy gave me when I took him to the batting cage for practice.
Like I didn't know squat, despite the many years I played. "Are we done yet? This is boring. I'm hot. Oh, let me guess, you want to pitch for <insert sibling name here>, too".
Just...nasty. And discipline under such circumstances results in a power struggle. I WIN those power struggles but I'm left wondering...did I really?
And then the next day, he's back to his awesome self again. I see this as an inner struggle, lol. Which side will win? And what am I in for when he actually hits his teens and those hormones surge through his body?
I don't really have any real advice, except to just love him as much as you can. Build the relationship as well as you can.
A friend of mine, who's successfully launched a number of kids into successful adulthoods once told me, "Rules without relationship will lead to rebellion and do your very best to get them to love you enough that they won't want to hurt you with the choices they make".
I think that's wise. And it's the approach I'm taking.
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Yes, I must admit I still have an affinity for fluffy books too, though I justify it as 'my brain needs a break'. 😀 And also I can only read passably well-written fluff. I mean, there has to be character development and no gaping plot holes or completely stupid suspension of disbelief required. I think that last is why both the owls of Gahool and the Warrior cats series were no-go for me. I mean, these animals have no thumbs, how can they build?😄
Anyway, as long as DD is getting some good books read, even enjoyingvthem, I try not to stress over fluff.
I LOVED the Gahoole series!!!! 😂😂😂
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I think as long as you are assigning her more difficult books to read, and she is reading them, than it's probably ok to overlook the fluff books she chooses to otherwise read on her own.
That said...I LOVED reading and would read most anything I could get my hands on. But I never did outgrow my affinity for ridiculous fluffy books. And I believe my predisposition towards those books made it more difficult for me to enjoy the much more difficult literature that was assigned in high school and college. I found books such as David Copperfield, Anne of Green Gables, Tale of Two Cities, etc., to be utterly boring. I hated them.
As an adult, I sat down to read Anne of Green Gables and thoroughly loved it...read the entire series in fact. But I also read the entire Warrior Cats series (after lamenting how stupid and poorly written it was...I just HAD to know what happened to Thunderclan) and so clearly, my affinity for stupid fluffy books remains even in adulthood, lol.
My 11 yr old does still choose fluffy books as well. She's not much of a reader and so I'll let her choose those books...but she doesn't earn any reading credit for them. If she wants to earn reading credit (for Pizza Hut tickets, or to earn tablet time), I have to approve the book choice. And I only approve good, solid selections.
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Definitely start with Grade 3. There's lots and lots of gold in there, even for students who are beyond that grade level. (I haven't seen Grade 2, to make any kind of statements on whether the same holds true...but my almost 11 yr old, who has completed Grades 3, 4 and half of 5, wants me to pick up Grade 2 "just for fun").
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I feel like I've found the Room of Requirement! I kept hearing about this mystery thread, but never could find/access it. And today...*poof*...here it is!
Off to go do some reading.
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AAS, SoTW, Singapore Math, Progressive Phonics, EIW (so far...may be changing)
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For science and history, you can probably just go right ahead and shelve those for this year. Buy a few good general science and history books and be done with it.
For Language Arts, I've used Spectrum as review. I don't see these mentioned here hardly at all, but I find them to be pretty thorough and for a short-term approach, they would definitely have the instruction you need, plus practice.
Spectrum would have a different workbook for writing, language arts (grammar), reading comprehension, spelling, vocabulary, word study/phonics. You don't need them all.
Oh, they also have them for math, but I've never used those and couldn't attest to the instruction aspect.
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Have you thought about units from Moving Beyond The Page? They are usually diverse in their topics and you might find one to match one of your topics listed. Rainbow Resource has extra samples for the guides to look at more if they seem like something that would work.
Can the books be purchased separately? I had looked at MBTP before but just the Social Studies curriculum for an age group is expensive. But if the books can be independently sourced, that might be useful.
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Have you looked at Truthquest? They have units of history/time periods -- broken down with book lists and then tons of lapbooking, notebooking, maps, and other hands on options...
Hadn't heard of it but...it's too broad. I'm looking for more of a specific unit type thing.
So...I found these You Choose Interactive History Adventure Books, which are perfect. But I need more, lol. Ideally, my kiddos will spark an interest in whatever it is they choose to study, follow bunny trails, etc etc and, after a month, be able to tell me all about it.
The You Choose books are perfect...as a start.
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Just bumping this because I still haven't really found what I'm looking for.
(Everybody sing, "I stiiiiiiiiiiiiiiillllllllll....haven't found....what I've been looking for".
Doesn't have to be a book series.
I was thinking...the oldest two could do an INB, or a lapbook each month for a different historical topic. I made a long list of topics, but...I'm stumped from there. Actually, I'm really not stumped...I could make something up all on my own. I just don't want to, lol. I'm so tired of re-inventing the wheel. Surely, there's got to be something out there?
I did look at Jackdaws, but it would be awful expensive to do more than a couple of those.
Below is the list of potential topics I made. I figured the kids could pick one that interests them. Read about it...library books, movies, etc etc etc. But then what? What kind of output should I expect? And what should that output look like?
· Explorers
· Inventors or Inventions
· Art history
· Space history
· Scientists
· Medicine
· Presidents
· Kings/Queens
· Famous Rulers
· Ancient Civilizations
· Music/Musicians
· Monuments
· Famous Black Americans
· Famous American Women
· Civil War
· Revolutionary War
· World War
· Vikings
· Early settlers
· Titanic
· Indigenous Peoples
· Renaissance
· Slavery
· Civil Rights
· Women’s Rights
· Middle Ages
· Knights
· Black Plague
· London Fire
· Industrialization
· Worker’s Rights
· Westward Expansion
· Castles
· Pirates
· Eastern civilizations
· Great Depression
· Jewish history
· Biblical people
· Famous athletes
· Automobiles
· Seven Wonders
· Holocaust
· History of flight
· Guns
· Early Modern (1800s)
· Modern
· Immigration
· Agriculture
· Africa
· India
· Barbarians
· Huns
· Internet
· Military vehicles
· Clothing
· Tyrannical leaders
· Olympics
· History of chocolate
· History of the English language
· Reformation
· Crusades
· Holidays
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This is one of the only flaws with BA, imo. My son completed the Perfect Squares chapter years ago and, sure enough, he quickly lost that math skill. And it's not like I could just go online and find some supplemental worksheets or games to practice that skill, kwim?
For awhile, I hand-wrote some problems for him but, with four kids schooling, that got old real fast.
Beast Academy IS coming out with an online Academy and supposedly, it will address this lack of review by providing online games, practice, etc. It should be out in early 2018.
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It depends on the kid. I literally bought my daughter the books. She'd read and do the problems. I would correct them. We would discuss anything she got wrong and she'd have a second try. She did well this way. She was playing on Alcumus and Mathcounts trainer a lot while we waited for books. We did a little extra fractions and exponents work on Khan when we hit a few sections that she had more trouble with. I really appreciate that it's a pretty hands-off program and that it has low repetition (as for many mathy kids a lot of review is unnecessary). It's easy for me to pull a supplement for the occasional topic where she could use a little extra review or practice than it is for a lot to be built in and then I have to decide what she should do and what to weed out.
My second kid is less mathy, though, so maybe it won't work as well with him.
See, my kid CAN do the work on his own. He works it just like your DD. Reads the text, does the workbook, brings it to me for correction, and then he fixes the ones he missed. If he continues to be stumped, we'll work on it together on the white board.
It's just that...he needs to review to keep it in that noggin and some of the topics in BA were difficult to find practice for. Like their chapter on perfect squares with the area models. He learned some neat tricks for solving these square equations, but did not retain them at all.
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We did Pentime Grade 3 this summer and my only Leftie did ok with it. His fine motor and penmanship has always been...meh. And for sure, he had some difficulty with certain cursive letters. But overall, he did ok.
I really focused on making sure he positioned his hand correctly and that his paper was angled well.
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What does your kid think about it? I fretted about this about AoPS pre-algebra book, but my kid feels differently. I think that it has problems that come from some math competitions help, as she can't wait to sit for her first AMC8 this year.
He's not started it yet. Or really sat and looked through it.
He finished Singapore 5 this past spring, and has been working on Beast 5. He could probably launch right into Pre-Al, but he's been pushing back a bit on his workload and how it's not fair that he has more math than the other kids, etc. Clear signs that I needed to back off.
So I decided to let him finish Beast 5 this fall...with that being his only math, aside from Singapore's CWP and Process Skills. He'll start AoPS in January.
He HAS said that he's disappointed AoPS did not have a Beast Pre-Al and that he will miss the Beasts. I completely agree. Given that a high percentage of AoPS kids are younger than your typical Pre-Al and Alg. students, a program geared towards their younger maturity would be appropriate.
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It's billed as a complete curriculum and for some kids it probably can be. Buuuuuuuuuut.....then there's everybody else.
My eldest son is very math-intuitive. He absorbs concepts readily, But he still needs review to keep things in that noggin. Beast just doesn't provide enough of that. So I use it as an enrichment supplement. The new online Beast Academy is likely going to address this shortcoming. We'll have to see.
If you're kiddo is ready for 2A now...I'd say it's not going to work for you this year. Wait until the entirety of Grade 2 is out, and use it a year behind your main Math spine.
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What's this "Fence Straddlers" thread?
We chose AoPS, but once it arrived I'm just not sure. It's so...textbooky. Just very very dry. My son is only 10, going on 11 and he's coming from Singapore and Beast Academy.
So I'd like to see these other options, too...lol.
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Prodigy math. Best game for math reinforcement.
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Interesting. She was being fed regularly, and I don't think she went more than a week without water.
When she was found, she was in her water dish, and she was pretty dessicated. Her skin was tented and drawn.
She had been very healthy up until this happened. Any other ideas what may have caused this?
What is your middle school child doing for Latin?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
We were going to do Latin but after discussing it with some folks from here, I realized that it really wasn't Latin/Greek I wanted my kids to know...it was an understanding of the root words and affixes so that they could apply that to vocabulary development, etc.
In the end, I went with Word Roots. It's a bit dry, so I think I'm going to add in some games like Rummy Root and maybe Word Root Bingo or some such.
I did also purchase https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Greek-and-Latin-Roots-Interactive-Notebook-1521669?aref=wvm2bxn2 as well as https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Prefixes-and-Suffixes-Interactive-Notebook-2207125 and my kids have begun to assemble INBs which I'm hoping will help with review and practice.