ravinlunachick Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I am planning to begin a virtual academy for dd next fall, and our state offers Calvert as well as k12. I've been able to see demos for k12, and there's tons of info and reviews online, but I haven't been able to find as much for Calvert. There's a photograph of all the materials, but I am unfamiliar with some of the titles. I am hoping some of y'all will have some opinions about it. :) http://southcarolinacalvertacademy.com/curriculum/third-grade/ Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I haven't used them, but my cousins were homeschooled with Calvert materials back in the 70s and 80s. They both had a great education, so I think the program is pretty solid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I've used pre-K, K, and 4. I've sent back 2nd twice. Overall it is extremely solid, very easy to use, and includes excellent literature selections. Writing is emphasized. Fourth grade is fantastic. 2nd grade is nearly awful (so so much busy-work!). We probably would have stuck with it if they hadn't raised the price AGAiN this year. But that's not an issue for you. The math is not good. Conceptually it's interesting but not enough drill, not enough work on the basics, and too many concepts covered. My dd really nearly lost a year of math this year. I suspect that you will love some years and dislike others. But it's solid and has enough traditional classic extras that really make it stand above traditional textbook curricula. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayb842 Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 We are finishing up Calvert 3rd grade. We love it! I don't know how the virtual schools work but we get manuals with lessons for each day. It's all planned out for you. The math is good. Calvert took it a step ahead of Texas Teks. I did add a warm up daily with his math. He was forgetting concepts because we didn't cover them daily. The reading, spelling, science and social studies are very good. We added our own daily reading and read a louds. Ds loves the experiments in science. It doesn't have handwriting but there lessons on how use the computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyR Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I've used Calvert for 1,2,3,4,and 5th grade with cyberschooling. Its an okay curriculum, at least those are my thoughts. I liked Calvert 1 and 2nd. After that it got dry and borning. Has terrible writing instruction ( not handwriting , but teaching children how to write) after 2nd grade. They start off with copywork and dictation for 1st and 2nd then for 3rd your pretty much on your own if you don't have a child that is a natural writer. Grammar is terrible. You pretty much teach it orally for 1-3rd grade. For 4th and up they have a workbook that gives kids a few examples and a few problems and my girls never retained a thing from it. Their math was awful. Even for my mastery math program oldest daughter she just didn't like it. For my spiral 2nd child her head was about to blow up. Calvert made her hate math. The manual for math is a waste of good paper, sadly. Hated their science and history. Science, boring, boring , boring. It skipped around so much my girls started to forget what it was they were learning. They only good history book we had was from 4th grade, Child's History of the World. Other then that, boring and dry. For 1st and 2nd and third we had to go to the library because the books they had were boring. Like I said 4th was good and then 5th was so dry my daughters eyes began to glaze over. The only things I really liked from Calvert was their reading program 1st and 2nd is fun. I still have the books and my youngest is reading them. We also loved the Discoveries in Reading program that we were able to get for summer reading. I liked their main manual. All you had to do was read and check off the things you did, and we liked Children's History of the World and that was about it. You can do so much better with a curriculum like Christian Light, or any other curriculum at that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoPlaceLikeHome Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I have seen Calvert 4th and K12 K through 4th grade materials except for the new K12 math. K12 is much better IMHO. Calvert 4th grade is solid though but K12 is easier to use and better IMHO. K12 tends to supply too many activities for each lesson depending upon the child but this is usually not a problem since it is mastery based and therefore not all activities are usually necessary. I would clarify this with the school though and ask about which assignments are needed to hand in for the year. I would ask detailed questions about the expectations of the 2 schools, mandatory online and face to face questions, locations of face to face sessions and testing, supports available to students, and other expectations. If one of the schools is significantly better in these regards for you than I would consider that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravinlunachick Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 Math is dd's biggest struggle, and writing after that. She has fine motor delays and is a rotten speller, despite being an advanced reader. Going the VA route also means that she will have to take state mandated testing for the first time, so I want to give her the best shot at being prepared for that. I have read that Calvert spelling is good for the whole to part learner, but I can't seem to figure out whether the VA uses their typical program. The VA uses Everyday Spelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravinlunachick Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 Thanks for all the input! Sorry for my short replies, but I am on a tablet, and typing is a pain. We are required to do state history for 3rd grade, but I had already planned to continue on with SOTW as a read aloud. Dd is incredibly imaginative and loves to dictate stories, but require her to write and it's a struggle to get 3 sentences. She loves science, whether that is reading a book or doing experiments. It seems to me that there is a great deal more support for k12, but I will call to speak with the Calvert folks tomorrow. I am making notes of things to ask about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyR Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Yes, Calvert uses Everyday Spelling. Its okay. Good for a natural speller. Not so good for one that's not. I will say its a step up from what they used to use for Spelling. My girls hated it. They didn't balk to much about Everyday Spelling. But if your child struggles with spelling I don't recommend it. I would use something like All About Spelling instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readinmom Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Even though we are using k12 at a higher level, I vote no for the math. Not enough examples, poor text. I would definitely supplement if going solely k12. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoPlaceLikeHome Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Math is dd's biggest struggle, and writing after that. She has fine motor delays and is a rotten speller, despite being an advanced reader. Going the VA route also means that she will have to take state mandated testing for the first time, so I want to give her the best shot at being prepared for that. I have read that Calvert spelling is good for the whole to part learner, but I can't seem to figure out whether the VA uses their typical program. The VA uses Everyday Spelling. Everyday Spelling is just ok IMO. K12 spelling is much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravinlunachick Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 Wow. I called the Calvert people, and they were significantly LESS than helpful or friendly. :confused: Maybe they don't need to worry about "selling" their program the way k12 does, but that was a dramatic difference. Anyway, I did get a few of my questions answered. Most specifically, I found out how to view the curriculum samples in more detail. They don't have a way for me to demo the online stuff the way k12 did, which is a bummer, but I can at least see sample pages and get a feel for some of the texts. In case anyone wonders, the online curriculum is the same as what you would pay for privately, with the addition of online live lessons and the required state history in 3rd grade I mentioned earlier. The person I spoke with had no idea how many online sessions were required, or how long they were! When I explained that I really needed that information to compare them to k12, she sighed deeply and put me on hold for several minutes. Then she returned to say, "I think it's once or twice a week." She had no idea how long the sessions are. :001_huh: It certainly makes me hesitant to consider them, if this is the sort of "help" I can expect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 (edited) One thing with Calvert which is not true about K12 is that Calvert takes less time and is easy to supplement until about 6th grade. Just another thought. But K12's history and math look much much better, in fact their math is definitely better. They use Sadlier Oxford if I recall. and their literature study is more in depth. It is very similar to a Classical education, from what I hear. Edited March 7, 2012 by Calming Tea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoPlaceLikeHome Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 One thing with Calvert which is not true about K12 is that Calvert takes less time and is easy to supplement until about 6th grade. Just another thought. But K12's history and math look much much better, in fact their math is definitely better. They use Sadlier Oxford if I recall. and their literature study is more in depth. It is very similar to a Classical education, from what I hear. K12 changed their math from Sadlier Oxford to their own product which some love and some hate. I would want to see the math:) I did speak to a teacher recently for K12 and she loves the math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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