Dinsfamily
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Posts posted by Dinsfamily
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Math: AOPS Alg1 (ch 1-13), AOPS C&P
Writing: Finish WWS1/Start WWS2 (we jumped ship from W&R so started mid year)
Grammar: Hake 7
Vocab: VfCR A
Spelling/Reading Comprehension: Review through SWR
History/Lit/Bible: Sonlight Core G
Science: Apologia General Science
Latin: Finish First Form/ Start Second Form
Logic: Fallacy Detective/Thinking Toolbox/Art of Argument (working through summer and into schoolyear)
Programming: Finish KidCoder/Start TeenCoder
Art: Not sure...I have a lot of stuff and need to use it...might take a class from an artist friend
Music: Drum lessons (against my better judgement)
ExtraCurric: Boy Scouts, Lacrosse, Soccer, Robotics Club
Haven't changed but added (see impulse buy thread) MP Geography 1 and Artistic Pursuits Middle School book 1. They both look like great choices for us.
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They look great! I've found that my Type A tendencies are really helpful juggling more than 2 kids! I just finished my lesson plans and our first week checklist. You are braver than I am to plan a whole year. Except for Ds12's math, I only plan a quarter at a time. I get frustrated when we get ahead or behind and my plans are too far off. I can handle 9 weeks with my sanity in tact.
I do a checklist for each dc and tape it to their clipboard so they can see what needs to be done and how they are progressing. I don't print lesson plans (part of that sanity issue) but keep them handy on my iPad. I'll print each week's checklist on Friday once I am confident of their previous week's progress.
I think I need to steal your week at a glance idea. I love the simplicity of it.
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I remember learning it in school but I have no odea what grade it was...sometime in middle school maybe?
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Something possessed me to buy a Boogie Board Jot 8.5 for my kids to used during LOF and AAS. Why paper and our white board are not good enough I will never know... :confused:
I bought a few of those for our summer airplane trip since I figured it would be easier to bring on the plane than a ton of drawing paper. They were great for that purpose. I also reasoned when I bought them that they could use them for spelling quizzes and Alcumus during the schoolyear. My boys really love them. Dh and I have also been using them to keep score when we play cards. Definitely an impulse buy but one that's been pretty good for us.
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Spell to Write and Read. I'm starting it with my 4th kiddo now. It gives them a solid foundation.
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I just bought Artistic Pursuits books for my 2 oldest. I already had some for the younger two. I'm declaring this " the year we actually get to art." I also have MP Geo 1 coming on Monday. I really want Visual World Geography but it's not in my impulse-buy budget. I have MP's art posters on my wishlist at RR, but they'll have to wait until next year.
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Agree on wall for all the reasons above AND...
You can slap ANYTHING that you and your kids want onto a wall timeline.
Not just moments in history, but great composers and artists/works of art. Scientists and philosophers and mathematicians. Invention of the clarinet. Publication dates of great works of literature.
Our wall timeline doesn't look perfect or professional though; in fact, it's kind of crazy, because anyone who wants to add something (including the three year old) can represent it on an index card and tape it up in the proper position.
Your crazy timeline sounds fun! What a great way for all the kids, even the 3yo, to participate.
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We tried a book for years because I didn't have wall space. It didn't work for us. I just don't think my dc were getting the idea flipping through pages in a book and it was hard to see the span. We moved 2 years ago and I'm finally getting around to putting timelines up on the wall this year. I'm so excited about it!
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I am using MP US geography with DS12 in two years (he'll be in 9th then) alongside SL US History. It isn't fancy but looks like it will get the job done. I am adding Little Man in the Map, Yo Sacremento, and Yo Millard Fillmore for fun. We are using the World Geo portions of MP Geo 1 & 2 for 7th and 8th while he studies SL world history.
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I had planned on starting on Aug 22 and just found out that local PS starts that day too so that will be easy. Now I'd really like a soft start the week prior just to get a head start. We'll see if I can get that off the ground since they will likely want a bunch of play dates with PS friends that week.
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I used First Form with my 4th & 6th graders last year and LOVED it. We are going to finish it up (lots of family visits got us off track) and move on to Second Form. We tried LC1 and PL previously and couldn't make it through. I liked the organization of First Form better. I am going to try PL with my 3rd grader again this year. I hope it goes better after all I learned with First Form.
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I sent all of mine to Pre-K and it worked out great ( or I wouldn't have kept doing it). The biggest help for me was allowing the preschool to set the "school mindset" so that they were prepared to do school when they came home for K. I am very relaxed with my little ones and structured with my school-age kiddos so it would be quite a shock to go from "everything is optional" to a structured school day. Also, our pre-K has amazing teachers who loved on my kiddos and wonderful in-house specials/field trips.
The only complaint I ever got was from my oldest who wanted to go to PS Kinder. After talking to him about it, he thought it was going to be just like Pre-K and he'd get to ride the bus. When I explained that we lived too close for bus service,K'ers only get 20 mins of recess and Miss Maria wouldn't be his teacher, he decided that hs'ing was a better idea. We had a great year!
The pre-K was 3-4 days/week from 9-2. First 3 went 3 days. #4 went 4 days.
The only downside was the price. I got a big raise this year when ds#4 graduated!
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We've used US Ed from the beginning and I love it. Std Ed wasn't out yet, though. I've heard the Std Ed HIGs are better but never had any complaints about the US Ed HIGs. No matter which edition you use, make sure you buy the Challenging Word Problems when you get to level 3! You don't really need them for 1&2 but they don't hurt either. I really think SM isn't complete without them. We do them after the dc has completed the entire level (A&B) as a review and they are fabulous.
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I am going through First Form with my dc (not doing the workbook) so I am going through the the material and we practice recitations together. Because of that, I don't mind that it doesn't include more; it is just enough to give my students and me a boost. We use the DVD 2-3 times/week to introduce and then review the lesson.
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My ds did all of the problems and then onto the solutions but occasionally he'd skip a problem he just couldn't figure out. I think it made more sense for him to work through it that way but I can see the case for the individual problem/solution method also. I would say to do it whichever way works for your student.
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I agree about the First Form DVD. We really enjoyed it this year and it helps us get Latin done. Worth the money for me. Glad to hear that he's on the Second Form DVD.
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While I know it isn't popular on this site, Tx offers K-12 free for kids 3rd and up. While that wouldn't be ideal for me, it might help you get a year under your belt and figure out where to go from there. I had a friend do that exact thing when she pulled her kids from PS. She moved on the next year, but was able to use the time to evaluate her dc and figure out curriculum without losing a year of education.
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Hours a day here too. We've been using Sonlight since Ds12 was in Kindy and now use 4 cores so I spend a lot of my day reading to them. Plus, a non-schoolbook family storytime at bed. I will say that it seemed exhausting the first couple of years with just 1 core plus fun books for the littles. I've definitely improved in stamina over time and learned to read those long sentences from older books. I do struggle during allergy season (Nov-Feb for me).
ETA: How much in one sitting depends on the book. If I'm enjoying it, 40 pages is nothing. If I'm not, 10 is plenty. Also, my dc's interest level plays a part In that too.
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I was there at the beginning of last year with ds7 (he'll be 8 next week). I had a bright ds in 2nd grade but barely reading in a halting manner. It didn't make sense to me but I knew it was due to motivation and attitude. Because we use SWR, he knew his phonograms and was decent at spelling but refused to read. I just had to reset my expectations with him and keep moving with SWR. I had him working SLOWLY through Sonlight's grade 2 readers moving around the books to keep his interest. The 2nd grade readers worked because he knew all of his phonograms and could sound out the words plus they are more interesting than the 1st grade readers. He didn't like it but I kept reading sessions to 10 mins not worrying about how much was scheduled. The short sessions helped him progress and "see" that he was getting better. He was very proud to see how much faster it was going as the year progressed. Something clicked halfway through the year and he completely caught up to grade level. I really credit the reading instruction in SWR and Sonlight's readers igniting an interest. He didn't like all of the books but when he did like one, we would go to the library and check out a similar one. His favorite was Nate the Great so we'd get a different one each week.
For writing, I used WWE1 with him. He isn't a reluctant writer, but having him copy sentences he couldn't read didn't seem productive. I always picked the easier sentences for copywork and we read it together before he would copy it. He loved the narration exercises so that made the whole writing process fun for him. WWE1 really complemented what he was learning in SWR.
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I'm working on teaching my 4th reader. The other 3 have been as different as they could be. I had one that I taught at 4 using only the SWR method, one that taught himself at 2, and one that lacked motivation (not ability) and is just now getting to grade level at 8. #4 looks like he'll be reading fluently by 6.
I've learned to follow their lead. I was worried about my 3rd guy but if I had pushed him, it could have been disastrous. But he is doing so well now and loves to read for fun. I've had to also learn to watch my expectations. His older brother was attempting to read the Hobbit at 8 and he is reading Nate the Great. HOWEVER, he loves it and that is more important to me at his age. I focus on reading rich read alouds to him which will bridge that gap. I'm thankful that I let him go at his own pace and kept my frustrations from him.
All that to say, I don't think you should push at a young age. Some kids are totally ready at 3, some aren't until 7. Some will start and stop or take a long time to reach fluency. It has nothing to do with future school performance in most cases.
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This is all great! I think we're going to do Texas history with all of my crew next summer. I didn't grow up here so I will be learning right along with them.
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We love both Egermeier's and Vos children's Bibles for those ages. They have a couple of pictures, but not many and you could easily skip past them quickly.
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I love this idea!! I could do this with my 5th and 7th grader since we are doing current events this year! It would probably be a good way to start each day and get us situated.
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DS#3 turns 8 in August so we call him a 3rd grader.
Here's his lineup:
LA: SWR, FLL3, WWE2, Sonlight Readers 3
Math: Singapore PM 3
Latin: Prima Latina
Science: Noeo Biology 1
History/Lit/Bible: Sonight Core C
Logic: Logic Safari, Primarily Logic
Art: Artistic Pursuits
Typing: Typing Instructor for Kids
PE: We don't really worry about since the boys do lacrosse, soccer, Crossfit, and swimming throughout the year.
Singapore CWP too challenging?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
These are the version I have and love them. I bought all 6 books when ds12 was in Kindy and use them as no consumables. They are really great. I think CWP is essential for SM from level 3 on, but we've really enjoyed books 1 & 2 as well. The practice problems are right on par with the workbook and the challenging problems stretch the student a bit. A few in level 4 and above have been pretty tough, but earlier levels are usually pretty straightforward. Bar diagrams aren't necessary until level 3.