parias1126 Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 (edited) We are almost at the end of SOTW Ancients. I have pushed ahead with it even though my DS complains whenever I say, "it's time for History!". I hear, "Ugh! Again? Can't we just do the fun stuff?" or "I'm not doing the coloring page mom!" Yes, I get that I can take away the coloring pages and they aren't required, but my DC don't listen closely enough to answer the questions most of the time. There have been a few parts they are very interested in and will listen. It seems as though they are both interested in the story parts of it....like when the book is retelling a myth from Ancient Times. This is the only time they can answer the questions and do the narration. They would rather, if they had a choice, just skip ahead and do the projects in the activity guide. I really want them to pay more attention then they have this past year. I want them to enjoy, not just the story parts of SOTW, but the realistic aspects of it as well. I have really started rethinking the way I have been doing things. I went and purchased HOD Bigger for this coming year and still trying to piece together some of the books for it. We aren't ready to start it yet. I really wanted to wait to finish this year out and complete SOTW (hence I don't want to teach them that it's okay to give up something just because your not happy with all of it). I have spent a lot of money on HOD already and I don't want them to think that if they don't enjoy it then they can just make the decision to put that aside either. I'm willing to work with them on it, but not make it completely their decision. Anyways, I decided I wanted to add in more living books. I also decided I don't want to plan anything myself. I want everything done for me so that we get more done throughout the day. I feel as though, lately, I have been a bit slackish (which I doubt is even a word, but you get the point).:lol: I feel as though the checking off of boxes will hold me more accountable. We are using GWG for grammar and I feel as though we are just filling in blanks constantly and its getting to the point where (with my DS only) it's not really being retained. It's more like a pattern my DS is looking for when underlining, etc. I want him to REALLY understand it, not just find a systematic way of filling in blanks. I also want him to start diagramming sentences next year for 3rd grade. I am stuck between R&S and FLL3. I am hesitant to go with R&S as we plan to switch from their spelling program which we have been doing for the past 2 years. This is another area where I feel like my children really aren't getting enough out of it because my DS, again, just fills in the blanks systematically, groans when it's time to study his spelling words and gets horrible grades on his spelling tests all of a sudden. We are using Apologia Botany for Science and both of them LOVE this curriculum. I love it too! I am not sure I'll add another Apologia Science on for the Fall. I will probably try HOD Science first since what my children love about Apologia is the notebeooking. They also pay all kinds of attention while I'm reading to them unlike SOTW. Have any of you gone through this? I am not so much worried about my DD9, but I honestly think my DS8 is getting extremely bored with our school day. This is not what I envisioned for my children and one of the reasons I chose to homeschool was because I wanted my children to enjoy school. I am so glad I found CLE math and will never again leave for another math program. It has helped my DD9 who struggles and she is catching up and getting back on grade level. My DS8 doesn't so much care for it because he really doesn't need the 4 pages of math, but he has learned so much! They both have! Have any of you done this? I am sitting here looking through the HOD guide and thinking, "Why didn't I find this a long time ago?" At first, my idea was just to switch to HOD for the living books and fun activities that correlate together, but now I am deciding to switch most everything we use except for math in the hopes of making our school day run smoother and allow my children to enjoy school. Maybe I'm just burnt out after homeschooling for 10 years. :glare: Edited March 18, 2012 by parias1126 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle My Bell Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 We have been using HOD for awhile with one of my daughters but she used it independently so I wasn't really super involved with that. With my other kids I had been using TOG because I do enjoy the book selections (most of the time) and I always thought it was fun to plan out our weeks. But honestly, for quite some time things have been very difficult to balance in my life and I was struggling to give the girls the education they deserved. I was convinced if I didn't have my hands in it, that I would get bored as their teacher which would cause them to be bored with a preplanned program. But then my oldest daughter said, "Why don't you switch them to that program I used a few years ago before TOG? That was my favorite program ever." I realized she meant HOD CTC. I had no idea she found the program so rewarding. I was shocked. I started looking into HOD for my 11 & 9 year old daughters. I switched them a few weeks ago and it has been amazing. I have seen NOTICEABLE differences in their skills already. Especially my 9 year old. Her reading and writing has improved immensely. -I love how I don't have to plan. -I love how I am reading good materials to them. -I love knowing they are getting a good variety of lesson material. -I love knowing they are getting more bible than I was giving them. -I love how I am learning new stuff as well. I also realized that it may not ALWAYS be fun to do school (It usually is however), but I have a GOOD... CONSISTENT plan that I can and should stick with. Honestly, TOG was too much for me and the kids. There was too much reading and I struggled to know how to draw more information out of what they were reading in a meaningful way. HOD fixes that. OK, that may have been a major ramble. I was really distracted while writing it but I wanted to encourage you. OH, and I also have used and LOVE CLE Math and Rod & Staff Grammar for quite some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Well at first I was going to try to help you evaluate if it's an attention issue, but if they love apologia, then they obviously have good listening skills, as I perceive apologia to be much more of a challenge in that regard than SOTW. So my thinking is that perhaps history just isn't their thing. Two boys who sit through and love Apologia Elementary love Science and facts. So my thinking is for you to try just one living book and see how that goes. Don't spend money on a whole package. If that goes over well, then living books for history is where you should camp. However, if they are still bored during historical fiction, then I would try them with history textbooks perhaps such as Galore Park or BJU. Perhaps they are factual little boys and that's ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Well, I agree that GWG doesn't lead to retention. LOTS of people have the same experience. Try FLL. Even a grade below level would be fine. Not sure about the rest :0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disney Dreaming Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 :grouphug:I tried SOTW with my dd and she didn't like it all. I thought it was just history but she has enjoyed and listened to other programs(BJU, SL, MFW). We are starting Bigger a week from Monday(our shipment arrives tomorrow:D). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted March 18, 2012 Author Share Posted March 18, 2012 We have been using HOD for awhile with one of my daughters but she used it independently so I wasn't really super involved with that. With my other kids I had been using TOG because I do enjoy the book selections (most of the time) and I always thought it was fun to plan out our weeks. But honestly, for quite some time things have been very difficult to balance in my life and I was struggling to give the girls the education they deserved. I was convinced if I didn't have my hands in it, that I would get bored as their teacher which would cause them to be bored with a preplanned program. But then my oldest daughter said, "Why don't you switch them to that program I used a few years ago before TOG? That was my favorite program ever." I realized she meant HOD CTC. I had no idea she found the program so rewarding. I was shocked. I started looking into HOD for my 11 & 9 year old daughters. I switched them a few weeks ago and it has been amazing. I have seen NOTICEABLE differences in their skills already. Especially my 9 year old. Her reading and writing has improved immensely. -I love how I don't have to plan. -I love how I am reading good materials to them. -I love knowing they are getting a good variety of lesson material. -I love knowing they are getting more bible than I was giving them. -I love how I am learning new stuff as well. I also realized that it may not ALWAYS be fun to do school (It usually is however), but I have a GOOD... CONSISTENT plan that I can and should stick with. Honestly, TOG was too much for me and the kids. There was too much reading and I struggled to know how to draw more information out of what they were reading in a meaningful way. HOD fixes that. OK, that may have been a major ramble. I was really distracted while writing it but I wanted to encourage you. OH, and I also have used and LOVE CLE Math and Rod & Staff Grammar for quite some time. Thank you for this post! It was so encouraging! That is so awesome that your daughter found HOD so rewarding and still remembered it years later. I am struggling with using R&S for English because of the fact that we are leaving R&S Spelling. I'm sure I'll figure that out soon. I think I have every other choice in place for the most part. I just need to figure out what to add on for a composer/artist study. My main reason for feeling as though I need to have boxes to check is because I will be adding a K'r in the Fall. I am so nervous as I am struggling teaching two children. I can't imagine having to be accountable to three children. He has already started with OPGTR, but I'm thinking of switching to The Reading Lesson because he argues with me about doing the chants. He hates it and can never repeat them back. I want something more simplified for him, but have never used The Reading Lesson. I ordered it just to look at it. I know thats just horrible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted March 18, 2012 Author Share Posted March 18, 2012 Well, I agree that GWG doesn't lead to retention. LOTS of people have the same experience. Try FLL. Even a grade below level would be fine. Not sure about the rest :0 We have already finished FLL2 about 2/3 of the way through. I dropped it because it became a hassle trying to complete 2 grammar programs and, again, I was slacking off because I was getting burnt out. My children really loved it though so I probably should had stuck with FLL and ditched the GWG. It was just that the FLL took more time from me (again ...slacking :glare:), whereas the GWG could be done independently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted March 18, 2012 Author Share Posted March 18, 2012 :grouphug:I tried SOTW with my dd and she didn't like it all. I thought it was just history but she has enjoyed and listened to other programs(BJU, SL, MFW). We are starting Bigger a week from Monday(our shipment arrives tomorrow:D). I'm as excited for you as I am for us! Hmmm... I'm probably MORE EXCITED for you since you get to start next week and I can't! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted March 18, 2012 Author Share Posted March 18, 2012 Well at first I was going to try to help you evaluate if it's an attention issue, but if they love apologia, then they obviously have good listening skills, as I perceive apologia to be much more of a challenge in that regard than SOTW. So my thinking is that perhaps history just isn't their thing. Two boys who sit through and love Apologia Elementary love Science and facts. So my thinking is for you to try just one living book and see how that goes. Don't spend money on a whole package. If that goes over well, then living books for history is where you should camp. However, if they are still bored during historical fiction, then I would try them with history textbooks perhaps such as Galore Park or BJU. Perhaps they are factual little boys and that's ok. I actually already purchased Bigger at the convention last week. I have read living books to them before. Actually a lot! They LOVE it. It's really that they just are only interested in parts of SOTW (the parts where the stories are more like myths). If it's told like a story, they seem to enjoy it, but the more factual information they are turning their noses up to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Ok so it's the opposite of what I was thinking. You could try just getting living books from the library on the time period you were studying. I don't think any programs are necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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