Has anyone used Layers of Learning?

[Hunter]

Moi? Set in my ways? Naaaaaaaawwww. ;)

 

I think we'll be fine starting in year 2. I wish i could see a bigger sample from year 2. I am going to email them.

 

There are bits about the authors not agreeing with testing of young children, and what parts of the curriculum you should focus on when time crunched, and tips on compositions. You'll be fine without all that.

 

And your children are not at ground zero with basic content knowledge, so they will be able to handle not having covered foundational topics with THIS curriculum.

 

I couldn't hop into year 2 with most of my students, though, even if they had just listened to SOTW 1 and were anxious to start the next phase of history. They wouldn't have the geography, science and art background to be fully ready for year 2 topics. If I were doing this with a large family and had to fold in 1st and 2nd graders as they reached school age I would. I'd just make the best of it and know they would be reading and ready to really learn by the time we got to year 1. But, I'd really like to start older and struggling students in year 1.

[NittanyJen]

This is a complete hijack, but I had to respond :)

 

There are three really fun books to address the extreme sizes of things for kids:

 

Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There Is?

How do You Lift a Lion?

What is Smaller Than a Pygmy Shrew?

 

They are very cute and do a fun job of introducing the scale of the very large and very small :)

 

For Physics without math, as I saw earlier on the thread, look at almost any of the books used by NOEO Physics levels 1 & 2; that is one of the reasons I refused to use it-- I wanted my kids to have the math as I see physics and math as being pretty inseparable.  But the resources they use are pretty fun including the Simon Basher books.  Also, the K'Nex Education building sets are awesome-- levers, inclined planes and pulleys, and the others will have kids building everything from working scissors (well, they won't cut, but they will open and close) to a crank car window to a blender and a phonograph player to explore simple machines.  No math needed.  It comes with a teacher DVD in case you want to get into some explanation with them.  The Science Wiz kits are excellent and come with all the parts you need-- the color kit is outstanding for the really young kids, Light is good fun. There is also Electricity and Inventions.  Snap Circuits are also good physics fun.

 

 

I'm such an idea person instead of a fact person that it never would occur to me to teach the facts about each planet (I assume size, length of a year, range of temperatures, etc were what you were thinking about). Partly because those kind of facts aren't interesting to me, so I forget that some people do like them. Partly because, sure, I could tell my kids that Jupiter is 86,881 miles in diameter, but that number is so large, it doesn't really mean anything to a young child. It doesn't even mean that much to me, actually. I can't visualize 86,881 miles. Telling kids that more than 1000 Earths can fit inside Jupiter gets a little closer to interesting. But without understanding that the Earth is pretty big compared to the small bit of the world they've seen, it still doesn't really impress on a child how big Jupiter is. This is when scale models are useful (but very difficult, especially if you want to do a scale model that also shows how far each planet is from the sun). But with that sort of project, you get into time spent vs utility.

So, I'm like you in terms of what I want my kids to get out of a study of planets: focus on a few big ideas. I'd say I'd be happy for my kids to: know what a planet is (and I would actually teach that by teaching those facts about Earth: Earth is an extremely large spherical object, Earth revolves around the sun, etc), know that there are eight planets, familiarity with their names. And I'd probably throw in something about how, of the eight planets, only Earth can support life. Learning about planets is the sort of thing that would come after learning about living vs non-living things, after learning about the needs of living things, after learning about Earth being a sphere and mapping, and after day/night and seasons.

And, honestly, the most interesting thing about planets for my kids is when I point them out in the night sky. "Hey kids, see that bright dot by the moon? It looks like a star, but that's really Mars. Do you see how it looks a little reddish instead of white? Mars is sometimes called 'the red planet', why do you think it got that name? Mars is actually larger than our moon, but it's so far away that it looks really tiny, doesn't it?"

I like your idea of choosing three main ideas to teach about a subject. Simplifying that way makes doing my own thing for science without a great library seem more feasible.

 

And none of this has to do with LoL, really. But it's giving me some good ideas to ponder...

 

[Hunter]

I think I'm going to try using Learning Language Arts Through Literature with LoL. I'm going to try and use the LLATL book units when the LoL arts are not focused on literature as an art. So that will mean occasionally changing the order of LLATL or LoL, but that shouldn't be a problem, hopefully.

 

I'm really having a problem finding historical fiction titles at my library for each unit. I'm either going to have to invest in a book for each unit, or use books that have nothing to do with the unit topics. This is one of the reasons I'm thinking of going ahead with LLATL and just give up altogether on coordinating literature with the his/geo/sci/art. I'm not trying to coordinate Bible with the LoL units either. It's just not worth my planning time. I'm just going to use Stick Figuring through the Bible, I think–one lesson a week.

 

So I'm kinda thinking that for every week (5 lessons) of LLATL lessons, I will do 4 hours of LoL and 1 hour of Bible. It looks awfully tidy. We'll see how it looks in practice, though. As we all know, theory and practice are two very different things. Sigh!

[Hunter]

I am looking for a Bible curriculum that is a complete overview of the Bible in 80 or less lessons, with lessons that can be completed in an hour or less.

 

The Little Ones Curriculum at Calvary Chapel is 51 lessons covering Genesis through Christ.

http://www.calvarycurriculum.com/littleones-chronological.php

 

Then I can pick and choose some lessons from the epistles. Or do something topical.

http://www.calvarycurriculum.com/childrens-curriculum-nt.php

 

I think this might work for me. I'm sharing in case someone is looking for something similar.

[silver]

I know that you had found The Story to be too inconsistent in length of chapters, but you might want to look at the version "for kids" (it's the NIrV one). I'm about halfway through with my kids and have found this version to be fairly consistent chapter lengths. You could do it just as a read aloud and get an overview done in 31 lessons.

 

As you know, I had been planning on doing SOW-esque lessons with it, but I've cut it down so that we only do an oral narration for both kids and my older marks locations on a blank map and does a verse from dictation (with unknown words dictated Spalding style and explicit punctuation/capitalization given). I dictate it because his handwriting is neater when doing dictation over doing copywork and it takes less time because I'm better able to keep him focused.

[Hunter]

Silver, thank you for reminding me about The Story resources.

[Hunter]

I want to talk a little about how well these pdfs work on the iPad mini. Even the tiniest illustrations enlarge BEAUTIFULLY with no loss of focus. If anything the focus improves with enlargement.

 

Going eBook only often results in a curriculum with a bit of what I refer to "visual impoverishment". Not so with the addition of LoL. There are a LOT of illustrations. Many of them are tiny, but they all can be blown up to fill the screen and are crystal clear.

 

And guess what? I found more money today. I kid you not! Not in a book this time, but somewhere I cannot explain how it got tucked away there. Does anyone else just find money after overextending themselves on curriculum? This is the first time I have found extra money TWICE. :) I'm all set now. The first is on Friday, and I'm not going to have to take dirty laundry in the shower with me. I have quarters; I just need to use them, though.

[Hunter]

The HIStory Cloth has 42 stories. I think I'm going to condense this to 40 stories and use this each year along with 2 years of LoL.

http://historycloth.com/about/

The outlines and coloring pages are here.

http://historycloth.com/downloads/english/

 

The 42 Stories

 

1- The Spirit World Job 1:6-7, 38:6-7; Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:11-19; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6

2- Creation  Genesis 1:1-25

3- Adam and Eve Genesis 2:7-3:24

4- Cain and Abel Genesis 4:1-26

5- Noah’s Ark Genesis 5:28-11:10

6- God’s Promise to Abraham  Genesis 12, 15, 17, 18, 21

7- Abraham’s Test Genesis 22:1-19

8- God’s Plan for Israel (Jacob and Esau) Genesis 25:19-34; 27:1-30:43

9- God’s Plan for Israel (Jacob’s Dream) Genesis 28:11-22

10- God’s Fulfills His promise Genesis 29:1-35, 30:1-24

11- Jacob Wrestles with an Angel Genesis 32:1-33:11

12- Joseph Genesis 37, 39-47

13- Moses’ Early Years Exodus 1:1-22, 2:1-22

14- Moses and the Burning Bush  Exodus 2:23-4:18

15- The Plagues of Egypt Exodus 2:23-11:10

16- The Passover Exodus 11:1-13:19

17- Parting of the Red Sea Exodus 13:17-17:6

18- The Ten Commandments Exodus 20:1-18; Deuteronomy 5:6-29

19- The Golden Calf Exodus 32:1-35; 34:1-28

20- Building the Tabernacle Exodus 25-31:11

21- Promised Land  Numbers 13:1-14:45; Joshua 1:1-6:27

22- Samuel and Eli I Samuel 1:1-3:21

23- A King for the Israelites I Samuel 8:1-15:35

24- David, Solomon and the Temple 1 Samuel 16:1-13; 2 Samuel 2:4-7; 7:1-16; 1 Kings 1:29-1 Kings 7:51; 1 King 11:1- 12:20

25- Elijah on Mount Carmel I Kings 18:1-40

26- Jesus’ Coming Foretold Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 53:1-12; Micah 5:2

27- John the Baptist and Jesus’ Birth  Matthew 1:18-2:12; Matthew 3:1-12; Mark 1:1-8; Luke 1:1-2:20; John 1

28- Jesus’ Baptism Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-13; Luke 3:21-22, 4:1-13; John 1:29-34

29- The Twelve Disciples  Matthew 4:18-22; 10:3-4, Mark 1:16-20; 3:18 John 1:35-51

30- Jesus Heals the Paralytic Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26

31- The Woman at the Well John 4:1-42

32- Feeding the Five Thousand Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15

33- Casting out the Demon Matthew 17:14-21; Mark 9:14-29; Luke 9:37-43a

34- Lazarus Raised from the Dead John 11:1-44

35- Rich Young Ruler Matthew 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-30

36- Woman Washes Jesus’ Feet Luke 7:36-50

37- The Last Supper Matthew 26:17-35, Mark 14:12-31, Luke 22:1-53, John 13:1-38

38- The Trial of Jesus Matthew 26:36-75, Mark 14:10-65, Luke 22:39-23:25, John 18:1-19:16

39- Jesus’ Death  Matthew 27:32-56, Mark 15:21-47, Luke 23:26-49, John 19:17-37

40- He is Risen Matthew 27:62-28:15; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-10

41- Jesus Reappears to His Followers Matthew 28:1-20; Mark 16:9-20; Luke 24:13-49; John 20:11-21:25

42- The Ascension Matthew 18-20; Mark 16:19-20; Luke 24:51; Acts 1:6-11

 

[Hunter]

If you are doing 20 units in a year and want a complete 20 week overview, the is another similar cloth with 21 stories.

http://www.storyingscarf.com/index.htm

 

And there is a 25 week quilt that might be useful as a supplement to the above set of stories.

http://visualstorybible.org/index.php

[Hunter]

Doing a little googling, there are all sorts of 40 Day Bible reading plans for Lent and because 40 is an important number in the BIble. How lucky for us. :)

 

40 Week Plan- About 30 Chapters a Week

Week 1 Genesis 1 - 27
Week 2 Genesis 28 - end
Week 3 Exodus 1 - 34
Week 4 Exodus 35 - Leviticus 15

Week 5 Leviticus 16 - Numbers 13 

Week 6 Numbers 14 - end
Week 7 Deuteronomy
Week 8 Joshua 1 - Judges 10

Week 9 Judges 11 - end; Ruth; 1 Samuel 1 - 13 

Week 10 1 Samuel 14 - 2 Samuel 10

Week 11 2 Samuel 11 - 1 Kings 6
Week 12 1 Kings 7 - 2 Kings 5
Week 13 2 Kings 6 - 1 Chronicles 10
Week 14 1 Chronicles 11 - 2 Chronicles 2 

Week 15 2 Chronicles 3 - end

Week 16 Ezra and Nehemiah

Week 17 Esther and Job 

Week 18 Psalm 1 - 50 

Week 19 Psalm 51 - 100 

Week 20 Psalm 101 - 150 

Week 21 Proverbs

Week 22 Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs

Week 23 Isaiah 1 - 40
Week 24 Isaiah 41 - 60
Week 25 Isaiah 61 - Jeremiah 18
Week 26 Jeremiah 19 - end
Week 27 Lamentations; Ezekiel 1 - 20 

Week 28 Ezekiel 21 - end

Week 29 Daniel and Hosea
Week 30 Joel; Amos; Obadiah; Jonah; Micah; Nahum
Week 31 Habakkuk; Zephaniah; Haggai; Zechariah; Malachi 

Week 32 Matthew
Week 33 Mark
Week 34 Luke

Week 35 John
Week 36 Acts
Week 37 Romans and 1 Corinthians
Week 38 2 Corinthians; Galatians; Ephesians; Philippians; Colossians; 1 & 2 Thessalonians
Week 39 1 & 2 Timothy; Titus; Philemon; Hebrews; James

Week 40 1 & 2 Peter; 1 & 2 & 3 John; Jude; Revelation

 

 

 

 

[barnwife]

I am looking for a Bible curriculum that is a complete overview of the Bible in 80 or less lessons, with lessons that can be completed in an hour or less.

 

The Little Ones Curriculum at Calvary Chapel is 51 lessons covering Genesis through Christ.

http://www.calvarycurriculum.com/littleones-chronological.php

 

Then I can pick and choose some lessons from the epistles. Or do something topical.

http://www.calvarycurriculum.com/childrens-curriculum-nt.php

 

I think this might work for me. I'm sharing in case someone is looking for something similar.

I do a Bible overview with the ninth graders at our church. It's about 30 classes a year. We divide the Bible into 10 sections (Prehistory, Patriarchs, Exodus, Into the Promised Land, Kings and Prophets, Waiting, Gospels, Acts, Letters, and Revelation). I then choose what stories to focus on based on what the kids already know/don't know each year.

 

Those ten things remain the same though. 

 

I have no idea if that's helpful to you at all...and it certainly isn't relevant to LoL.

[Hunter]

40 Day plan to read through the Psalms.

http://tisgrace.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Psalms-40-Days-Reading-Feb-2013.pdf

[FawnsFunnyFarm]

<scratching my head>  How did this turn into to a Bible curriculum thread?

 

Just wanted to come in and say we kind of went back into break mode, I realized I wasn't as ready to start school as I thought (I forgot my kindergarten kiddo needed math and phonics figured out and got distracted with putting that together ;) )

[Hunter]

Bethlehem Books is having a 55% off sale on Saturday. They have historical fiction that is complementary with year 1 history at prices much lower than what I was looking at 2 weeks ago.

 

36 Hour Sale Beginning Friday at 12:01 am.

Our sale is on All of our print
and electronic books (even audio cds).

 

Bethlehem Books
10194 Garfield St S
Bathgate, North Dakota 58216
800-757-6831   Save 55%

Use coupon code: augustsale  

at the checkout!

 

Offer Expires: Saturday night August 9th.

[Hunter]

<scratching my head>  How did this turn into to a Bible curriculum thread?

 

Just wanted to come in and say we kind of went back into break mode, I realized I wasn't as ready to start school as I thought (I forgot my kindergarten kiddo needed math and phonics figured out and got distracted with putting that together ;) )

 

I was just posting ANY resources that people MIGHT be looking for. I was only posting schedules that line up with well with 20/40 units a year, as that is not the typical 36 week schedule and it's been a challenge for me to figure out what use for "Bible as literature" and for my Christian students who want Bible added. I am no longer a Christian, but continue to offer Bible as literature and to support my Christian students in any Mind/Body/Soul education that makes them feel healthy and whole. I consider religion to be a bit of a language of life experiences that we all share not matter the language/religion we use to discuss it. I try and talk the language of the student if I'm familiar with it.

 

I will stop posting any 40 day Bible schedules. I didn't mean to offend.

[Hunter]

Layers of learning is 20% off for all of August.

 

[FawnsFunnyFarm]

I was just confused, I thought I missed something in the guides or.... yeah I don't know.  

 

Their sale is killing me, I should not spend the money on it right now, but dang that makes it even more of a huge bargain.

 

[Hunter]

I was just confused, I thought I missed something in the guides or.... yeah I don't know.  

 

Their sale is killing me, I should not spend the money on it right now, but dang that makes it even more of a huge bargain.

 

I understand. Maybe it was too many links on one subject. It's just that Christianity is the most common religion of forum members, and the Bible is considered the most important of the Great Books or Patterning Works. I just thought it was information that a percentage of readers might want. The 20/40 week schedule is tricky for anyone wanting to add Bible.

 

Maybe in the future LoL will add a Bible supplement, but I think they might be afraid to do that all all, or at least this early.

 

My oldest son has always been an atheist and still is one. He tells me now that Morning Worship taught him more ACADEMICS and character training that he uses as an ADULT, than anything else he studied, and worries how as an atheist, that he can pass that type of learning onto his own children.

 

When going portable and almost all eBook, a small Bible is often the only hardcopy books my students have on them. I tend to use Bible as a literature book for very practical reasons.

 

I personally am going to need to put together a 40 week Bible schedule, but I don't need to post about it here. :)

[Hunter]

I was just confused, I thought I missed something in the guides or.... yeah I don't know.  

 

Their sale is killing me, I should not spend the money on it right now, but dang that makes it even more of a huge bargain.

 

Yes, the 20% off is tempting. I don't think I can swing year 2 this month, though. Money is pouring out of my account at an alarming rate this month. It doesn't help that Gateway to the Classics messed up my resubscription process and I just got charged another $50.00 and am not getting a response from them for a refund. I know summer is vacation time, BUT….

[LindaOz]

I have just found LoL and have been looking at it in-depth and reading their site for the last few days. I love it. I love the way it's set out and how much choice there is within it, the activities, the variety of subjects, the way literature is one of the arts, the flexibility of it, the multi-ageness (not a word, I know) of it, the way I could still incorporate the spines I want to use etc. I would start it right now....except.....

 

...we are partway through Early Modern in history and they are not up to that yet. So disappointing.

 

Anyone know when they plan to release year 3?

[susankhan]

They are editing year three now.  It should be out soon :)

[fourcatmom]

I think within a few weeks is their plan.

[Hunter]

Does anyone know anything about year 4?

[susankhan]

No,  but I can shoot them an email now.

[Hunter]

No,  but I can shoot them an email now.

 

Thanks!

[susankhan]

Thanks!

Your welcome :)  Waiting on reply 

[Hunter]

I'm trying to plan my curriculum budget for the year. I'd like to have enough saved up, to purchase the years as they become available, if possible.

 

I still have not received a reply about the Gateway to the Classics double subscription charge. If I don't get that back there is no LoL sale and that is for sure; maybe not even with the refund. And worse yet, I seem to be able to do nothing to prevent this from happening every year. There seems to be no way to unsubscribe, even thought the website has an unsubscription link. Just–ugh! 

 

 

[susankhan]

Here is the response  I just got :   We just received the first of the Year 3 unit proofs in the mail this past week.  You will begin seeing the first ones for sale in the next 2 weeks on our website.  Every few weeks additional units will be released.  The Year 4 curriculum won't be available until 2015.  We offer a discounted full year price for each year and will continue to do so for each of the complete year packages.  For now they will continue to be sold as individual years, but we may offer an additional package deal once they have all been released.  Please let us know if you any other questions.  We're always happy to help

 

 

 

[Hunter]

Here is the response  I just got :   We just received the first of the Year 3 unit proofs in the mail this past week.  You will begin seeing the first ones for sale in the next 2 weeks on our website.  Every few weeks additional units will be released.  The Year 4 curriculum won't be available until 2015.  We offer a discounted full year price for each year and will continue to do so for each of the complete year packages.  For now they will continue to be sold as individual years, but we may offer an additional package deal once they have all been released.  Please let us know if you any other questions.  We're always happy to help

 

Thank you so much for that information!

[jaderbee]

If the science is good for a high school student that is aiming for Jr college, is it accessible to elementary aged children? One of the reasons I only use the LA/Bible part of SOW is that the science seems so irrelevant to elementary aged students. For example, some of the diagram suggestions would be way above the heads of my children (who are still in the instructional stage of SOW). I have doubts that science that is enough for high school (regardless of what they want to do after high school) could be understandable to K-3rd grade or so. It seems that science for elementary need to be more everyday, less detailed, and, for the most part, needs most of the math stripped from it.

 

I'm seeing this a lot lately as I've been looking for a physics books that a 2nd grader can understand. My son is fascinated by the idea that there are laws that govern the universe and knowing those laws let scientist make predictions about things. But many of the physics books aimed at elementary that I've looked at still go into way more depth and way more abstract than I would expect a young child to understand. Yes, a lot of the whys behind physics are very abstract, but there are plenty of physics topics that kids can understand, even if they can't work out the mathematical formulas to use it. Gravity and friction come to mind off the top of my head.

Have looked at this site: http://www.physics4kids.com ?

 

It's not a book but so simple and well laid out.

[stripe]

I still have not received a reply about the Gateway to the Classics double subscription charge. 

Did you pay with a credit card? If so, complain to them if the company is being slow.

[silver]

Have looked at this site: http://www.physics4kids.com ?

 

It's not a book but so simple and well laid out.

 

Thank you! This looks great! Now to figure out how to best use it...

[Hunter]

Did you pay with a credit card? If so, complain to them if the company is being slow.

 

I used Paypal and a debit card.

[paceofnature]

I used Paypal and a debit card.

 

With PayPal you can cancel a recurring payment:

 

Login to your account. At the top of the page go to Settings. On the left side, go to Payment preferences and then My Preapproved Payments. From there you can click on the merchant and cancel/change settings.

 

Hopefully that will take care of future billings... If the payment that they owe you was done through PayPal, contact PayPal and they should be able to help you ~ I have had problems in the past and PayPal was very helpful. Good luck!

[Hunter]

With PayPal you can cancel a recurring payment:

 

Login to your account. At the top of the page go to Settings. On the left side, go to Payment preferences and then My Preapproved Payments. From there you can click on the merchant and cancel/change settings.

 

Hopefully that will take care of future billings... If the payment that they owe you was done through PayPal, contact PayPal and they should be able to help you ~ I have had problems in the past and PayPal was very helpful. Good luck!

 

The ability to cancel this subscription was disabled.

 

Thank you both for suggesting I contact Paypal. I just didn't think of that.

[Hunter]

Who else is debating whether or not to use the 20% off coupon before it expires?

[susankhan]

Who else is debating whether or not to use the 20% off coupon before it expires?

I used it :) I only bought year 1.  Wish I could buy both years but was not able to at this time...  :(

[Hunter]

I've been saving up all month to MAYBE buy year 2 at the last minute, IF I still have enough money in my account, AND decide to be that irresponsible and selfish with my money.

 

Everyone got real quiet, after being all chatty. I wonder how many people are looking at something else already.

 

I've re-looked at things I already own. I've thought about planning my own plan from scratch.

[Maela]

I've been following this thread, but I can't remember if I've actually posted. I got Units 1-4 (the first free). I signed up for the free unit for a curriculum review program, but can't make seem to get myself to write the review on my blog.

 

We are only using the geography and science sections right now. I really like it. I do one geography day and one science day a week. We do a read aloud (usually from one of the suggested books) and then one or two of the activities/projects/experiments. We're moving through it more slowly than two weeks per unit.

[Hunter]

I'm realizing there is no need to do an exact number of units a year. There is no place in the curriculum that must be finished before a break. That frees me from needing to try and schedule Bible or LA with a similar number of lessons.

 

I've only used the first 4 units so far. I could slow down and stretch the other units out, and buy year 2 a little later. Or even buy the units one at a time.

[Maela]

I'm realizing there is no need to do an exact number of units a year. There is no place in the curriculum that must be finished before a break. That frees me from needing to try and schedule Bible or LA with a similar number of lessons.

 

I've only used the first 4 units so far. I could slow down and stretch the other units out, and buy year 2 a little later. Or even buy the units one at a time.

Yes. It doesn't matter to me if we finish all twenty units in a year. I'm just staying on a unit for as long as it takes for us to do all the activities we want to do.

 

 

I'm going to be buying the units one at a time (and maybe getting some free if I ever write reviews). I can't commit to the whole year just yet. I know myself too well. :-)

[LindaOz]

I'm realizing there is no need to do an exact number of units a year. There is no place in the curriculum that must be finished before a break. That frees me from needing to try and schedule Bible or LA with a similar number of lessons.

 

I've only used the first 4 units so far. I could slow down and stretch the other units out, and buy year 2 a little later. Or even buy the units one at a time.

So, how have you liked the units you have used? Have you spent two weeks on each?

[Hunter]

I'm probably not getting my money's worth out of the units. I don't use most of the activities. I tend to self-educate with the pdfs, and then for the student schedule 15 mins to 1 hour per each of the 4 topics. I just want a checklist for students that hopefully they will get a well rounded overview of basic content and the arts, so that when reading novels and the newspaper and other normal daily life reading, the student feels grounded and informed enough to understand their current book. I'm not sure if that makes sense.

 

Recently I was challenged to reevaluate my own education and what it means to be educated. My book rich, but explicit lesson short, education had it's perks, and more explicit lessons would have meant less books. I no longer think I got a bad education or wish I could change it. I have students that I think would best benefit from something similar. I just need a little SOMETHING. Then they need to just READ and read and read.

 

Money is tight. I already have other things. I don't NEED this. I LIKE the opportunity for simple scheduling and the feeling of security of topics covered. I like the eBook format. I've set up a Google drive folder and it seems to be working great to store the files and download the one I'm using. It's all very nice. It's working. I don't NEED this though, and…I don't know.

[susankhan]

I too have been using this and LOVE it !   We use it more as a check list as well but I have to say this is such a good way to teach as we take the topics and add more or less if need be.  I have been spending more than 2 weeks as well as there is SO much that can be covered and kids are keeping an interest in the topics which is so important.  This has to be one of the BEST purchases I have made.  I chose to buy all of year 1.  Maybe by the time I get to year 2 they will have another sale :)   

[FawnsFunnyFarm]

I'm still using it.... but only for history ;)

 

The kids wanted to go back to Mr. Q for science and for the Year 1 geography portion, I felt we would be better suited with The Complete Book of Maps and Geography.  We will probably still do some of the art (and even some of the geography activities) as they pertain to the history lessons but our main art is going to be Home Art Studio (I had already bought all the disks and supplies).

 

We did take a pause while we finished up "summer" (we still had some Boy Scout and Girl Scout activities happening) but are back on track and will begin Unit 2 on Monday.  I need to put the finishing touches on my reviews of Unit 1 and get them posted.

[susankhan]

I'm still using it.... but only for history ;)

 

The kids wanted to go back to Mr. Q for science and for the Year 1 geography portion, I felt we would be better suited with The Complete Book of Maps and Geography.  We will probably still do some of the art (and even some of the geography activities) as they pertain to the history lessons but our main art is going to be Home Art Studio (I had already bought all the disks and supplies).

 

We did take a pause while we finished up "summer" (we still had some Boy Scout and Girl Scout activities happening) but are back on track and will begin Unit 2 on Monday.  I need to put the finishing touches on my reviews of Unit 1 and get them posted.

We use the complete book along with this as well :)  I love the book lists and extend many lessons off of them.   Glad to hear you are enjoying...

[Hunter]

I went so far as to apply the coupon and then chickened out. I'm trying to convince myself that the scope and sequence is wider than I need it to be, and that I'd be better off using my old 1990s What Your Grader Needs to Know books.

[Hunter]

I really looked at using the NtK books, but I realized they do not offer the same visual support as LoL. LoL contains an amazing number of illustrations, that all enlarge to fill my iPad mini screen, and give students instant access to a LOT of pictures.

 

I don't know if I'm going to be able to take advantage of this sale, but I'm going to commit to using LoL. It's the pictures that are the tipping point for me. It fills a gap in the rest of my curriculum that tends to be a bit visually impoverished.

 

 

[Hunter]

Bethlehem Books is having a 1 day sale, today. I think all the eBooks are $0.99 to $1.99.

https://www.bethlehembooks.com

 

This is the publisher of some of the harder to get historical fiction titles that are so common on many homeschool literature lists.

[kiwik]

I just looked at the free unit. It is nice. I would like to print it though I think which would in most cases (ie for ones that aren't free) cost more than the download. On the other hand for afterschooling I would only get through 1 every 4 to 6 weeks so that wouldn't be too bad.