Penny
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Posts posted by Penny
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:lurk5:
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My kids did the IEW Ancient lessons and produced absolutely beautiful work that they are still so proud of. It was a real boost for them. They created a notebook with their work written (in best handwriting) on beautiful paper with pictures for each story from the internet. Each page is in a page protector. (Believe it or not, this is important!) The covers of the notebooks were decorated with scenes from the ancient times, also found on the web.
We did it before the teacher's plans were split out, but I would suggest that you buy the teacher's book, especially if you do not want to devote hours studying on how to teach IEW. The notes for the teacher in my book are excellent and very helpful.
This year we did SWI-B which has also been very helpful. Because of our great experience with the Ancients book, I'm purchasing the American History plans next.
Blessings,
Penny
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I have R&S 5 and LLATL the Tan book (theoretically year 6). I would never substitue LLATL for R&S. R&S is very thorough and the kids learn with R&S and can practice using LLATL (although many times we don't get around to it).
I wish I had not bought LLATL and had saved the $$.
I consider R&S to be like the parts to whole program (like phonics is to reading) and LLATL to be more of a whole to parts (like whole language).
The big picture presented in LLATL is more fun, and less demanding, but I don't think my dc would learn nearly as much as they do in R&S.
However, to some the details of grammar aren't that important. Maybe they are right! My children learned what a predicate nominative is this year. Somehow I made it through college with a good degree (albeit a science one) without ever knowing that!
Blessings.
Penny
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Rod and Staff Math 6
Rod and Staff Grammar 6
Latin Prep 2
Sonlight Core 4 Readers and Read A Louds with other supplements and SOTW 4
WW Book 7 and maybe 8 (finishing 6 this year)
Spelling WO
Piano
Questionables are:
Put that in Writing?? We did IEW SWI B this year and the kids need paragraph practice (their reports are not good at all). However, I may just go on and do either American History Based Writing Lesssons or SICC B. ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED HERE!!!!
We do lots of Vocab with the books we read also.
Am I leaving anything out????
I'd like to get around to science this year but it seems we never have time. I'd like to do The Elements. We have RS4K Chemistry, but it really gets too deep into some not so interesting types of reactions, titrations, etc. I want chemistry at this age to be fun.
The kids do Shepherd's geography games, and we go over many geography terms, but I'd like something better here too.
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One of my dc informed me today that the Order of Operations is totally illogical and useless. Umm... I have to agree. Am I just showing my mathematical ignorance? While I enjoy solving the puzzle of the problems, I don't know of any uses for that order in real life outside of math class. Do you?
ETA: Okay, after googling, I see that I do use the order of operations some in my life without really thinking about it (adding up shopping expenses while deducting discounts, for example), but I never use exponents or square roots. At least, I don't think I do! ;)
Okay, new question: in real life, why would we need to use exponents and square roots in an order of operations problem?
Sometimes I find that it is difficult to look outside of myself. So, just because I as a stay at home mom do not use the order of operations doesn't mean my dc will not need to in their future. I have to be careful to teach my kids to excell outside my range of daily experiences, especially if I want them to do something other than be a stay at home mom (which is a high calling, yet not everyone's calling).
The entire purpose of higher level math is to support the sciences/engineering. If one of your children desires at some point in their life to delve into any of the sciences or engineering (which is applied science), math is essential, including the order of operations. I can testify that as an engineer, I needed such knowledge. (My previous life was as a CHE).
I face the same sort of questions when dc are studying the language arts. I don't know why we need to know what a predicate nominative is, but just because I don't use that in my every day life, I teach the kids because in their careers, that may be necessary.
Blessings and I hope this helps!
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For the World View Class it takes about a week (I believe we did this in 4 days)
For Tooth Pick time we took only a couple of days.
We are on lesson 11 of the 'What every child needs to know about Western Civilization' and for us it takes about 1.5 lessons (sometimes 2) for every lesson scheduled. There are 16 lessons. So, I would say consider about 26 lessons. Now, if you read Calendar Quest as a Read Aloud in the evening or some other such arrangement, then simply schedule the 16 lessons. We do lessons every day for about 1 hour. However, I tend to go somewhat slow because I review every day (sometimes quickly, and sometimes not). I tend to always go slowly trying to get my kids to REALLY remember and master. We do get out the timeline each scheduled lesson (at least 16 times) and this takes time as we review stickers previously placed (maybe 10 minutes?).
The program does include extra material to take even longer per lesson such as website recommendations, writing and research ideas, the Historical Facts Sheets which could be filled out for different world leaders and events, and maybe some others. If we did all this, the program would take 3 lessons per lesson scheduled.
The kids are behind on their coloring books. Each page (one per civilization era) has alot of coloring on it. If you have dc who work well together, get only one coloring book and let them do it together. Then, make those placemats! I can't wait until they finish at least one set.
I may also have them do some sort of end project, say using a display board and put together the flow of the calendar/western civilization, and then eat off our placemats for the very first time, and ???? I need to think about this some more.
Blessings,
Penny
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Oh Please don't ruin Lord of the Rings by introducing it too early!! I know of dc in 8th grade who had to read it for school assignments and now they despise it. It is written for adults. It is marvelous, deep, and a true classic in the sense that every time one reads it, more truth can be gleaned from it. To read this to a child who is at best beginning logic stage might be the death sentence for a true masterpiece. If anything, wait until your child is too OLD for it. Now I have never seen LL for Lord of the Rings.
I read this somewhere around the age of 35. I only read it because my male co-workers described it like this:
"I wish that I hadn't read the book yet so that I could read it again for the very first time."
He was right on target. I was and could always be mesmerized by that world.
I don't want to ruin that first time with this book. We won't see the movie; my kids won't read an easy reader intro type book; my kids will just wait until they are mature enough.
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The World View Program is completely unbiased. It is very hands on, which leads to better understanding. For instance, the different world views are illustrated by creating different boxes for each that sort of show characteristics of each (you just have to see it and do it to understand). Then the children sort religions according to each wv. This is a great activity!! There are others too. (One word of caution..I could not read some of the extra stories included in the back of the book. These stories explained how wv caused some peoples to do replusive acts. My 11 year olds are just not ready for seeing the real world in all its gruesomeness. However, I'm sure some families would think it fine.)
The curriculum does encourage parents and children to understand their own wv and research the reason why they hold that view. All wv's must rely on some rational thought. This was the hardest part for me....being able to explain our wv to my children and why I believe it is the most rational. I had actually researched this quiet a bit when I transitioned from agnostic to Christian some 10 years ago, but explaining such complex topics is much more difficult than simply reading them and getting a grasp of the main points. But, you don't even have to do that to follow the curriculum.
About just listening to Calendar Quest on audio......Calendar Quest is just an introduction into the meat of history. Without the companion product 'What Every Child Needs to Know..." I don't think we'd get that much out of it. It probably would be enlightening, but easy to forget, and MUCH would be missing. Also, this part of the program is completely unbiased. Jesus is covered in the program, but it seems impossible to study Western history and the calendar without learning about Jesus!
Blessings,
Penny
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I'm so glad to hear these kudos for Brimwood! I really was looking at Western Civ. and Calender Quest as an overview of History for my daughter who is 11.
Would someone care to describe it a bit further and how you are utilizing it? I wondered if it would go faster than SOTW has been for us. It seems we are really plodding through SOTW and I wonder if it is the format my daughter isn't responding or the way I'm presenting it. Comparisons and thoughts?
Meanwhile, I look forward to ordering...I also was interested in the Family Tree book, that looks like fun!
OK, we just finished our lesson today, so I'm ready to respond!
First of all, it will not replace SOTW. It is self described as a quick fly by or fly over approach to history whereas SOTW is a slow wagon ride. You need both; SOTW to go over the details and Western Civilization to put it all together. For instance, I am amazed both by how much history my kids know and yet again by how they really don't know how it flows. Did Alexander the Great come before or after the Trojan War? Was Cleopatra an Old Civilization Pharoah? These questions they got mixed all up. But Brimwood Press's Western Civilization is tying this all together.
There are many resources included in the product. First there are cards that the children put in order during each lesson (these cards contain historical people). At first, they get them all confused,but you, the teacher do not correct them. Then as the lesson goes on, day by day, they learn the correct order of people and therefore, events. We review the cards every day to remember the major events each one depicts. Also, Brimwood provides stickers for each card. These are reminders of the achievements and events of the civilization. (For example a parthenon sticker for classical greece, a ziggurat for ancient Sumer.) These stickers are placed on the back of the card and we review these each day.
Next, Brimwood provides a sticker for the Calendar Quest story that is to be placed on the timeline. This is good for the visual display of how much time has passed in the story.
THey also provide the HATS stickers which I really haven't used, so I'll let someone else describe that.
Each lesson we read the Calendar Quest Story. Then we go over the information in the "What Every Child Needs to Know About Western Civilization" book. This book has LOTS of additional info. You really need it! We apply stickers, and the kids color in the coloring book they have. GET THIS. It is a complete overview of each civilization and their contribution! It is going to make great placemats!
OK, I wish I could proof this and do a better job explaining, but got to go.
I haven't spoke at all of Toothpick Time and World View, they are great also.
Penny
PS. THis is such a quick an unorganized review. I hope it helps.
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We too are loving Brimwood Press. We've done the World View Studies, Toothpick Time, and are now doing 'What Every Child Should Know About Western Civilization'. This product uses 'Calendar Quest' to give an overview of western history. But if one just purchases 'Calendar Quest', most of the information will be missed. However I will say the lessons are taking longer than stated in the product. I am using about 2 lessons for every one scheduled.
I also have their Scroll Timeline and it is a very nice product and perfect for us as we have no wall space for any other kind (all windows).
I highly recommend the Coloring Book! We are completing ours and then will laminate them to make place mats. Every time we eat we can have a complete overview of Western Civilization!!! They make for fantastic review.
A great product for early logic stage!!
Penny
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We are currently progressing through IEW Student Writing Intensive B and just finished the reports section. The kids reports are not very good (both 5th graders). We've spent a long time on reports, and I'm still not getting good results. (These are one paragraph reports!) I think they need practice on paragraph construction.
Does IEW ever cover the different methods of constructing paragraphs?
What do you think the best resource is for this?
Thanks in advance!
Penny
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Normal. Both are present tense and both OK. My kids translated that way for quite a while until they got used to the point that the 'ing' version is OK too.
Blessings,
Penny
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I'm looking ahead in our books to explain division of 4 numbers by 2 and I can NOT find the "process".
Would one of you respond with steps and names to the following example? I hope this makes sense.
5487 / 23
Thanks. Sheryl
Sheryl,
First I tell the kids they have to be able to ask the right questions. Once the right questions are asked, then the answer is easy.
The first question is, 'What place are you working in?' First answer is 'The Thousands'.
Second question,"How many 23's are in 5?" Answer: None
Question: What place are you working in now? Answer: the hundreds. Now underline the hundreds. (Underline 54 in the problem. This is how many hundreds you have)
Question: How many 23's are in 54? If you can't figure this out, estimate by using only the 10's place, ie, how many 2's are in 5? (You will need to emphasize this over and over again about using the 10's place in the underlined number to estimate.) So if there are 2 tens in 5 ten, then we can estimate there are 2 twenty three's in fifty four. Put 2 in the quotient hundred's place. Multiply, subtract and COMPARE. Make sure the child knows to compare the underlined place.
Question: What place are you working in? Answer: The tens place. How many tens are in 887? Answer: 88 tens.
Question: How many 23's are in 88? Answer: I don't know.
Estimate using only the tens place.
Question: How many 2's are in 8? Answer 4. Use 4 as your best guess.
This is too much but it is a good opportunity to compare. Go back and use 3 in the tens place in the quotient.
Subtract, compare.
Question: What place are you working in?
Answer: The ones place.
Question: How many ones do you have?
Answer: 197 ones.
Question: How many 23's in 197?
Answer: I don't know. Now estimate using only the tens place in both numberrs.
Question: How many 2's in 19?
Answer: 9.
Use this as your estimate. This is too much. So go back and use 8
This is a rough outline and it is early and I have to go. Family waking.
Blessings!
Penny
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I could be completely wrong here, but I suspect this was one of the changes that came in with the NCTM standards. They overhauled mathematics education. Here's the page that explains the algebra standards.
http://standards.nctm.org/document/chapter3/alg.htm
My eight-year-old did a unit on algebra last week, just solving for unknowns in simple four processes problems, and found it at least as relevant to real life as fractions and much easier to understand. I guess I'd flip the question on it's head. Why shouldn't children get an introduction to algebra? It really doesn't take all of 4th, 5th & 6th grade to master decimals, fractions & percents.
Those types of algebra problems, such as n + 3 = 10 are very easy for kids to intuit. However I believe many math programs push down advanced concepts on elementary grades. A very bright, very math minded child might be OK with this, but most are not. Even if they can fight through the problem, they have no understanding. The problem is that it comes at a price, maybe putting off another subject to fit in longer math days, maybe the child not learning the basics well enough before learning the advanced concepts, maybe in making the child think they are just not good at math.
I just ordered R&S 6 and was having a panic time thinking my kids might be getting behind in math verses some of the other programs. I went to the Highlands Latin School website, read their math curricula section and the reasoning behind their choice of R&S, and I am comforted. It is a great program that really drills the important concepts for the early years.
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Hi Penny,
Thanks for this great review. I have Brimwood Press marked for future use so this first-hand report was great. I was curious what ages your children are and how long it took to work through this curriculum. Did you use this as your main curriculum during this time or in addition to other studies? Do you have any idea of how it compares to other worldview curricula (i.e. Starting Points)?
I'm sorry I haven't had time to reply to you until now!
I think this program is wonderful for a child just entering the logic stage, possibly around 5th grade. ANY age person could use this to learn about basic world views. It is a great starting point to begin the investigation so I hesitate to put an upper age limit on it.
The World View took only 4 days to complete. I think that is wonderful.
I am going to begin today 'Toothpick Time' which explains our calendar with a very hands on method. When I purchased this I hesitated as to whether we needed to use it or not. But after reading the teachers guide I agree that the concept of our dating system is very complicated most people do not understand it well. After this I'm sure my kids will be the 1 out of a 1000 who really understand it. Toothpick time will take about 3 or 4 days at most.
Next week we begin the HATS of History program and assemble the timeline. The scroll timeline is very nice because I wanted a continuous timeline to really illustrate history, but I have no wall space. This is a beautiful answer and a very well done product.
We will do Calendar Quest which is another genius product. The study is based around the Calendar Quest book in which two kids travel through history in a refrigerator box and discover how our calendar came to be. Since my kids have a good overview of history, this will really tie it together for them. As much as they know, I am shocked that they have trouble putting it all together. (Not too surprising through since they began Ancients in 1st grade - very young to remember much.) The program is great because it begins with a hands on sorting challenge to put events in order. The answers are not given, but as one goes through the study, one corrects himself. There are many hands on activities and stickers that go with this to reinforce the concepts. I think Calendar Qest will take us a couple of months, because we tend to be slow, taking time to check out every angle.
Also, I'm using Marcia's ideas for a notebook to set up ours. She used to sell a beautiful notebooking system but discontinued it I believe due to cost vs demand. I e-mailed her and she sent me the main components of the system and the idea behind it, and I do believe it is the best out there. That has been another wonderful thing about Brimwood; customer service is unbeatable. Marcia has always made herself available to answer questions and give ideas.
Hope this helps. There is much more I could write, but it is early and time to get to work. Sorry for the un-edited post!
Penny
Further answering your questions,
No I did not check out other WV pograms. I am using this as my main history curriculum during this time. But as you can see, the entire 'Toolkit for Young Historians' only takes a couple of months if you pace it a little faster. (I'm not really in a hurry.) However, I'm glad it is not a year long program so that we can get on with our other programs after we get a better idea of how things are put together.
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We just finished this. I used all of the Sonlight Core 3 readers and read alouds, and I also bought BiblioPlan. BiblioPlan is cheap, and I was pleased with the recommended books. The only two I did not care for (and I used just about all of the lower and upper grammar books) were 'In Search of Honor' (this is a great book, but way too gory for a child under about 15 or so) and 'Bold Journey West with Lewis and Clark' (this book had some gore, and I did not like the made up personalities the author put with historical people that portrayed them in an unfavorable light).
So I just bought BiblioPlan again for Vol 4 and I will use most of the Sonlight Core 4 readers and read alouds also. The Sonlight readers are below level for my kids, but they are a quick and fun way for them to learn. The on level books come from BiblioPlan or from reading the Sonlight Read Alouds themselves.
Blessings,
Penny
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It was incredibly well done. Marcia is a genius for figuring out how to make this a hands on learning curriculum. My son, who generally dislikes school, said, "Wow. I never knew school could be so fun!" This has been a great tool for understanding history. I highly recommend it. And to think I was terrified to do this! I kept wondering if I were opening a can of worms, explaining what others believe as opposed to what we believe. But now whenever they read a book I can just say, "Well, you know that was written by a naturalist (or pantheist, or polytheist)." The curriculum also goes through individual religions such as Buddists, Hindu, Muslim, Shinto, and many more and the child sorts these according to world view. The first day of the class uses a picture in a special way to explain WV that really is a stroke of genius.
I presented all the world views but we are Christians. As you can imagine, I biased my presentation to Christianity but the curriculum is neutral. I expected to have to explain why we don't believe what pantheists, polytheists, and naturalists believe but at this age (11) they really didn't question our beliefs. I know it will come later and I'm glad I prepared myself for it now. They were shocked that Muslims were also monotheists like we are, and I did have to explain the differences in our beliefs.
The books I read in preparation for the hard questions were:
Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis does a fabulous, intellectual summary of why pantheism and polytheism aren't logical in the end. (No offense to anyone intended...you just have to read it!)
World Religions by Halverson - another great summary of world views from an adult perspective.
The Case for Christ - This just reminded me of the historical evidence for Jesus as presented in the Bible.
The books recommended by Marcia Brimwood to be read to the kids were:
Yellow and Pink - Steig
The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal
Also, I didn't read the stories included by Brimwood Press to be used on the last day of the class. I thought they were too moving (gut wrenching, sad, gory, OK someone give me the right word). One was about the Japanese at the end of WWII and how their world view would not let them surrender even after the first bomb was dropped. It discussed how their world view (influenced heavily by Shintoism) allowed them to die rather than suffer the humiliation of defeat. One of the other stories discussed the Aztecs world view at the time of Cortez. Another Christianity during the time of Nero.
Hope this review helps someone!
Penny
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If I had a 4 year old, I would absolutely not miss Right Start Level A. This is the best of Right Start and so wonderfullly teaches place value, and gives a fantastic understanding of our base 10 system. Now I do not do RS at the higher levels, but level A is a gift to your child.
Blessings,
Penny
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Beth,
I just got it! Thank you. It looks wonderful!!
Penny
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Thank you all.
Beth, I sent you mail. I very much appreciate this!
Penny
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This just seems so difficult. Which readers go with each chapter? How can I pull this off? Last year I bought BiblioPlan (it uses SOTW with many Sonlight books) but as a secondary resource. So, it skips around SOTW, does 3 chapters in one week, and generally is difficult. I may do the same thing again, but I just wish there was a good schedule somewhere (with maps, and with comprehension questions, and with the books flagged that may have mature content and blah blah blah...)
I think I want 'My Father's World' with Readers?? What do I want??
BTW we are doing SOTW Vol. 4
Penny
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I also thought Latin Prep would be too much. My advice is,
Take it SLOW. Learn/memorize the tables. Write them every day and/or chant them (we write the declensions and chant the conjugations). When you start to feel like you've got it down, then move on. After a while, you get used to it and you'll begin to go through the book at a more normal pace. We spent 12 months going through LP 1 and we are all so glad we stuck with it.
Don't give up! You can do this! The truth is no language is easy. I was unprepared for how difficult Latin would really be, but after LP1 we are going all the way.
Penny
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Thanks!!
Penny
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I'd like to use SOTW 4 with the Sonlight readers and read alouds. Is there a list for this somewhere?
Penny
Help on writing 6th grade (IEW theme-based?)
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
I just bought one student book.
Penny