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cam112198

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Posts posted by cam112198

  1. Hi,

     

    I've been homeschooling for 8 years, and my oldest will be going into 9th grade next year.  How do you keep track of grades?  How do you know what your child is suppossed to take? I've looked at VP Diploma program just to take the load off of me, but I'm not sure that's what I want to do.  I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.  I would love any advice you could give me.  Thanks! :)

  2. Thank you, ladies! I appreciate your feedback.  I'm trying to decide between doing VP self-paced again, Sonlight, Notgrass, or SOTW.  I have all of the volumes of SOTW.  I know SOTW is world history, but do you think there is enough American history for it to work? I'm thinking volumes 3 and 4. 

  3. I am trying to decide on history for my 4th and 5th grader.  They just finished a VP Self-Paced history course, and now I would like to start something else with them.  They haven't had a lot of American history, so I would prefer American history.  I could do another VP Self-Paced course, but I wanted to hear your thoughts.  What have you loved for American history for this age? 

     

     

  4. What are you using for language arts? I think WWE is a great place to start. Doing frequent and regular narration and dictation really helps with reading comprehension.

    We are using Rod and Staff.  They don't love it, but it is what I have always used.  What level would you start a 3rd and 4th grader?  Thank you for the suggestion.  

     

    I agree with doing regular narration, copywork, and dictation.

     

    My Companion for Treadwell's Second Reader targets those specific skills.  (In my link for homegrown resources at Lulu.com)  The Aesop Copybooks are also made to target those skills.  Aesop is more challenging reading/vocabulary, but easier to narrate b/c the stories are very short and very clear cut.  The Treadwell lessons have targeted practice in reading fluency as well as the CM skills.

     

    I will have to check that out.  Thank you!

    Reading Dective from Crutical Thinking Company. Though it is not at the core of our English Language Arts instruction, it provides targeted practice in the activities necessary to perform well on standardized test questions. It is also pretty quick & painless. My DD3 did it 2 x per week for maybe 10-15 minutes all school year and easily finished the book.

    I will also have to check this out.  Thank you for the suggestion!

  5. Here's a good explanation of the McGuffey readers:

     

    http://www.mottmedia.com/pages/publications.asp?Pub=mcguffey

     

    The whole set without the teacher guide (we've never used it):

     

    http://www.christianbook.com/the-original-mcguffeys-eclectic-series/william-mcguffey/9780880620147/pd/0620145?event=ESRCG

     

    If you have a Kindle or other e-reader, you could download the PDFs for free from Project Gutenberg.

     

    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/5671

     

    Ambleside Online has some ideas for what to read and when:

     

    https://www.amblesideonline.org/curriculum.shtml

     

    Ambleside Online also has a "library" of online books and e-texts:

     

    https://www.amblesideonline.org/library.shtml

     

    Some fun stories for younger students doing Guided Reading are the "You Read to Me, I'll Read to You" series. Your library might have access to them:

     

    http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_14?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=you%20read%20to%20me%20i%27ll%20read%20to%20you&sprefix=you+read+to+me%2Caps%2C372

     

    HTH.

     

    Oh wow!  Thank you!! That helps a ton! 

  6.  

     

    They're doing Guided Reading this year, reading aloud to me a few times each week. The 4th grader will choose her own material to read to me, but she has to include non-fiction (tougher stuff from science and history), not just stories. My 2nd graders are doing McGuffey's 3rd and K--12 Classics, Volume 3A. We also read the Bible together. Each person has her own Bible. We sit around the table and read four verses each, in turn. This also helps to build reading fluency.

     

     

     

    Wow!  Thank you, Sahamamama, for your detailed response!!!  That was so helpful!  What are McGuffey readers?  Would I buy the whole set?  I think maybe that is part of my problem with ds9 and dd8. I haven't done as much guided reading. You really had a lot of great suggestions.  Thank you again!  

     

     

    Anyone else have an opinion on whether I should go with Abeka or OPGTR for phonics?  

  7. I am less able to answer this, but at that age (unless they are really struggling with reading) I would try to focus on the phonics rules through a spelling curriculum more.  I hear good things about All About Spelling, but I have no personal experience with it.  Once the child is reading, I tend to just switch to reading books vs. "readers."  My oldest is a natural speller and reads very well, so I haven't had those gaps in an older child before.  I don't know if you already have A Beka readers or not.  If so, you can use those even.  Take stock on what you have.  You can even get McGuffey readers free online.  

     

    I have AAS.  I used it with my oldest when she finished the Abeka phonics.  I love AAS, but now that I am homeschooling 4 I've had a hard time making it happen around here.  I do think it would probably be wise.  I don't have the Abeka readers, but I do have Pathway readers for grade 4.  That might work for my son.  For my daughter, I might try to find some 3rd grade readers.  

    That looks good!  Thanks for the suggestion.  

  8. I taught my dd12 to read using Abeka.  I wanted a change for ds9 and dd8, so I used OPGTR.  I am now trying to decide what to use to teach dd4 to read.  My daughter that used Abeka seems to be a stronger reader.  When she was 8 and 9, she was reading better than they are now.  I realize that it could just be her, but it makes me wonder if I should go back to Abeka.  What are your thoughts?

     

    What should I do to increase reading fluency for my ds9 and dd8? 

  9. I am starting cursive with my left-handed ds8 (3rd grade) this year.  I was looking at HWOT or ARFH.  I like the style of ARFH better, and I like the lines on the paper better.  We are familiar with both.  I used ARFH with my dd11 and I have used HWOT for the past 2 years with ds8 and dd6.  

     

    What would you suggest? 

  10. Wow! Thanks for all the replies! I will have to check it all out. I did check out Mensa for Kids, and I liked what I saw.

     

    This may be a different topic, but how do you keep track of what your children have read? I have 4 children I am trying to keep up with, and sometimes I forget who has read what! :tongue_smilie:

  11. Yes! Crewton Ramone has a great webpage with lots of great videos. He uses Mortensen methods. Steve Demme of MUS was trained by Mortensen, the methods are the same. I like getting old MUS TMs for Steve Demme's sequence of mastering math facts. He teaches kids to think instead of rote memorizing.

     

    Crewton Ramone's webpage (I have a password and feel it is worth well worth it)

    http://www.crewtonra...m/division.html

     

    Thank you!! I will check it out!

  12. Long division is a common sticking point. It's probably not the curriculum, but the kid. Sometimes kids need some time for it to sink in. Have you tried working at the white board and dividing a long number by 2? That makes the actual calculations easy, but gets them used to using the algorithm.

     

     

    Thank you, Boscopup! I have not tried that, but what a great idea! Thanks for your suggestions!

  13. I teach concepts the MUS/Mortensen way. I bounce between Singapore and MEP as a spine. You could stick with CLE and use MUS to teach the concepts. eBay is great for cheap old MUS TMs.

     

     

    So, you think I could stick with CLE and then when someone struggles with a concept, I could watch that lesson with the child and then work through a few problems? For example, dd10 is struggling with long division. Could I just find the lesson in MUS that teaches that one concept, work on it for a few days, and then continue with CLE?

  14. I have been using CLE for 5 years. My dd10 started with CLE when she was in 1st grade. My ds8 just started CLE last year in 1st grade. My dd6 tried CLE, but it did not work for her. We are using MUS for her.

     

    I'm tempted to switch everyone over to MUS. My ds8 gets math, but dd10 is having a hard time grasping long division. I wonder if MUS offers more of an explanation to the "whys" and, maybe it's a good thing to completely master something before moving on to a new concept? What do you guys think? It drives me nuts that I'm undecided. How do you think CLE compares to MUS? Part of my problem is that most of my homeschooling friends either use MUS or Saxon. I don't know anyone, except on here :), that uses CLE....and I start to question myself. Silly, I know. So, what would you guys do? Decide for me! :-)

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