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smarson

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Everything posted by smarson

  1. I second the recommendation on Beautiful Feet. We've done SCM and BF and I much prefer the depth of BF. They've just revised the Early American Elementary book and it looks absolutely amazing!!! (We're wrapping up the old edition but it is also super fantastic!!!)
  2. I think Bookshark Level G is also Ancients? https://www.bookshark.com/level-6/reading-with-history/reading-with-history-6/ Wow, that booklist for Human Odyssey Vol 1 booklist looks fantastic!
  3. We have moved to Apples & Pears after LOE. I just have them take the placement test and place them there. For us, we waited a year or so before starting formal Spelling lessons so they weren't as adept at using what they had learned in LOE. And Apples & Pears combines letters slightly differently but it's not too much of a problem around here. The kids like it, it gets done and that's all that counts, right?! 🙂
  4. Ive been using this Schedule for the Island Level. Some of the pages are different in the newer versions but it’s given me a good idea of how to use the program and all its pieces. I haven’t found anything similar for the Town level but would be interested in seeing it if anyone has one! http://eclectic-homeschool.com/michael-clay-thompson-language-arts-island-level-schedule/
  5. We just finished up the Mysterious Benedict Society (first book) and all my kids are begging for more. We’re currently listening to The Boys on the Boat (young reader adaptation) and they’re really really enoying it - especially that it’s a true story.
  6. For us, those lessons really dragged on. I don’t remember where they got challenging/time-consuming in C but I started just turning on a timer. I do remember thinking they were taking forever but felt like I needed to do an entire lesson each day (until I turned to the timer-method). All this was with my 1st child. Since then I’ve really learned to let go. 😁 I didn’t actually finish D with my 2nd grader because he moved into IEW and grammar with his big sister and because he picked up the reading much quicker than her. It was taking us upwards of an hour/lesson. So I started just doing about 30 minutes and basically splitting the lesson into 2 days. It worked for us.
  7. I’m using LOE Foundations with my third child this year. I love it but I have learned to modify it. With my first child I did it as written, starting in K. The lessons were long(ish) but it wasn’t really a problem for me since she was the only one I was teaching. Once she was in book C or D I realized she needed much more reading practice so when I went through it with my next child, I used what I learned with #1 to teach #2. The second time around I did much more review and skipped a lot of the physical activities. And this 3rd time around we just bust through the lessons. Honestly, it’s my favorite part of the day. I love LOE Foundations and would recommend it to everyone! As for cursive first, read the articles and things other people have said and go with your gut. I went with cursive first since that’s what LOE recommends and we have not had any trouble whatsoever with reading or writing with any of my kids, of which 2 are dyslexic and likely dysgraphic. Around 3rd grade my daughter wanted to switch to manuscript and we’ve settled on a happy medium - for copywork I make them use cursive and for whatever else they may use manuscript (once they get to this age. Before 3rd grade, I try to keep them fully doing cursive) but they have to form their manuscript letters correctly. I’m very particular that they know how to for, their letters correctly so I don’t mind what they use.
  8. 3rd and 5th could both do All Thing Fun and Fascinating, just work at their own levels. They’re fun and they keep the kids engaged.
  9. The handwritingworksheets.com page referenced above can do that. Toy just type it in and the rest of the page will have whatever lines you want.
  10. Codemonkey.com? My kids love it, I think it’s pretty fun too!
  11. This is my 3rd time through Foundations A and I still love it! It probably helps that this kid really wants to learn and is super eager to do school but it worked really well with my older two as well. I’ve done A-D with my 1st, finishing up D with my 2nd (completed all the previous levels) and am now wrapping up a with my K’er. I have learned how to tweak things if necessary, where to add supplemental review, what to skip, etc. I think it’s a fabulous program and I recommend it to everyone. The lessons in D get long and a bit tedious but are still,very much worth it. As for cursive, I did choose to go the cursive route with all three so far and I’m very pleased with the results. They all have wonderful penmanship and the cursive really did help with that b-d confusion. My daughter has now mostly switched to manuscript which I don’t mind. I have her do her copy work in cursive and let her do whatever she wants whenever else she’s writing. I have simply made sure she forms her letters correctly since I never actually taught her how to write manuscript (and not all the letters are formed intuitively). My 2nd still does everything in cursive just to solidify it but I’m sure he’ll want to switch soon enough. I cant say enough good things about this program!
  12. probably software and probably not printer ink. ? Not for the technology part, at least.
  13. Ooh, maybe! That's a good idea! It's a 'technology' stipend so my mind only when to computers, tablets, possibly camera?
  14. If you were allotted $400 to purchase technology item(s) by your charter or alternative school but you already have all the computers and/or tablets you need, what would you purchase? Accessories don't qualify.
  15. I'm using it this year with my 4th grader and so far it's going swimmingly. She's absolutely NOT a natural speller but she read a ton over the summer and last fall she couldn't spell her way out of a box for the life of her! This fall, when I gave her the placement test, she did much better than I anticipated and I credit that ALL to the amount of reading she did over the summer. There's something about them experiencing the words through literature that seems to help them make the turn in spelling. So I'd agree with using it starting in 4th over 3rd. It definitely would NOT have gone well last year with her but so far it's just a quick 5 minutes of our day and we're off to something else. It's beautiful.
  16. I don’t see any TM, only little magazine-like things for an online option of simply $5.49. Maybe I’m missing something? It says the TM is included?
  17. This looks interesting! We have no formal requirements in our state to cover certain topics certain years but both of my parents were public school teachers and they keep asking my daughter what is she’s studying state history this year since that’s what’s covered in 4th grade here in PS. Honestly, I find it incredibly annoying that they just won’t let it go but this may be a good solution to get them off my back about it! Thanks!
  18. One more thing I just wanted to share. I’m. It trying to be rude or insensitive here, it’s just something that is on my heart to share for whatever reason. Take what you like and leave the rest. ?. It might just be that writing is going to be a challenge you both have to take on. I have a friend who has a 13 yo and writing/reading have always been a battle with this specific child. She mostly listens to all her books via LibriVox, audible, etc. My friend will even will record herself reading it aloud for the daughter to listen to later. For writing, they mostly do a text to speech thing where she speaks it into her phone. It’s just something they’ve worked out together and it’s a way they’ve made it for for them. Is it a perfect solution?no way. Is it a solution that will work for every family. No way. But it’s a compromise they’ve found and her daughter is able to continue learning. i pray you’re able to find a workable solution and IEW really is a great program that I feel ALL kids can at least benefit a little from.
  19. It would definitely be worth trying IEW. We’ve only done it one year with my then 3rd grader and I like that it gives them some structure and provides them with the source material so they’re not having to come up with the story themselves. I’d give IEW a call for placement, they’re amazing! This would be a good choice if your kids do well with structure. If they need something a bit more creative and open ended I’d consider Bravewriter but it sounds like IEW would at least be a place to start. You (they) don’t have to do it forever but it lays some good groundwork.
  20. You can do just fine with just the history book. It has teaching instruction within and like staceyobu said, watch or listen to the podcasts for the units you’re on. It’s a really great program!
  21. Thanks @wendyroo! We’ll give that a try!
  22. We’re keeping it pretty basic for k this year. Just LOE and RS A. I’ll add in this as he needs them and of course he’ll be at the table for all of our morning time stuff - history, hymn, read-aloud, shakespeare, etc. I might even let his sister do RS A with him to solidify HER math skills...but we’ll see. He may just want/need an hour of my divided attention on him alone! And I’m okay with that. ?
  23. Spelling is probably our big weakness. For the boys, LOE has them covered, for now. For my daughter, on the other hand, I have an idea but not a curriculum... I’ve been considering adding a spelling curriculum in for her... during the summer I’ve had them reading quietly every day for 45 minutes and plan to continue that. It’s been fun to see the 2nd grader improve so much this summer!
  24. Thats the problem, right? Comparison. I know this covers the basics plus some in our morning time... and I tend to want them to accomplish more than perhaps they’re able so I’m trying to be more realistic this year. Maybe once we get back into our rhythm we’ll find those gaps and fill them with something fantastic. ?
  25. We actually do quite a bit of history reading with TOG so I think I’m set there. I haven’t scheduled any more science than we cover at our co-op mostly because I just haven’t had enough time in the past. I do want to do more nature study; I’ll just have to see how smoothly this year starts out... ?
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