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beka87

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Posts posted by beka87

  1. 14 hours ago, Bkpan8 said:

    I have never used CP and am considering using it for a co-op class that meets once a week with approx. 3-4th graders.  With your experience, can you see that working well?

    How long will you have the children and how many of them are there?  I think you could adapt it to work.  Though you may be able to take the essence of how CP is set up to work and just create your own program that would fit just right into a co-op.

  2. That does seem like a lot.  WWE would have copy work built in, so that's doubled.  Narrations from WWE would kind of double the questions that come with MP Lit....I'd cut back.  My first grader is using MP Phonics and Traditional Spelling right now, with one sentence of copy work in the morning and no formal grammar.  It's plenty.  SOTW also asks for narrations/comprehension questions, so there's more of the same there...I'm not familiar with your science choice,but it seems like LA is pretty heavy in the line up.

  3. Ditto what hollyhock said.  I have wanted a guide to narration as a process over time for, well, forever.  And here it is, in a convenient format, for me to read, re-read, and reference as needed.  I am so glad I bought the book!  It's helped me already in seeing the big picture and how to support/scaffold what we do now to be set up for success in later years.  Rather like The Living Page finally helped me to draw all those keeping activity threads together into a cohesive whole.  It's a worthwhile purchase!

    • Like 1
  4. Would it be a problem if she caught up to/surpassed him in some things?  They needn't worry about grade levels, after all.  He would have his work, she would have hers, and they could have, I would think, lots and lots of combined work (which would be easier for you).  I have two girls that are 22 months apart - so almost two yeas.  But the elder is a young six and the younger is a mature four and I fully expect the younger to catch up to the elder.  I'm looking forward to when I can combine almost everything for the two of them. :)

  5. I am SO excited about fifth grade!  Here's the plan so far:

     

    Morning Time - songs, poetry, and a few good read-alouds.  Shakespeare part of the time. Copy work.  Prayer.

    Spelling - Apples and Pears plus weekly dictation

    Composition and Grammar - Good English: Oral and Written, Harvey's Elementary Grammar and Composition, plus daily written narrations.

    Math - Singapore with Math Mammoth supplementing as needed

    Nature Study

    Picture Study

    Art lessons

    Music lessons

    Ballet lessons (out of the house)

    Content subject books:

      Augustus Caesar's World

      An Island Story (part)

      Haliburton's Book of Marvels (half)

      A Book of Discovery (by Synge, just part)

      The StoryBook of Science (half-ish)

      The Book of Insects (most likely)

      The Golden Fleece

      Understood Betsy

      The Princess and the Goblin

      The LOTR series

      The 13 Moons series (I hope)

     

    She'll be doing lots of Keeping this coming year - a beginning effort at Commonplacing, a Science Notebook, a Geography Notebook, a wall Timeline (or something), a Nature Journal, a Copy Book, and a Writer's Journal.

    • Like 3
  6. Loving this year so far:

     

    All our content books - D'Aulaire's Greek Myths, The Children of Odin, Home Geography Lessons, James Herriot's Treasury for Children, The Thornton Burgess Animal Book, A Little History of the World, Fifty Famous Stories Retold, Of Swords and Sorcerers, Our Island Saints, A First Book About Geology, Stories from the History of Rome, William Shakespeare Landmark Biography

     

    Morning Time reads - The King of Ireland's Son, Beatrix Potter, Bulfinche's Mythology, Mr. Revere and I, My Book House

     

    Shakespeare, using Leon Garfield and Bruce Coville retellings

     

    Poem memorization, using The Harp and Laurel Wreath

     

    Ray's for Today

     

    Cottage Press

     

    First Start Reading

     

    Apples and Pears

     

    I SPEAK LATIN!

     

    Creating Art (Memoria Press)

     

    Picture Study from Cottage Press

     

    Poetry Tea Time

     

    Nature Study - Anna Comstock's book and the journal from Jenny Phillips

     

    music lessons with Mom

     

     

    Doing a good job but not loved:

     

    Singapore Math and Math Mammoth

     

    Prima Latina

     

    online Gaelic resources

     

     

    Really not liked by my eldest and I may just drop it:

     

    The Story of Inventions

  7. I'm already planning for next year, because planning makes me happy! ;)   I will have a 5th grader, 2nd grader, Ker, and 18 month old.  For my second grader, so far:

     

    I SPEAK LATIN and Lingua Angelica

    Ray's for Today or RightStart....not sure which yet

    Cottage Press Primer One (all three volumes)

    English for the Thoughtful Child (book 1 and probably 2)

    continuing phonics with Traditional Spelling/Alpha Phonics/McGuffey Readers

    fluency practice with Dancing Bears

    Art - ARTistic Pursuits

    Muisic - tin whistle, informal appreciation, singing

    PhysEd - classical ballet

    "One Room School House": content subjects with her sisters, requiring narration in some form:

     

    Augustus Caesar's World

    Our Island Story

    Haliburton's Book of Marvels (half)

    Home Geography Lessons (16 - 30)

    The Story Book of Science (half)

    The Book of Insects

    Understood Betsy

    The Princess and the Goblin

    The Lord of the Rings (all four books)

    The Golden Fleece

    The Thirteen Moons series

     

    Plus: poem memorization, weekly poetry tea time, copy work, picture study, and nature study

     

    All subject to change between now and August! :)

    • Like 2
  8. I'd call myself Classical Mason. :)  Plus whatever works.  Here is what my current first grade daughter is doing:

     

    First Start Reading with Alpha Phonics, then Traditional Spelling with Dancing Bears (she is almost ready to switch,Alpha Phonics will stay around as a weekly supplement)

     

    RightStart Math, then Ray's for Today (still deciding if we want to return to RS)

     

    We have Morning Time, copy work every day, and a read-aloud loop as a family.  Morning Time is where she memorizes song and poetry and listens to Shakespeare and such. Copy work is usually taken from something we've read during MT.  Right now this is our Read-Aloud Loop that she listens to, though she doesn't narrate from everything:

     

    Our Island Saints

    Of Swords and Sorcerers (King Arthur) - we just finished this and now going to start The Children of Odin by Padraic Colum

    A First Book About Geology

    The Thortnton Burgess Animal Book for Children (preceded by James Herriot earlier in the year)

    D'Aulaire's Greek Mythology (with HA Rey's The Stars to study constellations)

    A Little History of the World

    Fifty Famous Stories

    Home Geography Lessons (almost done with this year's portion)

     

    As we finish above books we plan to read part of The Story Book of Science and Adam of the Road.

     

    She also participates in weekly nature study/journal, an art lesson, picture study, and poetry tea time.  She hears Latin three times a week at lunch using I SPEAK LATIN!  (highly recommend - it's so much fun!).  I can't seem to fit in regular music lessons, but she has started the tin whistle.  I outsource ballet once a week.

     

    It looks like a lot typed out, but she is never overwhelmed and enjoys the daily feast.

    • Like 1
  9. Math facts are less than five minutes at a time, several days a week.  Singapore math six days a week 20 to 25 minutes (rarely longer) each time, plus any extra time to correct mistakes.  She does that later on when siblings are napping.

     

    Language Arts - five or six days a week, anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes at a time, occasionally longer (doesn'y include spelling), plus a daily written narration.  Sometimes she can write beautiful paragraphs, sometimes not.  :)  It's a work-in-progress.

     

    Science....nature study weekly for 30 to 90 minutes.  Readings from a geology book about twice a week (I read out loud, maybe 10 miutes or so?), with a written narration and sketches, etc, after.  This doesn't include any activities or experiments that go with it.  We also work on astronomy (constellation study) several times a month.

    • Like 1
  10. With constant thinking outside the box....:)  There is no one way and it so depends on what materials you use and what kind of space you all need.  My upstairs is a low-ceiling loft not good for anything but sleeping and storing clothes.  My downstairs is 600 sq. ft.  There are two adults and four kids.  We make it work.  Currently, I have a small dresser that holds a whole bunch of school materials (and the drawers CLOSE....no need to constantly tidy!)  I have one smallish shelf for all the other stuff that I am constantly tidying to help it look decent - it's right next to our dining table.  I have one single shelf up on a wall in the living room that holds the living books we use.  On top of the dresser is a little caddie full of pencils and index cards and glue and all that.  Each kid has a pencil box with color coded supplies.

     

    We all work at the dining table, unless my eldest needs quiet - then she is allowed to sit on the couch in the living room.  She sometimes does work up in her little loft area/room, but is required to do writing at the table so it stays neat.  If she really wants to write and really does not want to sit at the table where other people are working/talking, she can sit at the school desk.  This is one of those wooden, one-piece desk/chair combos that my mil found at a yard sale.  It is shoved in a corner half hidden by the futon in my living room and slightly inconvenient - but it's there and it gets used.

     

    Do we hear each other?  Yes.  Is there (sometimes constant, it seems) reminding that school hours are quiet hours and no one is allowed to interrupt someone else's lesson?  Yes, and yes.  Do we get distracted by the baby and do I bounce (almost literally) back and forth between kid-in-the-living-room, four-year-old-in-the-bathroom, six-year-old-at-the-table, and baby-in-the-play-pen?  Yes.  All day.  It's life in a small space with lots of people - that means lots of organizing and holding the line on things staying organized.  That means rules about our day - and holding the line on those rules.  It also means we are learning to live together in a way we wouldn't if we had a big house and lots of separate spaces.  It means we all enjoy this little baby all day.  And I've really grown to love it despite the challenges. :) You'll figure it out.

    • Like 2
  11. We start as long as  have the next level here and ready.  We school six weeks on and one week off all year, plus some time off for family stuff and for holidays.  They get plenty of time away from their work, so I don't feel a need to stop after each level.  Also - I hate grades, in general.  Just doing math, without ever saying "This is 3rd grade math", leaves everyone mental breathing room to not feel behind (or too proud when one gets ahead).  Math is just....Math.

    • Like 1
  12. Hi, there....Yes, we have stuck with CP and yes, we still love it.

     

    Some of the cons I see listed above never came up with us - the nature study is gentle in Primer 1 and includes extensions in Primer 2 (which I actually skipped because we have our own nature study going), and one could very easily extend it further if one wished.  The copy work was long, but if you read the teacher's manual she suggests five minutes at a time and no more, with the goal of quality over quantity.  In other words, you do NOT HAVE to copy every word of every passage.  Not at all.  Same with dictation.  You're instructed to pick dictation work that will challenge your child but still be doable and work your way up.

     

    The spelling was a perfect reinforcement for what we were already doing.  Vocabulary was great.  My daughter is good at picking up meaning in context, but studying the little vocab list before we'd read really made her think about the words...."Do you know what x means?"  "Yes"  (eyeing her suspiciously)..."Can you tell me what it means?"  And there followed a lot of brain work for her and an occasional trip to the dictionary.

     

    I love the copy work selections.  They've inspired further reading.  I love the narrations selections.  We got to read all of Alice in Wonderland, for example, which probably wouldn't have happened otherwise.  And she loved it.

     

    The grammar is done very well.  I think the level is age appropriate and it is repeated plenty to help with understanding and practice.  The primer series is over for us, which is really very sad, but there are younger siblings on the way and oldest daughter can now start Fable and Song....we're barely into that, but I can update you at some point if you like.  I love it so far. :) 

     

    If you go with CP, DO read the teachers manual thoroughly.  It's not long at all and is really crucial for executing the program the way it was intended to be used.

    • Like 5
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