Hunter, have you had any luck with core knowledge books?

[Hunter]

My First Grade one has a color unit in it. It's the revised edition from 1997.

 

I can't find color in the old series though. I don't have the old grade 3 books, but another poster says it's not in there. So strange!

[HootyTooty]

I'm going to assume that is for the revised edition?

 

My copy was published in 1998 but follows the same sequence as my first edition What Your __ Needs to know books.

[Hunter]

I haven't seen this mentioned, but those reading a long one thing I did when we used this program for my first child was we bought a discontinued book entitled Core Knowledge k-8: Topic Guide. It really helped me organize what I wanted to cover and then find books to meet my goals.

 

I'm going to assume that is for the revised edition?

 

My copy was published in 1998 but follows the same sequence as my first edition What Your __ Needs to know books.

 

Huh. :confused:

 

What does it list for history topics in grades 7 and 8, if the history sequence was finished in grade 6?

[mama25angels]

THANK YOU!!!!!

 

Strange' date=' the topics from this list and the sequence that you can download are way different. Some of these are like never listed, but totally important IMO.

 

I'm now glad I decided I need to start collecting both the old and new. It will take some time to get them all, and it will slow down how fast we "catch up" (my 2nd and 1st graders are working in the K book right now, I did not want to skip it).

 

I'm so excited to see this thread taking off.[/quote']

 

me too!!

[mama25angels]

Thank you! That list is great!! I have a list from the ckhomeschoolers yahoo group but it seems to be all Scholastic published books. Once the kids who have moved into my bed for the morning get up and I can have the printer in my room buzzing away I'm going to print this list.

 

I do think that this series has GREAT potential. It just requires a little creativity on our parts to make it work the way that works for each of our families.

 

i'm going to try and print the list next week after I get some more printer ink.

[mama25angels]

Man, there is a ton of good stuff in there. A LOT of bang for your buck.

 

 

:iagree:

[mama25angels]

I have a sick kid today' date=' so not a lot of school going on, just DD doing her core subjects.

 

I took some time, and really it wasn't much time, but could have been much less if I had the books listed, to tweek this lesson plan to do next week. I didn't have any of the books suggested, but I had a few that cover the same things so I just had to plug in the different titles and page numbers. I did order 2 of their reccomended books, but since I bought them used on Amazon (using giftcards from swagbucks!!) I'm sure they won't be here before the end of next week. I figure we can read those 2 the week of Thanksgiving.

 

Anyway the books I tweeked it for are I Can Read About The First Thanksgiving and The First Thanksgiving by Lou Rogers. If anyone has those 2 books and would like to see my tweeked plans they are more than welcome to :) (I ordered If you Sailed on the Mayflower and The First Thanksgiving by Linda Hayward). We also have Magic Tree House Thanksgiving on Thursday and Squanto First Friend to the Pilgrims that we will use as read alouds.

 

Oh and for the fun book to start the unit out I didn't have those either, so we will begin with Silly Tilly's Thanksgiving Dinner I love this book.

 

 

:lol: i'm doing the same thing for next week. We are subbing with The Story of the Pilgrims by Katharine Ross A Random House pictureback book, The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh, I ordered Cranberry Thanksgiving this morning. I'll also be using some of the activities from enchanted learning.

[mama25angels]

Going to move along and tweek another lesson plan.. I should clean but that's no fun..lol

 

 

Awesome!!! I hope you can post of a few of them.

[Hunter]

I have a sick kid today' date=' so not a lot of school going on, just DD doing her core subjects.

 

I took some time, and really it wasn't much time, but could have been much less if I had the books listed, to tweek this lesson plan to do next week. I didn't have any of the books suggested, but...

 

I like the songs. I have taken to teaching myself silly songs and singing them to amuse people. It's fun.

[Hunter]

I got ahold of an old 3rd grade book. Eyes are covered in the science. I do see color finally covered in the 6th grade science. I just do not understand why there is such an absence of color lessons in the first series. :confused:

 

The revised edition is infused with color lessons. I have the feeling it was the biggest complaint. The revised series almost goes overboard. :lol:

 

I'm not sure when I became so focused on color theory. It started during a period I have some pretty intense memory loss of, while homeless and hospitalized for my nonstop seizing. I started playing around with cheap crayons, as that was all I sometimes had, and an artist friend convinced me I didn't need anything more.

 

Starting with Thanksgiving people here get REALLY depressed. Between the short days and not having family, and lots of feelings of regrets and shame and loneliness, it can get pretty intense here. I'm trying to figure out how to best adapt to what I know is coming.

 

Lots of art and stories and me being silly. All these Mother Goose and "baby" stuff will come in handy. I climb on people's beds and start reading, until they will get up, just to get me to shut up. It's interesting to read these stories and rhymes to people who have never heard them before.

 

I'll be doing a lot less teaching and a LOT more self-education for the next few months I think. I'm trying to plan out what I want to study. Both topics I am interested in and teaching methods I want to read about.

 

And winter nature study fascinates me. When things are stripped down, there is a chance to see things that were overshadowed during the times of so much abundance.

 

The wonderful thing about Core Knowledge is that when it takes up only 50% of the time devoted to study, it leaves 50% of time to pursue WHATEVER interests us. Form drawing, color and nature study are at the top of my list.

 

Who scribbles all over their books? As I discover resources I will be penciling them into the margins, so I'll have all the info there, when I need it.

 

Fawn thank you for the idea about tape. I really need to do that to my Using Color in Your Art book.

[Hunter]

THANK YOU!!!!!

 

Strange' date=' the topics from this list and the sequence that you can download are way different. Some of these are like never listed, but totally important IMO.

 

I'm now glad I decided I need to start collecting both the old and new. It will take some time to get them all, and it will slow down how fast we "catch up" (my 2nd and 1st graders are working in the K book right now, I did not want to skip it).

 

I'm so excited to see this thread taking off.[/quote']

 

Yeh, 6th grade is crazy different in the 2 editions. The late 80s were an entirely different mind set about what was a priority and taught at each grade level, than it is now. And then there is the stretching out of the series, and the attempt to make the topics as integrated as possible. There is so much overlap, but, the focus is different in ways I have not entirely put my finger on. It feels like the series actually have different editors, but they don't. Or maybe they do and it's just hushed up.

[Hunter]

We are going to do magnets' date=' and I think I will be using the Baltimore Curriculum Project plans for them...

 

 

we are going to do the Colorado unit Exploring the Continents Through Art.

 

I love teaching magnets! Some day I intend to buy more magnets. When I have unexpected visits from children magnets are always a hit. And adults also have a surprising amount of fun with them. If a meal is taking longer to cook than I expected, throwing some magnets on the table to amuse guests works wonders.

 

The map in the continents pdf looks good. The edges have been cut off and need to be redrawn in, but the map looks particularly good to trace. I've been looking through all my map drawing resources the past couple days, and I want to prepare some samples for students to copy.

 

Have you watched Melisa Neilsen's Youtube

lately? Edited November 9, 2012 by Hunter

[Hunter]

first I want to share a link' date=' if you subscribe to the School Express newletter they send a unit every week. It usually comes on Sunday, but I got one today, it's Thanksgiving, so I wanted to share in case anyone wants to use it over the next 2 weeks. http://www.schoolexpress.com/email/thanksc_38rf.pdf

 

Next.. Hunter, I'm dying, I don't read much on the other areas of the board, and probably not a whole lot on this section either, but who do you tutor? Do you help adults or kids? Homeschoolers? I'm just curious who you put so much effort into :) I see you were a homeschooler, are your kids all raised?

 

I have not watched that video, and I hadn't looked a ton at the maps yet, I figure if I don't like the maps I have the MapQuest complete set. (Have I ever mentioned I have a curriculum problem??? I have soooo many history programs it's unreal, but I hate "being told what to do" so I can't seem to use them UGGG).[/quote']

 

Sorry! I lose track who knows my crazy story and who doesn't.

 

I have severe Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from domestic abuse. I developed a seizure disorder where I start seizing everytime I get nervous. Even though it is caused by nerves, I spend so much time seizing it has caused brain damage, and I'm constantly suffering from sporatic short term memory loss. I've gotten to be an expert at faking like I know what is going on, but there will be times you will be asking, :confused:.

 

Since my ex-husband made me so nervous I had to leave if I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in the ER, and leaving meant I ended out homeless twice, all the time seizing and out on my own. It was a mess, a TOTAL mess!

 

When I left, my oldest was 19, graduated from college already and living in Las Vegas. My youngest was 18 and in his second year of college. The divorce was...messy. My ex is of an ethnicity that makes things messy and he imploded.

 

If I told you the rest of the story you wouldn't believe me and it invades the privacy of some well known people, so...that's all I have to say about that part. I try to say a few slightly misleading things as times to cover up people's identities, but truth is stranger than fiction, and my life truly is bizarre at times.

 

I've been rejected from every rehabilitation program I've applied at, because I've been declared "severely disabled" and "not expected to recover". Every time I try to convince them I'm not that sick, I have another seizure while speaking to them, so they don't believe me. If I stay out of treatment and away from anyone that makes me nervous, I stop twitching and become who you here all know me to be. There are others who never get to see this side of me though. :lol:

 

So the government pays me to sit on my butt except for when I have to show up at some...well...unique places. I get easily bored and the people at those places are needy and ask me for help. They tell me I'm stingy with my knowledge, if I don't agree to tutor. I also live in a high-rise building set aside for elderly and disabled people, combined with a few market rate apartments. I'm right in the heart of a major Northeastern city. Like RIGHT there, but... living in a building full of characters, you wouldn't think could afford to live HERE. It's a happening place. Some people here are bipolar and they are manic all summer and depressed all winter. I have to ride the tide, in and out. :lol:

 

One of the people I know recently stole my toilet plunger! I'm really having a hard time getting over that one. Mostly I think it's funny, and I know she was sick, but...I'm still holding a major grudge over it. Childish I know. She was majorly manic.

 

So...My reviews of curricula, are from using things back in the 90s and early 2000's with my boys, or with LD, mentally ill and ESL adults now. I do help out with kids sometimes, but often I merely help by proxy. Aunties run in here to gather supplies to run to help with homework of nieces and nephews. Sometimes people use my home as a stop-over as I'm near a major airport and kiddies come through during those times, bored and hungry, and often gifted and vegan. My student are a varied and unique lot that is ever changing. I never know who I will get next. It's like I wear a neon sign on my head that says, "This lady knows stuff, including what you want to know most." People I have never met before will cross a crowded room full of people, pull up a chair next to me and say, "You wouldn't happen to know..." and before you know it I have another student.

Edited November 10, 2012 by Hunter

[Hunter]

first I want to share a link' date=' if you subscribe to the School Express newletter they send a unit every week. It usually comes on Sunday, but I got one today, it's Thanksgiving, so I wanted to share in case anyone wants to use it over the next 2 weeks. http://www.schoolexpress.com/email/thanksc_38rf.pdf

 

Next.. Hunter, I'm dying, I don't read much on the other areas of the board, and probably not a whole lot on this section either, but who do you tutor? Do you help adults or kids? Homeschoolers? I'm just curious who you put so much effort into :) I see you were a homeschooler, are your kids all raised?

 

I have not watched that video, and I hadn't looked a ton at the maps yet, I figure if I don't like the maps I have the MapQuest complete set. (Have I ever mentioned I have a curriculum problem??? I have soooo many history programs it's unreal, but I hate "being told what to do" so I can't seem to use them UGGG).[/quote']

 

Thanks! This looks good. The sentence structure is simple and that is important to me. Most history homeschool curricula has very complex sentence structure and is unusable to me unless I translate it. Pretty sounding sentences are great for literature study and if I don't care if at least 1/2 of it is going over the student's head. When I teach history, well...I want them to learn history. I have too much curricula too. Hopefully not for too much longer though. I'm preparing to clear the shelves.

 

At times I have enjoyed being the library for people and having lots of people here, but...I'm just...changing how things work around here a bit. The Artist's Way is turning me into a big meanie :lol: I'm setting some boundaries and reclaiming some things, including space and time.

[HootyTooty]

The Scholastic and Evan-Moor books lend themselves very well to CK. Actually most things online do :lol:.

 

This week I want to try and put most of ds's subjects in one notebook. I'm trying to do it by term but I think I am going to have a lot of trial and error.

[Hunter]

One of my goals is to organize all my ebooks. I need to buy some storage.

 

I want to buy a specific storage where I will create folders by the NtK books, even if I also have other copies elsewhere.

 

I need to stop looking at what I don't have, and spend more time looking at what I do have. Okay, so Evan-Moor science is better than the NtK science, but the Ntk science is what I have, and I need to get organized to use it.

 

Today is a holiday, so I am still in holiday mode. No open post office or library, so I'm sticking closer to home. I'm hitting the park for some nature study and Best Buy for an external harddrive of some sort. And food. Sigh. The constant need to secure food is so tedious to me. I mean, yeh, sometimes it tastes pretty good, but most of the time it's more work and expense than it's worth to me. But my attitude towards food gets me in trouble with my doctor, so I need to prioritize doing SOMETHING about food today. Sigh! She doesn't accept my excuses about books being so much more interesting and longer lasting, than food.

 

I've been looking at Grade 1 NtK art topics and seeing how they fit in with Waldorf grade 1 art topics. The Symmetry and Patterns topic fits in well with introducing form drawing.

 

I want to do a unit on the grade 1 section on ballet, with the Nutcracker. I've never been to a ballet before. I think I'm going to price the cost, and maybe take an Artist's Way "artist date" with my "inner child artist" to the ballet. If it's too expensive, which I'll bet it is, I'm going to plan a something special to eat with a DVD, and sit down and watch it beginning to end, which I don't think I've ever done.

 

I'm getting very attached to the 3 color text of the 1st edition texts. Each book is a different color.

Edited November 12, 2012 by Hunter

[Hunter]

I'm so sorry you had such a rough patch (or a few of them). You do seem to have it pulled together pretty well now. It really sucks that they won't let you into a rehabilitation program' date=' but you seem to be doing pretty well for yourself now, so all those who say you can't do it can go to that hot place that I'm pretty sure a mythical creature lives in. I would love to know which city you are in... if we ever visit it (I have an idea which one it is ;) ) I would love to get together with Hunter for some coffee. We have yet to take our kids into any of the big cities, but there are a few not far from me that we dream of visiting once they are old enough to not have to be on a leash.. because I'm afraid of people (yes really, living where you live would probably make me need to be on meds, lots and lots of meds). I have become more and more of an introvert over the years.

 

My past isn't unblemished, we all have skeletons for sure. I have one of those ex's, one of those kids who people blame the parents for, and no longer speak to my family (mom, brother, sister, etc). I do have it pretty well together now, a great hubby, my 3 "littles" who are wonderful kids to raise (even if they are a bit spoiled and bratty). But I definitely have demons I fight in my head every single day.

 

Talking to you is like a breath of fresh air. I'm always intrigued when I read posts about you self educating. I really wish I could find time to get out like some of the middle school curricula I have here and start working through it on my own, but I am addicted to the computer and spend all my "free" time (ok any second I can) bouncing through a few sites on the internet... they aren't even that exciting![/quote']

 

Don't be so sure you know what city I'm in. I'm entirely truthful 99.99% of the time, but .01% of the time I throw out purposely misleading bit of information to cloud things up a bit. I'm often talking about other people, and I try to balance their needs of privacy with my own rights to talk about what is happening in MY life. Also I am talking about more than one city sometimes. The major cities are linked up by China Town and other VERY cheaply priced buses that are cheaper to ride than transportation to the suburbs. I don't travel between cities often, but some of the people I talk about often do. I think my toilet plunger was transported to another city on one of those buses. :lol:

 

I'm the opposite that I get nervous now if I leave the cities. With my seizures I cannot drive anymore, and even when I could drive my ex kept me very isolated. It is so calming to me to know that I can walk or ride anywhere I want for free. I only panic when I don't have my hiking boots on, don't have my transportation pass in my pocket, or am too far from a train or major bus line. Busy one way streets are safer to walk on than any other streets. No one can follow you in a car if you walk against the traffic. Many buildings have entrances on more than one street and you can cut through them. I personally am much safer in the city than I am elsewhere. There is a reason that crime doesn't spread out of the cities. Many city dwellers are terrified of the suburbs. I have a couple friends/students that talk about the suburbs in such funny terms, that I can't help laughing.

[Hunter]

If you are using the revised series, the fastest I would play catch-up is to do K-1 this year, 2 and most of 3 next year, and the rest of 3 and 4 the next year. If you are kind of OCD like I am, I'd use the old series and do 1 this year and just follow the books a year behind, since the 6th grade book is clearly middle school level topics. Your oldest is 7. Waldorf and many European schools do 1st grade at 7. The first edition looks to me to based more on European standards. I'd have no problem using the old series a year behind. NONE!!!!!! Especially since you are combining grades with a younger student.

 

As for composition. Spectrum kids can only write as well as they can speak. Are you asking him to COMMUNICATE at a higher level than he is able to? My 2E kid had COMMUNICATION issues, and writing was just part of a much bigger issue. And assignments of "just do anything" were often the worst, as there were too many possibilities. No matter how gifted, he is 6? Copywork and a drawing lesson are enough. Just because he is smart you don't need to prove anything. You do NOT need to accelerate him!

 

Skip counting. Have her say all the numbers she is supposed to skip softly and shout the numbers she is supposed to be counting by. If writing the numbers, write all the skipped numbers in one color, and the numbers she is supposed to be counting by in another color. You could teach contrasting colors while doing this. If you have a 1000 chart, have her color in the numbers she is supposed to be counting by. Cut it out and mount it in her journal. Draw a border around it.

 

Make sure everyone is eating well, and getting some exercise. Play an audio book while you ALL color, including and especially YOU.

[Hunter]

Remember this is a marathon. If you try to sprint, you will not finish. You need to run at YOUR pace no matter what others are doing. You need to take time to grab water. You need to slow down when you get a stitch in your side. Steady, but not too fast, and paying attention to how much you can handle without hurting yourselves.

 

Bad days can be useful, if they shed light on areas we need to tweak. We need to occasionally step back and look at the big picture. Bad days ensure we do this.

 

I'll bet tomorrow is better.

[shinyhappypeople]

 

DS6 threw a fit when I told him to write something' date=' anything, about why he thinks we celebrate Thanksgiving.

 

[/quote']

 

:grouphug: Ugh, I have SO been there. It stinks. :tongue_smilie:

 

I learned about guided writing practice in Write Shop Primary, and I've found it pretty helpful for my "please don't make me write, you're KILLING me!!!!" DD :glare: Anyway, it goes something like this:

 

Mom: Let's write about your favorite animal today. Which one is your favorite?

 

Child: Giraffes!

 

Mom: OK, let's make that a sentence: My favorite animal is the giraffe. Now you say it.

 

Child: My favorite animal is the giraffe.

 

Mom: Great! Let's write it down. (Mom writes, sharing the pen as much/little as the child wants)

 

Mom: OK, next let's write down a reason you like giraffes.

 

Child: (blank stare)

 

Mom: Do you like giraffes because they have long necks?

 

Child: (nods)

 

Mom: Let's say that as a sentence: I like giraffes because they have long necks. Does that sound good?

 

Child: (nods, again)

 

Mom: OK, now you say it: I like giraffes, because they have long necks.

 

Child: I like giraffes, because they have long necks.

 

Mom: GREAT! Let's write it down. (mom writes, share the pen as above). This is AWESOME! Let's read it out loud.

 

And then when you're done read the sentences aloud to the child, pointing to each word as you read.

 

I've only dipped my big toe into this curriculum, but so far I'm liking it, and I *love * how it models the guided writing practice.

 

Hope that helps a little. More :grouphug:

[Hunter]

:grouphug: Ugh, I have SO been there. It stinks. :tongue_smilie:

 

I learned about guided writing practice in Write Shop Primary, and

 

Interesting review. Thank you!

 

Today I purchased a 32 MB thumb drive and made folders for each main subject, according to how NtK breaks up subjects. I went through most of my disorganized storage and copied the best ebooks to the new thumb drive.

 

I'm so excited about all I have, and being able to find them easily.

[Hunter]

Fawn, it might help if you purposely skip around in the different books a bit. I would list books 1-6 every year on any paperwork you hand in, and insist you are using the set as an ungraded encyclopedia set.

[delaney]

Hunter you are very right.

 

I need to take these dang books' date=' put covers on them that are labeled Book A, Book B, Book C, Book D, etc and forget the levels (oh I guess I need to black out the headers on the pages). I'm using it mostly for content subjects anyway. We have a math curriculum that I am dedicated to (I really love McRuffy) and we do make sure that language arts is covered with our Total Reading workbooks. We have to test every few years in Language Arts and Math, so making sure we are pretty decently close to "grade level" for those is important. But anything else, there is no one telling me we need to be learning abc this year and xyz next... we just have to show sustained progress.[/quote']

 

I have thought about ripping them apart:tongue_smilie:. I flip around and make myself nuts with they MIGHT have missed. I had the newer version and sold all of them...now I am buying the older set thanks to this thread.:D

[HootyTooty]

Fawn, it might help if you purposely skip around in the different books a bit. I would list books 1-6 every year on any paperwork you hand in, and insist you are using the set as an ungraded encyclopedia set.

This is actually what I have been doing for out Thanksgiving lesson to cover we jumped around to the books that talked about the Pilgrims and Native Americans. So far so good.

[shinyhappypeople]

Sommer, are you using the first editions or revised editions?

[Hunter]

I think this is a fairly decent idea. I want to keep the History "in order" with the new sequence. The more I read it' date=' the more it makes sense. But I just have to keep a log of books used, so I could read some literature or music or art or math or science from any of the volumes and I can just list them. It's none of their business what we are using them for specifically. I am really starting to feel confident in the history, I think the science needs the old books added to it, there isn't enough to cover a years worth for my kids who love science stuff and there seems to be lots in the old books that is not in any of the new ones.

 

I still think I need to somehow get it out of my head that they are grade leveled. I am one of the biggest supporters of working on their level and not thinking that because they are homeschoolers that they have to be rocket scientists at 16.. but sometimes those voices in the back of my head just won't stop mumbling.[/quote']

 

I like the history order too. I'd basically follow the order of the books, but just purposely make the other books appear on a regular enough basis to appease the children, and to be truthful when filling out paperwork. It just takes the stress off. As far as I am concerned the old series is a K-7 or a 1-8 curriculum. That is 8 years to get through the 6 books and any supplementing from the revised series. I skipped grade 8 with both my boys, and started them with American School at 13, writing "homeschooled N/A" when asked about 8th grade graduation. The old series history, science, literature, art, music is definitely enough preparation for American School's general program with little supplementing. The college prep would require a book basket of books on the same topics as the NtK topics, but nothing more than that.

 

Wow! Prices on used copies of the revised series have really risen. Ouch! As I'm getting more grounded in the old series, I think I might be able to handle having the newer edition without melting down. But you all have bought up all the affordable copies :lol: So getting the revised edition is going to have to wait awhile.

[mama25angels]

:lol: I have only ordered the preschool and the old 1st grade' date=' but you know darn well a bazillion stalkers are reading this tread and jumping on the NTK books and raising the prices for us. I will probably have to wait until income tax time to buy more books, it's getting to be tight money month here and we are always still strapped so tight we aren't sure we will be able to keep the lights on in January between the crazy price of oil and Christmas and the 3 birthdays the kids have the week of Christmas.[/quote']

 

:iagree::lol: i'm looking for the revised grades 3,4,5 and can't find them anywhere cheap.

[Hunter]

The good thing about this series is that it is fairly easy to get copies from the library. I struggle to implement one grade of a new curriculum without having the chance to preview the complete series.

 

So we only need to BUY what we need NOW and merely preview the rest of the series from the library.

 

Prices will go back down, even if we keep talking about it. There will be people who snapped up these books, that will read about another curriculum in a couple weeks and want that more, and will be selling whole sets right here. They might sell the books for more than they paid for them, but with combined shipping it will come out about even, to those purchasing several volumes at a time.

 

Hold on to your pennies for the Christmas curriculum purge. Not only are people broke from Christmas, but mid December to January 15th brings yearly panic like no other time of the year. It's all of the spring/summer rush packed into a few weeks mixed with fear and desperation and shame. People want the curriculum NOW that is going to SAVE the year, and they clear their shelves to fund that new curriculum. Of course that new curriculum is seldom any better than the old one and it took selling 10 things to fund that one thing, but that's the way of used curriculum prices.

 

And Ebay has new listings every day. Keep checking. I prefer not to use Ebay, but resort to that when there is lean pickings at my regular sellers.

 

Also I can't imagine any library would refuse to buy this set if they don't already have it, if a patron asked for it. I'm getting smarter about figuring out what types of books my library is willing to buy. I'm trying to be smarter about what I buy, compared to what I can get them to purchase.

 

I still haven't been able to get my hands on the revised 6th grade book yet. :glare: Strange. I think I need to cancel the hold and try again.

[HootyTooty]

I found all my NtK at the thrift stores in my area for under $2.

[Hunter]

I found all my NtK at the thrift stores in my area for under $2.

 

:hurray::hurray::hurray: :party:

[HootyTooty]

Mind you this was two years ago when I started to use it for my then 4th grader. From time to time I bump into them at the store. I wouldn't mind finding revised version so I can see activity suggestions that some of them have.

[momto2Cs]

Hunter you are very right.

 

I need to take these dang books' date=' put covers on them that are labeled Book A, Book B, Book C, Book D, etc and forget the levels[/b'] (oh I guess I need to black out the headers on the pages). I'm using it mostly for content subjects anyway. We have a math curriculum that I am dedicated to (I really love McRuffy) and we do make sure that language arts is covered with our Total Reading workbooks. We have to test every few years in Language Arts and Math, so making sure we are pretty decently close to "grade level" for those is important. But anything else, there is no one telling me we need to be learning abc this year and xyz next... we just have to show sustained progress.

 

I like that idea!

[Hunter]

Not just with this series, but with most of the curricula I've been using lately, the students never see the book. They see the copywork model that I prepared, and they listen to me read aloud, and see the books and DVDs I got from the library, and we TALK a LOT, but they don't touch or see the pages of the book, except on rare occasions. The books are MINE.

 

My HTT book looks like the Bible of a recent prison convert who has been left alone for hours with nothing but his Bible and a pen. :lol: And I think my copies of the old series are going to look the same way soon. MINE, mine, all mine! :lol:

 

As I read the books and then comb through the library stacks, I see topics that I want to add or tweak or supplement. For example the 1st grade art is leaner than other years, and there is more room for supplementing. In the Music section, ballet is covered, so I'm going to add an artist study of Edgar Degas. I am so excited about that. And I found another book I can't mention until I decide if I want to buy a copy of it, but I love, love that book.

 

I've been watching some fantastic DVDs that line up with the topics, and am learning so much, that will help me teach this series better. Always I have found that students learn better from me by listening to me TALK about things I have learned a lot about. My older son claims that EVERYTHING he needed to know at college and in his job now, he learned during family worship time. It's an exaggeration I'm sure, but you get the point.

 

This series is providing just enough organization, with just enough room to do my own thing and adapt to the resources available to me. I'm really happy right now.

 

I'm realizing for me, I want to try and pick 6 year math and language arts programs too. Or ones that can be tweaked. I forget whether it was Spalding or another curriculum that talked about older students being much more willing to back WAY up and cover the basics, than students that were only a little behind. Instead of being ashamed to work in a 1st grade book, many students are so pleased to be assured they have now finally mastered a 1st grade curriculum, are truly moving on to the 2nd grade.

 

I was looking at Math Mammoth (a 6 year curriculum), but I think I'm going to stick with Professor B (3 books).

 

Language Arts is such a huge topic, and I'm not going to bore you all with the mess I'm still making of that.

 

I'm doing a lot of looking again at what local junior colleges are expecting of incoming Freshman, and that CAN be SO different than selective 4 year college prep, if the student is working toward a 2 year diploma with plans of working in his/her community. I've never been to college myself, but I've helped with enough homework of college students (2 year and 4 year) to pretty much know what goes on there. Some of that was repayment for being allowed to sleep in a dorm and to be fed in the cafeteria while I was homeless :lol: It's a pitiful thing to be sneaking through the woods past security guards, when you are in your 40's, even if you don't look your age. Sigh! I think that's enough said on that subject!

 

It's amazing how much a SOLID 6th grade education prepares a student for junior college. It's certainly enough to get the student into the non-credit remedial classes, if they have funding to attend those.

 

I'm just so pleased with how things are going. I purchased the entire older series for about $20.00 with shipping, and don't think it's going to cost me much to supplement if I use my library. I'm just happy today. :001_smile: NtK seems to be sliding into place just like HTT did for me.

[Hunter]

Both Professor B and How to Tutor are designed as remedial programs that are meant to be completed quickly. The scopes are narrow (far too narrow for some people), and the methods work using no more than fingers, paper and pencil, and don't even require student books. It's working. The more I mark the books up, the easier it is for me to teach from them. It feels to me like treading water though. I stay afloat just fine if I keep moving and don't over think it all. But when I look too far ahead, I get afraid I'm going to sink. I've been doing fine. I need to just trust that it's going to stay that way.

 

There is a LOT of Language Arts I don't teach and other things I obsess over. I'm just weird when it comes to LA. I want to reread understanding Writing soon. I tend to gravitate to Quiver-full and Amish curricula, because of their ultra-efficient methods and no-nonsense scopes.

 

NtK is going so smoothly it's giving me plenty of time to obsess over math and LA.

 

So many of the DVDs I'm watching just are not for the little ones. They are graphic and too detailed. BBC's Human Planet is awesome, just awesome, but again not for the littles. It has brought me to tears watching the risks those men have to take to feed their families, in the different biomes of our world. I've read a lot about plants and animals of the different biomes, but this focus on humans has...I don't know, sent electrical activity all over my brain forming new connections with previously learned topics. People say I can be like a human computer. I can almost hear my brain humming when I watch these DVDs. :lol:

 

I'll try to start posting reviews of DVDs. It'll be good for me to take notes as I watch.

 

My library is just weird. Our system has a LOT, an incredible LOT, but if they don't have it, it's hell to get it from another library system. It's easier just to take a train to what is technically another city and another system, but really not that far. But still...it's a pain to be locked into that train trip every week and the interlibrary loan late fees are $2.00 a day!

 

Hmm...even in the suburbs and low income neighborhoods, we have satellite community colleges that offer the most commonly taken courses, and degrees in business management, and a general 2 year transfer degree, and any specialty issues in the community. Students can then travel into the city or another neighborhood to take courses not offered at the small satellite school. That's too bad. A 2 year degree in business management can open the door for a young person to land a job that will pay for the rest of their education.

[Hunter]

I adore this series more every day. Every time I get a book or DVD from the library, something on it brings me full circle to one of the other topics in the 1st grade book. My thoughts keep moving in calming OCD circles. It's lovely. Better than drugs.

 

Beavers on the animals DVD made dams. Dams fall under the architecture and sculpture. A big dam was built in Egypt. Dams are built on rivers.

 

Today I realized that even my entertaining DVDs are often on the same topics as my educational DVDs. I usually have 10 out at a time. I made little topic piles and got a little thrill. Blue Crush 2 went on top of History Channel's Underwater Universe. You get the idea.

[Hunter]

So while I'm deciding if I can even tolerate the new forum layout and can get over the link between here and facebook, I wanted to say that I got the Pre-K book on Thursday and I LOVE that book!!!! I really wish all the books were as colorful and so full of wonderful diagrams and pictures!!!! My 3 year old loves it too. It will be a big disappointment to him when we have to move to the K book I think..lol

 

I also got the old 1st grade book yesterday, I haven't even opened it yet though.

 

I heard the preschool book is very different than the K book.