Curriculum that was great in the present, but bad in retrospect?

[Jenny in GA]

In the "Big Deal" thread, I just posted that I loved AAS when we started it, but in retrospect, after doing it for two years, I'm not sure it improved my daughter's spelling much -- certainly not enough to justify the cost and all the little pieces, buying a whiteboard, etc.

 

I think what got me excited what that it was "different" and I had never heard the spelling rules before myself (ie, had no idea there was a reason "love" or "fence" ended in "e").

 

My daughter liked it ... and she could answer the questions and do the little exercises with the magnets fine, and she enjoyed writing on the white board. But it never seemed to transfer over to her actual spelling, even when we went over it again and again. For example, months after we learned and reviewed the lesson about "ck," I would constantly see her write things like "bric" or "thik."

 

Does anyone else have a curriculum like that? That you thought it was great at the time, thought everyone was learning so much, but then later you realized nothing was retained, or that it wasn't as great as you thought?

 

And if so, what do you think happened there?

[Haiku]

Phonics Pathways. It's probably a fine program, and it seemed ok when I used it with my son, but in retrospect, it was not a good fit for him. He didn't understand what he was learning. Apples & Pears/Dancing Bears is working much better for him.

 

Tara

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[Hunter]

High school science texts. I no longer believe in them as DEFAULT teenage science. I stopped using them and instead spent more time on the classical languages, English, religion and math. I also pulled back from the race to AP calculus and starting spreading out to a more well rounded and gentle math approach.

 

So yes, at first I was wired over my wonderful science and calculus texts, but then abandoned them. It was just junior college, but my youngest tested for admission on a Friday and was the youngest student to take the test, and got the highest scores of the week. I guess it was a good choice for US :-0

 

For a LOT of subjects, you get 90% results doing just 10% of the work. It then takes 90% of the work to get the last 10% results. Sometimes it's just not worth it. AND all the time and money spent chasing that last 10% of results, is time and money that cannot be spent gaining the easy 90% in another area.

 

I'm a Spalding enthusiast, BUT...that is after raising and tutoring a line of 2E and ESL students, and as you said, I like learning the rules, so...it's working for NOW, but...we'll see what I think later on. Not the handwriting though! I cannot imagine EVER giving up Spalding handwriting :-) I don't think my older "normal" son would have had significantly better spelling from intensively using Spalding. I think I would have just introduced the basics with him, and then used the list as a REFERENCE when he misspelled a word.

 

Using some of these programs make us better TEACHERS who can spot teach later on. And sometimes they prepare a student for future learning in a seemingly unconnected area. So...all is usually not lost, by our "mistakes".

[Halcyon]

Probably Growing with Grammar, when used the way the publishers intend. We used GWG 3 and 4, and younger used 2, but we did a LOT of oral reviews, weekly quizzes, backtracking and mommy nvolvement. Just handing them the book and saying "have at it" was not sufficient. (learned from experienced)

[NittanyJen]

Probably Growing with Grammar, when used the way the publishers intend. We used GWG 3 and 4, and younger used 2, but we did a LOT of oral reviews, weekly quizzes, backtracking and mommy nvolvement. Just handing them the book and saying "have at it" was not sufficient. (learned from experienced)

 

:iagree: the workbook is too easy to pattern recognize.

[Haiku]

:iagree: the workbook is too easy to pattern recognize.

 

Yup. I dumped this one after about four weeks.

 

Tara

[Shellers]

Phonics Pathways. It's probably a fine program, and it seemed ok when I used it with my son, but in retrospect, it was not a good fit for him. He didn't understand what he was learning. Apples & Pears/Dancing Bears is working much better for him.

 

Tara

 

:iagree:

 

I had the same experience.

[unity]

No rotten tomatoes, please, but that was my experience with Sonlight. All cuddles and great books, until after 5 years I realized that my kids had poor writing skills and almost no memory of the history we had allegedly covered.

 

I still use most of the literature, but I don't trust it for history and wouldn't go near it for LA.

[Lots of boys]

Well for us it was (is) ETC. I really like the primers and the younger books (my 5 year old has worked through ABC and now book 1 and 2) and I think it does help his reading and spelling. However, My oldest has continued on using books 5-7 and I feel like he retains nothing from them - it seems like busy work. My oldest uses AAS and I feel like that is more effective than ETC for him now. We don't do much work book "work" but I do need about 20 minutes during the day where my boys use a workbook while my youngest is in speech therapy. Up until recently ETC fit the bill, so to speak. What could I use instead for him? I was thinking of WWW (we use WWE as our mail writing program) Could we use WWW as a workbook/suppliment?

[Mom0012]

High school science texts. I no longer believe in them as DEFAULT teenage science. I stopped using them and instead spent more time on the classical languages, English, religion and math. I also pulled back from the race to AP calculus and starting spreading out to a more well rounded and gentle math approach.

 

So yes, at first I was wired over my wonderful science and calculus texts, but then abandoned them. It was just junior college, but my youngest tested for admission on a Friday and was the youngest student to take the test, and got the highest scores of the week. I guess it was a good choice for US :-0

 

For a LOT of subjects, you get 90% results doing just 10% of the work. It then takes 90% of the work to get the last 10% results. Sometimes it's just not worth it. AND all the time and money spent chasing that last 10% of results, is time and money that cannot be spent gaining the easy 90% in another area.

 

I'm a Spalding enthusiast, BUT...that is after raising and tutoring a line of 2E and ESL students, and as you said, I like learning the rules, so...it's working for NOW, but...we'll see what I think later on. Not the handwriting though! I cannot imagine EVER giving up Spalding handwriting :-) I don't think my older "normal" son would have had significantly better spelling from intensively using Spalding. I think I would have just introduced the basics with him, and then used the list as a REFERENCE when he misspelled a word.

 

Using some of these programs make us better TEACHERS who can spot teach later on. And sometimes they prepare a student for future learning in a seemingly unconnected area. So...all is usually not lost, by our "mistakes".

 

So, how do you handle science in the high school years? I'd love to know since I have no idea what I will be using for high school science.

 

Lisa

[Jenny in GA]

So, how do you handle science in the high school years? I'd love to know since I have no idea what I will be using for high school science.

 

Lisa

 

Thank you; I was going to say the exact same thing!

[delaney]

I think that even though I will be using TT next year I will pull in sheets from MM and other stuff to see exactly what is going on. I have heard great things about TT and I think it just takes a careful eye to be sure the kids are really getting it.

[Ecclecticmum]

Explode the Code - I originally thought it was brilliant! Handwriting practice and phonics AIO. We did the primers, and to me, it was a years waste of work. She retained the sound for a week after learning it, and thats it. By the end of the book 2 she had forgotten most of the letter sounds (and we got the wallchart and teachers guide, I spent a fair amount of time going over each and every exercise recommended in the TM), finally on the last page of Book 2, I called it quits, and we left it at that. She'll start AAR this year, so hopefully that will fix her up, as shes already basically wasted a year on instruction. Letter Factory has done better than ETC for us. But for some reason I purchased more (1-4 1/2) of ETC to plan to use it for this year :confused::001_huh: because thats how much of an idiot I am LOL. If AAR doesn't work, we'll possibly try Hooked on Phonics, and if that doesn't work, well I will probably go completely insane (I'm halfway there already). :lol:

 

(ETC wasn't the whole year, it was half a year, we had already tried dabbling in 100EZ (she was so frustrated, "is it over yeeeeeet?", OPGTR - which she kept zoning out to stare at the wall, and happy phonics - Which was too much of a pain to set up) Thats why I was so disappointed with ETC, at least the others were problems from the start, ETC seemed to be working, so we continued until the end of the year, only for me to realize nothing was being retained for long).

Edited April 4, 2012 by Ecclecticmum

[Hunter]

So, how do you handle science in the high school years? I'd love to know since I have no idea what I will be using for high school science.

 

Lisa

 

If the child will be going to junior college, Dr Nebel included everything a child needs to be prepared for one of his Environmental Science courses, in the k-8 BFSU books. There are reports of junior college professors looking at the books and saying just the first 2 books is enough, and that lines up with my experiences with my boys at the junior college.

 

I have no experience personally with preparing a student for direct entry into a selective 4 year college. None of my peer group has ever been able to afford that.

 

Junior collèges only test MATH and ENGLISH to place a student in an entry level science course. 2 year degrees only require non lab science and in those courses, the skill most needed is an ability to write a research paper, and read the textbook.

 

I read Science Matters over a decade ago and started focusing on scientific literacy, not the higher and more theoretical topics.

 

This is what I focus on for ME and MINE. It's different for parents/tutors who have graduated from a selective 4 year college and are preparing THEIR students for one. That is THEIR world and not mine. In my world students end out in junior colleges at least to START. Some of them make their mark there and go on to do big and wonderful things, and some just graduate from there and have a nice quiet life.

 

But for ME and MINE, I've decided the whole crazy high school science and calculus drain isn't the right path for US.

Edited April 4, 2012 by Hunter

[Lots of boys]

Explode the Code - I originally thought it was brilliant! Handwriting practice and phonics AIO. We did the primers, and to me, it was a years waste of work. She retained the sound for a week after learning it, and thats it. By the end of the book 2 she had forgotten most of the letter sounds (and we got the wallchart and teachers guide, I spent a fair amount of time going over each and every exercise recommended in the TM), finally on the last page of Book 2, I called it quits, and we left it at that. She'll start AAR this year, so hopefully that will fix her up, as shes already basically wasted a year on instruction. Letter Factory has done better than ETC for us. But for some reason I purchased more (1-4 1/2) of ETC to plan to use it for this year :confused::001_huh: because thats how much of an idiot I am LOL. If AAR doesn't work, we'll possibly try Hooked on Phonics, and if that doesn't work, well I will probably go completely insane (I'm halfway there already). :lol:

 

I think you will really like AAR. We are using both the Pre-1 with my 3.5 year old and level 1 with my 5 year old. They are both great.

[JessReplanted]

I'd also say Growing with Grammar. I loved that my son could use it independently, but in hind sight I can see that he retained little information.

[Mom0012]

If the child will be going to junior college, Dr Nebel included everything a child needs to be prepared for one of his Environmental Science courses, in the k-8 BFSU books. There are reports of junior college professors looking at the books and saying just the first 2 books is enough, and that lines up with my experiences with my boys at the junior college.

 

I have no experience personally with preparing a student for direct entry into a selective 4 year college. None of my peer group has ever been able to afford that.

 

Junior collèges only test MATH and ENGLISH to place a student in an entry level science course. 2 year degrees only require non lab science and in those courses, the skill most needed is an ability to write a research paper, and read the textbook.

 

I read Science Matters over a decade ago and started focusing on scientific literacy, not the higher and more theoretical topics.

 

This is what I focus on for ME and MINE. It's different for parents/tutors who have graduated from a selective 4 year college and are preparing THEIR students for one. That is THEIR world and not mine. In my world students end out in junior colleges at least to START. Some of them make their mark there and go on to do big and wonderful things, and some just graduate from there and have a nice quiet life.

 

But for ME and MINE, I've decided the whole crazy high school science and calculus drain isn't the right path for US.

 

Thanks, Hunter. I'm pretty sure at least one of my kids, if not both, is headed to CC at least to start. This might be a direction I might want to consider. I'm not familiar with BFSU, so I'll have to take a look at it.

 

Lisa

[Butter]

No rotten tomatoes, please, but that was my experience with Sonlight. All cuddles and great books, until after 5 years I realized that my kids had poor writing skills and almost no memory of the history we had allegedly covered.

 

I still use most of the literature, but I don't trust it for history and wouldn't go near it for LA.

 

100% ditto, except we only used it for 3 years. I think the biggest thing my kids learned from Sonlight was how to appear like they were paying attention and answer the "comprehension" questions and move on.

[lorisuewho]

Well for us it was (is) ETC. I really like the primers and the younger books (my 5 year old has worked through ABC and now book 1 and 2) and I think it does help his reading and spelling. However, My oldest has continued on using books 5-7 and I feel like he retains nothing from them - it seems like busy work. My oldest uses AAS and I feel like that is more effective than ETC for him now. We don't do much work book "work" but I do need about 20 minutes during the day where my boys use a workbook while my youngest is in speech therapy. Up until recently ETC fit the bill, so to speak. What could I use instead for him? I was thinking of WWW (we use WWE as our mail writing program) Could we use WWW as a workbook/suppliment?

 

I think Climbling to Good English would give you workbook practice that includes some phonics, some spelling, some writing, and some grammar.

[Halcyon]

Honestly, I feel this way about pretty much any science curriculum we have used. A lot of it seems like a major waste of time (especially many of the experiments). I feel like we get more out of just reading a lot of different science books.

 

Have u tried BFSU? Its a pita to use because of the poor editing, but the content is really great.

[SilverMoon]

MFW. The family cycle sets. :tongue_smilie: At first just blindly following the schedule seemed awesome. Liberating, even. I could spend less time planning and more time teaching! Life was so hectic at that point we probably wouldn't have done much more than math and literature without it.

 

Somewhere around week ten I was doing so much tweaking to make it suitable for my logic stage kids I gave up and wrote a whole new schedule for them. After awhile of trying to do the few parts of MFW that were actually age appropriate with them, and most of it with my grammar stage crew, I stopped using the MFW schedule. I'm back to writing our own, just using MFW as a reference text that lines up history resources for the grammar stage kids.

 

 

Easy Grammar also fits into this category for me. Sure it's easy! So easy ds could fill up a whole page correctly and not even begin to tell me why. :glare:

[nukeswife]

I felt this way about GWG too, but then realized that it really could be that it was being pushed to early. When I was in PS we didn't do much grammar until middle school and I found that with my oldest now that after trying in 4th and 5th grade (both GWG and JAG) without any retention that if we just backed off and started in 7th it goes so much smoother and he picks it up very quickly.

[Tanikit]

I have found NO phonics programme sticks until used with plenty of reading - and that is reading texts that have meaning and are not necessarily phonetically correct. We have looked at and used many phonics programmes though I mostly stuck with OPGTR but had to keep repeating old rules she had already covered and only after she had encountered the words many times in real passages of proper reading have the rules stuck that she can read and work out words herself properly. I do not think another phonics programme will help a child who is not remembering the rules to remember them better - the only thing I think can help is actual reading of meaningful literature with reference back to the rules they should know when they get stuck.

[Gentlemommy]

I have found NO phonics programme sticks until used with plenty of reading - and that is reading texts that have meaning and are not necessarily phonetically correct. We have looked at and used many phonics programmes though I mostly stuck with OPGTR but had to keep repeating old rules she had already covered and only after she had encountered the words many times in real passages of proper reading have the rules stuck that she can read and work out words herself properly. I do not think another phonics programme will help a child who is not remembering the rules to remember them better - the only thing I think can help is actual reading of meaningful literature with reference back to the rules they should know when they get stuck.

 

This.:iagree:

[mommymilkies]

MUS. We got behind 3-4 grade levels and missed out on so many aspects of math. They liked it when we used it and I thought it was great, but WOW it really put us behind.

[SorrelZG]

I have found NO phonics programme sticks until used with plenty of reading - and that is reading texts that have meaning and are not necessarily phonetically correct. We have looked at and used many phonics programmes though I mostly stuck with OPGTR but had to keep repeating old rules she had already covered and only after she had encountered the words many times in real passages of proper reading have the rules stuck that she can read and work out words herself properly. I do not think another phonics programme will help a child who is not remembering the rules to remember them better - the only thing I think can help is actual reading of meaningful literature with reference back to the rules they should know when they get stuck.

 

I found this, also. I was so anal about using just the right thing to teach my firstborn phonics. The poor child went through quite an ordeal with me. He had no interest in reading. I finally got the confidence to just go with whatever was easiest for us both and got him into real books as soon as possible. In less than a year he went from his first phonics reader to at least a 5th grade reading level. I have seriously relaxed with my daughter. I don't need the best phonics curriculum to teach phonics. I just need to know phonics and my child.

 

eta: He's getting impressively good at spelling, too (that may be a learning style thing).

Edited April 4, 2012 by SCGS

[edelweiss]

MUS. We got behind 3-4 grade levels and missed out on so many aspects of math. They liked it when we used it and I thought it was great, but WOW it really put us behind.

 

I agree with this! I wish that I had never tried MUS. DD1 is finally caught up, I think, but she still lacks confidence in math. She is gaining some back, but MUS really did a number on her. Luckily, DD2 only used MUS for a year, so the repercussions were not as bad for her.

[Another Lynn]

MUS. We got behind 3-4 grade levels and missed out on so many aspects of math. They liked it when we used it and I thought it was great, but WOW it really put us behind.

 

:iagree: Biggest mistake I made with my oldest, and trust me, I've made plenty. :tongue_smilie:

[sagira]

I have found NO phonics programme sticks until used with plenty of reading - and that is reading texts that have meaning and are not necessarily phonetically correct. We have looked at and used many phonics programmes though I mostly stuck with OPGTR but had to keep repeating old rules she had already covered and only after she had encountered the words many times in real passages of proper reading have the rules stuck that she can read and work out words herself properly. I do not think another phonics programme will help a child who is not remembering the rules to remember them better - the only thing I think can help is actual reading of meaningful literature with reference back to the rules they should know when they get stuck.

 

Thank you for this post. I was having a sneaking suspicion this may be the case.

Reading this thread with interest :)

[sagira]

MUS. We got behind 3-4 grade levels and missed out on so many aspects of math. They liked it when we used it and I thought it was great, but WOW it really put us behind.

 

:grouphug: That really stinks. And here I am bummed that we most likely will be half a year behind again in math.

Edited April 4, 2012 by sagira

[Halcyon]

Yes I have tried it. It is too much of a pain.

 

You know I am making quizzes/worksheets for both volume 1 and 2, rigght? They really help pinpoint weaknesses and focus the learning (IMHO)

[Excelsior! Academy]

Spelling Workout. Worst mistake ever for my oldest. *I* loved the proofreading parts. My dd saw the spelling words written incorrectly and cemented them in her mind. She is smart, very smart and still can't spell. at. all. While this is not the only reason, I know it contributed.

[Butter]

I wish that I had never tried MUS. DD1 is finally caught up, I think, but she still lacks confidence in math. She is gaining some back, but MUS really did a number on her.

 

I forgot about MUS. It was a disaster. Exactly as you describe for my oldest daughter, too.

[ondreeuh]

CLE math. DS completed the 4th grade curriculum and passed the final tests with great scores. Three months later he took the Saxon placement test and he placed into 54, despite having covered everything on that test. We started at lesson 40 and it has been a challenge for him all year, and in the last lessons of the book we STILL haven't gotten to new content. Saxon has far more word problems, and a bigger emphasis on problem solving rather than focusing on computation. I honestly don't understand why Saxon gets a reputation as a drill & kill program, because aside from the timed drills and some computation review at the end of each lesson, most of the problems are either word problems or application problems.

 

AAS was not at all a good fit for my son. Memorizing rules did not translate to better spelling. We got halfway through book 2 before I gave up. I feel like I wasted a lot of time and money on that method, but I wouldn't have known unless I tried. O-G is the "gold standard" for dyslexic students, but not all dyslexic students are the same.

 

Apples & Pears. For the first two levels, I praised it mightily. He did make some progress, but by the time we were in level C, I completely changed my mind about its effectiveness. There wasn't ANY explanation for why things are spelled the way they are, and not enough practice before "tests" to check mastery. Realizing that my son could still not spell most 5-letter words correctly, I knew that it was time to move on.

[oraetstudia]

:grouphug: That really stinks. And here I am bummed that we most likely will be half a year behind again in math.

 

I don't think this is necessarily true. My son did Beta-Zeta in 2nd-5th grades. Despite all the people who say you have to do MUS pre-algebra to move to something else, he moved without much difficulty from MUS to Chalkdust pre-algebra this year in sixth grade. He was not poorly prepared by MUS nor behind, and he's no math genius. Back when he was little, he was reading real books before he could count to ten.

[Mrs Twain]

You know I am making quizzes/worksheets for both volume 1 and 2, rigght? They really help pinpoint weaknesses and focus the learning (IMHO)

 

I agree that BFSU is somewhat of a pain to use, but after a month or so I got used to it. Now I looooooove BFSU! I can't say enough great things about it.

 

After each lesson, I write out copywork for my kids to do which summariizes the main principles of the lessons. They copy the pricniples and draw a picture illustrating each concept. Then they file it in their binders under the appropriate tab (one for each thread). This has helped a lot for retention. It is also good for review and to add to our memory work.

[Mrs Twain]

I have found NO phonics programme sticks until used with plenty of reading - and that is reading texts that have meaning and are not necessarily phonetically correct. We have looked at and used many phonics programmes though I mostly stuck with OPGTR but had to keep repeating old rules she had already covered and only after she had encountered the words many times in real passages of proper reading have the rules stuck that she can read and work out words herself properly. I do not think another phonics programme will help a child who is not remembering the rules to remember them better - the only thing I think can help is actual reading of meaningful literature with reference back to the rules they should know when they get stuck.

 

Phonics did not stick at all with my kids when they were young. They all learned to read first with 100EZ, and then later learned phonics along with our spelling program. It wasn't until they were reading well for a year or two and learning to spell that phonics made any sense to them.

 

IMO one of the reasons kids have trouble learning to read is because so many of the reading programs are purely phonics based. Just my opinion based on my own experience...

[Mom0012]

I agree that BFSU is somewhat of a pain to use, but after a month or so I got used to it. Now I looooooove BFSU! I can't say enough great things about it.

 

After each lesson, I write out copywork for my kids to do which summariizes the main principles of the lessons. They copy the pricniples and draw a picture illustrating each concept. Then they file it in their binders under the appropriate tab (one for each thread). This has helped a lot for retention. It is also good for review and to add to our memory work.

 

Okay, I've got to know. What's BFSU?

 

Lisa

[Mommy22alyns]

Okay, I've got to know. What's BFSU?

 

Lisa

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Building-Foundations-Scientific-Understanding-Curriculum/dp/1432706101/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333590979&sr=8-1

 

http://www.amazon.com/Elementary-Science-Education-Foundations-Understanding/dp/1432762362/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b

[Jenny in GA]

I agree with this! I wish that I had never tried MUS. DD1 is finally caught up, I think, but she still lacks confidence in math. She is gaining some back, but MUS really did a number on her.

 

Uh-oh. Why is this? Could any of you go into detail about what the MUS problem was -- and why your kids were years behind after using it???

[mommymilkies]

Uh-oh. Why is this? Could any of you go into detail about what the MUS problem was -- and why your kids were years behind after using it???

 

Since it is mastery, it just does not cover everything covered in spiral or even most other mastery math programs. It progressed so slowly that my kids never really had to learn anything new. They went from testing into 2nd grade math a little over a year ago to 7th grade math now after switching to Singapore.

 

I think if you stick with it to high school, it would work, but not if you do testing, want your kids to know grade level math like their peers, or plan to switch.

[Mom0012]

http://www.amazon.com/Building-Foundations-Scientific-Understanding-Curriculum/dp/1432706101/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333590979&sr=8-1

 

http://www.amazon.com/Elementary-Science-Education-Foundations-Understanding/dp/1432762362/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b

 

Thanks!

Lisa

[lindsrae]

You know I am making quizzes/worksheets for both volume 1 and 2, rigght? They really help pinpoint weaknesses and focus the learning (IMHO)

 

Are you willing to share these? Because I know I do not have the time or energy to figure something out. I've looked at BSFU, and I want to cry. I just need more hand holding. :)

[Kuovonne]

You know I am making quizzes/worksheets for both volume 1 and 2, rigght? They really help pinpoint weaknesses and focus the learning (IMHO)

 

Can you share these?

 

After each lesson, I write out copywork for my kids to do which summariizes the main principles of the lessons.

 

Can you share these?

 

Are you willing to share these? Because I know I do not have the time or energy to figure something out. I've looked at BSFU, and I want to cry. I just need more hand holding. :)

:iagree:

[Wabi Sabi]

Well for us it was (is) ETC. I really like the primers and the younger books (my 5 year old has worked through ABC and now book 1 and 2) and I think it does help his reading and spelling. However, My oldest has continued on using books 5-7 and I feel like he retains nothing from them - it seems like busy work. My oldest uses AAS and I feel like that is more effective than ETC for him now. We don't do much work book "work" but I do need about 20 minutes during the day where my boys use a workbook while my youngest is in speech therapy. Up until recently ETC fit the bill, so to speak. What could I use instead for him? I was thinking of WWW (we use WWE as our mail writing program) Could we use WWW as a workbook/suppliment?

 

What about a logic or word puzzle workbook? My ds really likes the Lollipop Logic series and we also have a set of the Mindware Perplexor puzzles. You could also use that time for copywork, crossword puzzles or coloring pages from one of those really nice Dover books. Draw, Write, Now is another semi-workbookish series that we've enjoyed.

[Mama_Rana]

You know I am making quizzes/worksheets for both volume 1 and 2, rigght? They really help pinpoint weaknesses and focus the learning (IMHO)

You are? *bats eyelashes*

 

I agree that BFSU is somewhat of a pain to use, but after a month or so I got used to it. Now I looooooove BFSU! I can't say enough great things about it.

 

After each lesson, I write out copywork for my kids to do which summariizes the main principles of the lessons. They copy the pricniples and draw a picture illustrating each concept. Then they file it in their binders under the appropriate tab (one for each thread). This has helped a lot for retention. It is also good for review and to add to our memory work.

 

This is a great idea. I /like/ BFSU, but I don't feel I go very deeply sometimes. I don't care for most of the "writing" suggestions since I have a weak writer, but some copy work would be a great way to practice and also provide some "written work" for his science portfolio. ;) :/

[LittleIzumi]

ETC

 

Fun, easy--COMPLETE waste of time. Almost zero retention after a couple years of it.

[mamatohaleybug]

Math Mammoth. A whole lot of computing practice but not nearly enough teaching of concepts.

[razorbackmama]

In the "Big Deal" thread, I just posted that I loved AAS when we started it, but in retrospect, after doing it for two years, I'm not sure it improved my daughter's spelling much -- certainly not enough to justify the cost and all the little pieces, buying a whiteboard, etc.

 

I think what got me excited what that it was "different" and I had never heard the spelling rules before myself (ie, had no idea there was a reason "love" or "fence" ended in "e").

 

My daughter liked it ... and she could answer the questions and do the little exercises with the magnets fine, and she enjoyed writing on the white board. But it never seemed to transfer over to her actual spelling, even when we went over it again and again. For example, months after we learned and reviewed the lesson about "ck," I would constantly see her write things like "bric" or "thik."

 

Does anyone else have a curriculum like that? That you thought it was great at the time, thought everyone was learning so much, but then later you realized nothing was retained, or that it wasn't as great as you thought?

 

And if so, what do you think happened there?

Math-U-See, hands down.

 

We all loved it. Until I started having to correct actual mathematical procedures and until my Zeta student was trying to multiply pi times r and then squaring THAT to find the area of a circle, since MUS doesn't teach the order of operations until pre-algebra. Until lots of stuff.

 

I didn't realize just how shallow their understanding of math was until we got away from it. It teaches math, but on a very surface level.