DianeJM
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Posts posted by DianeJM
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Oh, I will have to look into that. I bet ds would connect with an active, fun guy-teacher. What was the $99 deal?
[i'm going to have to check back later tonight -- today is my baking day, and I have to get off the computer now :leaving: ]
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Excellent information, ladies, thanks.
Yes, he is a kid who needs video, so I would want those, and, I totally forgot about DIVE as an additional option.
Good thoughts, thanks a bunch!
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I have BJU Physical World, the physical science course for 9th grade that came out maybe 8 - 10 years ago, with the small hardcover book.... I have the whole set.
Never used it -- all my older kids ended up going to 9th grade outside the home.
There's now a newer edition out, Physical Science 4th edition.
I have not seen it in person but have looked at pages online.
Is the 3rd edition okay? Is the 4th edition any better? I learned on this forum that BJU's 8th grade Space & Earth was a really tough course and that their newer Earth Science was a great improvement.
Would that be the same case with physical science???
Has anyone used either of these courses? I'm considering this for 9th grade and looking for input from users.
If I end up going with BJU, is Physical World a good course? or would you recommend ditching it and getting the 4th edition Physical Science?
Thanks :)
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Thanks, all! I reviewed both Abeka 7 and BJU 7 with my dd and we have decided to go with the BJU. Now to figure out HOW to do it. I have the TM but it is geared to the classroom.
We just went chapter by chapter, reading the sections, doing section review questions, activities, and the video demonstrations. At the beginning of the year I had mapped out how much we needed to do per week in order to get it done by June. There is a lot to it, and I didn't push when it seemed like it was getting too much. But I'm very glad we did this program, it was great, and Mrs. Vick doing the experiments on video was fabulous. He did get Bob Jones'd out, though, since it was so intense, so I'm doing a different publisher's science this year. No worries!
All the best to you!
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ABeka's 7th grade science is, if I remember correctly, a general science course, where BJU's 7th grade is pre-biology. You could choose between the two based on what you want to cover. I chose the BJU, because I wanted to follow their progression -- general through 6th grade, then specializing in life, earth/space, physical in 7th through 9th, then biology and chemistry in 10th and 11th. If I had wanted to do a general course in 7th I would have chosen the ABeka.
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At that age, I think the answer is going to be backing up and *doing* the math.
I agree, and this was my experience with ds. We switched from ABeka to MUS when he was around 11, backing up two full grades at the recommendation of the MUS rep. She was right! The result is that he GETS it. It's much easier for him now. He's catching up but still behind right now. It's fine.
Here's a bit of wisdom from Linda Kane, a neurodevelopmental person I heard at the convention one year. In order to make the learning stick, you need three components: FREQUENCY, INTENSITY, and DURATION.
Frequency is: The number of times you are exposed to the same information. Over and over. Repetition is key. Precise and specific.
Frequency is giving highlights of the information -- the meat, the important things, over and over again.
Intensity is: How strong the information is presented.
Find something in the subject that will turn on the interest of the student — increased interest level will increase the strength of the learning.
Make it short and sweet, then stop – they will crave more.
Duration is: How long you keep trying over time.
Staying at something long enough so that it “gets in there.†Input is key.
Keep on inputting -- building that pathway, and finally, one day, it will connect; the brain will finally “get it.†And don't let up then, keep reviewing from time to time.
She also suggested doing a problem on the whiteboard for your child as a demonstration if he doesn't get it. Do it enough times that he will get tired of watching you and want to grab the marker and do it himself. This works great. We're teaching, not testing, she said, and so teach him how to do it as often as he needs to be taught.
That's a strategy or two that you can use now, and go from there.
All the best!!
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MM can be a full curriculum if you use the Light Blue version, or a supplement if you use the other color(s) which I forgot what those are called.
Thanks, I'll go take a closer look.
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Is MM a supplement or a curriculum?
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Here are a few suggestions:
Math -- Math U See hands down.
History -- Home School in the Woods; check out their website and see all the photos of the wonderful lap books. Even project/craft-challenged moms like me can do those. And the kids definitely learn.
Spelling -- All About Spelling
Grammar -- Winston Grammar
Science -- Usborne books with experiments in them
Don't forget to add in physical activity! When he was younger I used to have my son running around the room while he was doing his math drills orally, and I'd have him doing jumping jacks for spelling, each jump was one letter in the word. Maybe your child is a little older? Nevertheless, activity is a good thing no matter the age.
And, lots of physical breaks between subjects.
Also, alternate between active and non-active subjects.
All the best!
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I recently read an interesting article ... that said a child should study physics and chemistry in middle school BEFORE biology/life science or earth/space. The general jist of the article was that a child can better learn and retain the other areas of science with a strong foundation in physics and chemistry, because those areas are necessary to fully understand biology and/or earth science.
NOW they tell me!
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It was devastating to loose both my parents within two years, to say the least.... I had much to deal with over the past year...
Given the above, and reading all that you did, I would say you did GREAT!!!!!
I lost both my parents in about 2-1/2 years -- what a whirlwind of a whole bunch of emotions and activity, and stress on many levels. Last to go was Mom, 3 years ago. It does get easier, you do normalize, you do recover, you do become more able to do the things you used to do, but the emotions do come back in waves, and sometimes you just don't function as well. It's good to know those tough times are fewer and further between the more time-distance goes by. Still, it's hard sometimes.
Continue to give yourself time and space when needed.
All the best to you!!!
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I have always liked paper rather than computer planning. In the past I used blank teacher planning books from the teacher store; those worked well for me when I had multiple children in elementary grades. More recently I've printed forms from Donna Young, whatever ones hit me at the time, and I always make up my own forms for things like our daily schedule and such.
I'm about to start using The Ultimate Homeschool Planner by Debra Bell, and I'm hoping it is going to be just what I need this year. Loved everything she said at our convention, it all made so much sense to me. I'm going to take her advice and give myself a planning retreat in a couple of weeks.
I never plan more than one week at a time, because life happens. And I always write in pencil ;). So, my planning retreat will consist of figuring out everything I'm using, what I want my pace to (sort of) be; i.e., roughly how much I need to do per week in order to finish the book. I also want to give considerable thought to goals -- academic, spiritual, personal -- for my son and for myself.
One thing I really like about Debra Bell's approach is how she recommends a Monday morning meeting between parent and student, and then a Friday check-up on what they accomplished during the week. I'm also getting Debra's student planner for ds, as I really need to move him to working independently. I don't know if anyone else's last-born had to be yanked away from mom to work independently, but mine sure does. With some LDs, it hasn't been easy to get him to do his own thing, although we are making progress, and that's one of my major priorities for this year. I always get a kick out of some of you wtm-ers who have whiz kids performing way above grade level, working almost totally independently and reading kajillions of books at young ages, lol. Well, that's great. I have a regular kid with challenges, and we are plodding along. It is what it is.
All the best to you,
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Sounds like my ds would need to do that too.
Good info, that's helpful, thanks.
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If you used BJU Fundamentals of Math 7 as a review of mathematics, did you feel the need to do pre-algebra following that, or were you able to go right to algebra 1?
The end of the BJU 7 seems to be pre-algebra, so if you complete that, is it enough preparation to jump right into algebra 1?
Not talking about a math-intuitive kid here, just an average kid math-wise who doesn't enjoy math and feels he's not very good at it (he's better than he thinks he is). (same with the mom, he he)
Many thanks.
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Your page count does seem a bit aggressive to me, but only you know your child. I know that my reading-hating 13 year old would die if he had to read 60 pages a day (30 of his choosing, 30 of my choosing), and then write about 30 of those pages. I would have a revolt to deal with in addition to the aversion to reading.
You have some good suggestions here; I hope you find a fitting solution.
All the best to you!
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Oh, I do hope there is such a thing. If not, could someone please invent one?
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That's a great question, I hope someone can answer it.
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I saw this at the Saxon booth at our convention. I'm seriously interested in it for Earth Science next year for these reasons: 1) ds is BobJones'd out -- we did BJ Life Science this year, and while it was great, he's ready for a change from BJ; 2) Science Fusion seems to have a variety of types of material and loads of visuals, which matches his learning style, I think it would be a good fit just for how it's presented, in terms of keeping him interested; 3) potentially jazzed about the online teacher content, seems like there is a lot there to choose from (but not sure how it would actually work on a daily basis). Negatives for me would be: 1) evolutionist content, which isn't really a giant problem, we can always talk through that and it's good to get exposure to it because that's the way the world is; 2) cost -- it seems like a bunch of money for all three modules, when much of it is online (or downloads or whatever it is), i.e., all you have to hold in your hand is a student book.
But, no, I have not tried it yet.
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So, where do I go from here? I'm not convinced that continuing with TT is what's best for her. I don't have a problem with her being behind as long as we can get to pre-algebra by 9th so she will have time to get through Alg2 by her senior year in order to fulfill her math credit re-quirements. As I mentioned, she has basic functions down so I'd considered having her go through MUS Epsilon(fractions) and Zeta(percents and decimals), which I own, next year. Then take even two years to do pre-Algebra. Once with MUS and then again with something else like Chalkdust, which I own already. I also have MM 1-6 that I could utilize if needed. Dh wondered if a basic college math course would be better for her, but I'm not familiar with what they cover, or if they would work for my purposes. I don't know if just picking up at the 5th grade level with MM and working through their 7th grade material would be best or if I should focus on specific topic programs.
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Edited to add: I am in no way saying anything against TT. I think it is a fine program for some dc, and as I mentioned was exactly what my dd needed for this year. I just don't know if it's what we need from this point on.
Hunter said to trust yourself; that's excellent advice!
I recommend doing the MUS fractions and decimals to cement the concepts in. There is no shame in backing up for a time. From my experience and others I have talked to, that should work just fine, and you also will avoid math anxiety with MUS, even while she's making giant strides forward.
All the best!
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You may just be surprised how much her understanding will improve if you do the MUS fractions and decimals books with her. Sounds like light bulbs are turning on for her, that's very exciting!
I would go for it.
(can't recommend specific books for later, but wanted to chime in with encouragement to go with your plan for the summer)
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I don't really like the number on the book, but I have to meet him where he is. We went for BJU6. Bless his heart, he said, "Whatever you think, Mom. I'm willing to try it." So, we're going to try it.
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It's good I got to show my ds the difference between TT & the BJU same grade level text. I think he understood for the first time what I mean when I say that the number on the book doesn't matter...it's the material covered within the book.
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Put a cover on the book ;) he will forget about the number when the material is right for him.
Sounds like a kid with a great attitude, good job!:001_smile:
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Yvonne,
I don't use a set schedule because life is extremely crazy around here. But at the beginning of the year I listed the chapters and sections on paper, and I figured a loose timetable for how long I should spend on any one chapter or section in order to complete the book in 10 months. I gave myself a lot of wiggle room because I need it. In the Teacher Edition at the beginning of each chapter you will see a timetable/schedule that BJU sets out (well it's more like a breakdown of what the assignments would be for a class over a certain amount of days, really), and it seems fairly reasonable; the chapter "schedules" are fairly similar from chapter to chapter, but they run varying lengths due to the differing amounts of material in each chapter. You could follow that or do your own thing -- I do my own thing.
We spend about 45-55 minutes on average per day, 5 days a week -- reading, highlighting, going over vocab, doing section and chapter questions, and student activities from the back of the book, some of which call for the Investigations DVD which I have and which I highly recommend getting. You don't find the DVD at sale/reduced prices anywhere that I know of, so best try to get it used. It has Mrs. Vick doing experiments and such. Very worthwhile, and an excellent addition to round out the learning. I would most certainly get the DVDs again if I had to do it over. We put the DVD session on after we finish the section in the book that relates to what she will be doing. I watch too, I wouldn't miss it. We watch (we don't "do") the experiments. I don't know about the full course on DVD, never had that, haven't seen it.
All the best!
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My oldest is going to use this next year, but I haven't bought it yet. If you have it, can you tell me how many total lessons it has? I am trying to figure out if we can do science two days per week or if we need to "budget" three.
We are using it this year. There are 28 chapters -- 27 in the book and one optional chapter (human reproduction) not in the book but printable from the accompanying CD in the Teacher Edition. Each chapter has an average of 3 or 4 sections.
You would have a tough time completing the course doing it twice a week. If you want to do a thorough job, you'd have to do more than that.
If you did 3 days a week, you could try to do a chapter a week, but I think you would be spending a lot of time on science on those three days, and some of the longer chapters would take you more than one week.
We are actually doing it 5 days a week, and we're on the 24th chapter right now. There is a lot to this course. It's good, though, and I'm glad we're doing it.
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I agree it could be partially the age... however, sometimes we need to re-teach and re-teach again. And practice, practice, practice.
Two years ago someone encouraged me to back up a couple of levels and re-do some of the earlier skills, b/c we were getting nowhere. I made that switch using earlier levels of MUS. That was SUCH a strong move! Very beneficial. Probably one of the better moves I've made.
Also, if you can get him to teach things to someone else, that usually will cement things in.
BJU Physical Science: Is there ANY reason to use the 4th edition Physical Science rather than 3rd edition Physical World?
in High School and Self-Education Board
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This is helpful, thanks so much. I appreciate it!