TC5
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Posts posted by TC5
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15 minutes ago, Lori D. said:
I honestly never look at publisher schedules, because 99% of the time, we do things so differently than what a publisher suggests, or we're only using excerpts, or we're adding in other stuff... 😉 So publisher schedules really do nothing for us. 😉
Agreed. I do look at them to understand the intent, but then I make my own to do whatever I want.
Thank you!
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This is all so very helpful, Lori. I am getting a much better sense of how this works now. I agree that this won't be enough for my DS16, and I think I have a better idea now of some options.
A couple more questions about scheduling:
23 minutes ago, Lori D. said:Here's what our schedule typically looked like the year we did LLftLotR + other lit.:
- Sun or Mon night (about 1.5 hours) = read the 2 chapters in LotR
- Mon or Tues during school (about 45-60 min.) = do the chapter notes/discussion for the 2 chapters + a "bite" of one of the units*
- Mon-Fri (4 of these except for the LLftLotR day) = read/discuss other literature
* = length of time needed to do a unit varied for us (as did amount of time spent on chapter notes/discussion)1) To clarify, you did LLfLotR only 2 school days per week, right (plus the actual LotR reading another evening)?
2) Did you do a little bit of the unit studies one day each week, not just when the publisher schedules them between books? Is this how you spread them out to cover them for as long as you wanted?
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12 hours ago, Lori D. said:
We used 1st ed. of LLftLotR quite a few years back -- I just used the TG and editions of the books that we already had. Because I knew the story so well, I didn't need book editions matched to page numbers mentioned in the TG. (Also, I don't recall that there was tons of that in the study -- references to specific page numbers in specific book editions, in the LLftLotR guide.
Thanks, Lori. I don't know the trilogy, as I have read only the first book and part of the second many years ago. It is good to hear that it probably won't matter if I can't find the matching edition. That and my inability to contact the publisher were my biggest concerns.
12 hours ago, Lori D. said:But yes, you could do it LLftLotR in one 18-week semester, if you just double the schedule provided in the program. I believe the schedule has you do 2 chapters per week for 36 weeks, plus 1 unit study every 3 weeks.
After my DSs both graduated and I started teaching homeschool high school co-op classes, I was going to use LLftLotR in a co-op class setting, but it really wasn't as in-depth as I wanted, so I have since created my own more in-depth LotR study, and we cover the entire trilogy in about 21 weeks. The remainder of the school year we focus on Medieval lit. (Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Canterbury Tales, and Macbeth).
Do you think option 1 below is better, then?
1) finish LLfLotR before adding the other literature (speed up the entire LLfLotR program and then move on).
2) read other books at other times of the day or week. E.g., Read the 2 chapters of LOTR on Sun/Mon, do the discussions/unit studies on Tues-Fri, read a Shakespeare play or Beowulf on Tues-Fri. (approx 2 hrs literature/day, some independent reading or read-aloud and some discussion together).
3) Between each of the 6 LOTR books, when there is a break for unit studies, take a longer break and read other literature.
I did find a little about scheduling you used in an older thread: "We also took 1 to 3 weeks to spread out and do one of the 12 additional units, which, in addition to the chapter notes, are the real "meat" of the program." When I get my copy of LLfLotR, I'm hoping I'll be able to understand scheduling better, but I won't get it for a while. The sample schedule on the publisher website, which is for the 1st edition, shows unit studies taking 1-2 days each and usually coming back-to-back with 2-3 unit studies between each LOTR book. Am I right in understanding that you paused your LOTR reading for 1-3 weeks instead of the 1-2 days on the sample schedule? Did you read other literature at this time that corresponded to the the unit studies? Is this extension of unit studies possible just by cutting out the fill-in-the-blank, comprehension questions, vocabulary, and tests. I do plan to cut those out and use other writing.
I'm really looking forward to the unit studies. My 16-year-old just returned from a literature study abroad to England and wants to read Tolkien, Lewis, and more Shakespeare. I want to capitalize on his excitement and energy for him and for his younger brothers. I also need to be realistic, and I don't want to overburden them or myself. We'll be moving yet again sometime in the next few months (we've homeschooled through many moves, but this time will also require extensive home renovations at the beginning), and I have health problems that sometimes shut me down, so we'll miss some days of me leading things. This is why I am trying to get as much of a loose schedule ready as I can. i appreciate all of your insights and suggestions.
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2 hours ago, 8filltheheart said:
I think you can go as fast as you want. My only recommendation would be that you do discussions for the day behind readings. Why? Mainly bc I don't control when my kids read during the day, so they might want to read at night in bed. It is easier for me to just control the discussion time vs working around when they have read.
Yes, I had thought about that, but you're right that I should plan for it. I'll probably try to do the discussions around lunch time, so they can plan to read at night but still have time in the morning if it doesn't happen.
Thank you for the ideas and clarifications.
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Thank you, SilverMoon. I got interrupted during my previous post and didn't see yours. That's helpful information about the book version.
Do you have any advice about scheduling? I don't imagine most people actually follow the schedule provided by the publisher, since most use the curriculum differently.
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I'm glad you saw my post, 8filltheheart, as I know you have used LLfLotR a lot.
I want the program mostly for the discussions and unit studies, like you and mlktwins and most of the people I've read have used it. I'm not planning to use the fill-in-the blank pages or vocabulary exercises. I'm more concerned about whether I'll need a matching version to learn the literary terms. Does the TE give page numbers with examples of the literary devices that will be difficult to find otherwise? Maybe if I just review these lessons before I read the chapters, I will be able to find them more easily.
An entirely new question (scheduling):
In reviewing the sample daily schedule on the website, I wondered whether we could speed it up a little. Before I saw the schedule, I assumed we would read a chapter and discuss it on the same day, but these two tasks seem to be divided into two days most of the time. My oldest son, especially, wants time to read more this year, especially Shakespeare and Lewis (my 10th- and 12th-graders have already read most of the other related works, such as Beowulf, Gawain, Iliad, some Shakespeare, Narnia, etc.) Do you think it would work better to speed up the LOTR a little to fit other books into breaks along with unit studies, or would you read the other works at the same time?
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Thanks, mlktwins. I have read a lot about the program and appreciate your further review.
I had considered using the 1st edition TE since I plan to do most of this as a group with my sons and plan to avoid the worksheets, but even used copies of the curriculum are hard to find (ether edition).
When you used the LOTR book that matched your 1st edition, did you find it important that it matched? Do you think it would have been difficult to teach with another version of the Tolkien books?
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For years, I have seen posts about Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings. Now that I am finally wanting to use it with my three youngest boys, I don't see many comments that aren't 5-10 years old. That wouldn't deter me from using it, but I can't contact the publisher (homescholar.org) via phone or email or their website comment form. I do see the Student and Teacher's editions are available from Rainbow Resource, but I'd like to ask the publisher questions.
Does anyone know whether HomeScholar Books is still the publisher of LLfLotR?
I'm also wondering about the one-volume LOTR and which edition works best with the curriculum, since I can't seem to buy directly from the publisher. The HomeScholar website has conflicting, confusing information about this, and ISBN searches on amazon don't necessarily work. From an ISBN search, I think I can use the 50th Anniversary edition I see on amazon: 1178 pages, published by William Morrow. But since I can't look inside that version, it's had to know.
I'd appreciate any help you can give.
TC
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Thank you, Tajeune!
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My son finally got his PSAT scores in the mail yesterday. His first set. He started getting emails from colleges in January, which is when I thought scores would be out. So I came on here and realized they'd been out for a long time. I looked online and linked his college board account with our home address. Last week, my son started getting physical mail from colleges. And then he got his paper scores yesterday. I'm wondering if he didn't write his mailing address clearly on the PSAT and that caused the delay.
I'm really glad to have the paper scores, as there is a lot more information than just the three numbers you get by looking online.
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If your child is not in 11th grade and not needing to take the PSAT this year, let them take the SAT. My daughter took it in 7th, 9th and 10th grade. You can look on the college board website to find sites that are offering it. One year, my daughter took it at a university and then the next two at a high school an hour away. It is not typical to call the local public school unless you are needing to take the PSAT, since you cannot sign up for the PSAT online..
That's a great idea. I think I'll do this with my next children. It was a struggle to find a school for my oldest to take the PSAT. Per the College Board website, I started early. Local high school told me in May that I'd have to wait until August to sign him up, so I worried all summer about whether they would let him. Late August, they finally gave us an answer: No. We found a public school in the next town that said he could sign up after Sept. 14. On the phone, someone said we could. In person, another person said we couldn't. Luckily we got in because we had the first person's name, she was there at the time, and she remembered talking to us in the phone.
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Thank you all! My 10th-grade son started at our local CC last week, and he suddenly decided he wants to get an AA before he graduates from high school. I had already heard that a semester at CC = a year in high school, but the Spanish classes at the CC are 101A, 101B, 102A, 102B. This made me stop to come here to look for answers as to whether I could treat each semester course as a year of high school. Considering they are 5 credits each at the CC, I think he can get 1 high-school credit out of each one! Taking just 2 of the 4 semesters will save him a lot of time. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge.
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Yikes! Now I'm kicking myself even harder for not pushing more for my son to take the PSAT this month. We made an initial attempt to sign him up, got knocked aside by the local high school, went home to double check my facts (yes he could take it as a 10th grader, yes he needed to sign up at the school and not online), and never made it back to the school to try again.
Thanks for posting, so I can add these things to a list of prep items.
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My son did this two years ago with zero preparation. We were in the middle of a cross-country move, so it was great for him to have any kind of educational goal. He met it, but we didn't realize until too late that he could have had his book published. This year, I discovered the workbook, and he has gone through some of it over the past few months. He hasn't visited the web site yet, though I did see there were some webinars, which we missed. My son loves to write, do he does this for fun. I won't be assigning much other writing during November, though. And we will try to pay more attention to what is going on in nanowrimo besides my son's writing in a vacuum.
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I start formal spelling lessons with my children when they are in third grade, as I prefer to focus on reading and writing first. I was surprised yesterday when giving my 8-year-old his first spelling test. He still isn't as strong a reader as his older brothers were at this age, and I was actually surprised at how well he did with his spelling test (11/12 correct). On one word, he told me the spelling rule as he confirmed he had spelled the word correctly. I asked how he knew that, and he said it had been in his phonics book, OPGTTR, which he finished more than a year ago. Just anecdotal evidence to use OPG and hold off on spelling.
If I'd had a child who loved to write at a young age and wanted more work and I'd had time to give it to him, I wouldn't be totally opposed to teaching spelling at a younger age (especially with Spell to Write and Read, which I like). But I've never had that kid or that kind of time. There are lots of spelling programs that are tempting, and I'm sure most would work with consistency, just as "winging it" will work. Using letter tiles is a great method to start with for young or reluctant writers. More fun at any age, really.
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For those of you using Joy of Science, can you share how you'll use it? I see that it is on sale right now (but still $125 for the video download version). It does look like a great overview before starting high school science.
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My oldest son used the above 5-8 Outlining book (Remedia). It was easy for him, as well, and he was very comfortable outlining other materials after using it. It is his preferred form of notetaking now. It's probably about time to have my second son use it, though all of that writing will be harder for him. He did just come to some outlining in Rod and Staff, but he didn't do the exercises. So as not to overload my children, they are required to read the writing/composition lessons in R&S but rarely have to actually do the exercises.
As for where the outlining is found in Rod and Staff English, I have only books 4, 6, and 8 on the shelves right now. English 4 has no outlining but does start to talk about topic sentences. English 6 and English 8 have several outlining lessons in Ch. 4. I think outlining actually starts in English 5, but it isn't accessible to check right now.
I hope that helps.
Teonei
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I read somewhere on this forum last year that the even years are the most important for Rod and Staff English (Gr. 4, 6, 8, 10), so those should be studied the most. Sorry, but I don't remember who said it. It seemed to be a consensus in the threads I was reading. We missed a year of grammar and picked up in Gr. 4 and 6 for two of my boys (skipping Gr. 3 and 5), but my older son is doing Gr. 8 rather than skipping it to do Gr. 9 this year. All are doing fine.
That would seem to indicate starting with Gr. 6 for your daughter would be a good idea.
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I don't see this posted anywhere, but I apologize if it already has been.
I got an email today saying The Teaching Company (The Great Courses) has ALL of its courses on sale 70% off today and tomorrow. Free shipping code: 104475 within the United States.
Of course, first check your library, and Audible may be cheaper, but I know some people wait for sales like this one and didn't want you to miss it. :)
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My 13yo son recently completed all of the work for the hiking merit badge, including five 10-mile hikes and a 20-mile hike. Tonight, he was supposed to meet with his merit-badge counselor to report on all he'd done. He said he didn't want to go -- wanted to quit Scouting, so why bother with the merit badge. I convinced him to take this last step, just in case he changed his mind later about quitting scouting. He did go. He came home and announced that he'd earned his merit badge and now he's quitting Scouts.
I have mixed feelings about Scouts, but what else is there for the boys to do?! YW is a wonderful program, and if I had daughters, I would certainly do all I could to help them want to work through that program. But I have five sons, and Boy Scouts is something very different. Is Duty to God supposed to be anything like Personal Progress? It doesn't seem to be, but I've never heard much about it in any of the 5 wards we've lived in for the past few years.
My son did just start seminary last week, and he's enjoying it. I think he'll still go to non-Scout weeknight activities. He's just really never liked Scouts, since he was a Wolf. I've never forced him to go, but I've found reasons for him to keep going. I don't think I have any more reasons, though. I've heard too many negative things about Scouting to love the program.
As for the rest of our family -- we go to church activities if we want to. We go if we feel the activity would be a good use of our family's time. My younger boys and often my older one almost always want to go to every activity. They definitely want to go to more than I do. I try to go to RS activities just to support the sisters who plan the activities, but that's probably just because I was in charge of planning the activities for so long. I sometimes wonder why I've gone to the activities and usually rush home at the end to be with my children, and I don't go to all of them anymore.
My husband was not raised Christian, let alone LDS, so we don't have that yardstick. He has had some negative experiences while volunteering with scout activities, so he often talks negatively about Boy Scouts. We try to have a quick and painless FHE just to maintain the habit.
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I'm so glad I found this thread today. I have been debating about getting some Vandiver and Daileader courses from Audible or waiting for a sale on the Teaching Company web site. Getting them from the library won't work because there is just one copy of each series, and they have holds, so I know I won't be able to keep renewing for months as we use 2 lectures/week.
With the sale and a coupon code I found in my inbox, I got the lectures I wanted. Sure, I paid more than I would have on Audible, but my hesitation was that I really wanted the Course Guidebooks. They aren't vital, of course, but I know I won't have time to listen to all of these lectures, and I'd like to have some idea of what my son is learning. The Guidebooks apparently aren't included on Audible. I was happily surprised to find that not only is the PDF Guidebook included with the audio download, but so is the entire course transcript. That is going to make discussing this with my son so much easier! It did work out to almost $7 more each than I would have paid at Audible. So if these PDFs aren't important to you, go with Audible. I might in the future if I don't care about the PDFs. I'm using the Daileader Middle Ages lectures as a spine for my son this year, so that was important to me.
Oh, and here's a $20 off coupon code in case it helps anyone. I think it expires in about an hour, though: CD7P
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It is very helpful to hear your perspective. Thank you so much for all of your time. I am feeling more confident now.
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You are helping a lot, actually. Aside from "Listen to the lecture and write about it" what can I do if I don't know what the lectures are about? The titles don't tell much. I could have him write a list of important people mentioned or events or just 10 things he remembers. I'm a visual learner, so this would be difficult for me, but my son is more auditory. Any more insight you can give me about how you use the lectures would be great. Take notes while listening, listen and discuss, listen and write...
I need to spend a week just on this, but I can't.
OK, most important is probably -- do you recommend using every lecture, or can some be skipped? In the interest of fitting things into a year, I want a general schedule first. I'd hate to get started before I have everything planned out only to decide I should have skipped some of the first things we already did. KWIM?
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Sounds good to me. :)
You don't get guidebooks from Audible. I do miss using the questions after the outlines for essay ideas, but we've made do with the list of lecture titles. I have bought a couple used guidebooks off Amazon, which is still cheaper than buying a CD set.
I want to be sure I understand how Audible works. Is this right? I could get the entire Early Middle Ages set (all of the lectures) as a free audio book upon enrollment. Then after one month, I would pay $14.95 and would get another audio book so could choose the High Middle Ages. Then another month later, I'd pay $14.95 and get the Late Middle Ages? I can cancel then or keep getting more audio books (Elizabeth Vandiver... Ooh, what a great way to get these courses cheaply. Exciting.) Once I buy these, I can download them, burn them to CD, put on an mp3 player, etc., right?
Am I understanding that correctly? Do you use a lot of Audible's offerings in your homeschool?
Do you buy them through the amazon web site or audible? Does it make any difference in terms of price or service or anything else?
I was originally thinking my son and I would watch the Daileader DVDs together. Then I would know what to talk about with him. If we're doing the audio only, which I think my son might prefer, assuming the class doesn't rely on visual elements, it will be much harder for me to get it done. Without the guidebooks, I'm not sure how I'll discuss it or make essay assignments. Do you listen to each lecture, too?
Sorry for all of the questions. I feel like I am getting close and want to work out all of the details. Thank you so much for your patience.
Does anyone still use LLfLotR?
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
These three boys and I have all read the Hobbit at least once, so I'm not worried about that. My DS16 might want to read the Silmarillion, but I haven't even checked yet to see how that fits into everything.
I appreciate your perspective on how you used the program. DS16 and DS14 have seen the movies several times but have read only about halfway through the books, and DS11 has read only the Hobbit (and not seen any of the movies but has heard rave reviews from his brothers). So we will need to discuss the books more than you have, I would imagine, but I don't want analysis to ruin the books, so we will cut things if needed. But I am really looking forward to making those connections you mentioned and appreciating Tolkien's genius. We're all excited to dive in.