KIN Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 Do you pick just one spine and use that? I'm getting ready for year 3 and the amount of reading is overwhelming. For instance, the first week it has you read 14 pages in A Child's Story of America on Monday, a section from SOTW & A history of US section on Wednesday, and an entire chapter from SOTW, a section from another SOTW chapter, and more out of the History of US. I'm thinking of just choosing *one* spine instead of the 3-4 I have. Have you used Biblioplan this way? Or, have any other advice? Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamommy Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 No advice as I'm a total newbie in this area. We are using BP ancients for the first time this year with a 1st and 5th grader. I'm feeling overwhelmed as well between SOTW1 and its AG, MOH, UILE, and Victor. Of course I want to add in lots of supplemental reading and literature, that's why I bought BP in the first place. But I feel totally burried right now! We're starting school on Monday and I have the first two weeks planned. We'll see what happens, but I may well drop some things and go with 1 spine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIN Posted August 8, 2008 Author Share Posted August 8, 2008 I'm sitting down now with all the spines and am going to read through the first few weeks. I don't know why it's overwhelming me so much this year! We've used it the past 2 years, but I think I stuck more with just SOTW. Year 3 has many days that SOTW isn't scheduled and other spines are scheduled. Yet, it *does* use all of SOTW, it just adds much more. I use Biblioplan too for the literature selections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chloe Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 that you are only supposed to choose one or two of the spines to use. They give you several options to choose from, depending on the ages of your children. Now I have not used Biblioplan yet, but I own the Ancients and Med./Ren plans, and this is how others I know have used it. I'm torn between Biblioplan Med./Ren and Ambleside's years 2 and 3 combined. However, if I use Biblioplan I'm only going to use SOTW as the spine, because I'd also like to add CHOW and Trial and Triumph to it. And I wouldn't want to give up any of those wonderful read alouds. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise in IN Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 We used Biblioplan 1600-1850 last year. I can understand why you're struggling - it's a bit different because in pulls in more American history in addition to SOTW. That makes it hard to just use SOTW as your only spine! I used SOTW 3 and the DK Children's Encyclopedia of American History (not scheduled in BP) for our spines last year. I started out with A Child's Story of American, but we just didn't like it, so switched to the DK Encyclopedia. I love reading A History of US books for myself, but I think they're too much information and detail for grammar stage kids. IMO, those books are much better suited for older students. I've never used all of the spines scheduled in Biblioplan. It's my understanding that the multiple spines are scheduled so you can pick & choose for different ages of students. Don't try to do it all! Pick what best fits your kids...that's the beauty of Biblioplan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIN Posted August 8, 2008 Author Share Posted August 8, 2008 Thanks Denise! I am having trouble with just what you described!! I just went through and kind of broke it all up a bit more using just SOTW & A Child's Story of America for the first 9 weeks. I usually don't have trouble with choosing my spines, but for some reason this year had me stumped!! :) We'll see how it goes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BizyPenguin Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 I'm sitting down now with all the spines and am going to read through the first few weeks. I don't know why it's overwhelming me so much this year! We've used it the past 2 years, but I think I stuck more with just SOTW. Year 3 has many days that SOTW isn't scheduled and other spines are scheduled. Yet, it *does* use all of SOTW, it just adds much more. I use Biblioplan too for the literature selections. I bought the e-version of America and the world 1600-1850 (year 3) to use with my rising 6th grader. I was torn btwn this and Winter Promise's American Crossing 1. I have to say that I feel a bit overwhelmed by the looks of BP too. There are several books included that don't interest me in the least. I also have no interest in the spine 'A Child's Story of America'. Unfortunately, I didn't know this until AFTER I bought it and flipped through it a couple of days ago. BP interested me b/c it seemed more streamlined than WP and it was so much cheaper. I also wanted to use Hakim's 'A History of US' series and knew BP year 3 scheduled it. I also like the fact that the program included world history and not just American history. I'm not giving up hope on this, but I'm definitely going to have to tweak it to make it a good fit. (Sigh.) Definitely, don't read all the spines. Pick one or two and forget the others. I've heard many moms say that when it comes to BP, don't try to do it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIN Posted August 8, 2008 Author Share Posted August 8, 2008 I'm definitely going to have to tweak it to make it a good fit. This is where I'm at too. I'm re-writing the plans on my own forms so I can keep track of what I should be reading. I just did the first 9 weeks, it looks good, and it wasn't hard to tweak. I hope it works for you and isn't too frustrating to get it laid out like you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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