Shelly in the Country
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Posts posted by Shelly in the Country
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I use R&S Science. My kids both liked Patterns of Nature 2. R&S Science is textbooks from grade 3 on, but the 2nd grade book is a consumable workbook. There is a short reading assignment followed by workbook-y type Q&A. There is also a picture to correspond with each lesson that is suitable for coloring :001_smile:. My eldest actually filled in the answers in her workbook when she did it, but with my ds, I did most of it orally. I'd take turns reading the assignments with him.
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I was a little weird since I read through SOTW 1 sequentially with my firstborn way back when....
But like I said earlier, I was mostly concerned with keeping my kids on the same topic this go-around. They were able to do TOG's lapbook together, they were able to have dinner table conversations with Dad about what they were learning together. I liked the history "mojo" this past year :001_smile:. My dd10 told me she remembered very little about what we had read in SOTW when she was little :tongue_smilie:. I decided not to sweat it too much if my ds wasn't picking up on every little last thing. I focused on dd10's history and brought little brother along for the ride. Another nice side benefit was that my dd liked (and volunteered) to read many of the UG resources to her little brother. I really liked last year. We had fun :001_smile:.
Now, we're one week into Year Two....we'll see how this goes :lol:.
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Ooo, thanks for the link! I hadn't seen this before :001_smile:.
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I use Singapore and Miquon together. I don't do all the Miquon assignments. That would be too much for us since I also use the Singapore supplements (Intensive Practice and Challenging Word Problems). I don't think it's a hassle because they mesh well together. The Cuisenaire rods are great for visualizing number bonds in Singapore and the bar diagrams for word problems. I use Singapore as a spine and then add in Miquon as we go. You could do it the other way around, too if you prefer :001_smile:. Singapore is definitely a stand alone program. I just add in Miquon for fun and reinforcement.
As for skill level, I always started Singapore's Earlybird program when my kids began phonics/Kindergarten work and then let them work at their own pace. I add in Miquon when they hit Singapore 1A.
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But if you are using a literature-based program (like Sonlight or TOG), does anybody really pre-screen all the books before you buy them?
I read aloud to my dd when she was younger, and I still read aloud to my younger kids (and they read aloud to me :001_smile:), so yeah, this is a non-issue with my youngers. My eldest is now 10, I don't think of older elementary/middle school aged kid-dom in the same way. This may be my upbringing but....
In spite of the fact I was raised in a very strict Christian home, I was allowed to read whatever I wanted after a certain age. I was reading Fahrenheit 451 when I was 11. I know my dd 10 has her own opinions of things now. I showed her much of these "evil book" threads and portions of TCoO with the offensive language, as a teaching moment, actually :001_smile:. I don't feel the need to screen middle school and certainly not high school. I talk with my kids about worldview-type issues all the time. They are being raised to think critically about things. Discussion is key.
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I like pie.
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:confused: Rather' date=' the answers that have been given have not been accepted, or they have been ignored.[/quote']
Yup.
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:lol: That is exactly what happened to TOG.
:iagree: Wow... I think the folks who brought this topic up on the TOG forums were doing so to give the Somervilles and the other people over at TOG a chance to defend themselves from the attacks mounted against them over here.
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Our school year has rebooted, and I now have a 5th grader! This has gotten me thinking. I have been doing science with my kids 3 times per week since the beginning. I understand at some point one must transition to daily science. When did all of you more experienced homeschoolers transition your kids to daily science? Or does everyone but me do science daily with littles?
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I think it would depend on your "planning style". As HappyGrace pointed out, you can really just pick up the Reading schedule and go. The supplemental materials for mapping, the student pages in the Loom, and the quizzes in Evaluations (if you are using them), are all pretty self-explanatory. Personally, I like to have everything entered in my HST+ program, so I can't do that :lol:. I have to have my lesson plans done for the year before I can start anything. I am not recommending my way though...I probably overdo it as well.
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My firstborn did not get rhyming at first either. I dumped 100 EZ lessons for that reason primarily. It was torture! I switched her over to VP Phonics Museum and she was reading at age 4. I'd just skip the portions of the text with the rhyming in it. I had to ditch the entire program with her because she'd cry when I pulled out the book.
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But isn't "lots and lots of discussion" requisite for any study of history, no matter what book is used?
Of course, but I already own a set of logic-stage history books with a liberal slant. I don't need two. If I were going to invest in another history series for this stage I'd want something more middle of the road or conservative to balance out Hakim.
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Thank you!
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Does R&S English teach editing? I'm thinking specifically about proof-reading a paper and putting all those cute little marks on the paper to show somebody where they made errors. I want to teach my kids this, and have been looking at some materials in my RR catalog, but I don't want to jump the gun if R&S gets to this eventually. I always overbuy...
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And that appears to be the point of all of these threads - where to find a history text that provides information without spin. Harder than it looks I guess and maybe not even possible.
One of my dearest friends has her master's degree in history. Over the years, I have occasionally used her as a sounding board in my history decisions and even run a few resources by her for her opinion. She told me that every historian has their "heroes and villains", to use her words. You can't get away from spin.
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You are not happy with Hakim?
No, I am not...and she is more problematic in her coverage of more recent history. I bought a set of Hakim's books years ago when they went on sale. I got a great deal :001_smile:. I will find a way to use most of them, but I may have to skip the later volumes.
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I think the OP was just warning people that if you see the world "this way", you will have some problems with these books, and *I* agree because I have some of the same opinions that she does and could immediately see what she was talking about.
:iagree: Yup, yup. I think this was what the OP was trying to point out. From the segments I've read in this thread I wouldn't be able to use this series for modern times without lots and lots of discussion. I already own Hakim's series (heavy sigh), so this series wouldn't add anything to our home library.
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The gap between the rich and poor did increase under Reagan, and deficits did soar.
There is a difference between stating that something happened during a particular time period in history versus saying it is the result of a president's policies. Once you venture into cause/effect you are giving your opinion. And even deficits...no president operates in a vacuum. The President can't make the deficit soar without the cooperation of the Senate and House. I'm really not trying to argue politics. It's just that when a history book artfully connects events that happened during a particular president's term in an effort to pin all the bad things that happened on him....well, this is where we can find bias. And bias is in the eye of the beholder.
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I'll venture a guess--any of the recent wars? Gay marriage? Health care? If you just think about what divides us the most & recent history, I bet you'll be pretty close to OP's point.
Maybe Reagan
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I have older teens in ps high school. I read many, not all of their texts. Sometimes (plug your ears, cover your eyes) I would almost prefer Marshall to the pointlessness of a couple of their texts. There is nothing to think about, nothing for an eager mind to grab onto or challenge, but it certainly is pc.:tongue_smilie:
Another piece of randomness:
When I took AP American History in high school (in 1992 to be exact), my history teacher pulled out dusty old textbooks from the 1960's. They were absolutely falling apart. Although he didn't really elaborate, he told us he was making us use those duct-taped relics because he couldn't find anything suitable that was in print. He was one of the best teachers I ever had.
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On that point for a moment Shelly. The "content-less-ness" (is that a word?) of some modern history texts bothers me too. I don't want PC pablum that is dumbed-down to achieve basically one aim, not causing offense, while not informing and educating young people on our history.
That is exactly why I've been so enthusiastic about what I've seen thus far in the DoAH series. The writing is engaging, the history is deep and nuanced (especially for a work that intentionally stays "narrow" in its focus, sticking to main themes), and very fair-minded.
It is a tough balancing act to pull off. I've been very impressed thus far.
By the way, I wanted to make it very clear I wasn't trying to implicate DoAH in my "hijack". I've never looked at it, and considering it is OOP (at least that is what I have gathered from previous posts?), it may very well not be content-less :lol:....did I get that double-negative right?
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This may be random, but all of this talk of bias has reminded me of an interview with Diane Ravitch I heard on NPR a few years back.
One of her major points was that modern history textbooks are becoming content-less. She said this was happening because textbook publishers, in the interest of selling textbooks, try to market their wares to people of varying political persuasions. In order to please everybody, they end up having to skip or skirt much content. No matter how one decides to cover certain historical events somebody will get offended.
Anyway, this may sound random, but all of this back-and-forth just reminded me of this. It's a good interview by the way. I heart Diane Ravitch :001_smile:.
Hijack over :auto:
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Hey, I haven't finished reading that thread yet, but if it's relevant--maybe somebody could go back & link it to the original evil history thread? I can't tell yet how it's going to end up.
I think the original thread was locked.
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I've only ever tried Sonlight and TOG, but I like TOG far and away more than I ever liked SL. The mapwork is better, the history is more in depth. At the upper levels of TOG discussion is promoted between parent and child regarding the history they are learning. There is more support offered through the Evaluations TOG sells and it has integrated writing assignments if you want that. By buying one level of TOG, you basically have a teacher's manual going all the way from elementary school through high school for that time period. TOG uses a 4 year history cycle as recommended in TWTM. TOG is a Christian worldview centered program. I wish I had started with this with my kids from the beginning.
And, as for the linked thread above that started the "firestorm" a few days ago....
Those concerns were addressed on TOG's forums.
ETA: SL has more Read Alouds than TOG. I add some extra Read Alouds in sometimes with TOG, but with SL I ended up having to cut some out.
Favourite educational computer programs?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
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I don't know what you use for math, but the PC games Singapore puts out there are fantastic. My kids love them :001_smile:. I think they could even be used independant of the Singapore math program. Rainbow Rock for 1&2, Vroot and Vroom for 3&4, and Wiggle Woods for 5&6.