Truscifi Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 I got MCT Island for ds7 this year (he was 6 when we started) thinking it would be a 2 year program. He blew through Grammar Island initially, and I thought it was just because we had already done FLL. Then he blew through Sentence Island, and I thought it was just because he liked the story format (that kid LOVES the fish in Sentence Island). Now he is halfway through Building Language and just started MotH to go along with it. It looks like he may finish the whole thing this year. So my question is this: do I start him on Town next year, and just plan to go slowly with that? I have read that it is a big step up, which is why I had planned on 2 years for Island level so we could start Town in the school year he would be 8-9. If I wait to start Town level what do I use in the meantime? I could try subbing a writing program instead of general language arts, but he is so resistant to writing I know he would hate it. What to do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 So my question is this: do I start him on Town next year, and just plan to go slowly with that? I have read that it is a big step up, which is why I had planned on 2 years for Island level so we could start Town in the school year he would be 8-9. I This is what we are doing. Island is nothing (it would seem), Town is a bit more, and Voyage is a lot more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuovonne Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Town level has a *lot* more writing than Island level. My DD7 just finished Island level and she isn't ready for Town. I have the Town books but am holding off on them until she can write a paragraph without handholding. In the meantime, I plan to focusing on her writing. BTW, can I suggest that you go through MotH before finishing Building Language? If he learns about poetic techniques first, then he can discover how MCT applied them in the Building Language textbook. Discussing the poetic devices in Building Language will make that book last longer while also reinforcing the concepts from MotH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spetzi Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 We blew through Island w/my 8 yr old, too. It was just so much fun! I decided to begin the Town level. There are many writing exercises so that makes it a bit tougher for some. The vocab is much harder, too. Grammar Town had quite a bit of review, but did take things to the next level (clauses and phrases). We will finish both Island and Town (not including Caesar's English) this school year. I'm not sure if we'll be ready for the Voyage series so we'll have to play that by ear. I just wanted to encourage you to continue w/MCT because it's not *that much harder (just expensive!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuovonne Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 What is MotH? Music of the Hemispheres It's the poetry book in MCT Island level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 My daughter blew through Grammar Island so quickly that I'm making her do it again. I know, that sounds horrible. She understood everything, but she has issues with retention. I think things are sticking a little better the second time around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicianmom Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Truscifi, what level of FLL had your son completed before beginning MCT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 :bigear: I'm debating what to do with my little next year as well. She's wrapping up the last bits of Island level (we do all the books simultaneously). I have Town (& Voyage) from the older kids. . . so I know it well. Dd8 loves language, and she might just do fine in Town, but I'd kinda rather do something else for a little while. I am thinking of using IEW Fables, Myths, & Fairytales with her next year and then returning to MCT the following year. She'd miss the poetry aspect of MCT especially, though. I knew this would happen, and wanted to wait for Island until 3rd grade, but couldn't resist it. She's done swimmingly with Island, so she'd probably be fine in Town. . . but I don't know. Can't make up my mind! Maybe I'll do FM&FT and Town simultaneously, one week on, one week off. That'd work pretty well. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted April 3, 2011 Author Share Posted April 3, 2011 Town level has a *lot* more writing than Island level. My DD7 just finished Island level and she isn't ready for Town. I have the Town books but am holding off on them until she can write a paragraph without handholding. In the meantime, I plan to focusing on her writing. BTW, can I suggest that you go through MotH before finishing Building Language? If he learns about poetic techniques first, then he can discover how MCT applied them in the Building Language textbook. Discussing the poetic devices in Building Language will make that book last longer while also reinforcing the concepts from MotH. I will try that. We have been working through them at the same time, but I don't think ds would mind if we focused just on MotH for a while. He generally likes poetry. Ds is very resistant to writing, especially open ended things like narrations. I think he doesn't like that there is no one right answer. Truscifi, what level of FLL had your son completed before beginning MCT? We did FLL 1&2. By the end of it he was totally bored, so I decided to switch to MCT rather than continue with FLL3. Grammar retention is not a problem for him - we do periodic spot checks and he is always able to answer my questions. Plus we are still doing the sentences from Practice Island. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarahillmom Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Correct me if I am wrong, but MCT purposely made the grammar books to be able to get through quickly. I believe they are set up to go through for the first 6-8 weeks, so that you can apply what you learn, and then begin the poetics, writing, and vocabulary. So each year or two you can do a level and just use the practice book a couple of times a week for practice and retention. This also frees up time to work on writing skills and the like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Correct me if I am wrong, but MCT purposely made the grammar books to be able to get through quickly. I believe they are set up to go through for the first 6-8 weeks, so that you can apply what you learn, and then begin the poetics, writing, and vocabulary. So each year or two you can do a level and just use the practice book a couple of times a week for practice and retention. This also frees up time to work on writing skills and the like. Yes. You're supposed to do the grammar book first quickly, then follow with the other books along with the practice book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 Correct me if I am wrong, but MCT purposely made the grammar books to be able to get through quickly. I believe they are set up to go through for the first 6-8 weeks, so that you can apply what you learn, and then begin the poetics, writing, and vocabulary. So each year or two you can do a level and just use the practice book a couple of times a week for practice and retention. This also frees up time to work on writing skills and the like. Yes. You're supposed to do the grammar book first quickly, then follow with the other books along with the practice book. Well good, because that's what we did. :tongue_smilie: It was a good refresher for him for the most part, since we took the summer off, and it introduced a few new concepts. I didn't expect that book to take long. I just thought the other 3 would take a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuovonne Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 (edited) I just thought the other 3 would take a while. Grammar Island took DD the longest because she had zero formal grammar before starting MCT. We did Music of the Hemispheres next and it lasted the second longest because DD loves poetry and we aimed for mastery, not just exposure. Next we did Building Language and I slowed it down by discussing all the poetry in it and having her do all the assignments. We just finished Sentence Island and DD flew through it pretty quickly because so much of it was review from Grammar Island and we did only one writing activity per chapter. I also expected Island level to take 2 years, as DD was also 6 years old when we started, but she finished it in a year and a half. I'm not surprised that a child who knew at least some of the parts of speech could go through Island level much faster than her. Edited April 4, 2011 by Kuovonne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarahillmom Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Magic Lens 1 books are longer. The Word within a Word has 35 weeks of lists in them. The academic writing also becomes much more involved then the prior years. They are definitely a challenge, but well worth it. I am looking forward to seeing the literature portion by MCT coming out soon as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Magic Lens 1 books are longer. The Word within a Word has 35 weeks of lists in them. The academic writing also becomes much more involved then the prior years. They are definitely a challenge, but well worth it. I am looking forward to seeing the literature portion by MCT coming out soon as well. I have yet to see the upper levels of MCT, but I expect to find that you are right that they will be much more time consuming. I think the WWW books have 30 lessons of 25 stems or words each (so 750 total), at least that is what the rfwp website states. I am fairly intimidated by that myself, lol. We go to that level next year, and I expect it to be a good bit more time intensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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