Robin in DFW Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 How often do your kids narrate? outline? Do you use literature study guides or just trust the narration method? Do you use just the living books for history? or do you use a reference spine of some sort? I am considering using Ambleside for my ds13...we are having a hard time finding an American History program that really keeps us interested...Hakim's books were a bust, the DK American History Encyclopedia I had planned to use is SOOOOOOO dry and there are too many pictures, captions and sidebars for my ds... So now, we are left with nothing. I was thinking of having him read This Country of Ours (discussing any biases, differences in beliefs, etc.) and read some historical fiction pieces, of which I have plenty. I am also thinking of using AO for literature. Any thoughts? Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 We AO for everything except history. Next year, though, for dd's Gr. 7 year we will be using AO's history as well. I have dd give me a written narration once a day and, if needed an oral narration on anything else that she has read. I use Kingfisher's encyclopedia for a spine, as well as Usborne's for history and science. She outlines at least once or twice a week from these sources or from other non-fiction books on the topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfamily Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 (edited) Narration: My dd orally narrates daily but not for every reading. Books we read and discuss together like Utopia and Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves she does not orally narrate. We spend enough time discussing these that I don't feel its needed. She will orally narrate her history reading once a week and all of her independent readings which are spread out over the week. We are using a textbook for science so we handle this very traditionally. Written narrations: Dd writes one written narration per week for history and two for literature. This is outside of her work for writing. I will expect at least one written narration per science supplement. We're reading Mystery of the Periodic Table now, and later will have biographies assigned. Dd also writes narrations for art or picture study. Outlines: Dd outlines per her assignments with Classical Writing and as I apply this over other subjects. Guides: Since many of the books dd is reading now are books I am also just now reading (:o), I like to have guides. I use them to give me ideas on what to pull from the books. I give dd written narration assignments from guides often as well. At the same time, I like to rotate between assignments where I have clearly chosen what she is to write and assignments that allow her more freedom. History: We use living books for history. Of course as we approach high school, this is becoming a point of frustration. It seems that colleges want to see particular texts in order to be assured of the level of teaching, but my dd does not like textbooks for history. Quite frankly, neither do I. She loves history and this love is based off of books that breathe of life and people, and also has intelligent, interesting writing. For now, we are happily using books by Dorothy Mills. I think they offer the step-up in material we needed, but still hold on to many of the qualities of living history books we love. American history is especially difficult in which to find good books. I love following the methods of CM. But, it has been a lot of work. There is just not that much information available to know how to apply this to this age, and definitely not to the high school age. Feel free to adapt and apply as works for you. I use many other resources (WTM, etc.) to make this work for us. Edited January 19, 2011 by Kfamily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin in DFW Posted January 19, 2011 Author Share Posted January 19, 2011 We have used CM methods rather loosely for years, but have never gone 'whole-hog'...we have used lots of WTM suggestions for certain subjects. I have used very traditional type resources for my dd18, a senior. She is an athlete and we went this route mainly to make it easy for NCAA requirements. My ds13, however, will not be pursuing athletics in college, so we can be a bit more free with how we structure his schooling. I do understand CM's methods and have read quite a bit of her writings, original and paraphrased. I have wanted to use AO for ages, but have gotten set in my ways... We do narrations (oral and written), artist study, music, nature study, read quality literature and until this year, followed a chronological history sequence. Then I decided ds needed a year of American History...I'm thinking we should have just stuck with the chronological sequence...he has been bored to tears with history this year. He always loved history before... I have been looking at AO's pre-7 program to get him ready for year 7 next year, even though he will be in 9th grade (well, age-wise, he could be an 8th grader). Is year 7 for a 9th grader too much of a step back??? I know the advisory suggests starting a couple of years lower than actual grade level. I need guidance! Thanks, Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testimony Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Ambleside with my sons. My older one is doing middlers. Just to tell you, I went with Rod and Staff for grammar instead of Our Mother Tongue (Ambleside's recommendation). I love Our Mother Tongue and really wanted to do it, but I fell madly in love with Rod and Staff and so I can let go. I asked my son which would he rather and he did not care. It seems as if we are behind with things with Ambleside, but I have learned that you are never behind in homeschooling. I have been doing Shakespeare and Plutarch with my sons since 4th grade. That has not changed. I consider Shakespeare literature. The only difference with my older son is we are actually reading from the real text of Shakespeare. I read Bulfinch's Mythology to them and they narrate it back orally. Once we do the next several chapters of this book, we will end up in the Age of Chivalry section. I am concentrating on American history with my son. We are listening to American History Stories and later we will read This Country of Ours. My older son finished Trial and Triumph this year. So, I will not use Heros and Saints. I have them narrate orally as much as possible, almost everything. I have them do a written narration once a week sometimes, it does not happen for two weeks. Minimum, I do once every other week;maximum, I do once a week for written narrations. They usually do more oral narrations than written as long as they tell me something back. For literature questions, I have them do different things: a character analysis (do you see yourself in the character) is it similar to someone in the Bible or someone you know. I hate to say, but my older son see Lycurgus as a modern day leader now. I have had my sons compare different books. There are a lot of ways that we have question literature. The aforementioned are just a few. Blessings in your homeschooling journey! Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Mom Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Kfamily - What guides are you using? We will be doing year 8 next year. Thanks, Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 We made the jump from WTM to AO when my oldest daughter just could NOT read as much in a day. She is an exceptional student, so the fault was not hers-she needed to slow down and so we all made the move. I've found it to be just as rigorous as WTM. We all narrate. Every day, every subject. I learned that when I started her in 4th grade (now 10th) and I credit her exceptional work to narration. So, my littles narrate everything-and they enjoy it. It took some coaching and training, and some time until the habit was formed, but it is hands down a superior teaching tool. Oldest Dd and I talk about what she is reading and she completes written narrations, as does the 11 yo. I am doing year 3 with the littles (I lumped them all together) and year 7 with the olders-I scooted oldest Dd down as she had not done many of the readings-and scooted 6th grader up because he could handle it. We follow the schedule but for the religious studies-which I am doing my own way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 I have been looking at AO's pre-7 program to get him ready for year 7 next year, even though he will be in 9th grade (well, age-wise, he could be an 8th grader). Is year 7 for a 9th grader too much of a step back??? I know the advisory suggests starting a couple of years lower than actual grade level. I need guidance! Thanks, Robin No, not at all. I put my 10th grader "back" to 7th for the same reasons. It was too much of a jump into works she had no familiarity with. She is an exceptional reader, but because consistent AO users have the long familiarity with the hard reading, there comes quite a gap when switching horses midstream no matter what you've been using. It's the AO foundational reading that really matters. The long, consistent poetry, the older pieces that the ear needs to be trained to. But really, Plutarch is a step back? :D On a homeschooling scale-yes, perhaps, but in comparison to PS? :lol: And I still look to TWTM history/lit for good books and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelaNYC Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 How often do your kids narrate? outline? Ds (4th/5th grade) narrates all scheduled readings (7-8 a week) - but not the books from the "free reading" list. Do you use literature study guides or just trust the narration method? We don't use any study guides. I trust the narration method. This is our 3rd year doing this and ds's narrations have gotten better and better. Soon he will start writing out one or 2 narrations a week. Do you use just the living books for history? or do you use a reference spine of some sort? We use only the living books for history, no reference spine. But, we do a book of centuries, timeline, lots of museum visits, documentaries, homeschool classes, other field trips, and some projects to bring all that we read to life. I think the AO book selection is great. Keep in mind it's an advanced curriculum and does not necessarily match up with grade level. When my dd was 12 (7th grade) we had just started AO and tried Yr 6, but the method was new to her and the books were difficult. We then tried Yr 4 and it was definitely better for her. Ds is 9 and about to start Yr 3 - he started with Yr 1, so he's used to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfamily Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Guides We're not reading all of the books from Year 8, but here are some guides to some of them. General: http://www.webenglishteacher.com/index.html http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/ http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/ http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/services-shared/teachersguides.html Utopia: http://thomasmorestudies.org/utopia/Utopia_guide_ed1.pdf http://www.ajdrake.com/e211_spr_04/materials/authors/more_sq.htm http://www.cybersisman.com/civicshonors/unit1/utopia.pdf Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves: I haven't found one I like, but the book itself has some basic questions at the end of every canto. Essays by Francis Bacon: http://www.ajdrake.com/e211_spr_04/materials/authors/bacon_sq.htm Everyman: http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides3/Everyman.html http://homepage.mac.com/mseffie/assignments/everyman/everymansg.html Shakespeare's sonnets: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/ http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/xSonnets.html#sonnet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 I don't think Yr. 7 is a step back. It is very meaty. I think that would be a good pick for your ds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelBee Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 I don't think Yr. 7 is a step back. It is very meaty. I think that would be a good pick for your ds. :iagree: That is where I put my 12th grader. We also are using soem of the Pre7 books. He came from public school in CA and this has been a challenging pace for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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