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laughing lioness

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Posts posted by laughing lioness

    Writing program to go with Easy Grammar?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted · Edited by laughing lioness

    I personally don't like EG- it didn't "stick" when we used it. 

    I love First Langauge Lessons and Writing With Ease. You could start with Book II and work quickly through. It will build a solid foundation. FLL will cover grammar more comprehensively and dive in to simple diagramming and parts of speech- it's a broader base than EG and more comprehensive, like R & S, without the pedantic flavor. 

     

    We've had great success with Spelling You See (review here). 

    Reading- do you mean reading comprehension or reading aloud? Narration is an excellent tool to use- WWE will incorporate this. I'd have him read aloud a bit each day too. And don't forget read-alouds or books on CD. 

    • Like 1

    Struggling with Grammar/writing

    in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges

    Posted

    Personally, I would skip the journal prompts at this point if you really want to focus on basic writing Frode Jenson's Grammar would be a good place to start. I like Jenson because he starts simple and builds sequentially. Or R & S 5th gr.

     

    Is it basic sentence structure that he struggles with? I would build in sentence diagramming then, because if you learn how to diagram, you'll learn what makes a sentence, what makes a good one and how to modify it. 

     

    imho, "English" (which is such a broad subject area) is best taught in a group. Is there a CC Essentials program near-by? If so, I would highly recommend CC's Essentials program- last year we had 5 kids in our Essentials that were in high school.  It goes over the 7 sentence patterns, diagramming and really digs deep into grammar. The class does 45 min. of Grammar, 45 min of Writing (IEW theme-book- takes the guess work out of "what do I write about) and 1/2 hr of math games. Fun, fast with the added accountability of positive peer pressure and a place to READ what one's written. 

     

    • Like 1

    Changing your homeschool style between your older & younger kids

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    With my oldest 2 (3) we definitely were more of a literature/ great books approach. With my youngest 2 (3- my poor middler!) we have taken a much stronger classical approach. With our older kids we did a zillion field trips, classes, traveling, reading, reading, reading, etc. With our youngers we have traveled less, worked on skills more, memorized TONS, read probably as much. In the beginning we focused more on content, now we focus on skills. I would say that our youngers understand and have as much content, but are also much stronger on skills than our olders. 

     

    • Like 2

    Writing Curriculum - Have you tried more than one?

    in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges

    Posted · Edited by laughing lioness

    I have used and taught WWE/WWS in group settings. LOVE WWE as it's THE best, gentle intro to good writing on the market, imho. WWS is excellent for more academic writing, but doesn't hammar home some basics (like topic sentence). Not a big deal if you know what you are doing. Does an excellent job of teaching kids how to think critically about readind and writing. 

     

    Add in FLL to WWE and your k-4th graders will have an excellent foundation for good writing and good thinking. 

     

    IEW-great teacher training if you are not sure about what good writing is- watch the TWSS, take notes and you are set for life. I don't like videos to teach writing, but the theme books are quite fun (though they need a good history fact checker to edit some of them). 

     

    Lost Tools of Writing- excllent structure for essay writing and strong critical thinking. LOVE this! 

     

    EIW- I reviewed it here. 

     

    Grammar of Poetry- excellent foundational study of the ryhme and meter of word crafting. I reviewed it here and will be teaching it live, on-line here.

    • Like 1

    How much do you expect for writing at 9th grade?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    I don't think "writing papers" comes easily for most people either, because it's so vague and undefined. We used Lost Tools of Writing this year for our CC Ch A program and the 10 kids (of varying abilities and skills) all wrote 10 essays of 2-5 pgs each in 30 weeks. They all also wrote a final apologetics paper- the longest was 6 pages. Our Ch 1 group (mostly 9th/10th graders) wrote 8 essays of 2-5 pgs each and then a 15 pg research paper for science. 

    The research paper was very challenging because it was less defined and their Director is more of a science type vs. lit type. But they did it. 

    I highly recommend Lost Tools of Writing. It takes ALL of the questions out of writing and follows the 5 Cannons of Rhetoric. These kids will never wonder what an essay is again- or how to write one. 

    • Like 2

    Calling experienced homeschoolers...writing and history questions!

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    I'm not sure why SOTW would not be a good fit. We are conservative Christians and love SOTW, HOTW and Hx of Science. I say that only to ask you to re-consider. SOTW is a sweeping overview of world hisotry that will give your kids an amazing scope of understanding. Throw in memorizing a timeline and you are set. 

    Also, Roman Roads Media Old Western Culture is terrific! 

    For Government, I would recommend TeenPact, as well as Richard Mayberry books (Whatever Happened to Penny Candy, et al.). They also have an econ book= Classical Conversations Challenge I does an excellent job of government/econ. MUS And Notgrass both have Econ now, too. Dave Ramsey has a good personal finance for youth. 

     

    You will find as you homeschool resources, books, curriculum that are simply amazing (and probably not yet published)!  

     

    If you are going to use WWE / WWS- check out First Language Lessons. Much more "vibrant" than R & S (though I love their grammar, too). 

    Check out Lost Tools of Writing by Circe Institue. LOVE it!!! BEST writing program- super straightforward. 

    For LIt analysis begin by reading outloud and narrating and discussing. Simple, effective and inexpensive. 

    • Like 1

    New to homeschooling, curriculum jitters

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

     

     

     

    Language Arts/Reading

    Total Language Plus (Mr. 4th & Mr. 7th: comprehension questions and project ideas, some writing; Mr. 7th adds in spelling from here)

    IEW Fix-It Grammar starting with book 1 on an accelerated schedule (done together)

    IEW Student Writing Intensive, starting with A (mainly for Mr. 4th, but I will bet that Mr. 7th will watch and learn something)

    Wordly Wise 3000 online (Mr. 4th and Mr. 7th, appropriate grade levels not done together)

    Spellwell CC or D (Mr. 4th)

     

    Math

    Life of Fred (Mr. 4th quickly reviews from Apples on up, Mr. 7th reviews from Fractions)

    Possibly Beast Academy level 4ish as a supplement for Mr. 4th, but I wish there were something *interesting* like this at Mr. 7th's level.  He will be so jealous of his brother, getting to work with comics!  AoPS is way too dry for him.

     

    History/Social Studies

    Mapping the World with Art - McHenry (done together), springboard off this into some research at the library.

    Somehow coordinated with relevant sections of SOTW and Human Odyssey?  Would it be bad to skip around?  I don't know a whole lot about them.

     

    Science

    The Elements - McHenry (done together), lead into other McHenry science books?

    ACS Middle School Chemistry? (Mr. 7th, maybe also Mr. 4th for the simpler ones?)

    I have 2 different Thames & Kosmos Wind Power science kits that I would like to make into a unit this year (done together)

     

    Extras

    Ultimate Geography & Timeline Guide for more geography ideas to tie in where I can

    Artistic Pursuits, Middle School (Mr. 7th, special interest in drawing & showing talent. Mr. 4th is happy with "arts and crafts" type art projects with mom)

    The Fallacy Detective (done together)

    1x weekly classes with well-established local homeschool co-op, topics unknown at this time, they also offer educational field trips regularly (both)

    Piano lessons (both)

    Cub Scouts/Boy Scouts (both)

     

    I would pare down English right off. Do they NEED spelling? if not, skip it.  If you already have IEW, do A for both. (you could do B for both, too). fix it is good. 

     

    Pick one Math- the beauty of choosing one author is you get to know thier style without having to learn a new way of doing things for every kid. 

    Mapping the World with Art is fun! I'd add in SOTW cd's to play while they are mapping.

    Will YOU do the science with them or are they on their own. There's a real difference between how good something looks and doing it- esp. with littles. 

    Skip the extra geo- if you want more, put maps and globes around, use Google Earth, get on the NOAA or NASA sites. 

    Fallacy Detective is fun to read. 

    I'd carefully consdier the co-op- they have music and Scouts alreay - if the classes aren't a great fit, skip it for now. 

     

    I'd add in some memory work- poetry or grammar (MP's Grammar Recitation), or even CC Cd's. 

    Working Part Time (Parent)

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    I've worked from home for the past couple of years, Direct a CC Challenge program and my last 2 are in Jr and Sr High. My kids are pretty independent, but I do have to keep up with where they are at on stuff. They do hang out at dh's office occaisionally, but not regularly. We do weekly planners and then go over the days work together- and we often have a weekly family meeting just so everyone knows where everyone else is at- how to coordinate cars,etc.Scheduling and planning are key. My 13 yo is naturally organized but will avoid certain subjects if left alone with them, while my 16 yo will naturally tackle stuff he doesn't like as much but is not naturally organzied- haha! So, really, staying on top of the schedule and their personalities. I did a short blog series homeschooling and working here.

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