fourcatmom Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Okay, I am going to order this weekend. It's been nagging at me for too long and I need to just do it. So, for my 6th grader I am thinking Island level and for my 7th grader, the town level. My 7th is a good writer but needs work on grammar and vocabulary. My plan is to order just a few books (grammar) for the first 6 weeks of school to get us started and add more later when I have more funds. I will add in IEW writing for my 6th grader and something else for my 7th grader, plus spelling. What books for each level should I order. I think from everything I have read you start with grammar but I also read some start with SI first. Do I need Student books, TM? What is the best bang for my buck, which is about $100 total to start. I realize I might go over that budget. Do you supplement grammar with anything else? Punctuation work? If you do, what do you use? I was going to order Hake and Editor in Chief but would EIC be enough to supplement or is something else better? I am excited to try this but nervous about getting the right books for their age. I was reading the samples online and I like what I see. I have heard great things about CE as well and wanted to do word roots this year with my 7th grader. Thanks for any help you can give me! This is my first thought on what to order: 6th grader to start Grammar Island. Teacher Manual Building Language 7th grader to start Grammar Town. Teacher Manual Caesar's English I: Classical Education Ed.Student In the basic homeschool package for the island level, it does include the grammar island student book. I would assume that means it's necessary? Is this a good start? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 IMO the student versions of Grammar Island and Grammar Town are completely unnecessary. There are a very few items where the TM versions give the answers away, but those few occasions are easy to work around. Juggling two virtually identical books, which is what they are, is no fun when you are working one-on-one (as you will). I would like to have the Sentence Island and Paragraph Town and the Practice Island/Town books. If price/value is the driver, I would delay (or eliminate) Building Language. It's intent is to be inspirational in laying out the roots of English (and Spanish) words in Latin. I like this book, but it is not "essential." The other grammar books above, really are. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 Thank you Bill, that is very helpful! Out of all the posts that I have made on this board, this is the first you have ever responded to! I appreciate the feedback. I *think* this is what you are suggesting - 6th grader - Grammar Island TM Sentence Island TM Practice Island - student book Building Language (not necessary but a good book and I do want to study roots) 7th grader - Grammar Town TM Paragraph Town TM Practice Town - Student book Caesar's English 1 Classical (the two book set) If that is the case, then the only thing I would add later would be the poetry books? What about supplementing grammar with something else? Is it needed or is this enough for their age? I guess I wonder since most people seem to use this with much younger kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Thank you Bill, that is very helpful! Out of all the posts that I have made on this board, this is the first you have ever responded to! I appreciate the feedback. Have you been keeping track? :D That makes twice ;) Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 I am really not sure how I know this but it is just something that I have noticed. You are obviously well respected on this board. I guess I have finally reached the status that I was aiming for, having you respond to one of my threads. And twice at that! On a side note...I can't utilize the top part of this section where you should be able to use the bold feature or add smiley's to your post. Is anyone else having this problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 I *think* this is what you are suggesting - 6th grader - Grammar Island TM Sentence Island TM Practice Island - student book Building Language (not necessary but a good book and I do want to study roots) 7th grader - Grammar Town TM Paragraph Town TM Practice Town - Student book Caesar's English 1 Classical (the two book set) If that is the case, then the only thing I would add later would be the poetry books? What about supplementing grammar with something else? Is it needed or is this enough for their age? I guess I wonder since most people seem to use this with much younger kids. Unfortunately you will need the TMs of Practice Island & Practice Town. They have the answers and "comments" from MCT on each sentence that are very insightful. If you had to, the students could copy out the sentences via dictation and do the "Practice" analysis on your own pads (instead of using the student Practice book. This is a lot more work, but it could be done. We have the "old" Caesar's English (single volume TM) due to ordering just before the release. I can not compare them. Instead of "Building Language," you might have them both do CE. I understand you desire to cover roots, but BL is pretty "light"—especially for a 6th Grader. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoo_keeper Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Thank you Bill, that is very helpful! Out of all the posts that I have made on this board, this is the first you have ever responded to! I appreciate the feedback. I *think* this is what you are suggesting - 6th grader - Grammar Island TM Sentence Island TM Practice Island - student book Building Language (not necessary but a good book and I do want to study roots) 7th grader - Grammar Town TM Paragraph Town TM Practice Town - Student book Caesar's English 1 Classical (the two book set) If that is the case, then the only thing I would add later would be the poetry books? What about supplementing grammar with something else? Is it needed or is this enough for their age? I guess I wonder since most people seem to use this with much younger kids. One correction (and I think Bill would agree), replace the Practice Island and Practice Town student books with TMs. Without the TMs you'll flounder (possibly, I would with some sentences) and you can always do the exercises aloud (we do). ETA: Based on the cross-posting, it does look like Bill agrees :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 Thank you both. Things are much more clear now on what I need! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 I am really not sure how I know this but it is just something that I have noticed. You are obviously well respected on this board. I guess I have finally reached the status that I was aiming for, having you respond to one of my threads. And twice at that! On a side note...I can't utilize the top part of this section where you should be able to use the bold feature or add smiley's to your post. Is anyone else having this problem? It could be that you are finally asking a couple (of the few) questions I can answer :D I can not do bold or smilies either, on my iPad. Not by using pull-down menus anyway. I just type in the HTML tags manually. Bold is [ b ]text to be bolded[ /b ] without the spaces. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 It could be that you are finally asking a couple (of the few) questions I can answer :D I can not do bold or smilies either, on my iPad. Not by using pull-down menus anyway. I just type in the HTML tags manually. Bold is [ b ]text to be bolded[ /b ] without the spaces. Bill I can't access the whole top menu on my home computer. Not sure why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 One correction (and I think Bill would agree), replace the Practice Island and Practice Town student books with TMs. Without the TMs you'll flounder (possibly, I would with some sentences) and you can always do the exercises aloud (we do). ETA: Based on the cross-posting, it does look like Bill agrees :) I do agree. I will say my son, who loves doing the Practice Sentences, would probably want to kill me if I made him copy out the sentences. The TM are essential. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 I can't access the whole top menu on my home computer. Not sure why? See, now you've moved out of the narrow range of questions I can answer :D Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 Okay, edited the cart to this - I can add the poetry later. Grammar Island. Teacher Manual - 7992 Grammar Town. Teacher Manual - 5914 Caesar's English I: Classical Education Ed.Student - 4649 Sentence Island Teacher Book - 6690 Practice Island, One Hundred Four-level Analysis Sentences: Student Workbook - 6805 Paragraph Town: Teacher Book - 6713 Practice Town: Student Workbook - 6829 Practice Island, One Hundred Four-level Analysis Sentences: Teacher Manual - 6812 Practice Town: Teacher Manual - 6836 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Okay, edited the cart to this - I can add the poetry later. Grammar Island. Teacher Manual - 7992 Grammar Town. Teacher Manual - 5914 Caesar's English I: Classical Education Ed.Student - 4649 Sentence Island Teacher Book - 6690 Practice Island, One Hundred Four-level Analysis Sentences: Student Workbook - 6805 Paragraph Town: Teacher Book - 6713 Practice Town: Student Workbook - 6829 Practice Island, One Hundred Four-level Analysis Sentences: Teacher Manual - 6812 Practice Town: Teacher Manual - 6836 Now (no expert here) but with the "old" CE one just needed the TM. I thought (but am not sure about this, so confirm with others) that one need both the TM and Student books with the "Classical Edition." I see only the Student Classical CE above. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 Okay, I think this is a better way to go then Grammar Island. Teacher Manual - 7992 Sentence Island Teacher Book - 6690 Practice Island, One Hundred Four-level Analysis Sentences: Student Workbook - 6805 Practice Island, One Hundred Four-level Analysis Sentences: Teacher Manual - 6812 MCT LEVEL 2 Basic Homeschool Package - HO4B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoo_keeper Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 I do agree. I will say my son, who loves doing the Practice Sentences, would probably want to kill me if I made him copy out the sentences. The TM are essential. Bill Oh, just to be clear, I do not have the children write down the sentences. Instead, we skip the student wb versions of PI and PT and I read each sentence aloud a few times. They then, orally, go through word by word and say what part of speech and what part of sentence each word is (and then phrases/clauses/type of sentence, etc.). So nothing is written down, everything is spoken. That's how we do all of MCT, we never touch pencil to paper for this program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Okay, I think this is a better way to go then Grammar Island. Teacher Manual - 7992 Sentence Island Teacher Book - 6690 Practice Island, One Hundred Four-level Analysis Sentences: Student Workbook - 6805 Practice Island, One Hundred Four-level Analysis Sentences: Teacher Manual - 6812 MCT LEVEL 2 Basic Homeschool Package - HO4B You know that MCT LEVEL 2 Basic Homeschool Package - HO4 will give you the "old" CE, right? I can't advise on the merits of "old CE" vs CE Classical (we have the old). Also, you would still save $20 if you got all the Level 2 books (except the Student Grammar Town) al a carte vs getting the "basic homeschool package." I do not see having the Student Grammar Town books as a plus. If one had a classroom full of students, different story. But if you are reading the book together in a "cuddle-time" fashion (as most people do) having two virtually identical books is unwieldy (and to me, annoying). I had both books for Island, but learned from my mistake when ordering Town. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Oh, just to be clear, I do not have the children write down the sentences. Instead, we skip the student wb versions of PI and PT and I read each sentence aloud a few times. They then, orally, go through word by word and say what part of speech and what part of sentence each word is (and then phrases/clauses/type of sentence, etc.). So nothing is written down, everything is spoken. That's how we do all of MCT, we never touch pencil to paper for this program. Interesting. My little guy seems to like pouring over the hard copies, but maybe I'll try doing a few orally as an experiment. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 You know that MCT LEVEL 2 Basic Homeschool Package - HO4 will give you the "old" CE, right? I can't advise on the merits of "old CE" vs CE Classical (we have the old). Also, you would still save $20 if you got all the Level 2 books (except the Student Grammar Town) al a carte vs getting the "basic homeschool package." I do not see having the Student Grammar Town books as a plus. If one had a classroom full of students, different story. But if you are reading the book together in a "cuddle-time" fashion (as most people do) having two virtually identical books is unwieldy (and to me, annoying). I had both books for Island, but learned from my mistake when ordering Town. Bill Makes sense. I missed that. Thanks for all the help and Zoo Keeper as well! I like the idea of doing it orally as well. Yes, I did realize it was the old but I was thinking that might be better. I don't know about the differences between the two. See why I have been confused! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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