MCT users, help! How do I know which level to order?

[Perry]

I think I've decided to go with MCT for my 8th grader. We've used R & S and Hake Grammar in the past, and although we haven't done a ton of formal writing, she's a pretty good writer. She went to ps last year and the grammar and writing they did was minimal. So she hasn't had much since 6th grade. She'll go to ps for high school, so this is my last chance to do LA with her.

 

I was thinking

 

Magic Lens 1

Word Within the Word 1

Poetry and Humanity

Essay Voyage

4 Practice 1

 

I don't understand why the Poetry book says grades 6 and 7 when Magic Lens and Vocab says 6, 7, 8, 9. She looked at the website (my mistake) and thinks she should do a higher level Poetry, because she doesn't want to do something below grade level. We haven't done much formal poetry and it's a big weakness for me, so I'm reluctant.

 

Any advice?

 

Still haven't decided what to do about lit.

[Matryoshka]

Here's my current plan - my kids will be in 7th, but they've already had a year of MCT.

 

Magic Lens 1

WWW 1 - these two spread out over two years (7th and 8th)

4 Practice 1

Essay Voyage

 

We're still getting through Town level poetry - Voyage level poetry should be fine for her - the Poetry is fairly intense. We're doing CEII over the summer - it's so great I don't want to miss it. ML and WWW are so closely linked, though, I feel I need to do them simultaneously and speed up the CEII.

 

I was going to do Voyage grammar/vocab this year, but my kids were finding the grammar very easy (and the writing hard). I think in ps the kids write a lot and get very little grammar, and in homeschool many kids get tons of grammar and not so much writing, so the levels end up being "off" from what the author's expectation/experience is.

[TKDmom]

I don't understand why the Poetry book says grades 6 and 7 when Magic Lens and Vocab says 6, 7, 8, 9. She looked at the website (my mistake) and thinks she should do a higher level Poetry, because she doesn't want to do something below grade level. We haven't done much formal poetry and it's a big weakness for me, so I'm reluctant.

 

Any advice?

 

 

Tell her the grade levels assume that the child started out with MCT in 3rd or 4th grade (which she hasn't). It seems like the folks on the MCTLA Yahoo group regularly advise 8th graders to start out with the books you're leaning towards.

[Miss Marple]

I can definitely help on the poetry levels. I asked MCT if one could advance to a higher level of poetry because our literature would match better with the 3rd book. He recommended that I start back with Music of the Hemispheres, but if I didn't want to do that, I should definitely begin with the first poetry book (for the upper level).

 

You can find the post on the MCT Yahoo group forum.

 

It sounds to me like your daughter will be fine with the Magic Lens level 1 set (and all the other level 1 books). That's where I started my 8th and 9th graders last spring. We also chose to start with Essay Voyage in order to build up to Academic Writing 1. So far so good....

[Sasharowan]

That is what I started my 9th grader with this year.

[Perry]

Thanks everyone. One more question. If I get Magic Lens 1 and Essay Voyage, which practice book do I want? Practice Voyage or 4P1? Thanks.

[TKDmom]

Thanks everyone. One more question. If I get Magic Lens 1 and Essay Voyage, which practice book do I want? Practice Voyage or 4P1? Thanks.

 

Get the practice book that goes with your grammar book.

[StephanieZ]

You get the practice book that corresponds with the grammar book.

 

FWIW, I'll say it again that I think keeping all the books the same level has a lot to say for it.

 

So, I'd go with Voyage level.

 

HTH