ktgrok Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 This is my 7th year homeschooling. You'd think I'd be past that, right? But my 1st grader was balking at the read alouds in Bookshark to the point of tears begging me not to read more (and honestly I wasn't thrilled either....Here's a Penny is pretty boring) and wanted more history. And it turns out I dislike flipping from page to page for the various subjects we have in the IG. And then I looked again, for the zillionth time, at Build Your Library. And now that there are more levels I love it even more. Sigh. So...we switched this week. She is liking Story of the World more than I expected, and LOVES the first read aloud, Tale of Despereaux. This is the first time all year she's asked for MORE when I finish the chapters assigned for the day. And I like it better too! So...yeah. Still going to continue the science at least partly from Bookshark K as it is quick and easy (reading from Usborne Children's Encyclopedia and such), but loving the stuff in BYL first grade. And planning to do the Jan Brett unit study for Christmas in December :) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanalouwho Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 We got the Jan Brett study for this year too. And we plan to start BYL 1 next fall for 1St. I'm glad to hear it's working for you! I'm looking forward to getting started. Sent from my HTCD200LVW using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wabi Sabi Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 I hear you. After using the same math program (MM) for the last 6 years we made a sudden and abrupt change to something entirely different a few days ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 Nothing to sigh about! You switched to something that is working much better for both of you, school is getting done with joy, and you can re-sell Bookshark at the end of the year when you're done with it and earn a few dollars towards next year's curriculum. Sounds like a win-win-win decision to me! :) 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Lynn Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 Sounds like a good change! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kentuckymom Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 Don't beat yourself up about it. I sort have an excuse as first year homeschooler, but I've changed so many of the things I thought would be perfect when I was choosing curriculum last spring and summer it's getting ridiculous. The only thing I may end up keep for the whole school year is Notgrass history (I don't love it, but DS likes it a lot) and All About Spelling (which is the only thing I've used from the start that I have no complaints about). Sure, this is your 6th year homeschooling, but it's only your second year with this particular kid. You still need to get to know her learning style. We've taken a break from Notgrass history for November and we're doing the Build Your Library Thanksgiving study. We're loving it so far. BYL has good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted November 6, 2016 Author Share Posted November 6, 2016 Don't beat yourself up about it. I sort have an excuse as first year homeschooler, but I've changed so many of the things I thought would be perfect when I was choosing curriculum last spring and summer it's getting ridiculous. The only thing I may end up keep for the whole school year is Notgrass history (I don't love it, but DS likes it a lot) and All About Spelling (which is the only thing I've used from the start that I have no complaints about). Sure, this is your 6th year homeschooling, but it's only your second year with this particular kid. You still need to get to know her learning style. We've taken a break from Notgrass history for November and we're doing the Build Your Library Thanksgiving study. We're loving it so far. BYL has good stuff. My son liked knotgrass too. I didn't, but it worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicalmom1125 Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 We've recently returned to a curriculum (Tapestry of Grace) that we used to use but had to abandon. Both changes happened mid-year. If you're interested, I wrote a little blog post about the transitions to and from Tapestry. You can read it here. I'm in my 15th year of homeschooling. It happens to all of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted November 6, 2016 Author Share Posted November 6, 2016 We've recently returned to a curriculum (Tapestry of Grace) that we used to use but had to abandon. Both changes happened mid-year. If you're interested, I wrote a little blog post about the transitions to and from Tapestry. You can read it here. I'm in my 15th year of homeschooling. It happens to all of us. LOL, I've done a midyear from tapestry to something else switch too. I want to love Tapestry, but it's not quite right for us. But I love the curriculum and the people who own the company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UCF612 Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 I'm planning to switch up history/geography and science soon. Everything else is working for us. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted November 7, 2016 Author Share Posted November 7, 2016 I'm planning to switch up history/geography and science soon. Everything else is working for us. See, that's how I should look at it! Math and reading are going really well. Love CLE and AAR. I think the only "sigh" is that Bookshark was so expensive. Sigh. Again, lol. And we don't use the reading at all, haven't since week one. At least it has good resale value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CadenceSophia Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 Here's a Penny is the worst. It was the last Sonlight book we read. I felt like I couldn't trust any recommendation after that. Glad you are finding something more enjoyable to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bensonduck Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 Oh, I loved Here's a Penny. There is a scene in that book that had me in tears laughing so hard when i read it to DD. I'm glad you found something that will work better for your family though. The unit studies sound really interesting! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama25angels Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 I'm planning to switch up history/geography and science soon. Everything else is working for us. These are the exact things I'm thinking of switching Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fralala Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 Oh, I loved Here's a Penny. There is a scene in that book that had me in tears laughing so hard when i read it to DD. I'm glad you found something that will work better for your family though. The unit studies sound really interesting! We loved Here's a Penny, too, and Penny and Peter. It just goes to show...researching and reading the thoughts of others on curriculum and books can only go so far, alas...de gustibus non est disputandum. Hope you manage to resell the Bookshark to a family who really loves it. I think it's a great time of year to pause and re-evaluate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UCF612 Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 It is the worst when you don't like something that was expensive! I wasn't a big fan of Sonlight when we tried it. But I plugged along and modified to make it work because I'd shelled out so much cash for it. (we never did get to Here's a Penny, it is just sitting on the shelf years later). We are currently doing Wayfarers for history/geography and science. I only bought term 1 to see how we liked it and I'm planning to finish term 1. I absolutely don't hate it, at all, it just isn't working as well as I'd hoped for us. I would have continued it if I had spent a lot! There is just too much reading and I'm not able to keep up so I'm getting all off track with the weekly plans which I hate. I am planning to keep up with some of their recommended sources but just switching how we use them. We'll drop the science completely after we finish the anatomy section, then switching to Mystery Science since I have the free year trial. I'll let the boys pick topics of interest to them from there and build off that. For history we'll keep reading SOTW 2 but I'm going to pull other activities to make it more hands on. Wayfarers didn't have enough hands on for my boys. We are going to keep doing the Geography Through Art book from Wayfarers but I think we'll just work our way through it beginning to end, looking up the area on a map and getting books from the library and using Pinterest if I find anything else unique about that area. Just low key though. So I'm not jumping ship completely per se but changing up how we utilize the resources for sure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama25angels Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 UCF612, I'm so glad for your post because Wayfarers is what I was thinking of switching to. I've not been able to get my history or science plans off the ground this year for my 3rd grader, I don't know why. I was thinking that using wayfarers could possibly help get me going, I do see the potential problem of getting off track with reading and yes it would totally bug me to be off schedule. Maybe, we'll just read/listen to SOTW2 with you guys and do a little Myster science, since I also have the year subscription free. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UCF612 Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 We got the Jan Brett study for this year too. And we plan to start BYL 1 next fall for 1St. I'm glad to hear it's working for you! I'm looking forward to getting started. Sent from my HTCD200LVW using Tapatalk What kinds of activities does the Jan Brett study include? I didn't see an samples on the website. I have a number of Jan Brett books so I'd love to do this with my 2nd grader if it is worth it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanalouwho Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 What kinds of activities does the Jan Brett study include? I didn't see an samples on the website. I have a number of Jan Brett books so I'd love to do this with my 2nd grader if it is worth it.It's not really scheduled like most of her stuff is. Just a list of ideas to go with each book, copywork and some notebooking pages. Ideas include things like: comparing different versions of a story, learning to say Merry Christmas in different languages, learning about the arctic circle, arctic animals, the northern lights, etc. Sent from my HTCD200LVW using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 But my 1st grader was balking at the read alouds in Bookshark to the point of tears begging me not to read more (and honestly I wasn't thrilled either.... I would've dropped it, too! I switched my 13 year-old's math this week for much less of a reason. He saw a different program and thought it looked like fun, so we tried it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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