Thea Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Moving Beyond the Page. I wanted this to work for my youngest, but she absolutely *hates* it. So, it's back to SL. We'll do Core 6, Winston Grammar basic, Jensen's format writing and Lightening Literature 7. Not sure about Science. She'll continue with Horizons 6. I ordered what I still needed and hope to start next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnointedHsMom Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 I was thinking that I didn't really regret anything but after today I regret buying the BJU Distance Learning for my K little guy. It's not the BJU, love the curriculum, I just wish I wouldn't have spent so much money on the DL classes for him. He's doing much better with me teaching. The problem is that I don't have everything I need to teach the course myself right now and we are broke. I was thinking of doing a few DL classes next year for him too but now I'm seriously rethinking that too. Only 1 regret with my older son. I wish we wouldn't have started out with straight BJU Distance Learning. I was missing the one on one interaction with him so I'm shifting back to HOD for some things. We've also had to change a few things with him but they are not really regrets. We've gone to Easy Grammar for him because I finally realized that he's struggling with grammar so I needed to change up the method of grammar instruction. We are still using the writing chapters of BJU for composition. Changes but nothing too serious. We are not in a grove yet either. Hopefully we will ge there soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monalisa Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 I'm regretting getting DITHOR. I really don't like it and it was expensive!! A third vote on this...I was excited about it, but neither dd8 or I like it. I'm about to sell it. It sounded so good in theory, but in practice it doesn't work out well and seems very contrived. I'm switching back to BJU reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 A third vote on this...I was excited about it, but neither dd8 or I like it. I'm about to sell it. It sounded so good in theory, but in practice it doesn't work out well and seems very contrived. I'm switching back to BJU reading. Ack! I could have wrote this verbatim! I'm going back to BJU as we speak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 A little over a month in, and I'm wondering about a few items. Progeny Press lit guides - are they the way to go? I feel that if I started so early with dissecting a story, it would get in the way of my love of reading. So much writing, too. My ds is in 3rd, and the guide says from 1st to 3rd. Really? A first grader writes that much and can understand what a simile is? :001_huh: My 3rd grader had great difficulty :glare: I apologize for my negativity, but between my ds8 driving me crazy (I know I let her), dd4 drifting around and baby dd not napping, I'm a little peeved. I live their guides for high school, but I agree they are too much for younger. Just read and enjoy the books with them. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 I'm regretting getting DITHOR. I really don't like it and it was expensive!! You guys are reinforcing my decision not to do DITHOR next year when I use Bigger. :D It looked like something my son wouldn't need in 3rd grade. Plus Bigger has that mini-DITHOR in the storytime section, so that should meet the needs of introducing some basic literary terms. I will probably use their book list to help pick some good literature for DS to read, but just not analyze it like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaHappy Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 You guys are reinforcing my decision not to do DITHOR next year when I use Bigger. :D It looked like something my son wouldn't need in 3rd grade. Plus Bigger has that mini-DITHOR in the storytime section, so that should meet the needs of introducing some basic literary terms. I will probably use their book list to help pick some good literature for DS to read, but just not analyze it like that. Yeah, I would recommend not getting it. I know some people really love it, but if you do all the Storytime boxes, then I think you are pretty much covered as far as lit study goes (and I've even pretty much dropped that, LOL). :) I just didn't feel like we were really getting anything out of it and it felt like a waste of time to me (not to mention all the money I spent on it). I will say that the Book Projects to Send Home book is pretty good and the projects are easy to do. Might be a fun thing for kids to do at the end of a book. I just ordered CLE Reading 3 and if that doesn't work, then I might just forget about doing a reading program all together. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 I just ordered CLE Reading 3 and if that doesn't work, then I might just forget about doing a reading program all together. :D I already tried and ditched CLE Reading 100. :lol: I have SWB's lit analysis lecture though, so I'm basically following that and feeling guilt free. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaHappy Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 I already tried and ditched CLE Reading 100. :lol: I have SWB's lit analysis lecture though, so I'm basically following that and feeling guilt free. ;) Oh no! What didn't you like about CLE? I think the 100 level is mostly just phonics, isn't it? I was looking through samples this morning and it looks pretty decent, maybe a little workbook-y though, but I figure we can just do some orally. Then I was gonna add in the DITHOR book packs as free reading. What does SWB say about lit analysis?? Does she explain that in her TWTM book (I have that on hold at the library). :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 (edited) What we've changed so far: Went from AoPS Prealgebra to Jacobs Algebra to Derek Owens Prealgebra. Crazy math issues that I'm hoping are resolved. Went from ALL to Hake Grammar. Went from WWS to loosely using Write Source. Went from The Drama of American History to the new concise version of A History of US. Went from CPO Life Science to a homegrown environmental science course (that uses SE Environmental Science) So in typing this out I just realized that I changed every single thing I had planned with the exception of K12 Literature. Edited October 11, 2011 by EKS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandty Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 I don't want to say regret, but I think I could have saved myself lots of money! I should have know better and I should write stuff down so I remember from year to year. I have been trying very hard to make MFW work for us. I have bought Adventures in the past and we really only used the history part of it. I thought if I used it 100%, we would get more out of it and it would work better for us. So I bought all of MFW CtG, new too. Currently we are not using any of it except for a couple Egypt books. Of course, had I not bought it I would still be wondering if I should. :lol: I can't put my finger on why MFW doesn't work for us, and that bothers me as I don't want to make that expensive mistake again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay3fer Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 ... And the results are in! I just did a quick tally to see which subject was the biggest flop (time on my hands?) :-P And it's... - ENGLISH/LANGUAGE, with 9 people switching programs so far (and it's only October!) which, by the way, doesn't include - 7 people switching WRITING - 7 people switching PHONICS - 2 switching SPELLING - 2 switching GRAMMAR - 2 switching HANDWRITING I guess we're fussy about how we teach our kids to read and write. Then, after English / Writing / Reading / Literature etc, there's... - SCIENCE, with 9 people switching - MATH, 6 people - ONLINE COURSES/PROGRAMS, 6 regret buying these - HISTORY / GEOGRAPHY, with 4 each Fun and fascinating stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoPlaceLikeHome Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 That was a rather expensive mistake for us last year. I bought it so we could use the Elementary Spanish, which we ended up ditching because it didn't teach the kids anything. I was never able to find all of the other amazing videos that other people raved about on DS, and my kids don't really watch online videos anyway. Wasted money. Tara :grouphug: Their search function is lame. Their advanced search option is better by just searching for"full video" under the type box. We did watch hundreds of videos on their site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paisley Hedgehog Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoPlaceLikeHome Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 through G3 either. Oh, well. They are definitely worth checking out IMHO. They have great videos on every subject imaginable to help re-enforce material. Now, we are having a trouble finding the time but they are useful for ds's free time:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlylocks Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 :glare: We're ditching Notgrass Exploring World History... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 You guys are reinforcing my decision not to do DITHOR next year when I use Bigger. :D It looked like something my son wouldn't need in 3rd grade. Plus Bigger has that mini-DITHOR in the storytime section, so that should meet the needs of introducing some basic literary terms. I will probably use their book list to help pick some good literature for DS to read, but just not analyze it like that. I agree with the mini-Dithor section in Storytime. My issue was reading yet another chapter book on top of all HOD has to read. BJU reading for us (or CLE) is a read we can do and go over in class with Mom having answers and dd getting a relatively quick story and full coverage of literary and critical skills, and genres. With Dithor, I don't know the answers and don't read the book and chopping a good book up to disect it was a turn off for DD. So BJU just has that different classtime read without killing a good chapter book. DD reads ALL.THE.TIME. on her own anyway and DITHOR took away from her personal time reading. It was yet another chapter book that was torn apart. For some reason she doesn't mind BJU or CLE being discussed. Different feel I guess. Dithor contains most everything BJU does, but it's just done in a different way. On another note, the "tally" on the changes is funny!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Oh no! What didn't you like about CLE? I think the 100 level is mostly just phonics, isn't it? I was looking through samples this morning and it looks pretty decent, maybe a little workbook-y though, but I figure we can just do some orally. Then I was gonna add in the DITHOR book packs as free reading. Yes, 100 level has a ton of schwa stuff that drove me NUTS. Most of the questions were busywork for my son. I also have some doctrinal differences that made me not really want to use some of the stories (probably not an issue for most people at that level). I dropped it and just let my son read good books. :) What does SWB say about lit analysis?? Does she explain that in her TWTM book (I have that on hold at the library). :) Basically, just talk about a few terms like the different genres and such as you read during the grammar stage, then in the logic stage, start asking some questions about the books. She lists several questions in the WTM book. Her audio lecture is here. There is a link on that page to the slides for the presentation (free), which give you a basic overview of what's in the lecture (highly recommend listening to the lecture itself though - I love her lectures!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOHNNABONNA Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 TOG- I just couldnt get us into a rhythm and felt like it was so disjointed and teacher/planning intensive. MCT grammar island- my dc Hated this! I was not a big fan of the story book style either. While I think Elemental science is a great program, it was just not working for us. I was having a hard time making it fit for both my 6 yr old dd and 10 yr old dd. Also, my children were bored stiff from the encyclopedia type readings:( We have now gone to Apologia. We are planning on doing a book a semester. So far I think it is going to work great for us. This is our first year so I was expecting a lot of tweaking. We are loving our R&S english and our Singapore math though:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertmum Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 I... ...went from Moma McNee to Jolly Phonics and then to Starfall/Jolly Phonics. ...went from Dubay-Getty to Schofield&Sims handwriting workbooks. ...went from Startwrite to Handriting for Windows. ...went from BFSU to My Body to be followed by Elemental Science. Also I bought far too many Carol Vorderman workbooks for reasons I cannot even explain to myself :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadianmumof5 Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 So what is the record for # of times one has switched writing programs in a single year?? For MR. R: From Intermediate Language Lessons to GWG From WS to IEW to WWW From SOTW#2 to VP New Testament, Greece & Rome (online) From Saxon 6/5 to 7/6 From First Start French to L'Art de Lire From English from the Roots Up to GSWL For MISS MUFFET From Primary Language Lessons to GWG From WS to IEW to WWW From SOTW#2 to VP Old Testament Ancient Egypt (online) From First Start French to L'Art de Lire From English from the Roots Up to GSWL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 BJU Algebra 1 - I was given this for free by a friend, but dd is very annoyed with how they interject Christian thought where it doesn't even make sense. The examples are okay, but from what I've heard Lial's is better. I am teaching it to her because I have a math degree, so I know I can teach any textbook. I just want to find the best fit for her, my non-mathy kid. We used BJU math for years, and we are conservative Christians, but I have to agree with your observation that BJU interjects Christian thought where it doesn't make sense. The connections often seem really contrived, especially in the upper levels. We found that it was no problem at all just to skip those parts and concentrate on the math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah CB Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Right Start C has been a very expensive mistake. We didn't even make it through the transition lessons before 6 yo DD started asking to not do "abacus math." I really think this is one of the best and most thorough ways to learn math, but it's definitely not for every kid. I used it for about 3 months with my eldest ds. He really disliked it and eventually said, "This is just talk, talk, talk, I want to do REAL math!" I switched him over to Singapore (like his older sister) and we haven't looked back. The next ds loved RS and is working through level D. I love what he's learning and the way he is learning it and wish it had worked for older ds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Togo Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 (edited) nm Edited October 12, 2011 by 1Togo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satori Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Hmmm... There is one curriculum in particular I shouldn't have bothered getting - Getty Dubay Italics handwriting. I thought both my daughter and I could improve our handwriting so I purchased quite a few books. But my daughter had already zoomed through all the levels of HWT and writes literally every hour of the day, so switching to a new handwriting style is impossible. She's already developed her own. Another program that might so far hasn't panned out is Singapore My Pals Are Here. I first started purchasing the inexpensive books and workbooks. Then I couldn't resist the rest of the program, but that is expensive! Now that I have it all here, I need to have it all scheduled out first before I start (I'm just like that). A little daunted by that project, it just sits. Oh well, we are already happily using RSO Earth & Space now. I just wanted to try to do them both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in VA Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 I regret not continuing into Phonics Road Level 3. I figured for the money we'd be fine with AAS. We are bored silly and now I'm trying to sell stuff to make enough to get PR3. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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