Meadowlark
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Posts posted by Meadowlark
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Do you know you can buy just the First Form Latin lesson plans from MP?
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I did the first level years ago with my 1st and 2nd graders I believe. None of us really liked it. I didn't like the scripting (and I generally do appreciate scripting). It felt very contrived, simplistic, and just boring to us. And, years later, I can say that my kids remember just about nothing from it.
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This is an interesting thread and one that I have thought about over and over again. Do you go with novel studies-something like Progeny or the fabulous Memoria Press guides? Or, do you go with a workbook type thing that is fairly independent such as CLE, or do you go with a "schoolish" resource with a great variety of reading, like Mosdos or even something like BJU which also looks very rich. I just can't decide! I know that *I* personally appreciate a little variety. So, I would probably like to teach a little bit of each, but that's not financially doable. All of this to say, I'm following.
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On 5/18/2019 at 8:54 AM, DiannaKennedy said:
Ah! I didn't know Ivy was part of a series. Thank you! Birthday gift idea!
Me too! My 6 yr. old Ivy is going to LOVE this!
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Can someone elaborate a bit on Mr. D? I have honestly never heard of it, which worries me a bit because I've been looking around for awhile. Is it crystal clear? How hands off are you? Is it engaging? Is the video quality good? Is the homework pretty independent?
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What are some really good ones? I'm up for either live or recorded. I just need to know that it's going to do a thorough job of teaching as my strength is NOT math. I also would like high quality video. Thank you.
ETA: Probably not Teaching Textbooks, thanks.
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21 minutes ago, maize said:
Wanting friends is understandable. What opportunities for making friends are there locally? Are there kids in the neighborhood? At church if you have one? Scouts? Does he like sports? Do you have a local homeschool facebook group or some such where you could find parents with other kids his age to get together regularly? Someone near us has started a live action role playing game group so their child could have a group to spend time together with. I know you have littles and that can make it hard to create a group but even just getting together with a handful of families every week for a structured activity of some sort followed by playtime could maybe fill some of his social needs.
I know 😞 It's the one thing about homeschooling that I've never felt good about, or done well with. We have 1 boy in our neighborhood-that's it. Our church is huge and the youth group starts in 7th grade. The only thing i know I could offer him would be the opportunity to play sports at this middle school that we aren't fond of. I know I have to make some concessions somewhere, so this could be it. In my state, we can dual-enroll-meaning he could play sports or participate in after school activities. When I threw that out to him, still wasn't enough. Our homeschooling group doesn't have many kids his age. It's a struggle honestly and one of the reasons that I put my older kids in school 2 years ago.
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1 hour ago, EKS said:
Is the terrible reputation due to something the school does (or does not do) or to the student population?
Low test scores do not equate to a bad school.
It's a little of both. Poor leadership ( I know, because I taught for the principal 10 years ago!), a HUGE teacher turnover (because of the principal I heard), and the student population. As for what the school does-I think there are actually some positives here. They get funding for extra activities because of the population, so they're able to offer some neat after school activities. One huge drawback to me is that kids can carry cell phones everywhere, including lunch. I talked to the asst. principal and he actually said "we have less behavior problems now that we allow phones". Well, duh. That was a total dealbreaker to me. All I could imagine was a lunch room full of kids staring down at their phones at God knows what.
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4 minutes ago, PeterPan said:
If you can figure out *why* the dc objects to homeschooling, you could use the money you would have used for the private school to pay for something that would make homeschooling work better. There are paid online, dvd, etc. homeschooling services, programs that are high structure. Some have online social components to them also, like the BJU online.
He told me it's because he wouldn't have friends. Unfortunately, this is just not a school issue. He struggles. It's something about trying too hard, not being very outgoing, and always seeming to say the wrong thing around people. In contrast, his older brother gets along wonderfully with just about anything that breathes. It makes for a stressful, often times conflicting home environment. He's been in school for the past 2 years, but was homeschooled before that. Now, nothing horrible has happened and he's generally fairly happy. But every now and then, I can tell that someone is making fun of him, not including him in groups/games, etc. It's heartbreaking. He's a great kid with a sensitive heart, but he just has a hard time socially. There's also a jealousy issue with his brother so that's another bummer that his brother gets to go, and he doesn't. For no fault of his-just that the stupid district thinks that kids on their screens all day is the next best thing since sliced bread.
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1 hour ago, Noreen Claire said:
Have you ever visited the public school? Before ruling it out completely, you should ask for a tour and check it out yourselves, rather than relying on other people's scary anecdotes. (I went to a private school that was extremely well-regarded, I could tell you stories that would make your hair curl.)
Usually, I would have the same thought-don't judge until you've been there. The thing is, this school is in the paper a lot. And, I taught in that part of town and can tell you just how scary it is from firsthand knowledge. Drugs, gangs..it was closed this year due to a shooting scare. This particular kid is also a kid that tends to gravitate towards the not so great kids because he really needs to be accepted. My fear is that he would go right toward them.
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2 hours ago, daijobu said:
I just read about Summit Learning in the NY Times here. Not good.
Your DH wants this?
No, neither of us want it. But that's the problem. I have one son there already (in the "traditional" track). The only other option is the public school which has a terrible reputation.
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3 hours ago, mlktwins said:
I just quickly glanced at the website for Summit Learning, but I'm wondering if they only have to do this for 6th grade? And, if so, is it something your current 5th grader can deal with for a year (with maybe afterschooling that year) to get through to 7th grade and not have to deal with Summit Learning after that?
No-he would have to do it for 6th, 7th and 8th. Then, switch back to whatever the public high school is doing because we can't afford the private HS that this one feeds into.
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It happened. Some of you may remember me posting about this before, so bear with me.
So, my 6th grader is at a private school and doing well. Really well. The plan was, to put my 5th grader there next year.
However, they just announced that the whole 6th grade has to do Summit Learning (aka personalized learning). They have been dabbling in this for a few years (and I've written a few posts on it) but I really never thought that they would totally switch to it, thus excluding many families. It is simply not an option for us due to many months of research, talking to people, and prayer. If you want to know more about it, google 'Summit Learning' out of CA.
The only other option is the public school-which my husband says is a hard no. It's in a bad part of town and I've heard scary things about it. There are no other options-no charters, no Christian schools, no other schools remotely around us.
It's down to 3 choices-private school with this new learning method that we are 100% against, the scary public school, or....homeschooling (which he doesn't want to do).
My other son has been grandfathered in, so he can still attend next year without this personalized learning. And, like I said-he's thriving there.
But, how can I tell one child he can go to school, and tell the other child he cannot? I am absolutely miserable trying to make this decision. I think we know in our heart that he should stay home, but he is absolutely not on board and I know how hard that would be.
Thoughts welcome. Thank you.
So...newest update as of 6/25. This just keeps getting more bizarre. So, I thought it was a done deal. They sent out a survey and said that out of 100 incoming 6th grade families, only 20 wanted traditional learning. Just that fact alone makes me crazy. Can you imagine 80 parents wanting their kids learning from a screen for the 4 main content subjects? Anyway...
I got another email a week ago from the principal. He said they are reconsidering adding a traditional classroom if they can get 17 families. The whole district is in an uproar. Facebook debates, tears, drama, newspaper getting involved. So far, we're only up to 9 so there's little hope. I guess I will be looking at 6th and 7th curriculum in the next few weeks!
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I recently read a comment here where someone stated that nearly half the state of Texas homeschooled. I got to thinking...why is that? Beyond the obvious border state thing, why would that be?
I am here in a 60,000 size city in the Midwest, and there aren't very many homeschoolers nor any coops or anything organized. It's dismal actually. But, across the Mississippi, in a very small town, there is a HUGE homeschooling group that does amazing things. Just 40 minutes away it's like a different world.
So, why? Why the huge variation?
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You all have convinced me to probably not do this. All of the comments about it's dark, cold, minimal natural light...ring true here. Heck, they don't even want to play down there so doing school down there would be a struggle. I guess I'm just envious of those of you who can put up posters and have a designated space. I will ask them where they'd like to work and take it from there. Thanks!
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I'm *really* hesitant to do this because we tried to make a bedroom down there a homeschool room, and it was an epic failure. So, lots of work, money and waste for nothing. Since then (8) years ago, we've been doing school upstairs at the kitchen table. It's obviously not ideal having the carts in the kitchen, but it's not too bad since it's a big space. But, there's no room at all for posters or a timeline or anything. I may (praying for discernment) pull my older 2 kids out of school and I think at that age, I should give them a desk and a space to spread out their stuff. But, our basement is kind of cold, and rather uninviting at the moment. We'd have to get new carpet and paint for sure. So in other words, another big investment. Plus, there's just an advantage to starting lunch up here, loading the dishwasher, etc. Would a basement homeschool room work? Tell me your success or failure.
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I totally remember! I gave birth to number 6 when I was 2 weeks shy of 40. It was TOUGH. My body felt like it was 80 years old. Yes, birth cured it.
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Can I ask all of you MP users a question?
How did you decide Geography 2 vs. 1? Did you already do 1 or does it make sense to start at 2 because 1 is for Roman history?
Same question with the Famous Men books...which makes the most sense to start with?
And..do you think it would be beneficial to start FF Latin with a kid most likely going to high school?
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15 minutes ago, Paradox5 said:
Having done both, I can say some years of DLO are awesome and others (like 5th) are a nightmare! It all depends on who is doing the teaching. My advice is not to switch.
Would you mind elaborating on which grades of BJU DL are a nightmare? We're moving along nicely with CLE but one of mine might benefit from something else...
Which grades/teachers do you not like, and why? It's a lot of money and I don't want to make a potential mistake!
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I honestly think you should choose what program *you* want to teach. They are both good, they will both do the job.
For me, AAR totally works with my personality. It's just the complete package and I do not feel at all that it's too many moving parts. In fact, quite the opposite. I feel like it's the easiest, least stressful curriculum that I'm doing right now. I have taught 5 kids to read with AAR, and I love it. And not just read, LOVE to read and my oldest boys consistently score 99% on state tests, and always have. There is something about seeing it, manipulating those tiles (or the app-which is amazing), seeing the flashcards, doing the little games, the fluency (it works) and the gorgeous, cute readers-jealous they're now in color! It's just all there. Cut out the activities, put them in a page protector, and you will never do a single thing to prep again. I just pull out the binder, the cards, the teach manual and go. 5 seconds tops. And, yes, you can speed up or slow down depending on your kid. Sure, there are some lessons that are easy. We welcome those. The ones that are hard we split into 2 days-you just do what works for you. But this program words, hands down.
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Have you looked at Memoria Press? It's not scheduled every day and I think they study Trees in 6th, but you could do Birds too if that is of more interest. It definitely wouldn't be overhwleming and she would really come out of it knowing a whole lot about the subject. MP is great at depth-if there's a topic she'd be interested in.
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Can I ask why you think your daughter didn't learn anything with the DL? Why haven't you had luck with the math DL? I don't know anything about Saxon but have you considered CLE? I've heard it's spiral like Saxon but just more tolerable. No videos though.
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It seems there are quite a bit of you from what I'm reading on the posts! First, congrats on making a great decision! You are in for quite a ride that will not be without challenges, but also will have the richest rewards too.
Just a few questions-can I ask....
1. What was the main deciding factor that led you to make this decision?
2. Are your kids on board? Anybody have kids who are not excited about the idea?
3. How is your family reacting?
4. If your kids are not on board, will you pull them anyway?
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Just wanted to add that we're using MP lit guides too. I've only ever held 2nd and 3rd grade in my hands, but wow-they are pretty great. i only had my other children read and they did fine, so I definitely don't think they're necessary. However-it's like being fine with vanilla ice cream until one day you taste a sundae and you realize how much more you just like ice cream! The guides we've done (currently on Beatrice Potter) are just 1) helping with vocabulary and 2) just enriching the book. I truly think my kids will look back on the books we've studied and remember them fondly. It hasn't squashed any desire to read either. They know that they do the guides with the book we're currently working on, then they read whatever they want in their free time. Looking at the book list-if my kids read every single one of the books chosen-just wow, they will have had some stellar book studies!
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Bju 6 to pre algebra
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
Can I ask why you want to switch? I've asked this on the FB page and the answers I got satisfied me. The 7th grade Fundamentals was described as being very solid, kind of like a K-6 wrap up. People have said that it's very well done (incl the DL) . Someone even said that the brain can't really even do prealgbra before 8th grade anyway, so why push it earlier.