Trisms for reluctant student and other ?s (x-post)

[Annie Laurie]

I am having a hard time really understanding Trisms, I've been to their website several times and wish there were more samples and explanations, or maybe it's just me and my brain, but it's not clicking.

 

I'm looking into it for my oldest, but may keep it in mind for a possibility for my younger set also, so any info about using it for middle school as well as for high school would be great.

 

I'm looking at Age of Revolution for my high schooler, and that is the only level he'll use since we've already been through Ancients and the other time periods they offer. I don't mind learning to use it for just one year since I feel it might be a valuable tool in teaching ds research skills and working on some other weak areas of ds's. Questions:

 

#1:Curriculum Design and Implementation- What do you think about using this with a student who is not very motivated? I need for him to have more accountability- we're using SL atm, which I love, but I think it's better for a motivated student. He skims the readers and there isn't much in the IG other than superficial comprehension questions. I'd like for him to think and write more about what he's reading. Is there a research component to every single thing they read in Trisms? I don't quite understand how it works. What do the student forms and tests consist of? Is Trisms designed for the highschool age student to be able to use by himself or is there a lot of parental involvement?

 

 

#2: Cost- Do I have it correct that just the two manuals would be almost $400, let alone the other stuff I'd probably add in?

 

 

#3: Reading- how much is there? I understand that there are literature excerpts in the TM, is that all the reading aside from what is read for research? The excerpts are actually a plus for us because ds is burned out on all the reading with SL, and excerpts would expose him to a variety of genres and ideas without so much reading. I think he would be better served by reading fewer selections and really reading them right and thinking about what he read, rather than skimming through a ton a year like he's been doing.

 

#4: The writing component: Would you recommend using IEW with this, as the website suggests?

 

 

Any insights you could offer would be greatly appreciated! I'll ask at the high school forum also.

 

ETA: Please excuse typos and messiness, I'm having computer issues and it took me forever just to write this.

Edited November 20, 2008 by Annie Laurie

[Pamela H in Texas]

Nicole,

 

Have you considered joining the yahoo group to research further?

 

First, Age of Revolution is considered VERY meaty and some say is tougher than the other levels also. Most people find they have to gloss through it and it's STILL tough to do in a year. Two years for it seems to be "the norm." So you might consider that.

 

Second, MOST kids have had all the other time periods by high school also. They would do Trisms as a high school level of those time periods. I wouldn't necessarily write off the rest of the time periods just because you've touched them before. However, I'm considering this for ds and also thinking we'll start with Age and then I'll let him choose one of the others. We're planning on only 3 years for high school, though that could change over those years.

 

My understanding is that we'll have to help them a bit as they get started but they'll be more independent in time. I also have worried about the accountability aspect as my ds has done well with the virtual academy the last year but that isn't the best option for us this coming year.

 

Yes, it's $350 for both AOR books. And yes, you still have the IEW, math, lab science and foreign language (if you so please). We're also adding in a grammar program.

 

There are some literature books also suggested, but how many you get to is really up to you. Also, you'd likely get more of them if you took AOR over 2 years. But it could still be at a comfy pace so he could digest them.

 

Anyway, I highly suggest the yahoo group. I just got back on it myself to search through the archives and ask a few questions.

[asta]

Cathy Duffy does a decent job of explaining the curriculum in her review.

 

Otherwise, I would second the recommendation to join the Yahoo group; it has a wealth of information.

 

 

asta

[Annie Laurie]

Thank you, both. Off to read the review and I did some reading at the yahoo group last night and will continue researching there.

[ereks mom]

We used Discovering the Ancient World, Expansion of Civilization, and Rise of Nations. We did not use Age of Revolutions. (I found it cost-prohibitive. AOR is considerably more expensive than the previous volumes.) Instead, I came up with a "TRISMS-style" study on my own. To get started, I listed the topics I wanted to cover. Then I started choosing various works of literature, art/artists, architecture, and music/composers for the various time periods to be studied. We continued our studies in the same way as with the previous volumes: ER did the map studies for each unit (labeling & coloring), and he read the literature & did *some* writing assignments related to the literature (but mostly we just discussed it). He did some outside reading using one or more spine books (Streams of Civilization, BJU World History, ABeka World History) as well as historical fiction, and we read & discussed the Civilization, Art, Music, and Architecture Questionnaires. He researched in books and online to find information and pictures of the art, architecture, and musical instruments of each civilization, and he printed these out and put them in his coursebook. (TRISMS is all about notebooking, which the author calls making a coursebook.)

 

PLEASE NOTE: My biggest complaint with TRISMS is that American history from 1750-1850 is not covered AT ALL. This, of course, includes the American Revolutionary period! So, I wrote my own unit for this period, and I have posted my lesson plans in the Files area of the TRISMS Yahoo! group for any and all to use.

 

I believe there is going to be one more TRISMS volume, for a total of 5 at the high school level. In order to complete all the high school volumes, then, users would need to start with DAW in 8th grade.

 

One final comment: I find TRISMS to be quite user-friendly. It *is* essential for the teacher-parent to read the Orientation material in the front of the TM, and after that, it's pretty smooth sailing. The few times that I have had a question regarding the program, I have e-mailed the author, Linda Thornhill, and she has responded quickly with exactly the information I needed.

Edited November 21, 2008 by ereks mom