S/O Threads like the footlocker thread and the like...

[Kristie in Florida]

How would you use the books? What would the assignments be? Daily or weekly essays/summaries about what they read? What would your day be like?

Small apartment and small budget means that this will most likely be my situation.

We went to the library yesterday and instituted the one art book, one history book, one poetry, one fun book, etc thing and that helped a lot. Of course my daughter needed three drawing books, you know, instead of just one. I have about one third already of my footlocker already. So far my fourth grader reads a lot and writes a few sentences or a paragraph about what she read, almost daily. Grammar, spelling, and math is separate.

So how would you use what's in your footlocker?

[FO4UR]

I think that's great.  

 

I might include a timeline for history so she can add people.events as she goes.  That, and I'd have some sort of binder or notebook for collecting science/art/etc.  

 

 

I would hesitate to add too much.  Sometimes doing the basic things (reading/writing) well is more productive than filling your footlocker (and schedule) to the brim. 

[Hunter]

Often a footlocker would include things that you think are extra important, or than help organize the library resources. So often you will start the day with your footlocker books.

 

Some people will choose more labor intensive books when they have fewer books. Back in the 90s many families had time for Saxon math, Writing Road to Reading, and Henle Latin, because they didn't have much else. A few books took almost all day.

 

My box is half art books. :-) Your daughter and I would get along well.

[Kristie in Florida]

Thanks for your replies.

 

I'm realizing that simple is better and that I don't need all the fancy curriculum. Oh, but it is so shiny!

 

I think that the first edition of TWTM will really help and I hope to get one soon. The audio lectures on writing are helping as well. I'm very fortunate and lucky that my daughter loves to read and learn so much.

 

One of my best friends is a professor and is tutoring my daughter in Latin. I would be lost without him. Later when she is older they will discuss the Great Books. I've read lots of them but it would be beneficial for her to discuss them with someone else as well.

 

I wonder what my baby will be like when he is older and what it would be like to teach him how to read. It will definitely be an adventure. I'm also planning my footlocker (technically, a small bookcase) with him in mind. Very simple.

 

I don't know what I would do without this forum!

[FO4UR]

 Back in the 90s many families had time for Saxon math, Writing Road to Reading, and Henle Latin, because they didn't have much else. A few books took almost all day.

 

 

 

 

Goodness, those 3 programs done well + library would make a stellar education.  

 

Now, Saxon is not a good fit for mine.  WRTR isn't really either, and I do know how to teach it.  And now I am making things more difficult... :lol:   As I reach middle school with my oldest, I am trying to be brutal with the cutting of the extraneous.  This makes me think.

 

 

Thanks for your replies.

 

I'm realizing that simple is better and that I don't need all the fancy curriculum. Oh, but it is so shiny!

 

I think that the first edition of TWTM will really help and I hope to get one soon. The audio lectures on writing are helping as well. I'm very fortunate and lucky that my daughter loves to read and learn so much.

 

One of my best friends is a professor and is tutoring my daughter in Latin. I would be lost without him. Later when she is older they will discuss the Great Books. I've read lots of them but it would be beneficial for her to discuss them with someone else as well.

 

I wonder what my baby will be like when he is older and what it would be like to teach him how to read. It will definitely be an adventure. I'm also planning my footlocker (technically, a small bookcase) with him in mind. Very simple.

 

I don't know what I would do without this forum!

 

It sounds like she has a great start!  

[La Texican]

It depends on what books you have and what your educational plans are. It's like making a policy and then making sure your daily choices line up with that goal. My policy is that I have my subjects that I want to teach my kids, I want them to make incremental progress in these subjects, I want them to spend a certain amount of time working each school day, I don't want it to be a struggle to get them to do their work. I have adjusted the schedule to line up with these goals. I have flexibility each day in selecting the work as long as it lines up with the policy of making progress.

 

Your bookshelf depends on your tastes. Both of my kids learned how to read using the readingeggs website. Other parents want to use books to teach reading the old fashioned way. I don't buy a lot of curriculums and switch curriculum, because money. I've only actually bought 3 books that I thought looked good that I couldn't use. But I did end up adding supplements to a curriculum after I had been working with it and I was able to post a thread on here about how it was working out with my son after he had done enough of it to see how it was working. I recieved some advice here on some appropriate supplements. I'd just suggest using what you have as long as you're making progress until you've gone on long enough to see how it's going, then don't forget to make a post asking for more specific, customized advice. When it's time to make a change if you describe exactly what's been happening you'll get some very good answers for where to go next.

[La Texican]

http://m.wikihow.com/Take-Cornell-Notes

 

eta: I use a combination of Cornell notes and The Complete Writer to ask my son to write about what he reads. The Complete Writer starts off with something like comprehension questions, then leads Ieads into narrations, which is like an oral book report, and copywork which starts with one sentence from the book and leads into studied dictation, which is copying a sentence from the book, then writing the same sentence the next day as you dictate it. At first they only remember part of the sentence, then after practice they can remember a few sentences and write them down. I found the book used for $13 and have been very happy with it. I wanted to get into studying literary elements. I bought "how to read like a professor". Eh, i should have bought "Deconstructing Penguins" instead, I'm told.