titianmom
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Posts posted by titianmom
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I like many of the yellow flashlight editions, too. (Shiny yellow spines with flashlight at top.) Keep in mind that these flashlights were revised again in the 1990s. Not much changes were made, but I thought I'd point out that they're actually double revisions on some of the volumes ;)
I just love history and nostalgia, so it's the classics for me! :)
Forever a history buff,
Kim
I have the reproductions of the 1950's/60's yellow hardbacks. I bought a bunch at Sam's a few years ago, but they are everywhere including B&N. I vastly prefer these over the "originals" that Applewood reproduced. I've compared them side by side, and I just like Nancy better in the later version. I detest the modern versions also. Just the yellow Nancys for me! -
Hi,
The first 3 "seed" volumes came out in 1930 (Old Clock, Hidden Staircase, Bungalow Mystery). If you ever find them with a dj in a dusty old bookstore somewhere for cheap, pick them up. The first printings of them are very thick, plain blue with just the title at the top and plain end papers inside. They're worth tons of money in VG condition. (Talking thousands of dollars).
But you can find reprints of the original texts up through about 1959 for much less, of course. Usually you run across the "tweed" cover books--blue cloth weave with Nancy and a digger scene on the endpapers or a collage of scenes in blue on the endpapers. These are reprints from the 1950s and early 60s, or first printings of volumes that came out in the 50s and 60s. After the war, the economy was booming and the kids bought books in the millions back then, so naturally you'll find more of them in the bookstores.
Naturally most ND books out there are reprints. There are a total of 56 "original/classic" Nancy Drews. The first 38 were published with dust jackets, the remaining came out in yellow spined, matte finish hardbacks.
A new book came out about once a year. Often when you find them, there are no dust jackets - kids were in the habit of tossing them in the trash so many DJs didn't survive. The girls were better at keeping them than the boys, so you'll find a ton of Hardys without DJs.
The sad thing is, the dust jackets are worth more than the books. 2-3 times more... in VG condition.
The dust jackets will tell you more about which printing you have than the copyright. Usually found on the left/front flap of the dust jacket is a list of Nancy Drew books. If your title is at the very end of the list, then you probably have a first printing or a very early printing before the next volume came out.
And during the 1940s (WWII) the paper quality was poor, so the pages are tanned. Part of the rationing of the war period--another history discussion!
Here's a website with tons of information on Nancy Drew:
http://www.nancydrewsleuth.com
I also collect the new Trixie reprints, Connie Blair, Judy Bolton, etc.
This is a very fun and not too expensive hobby to do with your young kids. We read all the good literature, of course, but my daughter and I have fun looking for series books in old bookstores, and we read them together. We laugh over ice boxes and electric torches and jalopies. I credit our love of these old series books for her current "can't get enough of books" attitude. Plus, she knows a great deal of early modern history in this country because of these old books; they were a launching pad for further study. Well worth the investment.
Kim
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Very good choices. I love them both; my daughter has learned a great deal this year. I love the diagramming parts and mini history lessons in the LA, of all places.
Rgds,
Kim
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Hi all,
The topic came up in another thread, so I thought I'd share this with folks who have Nancy in their homes. I know one poster said that the plots are all the same, and to a degree that's true. These books were written to a formula layed out by Mr. Stratemeyer, the owner of the syndicate that created Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and a myriad of other dime novels and childrens series back at the turn of the century on through about 1980ish.
Mr. Stratemeyer would create an outline and send it to his favorite ghost writers. Mildred Wirt wrote most of the early Nancy Drews, for ex. The ghost writers had only a short time to complete the manuscript and send them back to Stratemeyer, who edited them and sent them on to the publisher (Grossett and Dunlap).
But even at this, the quality of the writing and plots were better than the modern versions of the series. No, they aren't literary works of art. How could they be? But, the quality was still better, IMO. The older version are meatier at 25 chapters and over 200 pages. The newer ones? About 175 pages and a much thinner plot (refering to the revised versions that came out in the 60s-70s.)
Here's some more info I sent to another member of the forum:
I'd prob introduce (the original/classic Nancy Drews) about in the 5th/6th grade and I'll tell you why:
It isn't nec'ly that the reading level is too deep. They're written much better than the modern books, granted, and the plots are better - more interesting and the child can catch a glimpse of life in the 30s, 40s, 50s and early 60s which is fun to talk about and discover together. (As a boy, I'm sure he'd enjoy learning about old cars, like Nancy's roadster! What a hoot! :)
However, the reason I wouldn't read them aloud or have them read them on their own before, say, 5th/6th is there are racial steriotypes in them that were common in the 20s, 30s, etc. (The bad guys are always dark and foreign--part of the isolationist mentality back then, and blacks were uneducated servants.) Remember that back then there was a definite social class structure that was much more prominent than today. Guns were everywhere, just like today, so it was not unusual for Nancy to carry a revolver (at 16!). One of the more interesting episodes was during a car chase, where Nancy's father (lawyer) is chasing the bad guys in his coupe and shooting at the car ahead. The only actual shooting Nancy does is at a wild moutain cat in Arizona. Keep in mind, again, that everyone carried guns back then and it was no big deal to people, just like the old black and white movies depict. Also, the attitudes toward the police was quite diff than today; the police were often depicted as corrupt or incompetent, etc. (Many of them were bought out by organized crime, etc; esp during prohibition.) So when the child comes to those parts, they're interesting to discuss; you can go into history lessons on life in the 30s in America. My daughter really enjoyed that kind of thing.
In the late 1950s through the 60s, the Stratemeyer Syndicate who created and owned Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, etc began re-writing them to fit "modern times". During the revisions, Nancy Drew books were shortened and the image of Nancy was changed to be more lady-like and less precocious and opinionated to fit Edna and Harriet Stratemeyer's idea of the perfect teen (the earlier Nancy's were written by Mildred Wirt who was a very modern woman for her day--athlete, pilot, adventurer and writer).
So, pay attention to copyright dates when you find them in stores. The books were shortened during the revisions to 20 chapters vs 25 chapters and good plot meat was extracted, too, IMHO which is a shame, but they're still better than the newer ones, IMO. When they were re-written, the format was changed from blue books with dust jackets (except for really early revisions) to yellow spined hardbacks (matte finish).
Also, if you have a boy I'd consider the early Hardy Boys, too, which came out in 1928. The earlier ones are better than the modern ones, as well.
All of this talk of guns and stereotypes may turn you off, I don't know. But I just turned it all into a history lesson. These kinds of books were an escape for kids back then who didn't have anything other than daytime radio to listen to. So they were all avid readers and could write much better than today's kids because of this fact. I'm generalizing, of course. We have some good writers today, too.. But, IMHO, it's a good reason to get rid of the TV and video games!
Take care,
Kim
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I should be a sales rep. Just kidding.
I like the books, but now my portfolio reviewer says I should stay away from textbooks and do DVDs. She says most Textbooks try to cover too much and are too shallow. Sigh... BUT, she hasn't seen these textbooks and is intrigued. When she reviews the material online in June while she's at my house, I'll pass on her opinion. Sorry you have to wait until early June, but she's a busy lady. (She's a licensed Science teacher; you can take her input however you wish ;) )
I spoke to Mr. Myers, CPO sales rep for my state, and he kindly explained some details on the textbooks, as follows:
First, the books are designed for the students to try the labwork FIRST before reading the unit/topic (part of the integrated concept.) This could be a drawback since most of us can't afford the $1200+. equipment kit. However we could feasibly piecemeal something together with some of the labs, but it'll be work, probably. Just a warning.
HS LEVEL:
The High School Foundations of Phys Sci more or less replaced the older 2006/2007 Integrated Sci books (semi-Middle School/early HS level), and he felt the depth and order in the 2009 HS Foundation of PS is better/greater than the older Integrated Sci books. He likes the 2009 version best, of course, but he felt the 2007 version was also good and still in print and would be better for homeschoolers because of the lab equipment--easier to find. The 2009 version refs a type of equipment in several units that's expensive/hard to find for home people. (But if you don't use the labs that much? Hmmm....prob wouldn't matter.) He said a child who is strong in their math and motivated could probably handle this HS text while a Middler.
There are thinner, topic-focused books for Earth and Space, and Physics and Chem that are just taken out of the main Foundations of Phys Sci that you can buy separately.
NOTE: Out of the HS series of books, only the Physics books have a math requirement, although, again, you need to be fairly strong in math for CPO since they try to integrate math whenever they can these days.
Their Physics A first course book req Alg 1, The Foundations of Physics req at least Alg II and I suspect the Integrated Physics and Chem prob doesn't req Alg, but I can't be sure. It was written for Texas schools. He didn't talk about that one and the website doesn't say anything about Math reqs.
MIDDLE SCHOOL:
As some of you know, now, the Focus on books are for California; re-arranged with unit changes, but content is the same as the main CPO line.
The main CPO line is simply a chopped up version of the HS books with less depth. I forgot to ask if the main CPO line books are divided by grade like the California series (Earth 6th, Life 7th, PS - 8th), but frankly, they look the same to me as the main CPO line books and the depth, language, etc of all three look the same across the board to me. I think Calif just decided to break up the series to cover their school requirements and you could use the 3 books any way you wanted to.
Hope this helps everyone in HS as well as Middle School.
Best wishes,
Kim
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Hi all,
I've been hunting around on the web. Some of us have wondered about the 2007, etc CPO books called "Focus on ..." which are titled differently than those on the reg CPO website.
Here's a link that will explain these books! Rgds and happy homeschooling!
Kim
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I'm sharing the experiences of a local h-s graduate, who is now at cc. He made the transition to being on their schedule, following the rules,etc, and it seems he can't win. Is this common?
His calc prof is always late, very disorganized, and changes the schedule on his whim. For example, the quiz was supposed to be Mon. The student was sick on Fri, missed that class, and what do you know, the prof decides to give the quiz EARLY, and will not give a make-up! Next week, the test was supposed to be MON, the prof "forgot," just started teaching until someone finally asked, "Isn't there a test today?" He said oops and put it off until later that week. This prof also will not give any partial credit- if you miss a step, the whole thing is wrong!
Another teacher is in his own world- actually I think he is jealous that this kid knows as much as he does. So my student friend wrote the longest paper in class, participates in discussion, always knows the answer, and is getting a low B. He saw some of the other papers- most did not even include the req. citations, and they received better grades. I did not read his paper, but he does know how to write a paper and he knows the subject.
I could go on. I know college profs can be a little "off" but this is CC. Most cc classes I had were like High School Part 2. Straightfoward, a little hand-holding and somewhat flexible. What happened?
I was planning to send ds to cc when he is 16 or so- now I'm rethinking that!
Sorry you're having such a lousy experience. My CC was fantastic and I *still* remember the teachers and classes that I took. Very rewarding. And I'm 47, BTW. (Anne Arundel CC in MD)
The U? Sheesh. Some classes and instructors were good, but overall, I learned more at the CC. I'll tell you about my Database class at the U. WHAT A WASTE of money...the final exam was open book and the ans were in the back of the book. You get the idea...the teacher did nothing but read from the book.
Kim
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One can liken homeschooling -- overall, not state-by-state -- to an "unregulated industry". There is no homogeneity for content standards, performance standards, for attendance standards, nor for anything at all. The NEA hostilely and implacably wishes to exterminate us homeschoolers for this reason. We and our children are not "formula-fed, formula-driven, formula-manufactured" government-regulated clones.
To apply Christian terminology to education, homeschoolers enjoy free will.
Dangers abound in this chaotic education situation. I live in a state where one can do nothing at all, and allege that the family is homeschooling. The blessed flip side is that one can provide so stellar an education to ones children, that state standards collapse, gasping in the dust far, far behind.
In other states, one may homeschool, after the requisite number of "hoops-and-barrels" are jumped.
I am neither libertarian, Republican, nor of any other political persuasion. My viewpoint persists, nonetheless, that my children belong first to God, then to my husband and me. Their religion and their education are the inalienable rights of our private family.
I'm as opinionated as any bulldog on the block. (This post proves that ! :ohmy: ) Thus I'll experience my own "wondering" about some of the education viewpoints espounsed by some other families. I may even consider another family extraordinarily wrong and harmful to their child(ren). Yet to remain consistent with my belief in personal freedom, I have to back-off and allow the same freedom to other families which I insistently claim for my own.
This is NOT "an easy topic". The original poster has triggered a productive thread. Thanks !
I included the above in full because I agree wholeheartedly with the post, but I also have reservations overall about the face of Homeschooling in, say, another 10 years.
I had started a similar thread sev months ago and I've been around for a while and have known some original homeschooling families from the infant days of homeschooling. Things have, indeed, changed.
It is a reality that there are families out there that emphasize just about everything else in life but academics. And there are families that I know that pulled their kids out of school because they had a fight with some public school teacher, and now their kids aren't nec getting much of an education, period. Too many family interruptions, etc, always way behind and taking months (not weeks) off from school, etc... I can tell you other stories, but you prob know plenty, already. And the yearly reviewer is very forgiving to the point that anything you do is good enough (I know, I use her to satisfy the county's requirements.)
I'm also concerned about some of the curriculum out there. People use it because its so easy that Johnny just excels at it (I.E. not challenging at all for Johnny.)
I believe it's up to us to police ourselves. I believe that homeschooling requires a lot of discipline and work in order to be successful.
If we don't watch what we do, in 10 years or less the homeschool community country-wide may end up producing results very similar to the current PS system.
Kim
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Thanks Jane, for the suggestions. I'm trying hard to "think outside the box" but I may be assuming incorrectly that you have to have Chemistry, Bio, Physics, etc. If that isn't true, then that truth opens up a lot of doors for us.
Is that what you're saying?
Thanks again!
Kim
PS: I should have said, "I HATE lab... " :) There are many areas of Science that I find interesting, altho the real "meat" of Science can be a bit dry, sometimes.
In my experience, most of the lab/experiment results I could have figured out without going through the time-consuming lab stuff. My husband agrees; even in college he said the labs were a waste of his time and totally unnec. Science is mostly math, IMO. My college Astronomy class was about 80% math. Sometimes I think we'd be better off focusing on higher math in HS and not visiting real science until the last 2 years of HS. But that's me.
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Hi all,
I have a bright 12 yo who is doing 7th-8th grade level work, so I'm starting to look into HS Science (my nemesis).
I realize that most of us just do APologia or BJU, since they're the biggies out there.
My daughter couldn't care less about Science. We both enjoy Astronomy, but you can't take Astronomy for 4 years straight. She hates experiments and thinks they're nothing but time-killers. (I have to agree for the most part.)
So, which would you do if you were in my position? The prob is, I feel you should stick with a particular publisher throughout HS and not switch around...
I'm worried that Apologia will talk us to death, and that BJU is too teacher intensive for my tastes--esp since I just *love* biology, chemistry, etc myself. (NOT) ALso, it looks to me like BJU is crammed with info to the point that your little student will prob do a complete dump at the end of the year and forget about 99.9% of what they *learned*. (Learned...a funny word. They do so great on tests, but ask them about what they learned 2 years ago and they can't tell you anything. Sigh.)
Okay, I'm through grousing over expensive courses that profit little, IMHO.
I've also considered just having her take Science classes at the Community College, but she has to be 16 to take classes. Sigh.
I know, you're wondering what I'm rambling on about. I just want to hear from anyone who has a student similar to mine (bright but tolerates science...barely). I've tried to get her to browse the samples from Apologia and BJU, and she just shrudges and says, "Don't care...".
Thanks,
Kim
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That helps. I plan to check out the BJU website, of course. They have pages to flip through, etc. I would have stayed in the store and read through some of the chapters but they threw me out. (9 p.m.--ah, the time we can spend in a curriculum store, no?)
Kim
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We have an observatory up the road from us that I plan to use, too. The books look so thick and I'm wondering if it's an every-day science. Also, I hear there are DVDs. ??? I bet all of it is pricey. Sigh.
Thanks, again--anyone actually go through it in a year? What was the sched like?
Kim
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Hi,
I found this while wondering through the Teacher's Store and I'm very interested in learning more.
Did you like it? Hate it? And why?
Also, looks like you have to have the Teacher's manual. What are the differences between Book A and Book B for the Students?
Thanks!
Kim
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It's the transcript, not the diploma, that might be considered.
Oh, I should have mentioned SAT, as well as AP, but anyway...
Don't disagree that you prob should keep track of what they've accomplished through those years, however, to quote Prof Robinson from Robinson Curriculum (who has/is currently going through the college process with his own):
" They only need a GED if they are going into something that does not require college but does need a "High School" diploma. A transcript generally does you no good. It is the SAT scores (and AP scores, my input and his suggestion) that matter. Any other paper is not important except in unusual cases. "
FWIW, when I went to college, I just took classes at a community college for the first 2 years and transfered to the U. THey usually req an entry test to place you. They did ask for my diploma, but I'm sure the GED would have sufficed. That's it. It was a great CC, BTW and much cheaper than the U.
I think the important thing to do is, if you can (the child knows what they want to be when they grow up): Check with the college(s) that you're interested in and go from there. I think that we're so used to the PS system and the HS diploma route that we think we need this stuff.
Kim
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Oh, I should have mentioned SAT, as well as AP, but anyway...
Don't disagree that you prob should keep track of what they've accomplished through those years, however, to quote Prof Robinson from Robinson Curriculum:
" They only need a GED if they are going into something that does not require college but does need a "High School" diploma. A transcript generally does you no good. It is the SAT scores (and AP scores, my input and his suggestion) that matter. Any other paper is not important except in unusual cases. "
FWIW, when I went to college, I just took classes at a community college for the first 2 years and transfered to the U. THey usually req an entry test to place you. They did ask for my diploma, but I'm sure the GED would have sufficed. That's it. It was a great CC, BTW and much cheaper than the U.
I think the important thing to do is, if you can (the child knows what they want to be when they grow up): Check with the college(s) that you're interested in and go from there.
Kim
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I figured you only really need the CD. However, it would be nice to have a copy of the book in case you're on the road or waiting at the doctors or something so that the child could do their schoolwork. Unless you have a laptop, of course.
Kim
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Hi,
Mine is getting close to HS-type work, and she's only in 6th grade. So, I'm kinda in your shoes, I was thinking of putting off Spanish, for ex, until HS so that she could get credit for it...
But...here's an option to consider (I have been this past week):
The reality is, a HS diploma isn't necessary, so why gear your life around it? I'm considering the one set of tests that colleges love, and that matter the most: AP.
I'm considering just working with mine toward preparing her for several of the AP tests. The AP scores are all 99.9% of the colleges will need. Not the diploma.
Kim
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Hi all,
I'm looking at getting the Prentice Hall Astronomy as a supplement to another program I have for next year, just for kicks (and because I love Astronomy and can't get enough pretty Astro books, ha! Oh, my daughter likes it, too...)
Anyway, I'm on the Prentice Hall website and I was able to play around with their sample of the Interactive text option, which you can purchase separately for about $18 on CD...
and honestly, I don't see the point in buying the student book if everything is right there on the CD? Esp if I'm only going to use it to supplement another program and don't want to spend that much.
What say you? Should I yield and buy the textbook? Or skip it? I know the teacher's book has ans in it, but I *might* be strong enough in Astronomy to skip the teacher's book...maybe. I took Astronomy in college but it was a long while ago. I might wait on it and buy only if I have to.
Kim
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Hi!
We've been doing CLE this past year and we love it...at least I do, ha! For once, my daughter has actually had to work in LA.
Anyway, I introduced diagramming long ago, but hadn't really done it extensively and so, my daughter could only diagram subj and verb and maybe figure out where the adjs go, ha!
As suggested, just pick up there cheap diagramming book and work through it a bit; mine caught on quickly and I'm sure yours will, too. At first she wasn't crazy about diagramming but now she diagrams to "beat the band" as they say. It's amazing how much LA she's learned this year, alone. She enjoys the diagramming, now.
We have a large whiteboard on the wall where we work the tougher ones, together.
(We tested through 600 except for diagramming and a few parts of speech, so I started her on some 600 level books over the summer to catch up so that she could start 700 last fall, and it has gone just fine.)
Kim
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Hi,
A very worthwhile DVD on the subject is the story of a very creative ELEMENTARY teacher named Albert Cullum who taught kids from Kindergarten and up *real* Shakespeare. Excellent DVD and very helpful ideas on what you can do to help your student(s) learn the Bard's work. You can pick a copy up on eBay for cheap.
Also, you can join Netflix for about $5 a month and watch all the BBC Shakespearean plays you want.
What I do is have my daughter read through the text and then view the play and we read along. It helps to view the emotion, etc; makes the play more understandable. My daughter is 12 and we've done 2 plays together over the past couple of years. She got it. We also go the the Shakespeare website and learn the famous quotes and use them.
But if you have several students, have them learn the text and put on the play!
Kids live up to their potential if you give them the chance. If you send a "signal" that they're too young for Shakespeare, suddenly they don't understand the material. Very interesting.
Kim
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Best I've used. And we've used a couple of 'em. Their entire programe (Reading and LA) is the best and very reasonable. My daughter has learned more over the past 6-8 mths than she's learned in the past few years. Highly recommend.
TM
...FYI, their math is great, also. It's spiral similar to Saxon only a lot less expensive. Very thorough.
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There are some History-related documentaries, etc on Instant view that we have used. There are also some science-related Nature episodes that can be useful. The only thing I'd caution is to watch them first. Some of the History ones aren't suitable to kids under HS level, IMHO. They can get into touchy subject matter, like violence and activities I don't need to be sensored for, ha! Anyway, it isn't like it didn't happen back then (the Middle Ages is a violent period, for ex), it's just you might not want your 7-yo watching it, you know?
TM
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Other than the dictation portion I felt the entire program was extremely weak.
I know use CLE's LA program - far, far superior in every way. Inexpensive, also. (And no, I don't work for CLE, ha! I'm just very happy with it.)
Kim
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I'm not sure I believe in dating, myself. Going out with a group and having fun is perfectly fine, but dating implies you are looking for a husband.
I told my daughter the rule of 5: Not a Christian, no job, no home, no education, no-way!
I was joking, but she got the message. There's a lot of responsibility that goes with dating that is not taught to our kids. The point of my "rule of 5" is that you really need to be prepared to settle down if you're seriously considering dating someone. Saves you from a lot of headaches down the road. Sure, it's hard to be 100% prepared, but you should at least have enough sense to wait on obvious things (getting serious, marriage) until you are ready to settle down.
As a believer I believe God has someone for everyone and in His time He'll bring you together. He did for me and my hubby of 22 years.
Kim
Teaching Beowulf....
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
Don't know if anyone has mentioned this one, but I'll be using it next year with my 7th grader. It's pretty understandable, IMO. I loved it!
I have the Oxford World's Classics verse translation. It's a great translation.
Also, don't know if you are aware, but on Youtube, there's an entire program on Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxons cut up in 10 min segs. Very good, very interesting IMO. Don't know how you can use it, but go out and search Beowulf Anglo Saxons and you'll find it, I'm sure.
Kim