3browneyedboys4me Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 could someone give me their review on this? I have NEVER,EVER used this curriculum before, but I was interested in it for next year. Eigth grade is a very important year as we are bridging over into high school. So, I'm mostly concerned that OM would be rigorous enough for us. Do you think their math and sciences compare with Apologia and BJU? I just want to make sure that he will be on target for High School. Thanks so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chirowife Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 wondering the same thing for 7th and 9th next year...but I won't use their math and probably not the 7th grade science... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3browneyedboys4me Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Yes, this would be a new thing for me to use a boxed curriculum for everything. I might still use MUS as a review. But, yes, very interested to hear the reviews on the math and sciences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 I have used part of 8th. It was too much writing for my oldest. The content is awesome, though. It expects a great deal of writing and research. This is no fill in the blank curriculum. The kids have to think. I wasn't too impressed with a few of the book choices (Lord of the Flies for one). OM is/was flexible and offered to help find different books/lessons to sub out. Many moms use OM8 for 9th because it is full. I have not used the math as we used CLE at the time. I haven't looked at Apologia Physical so I really cannot compare that one. OM Pysical explains (I thought) concepts clearly. We did not do the experiments but they looked fun and seemed to apply to the lesson. We were happy with our purchase, my son was just not ready for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3browneyedboys4me Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Thanks Training5. I might need to purchase it and get a sneak peek. I just want to make sure it's rigorous. I feel a lot of pressure with 8th grade!! Anyway, thanks for your input. Anyone else??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 I have used part of 8th. It was too much writing for my oldest. The content is awesome, though. It expects a great deal of writing and research. This is no fill in the blank curriculum. The kids have to think. I wasn't too impressed with a few of the book choices (Lord of the Flies for one). OM is/was flexible and offered to help find different books/lessons to sub out. Many moms use OM8 for 9th because it is full. That's funny! So they say it's too laid back in the early years, and too much in the later years? hehe. I haven't gotten that far yet, only on OM6 over here, but I always keep an eye on what people say about the later years, too, because I do plan to eventually use them! OM is SO gentle in the earliest school years which I personally like about it. But a lot of people then think they should start skipping grades and using higher grade levels instead. And then all of a sudden you get to the middle or higher elementary years and you wouldn't believe how much writing the kids are expected to do, and a lot of them just aren't ready for that much research or writing (and even the reading material I think they'd have gotten more out of if they'd just gone with the flow and waited that extra year or whatever, and then they could have enjoyed the sweet projects and activities offered back when they were just five or six). You can modify of course. But the cool thing is they give so many unique CHOICES of writing assignments, and they are based on what's been learned about in history, and then the literature is assigned based on that, too, so there's so much integration and opportunity for thought and discussion and so on. OM is never dry or textbookish and the syllabus lessons aren't long etc but it still gives a lot to think about (and read about and write about). Can't speak for 8th grade yet though, (I assume it'll still be that way when I get there!), interested to hear what people say! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txhomemom Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Just a heads up, Oak Meadow has their curriculum 20% off until today, February 29th. The code you enter at checkout is Winter2012. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3browneyedboys4me Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Oh Txhomemom...you are awesome! I didn't realize that it was on sale. Is this the only sale or do they have them throughout the year? So excited now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saja1029 Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 They have a few other sales during the year, I think for 10% off. I took advantage of the sale and purchased the grade 8 set. The samples DO NOT do these books justice. The civics book is so much better than I thought it would be. I am looking forward to using them this fall. FWIW, We've used parts of Oak Meadow for the past two years. I have this love/hate relationship with it...LOL. I love the idea of it, but when pressed for time, or when burn-out occurs it overwhelms me. As was mentioned before, this curriculum is heavy on writing, and that can be too much sometimes. We don't always do every assignment, or instead of writing we will discuss instead. We have also used the OM math from grades 4 - 7. It has worked out beautifuly for my two mathphobic boys. The pages are not too busy and I think the concepts have been explained well. If they need more work on something, I just print-off some additional worksheets from mathdrills.com. We also supplemented with Life of Fred Fractions in the sixth grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3browneyedboys4me Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Thank you Saja! That is good to know. I am very excited now. :) I might just go ahead and purchase it. 20% seems like a good deal!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3browneyedboys4me Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Oh, Saja, do you think it would be hard to use this with three kids? I mean if you think it gets overwhelming at times would it be really hard with three? I will have 4, 6 and 8th grades? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saja1029 Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 First, I easily get overwhelmed (I have a 5th and 7th grader). LOL I think it depends on how much time you have to spend with each student and whether they can work independently. OM4 was not difficult, but is written to the parent at that age. OM6 was semi-difficult for us, because of the writing, ADHD, and my son not being that cooperative :glare: This year we are doing much better. We are only using parts of OM5 and OM7, but there has been improvement all around. We are planning on using all OM6 and OM8 next fall :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abdesigns Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 I don't know about 8th grade personally, but we are absolutely loving 6th grade! In fact, yesterday, my oldest came to me and told me that he wanted to cry of happiness, because he's just so excited about the upcoming project for history. I call that a success. I can't wait to get to 8th grade! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3browneyedboys4me Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 i understand being overwhelmed. I had to ditch everything this year and go to paces b/c we couldn't get anything done with my two yr old running around! ;) I'm hopeful next year will be smoother. I think I can expect more independent play from my almost three yr old (by then). We'll see. I just want the olders to enjoy their school work and not just get through it. Oak Meadow seems like it would be perfect for that. Thanks for the input! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txhomemom Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Oh Txhomemom...you are awesome! I didn't realize that it was on sale. Is this the only sale or do they have them throughout the year? So excited now! I would get it now, because some years they have only had one sale and even if they do have another one in the late spring/early summer it will most likely only be for 10% off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chirowife Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Are you all using just the curriculum or actually enrolling in the school? I will have 7th and 9th grades next year and would like to use OM english and possibly history. I am looking for a good planned out curriculum... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3browneyedboys4me Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 I don't know about 8th grade personally, but we are absolutely loving 6th grade! In fact, yesterday, my oldest came to me and told me that he wanted to cry of happiness, because he's just so excited about the upcoming project for history. I call that a success. I can't wait to get to 8th grade! Yes! I would call that success too! How wonderful. I hope to hear those words myself!!! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3browneyedboys4me Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Are you all using just the curriculum or actually enrolling in the school?I will have 7th and 9th grades next year and would like to use OM english and possibly history. I am looking for a good planned out curriculum... I am only looking at the curriculum at this point. I'm not sure if you were asking me or the other poster. :confused: Maybe they can chime in with their experiences. The online seems very expensive, but I haven't research that too much as I would not pay for that except when credits were being given. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3browneyedboys4me Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 I would get it now, because some years they have only had one sale and even if they do have another one in the late spring/early summer it will most likely only be for 10% off. Good to know and I will purchase it. I'm so excited to have this opportunity to view it and really get a good look at it before next year. Thanks for letting me know about this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Oh, Saja, do you think it would be hard to use this with three kids? I mean if you think it gets overwhelming at times would it be really hard with three? I will have 4, 6 and 8th grades? Not Saja, and I haven't used 8th yet as I've said (I've used OMK, OM4, OM5, and OM6 so far), but if you want to get an idea of what OM4, 5 or 6 was like, I did/do blog a lot about it. On the sidebar to the left of my blog under "schedule samples" or something like that, I showed how I took weekly OM schedules and broke them down into daily ones, showing a sample week, then I showed some pics etc, to show what that sample week was like, and at the bottom of each entry there's a link to our first 'daily entry' from that particular school year. I tend to blog about our day to day homeschooling lives. We use mostly OM, with some supplementing, and we use it in a pretty relaxed manner, so there are a lot of field trips and activities and such, too, but it'll give a pretty good idea of what OM is like. There's also a detailed review of OM in general under the "My reviews" section of the sidebar. You can always modify some if you think the writing is too much for your child. If they say write 2-3 pages and you think 1 is better, have them write 1. If they have you doing 3 writing assignments in one week, and you think 2 is better, write 2. If they say write a full page, and you think a couple of paragraphs is better, write a couple of paragraphs. You CAN sort of use it as a guideline. I've never used it with three kids, and like I said, my son's only in K, but with your kids being mostly older, I would think they could do at least a fair amount of it more independently, so it might not be so bad for you having three at once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abdesigns Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Thank you so much for the info on the sale!!! I just bought OM 7. Can't wait to get it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Now you all have to keep us updated! I have always been interested in Oak Meadow for high school years. I guess I should start thinking about that more.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oraetstudia Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Has anyone used the 7th grade science book? Is the schedule only in the teachers manual? Or is it easy to use and schedule on its own? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 ~sigh~. Another really good looking possibility for 6th grade.:001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3browneyedboys4me Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 Well....after spending much, much time looking over the sample pages and I decided against OM. I looked over it and over it and it just didn't seem like the right fit for my boys. I wanted it to. I see the draw to it. I understand now the posts that claimed they wanted it to fit but it just didn't. I do undertand that. It's a very nice package and approach, but I can tell it's not going to be what my boys need. *sigh* Thanks for your input. Back to the drawing board I go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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