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Mosdos - Discussion for fans and current users?


alisoncooks
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I'd love to have a bit of discussion about Mosdos.  If you want to join in, I have some conversation starters:

 

1. How long have you used Mosdos?

2. What did you use before?  (or what did you move to after?)
3. How do you schedule the year?  What do individual lessons look like in your house?

4. What components of the program do you use?

5. What do you like about the program? What do you wish were different? :)

 

 

We used CLE Reading for 3rd and 4th grade (using the program a year behind with my late reader).  We picked up Mosdos 4 to use during her 5th grade year (this year). It's going so well, I plan on moving her to Mosdos 5 next year (and starting youngest with Mosdos 3, if her reading improves).

 

So far we love it!  I initially went through the entire book and scheduled it out, but DD is reading faster than I thought, so we're going double pace.  She'll do Mosdos 4 days a week:

Day 1 - "Lesson in Literature" section (1 page intro + 1 page short essay/story)

Day 2 -  Read the story (plus poem and questions following)

Day 3 - Repeat with next "lesson in literature"

Day 4 - next story

 

We generally talk through the literary element, very informally.  DD goes off and reads, then comes back and answers questions with me (orally).  We don't do any written work.  We skip the unit wrap-ups, as well as the other extra little bits (this level has an ongoing "Jill's Journal" that we skip).

 

We only use the student book.  No workbook, no teacher's manual.  I'm on the fence about wanting a bit more written output, but we burned out on CLE's workbook style.  DD enjoys the simple read & discuss format we currently use.

 

I like the variety of the stories, as well as the inclusion of poetry.  The stories highlight moral/ethical behavior, as well as other positive traits (determination, hard work, charity).  I like the occasional biographical story.  I like that literary elements are taught in a pretty natural way (nothing feels forced, but so far she's covered internal/external dialogue, point of view, major/minor characters, etc).

 

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I'd love to have a bit of discussion about Mosdos.  If you want to join in, I have some conversation starters:

 

1. How long have you used Mosdos?

2. What did you use before?  (or what did you move to after?)

3. How do you schedule the year?  What do individual lessons look like in your house?

4. What components of the program do you use?

5. What do you like about the program? What do you wish were different? :)

 

 

We use Mosdos Ruby and Pearl - 4th and 6th grade.  We just started it this year so we've been using it for about 4 months.

 

Before this year we used Evan-Moor stuff.  We will probably continue with Mosdos since it's working well.

 

I don't schedule out an entire year because I have no reporting and I don't worry about finishing books.  

 

We use the textbooks and the workbooks.  I don't have the teacher's guide.  For each Lesson In Literature they read the selection and we discuss the questions.  For each story: Day 1 they read the story and do one or two workbook pages (usually comprehension questions or vocabulary), Day 2 they'll do another couple workbook pages (comprehension or vocabulary, whichever they didnt do Day 1), Day 3 they'll do a graphic organizer assignment from the workbook, Day 4 we read the poem and discuss the comprehension questions.

 

The only thing I don't like is the workbook vocabulary words are in cursive and my 4th grader has trouble reading cursive.  So, I have to rewrite all the words before she can do the assignment.  A minor annoyance.

 

We do some of the unit wrap-ups and some of the Jill's Journals but not all of them.

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We started using Mosdos Coral this year - just the student text.  I am using it as a read aloud with all my kiddos.  I didn't plan anything out this year, at all.  We had planned to use CLE with the older two but they both burnt out on it - fast.  It is so dry and the stories didn't engage them at all.  Which sucks, as I bought three levels.  *sigh*.  Anyways.  I love Mosdos.  :)  The pieces are great and there is wonderful variety. 

 

We use it in a very CM way.  We read a piece together and discuss it, reviewing theme, setting, characters, etc.  I ask comprehension questions.  Sometimes I will assign a writing project or other suggestion from the text.  I am really considering adding in the workbooks for my older two next year.  I'll be following this thread to see what others think of the workbooks. 

 

Oh, I did add in some interactive notebooks from Lovin' Lit (TpT).  They are great review tools as we discuss a piece.

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We used Mosdos Jade this year, and DD loved it so much that we already finished. We used the teacher and student book. We started with the workbook too, but we both hated that and stopped it pretty quickly.

 

I broke down the reading assignments in ways that made sense. She had to review the questions in the student book and be prepared to discuss them. I recommended that she write down thoughts about them but didn't require it if she was prepared to discuss.

 

It was very much a read and discuss approach for us. This level had many of my favorites in it too, which was nice. I don't like the selections as much for grade 8 so this will likely be the only year we use it.

 

She's a fast reader and loves discussions but also gets in a rut with her preferred reading genre so it's nice to have had that much exposure to variety that she probably wouldn't have read on her own.

Edited by deerforest
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Thanks for sharing your experiences!

I have debated on whether or not to pick up the workbook for next year... I don't want to mess up the good thing we have going here, though!  We started off the year with a spiral notebook; she was supposed to write the answers to the discussion questions there.  That didn't go over so well, haha.  We do it all orally now. :p

 

DD reads a lot, mostly animal-related non-fiction & fiction (Warriors, Survivors, etc), so Mosdos has been a great way to expose her to some other genres/styles.

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  • 4 months later...

Hello all! I decided to revive this thread because I need help.

 

I am in need of Mosdos Jade Teacher guides for this fall. Does anyone have any you are looking to unload?

 

Thanks!

 

PS We are current;y using Mosdos Pearl and love it, I wish I had used Mosdos the whole time I have been homeschooling.

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So glad this thread is revived because I am really torn between using CLE and Mosdos next year for 4th and 5th. If anyone has experience with both, please let me know. I do NOT want to burn them out on workbooks, and yet CLE seems pretty darn well done, covering a lot of things. Plus, I like that the stories are wholesome. Not as familiar with Mosdos, but it does get pretty good reviews. Can anyone help me decide? My main point is exposing them to different types of quality literature-developing thinking and discussion skills, and overall just read more.

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So glad this thread is revived because I am really torn between using CLE and Mosdos next year for 4th and 5th. If anyone has experience with both, please let me know. I do NOT want to burn them out on workbooks, and yet CLE seems pretty darn well done, covering a lot of things. Plus, I like that the stories are wholesome. Not as familiar with Mosdos, but it does get pretty good reviews. Can anyone help me decide? My main point is exposing them to different types of quality literature-developing thinking and discussion skills, and overall just read more.

 

 

We use CLE math (not the reading) and Mosdos. My understanding is that CLE uses things written specifically for CLE from a particular religious perspective. The workbook format is very handy. What I love about Mosdos is that it features a wide variety of thought provoking literature from many well respected writers with a variety of points of view. It is excellent for thinking and discussion skills because many of the questions are open ended. Just love Mosdos.

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My kids both burned out on CLE Reading (we also use their math & lang arts) so I'm planning on Mosdos next year. I know there is some uncertainty about the materials continuing to be available -- has anyone heard that?

 

 

Sadly, this is true. I think they have gone out of business. There are still many things available through Rainbow Resource. I have found all of the stuff I am using second hand.

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Sadly, this is true. I think they have gone out of business. There are still many things available through Rainbow Resource. I have found all of the stuff I am using second hand.

 

Oh no! Leave it me to find something I might love (finally) and then hear the company is not even in business. Boo.

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Well, I just searched all of the used sites I know and RR, and cannot find the stuff for 4th and 5th grade. Does anyone have an idea of where else I could look? I cannot pay $200 for a student copy...what a bummer.

 This is disappointing! Last I'd looked, everything I needed was still available at RR. Apparently no longer. Bummer.

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I have the Jade teacher guide but likely will continue using it this fall. Try www.bookfinder.com that's how I found mine. I think it was on Amazon (used). It still cost me almost $70.00 with shipping. It's the two volume teacher set in one huge spiral bound volume. I have the Jade teacher guide, textbook and student workbook and will start soon with DS (7th grade). I would have started earlier but he was more interested in reading novels and studying them and I didn't want to stop him (!!)

 

I would like to start Ruby next year with one of my DD and I think she will love it! I better look fast for the materials. Maybe we should all form a  Mosdos fan club and resell the books to each other as we finish with them, ha!

 

Last year, we did CLE English grade 2 and DD revolted even going as far as telling me to absolutely never use those materials again (too dry and repetitious for her) so I could never bring in CLE reading. This year we were using K12 3rd grade independently. I bought the teacher and student guides and readers on Ebay for almost nothing. It has been okay in terms of diverse reading selections that were interesting but not meaty enough in terms of teaching literary elements.

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I have the Jade teacher guide but likely will continue using it this fall. Try www.bookfinder.com that's how I found mine. I think it was on Amazon (used). It still cost me almost $70.00 with shipping. It's the two volume teacher set in one huge spiral bound volume. I have the Jade teacher guide, textbook and student workbook and will start soon with DS (7th grade). I would have started earlier but he was more interested in reading novels and studying them and I didn't want to stop him (!!)

 

I would like to start Ruby next year with one of my DD and I think she will love it! I better look fast for the materials. Maybe we should all form a  Mosdos fan club and resell the books to each other as we finish with them, ha!

 

Last year, we did CLE English grade 2 and DD revolted even going as far as telling me to absolutely never use those materials again (too dry and repetitious for her) so I could never bring in CLE reading. This year we were using K12 3rd grade independently. I bought the teacher and student guides and readers on Ebay for almost nothing. It has been okay in terms of diverse reading selections that were interesting but not meaty enough in terms of teaching literary elements.

 

 

I tried to buy the Jade teachers guides from an Amazon used book seller. I paid $100, but when I received it, it was only the first book. (Part one). I complained and was refunded my money. I offered to send it back, but the seller did not want to pay for return shipping. This was clearly the seller's fault because the listing was definitely for both books.  So I do have book 1 of the TG, but am still missing book 2. I will try bookfinder. I search different sites every day, but still cannot find it for less than $300.

 

I like the idea of the Mosdos fan club!

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Jyhwmama, sounds like you are $100.00 ahead in any event! I simply cannot believe the prices I am seeing for teacher's guides! Ebay has the Jade teacher's guide for $399.00!!! Come on!!!

 

 

I saw that.  :( price gouging. I wish I were unbelievably wealthy and could just pay it.

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Hello all! I decided to revive this thread because I need help.

 

I am in need of Mosdos Jade Teacher guides for this fall. Does anyone have any you are looking to unload?

 

Thanks!

 

PS We are current;y using Mosdos Pearl and love it, I wish I had used Mosdos the whole time I have been homeschooling.

 

http://www.homeschoolersupplycloset.com/product.php?productid=579

 

or maybe www.abebooks.com ?

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Jyhwmama—SCORE !! The homeschoolerssupply closet link above from Jesse (THANK YOU!) shows the Jade teacher guides for $72.00. That's a great price especially now and very close to what I paid. I'm going back to look at homeschoolers supply closet........

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Are we for sure they are out of business?  ARGH.  We love Mosdos here.  Used Opal this year and it was our favorite curriculum, our constant through the year.  We already have Jade lined up.  Now I'm wondering if I should buy ahead......

 

I have the Opal Teachers guide that I could part with.  Where is the best place to sell? It seems like a niche product, people either love it or (mostly) never heard of it.

 

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I am considering this too. I really hope I can find it when I need it. I thought I heard they were just reorganizing. Did they go completely out of business? I get funds from a charter that I can use for the next school year so I do not want to get it yet.

 

I was also wondering how people use it and whether people feel the teacher's guide is useful and adds to it or if you can do without with just the questions in the student book.

Edited by MistyMountain
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I have seen the listing on HSC before. Every time I try to buy something there my computer browser says the site is unsecure and won't let me proceed. If anyone can get to there contact page, please post their phone or email. I will call them. I tried to contact them on twitter to no avail.

 

Yes, Jess--Those people are Krazy!

 

Meadowlark--If I had discovered this curriculum in 2014, I would have bought it every year. I seriously love it that much! (However, I also shelled out for Nancy Larson Science, so I am not opposed to paying for curriculum I really like/works. Plus, my son has special needs, so getting stuff that really works can be a struggle.)

 

MistMountain--I fully recommend the TG--chock full of good information. 

 

Poppy--I would sell the Opal TG on ebay or through a Facebook group. WTM classifieds is a good choice too. That is where I got my Jade student materials.

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I'm sorry they went out of business. I had one of the student books at one point and it ended up not right for us so I didn't use it... but I kept recommending it to people. I was just thinking that it seemed like they were finally taking off when I heard they might be out of business. How rotten that they just shut down the website with no notice. Even if they lost the ability to run the site, surely sending an email to former customers doesn't cost anything if they went under.

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I'm sorry they went out of business. I had one of the student books at one point and it ended up not right for us so I didn't use it... but I kept recommending it to people. I was just thinking that it seemed like they were finally taking off when I heard they might be out of business. How rotten that they just shut down the website with no notice. Even if they lost the ability to run the site, surely sending an email to former customers doesn't cost anything if they went under.

 

 

I am sad too. I think part of the problem with emailing their customers is that many people bought Mosdos products from RR. Mosdos would not necessarily know those addresses. The shutdown seems to have happened suddenly. Makes me wonder what happened. I think it was a small, family business, so anything could have caused a sudden, unexpected shutdown.

 

The materials are excellent.

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I had some email exchanges and phone call with the editor-in-chief who I believe is also the person who started Mosdos because she shared a lot of the history of how Jade was  the first level they created years ago, etc. I just dug up her contact info in my email and sent her an email. I'll let you know if I get any additional info. 

 

 

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I had some email exchanges and phone call with the editor-in-chief who I believe is also the person who started Mosdos because she shared a lot of the history of how Jade was the first level they created years ago, etc. I just dug up her contact info in my email and sent her an email. I'll let you know if I get any additional info.

Thanks!

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Yikes girls! I'm thinking spending even $80 for the tm,  plus the student text ($40) plus workbook ($18)....ouch! Someone convince me that this is really worth it, if I can even find them. It's hard to justify spending that much!

 

We only use the textbooks.  I debated about adding in the workbooks, but the answers are in the TM and I didn't want to buy that too.  I have heard the TM's are a LOT to wade through.  The textbooks alone have so much meat in them.  They are still pricey (more so if you live in Canada like me and have to pay exchange & shipping- OUCH!)  but they are worth every penny.  Seriously, I love them. And the resale is apparently very, very lucrative!   :lol:  

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I love the teachers guides because they give little questions at the bottom of the page that you can ask during the reading to spot check for comprehension. They also point out every single incidence of alliteration, metaphor, etc. Every story also has background info that is sometimes helpful to read.

 

We used Pearl this year and I will say that the Pearl level student workbook is different from all the others. It is really thick because evey story from the book has an original 1 page story in the workbook associated with it (the MiniOriginal). This mini story has a page of comprehension questions. Going through this exercise regularly has really helped my son who struggles with written communication.  The graphic organizer for each story is excellent too.

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I had heard of this series last autumn and hoped to start it with my oldest daughter who is a rising third grader, but I read the other thread Jess linked above and sort of put it out of my mind. This thread though really makes me appreciate it again. Is it silly to still be searching for (and beginning) what looks like a quality but defunct curricula?

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There was this thread a little while ago about Mosdos going out of business. 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/636749-mosdos-press-website/

 

 

Yes, I started that thread.  Back in early March, I finally heard back from them about the website.  They said it would be up in about a week.  Of course, it's not. 

 

I did email them again to follow up, but have not heard a response.  That was a couple of weeks ago.  I'm not sure what is going on.  The initial email I received made it sound like they were just having problems with their website, but it sounds like more than that.

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I second getting the Teacher Manuals if you can find them AND they are not ridiculously expensive!! My Jade TM has excellent, thorough questions throughout. The workbook, on the other hand has been somewhat disappointing. I got it from RR for $18.00 but I would have skipped it if I had been able to see all of it before buying. It is short (sounds like the Pearl workbook is not short), misses quite a lot of stories, and has nothing for the poetry unit at all. I'm glad I have the TM because the meaty questions will come from there (and me : ), ha! )

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Jyhwkmama, Amazon has two listings for both Jade Teacher Guides at 99.99 and 99.98 (in good shape). Shipping is $3.99. I know you have one Jade TM book already but it will hard to find only one most likely.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0967100917/ref=tmm_other_meta_binding_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=1492644272&sr=8-3

Edited by chiefcookandbottlewasher
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deerforest, I'm not sure. I know I, for one, will try hard to buy a Mosdos Teacher Guide for any level I use. I really like my kids to get "deep" into the literature and, while I have enough knowledge to formulate questions, it takes a LOT of time to do do it all well. I found that out when recently I had to tweak everything I found for a novel study on Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. So time is money to me at this point! : )

 

The Mosdos Teacher Guide I have (Jade) is about as thorough of a manual as I have ever seen and has been well worth the money. In fact, the whole Mosdos Lit program is very high quality and far surpasses most of what is out there (especially for lower grades) so I am deeply saddened to hear that the founders are pulling the plug. I don't know why they don't sell the copyrights to another publisher—I wonder if they even tried to do this?

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I must admit, it's so strange to me that no one has been able to contact the founders. I mean, is there no possible way to contact them? Seems so odd to me. On top of it, the only place I see where you can actually find all of the materials is Homeschool Closet, or whatever it's called that was mentioned upthread. But you can't even contact them without getting that "this is not secure" message, which scares me. I tried calling one of their sister sites and was connected to someone with a foreign accent that told me I had the wrong number. What is going on here?

 

I'm sad that I cannot even try Mosdos, because I've been unable to find the Coral teacher's guide. :-(

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Don't despair, Meadowlark. I am hoping that once we hit June, more copies of everything will become available.

 

Thanks, hoping that is the case. Kind of wondering though if anyone is thinking of what they'll do in the case that they can't find what they need. I haven't even done a reading program to date with my kids-and both are strong readers. But I feel it's kind of time to start digging in to literary terms and exposing them to different types of reading. They both tend to read the same types of stories over and over...and I"m kind of the same way. I liked Mosdos because of the variety. Thinking CLE is the next best thing? Idk....

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Thanks, hoping that is the case. Kind of wondering though if anyone is thinking of what they'll do in the case that they can't find what they need. I haven't even done a reading program to date with my kids-and both are strong readers. But I feel it's kind of time to start digging in to literary terms and exposing them to different types of reading. They both tend to read the same types of stories over and over...and I"m kind of the same way. I liked Mosdos because of the variety. Thinking CLE is the next best thing? Idk....

Don't go CLE. Their reading selections lack variety. Even though I am a secular homeschooler, my son uses their math because it works well for his special needs. I am a member of all of their FB groups. The number one reason people stop using their reading stuff is that the kids rebel because the stories lack zest. The format us amazing, but that is just not enough.

 

I have done actual books using literature guides and liked it ok. I hear Moving Beyond the Page is good too.

Edited by Jyhwkmama
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Don't go CLE. Their reading selections lack variety. Even though I am a secular homeschooler, my son uses their math because it works well for his special needs. I am a member of all of their FB groups. The number one reason people stop using their reading stuff is that the kids rebel because the stories lack zest. The format us amazing, but that is just not enough.

 

I have done actual books using literature guides and liked it ok. I hear Moving Beyond the Page is good too.

 

Well, I was looking forward to Mosdos because I was hoping for the deep conversation that I could have with them about what they've read. You know-ask questions, talk about the moral, the life lesson, etc. I thought CLE would have that too based on the examples. I'm so torn. One post I read says CLE is all busywork and turned their kids off to reading, then another will say it's simply amazing.

 

I can tell you that my oldest son LOVES to read, but he does NOT like trivial worksheets asking him to do something with that reading. Heck, he doesn't even like to tell me about it really. He scored 7.9 on ITBS at 3rd grade, so I've never been too worried about it. But as I said, it's time he start to dig a little deeper. Pray I find a copy of the Coral teacher's book!

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ETA: LOL, I thought this was a NEW thread. I didn't realize I'd started it, haha. Sorry if my reply below ends up being redundant. :p

 

 

 

FWIW, I use Mosdos withOUT the teacher's book, and it's still a great program. Each section begins with a 1-page intro story, complete with teaching about the element/theme and a few questions. Then the longer story has a page of different types of questions (some oral, some requiring written response). Then there is a unit wrap-up, with lots of activity choices to further explore the teaching from the element.

 

All that to say, you can have a perfectly full literature experience without the guide.

(And, to be honest, sometimes we just read and enjoy and forget all the extra stuff...)

 

I also saw where someone linked a literature notebook download from Currclick, that you could use as you make your way through the anthology.

Edited by alisoncooks
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