Mom-ninja. Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 I can't make up my mind. I've been sitting on this for weeks. We've done FLL up to now. I'm trying to decide between finishing FLL 4 and moving to JAG/AG or moving to MCT. I wish I had both AG and MCT in front of me to help me decide. It's so hard when you can't see the books in front of you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyW Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 I hate not being able to flip through books. But from what I've learned (not having tried either), MCT and JAG/AG are very different approaches to grammar. So I'd decide what your teaching goals are, and how your kids learn, and match it up to the program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patchfire Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 We started last year (4th) with JAG and switched to MCT because dd wasn't retaining *anything* with JAG. I really wanted JAG to work, for several reasons, but it just didn't. JAG is very straightforward, do your exercises, move on. I'm trying to think of a good way to explain it. It's very WYSIWYG and straightforward. Dd's brain is quirky enough that the MCT approach worked better. I guess I think of MCT as more "sideways." So... does straight on or sideways work better for you & yours? :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabio McFluffypants Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 Maybe try Rod and Staff English and Spelling programs! My oldest learns best through mastery programs and finds Rod and Staff's programs very manageable. He is retaining so much! The programs are so reasonable that if you buy them and hate them, you aren't out very much money. The english program now has worksheets available (I cross out about half of the questions). There is no schedule, but we just do the next page, day after day! Easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted July 21, 2010 Author Share Posted July 21, 2010 I hate not being able to flip through books. But from what I've learned (not having tried either), MCT and JAG/AG are very different approaches to grammar. So I'd decide what your teaching goals are, and how your kids learn, and match it up to the program. Sounds like an easy suggestion to follow.....but I don't know. How's that?! My teaching goal? For my boys to understand grammar and become good writers. I want them to know how words work together and that the words they choose are important. How they learn? Hum, not sure how to answer that. I sit them down and we do the lesson. We've done fine with FLL so far. It's dry but that hasn't bothered ds#1 so far. The repetition is good for him, but we did skip a few parts because he didn't need to repeat some things. I've been happy with results from FLL. I'm sad it doesn't continue past level 4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patchfire Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 You could easily combine FLL 4 & the Island level of MCT, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted July 21, 2010 Author Share Posted July 21, 2010 We started last year (4th) with JAG and switched to MCT because dd wasn't retaining *anything* with JAG. I really wanted JAG to work, for several reasons, but it just didn't. JAG is very straightforward, do your exercises, move on. I'm trying to think of a good way to explain it. It's very WYSIWYG and straightforward. Dd's brain is quirky enough that the MCT approach worked better. I guess I think of MCT as more "sideways." So... does straight on or sideways work better for you & yours? :D I have no idea what WYSIWYG means! :lol: Straight on or sideways....clear as mud. :tongue_smilie: Maybe try Rod and Staff English and Spelling programs! My oldest learns best through mastery programs and finds Rod and Staff's programs very manageable. He is retaining so much! The programs are so reasonable that if you buy them and hate them, you aren't out very much money. The english program now has worksheets available (I cross out about half of the questions). There is no schedule, but we just do the next page, day after day! Easy. I've ruled R&S out. I want a secular program. I do not want to skip or cross things out that are not secular. Too time consuming for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted July 21, 2010 Author Share Posted July 21, 2010 You could easily combine FLL 4 & the Island level of MCT, I think. I have considered this. I posted asking about it, but it seems no one has done it. I do wonder how they would work together. patchfire, I see your 1 yr old steals pencils too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 I have no idea what WYSIWYG means! :lol: What You See Is What You Get :) MCT's grammar instruction is organized very differently from FLL. It's actually one of the things I don't care for about his LA pogram. I'm continuing on with MCT because the pros seem to outweigh the cons at this point. What I liked about FLL 1/2 was that JW organized it very logically IMHO. All the information pertaining to each topic was in one place. Get it done, then move on to the next topic. I can look at the TOC and easily know where to find the information on each particular thing. MCT isn't like that. It strikes me as frankly rather ADD-ish. The information is spread out among the 3 books and he jumps from topic to topic then circles around back to the first topic. If I want to find a practice sentence with an example of the particular grammar topic being discussed in the lesson, I have to manually flip through the TM. :toetap05: It is a rigorous program if you use all the components together. The "story" element is definitely fun. I am glad that I decided to use it even if the way MCT organized it drives. me. up. the. wall. :auto: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patchfire Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 Straight on or sideways....clear as mud. :tongue_smilie: Lol, I know, it's so hard to describe! I went into it looking for some Life of Fred-like for language arts, and it is, but not exactly, of course. I have considered this. I posted asking about it, but it seems no one has done it. I do wonder how they would work together. This is my plan, eventually, for my youngers. I would probably do Grammar Island at the beginning of the year, either without any part of FLL4 or maybe with something like the dictionary skills. (It's been awhile since I looked through FLL4.) Then I'd move to doing FLL 3 or 4 days a week, Practice Island 4 days a week, and doing the other Island components 2-4 days a week. Just as a general thought. If you do combine the two, let me know how it goes :) patchfire, I see your 1 yr old steals pencils too! They're the perfect age for it! :tongue_smilie: (I don't know if you remember, but we were on the MDC Nov'08 DDC together :) ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted July 21, 2010 Author Share Posted July 21, 2010 This is my plan, eventually, for my youngers. I would probably do Grammar Island at the beginning of the year, either without any part of FLL4 or maybe with something like the dictionary skills. (It's been awhile since I looked through FLL4.) Then I'd move to doing FLL 3 or 4 days a week, Practice Island 4 days a week, and doing the other Island components 2-4 days a week. Just as a general thought. If you do combine the two, let me know how it goes :) They're the perfect age for it! :tongue_smilie: (I don't know if you remember, but we were on the MDC Nov'08 DDC together :) ) No, I don't remember! I'll need to go back and read those threads. Seems like so long ago and yet not so long ago. :001_smile: I don't visit MDC at all anymore. You? I have too much fun here. :tongue_smilie: I haven't seen FLL 4 or MCT so I don't have the foggiest idea how to combine them. I want to try MCT but I'm reluctant to let go of FLL without doing that last level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patchfire Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 No, I don't remember! I'll need to go back and read those threads. Seems like so long ago and yet not so long ago. :001_smile: I don't visit MDC at all anymore. You? I have too much fun here. :tongue_smilie: Nah, I haven't been over there but once or twice in the last year, probably. I can only keep up with so much online at once. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 I am using FLL with MCT. I just do a bit of FLL, for review and to make sure I have covered a few little things that MCT does not focus on explicitly, like punctuation and capitalization rules. We are enjoying MCT, my daughter lives it and begs to do the story if we do not quite get there. It makes grammar fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted July 22, 2010 Author Share Posted July 22, 2010 I am using FLL with MCT. I just do a bit of FLL, for review and to make sure I have covered a few little things that MCT does not focus on explicitly, like punctuation and capitalization rules. We are enjoying MCT, my daughter lives it and begs to do the story if we do not quite get there. It makes grammar fun. Good to know someone else combines them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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