TC5
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Do you feel like you can still be an involved teacher in their learning with the videos? I was thinking of trying this out but I don't want to let go of my involvement in the learning process. We finally let go of the dream that Rightstart was for us so I'm floundering a bit on what to do now. I'm either going to try MUS or just stick with Math Mammoth for the first grade year. I REALLY want my DD to understand place value backwards' date=' forwards and inside out, KWIM? Do you feel MUS is good at accomplishing that? She LOVED the sample lesson about Decimal Street and it seemed to be very good at helping her understand. I also need something very incremental and without huge leaps because she is a perfectionist who shuts down and screams she is a failure if she can't understand something. For example, yesterday she threw her Math Mammoth on the floor crying- with tears- that she was a failure because she tried to "play school" by herself with some random page halfway through the book and didn't understand the directions. She likes Math Mammoth (although I think I will have to hide it when it's not school time, LOL) so we may just stick with that, but I was also leaning toward trying MUS. My issue is that right now she says she wants to be an engineer like her dad, so I feel an enormous pressure to make sure I give her the best mathematical foundation that I can with my nonmathy brain. I'm not saying I don't understand first grade math, just that I don't really know how to pick the right curriculum, LOL. I don't know what I'm looking at when I try to evaluate these things.[/quote']
I resisted even looking at MUS for this reason. But when I finally did look at it, I realized the video part is short and just once for each lesson, which can mean about once each week. Also, although the math I've taught so far in K-5 hasn't been tough for me, knowing how to teach it isn't always easy. My child and I watch the MUS videos together. Then when they need more help, I know how to teach them because I know exactly what they're doing and how they should be doing it. I really like Math Mammoth, but it requires less teacher involvement, so when my child needs help, I have to first figure out what he's doing and how it's being taught. I can't answer questions as quickly. Still, we use MM as a supplement, mostly when we travel and don't want to take the big books along.
As for whether MUS is good enough -- it seems so simple that I have also wondered about this. That's why I originally bought MM to go along with it. But I have read a lot here and on the MUS web site that have mostly convinced me that MUS is very good by itself. You just have to go through the whole program because topics are taught in a different order than other programs.
I'm not sure whether MUS teaches place value as well as it could, though. Maybe it does, but... I started with MUS when my second son was half way through 1st grade. He'd been using RightStart B, but it had too many manipulatives for his taste and too much prep time for me. Rightstart B gave my son an excellent understanding of place value, though, and we got through only about 80 lessons before switching. We went to MUS Alpha after that, and I was surprised by how quickly place value was covered. We'd spent so much more time on it with RightStart. I just don't think MUS would have been enough. But maybe it would have -- I didn't start him with that, so I really can't say. (Maybe someone else will answer - or already has: I haven't read this whole thread yet) Since I still have RightStart B, I'm going through the first part of it with my 3rd son. When we get back home in a couple of months, he should be ready to jump into MUS Alpha and progress quickly, just as his older brother did.
My 10yo son also thinks he is no good at math anytime he doesn't understand something. When this happens, because I have been involved every step of the way, I can back up in MUS and review whatever I think he needs to understand better, and then he gains confidence to go on again. As long as I am ensuring that he understands each day, he has no problems. MUS is incremental with small steps and review. Focusing on one topic for a year has been great for us. It seems like it would be boring, but it really hasn't been for us. There is a lot you can learn about fractions! Even the earlier books had enough variety to make math enjoyable.
My boys like MUS much more than MM. I think the clean, simple look of MUS is less daunting than MM, which looks almost cluttered.
I want to fit in Life of Fred this year to help my boys love math, if that's possible for them. My husband and I both love math, though I'm not really mathy, but this positive outlook hasn't really rubbed off on our boys much yet.
I'm sorry. I am falling asleep at the computer so am not sure how much sense this makes or whether I've answered your questions.
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Thanks, Katie. That's kind of what I was thinking, too. I'm glad to know 2 days/week is enough--assuming my son can focus. :)
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I didn't get much info at the web site -- will watch the youtube video.
Is the idea that this would make the course independent for the student and take the place of parent discussion? Tempting though that is, I am looking forward to the discussions we'll have, as we've already had great ones with just the introduction.
Or is the DVD set just extra help in case we don't know what to talk about?
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I decided that DD and I would do this and the first two Critical Thinking in US History books in a discussion format for logic this year. I took the Art of Argument book and divided the pages into segments that I think we can do in about 20 minutes or so. Here's the assignment list I came up with. We'll do 2-3 of these lessons a week. HTH
Thank you!
Are others doing this twice a week or three times? I was planning on twice for about 30 min. Any other schedules?
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We're not.
My oldest finished R&S 5, and now we're taking a year off to wait for Advanced Languages Lessons (so he can do all 4 levels without a break, we're waiting for the second one to come out, too). Instead, we're focusing on Latin and Spanish, so he'll get lots of grammar review in a different way.
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I hadn't heard about them. We're starting to use Art of Argument.
:auto: off to learn more.
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I wish I could help, but mostly I'm just agreeing that it's hard. My husband doesn't work nights exclusively. He works days, nights, travels the world, and works from home when he's in town. This is why we school year-round and make very few plans for school breaks. We take breaks when my husband interrupts us. It is very disruptive, but I keep reminding myself of what a blessing it is to have my husband with us. We're currently on a 3-month business trip with him, but he left this morning for another shorter business trip somewhere else. We always get more schoolwork done while he's gone. We try to work around his schedule, but it changes constantly. I've had a struggle this year with getting him to talk to me before making plans with our boys to take them out for a bike ride, etc., mid-morning, which is our prime school time. He's getting better, but it definitely requires communication!
I'm not familiar with the curriculum choices you mentioned, but K and 1st grade don't need to take more than a couple of hours together. Maybe you could push the chores to after lunch or even after your husband leaves, so you could start school by 9 a.m. Could you fit in some of your chores before your husband leaves? Time cleaning together is still time together. :) To avoid homeschooling all day, maybe you could set aside 1-2 blocks of time for schoolwork. They don't have to be concurrent. You could do an hour or so in the morning (math, language arts) and an hour or two in the afternoon (crafts, projects, science, history).
What is the biggest struggle? fitting in the schooling? the children's chores? your own chores? Is this because you feel you can't do any of these things while your husband is home and awake (11-3:30)? I think most of us do chores and perhaps schooling while our husbands are around. I'd probably use the children's quiet time for chores at least some of the time.
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3) SCOPE AND SEQUENCE: I have been reluctant to post this because it has been shifting around, and once it's published on the internet it will get copied and reposted without the caveat that this is a WORKING scope and sequence. However, if you'd like the scope and sequence, email Pattie Worth (executiveassistant@welltrainedmind.com).
I requested this and was told it's not available. Should I try again in a month or two?
There is only one book for ALL: the instructor portion of each week is followed by tear-out student weeksheets.
Will a separate PDF of just student pages be available, like SOTW? This would be much more convenient for printing.
Thank you!
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R&S is a good grammar program and I'll continue to recommend it, but it has IMO four drawbacks.
1. (Biggest issue) There's not much teaching help for the parent, so if the kid doesn't read the instructions and "get" it, it's a little hard to know where to go from there.
--ALL is scripted, for the first level, for this reason--to help them "get" the basic concepts easily and thoroughly.
2. I don't think there's nearly enough review. It teaches a concept and then doesn't come back to it for weeks, sometimes months.
--We have more of a spiral approach with constant review.
Wow! I just looked at the samples of FLL 4 for the first time. This looks so much better than R&S. I think this would have saved a lot of frustration for my older son, who went through R&S 3-5. I used to be a writer and editor so understand the grammar pretty well, but this is still so helpful to me as the teacher. I thought I didn't like scripted lessons. :blushing: I like the way diagrams are taught, especially. My son did well with R&S, but it is comforting to know I'll have FLL 4 on hand for my second son when my oldest starts ALL. If Son #1 needs extra work on anything, we can go back to FLL 4 for review. He learned these things in R&S, but I think FLL just explains things in a more-clear way.
Also, I'd always thought of R&S as having way too much review, but after SWB mentioned the spiral approach of FLL and ALL and after thinking more about FLL 1-2, which I've used, FLL/ALL really does seem more likely to produce long-term results.
Thank you so much for this grammar program!! Now I'm just not sure I want to take a year off of grammar for Latin/Spanish. I shouldn't have told my boys that plan, 'cause now I think they'd revolt if I tried to stick English grammar back in (and I don't think I can fit grammar into the schedule now anyway).
Getting excited for next year already!
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At 7 my son needed undivided attention for EVERYthing. It got better during 8.
:iagree: He still needs me close by, it's a lot beter at nearly 9.
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My son did the A series of Mind Benders last year as a 5th grader. I think there are 4 books in the series. I assigned 3 puzzles/day, 3 days/week. He finished all of the books pretty early in the year, and we moved on to something else for logic.
We used a sheet protector over the page and dry-erase markers, so my younger children can use the same books.
I have since purchased a Grid Perplexors book for fun, but my son hasn't done them yet. I got it at amazon, but I think I saw them at Rainbow Resource, too.
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The author is writing additional books (these first 4 are the beginning of a set of 12 for elementary if I understand correctly).
Yep. The next four are supposed to be out around Halloween.
http://www.stanleyschmidt.com/FredGauss/32%20Newest%20News.html
I'm wondering -- if A-D are good for 1st and 2nd grade, maybe E-H will be 3rd-4th? I was thinking Fractions for 5th, but maybe that's just because we use MUS?
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Yes, you need the workbook. We did FLL4 with both kids last year and I don't see how we could have used the program without it.
Good to know. Thanks a lot.
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I also don't have to "worry" about new editions this way. Considering it will be 6 years until my now-youngest is in FLL 3, could be an issue. ;)
Good point. I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for chiming in!
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to the OP: PDF sounds like the way to go for you! FLL3 has a lot of actual grammar on its pages, with very little "extra" (we've had optional dictation exercises, but they were short and on a page that had other stuff we needed). That said, we're not very far in, and I don't know how different FLL4 is. I've heard they're quite similar. But with a laser printer, you're looking at probably $6ish to print the whole workbook, so with many kids, that's worth it.
Perfect! Thank you. I hadn't calculated laser-printing costs, but $6 or $15.95 makes this an easy choice! I'll get the PDF workbook.
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I do have a laser printer. And I can tell already that I won't need to print pages that are meant only for writing narrations of dictation. We'll use regular paper. In the sample pages on amazon, it looked like there were a lot of that type of page.
I tend to print as I go, anyway. Maybe a few weeks ahead but not more. For SOTW, for example, I print only 1-4 weeks worth of maps at a time. I can easily print the FLL workbook pages little by little as I see how we use them.
Thank you for your help!
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Thank you for this review. I just started looking into LofF yesterday, and I think my boys will love it. I'm happy to hear how your 4yo is enjoying it, especially. As of yesterday, I have a 4yo, too, and I think he'll want to be a part of this.
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I should clarify that I won't have 4 students using FLL 4 at once. I just have four more children coming up to use it one at a time through the years. :D
Still, I think you're right about the PDF being a better option. I don't want to have to write all of those sentences! That is good information to know. And with a PDF I can print just the pages we really need.
Thanks for your help!
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mMy first child started Latin in 4th grade (Lively Latin). I want to start my second son this year in 3rd grade, but I'm not sure he's ready for Lively Latin. He is a pretty good reader, but I think Lively Latin has a little too much writing for him. (There isn't a lot, but any writing is painfully slow for him.) He'll try it anyway if I can't find something better suited.
What would you use for a 3rd-grade boy who's almost 9 before moving into Lively Latin in 4th grade? Is he too old for Song School Latin? Would it be a waste of time? Is there something that would be good for him for just this year but not just token Latin to say we're doing it? I'll probably have this same issue with at least one of my other boys as they get to this point. Maybe GSWL?
The reason I'm wanting to start Latin in 3rd is... I just decided (if the Latin thing works out) to do this schedule for grammar:
1st - FLL 1
2nd- FLL 2
3rd- begin Latin (and continue Spanish), English: occasionally review parts of speech
4th- FLL 4 (continue Latin and Spanish)
5th-8th- ALL 1-4 (continue Latin and Spanish)
Alternately, I guess we could do FLL 1-3 and skip FLL 4 for a Latin intro. I just think it would be better to have FLL 4 right before jumping into ALL. Any thoughts? (sorry of this is hijacking)
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You can print pre-algebra (and lower math) worksheets here: http://www.mathusee.com/e-sources/worksheet-generator/
I'm not familiar with the other things in your signature. Sorry I can't be more helpful.
Good luck getting all your printing completed! I understand that rush well enough. I had to plan what to bring to Costa Rica to "sort of do school" for three months. We have no printer here, so I was madly printing anything I might need. I've also had to do this twice before for extended and sudden trips for my husband's work. One bit of advice -- don't print too much, or you may end up having it go to waste. It's a tough balance, isn't it?
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After doing some reading at this forum about FLL 3 and 4, I'm thinking I'll have my four younger boys do this:
1st grade - FLL 1
2nd- FLL 2
3rd- begin Latin (and continue Spanish), English grammar: review parts of speech
4th- FLL 4
5th-8th- ALL 1-4
My 6th-grader is on this schedule:
1st - public school
2nd- public school
3rd- R&S 3
4th- R&S 4
5th- R&S 5
6th- focus on Latin and Spanish
7th-10th- ALL 1-4
I'm really excited about grammar now! We liked Rod and Staff, but I think we'll all like FLL and ALL more.
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I've decided to use FLL 4 and am wondering whether the workbook is necessary or optional. I read posts here that the FLL 3 workbook is optional, but I haven't found anything about FLL 4. I looked inside the FLL 4 workbook at amazon, and it looks like more than space to write narrations or diagram sentences. But is all of this also in the teacher's manual and easy to do on notebook paper or whiteboard?
Also, if the FLL 4 workbook is required, should I buy the PDF or hard copy? I'll have four children going through this program. Does every page have to be printed, or are a lot just for copywork or dictation? (We've always used our own notebook paper for WWE and FLL 1-2.)
Thanks!
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i have to say the flip side of all the annoying questions is the reverential awe that i often face when someone finds out that i homeschool and have 6 kids. i actually hate it because i know what they *think* about me and what i really am are 2 different things, but it's true, it does take a lot of patience.
This is true. Those who don't think I'm turning my children into delinquents think I'm an amazing role model. And really, more people seem to appreciate what I do than not. And this being put on a pedestal is also a bit stressful. :tongue_smilie: It's easier to ignore those who truly don't understand what homeschooling is and bash it than it is to ignore those who think I am what I wish I could be.
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(I haven't read all 20+ pages yet, so maybe this has been mentioned)
In California: I thought it was illegal to homeschool in California. (Nope, although there was a court case a few years ago attempting to require teacher certification. It failed.)
My husband is on the phone much of the day with people all over the world. He often mentions homeschooling, and invariably they will say it sounds wonderful but is illegal in their country. They say this as though they have no doubts. Several times, I have checked the HSLDA web site for my husband, and every time I have found that homeschooling is legal in that country. Unfortunately, HSLDA doesn't have anything listed for Costa Rica.
Here in Costa Rica: It's illegal to homeschool here. (I haven't been able to find out for sure whether it's legal, but I have met other homeschoolers here.)
In Italy (my husband was talking to someone there for work): It's illegal to homeschool here. (Not according to the HSLDA.)
Annoying things non-home schoolers say
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
linguistmama, I hope you're feeling better now!
I got that question a few times, too. But it would have been SOOOO much harder for me to have gotten my children to school than to have just done some work at home. Of course, I was too sick to do either, but as you said, that was our "summer break" in the fall. We started school in mid-November last year, and although we're doing some work now while we're on an extended business trip with my husband, we're mostly taking a break and will start school again in mid-November.
People here (or when we've been on other long trips), when they learn that we're homeschooling, think it makes some sense. But they are very surprised to hear that we homeschool at home, too, all the time, not just when we travel with my husband. :001_smile: