William and Mary Units

[Country Girl]

On another thread, love2read mentioned the gifted curriculum from William and Mary. I asked her about them there but thought I'd also start a new thread to get feedback from all. If you have used these, I be interested to hear your opinion of them, which ones you used, and for what ages.

 

Thanks!

[daisychics]

Have not used the units but we are enrolling ds into their gifted program for the summer. We are about to mail the application. I don't know how it's going to be but we are excited! :001_smile: Would love to hear other's who have used it as well. :bigear:

[love2read]

A few things first

 

-W&M material is secular and it is politically correct. We're Christians so I do modify here and there as we go along. With one unit I almost felt that I had to drop an entire book (about 30% of the program). These are conceptual units so it's not simply not wanting to teach evolution or big bang, etc. but bigger issues. So, if you are a Christian and a young mother you probably don't want to start W&M material. PM me if you want to talk about that particular concern.

 

-It's rated correctly for the gifted child. So, for example, a very smart second grader would struggle with much of the material in their 2nd-3rd grade. A gifted child would be up for the challenge. I mention this only because some of the gifted material online is not rated correctly.

 

Look at the preview of a 2nd-3rd grade book at

http://books.google.com/books?id=6WYir2QPSBAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Ancient+Egypt:+Gift+of+the+Nile++gifted&lr=&sig=Jwk52NkKICOxeS_3wxoQMMVqunk#PPA136,M1

pages 133ff give an idea of the level of the work for a sample unit. I have to run out now, but I'll be back later today and can answer questions and will also post some other thoughts at that time.

[Country Girl]

love2read,

 

Thanks for your input, I look forward to any other comments you have to offer and I am going to check out the link you posted to get a better idea of the program.

 

I think the lit units and the science are of most interest but I'd also be very eager to hear any thoughts you have on any of the units.

 

Thanks!

 

Oh, and I think I will send you a pm to ask you a bit about the issues you raised.

[Wildiris]

I have Patterns of Change which is a language arts book intended for 4-6 grades. I also have Autobiographies, also a language arts book for 5-6 grades, but I haven't used this yet.

 

I like the goal of these books, digging deeper into reading and following a theme through different literary models, but I've had a hard time navigating them in the home environment. These text are clearly written for the classroom. I did modify parts of Patterns of Change to meet my needs; however, I put the text down a few months ago and didn't pick it up again. What I need to do is go through the whole text and tailor the lessons for home use before the school year to get the most out of the material.

 

In spite of this set back, I do think the lessons we did, particularly the lessons on poetry, worth while. What I found most useful were the literary response and interpretive questions. In the beginning I thought these questions would enable me to just open the book and go, but I found this approach ineffective over time.

 

HTH,

Wildiris

 

 

[Country Girl]

Wildiris,

 

Thank you very much for your feedback. It is helpful to know that it is really geared towards classrooms but can be effective for home use.

 

Thanks!