[Science for 2nd & K (and Art)]

This isn't a curriculum, but just a bunch of cool experiments using stuff around the house-"365 Simple Science Experiments" We use it as something fun to do when we haven't gotten to our science book for awhile (which happens more than I'd like). It's sorted into chapters like Weather, Dirt, Magnets, things like that, so you could possibly make some sort of curriculum out of it by adding a few books on the subject from the library or something. (There's also a 2nd book-More 365 Simple Science experiments).

[Reading Detectives vs Evan-Moor Reading Comp]

I've used Evan Moor's Daily Reading comprehension, and didn't really care for it. The questions were stupid, almost like: The apple was red. What color was the apple? Except, their questions are almost all multiple choice, and don't really get into analyzing the story, just straightforward questions. Granted I used, and looked at the younger grades, but Reading Detective (I only looked at the samples, though) seems more engaging and useful. More thinking to it.

I really like it Reading Detective-- I may have to try it.

[Laptop needed. Any recommendations??]

Had a horrible experience with Asus customer service (took 3 months to send me a replacement power cord and it wasn't even the correct one, another 3 months to give me back my money, and was still waiting for a power cord to be found in their warehouse to be sent to me). And an awesome experience with Dell customer service rebuilding my computer after a virus. All within the past year.

In our household, a cheap/basic dell or lenovo have lasted the longest even through years of kid use.

[Heroes and Heroines of the Past (vs America the Beautiful)]

I agree. I have an 8 and 5 year old boys, and it's a little too much for them, not sure exactly why, but it didn't hold their interest. However, it's a great curriculum, a lot like SOTW, in that there's a reading and some projects, and I think some suggested books. I'm really happy with it, I just need to wait for my kids to catch up. Maybe next year, they'll both be ready for it.

[Types of Copywork]

So I'm looking at all sorts of free copywork online and there seem to be 2 different types. The type where you actually copy the dots to make the letters and the type where the work is written at the top and you re-write it on lines on the rest of the paper. What is the purpose of each? I mean, what do kids learn by doing one over the other? Or is it a progression and depends on age/ability? All the worksheet making sites (startwrite, worksheet works, etc.) seem to do the dotted letter version, but not sure why.

 

Thanks!

[Anyone use AAS with only TM?]

I'm on level 2 with my 3rd grader, and I'd have to say that Yes, you could use only the TM to show you what to teach. It would take a little more prep work from you, the teacher, to find alternatives to the "flashcards". Meaning, to just write things down in the notebook. And the magnetic letters really are superfluous, I started without them because a friend mentioned she had them but didn't use them once she really got going. But I found that my boys love using them, so got a version of them. But the real meat-what to teach and do, is all in the TM. 

[Handwriting Practice for 3rd grader]

My son is in 3rd grade this year and we started off learning the strokes and letters of cursive. He's just not getting it. The strokes are choppy, there is very little curve. So, we decided to head back to practicing his printing.

 

Which really needs practice! When he prints, he still uses mostly upper case letters, they are largeish (about half inch tall) and choppy (the middle bar of the capital i goes beyond the top and bottom lines). And when he's confined to lines, the letters don't stay where they are supposed to be on those lines unless he's really focusing on just that (such as a lower case "a" being either too small inside the lines or too big and bulging out of it's "spot". We're still using the Kindergarten lined paper (the larger spaces).

 

I've been scouring the web and found what looks like 3 different ideas 1. write in sand, shaving cream, etc. 2. tracing copywork/handwriting pages. 3. copywork pages where it's written out and the child copys it onto the lines below. I'd rather not get a whole curriculum, just practice pages.

 

Where do I go from here? Do I mix all three things up within a week? Start at one then progress onto the others? 

 

I realize most of the issue is him not getting enough practice, so that's what we're going to work on the rest of the school year. But where to start?

 

Thanks, Ali

 

 

[Abacus use video?]

We have the Melissa and Doug one. I used a black sharpie to draw a line around the middle of 5, to differentiate them. Also a white-out brush (you know, like to erase/cover up typing or ink) to do the same on the dark ones.

 

 

[What German curric/resources for 4 yr old?]

Little Pim videos are fun. Amazon prime has some, or your library might have them.

 

My library also has Muzzy videos, but I found the a little difficult to understand the pronunciation in those.

 

 

[Legends & Leagues West ~ review!]

Thank you! I was just looking at this. What's the difference between the East series (N, S, E, W) and the original plain Legends and Leagues? 

 

[Liberty Kids DVD complete series]

What age are your kids who watch this? Because I checked it out from the library, and it seems totally scarry for my 5 & sensitive 8 year old.

Thanks.

[Picture books featuring different landforms]

Here are some suggestions I found on book lists-though I haven't read them yet. (but I like that Idea, and might do that as we're using that book this year, too).

 

Volcano: Village of round and square houses by Grifalconi(a village on the side of a volcano)

          Gopher to the rescue by Jennings (gophers' tunnels help an erupted volcano recover with new life)

 

[Picture books featuring different landforms]

Here are some suggestions I found on book lists-though I haven't read them yet. (but I like that Idea, and might do that as we're using that book this year, too).

 

Volcano: Village of round and square houses by Grifalconi(a village on the side of a volcano)

          Gopher to the rescue by Jennings (gophers' tunnels help an erupted volcano recover with new life)

          Hill of Fire by Lewis (birth of a volcano in a mexican farmers' field)

 

 

[Robotics science]

Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but Robotis (previously known as Ollo) are great. I haven't used them yet, but have my eye on them for the near future. 

The most information I've found on them is at timberdoodle.com, but robotis has it's own website. It sounds like the "Dream" series is the starter set. 

[Rosetta Stone 1 Homeschool ed.]

I just installed Rosetta Stone German 1 in preparation for the coming school year. It's not the homeschool edition, so this might be different. But for the younger ages, you would choose just the speaking and listening setting (as opposed to speaking, listening, reading and writing). From what I've done myself in checking things out, with this setting, you just repeat things you've learned or move the mouse and click to certain things it tells you. It does also show the words, but doesn't require reading it as they say it for the user. Hopefully this makes sense.

 

So yes, this would work fine for 1st/2nd grade. However, if you WANT them to do the writing, I don't know how that would relate to a not so strong writer, I've just chosen to go without, probably for a few years (since my upcoming 3rd grader is not up to age level in writing either). 

[Help me decide between DEL and CTC materials :)]

We used DEL for both my boys, but mostly as busywork as by the time I did them (age 5, K), most activities were too easy. I would suggest those for more 4 year olds. I do like the Visual Perception skills books for this age, I assume you've looked at the sample pages on their website. Having used both of these, I would choose the Visual perception over DEL. This book has them picking shapes out of other lines (focus) and remembering which symbol you're trying to find in amongst similar symbols, as well as filling in lines with their eyes where there are none. Overall, I enjoyed doing these with my kids as much as they enjoyed doing them.

 

And I looked at the Thinking and Key concepts book, and my caution there is it seems to be all over the board-kind of like a multi subject book. My experience with this is these complete Kindergarten skills books start with colors and shapes (which most kindergarteners already know well) and goes to writing/tracing words (which most kindergarteners aren't ready for). 

But the Building Thinking Skills books are good. We stopped after the preschool books, so I can't speak to the Kindergarten ones, but my kids liked them.

 

 

[me: MM ds: NO]

Thanks all, I'll look into BA seriously. But thanks for your tips on MM, Syllieann! I should have thought of doing the reviews at the end to see if he already knew the stuff. Instead, I had him do half or less of each section problems depending on how much he knew. I'll try that as we work a little longer this school year. I'll also test him on the end of the year test and see how he does sometime in the near future. Thanks so much.

[me: MM ds: NO]

I finally found the math I like-Math Mammoth. DS doesn't. (we've done Singapore, Miquon, Mathematical Reasoning, Daily word problems, some Evan More Basic Math Skills)

 

We started 2nd grade MM worktext A in January, and are working through the summer to complete both A & B of 2nd grade so we can move on to 3rd in the fall.

 

However, ds8 has been dragging his feet for the last few months saying can we just skip math today? etc. I don't have him do every problem, and we stop as soon as I'm sure he "gets" the concept. He's very strong on the word problems and actually seems to enjoy them (we do them orally). So, we had a conversation today about why he doesn't like math. He doesn't want to do math every day (that's semi non-negotiable meaning we will do math 4 days/week) we've skipped a full day before just to see what happens. Well, the following day it starts again. "I don't want to do math today? Can we just skip it?" He wants a "funner math" (meaning not something he has to take time to do much with).

 

So basically, he's good at math, but doesn't want to take the time to learn and do it. We do 1 lesson a day which takes 10-15 min since we don't do every problem. 

 

My question is in planning for next year: Do I plan to do MM 3 and just explain that sometimes we have to do things we don't like, while adding in some "fun" math games and such? Or do I start exploring other math curriculums, and what? He might like Teaching Textbooks because it's on the computer, but I've heard it's not as up to grade level as I'd like. I'm trying to figure out Khan, but it's confusing. What else might fit the bill?

 

I so LOVE MM as I thought I'd finally found what I was looking for, but I guess it might not be if DS starts to dislike math because of it.

Thanks.

[2nd grader does copywork SLOW]

Thank you all for the great suggestions! I will start implementing them today.

[2nd grader does copywork SLOW]

We recently switched to copywork from a handwriting book for my 2nd grade son. He's only recently begun reading comfortably and even though his hand strength is fine for writing, he needs extra motivation to write more. So, we switched (his idea) so that he can write things he's interested in. 

 

However, he goes letter by letter--look at the letter, write it, go back to the book and find where he's at, then move onto the next letter. Even simple words he knows like "the" or "is" which he can spell just fine verbally or when taking dictation (though we've just started this as well). 

 

I tried challenging him to do 2 at a time, but that turned into me reading the letters to him and him writing them down-dictation rather than copywork. 

 

Not sure if I just let him go at his own slow pace and eventually he'll figure it out, of if I need to do something to encourage or challenge him to go faster. Or just practice more dictation so he gets comfortable writing all kinds of words.

 

Thanks

[Using the library]

Our local library is great-I can reserve books online and pick them up when they come in.

 

However, using the library for school has been a little more frustrating. I have to look ahead a few weeks, guessing where we'll be by then, put a bunch on hold. One time only half come in by the time I need them, so the next time, I put more on hold, only that time, the majority come in by then, so then I have a huge stack of books. Not a bad thing, generally, but some aren't age appropriate, some aren't what I'm looking for. It's a hassle. Then I've got all sorts of subjects that can be supplemented with living books-history, geography (states), science, etc. 

So, I'm thinking there should be a better way. Maybe do a mini unit study with just library books? So, think of a theme (or person), and put a bunch of books on hold about it, then just read what's applicable. Maybe choosing something we've recently studied? Is it ok to do the living books after we've moved past that particular area of study?  

 

I should mention I have younger kids (2nd grade and 4 yrs). 

 

Anyone have a method that works for them to use library books for learning in a hassle-free, fun way?

 

Thanks

[Zang Multiplication Game instructions?]

Hi, I got Zang Multiplication Game at my used homeschool store, but can't find the instructions online. I tried using the Speed! Multiplication rules with it, but it doesn't have enough cards for that. 

Anyone have this who can give me a short summary of the rules?
Thanks!

[American History Books K-3]

We're trying "Heroes and Heorines of the Past" by Amy PUetz (amypuetz.com). It's rather expensive but I've found it very SOTW-like. And there are activities included a well as other supplemental stuff.

[easier but like The Hobbit]

Thanks!

I'd say he's about at the Mercy Watson reading level, though he hasn't been motivated to read anything by himself except picture books.

[easier but like The Hobbit]

My 2nd grade son really, really wants to read The Hobbit, but he's not a strong enough reader for that yet. We'll use it as a read aloud for now, but do you have any suggestions for books LIKE The Hobbit, but easier? Thanks!