MomN Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 I'd much rather NOT buy teacher manuals if I don't have to. Can anyone tell me if I need them for these curriculum choices: -MCT The Island Level (I definitely cannot afford both editions! Which edition is better?) -IEW theme books like Fables, Myths, and Fairy Tales (I do own TWSS) -Writing and Rhetoric Book 1: Fables I've never taught with any of these curriculums before and won't be buying all of them. Just trying to compare prices and such. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternallytired Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 I can partially answer this one. I've done both MCT and IEW. For MCT, I found it easiest to purchase the teacher editions, which contain all the material from the student editions plus some. If I was reading a section to the kids, I'd just cover up any answers with my hand or a sticky note. Anything they'd write in the book we simply worked on the whiteboard or on notebook paper. (I actually bought these used and got a student and a teacher book, but I never used the student books at all.) I used a couple different IEW theme books and only bought student editions. What you choose to use may depend on your comfort level with the material, but if you already own TWSS, you are probably familiar enough with the style/material that you will understand what's being asked of the student. Perhaps look at the student book samples online and see if you understand how to use them without additional instructions, and look at the sample from the teacher book to see if it seems to add anything necessary. You can find pretty good deals on the clearance section of their site. I've not used W&R, so someone else will have to chip in their two cents on that one. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MK2222 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 I used MCT Island Level (except Practice Island) 1 minute ago, eternallytired said: For MCT, I found it easiest to purchase the teacher editions, which contain all the material from the student editions plus some. If I was reading a section to the kids, I'd just cover up any answers with my hand or a sticky note. Anything they'd write in the book we simply worked on the whiteboard or on notebook paper. (I actually bought these used and got a student and a teacher book, but I never used the student books at all.) Same. I only bought the teacher's manual and covered up the answers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caffeineandbooks Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 You know, for Fable I'd recommend just buying the teacher book and not the student one. We're doing it at the moment and are finding that a lot of it is done orally. The kids spend longer playing with sentences if they know they don't have to write it down, and there are some lovely gentle copia exercises that are worth the time but don't really need to be written down. Once or twice a week they actually pick up pen and paper to write a summary or elaboration of a fable, but the student book just provides blank lines for that and we have been using lined paper. I wish I hadn't spent the money on a book for each kid. The teacher manual is not strictly necessary - you could get by with just a student book - but the teacher book does have suggested answers, and on mornings when the chaos levels are higher than usual at my house I appreciate not having to think so hard myself 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomN Posted February 21, 2021 Author Share Posted February 21, 2021 Very helpful! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillcottagemom Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 (edited) 53 minutes ago, caffeineandbooks said: You know, for Fable I'd recommend just buying the teacher book and not the student one. We're doing it at the moment and are finding that a lot of it is done orally. The kids spend longer playing with sentences if they know they don't have to write it down, and there are some lovely gentle copia exercises that are worth the time but don't really need to be written down. Once or twice a week they actually pick up pen and paper to write a summary or elaboration of a fable, but the student book just provides blank lines for that and we have been using lined paper. I wish I hadn't spent the money on a book for each kid. The teacher manual is not strictly necessary - you could get by with just a student book - but the teacher book does have suggested answers, and on mornings when the chaos levels are higher than usual at my house I appreciate not having to think so hard myself 🙂 I second the suggestion to buy the teacher's book for Fable and use a notebook for your child's written work. I wish I hadn't purchased both the teacher and student books for Fable. I'd add that the teacher's book, in addition to having sample answers, provides the passages for dictation. You wouldn't have those with the student book alone. As an aside (in case anyone else would find this helpful) my older kids are using Commonplace, and in that case you could get by with just the student book but not just the teacher's guide. Each student needs his own books too, because by that point they're editing passages in the workbook. (Basically, what applies to Fable may not apply in subsequent W&R books) Edited February 21, 2021 by Hillcottagemom 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsfellman Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 I also only used the T.E. of MCT except for the Practice Island book. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kezia Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 I use MCT teacher’s manuals only. Got them used. I did buy the new teacher’s manual for practice town and just write the sentence separately and draw 4 lines under it. Works for us. I also used teacher’s manual only for W&R. It has extra hand holding that makes it really easy. My kid did any written work on separate paper. I just read it to him as he sat across from me. Multiple choice questions, I read aloud and he chose verbally. Any crossing out material to shorten the fable was done verbally. I have a love for doing the work verbally though and he never had that book in his hands. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 On 2/20/2021 at 4:42 PM, MomN said: MCT The Island Level (I definitely cannot afford both editions! Which edition is better?) Just get the TMs for everything and then also get a student version of the practice book (so you have a TM with answers and a blank student version). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomN Posted February 23, 2021 Author Share Posted February 23, 2021 3 hours ago, Kezia said: I use MCT teacher’s manuals only. Got them used. Any advice for finding MCT stuff used? I've never seen anything of theirs used and it's so expensive new! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomN Posted February 23, 2021 Author Share Posted February 23, 2021 On 2/20/2021 at 7:23 PM, caffeineandbooks said: You know, for Fable I'd recommend just buying the teacher book and not the student one. We're doing it at the moment and are finding that a lot of it is done orally. The kids spend longer playing with sentences if they know they don't have to write it down, and there are some lovely gentle copia exercises that are worth the time but don't really need to be written down. Once or twice a week they actually pick up pen and paper to write a summary or elaboration of a fable, but the student book just provides blank lines for that and we have been using lined paper. I wish I hadn't spent the money on a book for each kid. The teacher manual is not strictly necessary - you could get by with just a student book - but the teacher book does have suggested answers, and on mornings when the chaos levels are higher than usual at my house I appreciate not having to think so hard myself 🙂 I really, really like this idea of not making them write out everything! Thank you for suggesting it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternallytired Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 30 minutes ago, MomN said: Any advice for finding MCT stuff used? I've never seen anything of theirs used and it's so expensive new! I got mine used on the Classifieds here. You can also keep an eye on HomeschoolClassifieds.com or your local FB homeschool group, though I've had less success with MCT (and any other other less mainstream programs) on there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kezia Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 6 hours ago, MomN said: Any advice for finding MCT stuff used? I've never seen anything of theirs used and it's so expensive new! I just typed the name of the book and added used. Ebay, thriftbook, abe books, all have been helpful to get the books used. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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