Abbeygurl4 Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 or trying to familiarize yourself with a new curriculum? I ordered Analytical Grammar, it arrived, I took it out of the box, looked at it, put it back in the box and put it on the dining room table. IEW is coming soon and I think that will make it's way to the dining room table, too. I really wish someone would just come over and explain them to me in person. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpea3829 Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Yeah...I have this problem too. I have Horizons and JUMP both sitting on my couch waiting for me to go through them and figure them out. RS4K has been sitting on my pantry's schooling shelf for months. Just waiting for me to go through it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolamum Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Yeah, I do that a lot. But then sometimes I'm totally struck & just read it. Or, I limp along with it & then sit down and properly read it and say, "OH!!!" :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenR Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Yes. I've been trying to motivate myself to get organized and familiarized with the curricula from our upcoming school year. I'm excited to start all this new stuff but I seem to have a hard time finding time to look everything over. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Absolutely! Then there are some that you do start, sigh, and put it aside again. The latter is not a good sign.:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinD Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 What I dread is the distraction - it seems as though as soon as everyone is quietly occupied and I try to carve out a few minutes to familiarize myself with a teacher's manual, they all relocate to wherever I'm hiding out and start chatting to me. I am attention-challenged (understatement!) and can't filter sounds at the best of times, so this has been known to send me into tears, or make the Evil Shrieking Woman appear. Perimenopause is not a good time, sometimes. :) Basically, now, if I can't figure it out from looking at it, I don't use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Yes, I can't stand teacher's manuals. I usually just skip right over the first 3 to 10 pages where they are explaining their philosophy and why the curriculum is the way it is, etc. and just go right to how to actually do it. Then there's things like RS Activities for the Abacus that I take one look at the manual and just say "not a chance" and put it aside for good. In thinking about it, I realized I have very few things with a teacher's manual and the ones that I do have are very straightforward - AAS, RSO and HWT Pre-K. I have other things that I need to do some pre-planning but nothing else with a teachers manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwickimom Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Spelling Power has been sitting on my dresser for months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerPoppy Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I must be weird, because I always look forward to it! :D Wait, I'm definitely weird--I also love to pull out and decipher the instructions to a new and complicated board game. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I generally don't enjoy it. I especially don't enjoy it if it is filled with eduspeak lingo. Stuff geared towards homeschoolers tends not to be that way and I prefer that. BINGO! What I dread is the distraction - it seems as though as soon as everyone is quietly occupied and I try to carve out a few minutes to familiarize myself with a teacher's manual, they all relocate to wherever I'm hiding out and start chatting to me. I am attention-challenged (understatement!) and can't filter sounds at the best of times, so this has been known to send me into tears, or make the Evil Shrieking Woman appear. Perimenopause is not a good time, sometimes. :) Basically, now, if I can't figure it out from looking at it, I don't use it. LOL! Yup. I've been known to read them in the bathtub over a ... ahem....drink. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbeygurl4 Posted April 22, 2012 Author Share Posted April 22, 2012 What I dread is the distraction - it seems as though as soon as everyone is quietly occupied and I try to carve out a few minutes to familiarize myself with a teacher's manual, they all relocate to wherever I'm hiding out and start chatting to me. I am attention-challenged (understatement!) and can't filter sounds at the best of times, so this has been known to send me into tears, or make the Evil Shrieking Woman appear. Perimenopause is not a good time, sometimes. :) Basically, now, if I can't figure it out from looking at it, I don't use it. :iagree: You've described me exactly! I think you are my twin :D I thought about having dh take the dc somewhere so I can concentrate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbeygurl4 Posted April 22, 2012 Author Share Posted April 22, 2012 Yes, I can't stand teacher's manuals. I usually just skip right over the first 3 to 10 pages where they are explaining their philosophy and why the curriculum is the way it is, etc. and just go right to how to actually do it. Then there's things like RS Activities for the Abacus that I take one look at the manual and just say "not a chance" and put it aside for good. I JUST looked at RS online last night and came to the part about directions for using the Abacus and thought .... "uh, not happening". At least we know our limitations ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it. If I hate it that much, it usually means the curriculum is not covering important enough topics, or that I am very tired and not capable of teaching anything but the most priority topics. When a curriculum zones right into an area that we are weak in ourselves, and is a critical topic, then reading the TM is exciting, because we are growing in a critical area, before we even start teaching. Wanting to cry while reading a TM means we need to put it down. Maybe just until we practice some self-care and are healthier, or maybe because the material just doesn't NEED to be taught. Curriculum producers make money by convincing us we NEED their expensive, lengthy, multilevel products. They are often not putting our needs before their own. All too often they are purposely not doing what is best for us. Other times the materials were just written for a different audience than us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhaddon Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I must be odd because I would rather read through it than teach it many times :lol: Seriously could buy every program just to go through the teacher manual. Not a good thing!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbeygurl4 Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 I must be odd because I would rather read through it than teach it many times :lol: Seriously could buy every program just to go through the teacher manual. Not a good thing!! Please come to my house and read my manuals and then explain them to me!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Depends on the curriculum and the year, but yeah, I prefer open and go things with short intros. I also like things that are laid out in a visually appealing way. So many TM's are just visually overwhelming. Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 This reminds me of those tests they used to give in school when the teacher would emphasize "read the directions first". The very first thing would say read through the whole test first. You'd get to the last question and it would say only do #1. This is how it is with instructor's guides. Generally on the first day I open it up and limp along. Somewhere along the way I realize how important it is to familiarize yourself with the whole thing. Sigh.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I actually like reading them too. Carving out the time is tough, but if I can get a good night where the house is clean and children are in bed at an earlier hour than usual and the stars are aligned just right, then I LOVE that hour or two I can spend uninterrupted. I feel like when I get that hour of reading done, I am ready to teach the whole year and can plan it in my head how it is going to work. Another good time for me to read through them is while the kids are swimming in the wading pool in the summer. I can sit right next to them and they will happily play for an hour. I do have to watch for splashes on my new clean books though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 YES! I was this way with Phonics Road. Once I got started it was a cinch. Silly me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEK Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 lol, i don't dread it mostly because i just never seem to actually do it (well not so far). I tend to get to the end of the curricula and realise i have not yet opened the teacher manual and wonder if maybe I missed something important. Best case scenario, I read the introduction in the teacher manual and the first lesson then forget all about it till we are wrapping it all up. I really need to start reading those manuals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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