SeeSchells Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 My head is spinning. I would appreciate any feedback I can get. Here is what I am planning with my 5th grade son. He is a very reluctant reader although showing great progress. We have been with a charter school since we began in Kinder and this is our first year flying solo! I feel like a huge weight has been lifted but I want to make sure I make the right choices for him. Math U See (works well for him) Mystery Of History - We are starting back at ancients Anwers in Genesis for science Lively Latin (suggestions welcome...we did song school last year and it was too easy for him) LA (my major problem area! suggestions please! We have always done FLL prior to this year) I like Total Language Plus for the vocab and comprehension but I feel like I need to supplement writing, spelling and grammar so what is the point?! Spelling - either AAS 5 (we have done 1-4) or R&S spelling (only changing because the school is no longer funding my curriculum habit ;) But if R&S is not as good as AAS then I don't want to change. Thoughts? Grammar - Easy Grammar?? Writing - IEW Ancient based writing lessons (although I have a friend suggesting I shelve writing for a year and focus on getting him reading at grade level 1st. Thoughts?) Reading - This is a huge one...I personally feel like I do better with a curriculum in front of me, but I like the idea of him reading books that line up with history and writing. What do you do for reading? If you don't have a curriculum which books do you choose? I would love to see your lists! Ok am I missing anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 I am always at a loss when people ask about LA. It is just not only too skill based and I have no idea about your child's ability level, but LA programs are all over the place as far as output go and I have no idea of your expectations regarding output. So, all I can do is toss out some ideas. Could you do CLE reading or Mosdos and add in 1 literature book coordinated with history each quarter? You could use the guides from CHOLL if any of those books will work. I think I probably agree with your friend regarding composition. I wouldn't start IEW the same year I was trying to shore up reading. Maybe use something light and fun like Wordsmith Apprentice just to keep him writing. I don't care for Easy Grammar. My big boys looked at the example at the top and filled in the blanks without learning. You also need to be careful that the reading level of the grammar program is low enough that it doesn't interfere with learning the grammar. I have not used FLL, so I have no idea where to direct you, but definitely look at samples to see about the reading level. I also have not used AAS or R&S spelling, so I am not sure if what i am about to say applies. If he is having trouble with reading, he might benefit from using MCP Phonics & Word Study alongside MCP Spelling Workout. The TM for Spelling Workout tells which pages coordinate. HTH- Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeeSchells Posted July 18, 2013 Author Share Posted July 18, 2013 Thanks for the feedback. If not Easy Grammar, do you suggest anything else? He has a pretty good foundation in grammar from FLL. I don't want to lose that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 My head is spinning. I would appreciate any feedback I can get. Here is what I am planning with my 5th grade son. He is a very reluctant reader although showing great progress. We have been with a charter school since we began in Kinder and this is our first year flying solo! I feel like a huge weight has been lifted but I want to make sure I make the right choices for him. Math U See (works well for him) Mystery Of History - We are starting back at ancients Anwers in Genesis for science Lively Latin (suggestions welcome...we did song school last year and it was too easy for him) LA (my major problem area! suggestions please! We have always done FLL prior to this year) I like Total Language Plus for the vocab and comprehension but I feel like I need to supplement writing, spelling and grammar so what is the point?! Spelling - either AAS 5 (we have done 1-4) or R&S spelling (only changing because the school is no longer funding my curriculum habit ;) But if R&S is not as good as AAS then I don't want to change. Thoughts? Grammar - Easy Grammar?? Writing - IEW Ancient based writing lessons (although I have a friend suggesting I shelve writing for a year and focus on getting him reading at grade level 1st. Thoughts?) Reading - This is a huge one...I personally feel like I do better with a curriculum in front of me, but I like the idea of him reading books that line up with history and writing. What do you do for reading? If you don't have a curriculum which books do you choose? I would love to see your lists! Ok am I missing anything? We've used a lot of these. My thoughts: TLP--yes, if you need to supplement that much, I agree--what's the point?! I like to address vocabulary through read-alouds, and have always read to my kids at night. It's amazing the vocabulary they have learned over the years. I define words or restate words I think they might not know, or I'll ask them--sometimes we look up words together. My dh challenges them to use a new word during the day, and we've never dumbed down our speech for them. These are easy ways to integrate vocabulary without making it a separate subject. And comprehension can be taught through discussing readers and read-alouds, so unless it's a specific struggle, you probably don't need curriculum for that. Spelling--if it's not broke, don't fix it. Continue with what's working. Grammar--we've used and liked Easy Grammar. It's not *quite* as easy to follow as AAS, but it's reasonably easy most of the time, and concepts are fairly incremental. Personally, I like to alternate grammar and writing years, or at least units. Otherwise, it's easy to end up with a lot of LA topics. Here's a basic plan I like to follow for determining what to do for LA Writing--since your son likes MUS, you might want to check out Essentials in Writing, which the author describes as a "Math-U-See" approach to writing. (again, not saying you should do both grammar and writing, but just suggesting a program that worked well here & might work well for you). Reading--it's hard to suggest without knowing his level, but here we have enjoyed a lot of Sonlight books. Since you are going to use MOH, you might also check out Illuminations, as they have readers to line up with MOH for grades 3-8 (you might have to pick which ones would be at his level). Ancients is the hardest time period to find readers that line up, especially if reading is hard for a student, so don't be discouraged if they don't all line up. Pick some "just fun" readers that will appeal to him, the style of books he likes or subjects that interest him, to encourage him to read more. Also, have him read something to you daily so that you can help him grow in his skills and see where he struggles. If a book he wants to read is hard for him, do "buddy reading" where he reads a paragraph and you read a page or two, and trade back and forth. He'll learn a lot from hearing you read too. HTH some! Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeeSchells Posted July 18, 2013 Author Share Posted July 18, 2013 Thank you Merry! That is very helpful :) I am going to check it all out now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 I'm using Moving Beyond the Page lit units with DD this year (also a reluctant reader). We also use Read Theory, a free online resource for developing reading comprehension skills. MBYP covers writing as well as reading. We do separate spelling and grammar. We use Simply Grammar, which is Charlotte Mason, and leaves me free to decide how much writing to make DD do, as she is a reluctant writer, as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeeSchells Posted July 18, 2013 Author Share Posted July 18, 2013 Thank you! I will check out both move beyond the page and simply grammar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Spelling - AAS 5 Grammar - R&S 5, if you really want to keep going, though I'd be more likely to drop grammar than composition to practice reading. Writing - IEW Ancient based writing lessons, if that's what you really want. Maybe Writing with Ease. Reading - CHOLL and History Odyssey have books lined up with the classical history cycle. Next year I have planned Further Up and Further In (Narnia lit study). This year I assigned a book for DD to read one chapter a day from, required another 30 minutes of reading a book of her choosing. She also reads several pages aloud each day. Reading suggestions were pulled from multiple reading lists on the internet, like VP, Kolbe, Sonlight, and Ambleside Online, in addition to books we already have in our home library. Currently, her assigned book is By the Shores of Silver Lake, her chosen book is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and her book for reading aloud is The Magical Monarch of Mo (by L. Frank Baum). Our literature list for next year (studying Middle Ages in history) includes, in part: Black Horses for the King One Thousand and One Arabian Nights (McCaughrean) Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade The Trumpeter of Krakow The Lyon's Roar King Arthur and a World of Other Stories The Chronicles of Narnia When the Siren Wailed Gypsy Girl Where the Mountain Meets the Moon I originally scheduled The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Good Master for next year, but now I'm trying to decide if I want to save them for when we do Modern history. DD will not be reading all of these herself. Some will be done as read-alouds or audiobooks with her following along in the book. Books relating to ancient history (from this year): Tales of Ancient Egypt The Golden Fleece Black Ships Before Troy The Wanderings of Odysseus The Bronze Bow The Eagle of the Ninth and/or The Mark of the Horse Lord (we haven't gotten this far yet) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatholicMom Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Reading - This is a huge one...I personally feel like I do better with a curriculum in front of me, but I like the idea of him reading books that line up with history and writing. What do you do for reading? If you don't have a curriculum which books do you choose? I would love to see your lists! We use Sonlight's Reader Packages. You don't have to use their LA to use the Reader Package. They give you a selection of leveled independent readers and a schedule, which is helpful because they generally do the easier ones toward the beginning of the year and schedule the more difficult ones at the end of the year, plus they might schedule an easier one after a harder one, etc. I think they do a pretty good job and the kids have liked almost ALL the books. They use a lot of classics so if you want to throw in a literature guide for one of them to cover reading comprehension, usually you can find a Lit Guide to go with one (or more) of the Sonlight Readers on Memoria Press. FYI, as far as what level to get, Sonlight also has a "Quick Reading Assessment" (google Sonlight Quick Reading Assessment). It's really easy and I've found it's quite accurate in determining which Sonlight package to order. If your child can handle Core D readers or beyond (which is likely in 5th grade, but check the assessment), then you could see which Reader Package may go with whatever period of history you're studying. E.g. Core D & E Readers are all about American History, Core F Readers are about the Eastern Hemisphere, etc. Of course, you could also just use a Sonlight Core for history & the reader package goes with it (from Core D on, anyway). I think it's kind of neat that the kids read on their own about the same historical events, people, and places they encounter in their history lessons. Just a thought. We have really enjoyed Sonlight's Reader Packages and I find them really convenient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Spelling - either AAS 5 (we have done 1-4) or R&S spelling (only changing because the school is no longer funding my curriculum habit ;) But if R&S is not as good as AAS then I don't want to change. Thoughts? Grammar - Easy Grammar?? Writing - IEW Ancient based writing lessons (although I have a friend suggesting I shelve writing for a year and focus on getting him reading at grade level 1st. Thoughts?) Reading - This is a huge one...I personally feel like I do better with a curriculum in front of me, but I like the idea of him reading books that line up with history and writing. What do you do for reading? If you don't have a curriculum which books do you choose? I would love to see your lists! I also have a 5th grader. If you like AAS, don't switch!! It's a good program. Also, you should never drop writing for a year. It's like math. They need to continuously work on it. You could do more informal writing or creative writing. Would he like Wordsmith Apprentice? My son used that last year and really enjoyed it. You pretend you're a writer for a newspaper and you have to write stuff like ads, descriptions, edit, for sale ads, etc. For reading, we just have a booklist. Usually, I let them choose whatever they want to read, but for 5th grade we put together a list based on what we thought he would like. I was really wanting them to read some more modernish books this year. Here's the list: Gentle Ben The Winged Watchman Hoot Holes Bridge to Terabithia The Incredible Journey Redwall Peter and the Starcatchers Airborn (I may read this to him or we may not get to this one) Asian-themed lit (our kids are Korean and wanted to do some Asian-themed stuff): The Cat Who Went to Heaven Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze Li Lun, Lad of Courage The Kite Fighters Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Dragonwings Call It Courage House of 60 Fathers Sadako and the Paper Cranes The Rainbow People (may read loud) Some of these, I may end up reading aloud - like The Rainbow People... Good luck with your planning!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeeSchells Posted July 25, 2013 Author Share Posted July 25, 2013 You all have been SO helpful! Thank you!! I am not on here very often but when I need an answer I always know right where I will find it...HERE!! I am googling all of it now :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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