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pocjets

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Posts posted by pocjets

  1. We are expecting our 8th child in the fall and I need something for English that is easy to implement. This is for my daughters who will be in 4th and 5th grades. I am currently using R&S plus IEW SWI-A. With R&S, I am still going over each lesson with them and then picking what problems I want them to do on the spot. We are using some of the R&S writing and some of the IEW writing. I would rather just do something that is more predictable so the girls can get in a routine. It seems like using a curriculum that combines both writing and grammar is the way to go. Maybe I should just stick with R&S and spend the summer deciding what exercises I want them to do. Then I could drop IEW and use the writing in R&S. 

     

    Other options I'm considering are ABeka, BJU English, and Hake/Saxon (we use Saxon math and love it). 

     

    Any thoughts or suggestions? 

  2. If you don't mind being an edition back, the textbooks are cheap. I've chosen to go with the UK version because of the online supplement, which is very inexpensive (about $10-$15 USD/year depending on exchange rates and how my bank handles fees).

     

    My DD, who is a whole-part learner, has enjoyed CLC, and seems to do quite well at reading Latin. She started the series at 7, and there were a few things then that went over her head that now, at age 10, she's starting to get a little more. The Latin teacher friend of mine who recommended CLC said that it's designed to make middle school boys want to learn Latin, and that's definitely visible.

     

    I will say that CLC does NOT prepare well for the US Latin exams in my experience, so after a frustrating experience with the NLVE this year, DD has decided to do CLC for fun and something else for real.

     

    Thank you for this review. Good to know. What will your daughter be using "for real"?

  3. Cambridge Latin starts from the beginning and was originally designed to begin at age 11 to 13.

     

    How does your child (and how do you) like to learn?  Do you prefer whole to parts learning (discovering meaning through experience, then having the details explained later) or parts to whole (starting from the structure and then applying it)?  Cambridge is whole to parts - it works well for some, but others find it confusing.  If you think that parts to whole would be a better fit, I can give advice on a programme for that.

     

    I don't know what elements of Cambridge to recommend - I'm only familiar with the UK version and I assume you are in N. America.

     

    Yes- I'll gladly take advice on another program. Thank you!

  4. How old/mature is your dd? Because I know that our ds really liked Charlie and the Chocolate factory, but when we re-read our favorite Dahl books from our own childhood (and several that we hadn't been familiar with), we were struck very quickly by the fact that he was not even close to developmentally ready to read the others (possibly excepting Charlie and the great glass elevator and most of James and Giant peach). There was just lots of name-calling and some fairly scary scenes, depending on how sensitive your kid is. Disclaimer: our kids are super sensitive (as evidenced by their crying in Ice age when the baby gets taken from its family at the beginning, or their crying in Tinkerbell and the great fairy rescue when Tink and the girl separate, just as two examples.

     

    She is 10. I don't love name-calling and I've heard some of his books were "tacky" for a lack of a better word so I was hoping to get a good list here. I don't particularly mind "scary" though. Thank you!

  5. I have 1st grader in the 2 book. She works through the summers and doubles lessons when it's super easy.

     

    I'd have him do 2 lessons a day. If it's just ridiculously easy I'd use the tests after every tenth lesson to figure out where to skip him ahead. I thought about that with mine, but now I'm glad I had her do every lesson. Her math skills are wicked solid.

     

    I think Horizons especially is just stealthy like that. They scaffold skills so well my kids don't even realize how hard it's ramped up and they think they are awesome at math.

     

     

    OK, thank you. I'll just continue doing the 2 lessons a day. He doesn't complain so I might as well double up while I can. :) 

    Thanks again!

  6. My son is in first grade and is using Horizons 1. It really is too easy for him. He can complete the entire lesson in about 10 minutes and always gets everything right. I've never experienced this before with my older children so I'm not sure how to proceed. I was thinking I could:

     

    1. continue at the same pace and just keep it easy

    2. do 2 lessons a day - we do this some days now

    3. switch to saxon 3 intermediate for 2nd grade (we switch over to saxon for 54 normally but I was thinking I could switch him early to "jump" a level)

    4. supplement with something else??

     

    Thank you for the help!

  7. I do have them "respond" to the card in some way. They either write a summary, draw a picture of something they liked, or do some type of map work from maps I just find online. I honestly don't think it is necessary, just something we add. I think the SP courses are challenging enough all by themselves. I just added it this year because they were not writing enough and I wanted to increase it. Hope that helps. A benefit of doing the SP is that there is a ton of review built in. When I taught it with just the cards and TM, I could never figure out how, what, and when to review.

    • Like 1
  8. I do not. I thought about it but I'm glad I did not. It would be a lot of history if you used both. :) The SP has map work, questions, review work, etc. It's all done for you. You really can just hand it off to your child to do or sit in with them if you want to learn along side of them. There are occasional printouts on the self-paced course for projects.

  9. Is it possible to teach both of these? I mean, I KNOW it is possible but I'm wondering if it can actually be successfully done. I just started AAS with 2 of my children and I LOVE it. I am strongly considering buy AAR pre-reading and AAR 1 for my 4 and 5 year olds. That would mean I am running 4 different programs with 4 different children. Is that crazy? 

  10. Take a look at the AAS samples and see what you think. They have a 1-year guarantee, so if you order from their website and it doesn't work out, you can return it. That's what convinced me to try it years ago, LOL! But it really helped my kids. 

     

     

    I'll check it out again. Thank you. I didn't realize they had such a great guarantee. I've read so many wonderful reviews that maybe I should try it. 

  11. Spalding. :D

     

    For a one-time purchase of less than $50, you'll have everything you need to teach spelling, penmanship, capitalization and punctuation, and simple writing, for as many children as you will ever have.

     

    What exactly would I need to buy? I'm going to finally look at it. Thanks.

  12. My 3rd grader missed every word on her spelling test today. We are using spelling plus with the dictation book. An example word is around and she spelled it "arawnd". I know she practices her words all week but she is just not getting it. I know so many people recommend AAS but I have also heard it was too much for some kids. I hate to spend so much money if I don't even know if it will work. Any suggestions???

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