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Amy M

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Everything posted by Amy M

  1. No, but they may in the high school level. Their "family cycle" is geared for many ages, so they don't break it down into discussion questions for each level. They do give some questions for the Children's Homer in CTG. otherwise, vocabulary would be covered in its own program in English from the Roots Up in CTG and RTR. There is no help with discussion questions in history or definitely from the literature. I use review questions from the Story of the World AG, and for grades 7-8 they recommend doing two Progeny Press guides per year, which would do that for you. You could add the PP guides in earlier grades as well if you wanted.
  2. I think it's a great program and used levels 1-4 and would have liked to keep going with it. My main reason for quitting was how teacher-intensive it is. I needed something independent, because I wear my teacher hat too long in the day as it is, and I was looking for subjects that my kids could do more as "seatwork" while I worked with another child. I was willing to do that with spelling, especially considering what Garga said about the upper levels of AAS, where you repeatedly get lessons in which you make charts on notebook paper of the, say, "5 ways to spell long A sound," and then you dictate words, and the child guesses which heading to write it under. I love AAS for teaching the rules so thoroughly, sequentially, and not mixing all the different ways to spell a sound until you finally do get to the aforementioned charts. But we came from ABeka, which had words with "ur, ir, er, and ear" spellings all together in one list, and my child just couldn't tell which one to use when. AAS helped with that tremendously. I'm not too worried about the spelling translating across grades, because SWB says that doesn't usually happen until about grade 5, especially for the bad speller. In other words, don't stress too much if they are forgetting the correct spellings while writing in other subjects that they had spelled perfectly in spelling. It will all come together later. So we switched to R&S. I wish AAS had independent workbooks like this for the older levels, which has them use the words more in a context, rather than just dictating the list daily until they remember them all. But I don't like how R&S, though way better and more explicit than ABeka, also shoves a lot of concepts into one spelling list, and sometimes there doesn't seem to be a reason for the words they include in a list. So I was still seeking a way to get the benefits of R&S and AAS into one program: explicit spelling instruction, not mixing too many sounds and rules into one list, not teacher-intensive, more workbook exercises. And someone here recently suggested MegaWords for that. So I'm switching to MegaWords. We'll still use AAS for levels 1-4 (or maybe just through level 3) and then use MegaWords starting in 4th grade. Another negative of AAS is simply that it's not needed for a natural speller. I have no natural spellers as of yet, so we need AAS. Honestly, though, I think natural spellers don't really need a spelling program.
  3. Could I get some pros and cons of CW Diogenes Chreia and Maxim? We are going to use this when we're done with Homer. Any tips on how to make it work well for us? I know it will need teacher involvement, but how much? Is there a way to make the teaching part easier or less complicated? Thank you for any help you can give!
  4. Wish I'd read this a week ago, when I bought the student and core guide for my oldest for next year. Any tips? Thanks!
  5. Only suggestion I would have is to take your time to make sure she understands the "Decimal Street" place value concepts as explained in the beginning of Beta. That's the major review of Alpha that would be needed. SM also teaches place value well, but Decimal Street really helps to understand later on when Demme starts teaching expanded place value notation and estimation. Beast Academy is fun! But an expensive supplement, so I haven't bought anymore. :)
  6. My 5th grader just finished CW Homer A and is beginning Poetry for Beginners A. I already have Homer B, but I plan to use the Older Beginners just the Homer sections for my younger kids when they reach this level. I like CAP Fable and Narrative 1 and WWE the WTM way for up through grades 4. We are also using some of the lessons in R&S 5, just a few.
  7. The Complete Guide to English Spelling Rules I asked this question a while ago, and was recommended to get The ABCs and All Their Tricks and the Logic of English handbook, I forget the name, by Denise Eide. As I read reviews on how the books were structured, and looked at other examples online, I thought this book linked above would be the most helpful option. I bought it very cheap on Kindle (under $5), and it has the rules very clearly delineated and organized. I haven't needed anything more expensive and am happy.
  8. I also like the look of Megawords. But here is a post I read today on how "self-correction" works the best for correcting spelling problems with dyslexic issues. She also talks about getting a Franklin Speller, which sounds helpful. If you do go with the keeping a list idea, which I thought maybe I'd add with Megawords to correct what they're spelling wrong in their papers in other subjects, here is a curriculum or notebook that looks helpful to organize their lists.
  9. We only did AAS 1-4, though I'd have liked to continue, because I needed something more independent. Recently Megawords was recommended to me. I think that's what I'm going to purchase. It has the careful spelling instruction for older kids with bigger multi-syllabic words with a more independent workbook. It also works on meanings of words, to the extent that CBD puts it in their "vocabulary" section, so perhaps that will take care of both issues for you. It really sounds perfect for you. Here is a review of it that I found. You could get through 2-3 levels in a year, and you could buy the assessment book to see what level to start her in. Or just start from the beginning to get a good review, it's up to you.
  10. Could you share some o f the pros and cons and how you use this? How much time/days do you spend teaching it and how much is independent work? How many levels do you go through in a year? Do you need the TM? If we already completed AAS1-4 and R&S4-5, should we start at level 1 with MW or a higher level? Thanks for any time you have to share!
  11. Oops, sorry! Bumping a waaay old thread again, because I just saw this. I did stay with R&S, and I bought the book on kindle, Complete Guide to English Spelling Rules. Then before the year started, I went through my entire R&S 5 book, and made lesson plans for each lesson. It is more annoying than AAS because they cover so much in one lesson sometimes, but it made me feel better to try to approach the lessons more carefully, intentionally, in a more AAS style. I also downloaded the free samples from AAS's site and plan to use those lessons if we get to similar words or rules in R&S. If anyone wants my R&S lesson plans, let me know. I typed them up in a format small enough to glue in the margin of the TM, so they're there for all of my kids. They coordinate with the Complete Guide. (I actually printed them on label paper and stuck them in.) I'm happy with it, outside of having so many different things to cover at times. But I'd not heard of Megawords! I'm going to go google it. :)
  12. How much time does it take you? Thanks for your help! Do you do it along with another program, or take a month or two and do it all at once by itself?
  13. We are finishing Homer A before doing Poetry A. We are on week 19 now. I'm eager for a change. 😀
  14. (BUMPING THREAD FROM LAST YEAR!) Hello, I was wondering what progression you did end up using, and how far along you've gotten down your logic path. What have you used, in what order, and how did you like it?
  15. How and when do you use this curriculum? Thank you!
  16. I think it's new. CAP just put out an amazing article by the author in their newsletter about this program. It truly sounds amazing. I really want to do it for my kids when they get older, but my hesitation is that we wouldn't have a class. If you have a class situation, this sounds ideal for that!
  17. I'd probably choose R&S. It's thorough and cheap and does the job well, and if you do need any writing supplementation, you could just pick and choose from their writing lessons. I had the same concerns with SWB's grammar. I don't mind teaching a bit with R&S, so if it only takes 5-10 min. per lesson, that's okay. But the lesson on her video that she did seemed pretty in-depth. I'm not sure I want to do the same exact material for four years. I like the review and progression in R&S that doesn't introduce all the really deep stuff until the upper levels. Anyway, I still waffle on that. Have you considered ABeka?
  18. I have a 1990 Prentice Hall textbook of Jenney's First Year Latin. Can I use it by itself? I see I can buy a workbook as well from Pearson, but I would need answer guides, as I don't know Latin well. Should I just get rid of it and try a different Latin? This would be for in a few years. I'm guessing this is a high school textbook? We have MP's Latina Christiana 1 to do first. Would this book repeat much of that, or would it make Jenney's easier to do if we did MP's LC1 first? Bottom line: I'm not sure if I should try to use it or just get rid of it and try something else. Thanks for your help.
  19. Yep, CW's still around! We're using it this year, Aesop and Homer, and...I'm finding it a bit challenging to wrap my head around as well. It's not as teacher-friendly, but I have to admit that I feel I am seeing maturity in my children's writing. Okay, but I would say that though I can only speak for elementary up to this point, I have stuck with ABeka for phonics K-2nd, AAS, MUS, and I love SOTW. We are in our fourth year using MFW for the family cycle, and plan to use them through the cycle at least once, but after that, may do something else. But honestly my favorite parts of MFW are SOTW, and if I leave MFW, I will continue using SOTW. :)
  20. Hi, I'm not sure if you're already familiar with Ambleside Online, a free, CM-based homeschooling curriculum online, but they have this page on Plutarch with lots of information and links on it. They mention Young Folks' Plutarch, which I don't think you've mentioned yet. Anne White, author of the primer linked above, did much of the work on that AO page as well. Then there's Yesterday's Classics, with e-books or hard copies for sale of these Plutarch for Children type books, and many are free on Heritage History's site or www.mainlesson.com. (The Baldwin Project)
  21. I'm eager to hear what others say. We're trying CW Homer for the first time this year with my 5th grader, after using CAP 1-2, so I don't have answers for your questions. I'm not sure how I feel about Homer. I think I'll like it for the writing component, but I am actually getting a little frustrated with how many other things like sentence diagramming, a ton of vocab work, etc., that are added in, because it takes a lot of time to teach and for him to do. I am teaching him typing, so at least he doesn't have to write out his papers. But there is an "analysis and imitation" section of work every day, as well as a writing portion. Both take some time. The teacher's book for Homer is excellent, but not very user-friendly. If I understood writing well and felt more confident, I wish I could just use that manual across the curriculum and teach my child how to write using CW methods with models from our other subjects. We also live overseas as missionaries in a rural area, so I can relate to your desire to not have their days too full with academics while the other kids are on holiday. CW, as written, probably won't give you that. But I'm considering cutting out some of the extra grammar work. We also use R&S for grammar. ETA: I have considered, after my bit of experience this year with Homer A, doing CAP or CAP 1-2 plus WWS1 through 6th grade and then using CW Homer for Older Beginners before moving to CW for 7th-12th grades. So I thought that idea of using CW for Older would be good.
  22. I use MUS and love it for my oldest son, and merely like it for the second. But I think I'd feel that way about any curriculum for the second. Math is not his thing. Here is my review of MUS, and then a more thorough explanation of why I chose it a few years ago. We have used Alpha through half of Zeta now with the oldest, and I'm going through Primer now with kids #3-4. I plan to stick with MUS, but we do supplement as well. It's been great for us.
  23. We'll start first grade in January with my two younger middles. They'll be almost 7 and 6. They'll tag along in the younger extension with MFW Exploration to 1850. Abeka phonics and readers, FLL1, WWE1 done my way, and maybe start AAS1 or wait till 2nd grade for spelling MUS Alpha--I may need to split them up if I see they're progressing at greatly differing speeds. I could see the younger outpacing his older sister. I hope I can still find time to read to them from picture books!!!
  24. We won't start until next January, but I am certain on a few things: Math: MUS finish preAlgebra, and then? AOPS?, another online class?, start MUS Algebra 1, followed by Foersters Algebra 1? LA: R&S6 grammar and spelling, CW Homer B with Poetry B, my own lit list with some help with discussions from Center for Lit. I'm considering doing a year of Latin in place of R&S and then doing the grammar with R&S s year behind. I wonder when (or if) I should do this. Anyone else do this? Would it be better to do this in 6th or 7th? Everything else: MFW EX1850 Typing should be finished from typing club, but maybe will work on speed with dancemat Outsourced: art, violin, and trumpet lessons. I may cut one of the instruments. It's too much, with my teaching him piano lessons as well. Logic: Fallacy Detective I also want to teach him how to cook some things and how to sew on a button. 😃
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