Syllieann
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Posts posted by Syllieann
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My dh said the same thing when I posed the question to him. I save my effort for the content areas. I think fun in those areas can aid retention. In skill areas, I am more interested in rigorous, thorough, and efficient. If something takes substantially more time or money in order to be "fun" then I am not interested. My oldest enjoys mm, which most people don't consider "fun". Kids will all find enjoyment in something that we didn't expect and efficiency leaves more time for them to discover their own fun.
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The science books from chc, including the new middle school life science are old earth/te/compatible with mainstream science without leaving things out to be "neutral." They are Catholic Christian.
https://www.chcweb.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=5_191&products_id=4232
Novare science is new. It is intended for classrooms and I don't think anyone on this board has used it yet but cathy duffy did a review of the physical science.
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When we did level 2 we worked about 15 min per week day. I didn't keep track of specific cards but the deck typically had around 20-30 in it so that should give you an idea. Maybe a week? We read each story twice plus we went again through the reader after we reached the end. If the stories are painful you might want to add more review with the cards beforehand. The flash card set up makes it easy to turn them into game pieces. You might even back up and use the level 1 readers for fluency so that the level 2s don't require so much decoding work.
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Yup! And that's great we are all unique and all our home schools look different which is probably why we all homeschool. Those are just MY thoughts and I'm sure most everyone else has different thoughts on the subject as well.
I didn't say anything about my standards. You misread but thanks for the snark. Those are obviously not just *your* thoughts for *your* family because your previous post contained a judgment about what is absurd for other people, and you finished by saying you hope the perceived fad is over soon.
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I agree I think it's absurd to start a 3 yo on a kinder curriculum. Even with a very bright/smart child there is no need to do a curriculum. You can still do plenty of learning through play, reading, life skills, nature walk, educational field trips, etc. then once they are "school age" you can pick which levels they need. It's not holding them back by not doing a curriculum at a young age if you are exposing them and teaching them about the things they love and are interested in. I hope it's just a phase that will soon pass.
There is never a magical age at which a curriculum is needed, including high school. Many people find them helpful long before then. They are tools that can be implemented in a variety of ways. The way I use bfsu would hardly be recognized by an outsider as "doing a curriculum." Maybe I don't meet your standards but I can tell you that the $5 I spent on the PDF saved me many hours that could be better devoted to taking my children to see the world instead of scouring the card catalog and pinterest boards.
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You must be reading different posts than I am. I do see people using k curricula that don't involve writing but I don't recall ever seeing someone using a full kindy program with heavy writing for a 3 yo. And I can't tell you how many times I see better late than early espoused. In terms of writing, in particular, I'm sure many ps parents would laugh hysterically at all the scribing a lot of hs parents do for their early elementary kids. Maybe they are buying k curricula to use at a slow pace because it would be a waste of money to buy a pre k curriculum that doesn't contain any new info. Just because someone uses a curriculum doesn't mean they use it exactly the way it is written.
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Thanks Jill! What grade is the first book aimed at? I assume the are meant to be used consecutively after that?
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I print off a semester at a time and proclick. Then I figure how many pages per week. Each day I glance over the work and draw a stop line at a place that seems appropriate. Sometimes I adjust the stop line if I see that I misjudged the difficulty of a section or I may decide to do a section out loud if it seems the writing is making it tedious. I never add to it though, as that would seem like punishment. When I underestimate, math might only take 5-10 minutes and garner a, "that was too easy." I take that into account when I decide where to draw the line the next day. Each quarter I take stock of where we are and see if I need to adjust my page per week goal.
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Yes, the 4th grade is exclusive. The 6th grade is from cstp. My oldest is younger than your youngest so I can't really answer your question, but hopefully the bump will help. It seems that most catholics looking for rigorous la use secular options,
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Behold and see science seems to be well-liked. I have not used it but am eyeing it for down the road. If you mean the catholic schools textbook project for history, those are not chc exclusives. You will find a few threads on those books if you search it under that name instead of chc. They are also incorporated as spines in connecting with history, just to throw out another option. I'm sorry I can't give you first hand knowledge on chc. The reputation as light on these boards has made me look elsewhere. There are quite a few users on 4 real that might help. That board is cm-based and generally believe in gentler curriculum, particularly in the early years. http://4real.thenetsmith.com/default.asp
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Hirsch advocates for content standards. Common core doesn't even have content standards. It just has some vague nonsense like "read and comprehend nonfiction texts" instead of an actual standard. The two are totally unrelated. It would be possible to do core knowledge in a way that aligns with common core.
Don't believe everything you hear about the math. Way too many people can't tell the difference between curriculum, implementation, and standards.
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I have been using the $5 ebook for about a year. We are halfway through. I like that I can read no-handed. I plan to go electronic for the next volume as well. I can highlight in PDF note but I haven't found it necessary yet. For the second half of the book, I am pulling out the objectives and discussion questions and putting into a separate document to give to my ds to make notes. I can c&p with iBooks. Idk if there is a similar workaround on a kindle, but that is one benefit to the electronic version if you have that option.
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We are using cc aligned math. For language arts, I read through the standards and decided I don't need to worry about it because it is so far below what we are doing. Since the content standards are basically nonexistent, well, um...I guess we will exceed that pretty easily as well.
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The myth started because there was a correlation between early reading and myopia. It was later found that this correlation was entirely due to the children spending so much time indoors, as pp linked. After correcting for indoor time and genetics the correlation between early reading and myopia completely disappeared, meaning none of the effect was due to reading age. I still see a lot of better-late-than-early supporters repeating this myth.
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I agree. If you are going to spend that much, the mechanical stage is a worthwhile add on.
We are still in book 1 and I am using my microscope from when I was a kid. The light bulb is no longer made so I have rigged up a flashlight and mirror. There is no fine adjustment or mechanical stage. I am so envious of you. -
Language lessons through literature?
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For 1st grade you will probably want additional handwriting and maybe something for composition and grammar. Many people do wwe and fll for 1st but if the dc are not reading yet, it would probably make more sense to spend the additional time on aar/Aas instead. If you start aas1 after aar1 and then continue to move through both, I would think about adding writing and grammar after aar2.
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I am kind of excited about this. Is anyone able to tell if the bookshark science is really secular or just "neutral"?
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What would your reason be for the early graduation?
Please keep in mind that with college applications, kids who graduate very early will not receive any "bonus points" for being younger- they will be compared to regular 18 year old 12th graders. So, it may be more advantageous to use the time to develop an outstanding academic portfolio than graduating with an average high school load at age 14. (I am leaving aside all issues that come with sending a much younger student off to college)
Specifically, this meant for my DD:
starting dual enrollment courses at a four year university at age 14. By the time she graduates high school, she will have taken five semesters of French, two English courses, three calculus based physics courses. She is involved in several campus organizations. Since age 15, she has been working as a tutor for engineering physics at the university.
Thus, she had the benefit of challenging, more advanced coursework, interaction and socializing with older students with whom she can relate much better than with same age peers, involvement in a highly academic extracurricular activity she absolutely loves.
It has been an ideal situation of growing into the academic demands and social aspects of college life while still living at home, which was an excellent preparation for "real " college.
How do you finance the dual enrollment at the 4 year university? If your student is taking a lot of classes, the tuition really adds up. It seems like it might cost less to just graduate so they could enter college as a freshman and compete for scholarships and federal aid. There must be more to it? -
I'd say # 3. It sounds like she is already kindy ready for the most part. Read lots of good books to expand vocab and listening comprehension. You could use the time for things that are family-specific...character, manners, religion, any household chores that she is capable of, etc.
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We did aar1&2 and then moved into a spalding style program when my dc was ready to begin writing. I think the biggest difference is really the horizontal vs vertical presentation, but writing vs non writing is significant too. My dc enjoyed glueing all the aar stuff. I did use the flash cards to add in active components such as jumping, throwing, and running. I plan to start my next dc on aar this fall. We have a small home with the baby's room near the main living space so the active stuff is not desirable for things that will be done during his naps...something to keep in mind if you have a similar situation.
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Founders of freedom is supposed to be available at the end of May. I am planning to buy then so I can't give you a review. There were sample pages when was under Neumann and it was simple b/w illustrations. There are review questions at the end of each section. I recall thinking the level would probably be around 2-5.
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We are using math mammoth. We are only in 1b but I went with it because I felt that it was complete with less fuss and muss. I don't have the personality to supplement and add a bit of this or a bit of that. I just want a solid curriculum that is thorough and efficient. It's also a lot more cost effective if you have a child that will likely breeze through more than 1 level per year.
Any Catholics do CC?
in General Education Discussion Board
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We are using classically catholic memory instead. When I looked at cc there were a few big problems for me. First, the faith statement, which I understand only tutors are required to sign, conflicts with catholic teaching. That means we get to pay the full, ridiculous price. Second, some of the memory work in higher levels seemed designed to teach that Christians, presumably the real ones ;), take a young earth, sola scriptura view. There were some scientific inaccuracies as well. I'm sure you are already aware of the reformation card. As much as I would like a community for my kids to belong to, that is not the sort I had in mind. We are talking to a few other families about starting an inclusive group instead.