angelmama1209
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Posts posted by angelmama1209
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BSGFAA - I have nothing BUT the student pages. Easy, in depth, and no planning for me! LOVE!
We are working through Judges and my kids retain tons!
Just wanted to add that for angelmama...
guess i should just buy the student pages then and dive in instead of trying to try to figure it out from the teacher text. thanks!
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we must share a daughter. you have described my 8yo to a t. we only use mm and she does fine until she comes to something new or something that makes her think, then it's oscar award time. following for advice.
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mm all the way. it is mastery with a spiral. i only make them do half the problems unless they miss some, then they correct the incorrect ones and do one additional for each until they've got it.
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I struggle with busywork vs. true learning too.
After months of having DD work her way through various Evan-Moor books for LA this year, I recently realized just how much of it is/was busywork.
For example, there were 18 pages of antonyms in one book alone!! Good golly, antonyms are just words with opposite meanings. This concept was not difficult for DD. If I don't watch myself, I get stuck in the mind-frame that you have to complete every part of a curriculum or it's somehow cheating. :p Topics in several of the books overlapped. DD really didn't need to cover antonyms for a second and third time, so I started culling. I trimmed a couple of months worth of work! Crazy!!
I also recently dumped an Evan-Moor book for reading comprehension. It was the same five or so skills taught over and over all year. They just rotated them each week. One day, I was just like, what the heck are we doing?! They were good skills, but talk about beating a dead horse.
Now, I like Evan-Moor and I think the instruction in most of these books was good (although some things were too dumbed down), but I'm choosing curriculum that is more economical time-wise next year.
Another thing I think is a waste of time...DD taking 15-20 minutes to write sentences for something that she can answer orally in 15-20 seconds. Writing has it's place, but if the sentence-writing isn't important, I just have DD narrate to me.
ETA: At the same time, it's a fine line. You can't assume one repetition is enough. Even if a child gets something the first time, can you really just trot through curriculum hitting each topic one time in a minimal way? Not in my opinion.
my research of evan moor books is exactly what prompted my wondering. i have also had the thought about scholastic books. i do have a few em books in my cart, but i found the majority of them felt like busywork, at least alongside our other curric. i like independent work. it gives me time to work with the youngers, but i don't want to give her stuff just for the sake of filling time.
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we are currently using keys for kids devotionals, little visits with god, kids of integrity, children's book of virtues, bible verse printables and songs from 1+1+1=1. odd will be getting baptized soon and will receive her first very own "real" bible. i will then have her start working through kay arthur's how to study the bible for kids.
Kids of Integrity is an amazing and free resource by Focus on the Family. For each character trait, there are relevant craft projects, Bible stories (with really thought-provoking and age appropriate discussion questions), object lessons, and activities among other things. We *love* it, and I've seen some real changes in my children when we focus on a specific character trait in this way.
We started using Bible Study Guide for All Ages this year, which quickly became a favorite. It is basically a Bible study program and does not focus on character traits, it does include life application in each lesson.i want to use bsgfaa. i have everything but the student pages. but i just. can't. figure it out! help?
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we memorize the poems in fll and i read them poetry on thursdays. i read from a child's garden of verse, shel silverstein, and the christian mother goose treasury. i just got a scholastic book ($1 deal) with fun projects for writing poetry and am ordering even moor's poetry writing book to use next year.
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and what is actually aiding in learning and retention?
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following. you seriously just described my oldest. however, when i sit down with her and make her do it properly, her handwriting is nice, but only if i'm right there looking over her shoulder.
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Spelling Power. It's one big book that can be used through all spelling levels. You give them a placement test and then start at that level they test into. I put the words my kids miss on the free Spelling City app and they practice on there. We review and retest until they remember them and then move on. This is for my strong spellers, I don't use this program for my struggling speller. The book is something like $70, but you can probably find it used here or on homeschool classifieds.
ETA: The ABCs and All Their Tricks is a good reference book for spelling. I use that to review a rule when they get a word wrong in Spelling Power.
i find them used all the time for $5 or less
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My kids memorize the Veritas Press history card titles in order. This benefits them by giving them a mental timeline to sort new (to them) historical information into, and those "memory pegs" SWB wrote about collecting in TWTM. Through the course of studying history with them they add gobs of facts and stories to hang on those pegs, and can usually tell me the basics of each card years later.
this is one of those things i don't agree with. and i'm not trying to start a debate. i would only use them with the topics we're studying so they're memorized in context.
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i'm not an overly classical homeschooler and we don't do a lot of memory work but i just came across some free history memory work cards i can use alongside our history study. i can't figure what the benefit would be, though. :leaving:
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my kids complain that all they do is work (school and chores) but that's because they make basic things take for-ev-er. 10 minute tasks can take up to 2 hours. or even more. they just get distracted so all their "play time" is "built in" to their work. telling them if they would just focus and do the task at hand they would have abundant time to play and do all the "fun" things they ask me to do just doesn't seem to help.
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following. i have 2 of these. :{
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How old are your kids? 8,6,4,2,6wks
When do you get up? i aim for 6:30. sometimes it's 6, sometimes 8.
When do the kids get up? 2 and 4yo- 7:30-8:30, 6yo- 8:30ish, 8yo- 8:30-10, baby- usually 8-8:30
When does school start? 1ish
Any tips on starting school on time? nope. since it's often around 4 before we really get started.
we are afternoon schoolers. with the range of times my kids get up and the amount of time it takes us to get moving, it's just easier for us. morning is for chores, play, outings, getting sucked into the computer, etc. 2yo theoretically naps in the afternoon, taking her out of the equation. unfortunately, we now have a baby who tends to be awake in the afternoon, likes to be held, and can be fussy. :/
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spelling power? or maybe sequential spelling?
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we are enjoying lively latin. i've heard minimus is also fun.
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thank you! sounds like a great overview introduction to music
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Well, you didn't say what you are looking for (pencils that don't break, vivid color?) but right now I'm in love with a pack of Prang colored pencils I picked up for my 4-year-old at Walmart. They are fat and triangular. They don't break easily at all, don't roll on the table. The colors are bright---12 to a pack and that includes silver and gold. I paid $2.They come with a pencil sharpener, but I use my trusty manual wall-mounted sharpener with adjustable hole with no issues (we've had them a couple of weeks and I've only had to sharpen one). My older kids are also in love and want their own.
i've heard that using quality supplies is important for art. i picked up a curric on the free table at our used curric sale that uses color pencils (exclusively i think).
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following. i have an 8 and a 4yo like this. yesterday my 4yo completely melted down and started beating herself up because i commented she circled her sight words in orange instead of purple. no judgement, no humiliation, just an observation that she used a different color.
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hits:
sotw
map mysteries
greek code cracker
lively latin
misses:
apologia- both science and bible. just didn't get done.
lof is a hit for dd and a miss from me. i just think it's really weird and can't wait to get through this last one.
fll is a hit for me and only ok for dd. mm is also a hit for me and only ok for dd. she hates it (actually it's fine until she comes to something that makes her think, then it's murder until she gets it and doesn't have to think anymore. then we're fine until we come to the next not easy thing.) but i can do it and it works.
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whatever we can. we school year round so we have a lot of flexibility, but daddy tends to be home more in the summer and not much gets done when daddy's home.
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that aren't too pricey? and preferably available at michaels or joanns
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"The whole-to-parts learners are the "big picture" people; they need to see the big picture of where they're going in order to have a place in their memory to put what they are learning. These are often the people who see CC as a random collection of disjointed facts that have no point. CC often doesn't work well for them unless the mom is able to provide the big picture. These are the ones who, if they are able use CC at all, are using it as their spine and providing the necessary context at home.
On the other hand the parts-to-whole learners are often overwhelmed if they are given the big picture first, but they can take the little bits of information that seem random to the whole-to-parts learners and over time assemble them into the big picture. These learners are often the ones that can just do CC as a memory work supplement while completing other curricula that may or may not tie in directly. For these learners the pegs that CC creates really help them build the framework in their minds for the rest of the information they will need to store."this has been the most helpful thing i've read so far. thank you.
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i've only read the first page, but thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU to those who mentioned memorization without context. aside from the price, this is my biggest beef with cc. i have many friends who do it and keep recommending that i do, but i just can't get past the plain memorization. it's like people who brag that their 1 or 2 year old knows the alphabet. sure, they can sing the song, but it doesn't MEAN anything. they can't identify the letters, they don't know the sounds, singing the song will not aid their reading in any way. so so what? for those it works for, more power to you. seriously, no judgement here. it's just not for me (or my bank account). it's just nice to finally know i'm not the only one and hear that others share my thoughts/views/concerns with the memorization. so far i'm finding the conversation interesting and hoping to learn more about it so i can maybe understand the appeal.
Teaching my child to persevere through the "hard" stuff.
in General Education Discussion Board
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again, my 8yo in a nutshell! just so you know you're not alone. ;)