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TarynB

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    Notgrass America the Beautiful vs K12 Concise ed. A History of US?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I see that OP is deciding to go with Notgrass, but I just wanted to chime in for anyone else who may be reading.

     

    If you want the K12 teacher guides (now called Learning Coach guides) and student guides for the CONCISE version of Hakim's History of US, you'll want to search for them as I have listed below. They have copyright dates of 2011. Earlier than that and they don't go with the concise editions. (The ones that refer to "before 1865" or "since 1865" go with the full Hakim editions, not the concise ones.)

     

    Search for:

     

    K12 American History A Learning Coach Guide - semester 1 and semester 2 (each semester is separate)

    K12 American History B Learning Coach Guide - semester 1 and semester 2 (each semester is separate)

     

    K12 American History A Student Guide - semseter 1 and semester 2 (each semester is separate)

    K12 American History B Student Guide - semseter 1 and semester 2 (each semester is separate)

     

    Here's a link to one on Amazon.

     

    The learning coach guides do have the lessons scheduled out if you want that. IMO, they are open and go. Keep in mind if you are using them independently of K12 you will be missing the online activities and assessments that K12 offers to those enrolled with them but I think that means you just miss the busywork. You can pick and choose which offline activities/questions to use. Note it is designed to use the four books spread over two years but you could do it faster if you want, of course.

     

    Also, I know what PP was referring to about the political slant in Hakim. It appears that the concise editions have been edited (slightly re-written?) by someone else and they appear more politically neutral. As previously stated, they are also secular. I don't see the political slant in the concise books like it is in the full set of Hakim books. YMMV, of course. :001_cool:

     

    These books seem to be sort of sparse on Amazon used listings right now, but before Christmas I bought some and the copies were more plentiful at that time, so in a few weeks there may be more again.

    Videos for U.S. geography -- your favorites???

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    This sounds wonderful! And it is available on Amazon Instant for free (except last disk), Netflix DVD, and my public library. I love it when things are so easy to get!

     

     

     

    Thank you for the recommendation -- I's sort of passed over this, because it didn't go park by park. But I see it has received lots of awards, plus it is available on Netflix streaming. It sounds historically oriented, so it would be a nice companion to the BBC Atlas (also history oriented).

     

     

     

    I think I found what you are thinking of -- the 4 disk set. If I'm right, the full title is How the States Got Their Shapes. My library website says it's based on a book -- that's a plus, since I sometimes (well, often) forget points that I'd like to remember, lol.

     

    Thank you -- these are a great help! And I will keep checking for any more ideas. We usually watch a video during lunch, so we go through a lot.

     

     

    Just to clarify, for you and for others who may be reading this thread, How the States Got Their Shapes is not the same as the series called just The States. I've seen both of them. Both are great - I just wanted to give you another option in addition to the one the previous poster mentioned.

     

    If you click on my earlier link, it takes you to The States, a set of 4 DVDs as listed for sale on Amazon. It is not currently available on Prime streaming, unfortunately.

     

    How the States Got Their Shapes is the other one you're looking at. As you said, the first season (10 episodes) IS now available on Prime streaming. This is a link to the first episode of that series.

     

    Just wanted to clear that up. Like I said, both of them are great!

    6th grade plans??

    in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges

    Posted

    The Great Global Puzzle is a book http://www.amazon.co...uzzle challenge . It's in the bargain bin at Amazon right now. DS was resistant to the idea of geography, but he loves google earth (and drawing), so that's how I picked the two programs. Each double page features a different city and gives directions on how to "get there" on google earth, things to look up while there (and how), and questions to answer. It looks a lot like a Where's Waldo (in terms of the pictures); I can see this bothering some kids, but DS will really like it I think.

     

    Looks cool! Thank you!!!

    6th grade plans??

    in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges

    Posted

    Love these threads! Thanks for sharing, everyone!

     

    We school almost year-round and this is what we are planning for "6th" grade:

    Math: parts of Math Mammoth 6, then start Pre-Algebra (still researching)

    Writing: Writing With Skill 1 and Kilgallon's Paragraphs for Middle School (new release) when we need a WWS break

    Vocabulary:  Wordly Wise 8 + English from the Roots Up (half the year) and MCT Caesar's English (other half of the year)

    Grammar: finish Hake Grammar 5 (then skip to Hake 8 and spread it over two years) + Editor in Chief (half the year) and MCT Grammar Town (half the year)

    Literature: Mosdos Pearl, Garlic Press guides for The Bridge to Terabithia and Where the Red Fern Grows, Figuratively Speaking, and an independent reading list which is a mixture of serious stuff and fun

     

    Science: Elemental Science logic stage earth/astronomy as a spine, CPO Earth for extra reading and enrichment activities, TOPS Rocks & Minerals with supply kit, weather study kit and fossil kit from Home Science Tools, Discover Nature in the Weather, Basher books, plus McHenry's Carbon Chemistry just because he asked for it

    History (in the middle of a 3-year cycle for world history followed by a year of American, so 6th grade will be late Middle Ages to 1800s, 7th grade 1800s to current, and a year of AH in 8th (& 11th - to free up 12th grade for 2 advanced sciences):  outlining from white Kingfisher spine, K12 Human Odyssey V2 for additional reading, with selected questions from K12 teacher guide for comprehension and connections, continue DVD series from The Great Courses World History: The Fertile Crescent to the American Revolution, listen to SOTW audiobooks, parts of Famous Men of Modern Times

     

    Spanish: varying mixture of Visual Link, DuoLingo, Practice Makes Perfect Basic Spanish workbook, Easy Spanish Reader

     

    PE and Health: weekly homeschool PE class, baseball, swim team, karate, Harcourt Health & Fitness

     

    daily fun stuff:  CNN Student News w/ discussions (August thru May only), Brain Pop app ($1.99 per month provides 5 new related videos every day)

     

    Home Ec/Life Skills: adding to the things he already does around the house - independently prepare at least one full meal per month, assist with basic vehicle maintenance checks, learn more home and lawn/landscaping maintenance

     

    extras - each usually once per week:

    Geography: various workbooks, The States DVDs, Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego DVDs, Stack the States/Countries apps, various online resources: seterra, sheppardsoftware, aaawhere, kids.nationalgeographic, 50states, neok12, Wakko's America song

    Logic/Critical Thinking: finish Perplexors, finish Orbiting with Logic, then Critical Thinking Book 1, CTC World History Detective (not aligned with history studies, used as history review and critical thinking activity)

    Art and Music: art and music sections of What Your 6th Grader Needs to Know, Artistic Pursuits (he prefers mostly reading/appreciation, not the hands on part), Smart Art: Learning to Classify and Critique Art, Connect the Thoughts: Bach to Rock, Music Appreciation SQUILT Volume 1 (Baroque Composers), American Popular Music activity book - I expect to use all these resources spread over 2 years since we usually only have time & interest for one day per week

    (edited)

    So ... since basically here no one uses the WTM science ...

    in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges

    Posted

    For physical science, I'm in planning mode. I'm strongly considering using PLATO Physical Science as the basis, along with a Thames and Kosmos Physics Workshop kit and videos from various sources---primarily the Annenberg Foundation website http://www.learner.o...ces/browse.html and Georgia Public Broadcasting's chemistry and physics courses. Another option is the American Chemical Society's Middle School Chemistry http://www.middleschoolchemistry.com/. I'm leaning strongly toward the PLATO as our intro to physical science, then see if we need to go further right now. I've also got a plethora of physical science/conceptual chemistry/conceptual physics books as well. Ironically, this is my background (my degree--about a million years ago :rolleyes: -- was in physics), but she is so not a science/math kid and processes it so differently than I do that I'd really love to outsource physical science so that we have less potential drama. Unfortunately for us, the only text the local classes aimed at homeschooled middle schoolers use is Apologia, and that isn't a fit for us at all.

     

    Thank you for sharing your plans and these links! Awesome!

    History and science projects

    in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges

    Posted

    I'm not sure if this is the type of thing you're looking for, but for science there are several books by Janice VanCleave with ideas for experiments/demonstrations. These seem to be popular and are mentioned here frequently. Also, my DS and I have enjoyed some kits from TOPS science that might fit the bill for you. Some are elementary level but many are labeled as middle school. You didn't say what area of science you're studying, but you can find VanCleave books or TOPS kits for just about every branch (physics, biology, etc.).

     

    Not sure what to recommend for hands-on history activities. (At this age, my DS prefers reading and documentaries for history rather than projects.) Hopefully someone else will have good ideas for you.

    Human Odyssey (K12)

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Agreed. I think it is enough. For history my DS10 is reading Human Odyssey, making brief entries to a timeline, and watching documentaries. Once in a while reading a related library book. Not much writing. Definitely no tolerance for busy-work. (He does do writing assignments, just not a lot for history, generally.) I also have the K12 guides, but I use them only to guide our history discussions and to make sure he's getting what he should be getting from reading the HO text (me asking him comprehension questions, all done verbally). I feel no pull toward using the K12 online course at all. The method we're using is working very well here. I think he's learning more than I ever did AND he's enjoying it. For a 7th grader, maybe you'd want to do outlining/some form of note-taking, but perhaps you're already doing that plenty in other subjects. Not every subject has to be intense in middle school.

    History in workbook format?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

     

    >TarynB, on 27 December 2012 - 04:54 PM, said:

    >I haven't used them, but I found that ChristianBook.com sells them. Here is a link to the first volume. Just click on additional views to see sample pages. IMO, they look good for younger kids, but not "enough" for a 10 year old, but you'll have to decide that for your own DC, of course.

     

    laundrycrisis, on 28 December 2012 - 05:18 PM, said:

    For our son, whose capacity for written work is limited, they are enough written work for one subject. But if you want to expand on what is covered in each chapter, that's easy to do - I use SOTW, or the Usborne history encyclopedia, or Brainpop.

     

     

    I agree, it would be easy to expand. I was just speaking to the fact that the OP asked for "a complete secular history program that includes workbooks" for a 10yo. I took that to mean OP is not interested in or able to juggle multiple resources. My apologies if I offended. :001_smile:

    Vocabulary Recs

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    We haven't used either of the programs you mentioned, but my DS10 really likes Wordly Wise 3000. If we weren't using that, we'd probably be using Vocab from Classical Roots, the first one you mentioned. Wordly Wise does cover Latin word roots but other programs may cover that just as or more thoroughly.

     

    Anyway, just chiming in because Wordly Wise fits your criteria: independent, efficient, open and go workbook (definitely fits my DS preferences), inexpensive. My DS spends about 20 minutes on it two or three days per week, and that gets him through one lesson per week. There is also a free website that has "reinforcement activities", a.k.a. online games, built around the words for each lesson. That's his reward each week after finishing the workbook pages and he enjoys it. He's learning a lot and retaining well. I don't do tests, I just review orally with him. I only bought the workbook and the answer key.

     

    Wordly Wise also has an online-only option with exercises that fully take the place of the hardcopy workbooks but I believe it is quite a bit more spendy to access and we haven't tried it.

     

    If your DS is an advanced reader, you might consider going up a level (or two) from his grade level. You can see the complete word lists and online games for every level here (click on students). And workbook samples here at christianbook.com.

     

    Good luck!

     

    ETA: BTW, we used Spelling Workout also, through last year. Then dropped spelling this year in favor of the straight vocab program. It has worked out well.

    History in workbook format?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Could you tell me what your routine is with the EPS Western Civ books, anyone? How do you use them? What's a typical lesson/day like? I looked for a sample and couldn't find one anywhere.

     

    I haven't used them, but I found that ChristianBook.com sells them. Here is a link to the first volume. Just click on additional views to see sample pages. IMO, they look good for younger kids, but not "enough" for a 10 year old, but you'll have to decide that for your own DC, of course.

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