Homeschooling6
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Posts posted by Homeschooling6
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Rod & Staff Reading & Phonics.
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Your TM was not free. What WP uses is a marketing ploy. WP is not printing off their TM for free (on very expensive paper I might add) for anyone the price of printing the TM is figured in to the total package amount and hidden. For instance I could have bought Galileo for Kids: new at Amazon for almost $5 cheaper and even gotten it with free shipping but at WP I would have paid $17. plus shipping. WP probably paid less than what Amazon charges for it and I would wager makes at least $5 probably more off of the book. They are in business to make money not to give away free TMs. The price of the TM is calculated into the package price, and maybe even into the shipping costs, but since it is not listed it looks like it is free. WP makes more money selling like this than if they just sold their exclusive items. It is the same with Sonlight.
WP buys all the books its sells at dealer price, when they sell a book above what the publisher recommends or even charges for the book that helps cover the price of the TM. Then added on top of making more money (and there is nothing wrong with that,) they add a bit of guilt as in we gave you the TM for free so please don't resell it. Which in my opinion is a bit deceptive and wrong.
If they were really so charitable they would do it like FIAR does, here is a reasonable price for the TM buy the books on your own or better yet use your public library and only pay for TM. The FIAR TM will have quite a bit more commentary added to it more than the WP TM does and thus in my opinion has more of the author's creativity invested in it. WP does not do this because their TM is basically a glorified schedule with a few CM type games added in. There is, at least with S&S, no commentary at all. The creativity is in the captain's log notebooking pages and does not reach the academic level of the FIAR commentary in my opinion.
In S&S I checked every book for sale and found some charged above what the publisher sold the books for and what the publisher suggested the books be sold for. It is just like here on the sale board you will see shipping for free but what that means is the gal has already figured the cost of shipping into her price and is using the marketing ploy of buy from me because you are getting something for free.
This is not a slam just the facts. WP and Sonlight and anyone else who tells you the TM is for free is using a marketing ploy.
I guess for me I prefer to buy most of my curriculum from a homeschooler, even if I am paying more.
Not saying that I never buy from Amazon. We are all different and I feel we meaning my family should honor their request. Bottom line is it's business.
For me the big saving about buying a core or package is everything is done fore me.I don't have to search all over the place. That in it self is a big time saver for me and worth every penny.
Blessings
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I may be old fashioned but I will honor the companies request. I may give it away but I will not resell it.
My kiddos practice origami with any TM I can't resell ;).
We used Calvert and you may resell everything but the TM. Again I have no problem with it.
WP gives you the TM for free when you purchase their package. Although I have bought some exclusives that I didn't use and I'm stummped with what to do with them because they were $20.00 each and a $40.00 map.
I think of it as supporting my homeschool community and I think this is one way I can help out. WP, Calvert or whoever have put a lot of work into their products.
Just my humble opinion:001_smile:
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Rod & Staff English, Math, Reading, Spelling, Penmanship & Phonics
Singapore Math
Those are the only curriculums that I have stuck with over the years.
Blessings,
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I have tried to figure this out to. I can't find a Teachers Guide and the one from their website that another poster mentioned, I just couldn't figure it out.
So is there a guide that tells you what to do daily or weekly?
Blessings,
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My ds 6 just finished KG is doing Singapore Math 1b. I am looking for ways to do math drills with him. He has a very short attention span and although he can do the work it takes a while for the math problems. If I gave him an entire sheet of problems he'll start off saying "its too much" or I can't do it" or "you have to sit with me the whole time" any way to know how many problems should be done in a certain time at that age. Then I could do shorter segments like 30 seconds or 1 minute with the appropriate number of problems. Also any other ideas like games that have worked well. I don't want to move onto division until his speed is up in the basic calculations.
Thank
We use www.bigmathtime.com you have to pay to use it but two of my dc love it. Once they are done with their math they can play a game.
Math-U-See also has a speed drill on their website. There are math windows that you can buy from MFW just scroll down to see a picture of them. I'm sure you can find them some place else but at least you can see them.
I am out of time. Won't be back on the computer for a week:001_huh: but that will give you a start. I'm sure other's will pop in.
Blessings,
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I'll go with your 3rd option, as well. R&S for arithmetic, but Easy Grammar instead of either R&S or ABeka.
I regret to say that I disagree that is difficult to go from school to Ruth Beechick. That's exactly what many of us do when we take our dc out of school midyear because they are burned out. :-)
I guess what I'm trying to say is if you use Abeka (I haven't but my ps nephew's have) you don't have to wonder if you kids are getting "enough" and it will let you research other options if you do want to get away from "traditional" kind of teaching.
With SL's LA's they are getting enough but it just doesn't feel like it:001_huh: if that makes sense to you. Why add that to your plate during your first year.
With Abeka or any other traditional curriculum you can always do some of it orally, or do it all it's up to you and you know you are covering your bases
All that to add that I am not against Ruth Beechick, Charlotte Mason style, I'm just saying it's hard to jump into all at once. At least for me. I am slowly making my way to a CM style but still haven't been able to give up my R&S completely;)
HTH explain what I was trying to say. Either way you'll be using a great curriculum. Jusy giving lynn something to chew on :)
Blessings,
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Every evening around dusk there are little "birds" flying around. Dh had to tell me that they are actually bats. Why? I am so creeped out by them. I'm not hiding in the house from them but I'm very aware where they are at all times. Why couldn't he keep that info to himself?:glare:
I wish we had bats. I'm trying to figure out a way to attract them:)
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I would go with Sonlight 3 but use Abeka for Language Art's & Math. Only because it's hard to go from a traditional way of doing things to a Ruth Beechick style ( I do love the concept). Then you can research SL LA's later and see if you would like to switch the following year.
You might get a little frustrated with SL LA's. Thats just my humble opinion:001_smile:.
I used SL for 4yrs and loved it (minus the LA's;))
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I forgot to mention. None of my dc could read at age 2 or 3. The only one who took off with reading is my dd and that was at age 5yrs.
My 6 & 7 yr olds both read at mid K level and they will be 7 & 8 in the Fall.
As for Science we haven't done too much. This summer we are doing a small Dinosaur Unit Study from QueensHomeschool & some Magic School Bus.
Math they are all at grade level and my oldest who will be in 5th grade this Fall is working on those multiplication & division facts. Hopefully he will have them memorized so we can start R&S Math 4 this Fall.
Although I haven't read the Moore's book and I would prefer early, all my kiddos seem to be on the later side. But I have learned to :chillpill:.
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Thank you ladies for your in-put. Basically I wanted to know because my ds scored pretty low the first time he took the DORA test. I expected he would because he struggles with reading & spelling. But since then he has been reading a lot and out of curiosity I had him tested again by DORA and he did so much better. Click here to see. Spelling was still pretty low but again I expected it to be. He doesn't spell very well.
His test showed that he reads a little below grade level (which is a big improvement) so I just wanted to see how DORA was compared to some others or from your experience if it was accurate.
I did expect his scores to be higher because he was reading so much more. I would have to take the book away. A problem I love. It's great to see him reading.
Blessings,
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I hope a few of you do, because I could use some advice and words of encouragement. :)
I would also love to hear from anyone who just got behind and finally managed to catch up.:)
To make a long story short-due to a number of factors, including Hurricane Katrina, an auto accident, the birth of our now 20 mo by CS, then 5 weeks after said birth getting the building ready for re-opening our little store and lots of smaller things in between we have gotten way behind in a quite a few subject areas.
My ds's are 10 and 7 and we have been playing catchup for the last 9 months or so and I'm worrying because of course we're not catching up at the rate I thought we would.I want to be able to relax and go with the flow, but there's always this nagging little voice reminding me that we're behind and need to catch up.
I'm not really sure what exactly I'm asking for here, but any advice would be helpful at this point.
Thanks!
With my just turned 10yr. old I felt like we were alway playing catch up because his sister who is a year younger could read so much better than he could.
I too have felt that nagging little voice:glare:. Well my dd read many books my ds only read from is R&S reader. I kept hearing that it's okay if their
'behind' because they catch up around 3rd grade. Third grade came and went and fourth grade was passing by pretty fast. My ds tested at a high 1st grade phonics and about mid 2nd grade reading. That really freaked me out.
I kept wondering if maybe he was mildly dislexic, maybe words were dancing on the pages and it wasn't being noticed in his regular eye exam etc. etc.
When my son was in 1st grade I read the first book in Boxcar series. Since then he has collected them. He didn't read them but liked the pictures on the cover.
About two months ago he finally started reading them. I would have him read it to me now and them because I wanted to make sure he was not making too many mistakes. Didn't want him to learn the words wrong. He would struggle but now he is doing a lot better. There is still a word that he doesn't get once in a while. But anyway I had him tested again and other than spelling he is at a mid 4th grade level or above:)
I know he will have to work at it to continue to improve but I feel some what relieved about it.
Now to get that voice to stop nagging me about his math. It's weird because we do 'school' five days a week (most weeks anyway) so I don't know why I always feel we are playing catch up. This year we have had five deaths in the family and have been taking lots of breaks to be with family (most out of state or a 9hr drive:auto:) Thank goodness we homeschool;)
Sorry this got long.
HTH
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They aren't great, but they are probably pretty harmless. I disliked them when my dd wanted them as read-alouds because I found the short sentences very annoying to read. Now that dd can read them on her own, I am liking them more and more.... the chapters are short enough to keep her from feeling overwhelmed, yet the subtle cliffhanger ending of most chapters makes her want to keep reading. The history is a bit light, but might be a nice way to capture a child's interest about a particular place or era.
:iagree: I am not into reading them for our read aloud time. I did read the first one and after that if they wanted more they had to read them on their own:lol:.
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After kindergarten, my son took that test and scored very high. Ridiculously high, like 8th grade reading level. He was reading well for a kindergartener, but I don't know how he scored so high. When he took the Stanford this year after completing 2nd grade, he did not score anywhere near that high.
So, I'm not sure what to make of the DORA test. It certainly didn't compare to the Stanford for us.
Lisa
Hmm, I know that they have upgraded since then. Was it his comprehension that was high?
My 8 & 10yr olds scored about a mid 8th grade level for comprehension (silent reading) but scored about grade level or a little above for everything else.
My 6 & 7 yr. olds scored at a K level on everything but the comprehension they scored about a mid 3rd grade.
Thanks,
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My 4th grade son (soon to be 5th grade) read at a low 2nd grade level (I had him tested)his phonics was mid 1st grade. This was 2 months ago. Since then he has been devouring the Boxcar Kids & has read some of the Magic Tree House. I had him tested again and now he is at or above grade level.
These books may not be great literature and considered twaddle reading, but they sure helped out my son improve his reading. Now for this upcoming year I can add in some History & Science readers to go along with his Boxcar & Magic Tree House books.
Blessings,
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:confused1:
I was thinking FLL might be enough as well. But if so, why develop WWE?
bumping in hopes someone has a definitive answer
Hmm, I'm only guessing here. I plan to use WWE but am not doing any formal grammar for 1st & 2nd grade.
Maybe it can be used if you are using another grammar program (as someone has mentioned) or if you are not using anything formal at the time:glare: like I said, I'm just taking a wild guess.
This gets me thinking, can you use WWE without using a formal grammar program? Will it still work? I think it will. They know some basic grammar. Can't wait to get my hands on WWE.
Sorry I added more questions than answers. Maybe Susan will answer soon.
Blessings,
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Thank you. I plan to have them take the IOWA test sometime in the future but we haven't done too much Grammar, Science & Social Studies. We have done some but would prefer to wait until maybe 6th grade.
So for now I think we will stick with DORA.
Anyone else that have used these? Would still love to hear :bigear:
Blessings,
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Have any of you used the "Lets go Learn" online reading assessment? Could anyone compare this to the maybe the Iowa test or something similar.
My kids only took the reading part of "Lets go Learn" test so that is the only part I'm wondering about right now.
They scored pretty good but just wondering if it's a good place to get a feel for where my kiddos are at.
I plan for them to take the math one next.
Thank you,
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Looks good to me :001_smile:
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We will use R&S 4 with my 5th grader. So my vote is R&S:001_smile:
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I voted once or twice a year and that is only because their aunt has taken them. My dh and I have never taken the kiddos to the movies:lurk5:
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What is meant when the lesson calls for a reproduction, whether it be oral or written? I don't know if my brain is in some sort of fog or what, because everything else is clear to me except for this. :tongue_smilie:
It means you read the story and your child retells it. Same as narration.
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Once my dd finishes with FLL4 I plan to switch her to R&S 4 or 5. Depending where she is at after FLL4.
HTH
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I forgot to add that we use pathway readers because my dd enjoys it. I usually have her read this on her own and not as part as school;)
Happy Phonics
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
I just got mine last week. Dh helped me cut everything because I couldn't wait to use this with my 6 & 7yr old.
I love it and the kids enjoy it. If we skip a day of our regular phonics or reading lesson but do some Happy Phonics games I am happy:D
We have only used it for a week so far. I plan to use it with my older son who needs some reinforcements but he doesn't know it. I plan on having him play the games with his younger siblings. I told him I could use the help;) which is true by the way:001_huh:
Almost everything is made out of cardstock, but I don't know what else they would use. It's good quality cardstock though at least it's better than what I usually buy. Plus if you think about how much color cardstock, ink & time is, it's worth the $50.00 IMHO. I purchased Math-it for $72.00 and the cardstock is not nearly as good as Happy Phonics. It's more like thick paper.
HTH