Need some suggestions for english and science.

[LuvingLife]

Does anyone have any good curriculum suggestions for english and history, I have hear dof Notgrass and TOG but those can get quite pricey as many of you know. Do you know of any place/site I can get these cheap?

 

I really need to start focusing on english and writing, for the SAT/ACT that I will be taking soon, is there any good curriculum out there that can improve these skills? And of course history too!:)

[FaithManor]

What period of history, world, American, or civics/government? For World History, you might try the Human Odyssey or Western Civ both by Spielvogel (they are a little dry but thorough) and I picked up copies pretty cheap off ebay. For American history, Hakim might work for you. Also, if you have a VHS player, many people are selling their Teaching Company history courses on ebay for a tiny fraction of what they originally cost because everyone wants DVD's. These are excellent and you get to practice taking notes off the lectures.

 

As for ACT/SAT Prep, I highly recommend the Princeton Review ACT prep books. The author is engaging and the material is solid. They can be purchased at Barnes and Nobles. Also, ACT has "question of the day" on their website for students. You can google it and they have practice tests to take online.

 

There are many good grammar curriculums, we use Abeka for high school here but even a Jensen's grammar book would be good for reviewing all the rules.

 

Faith

[Lori D.]

...I really need to start focusing on english and writing, for the SAT/ACT that I will be taking...

 

 

I HIGHLY recommend practicing timed essay writing now. Use real past SAT prompts from Online Math Learning website (scroll all the way to the bottom of the page for the prompts, listed by the month/year of past SAT tests).

 

If possible, have a parent sit down and do one, too, and then critique each other's essays. This is what DSs and I have been doing for the past 3 years, and I have to say that practicing weekly essay writing has dramatically improved their essay writing abilities! They usually write better essays than I do! :)

 

 

1. When we first started, we wrote for 15 minutes; our goal was 1 good complete paragraph, with

- an introductory sentence with contention (what point of view we were supporting)

- 3 supporting examples (each 1-2 sentences long)

- and a concluding sentence.

 

2. After 2 months of that, we went to 20 minutes, and a longer more detailed paragraph:

- introduction of 1-3 sentences with our contention (what point of view we were going to support)

- 2 more detailed supporting examples, each 2 sentences long

- 1-2 sentences of commentary (explanation of WHY those examples supported the contention in the introductory sentence) for each example

- concluding sentence

 

3. After 2 more months of that, we made including a really good "hook" as the first sentence a requirement (use a quote, interesting fact, very short antecdote, a question, etc. to "hook" audience's interest).

 

4. After 2 more months of that, we bumped the essay to the full 25 minutes, and made 3 very specific, detailed examples a requirement.

 

 

BEST of luck! Warmly, Lori D.

Edited September 9, 2010 by Lori D.

[LuvingLife]

What period of history, world, American, or civics/government? For World History, you might try the Human Odyssey or Western Civ both by Spielvogel (they are a little dry but thorough) and I picked up copies pretty cheap off ebay. For American history, Hakim might work for you. Also, if you have a VHS player, many people are selling their Teaching Company history courses on ebay for a tiny fraction of what they originally cost because everyone wants DVD's. These are excellent and you get to practice taking notes off the lectures.

 

As for ACT/SAT Prep, I highly recommend the Princeton Review ACT prep books. The author is engaging and the material is solid. They can be purchased at Barnes and Nobles. Also, ACT has "question of the day" on their website for students. You can google it and they have practice tests to take online.

 

There are many good grammar curriculums, we use Abeka for high school here but even a Jensen's grammar book would be good for reviewing all the rules.

 

Faith

 

Thank you so much Faith for the help, the history books seem great. I am still unsure of what test I will be taking, but I think I will try the SAT first and if I don't get great scores, then I will take the ACT. I have signed up for the SAT question of the day maybe I should sign up for the ACT questions of the day as well.

Could you tell me a bit more about Abeka grammer?

 

I HIGHLY recommend practicing timed essay writing now. Use real past SAT prompts from Online Math Learning website (scroll all the way to the bottom of the page for the prompts, listed by the month/year of past SAT tests).

 

If possible, have a parent sit down and do one, too, and then critique each other's essays. This is what DSs and I have been doing for the past 3 years, and I have to say that practicing weekly essay writing has dramatically improved their essay writing abilities! They usually write better essays than I do! :)

 

 

1. When we first started, we wrote for 15 minutes; our goal was 1 good complete paragraph, with

- an introductory sentence with contention (what point of view we were supporting)

- 3 supporting examples (each 1-2 sentences long)

- and a concluding sentence.

 

2. After 2 months of that, we went to 20 minutes, and a longer more detailed paragraph:

- introduction of 1-3 sentences with our contention (what point of view we were going to support)

- 2 more detailed supporting examples, each 2 sentences long

- 1-2 sentences of commentary (explanation of WHY those examples supported the contention in the introductory sentence) for each example

- concluding sentence

 

3. After 2 more months of that, we made including a really good "hook" as the first sentence a requirement (use a quote, interesting fact, very short antecdote, a question, etc. to "hook" audience's interest).

 

4. After 2 more months of that, we bumped the essay to the full 25 minutes, and made 3 very specific, detailed examples a requirement.

 

 

BEST of luck! Warmly, Lori D.

 

That sounds like an excellent idea Lori D! I never thought of doing this, I actually have a book I got from the library called "Daily Warm-Ups SAT prep reading and writing and it has helped me with the SAT question of the day. Thanks for the great link as well!:001_smile:

 

Keep the suggestions coming!