homemommy83 Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 On 12/19/2018 at 3:37 PM, FireweedPrep said: As an update we have embarked on Rod and Staff 2, with good colored pencils! She continues to insist that math is her least favorite subject, but I counter that she has to have a least favorite! We are going to stick with it. The interactive part of the lesson is blessedly shorter than Saxon but still worthwhile and we like that. Sometimes I sit with her for the worksheet part, sometimes not. She gripes but eventually gets it done. Thanks for all the support and recommendations! I also want to encourage you that with level 2 to only have her do the amount of seatwork you believe that she needs, as I feel that there is enough problems for 2 students😉. Brenda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 8 hours ago, homemommy83 said: I agree...which is why we use it from the beginning...I think the 3rd level feels a little different is because of using both the teaching time via the manual plus the student writing out of the textbook that it just seemed different...kwim the lower 2 levels have workbooks and take less time. It really is a transition year for the kids...to have them write out their problems, but after a longer teaching session...it made math last longer for us...so we fixed that by having them write out the math fact drill only and circling like a third of the other problems and having them answer them right in the book😉- this allows about 3 kids to reuse the same textbook, but also doesn't require them to write out every problem and makes it manageable. Like I said before...it is my favorite math program...it is just the way levels 4-8 are written for the older children is amazing as they can go back into the text and study examples...if they ever did a revision of the program I would wish they would choose either workbooks for levels 3 or design it with a teaching box at the top of the page with examples as it would streamline it a bit. I love CLE because of the teaching box at the top of each lesson...but I prefer a mastery program to teach from...spiral works well for my kiddos, but it messes with myblogical step by step brain😂. Ellie I always love your choices for curriculum...it is like you pick my brain😁. Brenda You are such a sweetheart. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ The reason that there doesn't need to be a teaching box at the top of the page even in the third grade book is that the children never work independently in that book; the seatwork always follows an oral lesson. I'm guessing that the authors believe that at this age children still *need* that direct instruction. 🙂 The textbook helps prepare them for using a textbook the following year, but they don't have to write out every problem in the drill sets: they fold their notebook paper on a line, hold it on the page below a row of problems, and write only the answers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homemommy83 Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 4 hours ago, Ellie said: You are such a sweetheart. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ The reason that there doesn't need to be a teaching box at the top of the page even in the third grade book is that the children never work independently in that book; the seatwork always follows an oral lesson. I'm guessing that the authors believe that at this age children still *need* that direct instruction. 🙂 The textbook helps prepare them for using a textbook the following year, but they don't have to write out every problem in the drill sets: they fold their notebook paper on a line, hold it on the page below a row of problems, and write only the answers. That would be smart! I had never thought to do it that way!! You learn something new everyday😀. Thank you😎. Brenda 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireweedPrep Posted December 28, 2018 Author Share Posted December 28, 2018 On 12/25/2018 at 3:17 PM, Ellie said: The first three books follow exactly the same format: the teacher does the teaching with the excellent scripted lessons in the teacher manual, and then the children do the seatwork, which reinforces what they have just been taught. The only difference is that the first two have workbooks and the third is a textbook. 🙂 The first three would be different because they are the building blocks for the rest of the series. The scope and sequence for fourth and up is comparative to Saxon or any other publisher; the lower three seem to be behind other publishers, but that's because they are working on basic arithmetic, without throwing in some advanced concepts they way other publishers do, concepts which are not taught comprehensively at all. When R&S students reach those concepts at fourth grade and above, they have *strong* basic arithmetic skills and are ready for the more advanced maths. Reading that R&S matches up with other curriculum in fourth grade greatly relieves my anxiety! I know that when we have our annual (required) homeschool evaluation in August, my daughter will be considered "behind" but I also trust with R&S that she will be solidly grounded in arithmetic, which absolutely makes everything else easier later on! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireweedPrep Posted December 28, 2018 Author Share Posted December 28, 2018 On 12/26/2018 at 4:38 PM, Ellie said: You are such a sweetheart. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ The reason that there doesn't need to be a teaching box at the top of the page even in the third grade book is that the children never work independently in that book; the seatwork always follows an oral lesson. I'm guessing that the authors believe that at this age children still *need* that direct instruction. 🙂 The textbook helps prepare them for using a textbook the following year, but they don't have to write out every problem in the drill sets: they fold their notebook paper on a line, hold it on the page below a row of problems, and write only the answers. Oh that's brilliant! Tucking that in my brain for next year! I like doing the math lesson with her, so I'm happy to keep doing that! At first we skipped part of the "drill" with flashcards and such, but I now see that for her, at least, she does need all that direct instruction, immediate feedback, and drill/review! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 18 minutes ago, Paradox5 said: Just tossing this in. Most people use the R&S 3 text as a workbook. There is plenty of space to write the answers in. 4th on up I disagree with anyone who says there is enough space to work the problems out in the books. I don't like using it as a workbook because of the awkwardness of writing in a textbook. Writing on a piece of paper which is lying on a flat surface is much easier for little persons who are still developing their penmanship, KWIM? Also, setting up a word problem properly is much easier on a piece of paper, and they need to be able to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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