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tmstranger

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Everything posted by tmstranger

  1. Yes, we use it only for grammar. We've done a few of the writing assignments, but I usually have something else for writing, so I don't want to overtax him. Yes, I correct it and give him a lower score. And if I point it out in a rough draft, he will make the corrections, but I keep waiting for them to stop showing up in the draft at all! Is it a 13yo boy thing? Like they get stupid with puberty and can't think? :) He also does Second Form Latin, so he gets a lot of grammar.
  2. My oldest son has used Rod & Staff for grammar for 2 years now. Just this year, he told me that he "doesn't mind it" and he "thinks he good at it." LOL! I think he finally started to enjoy analyzing sentences and diagramming. He's a very mathy kid, so maybe the cut and dry grammar rules appeal to him...I don't know. Anyway, for next year, I was looking to lessen his grammar load a bit and was considering Fix It Grammar. As mentioned, one reason is to lighten his overall schedule for the year. The other consideration is that all of the grammar knowledge doesn't really transfer to his writing. I was hoping that Fix It may help in getting the grammar to show up in his writing. What do you think? Is that a good way to work through this weakness? Or keep plugging along in R&S since he likes it?? Other suggestions?
  3. A podcast sounds interesting! Thanks, I'll look into it.
  4. Thanks. I've looked at SQUILT before, but always thought my kid would hate it...I'll give it another look. Appreciate the k12 suggestion...never even thought of looking there!
  5. Music instruction is a required subject in my state. My younger son takes guitar lessons, so he's covered, but my oldest doesn't play an instrument. This year, using BYL's year 7 (geography), he explored music by each country. Basically, he looked up some information, listened to samples on youtube, and wrote up a report. In the past, we have used composer studies. What else?? What do you do for music instruction in your homeschool? He will be in 8th grade. Also, I won a gift card to Beautiful Feet Books for $50, so I've looked at their History of Classical Music to fill this need. My gift card doesn't cover much of that! It seems like a lot of money for "music" in my homeschool. Has anyone used this? Can I use pieces of it??
  6. My son used Spanish Now at a tutorial last year. I didn't have much involvement in it, but I've been considering using the 2nd book for the upcoming year...only we're not doing the tutorial, so I need to teach it on my own! It did come with several cd's that I think were for pronunciation. Each chapter would have a theme (like birthday parties or work), and it would start with a story that is written in Spanish. Then, a vocabulary list follows the story, and the activity sections follow that. Again, I wasn't terribly involved, but I remember some of the activities being questions about the story (questions are in Spanish), and the student is to answer them using what he knows in Spanish.
  7. My son did geography/byl7 this year. I completely customized it to fit us, so that is really doable. First, I was only going to do 1/2 of it this year and 1/2 next year, but I changed my plans and decided to get it all in this year. We were also doing a separate history, science, writing, etc., so this was a geography supplement for him. Luckily, my son LOVES to read and really enjoyed 95% of the books, so he didn't complain about the sudden added work. I had him do the geography reading, map drills, continent profiles, religious profiles, and the readers/literature. We did very few (but some!) of the written reports. He did his narrations orally. I read some of the literature aloud, but as the year went on, I wasn't keeping up, so I let him loose on it. I honestly really loved what he covered this year. The spines were good (we did cut a few that were not at our library). The literature/readers were enjoyable, and for the most part, helped to tie in with the geography, culture, or religion being covered. We just finished A Long Walk to Water today as he finished up his weeks on Africa, and it was amazing. Overall, I was very happy. It was easy to change to fit our needs and not too overwhelming at all.
  8. What do you mean by it's the polar opposite? I've looked at the website before, but I generally shy away from online things...just my personality, so I've never gone that deep into the site.
  9. I had forgotten about Tiner. Good idea! We've read the Itch books, and I didn't really like the Disappearing Spoon when I tried it before, but maybe it would go over better now. Are you going to try to line up Tiner with the EM units? How do you plan to integrate that, if you don't mind me asking??
  10. My rising 8th grader has decided that he would like to study chemistry for 8th grade science. (this is completely different from the way I was heading with him, but if he's interested in a topic, I'll give it a chance!) I was looking at NOEO Chemistry 3, which seems to be more aligned with TWTM recommendations, imo. But, then I started looking at Ellen McHenry. I know her products get great reviews from the hive, so I figure that I couldn't go wrong with that. My question is about timing...The Elements says it would take 6-9 weeks. Carbon Chemistry says 11 chapters, but I didn't see a timeframe....so, let's assume 11 weeks. With this, I've only covered half of the year. What do I do the rest of the year? What would you add? We've already done The Brain by her, but I guess she has other books we could use... Any suggestions on how to finish the year? Bonus of NOEO is that it's a full 36 weeks and I don't have to worry about anything else! LOL! Also, these books are appropriate and "enough" for 8th grade?? Age range says up to age 14, so I think we're ok.
  11. I also asked this question a few weeks ago and emailed CAP. I ended up printing off the TOC for LA1 and went through it with my ds. While he has covered many things in the TOC (he's in SFL-just finished unit 2), there is also a lot that would be new. I haven't decided what we're doing yet. He really wants to drop Latin altogether, and I just don't know yet. Switching programs was one my tactics to keep him interested.
  12. I went back and forth on this, too. I finally ended up with OM8 for next year because my son had already read a few of the books in LL8. So, the booklist was the deciding factor for us. I have OM in hand, but I haven't looked through it too closely to give much of a review.
  13. I'm hosting a student from Spain this summer. He's only here for a month, so nothing long-term. We love it! This will be our second summer doing this. He learns more English, and my kids learn more Spanish. A win-win! I think our students go through Interway. There is another organization involved, too, but I don't know how they all work together.
  14. I am using WriteShop1 with my 7th grade reluctant writer. It DOES require teacher time, but it has been working well for him. It is very explicit and has plenty of examples. The teacher guide also has sample essays with examples of 1st draft vs. 2nd draft and the teacher feedback. I love that it gives me plenty of examples of the feedback I can give my son...it keeps me balanced, so I can give him instruction, but also praise. As far as the teacher time, I go over the lesson with him one day. Another day, I'll brainstorm and work with him on a practice paragraph. He has skill builders he can do in the meantime before he starts on his sloppy copy and rough draft. The process has worked well for us, but I do have to make the time to teach. It is short, though! And I think he likes watching me work through the process for my own practice paragraph. It's more like we're working "together" on it.
  15. Because of this thread, I just requested it from my library. I'm looking forward to reading!
  16. Wow! This is exciting! I'm also curious about which pieces everyone actually buys/needs. I thought I had read that the workbook was not necessary. What do you think?
  17. I've discussed many of the issues in the show with my son, but I worry about the graphic nature of it on screen.
  18. So, are you guys letting your kids watch? Many of my Facebook friends are of the opinion that it must be seen by all teens, including my 13yo's friends. These are parents of kids in public school. I watched it, but I don't think my son should see it... at least not at 13. Homeschooling, thankfully, buffers him from much of that.
  19. This is what we're planning for next year, too. We've already read one of the books, and my son hated it, so I'm not making him read it again. Instead, we'll take that time to cover a Shakespeare play. He's excited about the rest of the books on that list, so that will make it fun!
  20. I think my son's aspirations are similar to what Sadie mentioned--pro basketball player, back up plan of video game designer. We've talked a little about which colleges actually offer programs to lead towards game design, but I don't know that his interests will continue in that direction as he matures. So, I think it's a good discussion to have, but I don't think you can pick a specific career goal at this age. For my son, I purchased a web design/programming book for him to work through on his own when he has free time. If he's really interested, he'll put in the time and effort. To me, that is telling in and of itself.
  21. My 7th grader this year was given a list of required books to read. He could read most of those at his own pace. At the end, we discussed them and used questions based off of SWB's notes. He did one Memoria Press guide for one of those assigned books just to have a different, more structured discussion. We are also reading together (well, I read aloud as a family) some of the classics from TWTM book list for this year, so we can discuss those as we go. Beyond that, he has assigned free reading time each day and he reads every night at bedtime. He reads a ton. For 8th grade, we are picking it up a little with more structured work.
  22. Yes, I started that thread. Back in early March, I finally heard back from them about the website. They said it would be up in about a week. Of course, it's not. I did email them again to follow up, but have not heard a response. That was a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure what is going on. The initial email I received made it sound like they were just having problems with their website, but it sounds like more than that.
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