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pocjets

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    To Schedule or Not to Schedule...

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    This year I have a 4th grader, 3rd, grader, 1st grader, 4, year old, 3 year old, 19 month old, and a baby due in October. 

    Previously, I have always just kept a list of the subjects each student needs to do for the day and I just check them off once they are finished. There is no order to it. Some days a child will do math before lunch and some days that same child will do it after lunch. 

     

    I keep seeing all of the schedules where people have color coded their children and broken the day into 30 min periods which remain the same from day to day. I'm just wondering if I should try something like that this year. 

     

    Questions:

    Will it make the day run better if everyone knows exactly what to expect? 

    Will we end up getting more accomplished?

     

    How in the world could I possibly stick to a strict schedule with so many young children?

     

    Should I just put my 3rd and 4th grader on a schedule and then just work 1st grader in like I've been doing?

     

    Has anyone tried both ways? Do you have any suggestions/thoughts?

     

    Thanks so much for helping!

     

    Zoology 2 - Coloring Pages, etc?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I'm doing Apologia Zoology 2 this year. I don't want to buy the apologia notebook (and I know about the free notebooking pages online) but I was wondering if anyone has any coloring pages or "fun" pages online to use. I don't really think I want a lapbook but maybe I do??

     

    Thanks

    Saxon 65 for a 4th grader??

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    This is such a funny coincidence- I was just about post, asking if my rising 4th grader could do Saxon 6/5, as she tested into it, and we are also expecting baby #7! Congrats!

     

    That is so funny! Congrats! When are you due? Our baby is due in October-5th boy. :) Are you going to use 65 in 4th? I decided to go ahead and do it and we'll just slow it down if necessary.  

    R&S English 3 for 3rd AND 4th grader?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I have 2 daughters - 3rd and 4th graders. Neither has had a consistent year of grammar. I bought R&S English grades 3 and 4 to use for this upcoming year. However, I'm looking at the 4th grade book and one of the first lessons has the assignment to list all of the helping verbs "you have memorized." My 4th grader hasn't memorized those yet so I was wondering if I could/should just combine the 2 girls into R&S 3 for this year and then just keep them together as they progress through the next few years? I was thinking I could add some Writing Strands 3 assignments for my 4th grader to make sure she is writing enough?

     

    Thanks for the help! :) 

    Saxon 65 for a 4th grader??

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Ok great. Thanks for the help. I wasn't really thinking about using Singapore because it's more teacher intensive and we're expecting baby 7. I am pretty set on Saxon but just in case I change my mind, can a child move to Singapore in 4th grade and do well or would it be a lot of relearning??

    How Teacher Intensive is Horizons Math - 3rd, 4th

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I'm considering switching to Horizons from CLE. I would be teaching 3 grade levels - 1st, 3rd, and 4th. I expect 1st to be teacher intensive but I'm wondering if my 3rd and 4th graders can do any of it independently? They like to have some of independence (like in CLE) so I just want to make sure that if we do switch, they can retain that. We are thinking of switching because of the number of pages in CLE (4-5 a day) and the lack of color. :) I understand that there may be the same number of problems in Horizons, but the fact that they are having to do 4-5 pages in CLE makes it seem daunting for them. 

    Thanks-

    Spelling-R&S, SW, or Spellwell

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I need spelling help. My girls are great readers but cannot spell!!!! Honestly, we haven't really been using anything so I'm trying to really work on it this coming year. I'm considering Rod and Staff, Spelling Workout, and Spellwell. I know there are a lot of people that love AAS, but I'm not interested in that. 

    Any thoughts on these programs or is repetition, consistency, and lots of practice the key?

    I need to just choose one

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Honestly, it's going to be hard for them to do math independently at those ages. I've used both - MUS is not really independent. They can watch the 4 min video but then there are 6-8 worksheets for them to do during the week. My kids never needed the blocks for the problems but just used them for play.

     

    MM doesn't have a K level and although your K may be working at a first grade level, I think it would be pretty advanced for a true K. It picks up speed quickly. If the children can read well, then they might be able to work on some of it by themselves.

     

    With either MM or MUS, they will be asking you questions and you will still have to help them explain things. MM is less expensive so if you wanted to try it out first, it's not that much of an investment. MUS on the other hand, is pricier.

     

    It is super hard to pick. I"m having that trouble now with grammar. However, you won't ruin your children if you pick one hate it and then pick something else. I've used both MM and MUS and settled on CLE. :) 

    R&S English - oral vs written work

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I know a lot of people mention that they do 2/3 (just an example) of R&S orally. Others mention that the child should write down every exercise. If you have used R&S for at least an entire year, could you please let me know what you've done and name the specific grade you used. I'm just wondering if people do more orally for 2nd/3rd grade but more written for 4th and up.

     

    Also, if you do all of R&S written, how much more actual writing do your children do? Narrations in history/science? How many times a week?

     

    Thanks so much!

     

     

     

     

    SWI-A or Writing Strands 3?? Help!

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I need help for my girls who will be in 3rd and 4th grades next year. I am in planning/scheduling mode and have been looking at both programs. SWI-A looks tedious. In addition to watching the 40 min video, the days of key word outline, rewriting, final draft, etc, for one paragraph seems like a lot. However, I know so many people swear by it and claim it's the best. If it is, I'll give it a try.

     

    On the other hand, Writing Strands 3 looks more student/teacher friendly and not quite as daunting. However, it does not look like enough material for an entire year. So, if you use WS 3, how do you schedule it? Do you do it all in one semester? Do a lesson then take a week off and rotate like this through the year? Also, what other types of writing do you have your child do in addition to this or is this enough? History summaries? Answering science questions? 

     

    Or, am I missing another "perfect" writing curriculum for 3/4th grades?

     

    Thank you SO much for all of the help!!!

     

    Adding-we are doing Easy Grammar for Grammar so no addition "writing" in that program. 

    Expecting our 7th child - oldest is 9. Curriculum help needed!!

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I'm in a big hurry. College kids are coming home for spring break, but here are a few thoughts. You're going to need to decide how much you want to keep everyone together.

     

    If you want to keep everyone in their own level for everything, it would be worth reading JanOH's posts about HOD. There's a post from her in this thread.

     

    This discussion is specific to Ambleside Online, but the thoughts on combining or not combining are worth considering. I'm currently using AO and am liking it a lot (actually I'm loving it so far), but I haven't been using it long enough to say.

     

    If you want to combine for history and science, Apologia, SOTW with the activity guides, and Biblioplan work well for that. I absolutely could not have pulled off TOG when all my kids were your kids' ages. (I still couldn't.) SL is good, but I've never been able to make one core work for several ages.

     

    R&S English has been a staple in our house forever. Love it!

     

    Saxon 1-3 made me crazy when all my kids were young. We switched to Horizons, and then Singapore, and I can recommend either of those for a large family.

     

    Peacehill Press products (WWE, WWS, FLL, SOTW) have been very user-friendly for us, too.

    So do you separate all of your children? I have thoughts many times that it would actually be easier. Thanks for those links.

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