In the Netherlands we are taught (that is IF your school teaches it, most don't) to parse sentences in two ways. You look at a sentence and write under the word if it is a noun or adjective or reflexive pronoun etc, and you label the words with the subject or object or indirect object etc. What I got from Erin's explanation was that when you get to the really complex sentences, it becomes very hard to talk about it but drawing a diagram will make it much clearer and not only for the students who are highly visual but for all students. Right, Erin? Momling, I once asked my sister (who has a masters degree in both Spanish and...I don't know the English word for it....I think you would call it 'applied linguistics') about diagraming, showing her some American examples. She had never seen it. She did tell me about these syntax trees, however she thought I was crazy for wanting to learn that and completely crazy for wanting to teach my kids that :001_huh:. After Erin's post I was thinking of learning myself to diagram with an English course and then to teach that to my kids in Dutch, as I think that diagramming in a foreign language may be too much for young children. Now I'm confused!:001_huh: Last night I was ready to order R&S, however the 70% shipping held me back :lol:. Do you (general you) think it is even possible to be able to talk about language in the way Erin and Buddhabelly (post #35) do, simply by learning to diagram? Arrrgh, there is so much to learn :tongue_smilie:.

Erin, Thank you for this explanation! I'm in the Netherlands and haven't found anyone who even knows what diagramming is :D, so I just assumed that teaching my kids to parse a sentence was enough. Duh, now I have to figure out a way to learn diagraming before I need it with my kids.:tongue_smilie:I guess I need to order R&S (or something else?) for myself.

Thank you, ladies! You are great.

I have been reading the discussions about MCT LA and especially about his poetry books. I'm a science major and know nothing about poetry. Whenever I read a poem, I keep thinking 'why can't they just write what they mean':lol:. Anyway, MCT's poetry materials sound perfect for me. I'm considering ordering together with a friend, so we can split the shipping costs. She however is not completely sure the poetry materials will be a good fit for her and her dd. If you have used Music of the Hemispheres (or a higher level), do you think that someone who is already comfortable reading and enjoying poetry and includes it regularly in her homeschool, will benefit from these materials? thanks!

22%, that is good. Very good. I never buy stuff at Rainbow Resource, the last time I checked I had to pay 60% for shipping :banghead: . I really wish Amazon or the bookdepository would carry the MCT books. On the other hand, now I'm only drooling about the poetry stuff, then I would probably buy the complete set ($$$) :lol:, even though it is highly unlikely I will be able to use it. I doubt my dds are gifted and English is a foreign language for us. Oh, well, I can dream...:tongue_smilie:

Add me to the excited camp :lol:. I'm sooooo tempted to buy the books (for myself!). I just read Classics in the Classroom, sigh, I wish I had had MCT as a teacher in high school. If only I did not need to pay for shipping to Europe $$$.

Slightly off topic, but I have to say that this thread and the other thread about health professionals asking questions and the numerous posters who were very much against using implements while hitting children and hitting in general, has restored my trust in American parents again. Until recently I was also part of another homeschooling forum. The owner of that forum made it very clear that the only way to be a good Catholic was to use forceful physical discipline with our children (*daily* use of a *leather belt* :001_huh:). I was shocked. Outraged. And what was even more shocking was that none of the other parents felt that this was extreme. You bet I left that place in a hurry. But I did start to feel I had somehow wandered into some kind of 'alternate reality', I'm not American, and sadly we also have parents abusing kids around here, but noone could make this kind of statements without being in a lot of trouble. A. Lot. Of. Trouble. By the authorities *and* by the public in general. Sorry to hijack, I think I just needed to share.

Plimsoll/David, very inspiring. Thank you!

I order almost all my books through them. I have had only one book lost in the mail and they sent a replacement right away. Highly recommended.

Thank you! Very helpful.:thumbup1:

Thank you, abbeyej! That's what I have been doing, but I'm a new homeschooler and with the heavy emphasis on correct writing and spelling in WTM I started to doubt myself. Now I can :chillpill:.

Watching from the Netherlands now :001_smile:

Thanks!

We can only have 10 items per card, so I got the baby a card also :lol: (children's cards are free). They were not amused, but could not refuse. I am SO envious off you who can get large amounts of books.

Jeri, I would love to visit you for coffee!;) I'm a bit worried that the exercies you mention with pictures where the student needs to identify the first/last sound, would become very frustrating very soon. My dd never had a problem with phonetic awareness in Dutch and I assume that she will not have many problems in English, however her vocabulary is very minimal. ElisabethB, I can't use google books as I'm outside the USA :sad:. Those "I See Sam" books look very nice. I think I'm going to start with those and if my dd likes them I can order the rest from http://www.piperbooks.co.uk/index.htm .These are the same, right?

I'm looking for a phonics program for my 5-almost-6yo dd. English is a foreign language for us. She recently started first grade and is making great progress with reading in Dutch (in the Netherlands we start teaching to read in first grade). This week I noticed she had taught herself how to read 2-and-3-syllable words. I'm a proud mama :001_smile:. I had planned to start teaching her to read in English in a few months using Cool English (ESL course) from Cambrigde University Press. Today I received my materials.....and what do you think.....they do NOT teach phonics, they use whole language.:banghead: So I need to find something else. What do you recommend for teaching phonics for an ESL student? She has only a very minimal English vocabulary (we did a Kindergarten-level oral English course), needs to learn English phonics, but obviously already understands blending etc. After she understands English phonics, I'm planning to build her vocabulary by extensive reading. Oh, and if at all possible...my dd would like her schoolbooks to be colourful.

Same problem here, both for threads and private messages.

Laura, Dr Fuhrman would say that anything is better than nothing. Sure, following his program 100% is optimal, and he *very much* want you to go for 100%, but if you really can't give up certain things..then don't (Eat to live, pag 243 'if that one drink a day will make you stay with the plan much more succesfully, then have it'). If you follow his program for 90% of the time you are good. Substituting the milk in your tea would be a good plan. And I can't find it, but I'm not even sure that he finds chocolate (in moderation) bad. We are not talking *milk* chocolate, right?

Hi forty-two, I'm enrolled in the Grammar 1 course for self-study in preparation for LCC educating my dds. My dds are very young and I'm not sure yet if/when I will enroll them. I'm really enjoying the course. Just wanted to let you know that Mr Michael does not teach grammar through translation. He teaches vocabulary through the translations from the Gospel of John, grammar is taught through formal instruction. I think your 'old-fashioned' methode is very similar to the way Mr Michael teaches. If you have other questions, just ask, although I do't know what you mean by 'tpr', so if you really want to discuss methods you should e-mail Mr Michael :tongue_smilie:. P.S. Don't judge my ability to learn Latin grammar from my ability to write English, English is a foreign language to me:blush:.

Oh yes, please tell about the praeceptor training! Does it add to your understanding of Classical Ed, even if you have already read LCC en Climbing Parnassus? Does it improve your homeschooling? Please tell, it looks so interesting, but pricey..

Stacy, I have Gombrich's book in Dutch. I think that my dd would be able to handle it in September but I'm just not sure she will find it interesting or fun. I have also noticed the 'push down' you mention ( I have been on this board for ages :), althought I'm only now starting to homeschool.). I find with my dd that she can handle quiet advanced literature, she will even ask for those stories and tell me she enjoys them, but the really out-loud-giggling and re-enacting of what she has heard will only happen with the easier books. And that's what I want for her first experiences of History. Believe me, I have searched and searched for a book in Dutch, I can't find anything that is both a narrative *and* includes world history. Also, the books I have found go from prehistoric man to medieval times (with maybe one story about the Romans in between). Nothing with the scope of -for example- SOTW. Sigh.

Oke, now I'm no longer relaxed :confused:. That's two votes for using it for a 1st grader, and two votes against. Ieeeek. I'm fine with a challenging read alout for Literature, for History I would like to use something age appropiate that DD finds interesting and fun. If Gombrich is too difficult, and I was already having my doubts about it from skimming the book, I need to find something else...and I need to find it NOW, because it will probably involve a lot of work translating :001_huh:. Help?

Thank you Hathersage and Daybreaking! I spend the morning nervously looking at SOTW and calculating how much time it would take me to translate it. Now I can relax :D.

Would it be possible to use it with a child that is younger than 7yo? My dd will be 6 in October and I was planning to start using it in September. Gombrich is the only one of the usual history books (Van Loon, Hillyer, SOTW) that has been translated into Dutch...and I'm not looking forward to translating whole books by myself :tongue_smilie:, maybe when the baby sleeps through the night :001_huh:.

I'm really interested in hearing recommendations for some books to expand BFSU, in particular books that can be used for multiple topics. :bigear: