Hits & Misses for the new school year ~ care to share???

[4ofus]

I'll begin ~ Grades 4 & 5

 

Hits:

Huge dry erase maps mounted on foamboard ~ lots of spontaneous mapwork going on.

Historical fiction ~ the addition of this has made history come alive for the boys!  They LOVE it!

Prismacolor colored pencils ~ WHO KNEW???

Timers ~ super nice for keeping us "on track" ~ we're not married to them, but they are so helpful!

MCT novels ~ love the elements he's added in- footnotes & language illustrations.  

CNN Student News ~ they ask for it daily!

 

We remain happy with MM, SotW, WWE, MCT.

 

Misses:

The Paragraph Book ~ we did 2 or 3 lessons & I thought we were going to have a revolt.  For Sale.

 

 

Jury's Out:

KISS ~  I have MCT Town for this year, but am always wondering if we're not covering grammar, punctuation, format, etc., thoroughly enough.  MCT feels deep, but not wide.  I worry.  We're trying KISS for a couple of weeks.  So far, not feeling it.  I hope I can begin to feel it though, as I think it brings something useful to the table.  Even alongside MCT.

WWS ~ we're just getting our feet wet here.  Too early to judge.

 

 

Near miss:

Peter Pan.  After 1 chapter I had frustrated & fussy children.  "I didn't understand one single thing!!"  Same report after a re-read.  These are good little readers.  Rather than give up I read the first 3 chapters to them.  They finally came to understand the voice of the story & the back & forth of the action & the narrator.  Now they're taking over with confidence.  PLUS it's an interesting story.  They can't wait to see what's next.  Whew.  That was close ;). 

 

I hope to read lots of your hits & misses!

 

*eta CNN Student News*

[Desert Strawberry]

Life of Fred is a huge hit. Huge.

Having a detailed plan is a hit. I feel so much more in control, even when things go awry. We have a stomach bug, but I'm still able to pace things out without panicking.

Dick and Jane. 2nd grader is tearing them up. He loves them.

 

Misses. Hmmm. I don't think we have any.

Imitations in Writing is less stellar than I anticipated, but it's still better than WWE. My kid just hates writing. It's too bad. It's a good program.

[hsmamainva]

Hits & Misses -- Grade 9 

 

Hits --- 

 

Teen Coder -- Son loves it!!!

 

Teaching Textbooks Algebra I & Life of Fred Beginning Algebra -- Another great year already underway!  

 

Oak Meadow Geography -- See "miss" below.  ;)

 

Misses --- 

 

Runkle Geography --- Not what I was looking for; focused only on physical Geography, not people / cultures

Switched to Oak Meadow Geography (uses the Glencoe text) --- we both love it!!!

 

So/So --- 

 

All other curriculum choices earned a "meh" -- not bad, not great 

 

(Smarr's Introduction to Literature; Holt Biology; Visual Link Spanish)

 

.................

 

For my special needs 5th grader, McRuffy 3rd grade is a HUGE hit!!!  Love their curriculum!  (We're using it for science, math & English).  And she loves Beautiful Feet's Geography through Literature -- so two big thumbs up!

 

No misses for her this year.  :)

 

[Hoot]

Hits

 

• OM World Geography.  DS seriously loves this.  A LOT!
• Working together in the office everyday.  This has been great.
• Being super SUPER organized.
• Using a weekly syllabus and only using Scholaric to record grades.  The control freak in me wants a daily schedule, but DS loves the weekly syllabus idea better.
• Having classes denoted as either "morning" or "afternoon."  Our 3 morning classes are everyday classes.  The afternoon classes can rotate daily depending on how much time he wants to delve into a given subject.
• Spreading Analytical Grammar over the whole year instead of cramming it into 10 weeks.
• Bible - The book DS chose looks boring as all get out, but he really likes it.  Go figure.
• Only having DS do the "Factual" questions for Bible and then using the "Thought" questions as discussion points.

Misses

• I'm not thrilled with OM English 9.  I've had to add a TON to it to even make it remotely acceptable.  Had we just done it as is, we would have been done in 3 months.

Not Sure Yet

• Apologia Biology - DS is doing a co-op class and I'm worried that he's not ready for it.
• IEW SWI-C - I'm really, REALLY hoping this doesn't overwhelm me but we won't start it until our research paper unit is done so I won't know for awhile.

[Moxie]

Hit--

 

Tearing apart my 2nd graders books. He handle 5 worksheets much better than 5 huge workbooks.

 

Possible miss--

 

SCM geography. I'm going to have to tweak it and I'm busy! I wanted to hand it to them and let them go. Grrrr.

 

ETA: I read the directions in the SCM book and things are going much better now. Lesson learned!

[laughing lioness]

 I LOVE the map on foam board idea. Is is flat? Can you link a picture?

 

Hits- not starting school as of yet. nk. We're starting in a couple of weeks- still have to finish the attic and pain the basement floor, along with some other hard core tasks.

 

[Soror]

We are half-way through our 7th week here. I am pretty well pleased w/ everything we are using except our religion program. I did switch math for dd a few weeks into the year but I had went back and forth several times so it wasn't a surprising move. With ds' math I am using the same programs I have planned but the pacing and prioritizing aren't exactly what I originally scheduled. I had planned for RS to be our primary program this year but yet again that isn't going to work as it isn't challenging enough. I might add in another program but right now we are going to use what I have and then go from there.

 

eta details:

dd:

LoE Foundations- great program- I was nervous this summer w/ the length of lessons and pacing but they remedied my concerns when they went from the beta version to publication

 

RSB- This is going swimmingly so far. I have all the copies pre-made this time, which was a huge source of frustration last time. I am also taking things as quickly or as slowly as needed. We spent a week playing math games and working on learning the tens facts. I am much more comfortable with the curriculum and modifying it as needed, expanding and condensing where needed.

 

ds:

Math: RSE, BA 3C,3D and 4A, HoE. RSE doesn't seem to have enough depth, thankfully BA makes up for this. WE currently have 1 chapter left in BA3C, which we will probably smoke through pretty fast as he already knows the basics. I wish I wouldn't have spent so much time going through the end of RSD this summer, worrying that we had missed anything. I hope that I can figure out how to *do* BA this year while keeping review. I guess it is just as well we didn't get through more BA as their publication schedule has slowed anyway.

 

Grammar: So far we are both loving MCT. I love the whole to parts approach. I am thrilled that I have worked on educating myself in grammar as it has made our studies much more rich and effective.

 

WWE3- We are still enjoying WWE although at this point I feel ds is ready for more.

 

Writing and Rhetoric 1: Narrative- We are only on the second lesson so it too soon to tell- this is the more we've added to writing.

 

Spelling and Phonics- LoE Essentials, this is a fabulous program. LOVE it.

 

History- Mom-made middle ages, currently tweaking. I didn't have near enough books for our study on vikings and relying on the library is a headache. I didn't plan a spine and still don't want to use one in the traditional fashion- ie 1 Chapter a day or such as it seems so stilted and choppy but I do like having a spine to step back and see the larger picture at times.

 

Science- The Elements- we've enjoyed this, great introduction which is meaty but also kid-friendly in its presentation. We are however ready to move forward at this point. I believe we will hit our Gems guides next but I'll decide for certain next week on break.

[Gentlemommy]

I'll play, even though we are only a week in lol.

 

For dd8 (3rd grade)

Hits-

Beast Academy HUGE HUGE HIT! She asks for everyday.

Cursive writing, not real curriculum, just using a workbook, copy work, and some scholastic ebooks

DEAR (drop everything and read) time

Art (again not a particular curriculum, but picture/artist study and quality paint)

Story of the world, she also asks for this daily

Rod and Staff spelling. Spelling is our nemesis, she struggles with anything LA related. For whatever reason, she is doing well with R and S though. It's just enough without being overwhelming, and she is actually retaining the things she is studying.

 

For dd5 (k/1st grade)

Miquon and Crods-but of course I knew that, they were a huge hit with dd1 as well. I love Miquon more and more...

Etc

Reading picture books alternating with her phonics)

 

For dd2

Having special mom time for picture books and 'tot school' activities while the bigs do independent work.

Having set play times with each sister, They each play with her for one 15 minute session and read to her for another 15 minutes.

 

 

Meh so far-

For dd8 CWP 3. It's hard work for her, but she is capable of doing it if I sit and help her focus.

 

 

 

For all of us-

Having a detailed schedule, with times, posted on the wall. They have things to DO at all times until 4 pm. It includes snack,rest, and entertain sister (2 years old) times. Everyone is getting the one on one time they need with mom, everyone pitches in with chores, the toddler is kept busy, I'm not being interrupted, and the one schooling has peace and quiet. We are actually getting to the extras now, art, music, experiments, projects.

 

Circle time to start the school day. We do bible, read alouds, memory work, and chat on a blanket on the floor. It's makes for a really nice way to start the day!

 

Tea time with read alouds and poetry every afternoon. They absolutely love this! The big girls are allowed to watch a video while the toddler naps, and it was always a struggle to transition out of that when she woke up. Now they look forward to her getting up because we set the table with linens and candles and flowers, make fancy tea and cookies, and use the fancy china. They beg for this all the time.

 

Plugging the iPad and phone in in my room. I'm not tempted to return a text or check here and I'm more focused and engaged with them.

[Gentlemommy]

I forgot the misses lol.

 

Really the only thing that is still a struggle is writing for dd8. She really has a hard time with the physical aspect. We are using LLATL, and I have to break up the copywork (3 sentences) into two days. It's just plain hard, but I suspect there are some underlying issues with writing anyway, so...I've gotten some good ideas here and will continue to try to find better ways to accommodate and teach. I'm thinking I may teach her typing to help with the physical aspect.

[Arboreal TJ]

Hits: Miquon, FLL (I had no idea my boys would love memorizing poetry so much!). Anything with coloring pages i.e. SOTW, TGS, SSL.

 

Misses: MEP, 2 days in and they mutinied.

[mommymilkies]

Hits:

 

Grammar Voyage

AAS (as usual)

Apples & Pears (as usual)

Lukeion workshops

McHenry's The Elements

GSWL

History of US audio

Stanford's Reading Like a Historian (beware, though, for age appropriateness.  I thought it was supposed to be this age range, but I really find it unnecessary to talk about ritual prostitution and sexual favors in relation to Lewis & Clark's treatment of Natives.  Trust me, it was unnecessary to the topic.).

 

Misses: 

Patty Paper Geometry.  We are SOOOOO not discovery learners, apparently.  Hate it.  Love playing with patty paper, though.  K12 Intermediate Literature.  We will probably do a little more, but I'm not impressed so far.

 

Not sure yet:

Oak Meadow 7 for the big kids.  I'm really disappointed in the print quality.  I bought it new through them and there are SOOOOO many typos, printing errors, words left out, pixelated pictures, etc.  For over $100, I expected better.  The content is ok, though.

 

Also not sure of Stottlemeir's Discovery.  Not terribly great to use outside of a group setting.  Some of the discussion questions are rather stupid or contrived, etc. I'm hoping it improves.

 

RFWP Aesop grammar books for my 3rd grader.  I can't tell if it's just her.  I think they're ok, but we aren't very far in yet.

 

MCT Search Trilogy-my daughter hates Treasure Island and we accidently read them out of order, so that's making the essays more difficult.

[Guest]

We are about to finish up our 6th week.

 

Hits:

• Singapore math for both kiddos (whew!)
• Spell to Write and Read
• IEW - my son loves doing his IEW! We are using the All Things Fun & Fascinating book
• Abeka Phonics (1st)
• I Can Do All Things art - we do this everyday and the kids love it.

 

Not quite a miss, but still:

• R&S Grammar - my son was actually doing pretty good with it, but the Bible aspect of it was grating on me. ("The Lord smote the firstborn" in 3rd grade grammar? Really?) We have Abeka ordered and I know that we will do better with that; we've used it in the past. The workbook aspect will allow him to work more on his other writing - IEW, notebooking, etc., instead of spending his precious energy on copying all those sentences. ;)
• I am very underwhelmed with MFW Adventures. :( The first few weeks I've tried tweaking and adding stuff to it, and ended up more frustrated. I decided I'd rather just complete the program, as written, and be underwhelmed than burn myself out and end up nowhere. I am really hoping by the end of the year that I'll consider it a hit!
• HOD was a miss for us this year, just because my 3rd grader didn't fit into any programs. (We almost completed Bigger last year, and he wasn't ready for Preparing)

 

[Heidi]

Only in week 5, but here it is:

 

Hits: classical writing- Aesop, MP's classical studies for 3rd and 4th grade, doing R&S orally and combined, HWT, SWR, MM, LC1.

 

Misses: Classical Composition-fable, New American Cursive, R&S English as written.

[trulycrabby]

Hits:

Singapore Math

Lively Latin

Rod and Staff English

Science- We are using Mr. Q's free downloadable life science textbook, Houghton Mifflin Science, BFSU Eementary Science Education, and video/dvd supplements. I actually like the HM Science book, even though it is written for publc schoolS, DS9 likes the chapters and it serves well as a starting point for additional learning. I like the suggested reading sections in BFSU, they are mostly living books which DS loves.

 

Not Sure Yet:

I almost hate to say it, but we haven't been thrilled with All About Spelling. Mind you, I think the books are fabulous, but DS9 has no patience or interest in learning the rules of spelling. He likes a list of words to memorize, test, then move on. Also, starting the program in 4th grade was not ideal, and he gets bored with the easier words in Level 2, so we just go over the Level 2 spelling rules, then do a lesson from Level 4. I know we aren't supposed to skip around, but it's working for us.

[alicai]

Thus far our hits are:

 

SOTW 1 - they ask for it and love the activities.

Real Science Odyssey - both love it

Complete Book of Maps and Geography - dd liked it so well she squirreled it away to her bedroom to work on it

MM - this is a hit for me because of the thorough quality instruction and because dd can do it largely independently

ETC - working great for my Kinder

GD Italic handwriting - my dd has beautiful hw

 

Jury's Out:

WWE2

Beast Academy - I think it's great and she likes it. I suspect she's just not ready for it.

RS math - I thought that this would be a great fit for my K. She seems underwhelmed but it's early yet.

The Learnables Spanish - they think its boringish but I think it's going to be effective if we stick with it.

[Mom2TheTeam]

 

We are about to finish up our 6th week.

 

Hits:

• Singapore math for both kiddos (whew!)
• Spell to Write and Read
• IEW - my son loves doing his IEW! We are using the All Things Fun & Fascinating book
• Abeka Phonics (1st)
• I Can Do All Things art - we do this everyday and the kids love it.

 

Not quite a miss, but still:

• R&S Grammar - my son was actually doing pretty good with it, but the Bible aspect of it was grating on me. ("The Lord smote the firstborn" in 3rd grade grammar? Really?) We have Abeka ordered and I know that we will do better with that; we've used it in the past. The workbook aspect will allow him to work more on his other writing - IEW, notebooking, etc., instead of spending his precious energy on copying all those sentences. ;)
• I am very underwhelmed with MFW Adventures. :( The first few weeks I've tried tweaking and adding stuff to it, and ended up more frustrated. I decided I'd rather just complete the program, as written, and be underwhelmed than burn myself out and end up nowhere. I am really hoping by the end of the year that I'll consider it a hit!
• HOD was a miss for us this year, just because my 3rd grader didn't fit into any programs. (We almost completed Bigger last year, and he wasn't ready for Preparing)

 

 

Interesting.  We are in week 7 of Adv.  We are "underwhelmed" also. My kids keep begging for more.  We finished The Courage of Sarah Noble today, which wasn't supposed to be done till the end of week 8.  When I finished my son said, "That's it??  That was so short."  :(  Now, I have to find a new read aloud till end of next week. I'm in the process of buying a ton of books to add.  Our library is not great with the book basket books this year.  That is not helping the problem.  I'm buying some of the books from the book basket list.  But, I'm buying all the Beautiful Feet Early American Primary books that my library doesn't have...which is most of them.  Some of them overlap with things in the Adv package or on the book list.  I'm buying the guide too because I need a reading schedule or we won't do it.  I'm not good at just doing it.  I'm going to merge the two programs.  It also seems there is more suggestions for writing in BF.  I know someone else who added these books.  I'm really hoping this is going to save Adv for me. I wouldn't say Adv is a miss.  My kids are enjoying it and are retaining.  There just isn't enough content and I would like more notebooking with specifically history.  I'm going to work on adding that myself...I'm just not great at adding my own stuff...I can add other programs, like WWE, but adding other work I'm not very good at yet.  Also, I'm trying to do the science and it just isn't for us.  I have Apologia...but that's not getting done either.  Science...*sigh*  Back to Magic School Bus.  LOL!!  (They get some science, just not as much as I'd like.) Honestly, I'm really, really sad about the whole thing.  When I found MFW before K, Adv was the program that I was most looking forward to.  It's a big bummer for it not to live up to my expectations, especially since I loved, loved, loved 1st. 

 

So far, everything else is a hit.  :)

 

[Guest]

Oh, Heather! Sounds like we need to do some brainstorming together, lol! I am going to go look at the Beautiful Feet stuff....

[Mom2TheTeam]

Oh, Heather! Sounds like we need to do some brainstorming together, lol! I am going to go look at the Beautiful Feet stuff....

 

Go check it out!  I also have a couple of books from HOD Beyond and Bigger on my short list...a few I can get at my library, one or two for free online and I have at least one or two in my cart at Rainbow.  (Rainbow is the cheapest for all this stuff, BTW, especially because of the free shipping.  I priced it at other CBD, which doesn't have everything, and BF directly and Amazon has some but not all.)  I know you probably have those because you said you did Bigger last year.

 

PM me if you want to chat about it.  :D

[Delirium]

Big hit on Analytical Grammar for my kiddo. I was thrilled to the point I even made a FB status update about it.

[SemiSweet]

We are in week 3 but we schooled on and off through the summer so we're technically at week 7.  

 

So far our hits are:

Intellego Unit Study on Ancient Rome, we are using this in conjunction with SOTW and have been completely immersed

Shurley English (it's not the kids' favorite thing to do but I really feel like they are getting a lot out of it)

GSWL

Kingfisher Geography/notebooking

 

Not sure about:

Singapore Math (I don't love how teacher intensive it is, and the kids don't love it either, but I really WANT to love it)

WWE3 (it's a little dry)

 

Misses:

Time4Learning (before I decided to block schedule science and history were overwhelming, so we signed up and I really wasn't impressed)

[SorrelZG]

I am so thankful I found the SCM history guides. The first one has been proving to be exactly what I needed as a core for ancient history this year. It schedules books I had and wanted to use while staying light enough that it is easy to get done and get to other books we have and wanted to include.

 

My children love the AO books.

 

My oldest cannot get enough history or historical fiction so having my Yesterday's Classics and Heritage History books on hand has been proving a blessing. I was anti-historical fiction but .. So much for that.

 

Lively Latin. The child actually wants to do Latin. He even asks to do it for longer than the scheduled time. It's the history, see? And to think all that included history is the reason I didn't consider LL earlier.

 

My math plans - a mix of vintage texts, living math, group drill work, and iPad math apps - has my talented math hater enjoying math.

 

The Classical Writing Aesop core text continues to be great as a supplement (rather than as a weekly routine). I can't truly comment on WWE 2 because we start that next week but I'm excited and expecting good things.

 

Keeping science informal and interest driven has been a hit, along with dropping the separate formal grammar program this year. Neither subject is neglected.

[thebacabunch]

Hits: Miquon, FLL (I had no idea my boys would love memorizing poetry so much!). Anything with coloring pages i.e. SOTW, TGS, SSL.

 

Misses: MEP, 2 days in and they mutinied.

Right?  My autistic 8 year old LOVES memorizing the poems and really likes FLL.  Who knew?

[daffodil]

Everything is going well, but Beast Academy and Song School Latin are the biggest hits.

[wingedradical]

Hits: IEW-c (after a rocky start - she thought the first lessons were below her but now she is seeing value and likes Mr. Padewa)

 

Spectrum Chemistry - so far a hit. We've done 2 weeks of book and labs.

 

Child Development from a college book by Cook and Cook - BIG hit. It is the most trouble for me because there is not TG and I have to pick and choose to some degree. 

 

No misses, as of yet; she is not sure about Windows to the World. But I expected a little balk at the annotation at first. I think it is great.

 

The rest is adequate.

 

Whoever suggested learning to take notes by listening to the nightly news, thank you! Her note taking has improved enormously in just 2 weeks, along with her knowledge of current events.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Poke Salad Annie]

Jury's Out:

KISS ~  I have MCT Town for this year, but am always wondering if we're not covering grammar, punctuation, format, etc., thoroughly enough.  MCT feels deep, but not wide.  I worry.  We're trying KISS for a couple of weeks.  So far, not feeling it.  I hope I can begin to feel it though, as I think it brings something useful to the table.  Even alongside MCT.

 

 

Near miss:

Peter Pan.  After 1 chapter I had frustrated & fussy children.  "I didn't understand one single thing!!"  Same report after a re-read.  These are good little readers.  Rather than give up I read the first 3 chapters to them.  They finally came to understand the voice of the story & the back & forth of the action & the narrator.  Now they're taking over with confidence.  PLUS it's an interesting story.  They can't wait to see what's next.  Whew.  That was close ;). 

 

 

I think it can be hard to *get* KISS at first, but sticking with it will have payoffs. 

 

As for Peter Pan, we loved the audiobook version read by Jim Dale.  Completely captivating!   If all else fails, give that version a try.

[foxbridgeacademy]

Hits-

RSO BIO 2 and our new microscope are the stars of our day.

K12 HO/ Oxfords World series/ and CTT History are still well received (BBC video about Caesar gets 5 stars)

Getting his own computer so he doesn't have to wait on me.

Spanish (VLS and DIY) who knew the kid would enjoy it? I figured I'd have to push a lot to get him to practice.

 

Misses-

Lial's Pre-Alg., so not working for us. Going to try something else next week, so no more math this week

 

Everything else is in wait and see mode.

[Heathermomster]

Four weeks in...

5yo DD --- Everything, LOE, Essentials, and MUS Primer, is a hit.

13 yo 8th grader --- Replaced BP Year 2 Advanced with Spielvogel Human Odyssey and side readings. BP was a total waste of money for us.

[Sobeknofret]

Hits:

Song School Latin-- This is the one I expected to be a miss, but he loves it!

T4L Language Arts

 

Mixed:

Beast Academy-- He reads the book, spends some time sobbing over the problems, suddenly goes, "Oh! I get it!" and rips through the remainder of the problems with no problem. He just gets it into his head that it's too hard for him, and then the light clicks. Weirdest thing I've ever seen, tbh.

[sbgrace]

4th grade:

 

Hits:

Apples and Pears--I'm incredibly happy with the progress my weak speller is making; I switched to this a couple of months ago.

MCT (I think...we're not far in)

Essentials in Writing (it's really nice to have the video instruction and it's painless for the boys; we are not doing the grammar part).

No More I'm Done (this is geared younger, but I'm using the lesson plans. I started it this summer. It's been so enjoyable, and the concepts are really sticking).

 

Misses:

Math Mammoth. Math became dread and frustration so we're going back to Math in Focus. I wish it had worked!

Dance Mat Typing--enjoyable and free; but the amount of practice with introduced keys is not nearly enough for any type of mastery before new letters are taught in my opinion. I just don't get it. I'll have to buy something.

 

Things we're using that are longer standing, and I still consider them hits:

Core Knowledge for science, Telling God's Story for bible, Process Skills and Problem Solving by Singapore (love how it guides through word problems)

 

We're also continuing with HWOT, WWE, and CWP. I'm going to try to go back to more CK material for various subjects that I just don't cover anymore right now. We'll see.

 

We're going to start SOTW for the first time soon. I hope that works well. I also purchased Wordsmith Apprentice, and hope it's a hit.

 

 

 

 

[Mandy in TN]

We are wrapping up week 4 of my 10yo’s official 2013-2014 school year. We did some school over the summer and ramped up for two weeks prior to the official Mon., July 29^th official start.

 

 

Hit--

Tearing apart my 2nd graders books. He handle 5 worksheets much better than 5 huge workbooks.
 

THIS!!!

 

Hits---

Doodle really, really likes his folder.  Instead of a weekly spreadsheet, I had the bindings cut off of everything and hole punched the material. I divided the material into weeks, sorted by subject, and inserted colored paper as dividers. Then, I put each week into a two pocket folder with brads. He says that he likes everything that is in his folder.

 

This includes:

Holt Skills Practice (coordinates with Elements of Language Introductory Course)

MCP Plaid Word Study F

MCP Spelling Workout F

Evan Moor Daily Paragraph Editing 5

Evan Moor Read and Understand Poetry, Grades 5-6+ 

EMC Write-in Reader, Grade 6, Redwood Level 

CHOLL Guides and other guides

Evan Moor Daily Math Practice, Grade 6

World Geography and You, Book 2 Eastern Hemisphere

Conceptual Physical Science Practice Book

Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way Student Guide

 

I also stuck in a page telling him what to do in his history text and a sheet of paper to write the answers to the section questions.

 

Misses---

I don’t like Holt Elements of Language or the coordinating Holt Skills Practice. It is what Calvert uses and I read a review that referred to the Holt program as the heir apparent to Warriner's grammar which is what I had considered using but decided I didn't want to go looking for OOP texts. I am going to stick it out for the year and maybe my opinion will improve. The problem is that the 6th grade text begins with a review of subjects and predicates and then loops back to cover nouns. Huh? I am just not feeling the love for this sequence. Oh, and the workbook pages are very, very full, top to bottom, with fairly small font. Doodle isn’t complaining. I just don’t like it.

 

I don’t like the Practice Book for Conceptual Physical Science. I wish I had a teaching guide that coordinated it with the text, included answers, and gave me bullet points to focus on. Again, Doodle isn’t complaining.

 

Not Sure Yet---

His Write at Home composition course doesn’t start until next week and we won’t begin a new math text until the week of Labor Day, so I cannot yet comment on these two.

 

Mandy

 

[KarenNC]

The only miss we have currently is Plato Physical Science. She's just not retaining enough, so I've ordered Holt Physical Science textbooks, which have worked well for us in the past. Looks like all online is not our best option. Luckily the other things we're trying with major online components also have physical parts. I have decided to postpone Big History until next year---just too much going on in the schedule.

 

We'll have to give it a few weeks to see if there are other hits/misses.

[warneral]

Just started this week.  So far:

 

Hits:

BJU Science 5 (because science is getting done!  no dvd's)

OneNote plans (I spent the summer putting together detailed plans and it really helps me stay accountable, feel confident , and have the resources I need at my fingertips!

 

Not Sure:
Hake Grammar.  I'm not sure the presentation works for us.  We are used to (and liked) Rod and Staff.  The lesson doesn't have much visual separation.  I paid quite a bit of $ for it so we will give it more time.  I do like the vocab and continual review of previously reviewed topics.

[helena]

We're only 4 days in but I think it's safe to say Art of Argument is going to be a big hit. They light up when I take it out (a teacher mama's dream!)

 

My 11yo seems a little disappointed that History Odyssey Modern 1 uses SOTW. She was ready to move on from that... so we'll see how it goes.

 

Tomorrow we try out my new amazing, fantastic ( :tongue_smilie:) artsy friday thing I put together.

It took me all summer to put together.

They better love it.  ;)

[crazyforlatin]

Hits:

 

W&R Fable

Beast 4A

Zaccaro's Becoming a Problem-Solving Genius

 

 

We school year-round so the rest of the books are not considered new, although most things we've bought in 2013 have been hits. I just got Apologia Chemistry/Physics but we've only read the section on Simple Machines. It's good as a reference guide for DD, as that's what we use with all Apologia books, but for physics, she prefers The New Way Things Work (that mammoth of course).

[BakersDozen]

Only hits here but then I'm on my second "round" of middle school and elementary so weeded out the misses long ago.  All of our curricula this year is good yet some stands out and is enjoyed more.

 

Elementary level:

 

All Things Fun and Fascinating (tweaked a bit as I like the way I do it better, lol)

Sentence Family

 

Middle School level:

 

All American History

Chem 101 DVDs

Chalk Dust Pre-Algebra

Jump In Writing

 

High School level:

 

Jump Right In (Computer Skills)

Economics in a Box

Chem 101 DVDs

GPB Chemistry

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

For dd7 -

 

Hits:  Homeschooling!  She's so happy to be home, and she's doing a great job of cooperating.  So far so good.  

 

As far as actually doing the work - it's all pretty much meh, except for LOE which she actively dislikes.  I'm sticking with it, though, because she has got to learn phonics & spelling, and she hates OPGTR & any other phonics program I've tried even more.  I tell her I hate cleaning the bathroom, but I have to do it anyway.

 

She puts up with WWE, MM, LOF but doesn't love them.  

 

She loves reading about horses (fiction & nonfiction), and she loves Magic Schoolbus & Schoolhouse Rock. 

 

Misses:  LOE - according to her.  Also my carefully constructed world geography plans!  Gave those up, and I'm just reading aloud fiction & nonfiction as she chooses

 

DD10 - 

 

Hits - Zaccaro's The 10 Things All Future Mathemeticians and Scientists Must Know - she loves this, and is already quoting it ("But I like cheese!" has become family shorthand for wishful thinking)

 

HIstory without a text

 

Writing across the curriculum

 

Misses - the whole 20th century, which she finds depressing!  We've been studying immigration & women's suffrage.  next unit will be on art, so that should be a bit more cheerful.  But I fear it will be a looooong year . . . 

 

[Mom2OandE]

So far we have no complaints. We are on Week 3 of MFW-ECC and my only thought is as much as I'm supplementing I could have really designed my own year. However, it is nice having so much planned already.

 

Our biggest hit is walking away from workbooks in favor of note booking and projects.

[4ofus]

This is so much fun to read & informative too!  As a result of this thread I've learned of several books I was unfamiliar with :)  AND I've got Zaccaro's Becoming a Problem-Solving Genius & 10 Things on their way to us via Amazon right now.  

 

Laughing Lioness, I'll happily post a pic of our maps ~ I just have to take one & then figure out how to post or link to it :).  Check back often!  Haha!  And yes, it's flat.  We store it by sliding it behind the bookcase.  LOVE!

[Chrysalis Academy]

Awright, this is ridiculous - dd7 hates LOE, the workbook part, but she loves the little games - she's had us play the phonogram board game 7 times in the last 2 days.  So, I'm breaking down and buying the game book!!  I am so not a fun mom.  I'm feeling very grinchy about this.  But a happy smiling 7 yo is maybe worth it??

[crazyforlatin]

Another book that is a hit is the sample of MOH Volume 3. :D. We're done with the sample.

 

I'm just not sure about a $45 history book, given that I have all of the OUP books, with one of the 2 sets at only about $40.

[airforcefamily]

Sonlight has been a big hit. It's great to just open and go (after a quick planning session once a week) then check the boxes, no second guessing myself if I have everything done.

 

Handwriting without tears has been a miss. The kids find the font awkward and I don't really care for it either. It's already been put away in favor of different workbooks.

[prairiegirl]

We are finishing up wk 3 and, so far, have no misses but we do have one 'jury is still out' program.

 

Hits

For 9th grade: Apologia Biology, Jacobs Elementary Algebra, TOG (using it the way that works for us, not the way that it is written)

For 7th grade: Latina Ponti,  Mother Tongue,

For 5th grade: MUS, Discovering Nature, Partnership Writing

 

Jury is Still Out

Classical Composition--we just haven't used it long enough to see if it is going to work or not

[musicianmom]

MCT Town: huge hit, especially Caesar's English. We're slowing down to half-speed now, because dd has writing assignments from outside classes that are taking up school time. It's meaty enough to stretch across 3rd and 4th grade.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Well, I guess we add MM to the hits list for dd7 - at dinner last night, she said, "I'm really starting to like Math Mammoth.  Can I do some more after dinner?"   Um, sure?  And she proceeded to tear through 4 more pages, scoffing that it was really easy.  I guess her math confidence is back!  Time to accelerate a bit, I'm thinking?

[mama25angels]

Well, I guess we add MM to the hits list for dd7 - at dinner last night, she said, "I'm really starting to like Math Mammoth.  Can I do some more after dinner?"   Um, sure?  And she proceeded to tear through 4 more pages, scoffing that it was really easy.  I guess her math confidence is back!  Time to accelerate a bit, I'm thinking?

:hurray: 

[scrapbabe]

Hits:

Learn Math Fast

McRuffey Math

Chalk Pastel Tutorials http://www.hodgepodge.me/2011/01/pastels-plus-links-to-tutorials/

Sassafras Science Adventures

Sequential Spelling

Game Design 1

[IHaveNoIdeawhatIAmDoing]

Hits

OPGTR

Adventures in America

Math Mammoth

 

Misses

Handwriting Without Tears

Math U See

Printing With Pictures

Happy Phonics

[Guest]

Hits:

 

IEW SWI B (LOVE IEW)

SL CORE F read alouds & readers

IEW Phonetic Zoo

Apologia General Science and Zoology 2 w/notebooks

MUS

Apples and Pears Spelling

 

 

Misses:

 

Sonlight Core F History ~ Not loving the world book as a spine.

 

 

 

[Jackie]

We're only doing pre-k and have mostly just continued what we already were working on, but we've had a couple notables:

 

Spiraling with Bob books is going fantastically. We started over with set 1 to work our way back through before starting set 3 and partway through the Kindergarten Sight Words set something just clicked and my daughter went from decoding to reading with fluency and expression!

 

We're only doing a few activities from Five in a Row, but she is showing great patience with learning new and sometimes complex topics when they're tied to a picture book.

 

Critical Thinking Company pre-k workbooks are our sort-of miss. DD does like them, but they are really far too easy for her - she never struggles with a single question and isn't learning anything from them.

[NicAnn]

Hits:

-Singapore Math in Focus. We stopped Standards to try out MIF and I love it.

-First Language Lessons. I enjoy it and the lessons are short enough to keep DD interested.

 

 

Misses- nothing really. We are trying Calvert science and I'm not impressed. But the book is colorful and we can heavily supplement from the library and hands on things.