hmschooling Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 (edited) I'm making my budget for next school year...yes, already...I have to save up for it! Actually, I might be starting this after new baby gets here and settles in-- so maybe second "semester" after Christmas/New Year break. The two that I'm looking at these for are K and 3rd this year, 1st and 4th next year. I have a very active 3yo and will have a newborn in a few weeks. So I really would like your opinions on which will require the least of me. I'm not so worried about much beyond phonics/math/handwriting for the K'er so I don't want him to carry too much weight on my decision...I mean that nicely! I'm also trying to cover as many subjects as possible in a few programs as possible. Narration, dictation, notebooking, history, copywork, bible, geography, science.... Here's my 3 options I'm considering: 1: Galloping the Globe (which uses Considering God's Creation for science), possibly add in Troxel's Geography Songs 2: A Child's Geography Vol. 1 stretched out over the whole school year, Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy (alternating days), Window on the World OR You Can Change The World 3: Around the World in 180 Days, Apologia Expl. Creation w/Astronomy Do I need a science program with option 2 or is Child's Geog enough science on it's own? Is there enough coverage of actual countries and such that kids will be familiar with which countries are on which continents or there more of a science approach to geography? Any history in it? I'd like to prepare my oldest for entering the history cycle with a good grasp of where countries are in relation to each other, where major landmarks are within those countires, as well as good mapping and map reading skills. I also want good literature suggestions to go along with the study. So, what says the hive? Edited October 15, 2009 by hmschooling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmschooling Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnandtinagilbert Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 I can't speak for galloping the globe, but I would choose Apologia science over CGC as I find it easier and we preferred it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmschooling Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 I can't speak for galloping the globe, but I would choose Apologia science over CGC as I find it easier and we preferred it. Considering this, would Apologia zoololgy be better then? I'd say Land Animals (zoo 3) but dd will be doing that with HOD's CTC when we finish GTG or whatever we end up with. Is there another Science that will go well with GTG? What didn't you like about it Tina? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thowell Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 We are loving CGC but I find it has alot of teacher invlovement at this age. Especially if they want to do th projects. I do have dd9 use vocab words for some of her spelling or copywork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmschooling Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 (edited) We are loving CGC but I find it has alot of teacher invlovement at this age. Especially if they want to do th projects. I do have dd9 use vocab words for some of her spelling or copywork. What kind of projects are there? How much time each day would you say is average? I heard Cantering the Country is meatier than Galloping the Globe...maybe a bit less work for mom in GTG, but I imagine it's quite similar. I was thinking I could do a subject area each day (people/history one day, internet searches the next, recipes one day, art stuff another.... and just have all the literature I can find from the list available for free reading.) I'm not big on involved projects, but maybe one or two a month. I bet I could find some simple coloring type crafts they could do. I'm hoping this approach would minimize my planning needs and make it more open and go for me. Otherwise, I will likely have to find something else! I really want a simple geography program that integrates other subjects and is geared for their ages. Hard to find! ETA: I was thinking you were talking about Galloping the Globe...just realized you were talking about Considering God's Creation! Oops! Edited October 16, 2009 by hmschooling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thowell Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 We are only a few weeks in but so far the projects have been pretty simple. The lessons themselves are very good and you could pick which projects you want to do. Most of the review comes from the notebooking and all the needed pages are included. Most lessons take us about 45 minutes to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela&4boys Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 (edited) I voted the Apologia/Child's Geography Combo. We've used Apologia Astronomy and I feel it's very easy to implement. You could even use the prepared notebook with your 3rd/4th grader or the free ones at the Yahoo Group, but you wouldn't have to. There's also free lesson plans on the Yahoo Group. Fwiw, we all really enjoyed science that year. It's a great snuggle-on-the-couch-learn-together-book! We used GTG and while it's low key, you still have to make weekly or bi-weekly trips to the library unless you have a plethora on hand. I've never used A Child's Geography, but I've looked at it. And in comparison to GTG, imho, I think that it'd be easier. Either way, I highly recommend Children Just Like Me and Material World to supplement, if your budget allows. Edit: I forgot to add that we used CGC at a community school and while the content was good, the cutting was tedious. My 2 cents, ;) Edited October 15, 2009 by angela&4boys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmschooling Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 (edited) Can I just say I am so confused and unsure of what to use. LOL I'm about to just say do the Apologia Astronomy with the prepared notebooking pages/schedule and use Troxel's Geography songs and MFW ECC's geography game and call it a day. Oh, and the Children Just Like Me book and Material World look awesome! I saw notebooking pages for CJLM and CJLM: Celebrations on the GTG yahoo group. If I did A Child's Geography-- does it actually include a study of where countries are, map work, etc. or it is mostly the science aspect of it? Would ACG and Apol Astronomy be too much science? ETA: I have a great library system and can have books brought from all over the city to my nearest branch and just pick them up. I have no trouble going by every other week or so. Plus there's no limit and we can keep them 3 weeks, plus renew as many times as we need to. Also, we are working with a very tight budget...dh is a full time RN student and classes and clinicals are just getting heavier and heavier pushing out any time to make some income. Edited October 15, 2009 by hmschooling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmschooling Posted October 16, 2009 Author Share Posted October 16, 2009 I think I'm going to do Galloping The Globe...simplified. Not sure about which science yet. (I'm thinking either A Child's Geography V1 2x/wk or CGC- only 1 lesson per country). I like Apologia but don't think I could do it daily as would be needed...but I could be swayed.;) I like that I own CGC and it's already planned in GTG. I'm thinking I'll do a simple rotating schedule for each country covering different aspects of it each day, with about 20-30 minutes planned for each day. Plus dc will do free reading of literature about/set in the country and a notebook page each day or so about what they've read-- something they enjoy. I've found free notebooking pages for Children Just Like Me (original and Celebrations) and some other core books, as well as country info notebooking pages. I'm also going to use All Through The Ages to supplement a higher reading level of books for my oldest. I'm thinking MFW's ECC geography game would be fun too-- maybe a fun 5th day activity since we'll do "school" 4 days/wk. We'll do projects as able. And between the two dc, we'll also be using Phonics Pathways moving into HOD's emerging readers when done, Math Mammoth, and R&S 4. I'll pull copywork/dictation from our studies and of course they'll be narrating. I need something loose and easy to go with...something that can happen without me for at least parts of it-- for those days all I can do is say, "Kids, go read." I think I can make that happen with GtG. Correct me if I'm wrong... ...and feel free to convince me of which science to go with! Thanks ladies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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