cam112198
-
Posts
398 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Classifieds
Store
Posts posted by cam112198
-
-
If Saxon is working for your child, I would be hesitant to switch. If you find it boring to teach would adding in a day of real life math activities help? You could take a day in the middle of the week to play math games, work on measurements via cooking, or work on projects that require math skills. Sometimes just breaking up the week helps some.
If you do decide to switch, however, I would like to recommend Abeka for 1st – 3rd grade. It is an excellent program and I’ve found that all three of my kids have done well with it. If you choose this program make sure that you get the teacher’s guide as that is where all the instruction and drill is. After the 3rd grade Abeka book I move my kids over to the Rod & Staff math series. I know that many people are happy with the Rod & Staff series from start to finish, but I’ve had such good results from the early levels of Abeka math that I’ve not made a complete transition to Rod & Staff.
Saxon 1 is working for my dd6, but sometimes it seems a little easy for her. I will probably stick with it and then re-evaluate in the summer. Abeka does look very appealing. :-) Maybe the grass is always greener. :-)
-
You will get opinions all over the place on this one. I used Saxon K-3, but used it a year ahead with dd. We had to slow down for a few weeks in the middle of 3, but had a grand time, other than that.
Some things that helped me like it more--
I wished it was more visually appealing, also. I like "pretty." For the meeting, I ditched the books, and used a poster-sized classroom calendar on the wall, and we wrote the numbers on post-it notes (coordinating the shape of the note with the season! lol). For K and 1, we used index cards to write the number of the day, and hung them in a line on the top of the wall--went almost all the way around the room by the end. I made a "book" of colored sentence strips by hole-punching them and binding with a ring, and I wrote the daily patterns on them, then hung them next to the calendar on the wall. I also wrote out the days of the week, seasons and months of the year on sstrips and hung them up. In Saxon 3, we changed to a regular calendar--I let dd pick one from the dollar store (horses!).
The other "visual appeal" came from the manipulatives. I didn't mind the plain workbook pages because we had often just used colorful blocks or whatever. I also used colored markers on the white board.
For the meeting, which can feel like drudgery, I was pretty careful not to skip over everything, because I saw how (cleverly) many concepts were introduced there, by repetition (think skip counting) and then later were incorporated into the lessons. This, to me, was similar to introducing other information in the classical way--facts that provided pegs for further and future understanding. It builds beautifully, and I've come to admire how cleverly Saxon is done. So, I'd say do the meeting, but you can shorten it slightly if you skim, but don't skip, iykwim! :001_smile:
IN a nutshell, I'd stick with Saxon. Find ways to make it a little more enjoyable for yourself, but if it's not broken, don't fix it. If your kiddos are doing well with the explanations and the work, just find a way to satisfy your needs as a teacher.
Thanks for all your wonderful suggestions!! Those are some great ideas!
-
I don't mean to sidetrack the thread but when you say CLE are you referring to Christian Light Education or something else?
I was referring to Christian Light Education.
Thank you all so much for your responses! I still am not sure what to do- but will let you know when I figure it out. It's helps so much to be able to ask advice! :-)
-
I would also choose Core 1! :-)
-
I was just wondering which Math program you would choose for a 1st grader? We are using Saxon right now. I think it's a great program, but don't enjoy teaching it. I do love the spiral approach.
I ordered CLE to take a look at it and tried a few lessons....I enjoyed teaching it but an hesitant to give Saxon the boot.
I have a few friends that use Abeka and like it. I love that the worksheets are colorful ( I know that is silly!), but have heard that it can move pretty fast.
What would you do? Any advice from people that have used these Math programs? Thank you!
-
Sorry about that. :-) We will eventually send our children to school and I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I was thinking of doing something along the lines of what they are doing in school. But I also want to continue with Sonlight Core 1 at a slower pace. Does that make sense? I just wanted to make sure I have everything covered.
-
I am using Sonlight Core 1 for History for dd6. Do you have any suggestions for Social Studies that would not be teacher intensive? I know I don't need it, but I would kind of like a paper trail. I have thought about CLE or time4learning. Or maybe even Abeka. Any suggestions? And do any of you know how CLE compares to Abeka for Social Studies/History and Science?
-
Thanks so much for all of your responses!! We have the Leap Frog DVD's and I love them! He likes them too, but still is not able to tell me what his letters are. I will try some of your suggestions and maybe play the Leap Frog DVD more often. :-)
-
HI!
My son is almost 4 years old and does not recognize his letters. Do any of you have any suggestions on games that would be good for him to help with letter recognition?
He goes to preschool, but I would like to also supplement a little with some workbooks that help with letter recognition. Any suggestions?
Thank you!
-
Thanks so much! I checked out Avenues of the Mind and loved it!! And have already placed my order! That's exactly what I was looking for!
-
Can someone recommend a good timeline to hang on our wall? I wanted one that we could fill in.
-
Thank you everyone for all your responses! I will check out easyclassical.com! And I have thought about just using the VP cards with SOTW- I think that's a great idea!
-
Hi!
I am currently using SL Core 1(with SOTW as our spine) and SL science for my dd6. I am feeling like I need a bit more structure. I want to see the work that she has done. This is our first year homeschooling and it has been a big transition.
Can anyone make any suggestions to me for History/Social Studies and Science that might be a little more traditional and structured that you have enjoyed?
I've thought about making history our one area where we don't have quite as much structure and sticking to what we are doing and using something for science that is more traditional.
Some of the curriculums I've looked at for history and science is CLE, R&S, BJU. Veritas Press also looks very interesting to me but maybe not much different than what I am already doing.
Any suggestions would be great!
-
We have not really looked in MOH. I know a little bit about it.
My dd is 6 and this is our first year homeschooling. We were using SL for History, but having trouble keeping up and I didn't really care for CHOW. So for now we are using SOTW, which I like. I'm just investigating for next year. :-) Sometimes it's hard to know what works for your family until you try something.
With VP, do you have to do all the extra reading? I watched the video on their website, and it didn't look like you had to.
-
Hi!
I was just wondering which one you liked better for those of you that have tried them? I like the idea of History and Bible going together. We are using SOTW right now, but VP really interests me for next year.
Is VP teacher friendly?
Thank you!:001_smile:
-
Hi! We are using Abeka 1 Phonics, Reading, and Language Program. I was wanting to use FLL as well but didn't know if it would be overkill. Does Abeka alone have enough grammar? My original plan was to not do the language part of Abeka and use FLL, but I don't want to miss anything. Any suggestions? :-)
-
I've decided to stick with Abeka. I got Phonics Pathways in the mail today and it looks great! I think I will hold on to it and maybe use it with my ds3 and dd2 when they're a little older. Thank you SO much for your responses! :-)
-
My dd6 is not reading well. She went to kindergarten last year and did not learn any kind of phonics. For phonics I am using Abeka (we are on lesson 25) and wondering if I should switch or just stick with it. I have Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and Phonics Pathways should be arriving in the mail any day. I can't decide if I should stick with it or switch to one of those. Any suggestions?
-
Thanks guys for all your responses! I will continue on with cursive! :-)
-
I just got done reading TWTM and am questioning whether I started cursive too early. My daughter went to a private school last year for kindergarten and learned printing there. Her printing is very nice, but she still sometimes reverses her b's and d's. I went ahead and started her on cursive this year because I had read that it can help with reversals. She is doing great with cursive and really enjoys it, but I am wondering if I should of spent more time on her printing. Should I drop cursive for a while and go back to printing?
If you were going to use a textbook for History and/or Science
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
what would it be? I'm thinking ahead for next year and I am considering (it's just a thought) using either Abeka or BJU for History and/or Science. Still not sure, but if you had to choose between the two for history and/or science which would it be? My dd is in 1st grade this year and will be in 2nd grade next year. It's so hard just to look online at samples and decide.
This year we have been SL Core 1 for History and Science, Abeka for Language Arts, and CLE Math.
Next year I will probably stick with Abeka for LA and definitely stick with CLE for math.
Thanks for any suggestions. :-)