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Caroline4kids

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Everything posted by Caroline4kids

  1. As I sit here in a hotel at a homeschool conference.... I think has boiled down (finally) to finding what my teaching method is and how that is carried out with whatever curriculum I choose. It took me 5 years of mistakes--ok, kind of mistakes as the kids were learning, but it took me that long to stop buying things that did not work for me. I settled on the CM method and can now judge a book in a few minutes as to whether it will actually get done...or sit on the shelf. I just wanted to add my 2 cents because sometimes it is a long process of trial and error to get to the point where you are a confident, capable teacher with happy students. Now I am at the conference for FUN. ONLY. I want to pick the brains of people in the know and mentally cross 500 things off my mind's list of possibles and add a few that look good for the future. :)
  2. I use those when my kids finish the Christian Liberty Nature Readers. They do one of those books and then I move on to the Clara Pierson (not sure if that is her name), Henri Fabre, and Arabela Buckley books. :)
  3. \:iagree: If the oral lessons go well then we skip or only do a few of the writing exercises. If it goes poorly I stretch an assigment out over a few days.
  4. I am using these, but bought them through amazon--they have a four for three promotion too!! They are wonderful for narrating. :)
  5. I have been using it for quite a while and it is worth every penny. :) First off, I can use any resources I want and record how I want those resources used: narration, written narration, orally, complete assignment, and so on. The choices are endless. This variety and flexibility is the best thing, I think. A CM education has a huge oral component. It is hard to get "credit" on paper unless you have a convenient method for doing this, which SCM solves quite well. You can break each resource down into its various chapters, lessons, songs, painitngs, etc. and record what you did with each. Second, I can eliminate anything that is not working and still retain credit for anything partially completed. Maybe we only read four chapters of something. Not all is lost because I recorded how we used that resource each day. I just plug a new option into the planner and go on. Finally, I can print out everything each child worked on and completed for my file, complete with notes and journal entries that I sometimes add to the top. One more thing is that it frees you from a set curriculum. I don't like to feel locked into one curriculum. If the bloom wears off the schedule or lesson plans, but I still like the books I can use what I like and abandon the rest without guilt. I end up with 200 or so very filled days each year without the restraints of dutifully marching through books that are not working or that we just plain dislike. If you do want more handholding SCM has 180 day guides (geography, bible, history) available that work for family learning 1-12th grade.
  6. I start with real grammar at 10 also, about the same time they start writing things out of their own heads as opposed to copy work or dictation. I use a combination of things, but I like Queen's for grammar-lite and Rod and Staff orally for older kids. My oldest (11) jumped right into R&S 5 with no problem. My 10 year old is going through R&S 3 fast and will do 5 right after.
  7. I have Keyboard Town Pals. I really like it and my kids like it, but it ONLY teaches the fingering with a little practice. It does not have drill. Had I known this I would not have bought it, but I am glad that I made that mistake because I actually liked it. Now, my kids have been doing dance mat and Type it for a year (!) and still were hunting and pecking--or looking at their fingers constantly. I have seen marked improvement in finger placement (my kids do their dictation on the computer with me looking over their shoulders). They are not looking at their fingers as they type unless it is something unusual. I think it takes such a slow, methodical, approach that they really understand each finger and know exactly where it is to go. My four year old is learning quite well too, and she is just doing it for fun.
  8. My favorite is www.freerice.com You can get smarter and feed the hungry at the same time. It even has artist study!!!
  9. At least they don't dip and bend like all my spiral bound books. They drive me CRAZY. At least my R&S English books are neat and tidy.:)
  10. My husband has 24 years in the Army (and counting) and I have used Anabaptist materials from time to time. Even though we are military it hasn't bothered me too much. We have internal doubts occasionally about the loyalty to the State in relation to our loyalty (and priority) to God. Having a job as a solider is different than a normal job, but I remind myself that David was a great king and military man and that duty to your country does not mean putting your duty to God on the back burner. That said, we have just discussed their (the Anabaptist/Amish) view on the military as the issue presents itself. My 2 cents: Someone must carry out defense of the country and we keep praying that the leaders will carry out God's will regardless of the leader's personal politics...as is says in Daniel 4: 17b " He rules over all of the kingdoms of men. He gives them to anyone he wants. Sometimes he puts the least important men in charge of them.' We figure that there is a place for the military today as much as in the Old Testament and pray the right things will happen---or He will fix our leader's mistakes.
  11. I would suggest Story Starters by Karen Andreola as it seems to be a great way to get oodles of writing on paper. My kids are loving it. I also would recommend having her write narrations on short stories (like Hans Christian Anderson or Grimms). My kids do much better with writing stories that are easy to narrate. If you want a simple grammar program I would suggest two things: Rod and Staff orally or www.grammarandmore.com . The Hands-on sentences game is really neat. I have this on the back burner for down the road. I go very slowly with R&S (two or three lessson a week) and writing/narration the rest of the week. I suggest dictation every day too, either taken from books or Spelling Wisdom by www.simplycharlottemason.com SW goes all the way through 12th grade and is very thorough.
  12. Are there any other years formatted in this way? I would love that. :)
  13. We use the Charlotte Mason approach with the original CM series. My favorite complimentary resources are the products at www.simplycharlottemason.com . I have used their organizer for over a year now and LOVE it.
  14. So...is it not worthwhile to buy it? I just signed up to buy the Spanish from the co-op. I guess I would like to use it without internet access, but are there any other benefits to owning it?
  15. :iagree: I was an AP, sling wearing, co-sleeping, grain grinding (still am :)) mom, but sometimes an irrational child needs a little jolt to get them out of themselves long enough to see the error of their ways. I would never beat a child. Ever. A small slap on the wrist or bottom is sometimes needed if a meltdown has occured, IMHO.
  16. http://simplycharlottemason.com/timesavers/book-of-centuries/ This is the one I use.
  17. The Lab of Mr. Q by Scott McQuerry? http://www.eequalsmcq.com/ I downloaded the units and saved them on my computer.
  18. I just wanted to pop in here and say that grammar can be taught through reading challenging literature as long as the child is also proficient in copywork and dictation taken from said literature (IMHO). Those two disciplines make the jump from the page to the mind of the child. Later on a dissection of grammar taken from great books will not be a huge leap or a great difficulty and can be done in the course of a year or two. If the child has not done a great deal of copywork and dictation then a traditional grammar program is needed for a longer time (again my opinion only). I was looking at my son's copywork from the other day which was taken from a Rudyard Kipling book. His sentences were veeeery long and complicated. I think exposure to this kind of writing stretches a child's understanding of word usage and grammar more than short, "age appropriate" sentences which illustrate a particular point--say a noun, verb, or prep phrase. For what its worth I love DGP Grammar because it is very short and makes a nice addition for kid who already copy and dictate a lot without adding a whole new class into the mix. So, yes, I think grammar is necessary, but how you get there has many options and doesn't need to be boring or difficult.
  19. :iagree: They are available for the 4 for 3 promotion from Amazon.
  20. I just had to mention how much I love you sig line. I LOVE Persuasion!:)
  21. I have ordered Story Starters by Karen Andreola which is supposed to help guide writing past initial written narrations. It is creative writing, but is intended to get kids over the hump of not wanting to write by providing a motivating format. Once they take off I will worry about style and form. For your children I would suggest a dictation program to get them confident getting words on paper. Dictation has made writing much easier for my 7 and 9 year olds. Two programs I would suggest are Spelling Wisdom and Dictation Day by Day (free through Google books). Also, if you are not doing much copy work I would suggest that as well. I use a timer for copywork. "Start here and give me your very best copying and penmanship until the bell dings..."---it usually amounts to five minutes or so.
  22. I have it and have used it, but to be honest I prefer the free phonics site I posted in another link. It's www.progressivephonics.com There is absolutely nothing wrong with Simply Phonics and it is a very complete program, but my kids liked the colorful little books mentioned above, plus now they have made it free (which is wasn't when I bought it, LOL).
  23. You can also get ILL as a workbook broken up into three different levels from www.livingbookscurriculum.com I personally love Queen's Lanugage Lessons and you can easily go up a level or two if you want it more challenging.
  24. http://www.progressivephonics.com/ I bought this years ago, but am glad it is now available free. Just thought y'all would like to know.:)
  25. I had three little boys once and they can be crazy at times, LOL. I tried to do AO when they were young and it kinda flopped because the books were just too heavy for *my* boys. We went to things like Beatrix Potter and Aesop fables for narrating and simple history story picture books. It was far easier. The habit of attention is the most important thing IMHO. It may only be five minutes before you get the glazed over look, but it does gradually get longer, I promise.;) SCM has some easy, large fonted copy work for free. Otherwise I highly recommend Educational Fontware for creating copywork sheets for little ones. Again, I encourage quality over quantity--and it might only be a letter or two, at first.:)
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