Runningmom80 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 We just finished Town level, (besides Caesar's english, see below) and DS really really loves MCT's writing. For both Island and Town, I bought all of the books. I'm considering skipping the practice book for next time, and not really doing the writing assignments. (We are trying a more child led/ unschooly/ project based approach next year.) It's just, how many sentences does an eight year old really need to diagram? Also, I'm not thrilled with the writing assignments thus far. I'm looking into Bravewriter, but kind of thinking of maybe just journaling for a year. (I majored in creative writing, so I'm pretty confident I can steer him in the write direction without a legitimate curriculum. It's just the bravewriter looks cool. :laugh: ) My separate question is regarding Caesars English. We already do Lively Latin. Between that and MCT, we are kind of overloading on grammar. (DS gets frustrated in LL when they go over parts of speech, he's almost insulted. :laugh: ) I have Caesars here, but haven't really looked at it, I'm just thinking already that we are on grammar overload and I don't even feel like cracking it open. Both of us really love the MCT materials. If the parts I want to skip are integral to the program, I'll keep them because I have drunken the MCT kool aid and I don't want him to disapprove. I just may need a little convincing. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 I wouldn't skip the practice book (we did it together as a conversation on the couch which made it more like the rest of MCT). I did, however, skip the writing assignments. I do have to warn you though--we didn't find the MCT materials after Town to be as wonderful as Island and Town. Voyage is forced and the Magic Lens books are just grammar books. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 I wouldn't skip the practice book (we did it together as a conversation on the couch which made it more like the rest of MCT). I did, however, skip the writing assignments. I do have to warn you though--we didn't find the MCT materials after Town to be as wonderful as Island and Town. Voyage is forced and the Magic Lens books are just grammar books. This is devastating to read. :crying: Ok, that's dramatic, but how disappointing! We are both wordy verbal grammar lovers who have really been tickled with the MCT stuff. Say it ain't so! Although, I wonder if we could get another diagramming workbook type thing and mainly use Latin as grammar? This is interesting. Off to research Voyage level! :leaving: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 I wouldn't skip the practice book (we did it together as a conversation on the couch which made it more like the rest of MCT). I did, however, skip the writing assignments. I do have to warn you though--we didn't find the MCT materials after Town to be as wonderful as Island and Town. Voyage is forced and the Magic Lens books are just grammar books. We did the practice but not the writing. We are also mixing levels a bit, so I haven't used a full level at a time since Island. We liked the Voyage grammar book. That's as far as we've gotten. We are taking a year off of MCT to give us a chance to catch up on nitpicky grammar (things like capitalization, quotation marks, etc.) and to give us more time to work on writing (not a great skill here). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted June 6, 2015 Author Share Posted June 6, 2015 I'm thinking I might just do Caesar's English 1&2 next year, since these seem to be really popular. I'm still mourning Mud and the fun grammar characters. I assumed they'd carry on through the elementary series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 We didn't do every single assignment. We did the practice. It isn't really diagramming. I found it helpful. Our absolute favorite of everything was CE 1 and 2. I'm mourning Mud too. If you don't have them, I recommend the Lit series he wrote. We loved those so much. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jar7709 Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 We didn't do every single practice sentence. My kid catches on quick and it was overkill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 We didn't do every single assignment. We did the practice. It isn't really diagramming. I found it helpful. Our absolute favorite of everything was CE 1 and 2. I'm mourning Mud too. If you don't have them, I recommend the Lit series he wrote. We loved those so much. We do have them. DS loved them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted July 9, 2015 Author Share Posted July 9, 2015 Can anyone else help me decide if I should spend more money on MCT grammar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sportsmom Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 I'm planning on using MCT Town this fall. It will be our first experience. I'm still finding it a bit tricky to figure out what exactly is NEEDED. Grammar Town (student + teacher) Practice Town (student + teacher) Practice Town workbook (is this different from the other student Practice Town book?) Caesar's English 1 Building Poems (student + teacher) APM Literature books How necessary are all of the pieces? And how well do they fit together from a planning perspective? With that many moving pieces, I can't help but wonder if it will feel a little disjointed when I'm lesson planning. And am I understanding correctly that there are no test/quizzes for a grading component? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted July 10, 2015 Author Share Posted July 10, 2015 We used everything but the APM series. we had already read Wind in the willows and Peter pan, plus several posters said it wasn't necessary. There really isn't a "plan," which is sort of hard to get used to at first, but I really like that aspect now. MCT does have a sequence chart, but I didn't follow it. You basically start with the Grammar Book and then layer in everything else. We just read them in the order we felt like, and it was fine. The Practice workbook is different than the practice text. The texts are great, I wouldn't skip either. There are no tests or grades. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skueppers Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 sportsmom -- If you have iPads, you might investigate whether the cost is lower for you with the iBooks edition. There's only one TM for the entire Town level that way, except for the literature component. I'm going to be trying MCT Town level this academic year, and have purchased just the TM and Grammar Town to get started. I figure I will buy the other books as needed -- with digital, there's instant gratification! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sportsmom Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 Thanks for the feedback. Do you recommend the teacher manual for Building Poems? I may just start off with the sets of Grammar Town, Practice Town, and the practice workbook to get started. Oh, and Caesar's as well. I'm a little nervous about switching to something without a clear cut "plan" even though I think it will be better in the long run. DS and I both really like something with a grading element to it, so maybe I could use some of the practice workbook as quizzes? skueppers - Thanks for the suggestion, but we are an android family. But, I can always add more pieces of the program as we go along. I imagine that we wouldn't use everything right out of the gate anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted July 10, 2015 Author Share Posted July 10, 2015 I only bought the teacher manual of Building Poems I think. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sportsmom Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 good to know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.