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ValRN

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Posts posted by ValRN

    Has anyone used Dr. Lund (oxford tutorials) for Rhetoric?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Don't get me wrong, we don't dislike Dr. Lund. It's just that his teaching style is not right for my son. I also expected more in the area of writing instruction. In the past couple of weeks, my son and I have appreciated the light assignments. However, I think a high-schooler should write more often to become a better writer. I also think more feedback is needed to help young writers improve on style and content.

    Has anyone used Dr. Lund (oxford tutorials) for Rhetoric?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    I can't speak for the rhetoric class, however my ds is currently taking logic and grammar/composition with Dr. Lund. Neither class demands a lot of time or effort (which I'm sure my do-as-little-as-possible ds appreciates). My son has complained that Dr. Lund's instructions are vague, but that he tells the students that his directions are clear if they've done something slightly different than what he has instructed them to do. I also don't agree with the time frame that Dr. Lund gives for assignments. For example (in writing), he will discuss the assignment very briefly in class on Friday, email the assignment sometime after class on Friday, and then expect the assignment to be turned in (emailed to him) before noon on Wednesday. That's really only a turnaround of two school days. I'm very disappointed with this aspect of the class. Another aspect that I don't like is that the students are expected to study the information and do the assignment BEFORE he actually lectures on the information (this if for logic). My son emailed him once to get clarification on a logic problem and Dr. Lund stated, "Well, we haven't gone over that yet." But if the students are expected to come to class the the work done, how will they get it done if they don't understand it? My ds is also very reluctant to ask questions during class time because my son said that when asked a question, Dr. Lund's tone is as if the students should understand. Now, that's just what my son said, I've never listened to an entire lecture. Writing - the feedback he gives on the assignments is vague, he doesn't assign ENOUGH writing, there is no chance to revise. But...he does grade fairly and honestly. The biggest con is that the lectures are not recorded so if you miss a class, you miss the information.

     

    Although I think that this class has helped my ds in some ways, I don't plan to take future classes with Dr. Lund. Besides that, my son has asked NOT to have Dr. Lund again.

     

    HTH,

    Notgrass History: World, American....equal?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    We have used Notgrass American and we own Notgrass World, though we haven't used it yet. The formats are the same, but I would say that the World History has a slightly easier reading style to it, as well as far fewer extra readings in the supplementary book. I don't see this as a drawback, personally, because it allows me to add in more of my choice of readings and literature. I think the strength of Notgrass is in the supplementary readings; that's what makes it a rich program. It is more "textbooky" than what I was used to using, but we used it when my dd requested something more textbooky and I was very pleased. The source documents and extra literature (i.e. short stories, poems, hymns, etc) in the extra reading made for a well-rounded look at American history. It's very easy to add in music from the periods, documentaries, films, etc.

     

    Hope this helps!

     

    Alphabetika - This is helpful information. Do you think the the reading in the World history would be too easy/elementary for a 10th grader?

    Notgrass History: World, American....equal?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    I've read so many positive reviews about Notgrass American History that I've decided to use if for ds when we study American History. However, next year we will study world history.

     

    I am wondering if Notgrass world history is as well-reviewed as their American history. I've been looking at the website and the format seems to be the same for each course. Does the world history read the same way the American history does? Are there any drawbacks to the world history?

    Williamsburg/DC itinerary question - we got into the White House tour!

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    CarolW - I'm near Waldorf too. Your first name and last initial are the same as a someone I know....who's daughter is friends with my daughter. Are you in Charlotte Hall?

     

    Oh, and I agree, the White House tour is not earth-shattering....that is unless Barack or Michelle decide to greet people. Michelle did this unexpectedly a couple of weeks ago. It takes me an hour and a half to get to DC from where I live (44 miles from DC) during the pm rush hour. I'm assuming the the AM rush hour is worse.

    Teaching academic and organizational skills to your logic stage student

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    This is a great thread...

    Oh, ya color coding really helped too. Each class has a different color: so the assignment sheet, divider and Cornell notes paper are all the same color for each class.

     

    OK....so how do you do this color coding thing? Do you buy colored printer paper and colored dividers and coordinate them? Does printer paper come in enough different colors to even do this? Please forgive me if this is a silly question.

    Grade 8 - Geography as a "full" course - not doing history-what to use?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Geography: The World and Its People (Glencoe McGraw Hill). I bought the used editions of the teacher's text' date=' the student text and the workbook online for very reasonable prices.

     

    TM: ISBN 0-02-823292-5

    Student Text: 0-02-823291-2

    Workbook: 0-07-824978-3

     

    There are nine units/27 chapters.

     

    hth

    K[/quote']

     

    NicksMama,

    I've searched and searched and can not find the student text anywhere online. I searched by the title and the ISBN - no luck. Can you point me in the right direction?

    Biblioplan users-why did you choose this over TOG?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I've never used BP. I did use TOG when dc were in 6th, 3rd, and K (now in 9th, 6th, and 3rd, so it was an older version).

     

    I thought it was great. However, it was TOO much for me. The teacher notes were overwhelming. The reading was overwhelming (but my kids loved most of the literature). Weekly trips to the library, even though it was within walking distance, was too time consuming. The cost was high, but the thought of being able to resale it was redeeming (very disappointed when I got less than half of what I paid for it). The planning was time consuming.

     

    I was generally pleased with the content of ToG. We left it after one year. It was very hard to sell. I actually had it for two or three years before anyone was interested.

    Which texts do you use for history spines?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Sharon, I'm considering using Spielvogel Western Civ. for ds history next year. Will you share which TC lectures you used?

     

    For my son's high school history program, we used BJUP for 9th grade for world Geography. It was easy to use, well planned out and thorough. It is Christian-Evangelical in content and at times a bit heavy handed on the missions emphasis in my opinion (and I consider myself to be an evangelical). BUt...it is really easy to skip over the parts that you feel are over the top, should that need arise.

     

    For 10th grade we skipped social studies all together because ds really doesn't like most history type stuff.

     

    For 11th we did American History. We used Notgrass American History for the History portion only with a heavy addition of Teaching Company videos, which I will happily share if you are interested. We originally thought we would use Notgrass for the AM Lit side as well, but had the opportunity to sit in a homeschool class academy class that was doing AM Lit so we went with that instead.

     

    For senior year ds wanted to do Ancients for 1 semester and ren/ref for the second. So we used Spielvogel for the spine and married it up with The Teaching Co video lectures that matched up....again I'll share if you would like.

     

    Doing it on your own is not as hard as it may seem. My son loved the Teaching Co.Vids...I thought that he would find college level lectures boring but he actually liked them. They were a great answer for us.

     

    HTH

    Sharon

    Listening to music while working-allow or not?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Thank you, everyone, for your suggestions. :grouphug:

     

    This week I will try allowing him to listen (with headphones) to music WITHOUT lyrics and working downstairs in a room next to the rest of us. I'll let you know how it goes. I have tried a timer with ds and it did not work. He becomes too stressed out and can't do his work. However, I may throw a timer into the mix next week simply so that he'll have an idea of how much time has passed.

    Listening to music while working-allow or not?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Jann-thank you for your reply. I will try your suggestion ("tomato stake him and allow headphones and nonlyrical music this week). However, I'm not sure we need to pull back. I think your workload is more than fair. I would like for him to stretch himself instead of us shrinking our expectations.

     

    He doesn't have as heavy of a courseload as he did first semester. The first couple of weeks of the second semester, he was working very diligently and finishing his school day way ahead of everyone else. I don't remember if he used headphones or not during that time, but I do know that he was working downstairs with us.

     

    The feeling I'm getting from most moms is that he IS just a normal teenage boy. But I want to know.....will he grow out of it? Is there hope for him finishing the SAT/ACT in a timely manner? :001_smile:

     

    KathyBC - It's always math with my son also. I've tried the physical presence with my son too and it seems to irritate him that I'm there. Maybe a "less" physical presence is needed. I will try anything at this point.

     

    KSVA- Children learn differently don't they. I'm still trying to figure mine out. It could be the music DOES help him and that we just need to figure out what type of music. I'm beginning to think too that he needs to be in the same room as the rest of us. This week I'm going to try Jann's suggestions and I'll update.

     

    Thank you everyone for your responses. You all have been a blessing to my family's homeschooling adventure.

    Listening to music while working-allow or not?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    The work is not difficult for him, so it has to be that he's wasting time. I've tried giving him time limits. It's never worked. He has never been able to complete an assignment in the amount of time that my husband and I have set. It seems as though he gets stressed out if we say, "You need to complete this assignment by _____."

     

    I just don't know where to go from here. I was thinking Sylvan Learning Center over the summer so he can learn some concentration/organization skills.

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