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CrunchyGirl

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Everything posted by CrunchyGirl

  1. I have a child working consistently at an 8th grade level who has received almost no formal writing instruction. If I give him a several page story to rewrite in his own words, he not only can do so, but his writing is excellent. Gets all the main and supportive details in, varies sentance structure, uses interesting vocabulary, and manages proper grammar and spelling. But he is not a creative writer (and we've determined he doesn't need to be). He has to be working with facts or a given story. We have decided to focus on teaching him to write research reports and possibly a standard essay (so he knows how before he encounters them on standardized tests). We've been trying to use WWS and it's just too incremenatal for him. I'm so disappointed, I really like the program. He needs something that is more condensed--something that you'd use for a child who has all the base skills, just needs to practice the steps and format of a research report. My main concern right now is being well prepped for rhetoric in high school. Does anyone have a favorite framework? I'm hesitant to come up with something on my own as I'm a natural writer and I'm having trouble breaking it down to a framework of steps.
  2. That's great to hear! He's starting that class in two weeks.
  3. Do you have a guess on how much time she spends on homework and studying outside of class each week?
  4. 5-6 hours per class is far more doable! He's a super bright kid and generally moves very quickly through material so I suppose there is hope.
  5. Can anyone help me compare Lukeion vs. Classical Learning Resource Center? Ideally we'd prefer LegoMan take both Greek and Latin along with ancient history and mythology classes starting this fall. Lukeion sounds amazing. My major concern is the workload. Even if I take his course load down to a bare minimum, I'm concerned about devoting 20 hours a week to Greek and Latin together. That just seems like a bit much when there's still other subjects to cover.
  6. Thank you! Darn it, I missed that. Ugh. Back to the drawing board for summer.
  7. Legoman is curently enrolled in AOPS Pre-Algebra through WTMA and is having zero issues with the material. He will be taking Algebra 1 throug WTMA next fall but over the summer I'm considering Number Theory online directly though AOPS. Has anyone done that? Should I be concerned about the material level (since he won't have done Algebra 1 yet) or the pace?
  8. I realize WTM specifies 4 History cycles starting in 1st grade but...I’d love to hear from some experienced parents on what age they felt their children actually retained a decent portion of the history they were presented? I’m really rethinking a few things. Such as time spent on history with my 8 year old is completely wasted and we’d be better off with more fabulous literature. If I do that I’m thinking we’d pick history back up next year or the year after.
  9. Awe, thanks! I have the teachers guide and the student books so that helps. If I had just the main book I'd be up a creek! Oddly enough, my son told me last night that he'd love to switch to poetry in two weeks. So I guess we shall see when the books arrive.
  10. I keep hearing CAP's logic books (Art of Argument, etc.) are secular.
  11. It appears the author suggests: CW Homer weeks 1-10 Beginning Poetry weeks 1-12 CW Homer weeks 11-30 Beginning Poetry weeks 13-24 CW Homer weeks 31-40 Any wisdom on this? I'm nervous to switch to poetry soon as we are just hitting our stride with Homer (just finished week 8).
  12. I'm really hoping The Monkey will switch to Singapore or Beast for second grade. I will be very surprised if ArtsyGirl switches before she ages out. One long term RS kid is more than enough.
  13. **I've cross posted in the Accelerated Learners forum** I'm looking for an online, high school level science option. Ideally video based where other assignments (tests, papers, labs, etc.) can be skipped. I need something that is fairly comprehensive, accurate information, and secular (includes evolution and climate change where appropriate). I have an unusual child who does best taking in significant amounts of high level information and I'm trying to find a good option for giving him an overview of science over the next year or two. We will of course tackle science more traditionally (exams, research papers, labs, etc.) once he reaches high school. So far I've found Time4Learning and Acellus. Any experience with these? Are there others that are better options? I'm ruing out SuperCharged Science for now as it's very disorganized (but I'm open to being convinced!) ETA: Others that have been suggested: Exploration Education and Learn Science Conceptual Academy (checking them out now, would love feedback).
  14. I'm going to cross post this on the high school forum too but thought you guys might have good insight. I'd like to do a thorough science overview with LegoMan. Last year he read all three volumes of Human Odyssey and not only retained ever bit of it (possible photographic memory), he's able to easily apply that knowledge to new pieces of info across the curriculum. It's to the point I can't imagine needing to touch systematic history again until high school. I'd like to do something similar for science. We haven't done much to this point and I realize technically we don't have to but I think he'd enjoy it. I've wanted to do BFSU but so far it's not happening and at this point I worry it's not advanced enough (and I don't have the science background to dive deep enough). I'm thinking an online set of videos would work really well. Something comprehensive and probably high school level as his higher order reasoning is excellent. I'm not interested in a full course (like what WTMA offers) as I don't feel a need for exams and research papers at this point. My only other requirement is that it needs to be secular (covering evolution and climate change as appropriate). So far I've found Time4Learning and Acellus. Has anyone used these? Are there better options? Neither seems like something I'd normally hand my gifted child but we are in a weird situation here.
  15. We've used old Android tablets for the last few years but recently upgraded to Amazon Fire tablets. We only use them for Audible.
  16. I'm using Latin Alive 1 with an accelerated 5th grader. Six chapters in it's going really well and he's appropriately challenged but I'm concerned there really isn't much practice. Before I start making my own, has anyone found resources for extra practice?
  17. I'm very pleased with the DVD instruction for Latin Alive.
  18. One factor to consider is if you can ever change it. We are in NC and don't have the option to change it so I went with a name that sounds like a high end prep school.
  19. We are also in a low reg state but I choose to keep records for a few reasons. First, because if something were to happen and we needed to place our children in a different setting (public or private), I'd have to imagine it would be of some value to know where they are at (and one of our children would need significant accommodation we'd need to advocate and provide evidence for). Second, as others have said, I think it's good for mental health to be able to look back and see progress. Finally, given that I seem to be about to have a lot of kids across a fairly wide range, I figure it can't hurt to remember what resources worked and what didn't. I'm going to be at this for 18 more years. My record keeping: --I made my own sheets, one for each day and keep them in a 3 ring binder. They are a grid. Kid's names across the top, macro subject areas down the side (math, language arts, social studies, science, foreign language, other). As we progress through each day, I make notes for each child in the applicable boxes. --At the end of 9 weeks, I scan all the sheets along with a cover sheet that lists the full names of curriculum we used (that way I can use acronyms on a daily basis). That becomes our digital record for attendance and what we accomplished. --At the end of the year, I scan samples of work completed and save those in a folder. --Beyond that I keep the yearly standardized test score on hand as required by the state.
  20. Here's what's working for us: Everyday: Math Language Arts: --LegoMan: Latin, Writing, Assigned Reading --ArtsyGirl: Writing, Spelling, Assigned Reading + Read Aloud Practice (Latin to be added this fall) Spanish via Skype lessons Piano practice Literature (read aloud and discuss for an hour in the evening) Fridays: BFSU And then everything else is on a loop schedule. I shoot for 2-3 twenty minute sessions a day and we just go to the next thing on the list. This has taken the stress out because some days we do great and sometimes we miss a session or two and it's fine, we just pick up where we left off. I'm striving for a more Charlotte Mason style (short lessons, narration, etc.) for this part so our list looks very long. It's easier than it looks as I just grab the next book off the shelf and go. --American history living book --American historical figure bio --World history living book --Natural science living book --Scientist bio --Artist or composer study --Poetry study --Geography: Map study --Geography: Living book --Shakespeare study --Plutarch study **Geography, Shakespeare, and Plutarch will be added this fall
  21. We've gone full circle. We put our then kindy kid (half way through the year) and preschooler in school during a particularly rough time. I felt really guilty but there was also a deep sense of relief. They just came home (our son was one all along--due to anxiety school just isn't an option for him). I'm thrilled to be back homeschooling but I have zero regrets that we put them in school. Do what's best for your family.
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