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Aludlam

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Everything posted by Aludlam

  1. Megawords has worked wonderfully with my 7th grader. I give a pretest for each unit. Then use the missed words from the pretest to do a quick daily check on the white board. She has to spell the words correctly 5 times (5 days - I just use tally marks by the word) for the word to come off the list (one line drawn through the word). This check only takes a couple of minutes a day. If she is really having trouble with a word, I just have her write it 5,10 or 15 times (depending on how long this word has been hanging out on my list!) Then during the week there are a few directed quick checks and dictating (all in the TM) that only take a few minutes each. During these quick checks and dictations, more missed words are added to my master list. At the end of the unit I give a post test. Rinse repeat. At the end of the book, I use my list of missed words as the final test. We skip the writing exercises and some of the reading exercises (all though she usually does them anyway.) She does all of the workbook pages independently. hope that helps Angela
  2. Lori, I want you to know that I read this yesterday right after you posted it. I have reread it many times since then, letting it soak in. I wrote up a mock week or two to see how it would play out. I still have a question as to how/when you use the discussion questions for LL7. I will need to use them straight from the can, so when/how do you suggest I do that. I love the thought of doing the exercises orally (as I'm sure she will too). What do you think about skipping the writing exercises? We are doing IEW with a writing class and I need/want lots of hand holding with writing (I have no confidence in teaching it -- That will be the next mountain to climb.) Thank you so much for so kindly holding my hand -- and giving a supportive, gentle nudge! Angela
  3. First of all, thank you to everyone who is taking the time to help me with this. Second of all, the true problem (right off the bat) is that I do NOT feel confident in teaching anything in the realm of "English" - there I said it. I'm a Math/Science person. I'm not exactly sure how I was taught in school. I know I had a few great teachers peppered in, so perhaps I just smeared the knowledge they gave me through the other years. Third, I'm not truly in a panic. Well, not a real one anyway. I just know it's time to reach out and ask for help. We have conquered grammar with Easy Grammar, spelling with Megawords, and writing with IEW (homeschool class). That leaves me with -- literature. She likes to read. I like to read. That's about where it ends. We talk about the books (I read my own copy of her book), but nothing like I "feel" that "literary analysis" should be. I primary discussion are more like, "Can you believe that happened?, What did you think he was going to do? etc etc) I've listened to SWB lectures and am one lecture into Teaching the Classics. I know that I can conquer this, but I need some more help getting there. What I'm primarily asking for is help getting some of my random ideas written on paper in a logical way. My type A personality is having a fit because there are no plans for 8th grade for literature. I NEED to have some of this written down on a nice sheet of paper, so I can stop thinking about it. I do feel a slight bit of panic because I feel high school looming. I do have disposable income to buy other supplies/curriculum for this because I am so very frugal with everything else. Also, we live in a state which only requires that I keep attendance. We have homeschooled from the beginning. Things I already own: Lightning Lit 7, Figuratively Speaking, SWB lectures, Teaching the Classics and many of the novels. Things that intrigue me: Preplanned curriculum (that I ALWAYS tinker with) like Lightning Lit, MP (Poetry & Short Stories) and VP study guides, Windows to the World. The problem is that I feel if we picked any of these, then she would miss a whole bunch of books. What I need from you: Supportive criticism, ANY advice, help putting books in numerical order, specific guides/Cliff notes that you believe would add to specific books and just anything else that would help. We are in the last half of 7th grade (will technically go over into the summer because we moved this past year). To round out this year (until I figure out what I am doing), she/I would read through what we are calling "Shouldn't be missed list" and some that we just want to read. For 8th grade, I thought we would read through a list of classic books. They are not lined up against a history time line. They are some that I thought would be great for her age and some that we missed along the way (like Alice). Please feel free to criticize my list. I don't know if I have too many, or not enough. She reads about 45 minutes during the school day and then would have the option of reading a "school" book at night or picking something off of her shelf. I would also like to take one or two of the 8th grade books to use as "oral" reading. She has a second window of time with me in the afternoons that we could do this (along with Science, etc --- math, spelling, etc is done in the morning) Also, I do plan to have her read novels that correspond to history for high school. It just hasn't worked out like that for us yet. We started Middle Ages in January. 7th grade (last half): Sing Down the Moon The Book of Three The Black Cauldron My Louisiana Sky A Wrinkle in Time Tuck Everlasting Bridge to Terabithia The Westing Game My Side of the Mountain From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler The Giver 8th grade list The Witch of Blackbird Pond Sounder To Kill a Mockingbird Around the World in 80 Days The Yearling Alice's Adventures in Wonderland The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Treasure Island Little Women The Call of the Wild Anne of Green Gables Robinson Crusoe Please feel free to advice in any way, shape or form. If something seems confusing, please ask. It probably made sense in my head, but didn't translate well here. thanks so much Angela
  4. Thanks for the info on 810. I will be looking to shave some time off of 800 (making up time from our move). Skipping 810 (we usually skip the first book too) will work out great. Angela
  5. So, Ewe Mama, what made you decide on Lial's over all the other Algebra books out there? Angela
  6. We're almost in the same boat! We still have quite a bit of 700 to finish, but I've thought much about this as well. I think 800 seems pretty meaty after just looking at the samples. So, I've decided to order it and possibly Algebra I as well. Just to have them in my hands to see for myself. When I spoke to CLE via email a few weeks ago, they said that it would be years until the other Sunrise editions would be available. That really discouraged me! CLE has been the best math fit EVER. I've read a few threads about upper math progressions, but can't seem to get my brain wrapped around which books would be a good fit for us. Please let us know what you decided to do! Angela
  7. I was looking over the procedure for the MWIA --Miller Word Identification Assessment -- and noticed than on page 2, letter C it says, "...underline on the teacher's copy each word that the student mis-calls or double-calls. Notice if his "double-calls" are holistic or the reverse." Can someone please explain to be what a "double call" is and what a reverse would be? thanks Angela
  8. I was looking over the procedure for the MWIA --Miller Word Identification Assessment -- and noticed than on page 2, letter C it says, "...underline on the teacher's copy each word that the student mis-calls or double-calls. Notice is his "double-calls" are holistic or the reverse." Can someone please explain to be what a "double call" is and what a reverse would be? thanks Angela
  9. I did miss that part! Then I agree level one would be great for a while. There is a list out there. I believe I have one compiled by another homeschool mom. I'll try to see if I can find it on my computer when I get home. Angela.
  10. Just my two cents here... But my kids grew out of Stage one really fast, where as some if the Stage two info is pretty high level stuff presented on a super easy to understand level. I have a science degree and still gleaned some things out of those books! This go around with science we didn't even use the stage one (my kids watch magic school bus, and lother PBS stuff). I got most of our collection from Goodwill. Hth Angela
  11. Also, my kids had a terrible time with math until they learned their math facts. After much trial and error, I figured out a system that works for us. Along with their "regular" math book, they do Xtramath everyday. BUT, before the computer drills, they work handwritten worksheets (from me) based on the problems that they keep getting wrong on Xtramath. hth Angela
  12. We use CLE here, but I highlight problems that I want him to work. I loved horizons for many years, but the colorful pages would be too much of a distraction for my guy. Math-U-See is mastery based with review --- only throwing it out there because I LOVE the simple - not crowded- pages. Angela
  13. Have you looked at CLE? It is completely workbook based and very similar to R&S. Angela
  14. We're in Latin 1 (Latin Alive) at Wilson Hill Academy. Angela
  15. Thank you for all the responses. I'm glad to see that you had positive experiences! Angela.
  16. I'm really looking at this program for dd13. It seems like in the past there have been some shipping delays and possibly some incomplete lab packages??? Does anyone have any recent experience? Also, you can't order online, right? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Angela
  17. I can't really compare WH to other online schools since this is our first time ever taking any online classes. But, we love it! Dd13 is taking Latin 1 from Mrs. Hensley using Latin Alive. It's intense (for us - not really gotten very far in any other Latin course before) but Mrs Hensley is super nice and very good about explaining things until the kids really get it. KWIM. Every time I have emailed the school for help or with questions I have gotten back a personal response very quickly (even if the response was that they didn't know, but would be getting me the answer shortly). There have been several Meet and Greet/ Open Houses that have been pretty informative. Everyone seems to really care about what they are doing and how it will impact the kids. For what it's worth they use Canvas for the classes. Hope that helps Angela
  18. It makes perfect sense. Thank you so much for clarifying. I did email Luc earlier and he is gathering info for us and answering questions. Thanks so much for the info on this!!! Angela
  19. Would you please clarify/explain this for me? Is the one time per week a longer class - or just one of the 3 classes that week? (I don't believe that I could have phrased that in a more confusing way. lol) My dd12 did watch most of the open house video (I haven't seen all of it yet). She really liked what she saw. thank you for your time Angela
  20. Are you planning on moving to Wilson Hill or staying with VP. I just looked at Wilson's website and it seems to be high school (even though I know books/classes/kids overlap)?? Angela
  21. Do you know if there are sample lectures on line? I didn't see any. thanks Angela
  22. I'm looking at this right now. Which teacher are you using? Angela
  23. Hijack: Literature at Our House looks interesting, but I can't find any threads about it. Am I doing a bad search job, or is this something not discussed much? thanks for the reply and sorry for the hijack Angela
  24. Actually, it was thoughts of the National Latin Exam that put us back on the Latin train again. She has two gold medals from the mythology exam. It's not that she is really competitive, but there is really something about being rewarded or perhaps having a goal or endpoint to reach that really strikes a cord with her. That was one reason I initially looked at VP, b/c I read on a thread that Latin Alive "follows" the NLE. Do you have any words of wisdom when it comes to using VP? thanks for responding! Angela
  25. I too (with my very limited knowledge) think that First Form would be the less intense class, but the flip side is that if I had to pick a more advanced class (as in a year from now) I would go with Lukeion, just b/c so many people here seem to appreciate it. With that being said, it does seem like Veritas would be the way to go. My husband votes for VP, simply b/c it is 2 days a week, while MP is only once per week. I've heard about Latin for the New Millennium, but haven't looked at it much. I did briefly see on the website that you need to have very good English grammar skills. We have done FLL and a year of Rod and Staff. This year we are planning AG. Maybe I'll put this Latin class in the hat for 8th grade as well. thanks for the input Angela
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