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chellesnead

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Everything posted by chellesnead

  1. Oh, I really like this, and it's written to the student! It might even be exactly what I'm looking for...except that it's not all of world history in a year. But, that may be too much to ask for. 🙂
  2. I have 4 kids with very different strengths and weaknesses and am hitting a roadblock planning history next year for my 7th grader. She is a great reader and would like a history curriculum next year that is based on living books. She will need to do this primarily on her own as my time needs to focus on my kids' weaknesses, and this is a strength for her. We did Sonlight for many years as a family, but because of other commitments no longer do that. I do not want to just hand her a Sonlight core and say, "Go for it." I'm looking for something a little lighter than that. I am hoping for something I don't have to create myself, and hopefully someone here can point me in the right direction. My preference would be world history (though I'm open to American history...we have just done that more recently) with some sort of spine, some books she reads in chronological order along with the spine, and some sort of written work to go with it. She flies through books, and I want to make sure she is processing what she reads and remembering some dates, people, places, etc. If I had to buy today I'd probably choose a volume of Mystery of History and use some novels with it. What I don't like is that it would only be 1/4 of world history, and I'd rather have something a little more broad that she could go through all of time in only a year. I know..I'm asking for a lot. Does anyone have any brilliant ideas? She did a geography course through The Potter's School this year and will likely be doing an Ancient History course her 8th grade year. There was not a good fit for a class for her this year. So, really I'm looking for something that uses her strengths and can be done in a year. Thank you for any suggestions, even if not exactly what I'm looking for. 🙂
  3. We don't skip problems. I put the link and recommended that the poster read it, as there is far more good information at that link than I could post here. As I tried to decide whether or not to continue with Saxon as my daughter was complaining about how long the lessons took, I found invaluable information at Art Reed's site that helped me understand what she needed to do and did not need to do as well as the rational behind it. This is a great link for why NOT to skip any of the problem set -- the July 2015 entry. http://mail.teachingwithsaxon.com/newsletterpage-2015.php#0615 This is a great link for when and why you can skip the the warm-up box and some of the practice problems -- the February 2016 entry. http://mail.teachingwithsaxon.com/newsletterpage-2016.php#0216 I highly recommend taking the time to read through his newsletters for anyone using Saxon. There was so much wonderful information that helped me understand how Saxon is written and why. Additionally, for my daughter who does very well with math, the videos have absolutely been worth the 5-10 minutes a day, and I highly recommend them in addition to the text. In addition to what Hunter said, the extra practice at the back of the book is fantastic when you do need to slow down and give extra review for a concept. It may mean you don't finish the book in a year, but your child will master the math.
  4. Actually, I'm going to disagree. My daughter has used the Art Reed DVD's in addition to the 7/6 textbook. The videos are 5-10 minutes and she reads the full lesson. Art Reed gives lots of tips to help the student solve the problems. My daughter loves the videos and is doing fantastic with math this year. She's constantly mentioning things that Mr. Reed has taught her that are helpful. I also spent a lot of time reading through his site and got lots of helpful tips for how to use Saxon in a homeschool environment (what you can skip and not skip and why). http://www.homeschoolwithsaxon.com/ My 2 cents. :)
  5. While I haven't used this yet, I've signed my 5th and 6th graders up for writing classes with The Potter's School for next school year. TPS came highly recommended by several friends, so I finally looked into it for writing as I'm struggling in teaching it well. There is not a 4th grade writing class, but it would be worth looking into for your 6th grader. It meets live once a week for an hour and a half and there are 4-5 hours of outside homework a week.
  6. How old is your older child? At this point, Vocabulary with Classical Roots seems closest to what I'm looking for.
  7. I have used and loved CLE for LA this year, but my upcoming 5th and 6th graders will be doing an online writing class that has a strong grammar emphasis as well, so now I'm faced with a curriculum change I wasn't expecting. Since their grammar will be covered through their online class, I've got a gap now with spelling. I am thinking about some sort of spelling and vocabulary combo for them with an emphasis on roots and word parts. I'm sure there's something out there like this, but the only thing I'm familiar with is Wordly Wise 3000 which isn't exactly what I'm looking for. I'm hoping for something that is somewhat independent (though I don't mind a few minutes a day on my part) as I'm balancing 4 homeschooling plus a toddler. Thank you!
  8. I was looking at that but honestly I'm so confused! What would I need to buy? Thank you also for your other suggestions. I will look into them.
  9. I use CLE LA for my 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders and it's been great! I'm currently looking for something else to add to it for the writing but we didn't love W&R Fable. I'm also using CLE Math 4 with my daughter who struggles with math and it's been fantastic! My girls have done the 5th grade reading this year, but I won't continue with it next year. It's been good, but with the other things we are doing it doesn't seem necessary.
  10. I have done CLE LA with my 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders this year and it has gone so well! I'm amazed at how much they have learned and how the mechanics of their writing has improved as a result. CLE is however very weak in teaching writing and I'd love some ideas of how to supplement that. I am thinking that I will likely alternate CLE LA with a writing program or assignments, but would love input on what to use or how to do that. I'm open to thoughts of either a program that teaches writing or a philosophy of how to use what we are already doing (thinking our reading in Sonlight history, reading, or science) to improve their writing. I'm having a hard time figuring out which way I want to go with this! I used writing and rhetoric for half of this year, but we really didn't enjoy staying on the same topic of fables for so long. Now I'm just assigning little assignments to go with SL topics we are reading, but I feel like I'm struggling with how to improve their writing once they've written something that maybe isn't all that great. :) Thanks for any input!
  11. I moved my 4th grade daughter from BJU math to CLE math this year. It has been a game changer for her! The new topics are taught in very small chunks that are easy for her to grasp, and the old topics get lots of review. There's also speed drills and flash card review every day. When she'd get to cumulative reviews last year in BJU math, she struggled. When an old topic came back around 4 units later, she had forgotten everything from 4 units before. But now, she is remember and understanding so much better. It has been perfect for my non-mathy daughter!
  12. I'm definitely going to try out Mystery Science. Thank you for the suggestion! Any other ideas?
  13. I am overall pleased with how this school year is going, but I am really struggling to fit in any science. My time is spent between 2 third graders, a 4th grader, and a 5th grader, plus a 2 year old. We are doing well fitting in the basics of reading, writing, math, and living in China, also Chinese. I have a great curriculum on the shelf that I was excited about, but the truth is, I just can't find the time in my schedule between teaching the basics to fit it in. I'd love any suggestions for how to outsource science to the kids through reading, videos, journaling, etc. I want to make sure they are getting at least some science content, and feel like this is the area I have really failed them this year. I really want to make sure we fit this in over these next 4 months. Thanks for any and all input!
  14. Thank you for all you wrote! I may go take a look at Horizons again and see if I need to just start her in an earlier book. I think it would be between that and CLE.
  15. I am strongly learning towards CLE at this point. I like how the fact practice, flash cards, etc. are all built into the lesson. Also, I'm thinking about getting CTC for extra practice. I just got an email that they are offering an additional 6 months free with the subscription, making it very affordable if I decide to use it with all 4 of my kids.
  16. Yes, feel very confident that for this child she does not have dysgraphia or dyscalculia. I have another that does. Math just does not come easily for her. It requires a lot of mental effort, she zones out, then gets frustrated. She is gifted in the Language Arts. She does really well through the chapters and on the chapter tests, but after she moves on, it's soon forgotten. I really think it's a matter of using a program that is not a good fit for her.
  17. I did look at that a bit as it seems like a good program that has the components I'm looking for. My concern is that she struggles with the transfer of the problems from the text to paper. From what I can tell, this may be a problem for her if I used R&S. How do you handle that with your ADHD child? Where does he/she do the work? She does the distance learning, but because she's ADHD and doesn't enjoy math, she's zoning out and I have to do a lot of reteaching. We are using only the worktext that goes with it. I don't think Saxon will work with her because of the transfer from book to paper. That's a big struggle with her b/c of ADHD. I think I like CLE because there is nothing for her to transfer and she can answer in the workbooks. I've considered TT, but am after having so many disc problems with the BJU DL, I'm just not sure that I want to go with another disc based program. I haven't even heard of this, but will definitely check it out! Thank you. I have not for her, but read about it for another of my children. I am pretty sure that is not the problem.
  18. I've been doing Bob Jones Math for my upcoming 4th grader for the last couple of school years. She does fine during the chapter, but there is no review built in and she's completely forgotten what she's learned by the time it comes around again. I'm looking at doing something more spiral for next year as she needs the review. I was planning to use Horizons, but my son who is gifted in math has recently made the transition from BJU math 3 to Horizons 4 and has needed quite a bit of extra teaching as there are definite gaps between the programs. I don't think my daughter will do well with that transition, and I don't want her to "hate" math more than she already does. I like Saxon, but I think she'd really struggle with it. She is ADHD and has a hard time transferring from a book to another piece of paper without making mistakes or leaving things out. So, I don't think the format would work for her. I'm considering CLE math, but not settled on it. I'm wondering if she'd do well with Teaching Textbooks or online through CTC math. Does anyone have any thoughts? She really struggles in this area, and it's becoming a big struggle between the two of us. I'd love to have her in a program that is a better fit for her and that helps her like math and not see me as the awful mom who makes her learn in. :) Thanks!
  19. I've used it for those grade levels. I have to say that 4th grade is pretty poorly done. The teachers are kinda monotone and not very exciting. Reading was the only one my kids really liked, though I thought math was okay. English is SLOW! We have done 3rd grade math and reading not English so I can't say for sure. At the beginning of this year we started DL for reading, math, science, and Bible. All 4 of my kids (grades 2, 3, and 4) are still doing reading and only one is doing math. The videos just got to be very monotonous and they would beg not to do them, with the exception of the reading. They do really like the reading!
  20. I have 7-10 year olds at different levels. We are doing Core D together, but my 8 year old is not able to handle the LA that comes with D. He's doing LA 2. If I were you, I think I'd put your older child in Core D and combine the younger two in Core A as at that age the LA is separate from the Core content. They can both learn a lot from the content of the read alouds and history, but you can meet them where they are at with the LA. For the little one, you may not even do any LA for another six months to a year. The other option I see would be to combine the older two in Core B+C with the younger one using LA 2 or 3 and the older one using LA 4&5, and then just reading lots of good books to your littlest. I think though, that you would be better going with a higher Core for your oldest son because he's reaching an age where he will soon have a lot more responsibility with his schooling, so I'd probably give him the little extra challenge instead of putting him in a core that is recommended for ages 7-9 as core B+C is.
  21. Ok, great! That is good to know. I think I'm going to just stick with Fable.
  22. Thank you for bringing this up as with many kids it would be a concern. My 3rd grader is a very sharp little guy, one of those kids who picked up a book at age 3 and just started reading. He's got great thoughts, but is definitely still working on expanding them to more complex thoughts, his biggest writing weakness and one reason I think W&R is a great program for him. He's definitely more advanced than a typical 3rd grader. My 5th grader loves to read and write, but of the 3 is the one for which writing does not come as naturally. Thus, the reason I can combine the three of them. I have one more 3rd grader with learning disabilities and a toddler, so I try to do as much as I can together with 2, 3 or 4 of them as I've got a lot on my plate. There's no way I could combine my other 3rd grader with any of the other 3 kids as their needs are so different.
  23. Ok, perfect! Just needed a little reassurance before I jumped in! :)
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