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GrammarGirl

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Everything posted by GrammarGirl

  1. I cared too much and would cry if I didn't do well on a test. Getting a 4.0 meant a lot to me. I have no idea where the pressure came from because my parents didn't push me. I did get the 4.0 and was valedictorian, but I loosened up in college. I think getting a few Bs was healthier for me.
  2. Both are great programs. I think it comes down to whether you want to use worksheets or not. I used A Beka with my oldest but am really liking the no-worksheets aspect of OPG for my second.
  3. A Beka does review a lot because review is an integral part of their philosophy. Typically they add a few new things each year while solidifying the previously taught skills. You can always skip some of the exercises or assign just a few sentences from each. Even though a student may seem competent in grammar, the yearly repetition helps ingrain the rules. As a classroom teacher who used A Beka, I found it took till 9th grade before grammar was truly mastered. When I taught in another school that did not use A Beka, the only students I had who truly had a grasp of grammar were students who'd come from other schools or homeschools that had used A Beka. These kids were all excellent writers as well.
  4. I love the instructions for the map work. The coloring pages are a hit with my girls, including the three y.o. I have the printed book and the downloadable student pages. I can't imagine having to photocopy directly from the book.
  5. I would give it a few more weeks to see if the difficulty level of the math increases. I have read that many people find Sonlight reading to be "behind." My DD would have been in their 3rd grade readers after finishing A Beka K phonics. Perhaps just use library books for her reading so you don't need to spend more money. FLL and WWE do seem easy, but they really help with attention to detail and develop such important skills.
  6. We're loving Home Art Studio. It makes for a fun Friday activity before our library trip. I'm also very fond of the SOTW1 audio and WWE.
  7. As kids get older and are required to write more, they naturally develop shortcuts to form the letters faster. (When I started teaching composition in a college, I began holding my pen "incorrectly" because I discovered I could write faster and grade all my papers more quickly!) I think 4th grade is probably too late to change the habits, and since her writing is neat, it doesn't seem to matter.
  8. I would think a 3rd grader could handle the intermediate. I have the primary and it doesn't require much, mostly coloring a picture for the notebook and copying a caption. You could easily alter the assignments for your younger student if the intermediate gets to be too much.
  9. We finish a lesson a day, but it's really meant to be scheduled by an amount of time per day, 15-20 min. You just move along at the child's pace as he masters the material. For us, it takes 10 min. to do one lesson and then we're done for the day. I don't use the tiles, so that speeds us up.
  10. It's quite common for small religious schools to hire those they know. Often they cannot afford to pay teachers much, so they don't have a large pool of candidates to draw from. They also usually highly value teachers who will have the same philosophical leanings as they do over "credentials." It may not be ideal, yet these kinds of schools often do turn out a good "product."
  11. I vote for FLL/WWE because I love the narration exercises. We do narration in history and science, but DD crafts much more lovely sentences for her WWE narrations than the others. I don't think nonfiction narration can replace the style of fiction narration.
  12. I attended a small Christian school that often employed "unqualified" personnel. One of our very best teachers was a man who had only finished a couple years of college but was a phenomenal math teacher. I've also taught alongside women who were accountants turned math teachers. Their knowledge of the content and their natural gifts made them very successful in the classroom even though they didn't have certificates or prior experience. Best wishes for a wonderful year!
  13. I imagine traveling evangelists and missionaries on deputation would need the reliability of the DVD over the online option.
  14. Does this school go beyond 6th grade? If so, you need to look over 5th and 7th grade scope and sequence, assuming the school has these. You need to make sure you are covering the right skills to take them from where they've been to where they need to go the next year. As a classroom teacher for over a decade, I've rarely "loved" a curriculum I've been handed, but I've been able to make it my own while still keeping in mind that my class represents just one piece of a large puzzle, a puzzle designed by the admin. Just some things to keep in mind as you contemplate your options. It may be better to just stick with what they've given you and find other ways to make it come alive.
  15. Well said. I was an education major in a small conservative college that rejects much of modern educational theory and practice in favor of more "traditional" methods. We were always encouraged to be even-keeled and flexible in our teaching but to teach with a sense of urgency because the material itself, not just the "experience" is important.
  16. I was a little turned off by one of their posts that seemed to imply a focus on rigor instead of "virtue" wasn't virtuous. But I feel teaching my students discipline and perseverance through difficult work teaches as much virtue and beauty as taking a day off to read moral tales and walk in the woods. I hope I'm not misinterpreting the Schole Sisters intentions; I just mean that I totally agree with you about more discipline not less amongst homeschoolers.
  17. I think the A Beka Handbook would work. The worksheets can get a bit tedious for some kids. My dd did A Beka K5 phonics at 4 1/2. By the time she started kindergarten, we were pretty much just using the handbook with occasional worksheets from A Beka's Advanced K5 phonics. She always complained about the worksheets!
  18. A Beka focuses on CVC words but also introduces long vowels at the end of the year.
  19. Because Saxon is spiral, I would say, go on to the next lesson but as soon as rate comes up again, reteach the concept. This is the beauty of a spiral program: mastery is not necessary or expected the first time.
  20. It will be a very handy reference! I have taught high school and colleges courses with that text and still refer to it on occasion. I even have one autographed by the author who was a professor and colleague of mine. : )
  21. No, the handbook was written for eleventh and twelfth grades and for the freshman English courses at Pensacola Christian College (owner of A Beka). It is a handy reference book for parents but is not meant for elementary students.
  22. I taught in Christian schools for many years, and the things you've mentioned occured often with previously homeschooled kids. Don't worry. Your dd will adjust. Most seventh-grade teachers expect an adjustment period for all the students.
  23. My public school 2nd and 3rd teachers did. I switched to Christian school in 4th grade and don't remember being regularly read aloud to until my 10th grade English teacher read us Silas Marner; I loved her for that (and many other reasons.)
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