[Do you have a throw up bucket?]

I'm not sure I want an answer, but I'm wondering how those of you who use the toilet deal with episodes at 'both ends....' Definitely no to the toilet here. We have several plastic paint pails that are used for this purpose. I use a cute turquoise bowl when pregnant though.

[Khan Academy How Comprehensive?]

Would it be possible to use Khan Academy as a complete math course? I'm asking primarily for my dd (15) who will be in 11th grade next year. She has used Chalkdust since pre-Algebra, is math minded, and does well with it. She really enjoys Khan Academy though and asked about using it as a stand alone as she thinks she would progress more quickly. (She often understands the concepts quickly enough that watching the Chalkdust videos isn't all that engaging for her.) I'd still have her use the Chalkdust test prep course.

 

Goal-wise, her top interest is ballet and her second interest is math. Science, bacteria primarily, are her third area of interst. Clearly, her math skills need to be strong.

 

I have other children who will be in Algebra I and Basic Math next year. I might have them start using Khan as a supplement for now.

[What Is Comparably Rigorous to TOG?]

Maybe I'm the only one who thinks this but I really belive that rigor is much more dependent (at least in the years before high school) on a teacher who is intentional, consistent, dedicated and willing to put in the effort than it is dependent on a particular curriculum, method or philosophy. Discovering what educational philosphy fits you best will help you find the curricula, the tools that you will be able to teach well, teach thoroughly.

 

I don't know. I don't think I'm saying it very well. But I guess what I mean is, decide what your academic and non-academic priorities are, then pick the tools that allow you to focus on them. Then just go to town with it, and be consistent. A stack of library books can be rigorous curriculum if you know what to do with them and follow through.

 

Am I crazy? (Wait, don't answer that...) :lol:

 

I understand what you're saying, but when I hand my oldest (grade 10) her TOG assignments (Rhetoric Year 2) each week there's no escape for her from rigorous, regardless of how involved I am that week.

[Task Cards: American History]

Is anyone using these? I"m *trying* to use them, but I feel as if I'm wandering around aimlessly. :tongue_smilie: Up to this point, we've used Biblioplan/SOTW which has been so straightforward and easy to use....I love the *idea* of the task cards being so open ended, but they are SO open ended that I'm having a hard time getting us going with them.

 

I had planned on using these cards along with Childhood of Famous Americans, the American Adventures Series, Sonlight booklist, and Veritas Press booklists...this is proving to be next to impossible for me. I admit that my American history knowledge is sketchy at best, and that it's hard to know from book titles/descriptions exactly what books to pair with what topic. I realized that I'm used to much more hand-holding along the lines of recommended books and such.

 

I was planning on using the Usborne History Encyclopedia for looking up and researching the topics on the cards, but many of the topics on the cards aren't covered in that book.

 

I really want to be able to use and love this system as a way to give us a great, fun, inspirational, one-year American History overview, but I'm really struggling.

 

Sorry this has gotten so long. :banghead: Does anyone have any thoughts on how to accomplish what I'm trying to accomplish? THANK YOU if you've read all this! :tongue_smilie:

 

Hi Melissa,

 

I'm happy to help if I can. The encyclopedia you mentioned is great to have on hand, but my guess is you'd be happier with something like the History of US or the Children's Encyclopedia of American History (Smithsonian) for the American History task card set. The other booklists you mentioned should work very well. The transition to this open ended style can feel quite uncomfortable for a bit. I hope you find your stride soon.

[Veritas Literature Guides]

Has anyone used these? We've mostly been using a CM - read and summarize - approach, but I like to throw some other things into the mix from time to time. I was thinking of using one or two of these with my 5th and 3rd graders. Do you know how long one would take to complete and how extensive they are? The samples appeal to me, but I'd like to have an idea how to plan them into our school year/day.

 

Thanks!

[Task cards]

My DC don't have this issue. They each have a planner in which I write down the week's assignments in every subject. Much of their work is independent and if they need help or if something is listed as "with Mom" they come and get me when they're ready to do it.

 

The cards look kind of "project based" to me and I like that idea. I like the idea of having the kids do the research, read up on a topic, in order to be able to do the assignments. But to me the information on the cards looks to be very broad. I think my kids would be overwhelmed not knowing exactly what they were supposed to be doing ("write about the Constitution" is a whole lot more overwhelming than "read this page about the Constitution and answer these questions").

 

I really feel like there is some angle I'm not seeing here.

 

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to answer this here or not. I've read and re-read the no advertisements section and don't want to cross that line in any way. Kim explained it fairly well and nothing is for everyone. :001_smile:

 

Since you're interested, I suspect the angle you may be missing is the reliance on CM style narration for the research tasks. Basically, the students summarize what *they* read and learned from their reading. Obviously, that would be very basic with a young students who are given the option of oral narrations. The expectation is that the level of detail in written summaries would grow with the students. Also, they are doing their research in age appropriate materials so the level of depth in the material grows with them. The other aspect is the placement of key content throughout the cards. I've been known to put an interesting historical figure in a time line task to provide another springboard.

[For those who have used Sequential Spelling]

We've done both and like the premade one better.