Laura Cook
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Posts posted by Laura Cook
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Literature - coming up with a list
Math - Math Mammoth 6
Writing - Writing with Skill 1
Spelling - All About Spelling 5, start 6
Grammar - Grammar for TWTM
Logic - Logic Liftoff series, Fallacy Detective
History - HO Level 2 Ancients, start Middle Ages
Science - finish RSO Physics, short units on rocketry, robotics and bridges/tunnels
Art - art club 1x per month, drawing, museums/experiences
Music- experiences, maybe guitar
PE - swim, running
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After using a couple Arrows and a couple writing projects from Partnership Writing this past year and loving it we are completely revamping the language arts portion of our homeschool. So I have a little experience but not a ton! I have a DS 6th, DS 5th and DD 4th. The boys are somewhat resistant to writing and my daughter enjoys it.
I plan on using the Arrow with all 3. I thought this would be easier for our first full year using Brave Writer. I am picking and choosing from the '16-'17 and '17-'18 lists. The following year, in 7th grade, my oldest will start using Boomerangs.
I am going to use Faltering Ownership for my 6th grader and Partnership Writing for the 5th and 4th graders. The exception to that will be the first month. I plan on using the Wild Words project from Faltering Ownership with all 3. I thought it looked like a fun project to kick the year off with!
I totally agree with Farrar's suggestion to work out a routine. Brave Writer is so flexible, that's part of the reason I love it, but I need some goal posts to shoot for to make sure I don't miss entirely! I know that some weeks I will have to shift things around and that's ok! So here's what I came up with:
Monday - Arrow copywork and grammar notes
Tuesday - writing project and poetry tea
Wednesday - Arrow dictation
Thursday - writing project and/or literary element
Friday - free writing, movies (any day Fri. - Sun.)
We are also going to continue using AAS with everyone and my oldest will use a yet to be decided Grammar program.
Hope that helps!
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Thank you for all the replies! Mine are very close in age, 16 months between the oldest and middle and 15 months between the middle and youngest. That made things crazy when they were all little, but now its awesome! They are very good friends too, which also helps. They have always worked on their own levels for math, reading and language arts. We have always done history, science, art, read alouds, memory work, etc. together.
It sounds like either choice I make will be fine. If I do separate them, here is what I am thinking:
- DS11 (6th) - Human Odyssey Vol. 1 and Holt Science & Technology Earth Science (he preferred the look of this over CPO)
- DS10 (5th) and DD9 (4th)- 1 year American history (pulling this together myself) and Mystery Science
If I keep them together I am thinking either:
- History Odyssey Level 2 Ancients (slightly different assignments for the younger two) and finishing up the RSO Chemistry and Physics that we've been tooling through for almost 2 years
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- BYL American History Year 1 and finishing up RSO Chemistry and Physics
I already have everything I need for all the different options except for the BYL American History and the books I need for that. DH might possibly shoot me if I tell him I am going to buy more curriculum! :lol: Not really, but he won't be happy that I'm not using the other stuff I've already bought! Aagghh! This should not be such a hard decision for me, but it is for some reason. Probably because I can see the pros of each direction. Except for the fact that DS11 said he wants to be on his own, I am leaning pretty hard toward keeping them together. Maybe I can find something else that will fulfill his desire to work on his own? Still thinking here. . . . .
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My kids will be in 6th, 5th and 4th grades next year. We have always combined them for content subjects. I am trying to decide if we should continue doing this through the middle school grades and wait until high school to let my oldest begin branching off on his own. Or if we should let him start branching off this next year. I know that it would most likely be easier for me if we kept them together, but I am worried that this won't be the best thing for my oldest. He has matured a lot this past year and I feel like he is ready to be more independent, ready for more ownership over his education. My younger two would stay together for at least one more year, maybe longer, they are very close to the same level as far as maturity and skills. Oldest DS says he wants to work on his own, but I don't think he will object either way. I need to decide this so I can finish planning for next year! I have been going back and forth for about a month now.
So, please tell me, did you keep your kids combined all through the middle school grades or start separating them? How did it work for you? Regrets? Pitfalls I may be unaware of? Thank you so much!
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Last week we decided to put all 3 levels of FLL we were using on the shelf for the rest of this year. Bored and irritable exactly describes our feelings toward it. We've been on the verge of dropping it most of this school year. My oldest is burned out on it and the other two hate the repetition, even though I tried to cut as much out as possible. I don't know if we will pick FLL back up next year or go with something else. I'm leaning toward finding something more independent for all 3. And to be honest, I'm not 100% convinced that grammar needs to be done every year. I'm kinda leaning towards the Bravewriter recommendation of hitting it once in elementary, once in middle school and once in high school. That idea no doubt strikes horror in the hearts of the grammar lovers LOL! But we do not love it.
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Yesterday I did a brain dump for school planning, and the game was to figure out what each subject would look like if I planned it to be as low key and pleasant as possible.
A brain dump for school planning is a great idea! I think I will take some time over the weekend to do this. Hopefully it will help me figure out a good path forward into the middle school grades for my oldest. I should also have a conversation with each kid to find out if they have an opinion about next year.
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I keep forgetting to come check in! School went well on Tuesday and Wednesday. We didn't have to leave the house either day so we meandered through the school work and took a lot of breaks. It was nice to have a couple of really slow days.
I have started planning a little bit for next year. At the moment I'm trying to decide if I want my oldest to break off from the younger two for history and science. I'd like to get one more run through world history and the science cycle done for him in the next three years before high school. The other two don't need to do it that fast so I was thinking maybe one year of American history for them and then back to world history. But then everyone wouldn't be together and I don't know how hard it will be to teach two different history and science years. I am completely stuck at the moment. That got long, sorry!
Today they each have their own math, assigned reading, writing and grammar to do. Oldest has Spanish, younger two have cursive. Together we've got our read aloud, memory work, science reading and another section from SOTW 4 to do. DD8 has ballet this evening. Its going to be a busy day!
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Morning! We've spent the last couple of weeks finishing up the stuff I wanted to get done before Christmas. So I guess today is the start of the second semester for us!
Everyone has their own math, assigned reading, writing and spelling to do. DS11 has Spanish and the other two have cursive. I'll just rotate through them until its done.
Together - read a section from SOTW and do the map work, read from a science book and discuss, memory work and read alouds
DD8 has modern and ballet classes tonight.
We have the usual housekeeping chores: dishes, sweeping, laundry, etc. Plus some baking.
It should be a normal, uneventful day. My favorite!
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Normally I like Christmas, but this year I am feeling kind of weird about it. I'm not feeling all negative and bah-humbug, but I'm not happy or excited either. This year Christmas feels big, bright, noisy and busy. Overblown is the word I would use to describe it. Luckily, I recognized how I was feeling soon after Thanksgiving and have managed to plan things in a way that hasn't taken any of the excitement away from my kids. The tree is up and the kids did all of it except for the lights. DH put lights on the house because that has always been one of my favorite things. I'm not making a single gift this year. Countdown calendar went up with candy only in it, no planned out activities because I just don't want to be locked into it this year. We've done a little baking, a little crafting, watched a couple movies and have gone to exactly 2 Christmas events, a Christmas Vespers concert done by the music department at a local college and The Nutcracker, which my daughter was performing in. My ILs are coming here for lunch and gifts on Christmas Eve. We will stay home that evening and just hang out and relax together. We will open gifts here Christmas morning and then drive 45 minutes to my parent's house for more gifts and dinner. Easy, simple and good enough. It's more and/or less than other people might be doing but it has been just right for us.
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Monday Oct. 31
Morning Basket - go over the plan for the day, read aloud, memory workMath - lesson w/each, plus they need to do Xtra Math-
Reading - we will all sit down and read for 45 min. to an hour​ Small adjustment here, we only read for 30 minutes, nobody could concentrate! Writing - lesson w/eachSpelling - lesson w/eachHandwriting/Typing - independentSpanish w/ DS11Read aloud againHistory
We poked along this afternoon but finally finished everything up! Now I've got to take in DD8's costume, get the kids to pick up the living areas and get dinner started. DH will be home at 6:00 and we will head out for trick or treating.
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I spent yesterday afternoon planning and printing everything for the next 6 weeks. We've got 3 weeks until we take a week off for Thanksgiving and then 3 more until we break for Christmas. I am determined that these 6 weeks are going to go smoothly! I really need some accountability so I'm going to set an alarm on my phone for later this afternoon to remind me to check back in. Usually once I get busy it completely slips my mind. I can't believe it is the last day of October already! We've got school today and then trick or treating tonight. We need to get some laundry and housework done as well. Oh and I have to make some adjustments to DD8's costume to make it fit better. Nothing like saving it till the last minute!
Monday Oct. 31
- Morning Basket - go over the plan for the day, read aloud, memory work
- Math - lesson w/each, plus they need to do Xtra Math
- Reading - we will all sit down and read for 45 min. to an hour
- Writing - lesson w/each
- Spelling - lesson w/each
- Handwriting/Typing - independent
- Spanish w/ DS11
- Read aloud again
- History
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Title says it all! This is our second trip through Ancients. The kids were in 1st, K and PK the first time we went through it. I want to keep them together as much as possible. Trying to decide what is the best option. SOTW Vol. 1 with logic stage recommendations added in for my oldest, plus trying to do more of the activities and literature this time around? Or HO Vol. 1, with not much other than literature added in for my younger ones. I have no doubt that if I am reading HO aloud that their comprehension will be fine, it just doesn't seem very fun. I'm so conflicted! What would you do?
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Does he need more grammar study specifically? We are pretty much using TC to bridge the gap between writing skills and actual writing output. So the next step for us is working at writing as an art of its own with prompts and different formats (poetry, reports of various kinds and lengths, etc). Any further grammar is pretty much limited to language study for us - i.e.: Latin, Spanish, etc.
I view grammar and phonics in the same way - building blocks to further study that are necessary to scaffold learning but will eventually become automatic and not need separate study. Grammar is a needful means to an end, but not an end in and of itself. We just don't have the school time to retread grammar endlessly.
Does this student require additional practice before moving forward? TC continues to integrate grammar and you can absolutely draw it out in discussion of the additional lessons without teaching it separately. I'd do that before adding in another program.
You know, I don't really think that he needs more practice, at least not this year. Our main focus for this year is on writing, and we also are using TC to bridge the gap between skills and output. I like the idea of just touching on it in relation to writing as we work through the rest of TC. I never intended to do grammar every single year, especially for this kid, who seems to intuitively understand it. I guess I've decided, we are not going to use a separate grammar program this year and will focus on writing. Your questions made me stop and think, so thank you!
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Thank you, I will check into that one.You might take a look at IEW Fix It.
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My oldest son is working through Treasured Conversations this year and so far he is loving it! Since the first section of TC is focused on grammar we decided to set aside FLL 4 temporarily. He is just a few days away from being done with the first section of TC and absolutely does not want to pick back up with FLL 4. He very much prefers the labeling of sentences in TC versus the diagramming of sentences in FLL. We both really liked how the grammar in TC was directly related to the writing process, it made the grammar feel much more, I don't know . . . cohesive might be the word I'm thinking of. He is insisting that I find something different, so I thought I would start my search by asking here if anyone had any suggestions? Thanks!
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Their try before you buy is ten lessons, I believe, and it's the full lessons, not a light version. For my kids, that's likely more than ten days of work, although that depends on how much customizing you do, but it should give you a good feel for whether it'll work for you or not.
Fwiw, we use the k12 Human Odyssey books (cheap on Amazon) with History Odyssey instead of Story of Mankind, plus Kingfisher. My kids think Kingfisher can be repetitive, but they like Human Odyssey. It's pretty easy to figure out which Human Odyssey chapters you need, but feel free to PM me, and I'll send you what I did.
Could I get this from you too please! This is exactly what I was planning to do!
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Good morning! I need some accountability this week as we try to get into a fall school mode, we need to get back to a more regular schedule. We started back at the beginning of August but we have only been doing 3 days of school per week so that we could take advantage of all the fun things still going on.
We are not doing school today. DH is home and we have a few small projects around the house to work on and some housecleaning to do. I am going to make sure everything is ready to go for tomorrow. Otherwise we are going to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather!
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We are almost ready to jump back into school! I have a little last minute planning, printing and organizing to get done this week and then we will be ready to go next Monday, August 1st. This has been the longest summer break we have ever taken, and while it has been nice, the kids and I are all ready to get back to a more normal routine. This week we are practicing at getting up on time and getting breakfast and the few morning chores we do done on time. On Wednesday I am going to start adding in our Morning Basket. Then Monday all the rest will get added and we will see how it goes!
We might be joining a new enrichment co-op this year. We haven't done a co-op before and I started out pretty excited about this one, but that feeling is waning. I'm feeling reluctant to give up one whole afternoon a week and I am less than impressed with what seems to me to be a lot of uncertainty and chaos. I know it is a new one and will have some issues to work out, but it is supposed to start in September and as of right now they don't seem to know for sure what classes they are offering or how much it will cost, pretty much nothing has been decided for sure. I am going to give it a few more weeks to see if they start pulling it together and if they start asking for help, if they don't then we will be backing out. I will not want to add an afternoon filled with disorganization and stress once a week for 30 some weeks to an already busy schedule. No thank you!
The plan for today:
Everyone up by 7:30Breakfast and morning chores done by 8:30Tae Kwon Do- Grocery shopping (decided to wait till tomorrow)
Home and lunchSchool prepHouse work- Cooking (DH is picking up pizza on his way home, I'm opting out of cooking tonight!)
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We went to our big family BBQ for the 4th yesterday and had a lot of fun. Today we are heading out to our new rental to do some painting, hang new blinds and do a little extra cleaning. The rest of this week will be spent on packing and getting stuff ready to move.
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I got no planning and no packing done today. Instead we went and helped my mom, she injured her knee on Sunday and needed minions (lol, my kids) to do her bidding for the day. She will be having a hard time getting around for several days so we will go over again on Thursday to help her get the house ready for out of town family coming in for the 4th. Ran the dog to the vet late this afternoon. Ballet this evening for DD. Everyone is in bed except me and the house is quiet! I think I'm going to go work on my plans for a bit!
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We have been on summer break for 5 weeks now and have 3 more to go. We are moving in a little less than 2 weeks, which leaves me a week to get stuff unpacked before we start back up.
I've spent some time on this break reflecting on this past year. All the kids made forward progress, which I am happy about, but I feel that if I had been better prepared and more consistent the year would have been more successful. I went into this past year too laid back, too relaxed and have ended up unsatisfied with the results. Surely there has to be a happy medium between rigid and relaxed? I'm going to try to find it this year. As a result I have done much more prep work this summer for the coming year, hoping that it will be beneficial later. We shall see!
This morning the kids and I have a taekwondo class, then a quick run to the grocery store, then home to do some more packing and some more prep for school. And we might go swimming this evening. Or we might stay home. Both sound good!
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We are grilling. Burgers, hot dogs for the kids. Corn on cob, zucchini, baked beans and for dessert, DH's favorite, apple crisp with vanilla ice cream.
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I agree skill subjects need to be done very consistently. I am wondering, though, if it would help to just do the History and Science on a rotating basis but maybe do skills only 4 days a week. Have the fifth day for educational games, listening to audio books, gardening, cooking and other practical application learning, etc.
What exactly is your need for reducing the number of subjects each day? Too many transitions or too long a day or you think you and the kids need a change of pace or...?
Are all of your materials very teacher intense and time consuming? Might it help to find resources that are less so for at least one area of skills learning? For instance, with grammar you might look at Fix-It Grammar. Only 15 minutes a day 4 days a week and you could use the same material with all three kids (your DD might need some scaffolding) during the same 15 minutes each day. That 15 minutes includes grammar, basic writing skills, copywork, vocabulary building, etc. Maybe do that daily but just do the more intense writing material every other week or something. There are 6 books in the series and the material starts out very basic but builds up in intensity over time. A book can be completed in a year or in a half a year, depending on your scheduling needs. You only have to buy the TM. The student book automatically comes in electronic form if you buy the TM so you can just print pages as needed for each student. http://iew.com/fix
I wanted to try to reduce the number of subjects each week because what we have been doing has begun to feel really chaotic. This is what we've been doing as far as skill work and content done together. I am not doing reading with all 3 kids, this is lessons done only with DS9, he's been a bit of a late bloomer in this area. The other two read on their own. The writing, spelling and grammar is what is bothering me the most.
Mon. - math, reading, writing, spelling, history
Tue. - math, reading, writing, grammar, science
Wed. - math, reading, spelling, grammar, history
Thu. - math, reading, writing, grammar, science
Fri. - math, reading, writing, spelling
All the switching! A lot of it is teacher intensive, my kids are not really fans of independent work. They are capable of some, but they just really like the one on one time with me. Plus we all really like what we are doing, except for grammar. Well DS10 likes FLL, the younger two don't seem to like it or be retaining much. Actually, now that I think about it, it doesn't really work at all for the younger two.
Ugh, I don't know. I think we will do history and science in 3 week blocks. I think that I should probably move my oldest into more independent work for spelling and maybe grammar, that might help. And I need to figure out something else for grammar for the other two.
I thing I may have started rambling, lol, I'm getting tired!
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I am trying to reduce the amount of subjects that we have to get to each week. I have already decided to move history and science into more of a block schedule, either alternating every 6 weeks or every 3 weeks. I am considering doing the same with spelling and grammar. Good idea or bad idea? The only pitfall I can see is that my weak speller might forget some of what he has learned. Anything else I'm missing?
2017--2018 --5th Grade Planning
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
Literature - coming up with a list
Math - Math Mammoth 5
Writing - Treasured Conversations
Spelling - All About Spelling finish 3, 4
Grammar - First Language Lessons 3
Typing - www.typing.com
History - HO Level 2 Ancients, start Middle Ages
Science - finish RSO Physics, short units on rocketry, robotics and bridges/tunnels
Art - art club 1x per month, drawing, museums/experiences
Music - experiences, piano??
PE - swim, running