Hunter Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Back when RC came out, it was designed to prepare students for the OLD style SATs. Sticking to the reading list meant having systematic vocabulary instruction. That was something significant. Never mind vocabulary goals and test prep, making your own reading list is quite an undertaking for some of us. There are so many things to consider! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael12 Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Could the reading list also be designed to familiarize the reader with older writing styles, so that when students get to the challenging things from the 18th and 19th centuries it won't seem so foreign? There are lots of wonderful books out there that are more recent, but they would never achieve that goal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Some of the books were just what the Robinson kids used. Mom had purchased them at yard sales and thrift shops and when she died they were on the shelves. The kids read what was on the shelves. The kids tested high on the SATs and people asked their dad what he had USED. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arliemaria Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 What about Yesterday's Classics ebook collection $45 for 200+ books seems like a great deal for Kindle formatted or epub books. Or perhaps even better the Gateway to the Classics with access to over 600 books with lots of different search features to find the books you need. http://www.gatewaytotheclassics.com/samples/_ml_details.php This all seems to be a much better option than Robinson. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizaG Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Yesterday's Classics / Baldwin / Gateway have a lot of good children's books, but by traditional academic standards, they wouldn't be used much beyond age 11 or 12. Of course, the children could keep reading them for pleasure, but you'd need something else for the core curriculum. RC includes more material for high schoolers and advanced middle schoolers, such as regular classics and history books, as well as college level texts. So it's somewhat of an apples and oranges comparison. Or, if you want to get biblical, milk vs. meat. ;) I don't know of any less expensive curricula that are intended to cover college preparation. For instance, An Old Fashioned Education recommends science textbooks to buy separately (Apologia), and A2 doesn't include science at all. RC includes textbooks that were used in Caltech 101 courses, and some more advanced physics materials. My impression is that this is a moot point to most literature-based US homeschoolers, as they tend to end up doing high school in the conventional way. The Robinsons didn't do this; they kept going with their own book list the whole way through, using AP testing as their "high school exams" (one of the children did 30 AP tests). I'm not sure whether or not we'd take that approach in our family -- and if we did, I'm sure we'd make some adjustments -- but it's good to know that it's a viable option. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 I agree they cannot compare. Heritage History has some nice ebooks, too, but no one else has a FINISHED a complete curriculum like Robinson did. And no one else is selling what they DID with success. The world has moved on. Technology and the tests are different. It is time for something new. In its day, Robinson was a decent option, and is still of some value today. Especially since no one has yet produced something like it. There is still a gaping hole in the homeschooling market. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 The Public Domain Curriculum was WAY too complicated. Many of the links are already gone. But...if anyone is trying to make their own reading list right now, there are some unique links embedded in this monster. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9Fvf4FXKZtoZmdHdlZ5UWU0SWc/view Dover Publications has some affordable ebooks and paperbacks of public domain texts appropriate for older students. Even a bit of science. http://search.doverpublications.com/mdetail?auth_id=&d=0486425428 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 There no TMs for these science textbooks, but they are still good reading books. Utah's Free Science grades 3-12. http://www.schools.utah.gov/CURR/science/OER.aspx 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Hesperian's ebooks are free and "Where There is no Doctor", is especially good. http://hesperian.org/books-and-resources/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 It is terribly rough, but I'm trying to create a supplement to the Rainbow core. I've added stuff like the church history titles from Yesterday's Classics, a Bible reading schedule, and topics to cover with library books for geography, art, music, physical education, life skills, and modern literature. I also assiged the free Utah science textbooks. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9Fvf4FXKZtocHNkWGY1V2FneVk/view?usp=docslist_api Utah USOE Science http://www.schools.utah.gov/CURR/science/OER.aspx As I said, it is rough. But it might save someone here from having to start from scratch, if they are trying to create their own reading list from mostly Yesterday's Classics. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 It is terribly rough, but I'm trying to create a supplement to the Rainbow core. I've added stuff like the church history titles from Yesterday's Classics, a Bible reading schedule, and topics to cover with library books for geography, art, music, physical education, life skills, and modern literature. I also assiged the free Utah science textbooks. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9Fvf4FXKZtocHNkWGY1V2FneVk/view?usp=docslist_api Utah USOE Science http://www.schools.utah.gov/CURR/science/OER.aspx As I said, it is rough. But it might save someone here from having to start from scratch, if they are trying to create their own reading list from mostly Yesterday's Classics. So this is an option to add to the rainbow curriculum if desired, correct? The rainbow curriculum looks pretty complete to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 So this is an option to add to the rainbow curriculum if desired, correct? The rainbow curriculum looks pretty complete to me. This is all entirely optional. It is just things like composer study and other things people have gotten used to with AO. But the resources are all hopefully much easier for the ultra low income family to acquire. The entire middle grades classical music study is composers available in the Thomas Tapper books at Gutenberg.com. The Bible reading suggestions are full books of the Bible, so no curriculum is needed. You just READ. My Mac died very suddenly and I cannot just do a quick edit. I have to start the Rainbow Core all over again in Word. But when I do that, I will be adding Strunk's Original Style guide to year Gold Harvey's Grammar. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3697/the-elements-of-style?force_mobile=false I'm hoping this winter to divide each year into 3 terms and to create weekly schedules. The new optional and suggested DEAR topics will just run along the bottom of the page, but not be included in the weekly schedules. Kind of like the AO free reads. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 This is all entirely optional. It is just things like composer study and other things people have gotten used to with AO. But the resources are all hopefully much easier for the ultra low income family to acquire. The entire middle grades classical music study is composers available in the Thomas Tapper books at Gutenberg.com. The Bible reading suggestions are full books of the Bible, so no curriculum is needed. You just READ. My Mac died very suddenly and I cannot just do a quick edit. I have to start the Rainbow Core all over again in Word. But when I do that, I will be adding Strunk's Original Style guide to year Gold Harvey's Grammar. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3697/the-elements-of-style?force_mobile=false I'm hoping this winter to divide each year into 3 terms and to create weekly schedules. The new optional and suggested DEAR topics will just run along the bottom of the page, but not be included in the weekly schedules. Kind of like the AO free reads. You should keep the original option available too. Some people like weekly plans, some like a rough outline. The more I teach my son the more I realize I don't like curriculum telling me what to do. :) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 You should keep the original option available too. Some people like weekly plans, some like a rough outline. The more I teach my son the more I realize I don't like curriculum telling me what to do. :)I would never REPLACE the multigrade booklists with weekly schedules! Ever! I promise! The 3 term weekly schedules might never get completed. But I'd like to try. Checklists are soothing to some moms. But even to those moms, the big picture multiyear lists are still essential. I really liked checking things off the AO schedules, and I would have even been willing to read books that were not my first choices, if I had been capable of aquiring and storing the suggested titles. I'm trying to make this about half way between Robinson and AO, but with easier to acquire title that are less offensive to the average person here. I'm trying to listen to where people get stuck, and what they like and dislike. And take into account what a school might be demanding. Scheduled physical education is required for some families. The booklist and twice a week trips to the playground might be enough. The same for art and music. It is sometimes required. For some families a mere booklist will be enough. For others it can serve as their spine to add a few activities. I would like to create some generic yearly paperwork for each grade, that would need very little supplementing from mom to send to the school. Electives would be required for that. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Nothing like a good Robinson thread... ;D. I think we need to find a term for people doing their own basics-focused, self-teaching oriented, Kindle public domain, YC-style thing. Start a thread, and I'm in! Just dropped a bunch of the stuff in my siggy a couple of months ago. Going back to school myself, it'll do that to you. OP - I'm going to second CLE for math and LA (up to a certain point, the higher grades are a bit overkill) to get the basics down. I'm also advocating for finding your own eBooks and Kindles. PDFs just aren't that awesome. I'm also thinking of Bonnie Landry for some reason. She's got a bunch of kids and focuses on getting important stuff covered. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 I love Robinson threads. :lol: Somehow they make me feel grounded. This one is way too long for me to reread it right now. They all say the same thing, anyway. It doesn't matter. We all like to write the same thing every time. It is like Christmas. You just do the same thing as last year. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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