Is anyone doing it "by the book"?

[QueenbeeX3]

Is anyone doing history following the guidelines of TWTM and the Activity Guide versus using a a packaged curriculum like Sonlight or TOG? Is anyone use most of the recommendations from the TWTM for the other subjects, and find that you have been able to make it workable and adaptable for your family?

 

We've been hsling for 5-6 years, my oldest ds is 11, 5th gr. Ive picked up TWTM several times and just have not had the confidence to put together our curriculum and follow the recommendations, without doubting that I'm missing something, or not doing it right, or not doing enough. But I totally agree with this philosophy of learning and education.

 

I have a challenge with worrying if I'm picking the "right" supplemental books for reading, if the narrations are thorough enough,etc. and trying to figure out how to schedule it all, and how even start teaching this way with a 5th grader, and a 2nd grader. We began hsling with a relaxed method that has not worked as well and now I feel like I need to play "catch up". I keep glazing at Sonlight, but the price and the amount of read-alouds, and the challenge of combining 2 kids, 3yrs apart keep me from purchasing that as well.

 

I guess I just need some reassurance to stop dangling me feet in so many pools and just dive in to what my heart, head and husband feel are best. Any encouragement out there???

[Harriet Vane]

We do it by the book and really love it. We started with Sonlight. I finally became brave enough to switch to TWTM recommendations and have found that they work well. The only real deviation from the course for us has been in the area of science. I am just not a hands-on, experiment kinda mom--doing SWB's grammar stage chemistry recommendation was not a good fit for us. At present dd is doing Prentice-Hall for science. Other than that we have found TWTM recommendations fit our needs well.

[Melissa in Australia]

hi, we try to follow WTM " by the Book". I follow all the book recommendations, curriculum suggestions, etc. etc. etc. but we fall short of actually reaching that standard. it is like a goal to aim for. we just haven't quite got there yet.

[WTMCassandra]

I do it mostly by the book, but I do add Biblioplan, some individual Sonlight and Veritas titles, and some Landmark books. Sometimes I give Sonlight titles as presents ; ) or buy them to put on the free reading shelves (I just tell them it's a fun book rather than a school book, and they never know it came from a "school" catalog). Sometimes I can even find Songlight titles at the library so I don't have to buy them.

 

I'd follow your heart. I can only do so much during our official homeschooling time, but I keep the free bookshelves well-stocked with titles my children consider fun that other children might consider school. I can cram in extra books this way without the children feeling burdened. We don't study Caddie Woodlawn, or Phantom Tollbooth, or Little House on the Prairie, or The Wheel on the School, or the Twenty-One Balloons, or . . . you get the idea. Those are our fun books ; ).

[PeterPan]

Well when are you wanting to start this? Did you know the convention in Cincinnati is coming up in a few months and SWB will be there? Just wanted to put in that plug, since you're in Ohio. :)

 

Seriously, you could go to the convention and LOOK at all this stuff, talk with SWB, and just see what makes sense to you at that point. I don't think SL makes sense for you (what core would combine, more read-alouds than you want, still not the right writing assignments for both ages, etc.). But TOG would be a good fit, and some people do SOTW kicked up with a more advanced spine alongside. I think either would work in your situation. Or MOH would work. Or VP would work. Any of those would work, be easy to combine a 2nd and 5th grader into, and have writing assignments and extra reading.

 

You really can't mess up the extra reading, hehe, so don't feel so stressed! Have you ever gotten a VP catalog? They have so much delicious stuff. On the writing, well there look at WTM and see what you're trying to do. With the 2nd grader, you're just wanting him to build up to writing his own narrations. With the 5th grader, he can do narrations/notebooking but he could also begin outlining as WTM describes in the history section. So just think through your plans. I notice you're new around here. (Welcome!) If you search the threads, you might find one where people tell what they're doing with their 5th graders, and that would give you some sense of how this can play out. Or start a thread yourself for suggestions on how to schedule 5th grade. I'm only doing 4th this year, so I won't proffer too much advice except to say that if you find a writing curriculum that includes outlining (Writing Tales 2 would be fun!), then you might be able to skip that and just have your 5th grader notebook for his history. In other words, the outlining in the history recommendation of WTM was to teach the skill, as well as cementing the content, but you could just as easily move that over to another curriculum. Then your history writing is just to get up his overall quantity of writing.

 

You're going to be fine. You can do this! :)

[Jenny in Florida]

We have some specific things I need to accomodate: We use non-religious materials; and I have highly gifted and academically accelerated students. So, we follow TWTM as a general approach, but I research and source materials that I think will work for our family.

 

We don't though, use any of the packaged stuff like TOG or Sonlight or any of the others. I put it together myself inspired by TWTM. It works great for us.

[riada]

hi, we try to follow WTM " by the Book". I follow all the book recommendations, curriculum suggestions, etc. etc. etc. but we fall short of actually reaching that standard. it is like a goal to aim for. we just haven't quite got there yet.

:iagree:This is us! We strive to meet those goals, follow the guidelines, etc. but we still fall short. I'm okay with it though because they are getting a good education and it is working for us.

[Rosie_0801]

We have some specific things I need to accomodate: We use non-religious materials; and I have highly gifted and academically accelerated students. So, we follow TWTM as a general approach, but I research and source materials that I think will work for our family.

We don't though, use any of the packaged stuff like TOG or Sonlight or any of the others. I put it together myself inspired by TWTM. It works great for us.

 

:iagree: If you are finding it that difficult to do it 100% by the book, then 100% might not be the right thing for you. TWTM is a guide, not a law code. It's perfectly ok to take the philosophy but ignore some of the curriculum recommendations. I follow a lot of their curriculum recs, and most of their philosophies, but don't like the way they do science. I don't like their maths suggestions either. No big deal, I found something I liked better. As for read alouds, read whatever is in your local library :) Remember that not even SWB follows TWTM 100%! If she doesn't, being co-author, you don't have to feel the pressure to do it yourself!

:)

Rosie

[muffinmom]

We are pretty much following WTM guidelines. I have found it easy to implement. See my curriculum choices below. Here's our weekly plan (based very much on WTM recs):

 

Every day: math, phonics/reading, Bible reading, memory work, read-alouds, listen to music in a.m. before breakfast

 

Then we add to that the following

Mon. - art

Tues. - history

Wed. - science

Thurs. - history

Friday - off

 

It's been a very reasonable load.

[Janice in NJ]

I've been at this for a while!

 

Year 1: TWTM 1st grade (the ORIGINAL WTM - not SOTW. :001_smile:)

Year 2: TWTM

Year 3: SL 3 - I was SUCH an ignoramus when it came to history that I finally decided that I needed HELP! Major help! SL worked great. I learned so much about how to teach with literature. SOTW with the activity guide handles SO much of that now; it messes everything together - chapter by chapter - so that's handled. It didn't EXIST when I started.

Year 4: SL 4 - Great two years!

 

Year 5: SOTW was finally available and we were ready to head back into the ancients. I launched a FULL TWTM plan with two in the grammar stage (1st grade and 3rd grade) and one in the logic stage (5th grade).

Year 6: More SOTW generally ala TWTM

Year 7: More SOTW - but I pick up SL 7 and SL 100 and TOG 2 and..... I started reading and reading and learning and learning and SO many great things happened! I was prepping for high school - and I knew that I had a lot to learn.

Year 8: Like Year 7.

 

Year 9: We used TOG 1 as our spine and had a great year!

Year 10: Using LOTS of things - TOG 2 is my spine, but I own LOTS of materials (I've been at this for ten years) so I dip in and out of things! TWTM method of teaching taught me so much about education, and my kids learned a lot too! As I dug deeper and deeper into the content, I eventually found programs (Like SL and TOG) that handled the administration of our homeschool (the what to study when with what materials question) so that I had more time to teach! So it's not that one method (TWTM, SL, TOG) is better than another. Each method added tools to my momma's-bag-of-teaching-tricks. They each made me a better teacher, and my kids picked up SO many tools for learning from each. You just need to pick the one that generally meets your need so that you can MOVE on and dig, dig, dig into the content and face-time with your kids.

 

So pick one! Dig in! And go, go, go Momma! Rock on! They're all good! And they all go to good places. Just fire up and GO! (Did I mention that? :001_smile:)

 

Peace,

Janice

 

Enjoy your little people

Enjoy your journey

[Colleen in NS]

Is anyone doing history following the guidelines of TWTM and the Activity Guide versus using a a packaged curriculum like Sonlight or TOG? Is anyone use most of the recommendations from the TWTM for the other subjects, and find that you have been able to make it workable and adaptable for your family?

 

I have a challenge with worrying if I'm picking the "right" supplemental books for reading, if the narrations are thorough enough,etc. and trying to figure out how to schedule it all, and how even start teaching this way with a 5th grader, and a 2nd grader.

 

Any encouragement out there???

 

Yes, just GO FOR IT!

 

I do a lot of what WTM recommends, and this is our 5th year of doing so. Not everything exactly, but as you said, tweaked to fit our family. The underlying ideas in WTM are working wonderfully for us. I have a 5th grader and 2nd grader, too.

 

Don't worry about picking the right supplemental books - just pick, on the subject you are studying, whatever books your library has on the subject. Ones that interest your kids and are written interestingly.

 

Start off with basic skills like reading, spelling, writing, math, grammar. Get a routine going for those, then add in lit., history, and science. Add in art and music periodically if you feel so inclined. Latin or other foreign language if you like.

 

I love this way of educating my kids - it is so freeing, equipping (the kids and me), and FUN! Hard work at times, but fun. Totally worth it.:D

[swellmomma]

We do history by the book, I tossed around the idea of TOG for next year but have decided to stick with just SOTW. As for the rest of the subjects, I have mostly used the recommended resources, scheduled in my own way. I started using the WTM way this year with a 5th grader, 4th grader and Ker and as much as we have our struggles do to circumstances(the kids special needs, me working etc) this year is going much better than the 2 years I tried to use sonlight and my own peicemeal.

[Nan in Mass]

I began when one child was in first grade and the other in fifth. Now the first grader is in 8th and the fifth grader is a senior and just got into the college of his choice. I can assure you that TWTM works. Why do I like it? It is easy to adapt. It is mostly open-and-go. It is just the right mix of rigorous and child-led/exploratory, rigorous where academic skills are concerned, and fun and interesting where content is concerned. With strong academic skills, a child can continue to teach themselves their whole life. There is SO much history and science and literature out there that you might as well pick things of interest to your child. The spine/supplimentary reading system is easy to adapt to your child's abilities and interests. We usually try TWTM recommendation and then if it doesn't work, I find something else. I use the history and literature in TWTM. We did (when we did science) TWTM science for grammar and logic stage. We tried the Latin recommendation and I hated it (the children were fine with it), so we switched to something else. But we still did Latin. We only did a little English grammar (used Latin instead). We didn't write very many history reports. We made modifications like that. We don't do everything, by any stretch, but that is what I mean about it working so well - we didn't do anywhere near everything and my children STILL know lots of history and have read lots of great books. TWTM has tons of instructions for molding TWTM to your particular family. Yes, you have to work with your children quite a lot, but it doesn't require tons of time preparing. It is mostly open-and-go. There are nice weekly routines for most subjects which you quickly figure out how to adapt. (I discovered pretty fast that my older one was a slow enough worker that he couldn't do weekly history reports and he couldn't do a timeline. And I found that my youngest needed three times the number of supplimental history library books.) I would really encourage you to try it.

-Nan

[Sahamamama]

This article, "Introducing WTM Methods Gradually," may help:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/gradualintroduction.php

[Jennefer@SSA]

You've already gotten so much fantastic advice so I just wanted to add this -

 

We do TWTM "by the book" and this board has been one reason I've had the confidence to stick with it. Anytime I have doubts, concerns or questions (simple to complex) I come here to receive support and ideas. Jump in and go for it like the others have said....and then come here for that extra support/encouragement you may need along the way!

 

Good luck!

[Testimony]

My eldest son loves the Story of the World series. He cannot get enough of it. We are on our second cycle with this series. We follow the guides, etc.

I do also the logic books like Building Thinking Skills and Mindbenders. I am not doing the grammar recommendations, at least not from the old book.

 

I do try to follow the Charlotte Mason approach. I read a lot to them and they read to me and they narrate back either orally or written. I keep the lessons short as best that I can. They say that the Well Trained Mind approach can be incorporated into the Charlotte Mason approach.

 

Blessings in your homeschooling journey!

 

Sincerely,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[Lovedtodeath]

Seriously, you could go to the convention and LOOK at all this stuff, talk with SWB, and just see what makes sense to you at that point. I don't think SL makes sense for you (what core would combine, more read-alouds than you want, still not the right writing assignments for both ages, etc.). But TOG would be a good fit, and some people do SOTW kicked up with a more advanced spine alongside. I think either would work in your situation. Or MOH would work. Or VP would work. Any of those would work, be easy to combine a 2nd and 5th grader into, and have writing assignments and extra reading.

 

I keep glazing at Sonlight, but the price and the amount of read-alouds, and the challenge of combining 2 kids, 3yrs apart keep me from purchasing that as well.

 

 

Wp has an American program that would work now. Then when the youngest is in fourth you could combine them in their World History programs for 4-5 years. There is a separate LA package with reading corresponding to each program for many different grade/reading levels.

[Tree House Academy]

I don't follow TWTM by the book...but I also don't use a boxed curriculum. I do my own thing and it really works for us. The way I know if I am "doing enough" - if my son seems challenged, but not overwhelmed and if our schooling takes the 3-4 hours it is meant to take and not 10 hours due solely to work load. ;) That said, I do use some of TWTM suggestions and have enjoyed many of them...while absolutely hating others.

[lionfamily1999]

The way I know if I am "doing enough" - if my son seems challenged, but not overwhelmed and if our schooling takes the 3-4 hours it is meant to take and not 10 hours due solely to work load. ;)

 

What is a normal day? We weren't going to start until January, but the school system deleted him a few weeks early, so we started today.

 

We did spelling, handwriting, reading (he read a chapter aloud in about ten min.), "fun" reading, math (four pages worth... another twenty minutes?) and science (mammals... maybe twenty minutes) and were finished by 11, so three hours. I ended up throwing in an art project because it seemed too early to be done. Our history stuff just got here this evening, so we'll start history tomorrow, but am I not planning enough work?

 

IOW, what do you do when you plan what seems like plenty of concept and work, and the kids finish really early?

[Lovedtodeath]

IOW, what do you do when you plan what seems like plenty of concept and work, and the kids finish really early?

 

celebrate!!

[lionfamily1999]

celebrate!!

I feel like one of my kids.... so that's not a bad thing? Finishing early?

 

Ironically, this is why I'm taking him out of school, because the classes moved too slow and he was getting bored, so he was getting into "trouble" (eye roll).

[mcconnellboys]

I mostly follow WTM recs and have for years. It feels very comfortable for me. I think it's open-ended enough that you can modify to suit your family's needs and still follow most of the recs found there. I can't face doing history/lit or science any other way!

[Lovedtodeath]

I feel like one of my kids.... so that's not a bad thing? Finishing early?

 

Ironically, this is why I'm taking him out of school, because the classes moved too slow and he was getting bored, so he was getting into "trouble" (eye roll).

Schedules (Or: When to Ignore The Well-Trained Mind)

 

Check out this link. We have had many discussions about this on this board and generally agree that less time is needed than what is in the book.

[lionfamily1999]

Schedules (Or: When to Ignore The Well-Trained Mind)

 

Check out this link. We have had many discussions about this on this board and generally agree that less time is needed than what is in the book.

"Schedules are servants, not masters."

Thank you! This was perfect.

[Sahamamama]

IOW, what do you do when you plan what seems like plenty of concept and work, and the kids finish really early?

 

You could let them:

 

1. Read independently.

2. Help you with household chores.

3. Go outside and run around.

4. Pull out the Art Box or a craft/hobby kit.

5. Listen to music.

6. Play with indoor toys, blocks, math manipulatives.

7. Go to the library.

8. Learn to fix a snack independently.

9. Play with a younger or older sibling.

10. Visit grandparents, neighbors, or friends.

11. Practice an instrument.

12. Write poetry.

13. Build a fort.

14. Take a nap.

15. Exercise.

16. Practice typing with a typing program.

17. Join a children's club, such as Cub Scouts or AWANA.

18. Take care of a pet.

19. Simple yardwork, such as raking leaves.

20. Learn a world language.

 

Hope this keeps your new homeschooler happy and learning! :001_smile:

[Sahamamama]

BTW, I laughed out loud when I read in your post that the school "deleted" your son a few weeks early! That just sounded so funny. Good luck!

[lionfamily1999]

My poor guy went to buy lunch and his number did not work. Then he realized they'd never called him for attendance. He came home and told me all about it, thank God he did not take it personally. He thought it was amazing that he spent the entire day at school without anyone checking to see if he should be there. He even considered going back on Monday, I was going to call to make sure they knew he was there, but he wanted to pretend to be a secret agent all day and see what happened, lol.

 

So, basically, we can go on with regular life once the school work is gone? ;) Okay.

 

Well, it's time to get started. Thanks everybody! TTYL

[inashoe]

My poor guy went to buy lunch and his number did not work. Then he realized they'd never called him for attendance. He came home and told me all about it, thank God he did not take it personally. He thought it was amazing that he spent the entire day at school without anyone checking to see if he should be there. He even considered going back on Monday, I was going to call to make sure they knew he was there, but he wanted to pretend to be a secret agent all day and see what happened, lol.

 

That is such a funny story !!

 

We follow WTM as closely as possible. I find her recommendations fantastic. I like that the kids are not spoon-fed but are challenged to really develop skills.

 

I use two programs that WTM doesn't have in the book : Teaching Textbooks Math and Phonetic Zoo spelling - these both work for my auditory learner.

 

There are minor adjustments that I have to make, mainly with my oldest who struggles a bit, such as less writing for History. My next two do everything by the book and have no problems doing all the writing.

[kalanamak]

Schedules (Or: When to Ignore The Well-Trained Mind)

 

Check out this link. We have had many discussions about this on this board and generally agree that less time is needed than what is in the book.

 

I'm not sure about the times they list "from an email" as far as how many days per year of those hours. I once added up all those times and assumed, from other comments in the book, they meant 180 days per year. IF ANYONE knows differently, I'd love to hear about it.

 

I don't see the point of 3 months off in summer, and I wouldn't leave such a huge chunk of down-time even if I were a SAHM. Since I work full time, and have to be careful with planning, I added up the *yearly* requirements of time, divided by 12 and work each month towards that goal. If something comes up and I "owe" an hour of math at the end of the month, I carry it forward.

 

Am I crazed about this ("we HAVE to do an HOUR of math today or we are BEHIND")? No. Do I find it helpful to keep me mushing onward? Yes. I have even gotten kiddo involved by making the hours into circles on a page, and I shade half of the circle for 30 minutes. He can see our progress, and I am introducing fractions and clock reading. After he's done his work, he watches me shade. It has replaced stickers on his work, which he outgrew.

 

This simple one-page-a-month record keeping (on the back I list important or wonderful books for the month and our field trips and big projects) is nice to look back over, with or without kiddo, and is documentation if I ever need it.

[Haiku]

 

This simple one-page-a-month record keeping (on the back I list important or wonderful books for the month and our field trips and big projects) is nice to look back over, with or without kiddo, and is documentation if I ever need it.

 

That's a really good idea. We don't school by hours; since we go year-round, we are more of a "do the next thing" type of family. We just keep going forward, and I don't necessarily have certain goals in mind for certain times. I use a weekly planning sheet that comes with the Mosaic history guide (a free guide that uses SOTW, Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History, and various other read-alouds and activities) that I schedule the entire week (all subjects) on. I have been keeping each week's schedule in a binder, but it's not very easy to look back and see an "overview" of what we accomplished. Your post has inspired me to take those pages (I have 19 of them so far) and make one page for each month listing what we've covered that month. Then, when our assessor comes at the "end of the school year," I will have twelve sheets to hand her that summarize our year.

 

I'd say we do TWTM by the book. I don't mean that we do everything exactly as it's detailed in the book. Even SWB says she doesn't expect people to do that. But I have taken her outline for what to accomplish and followed it fairly closely, sometimes using different resources than she suggests (for example, we use RightStart math). The only things we are not doing that she recommends are grammar and spelling. I will start grammar next year with Primary Language Lessons, and I don't intend to do spelling with the kids unless they show a need for it. Other than that, yep, we're following TWTM very closely.

 

Tara

[lionfamily1999]

That is such a funny story !!

 

We follow WTM as closely as possible. I find her recommendations fantastic. I like that the kids are not spoon-fed but are challenged to really develop skills.

 

I use two programs that WTM doesn't have in the book : Teaching Textbooks Math and Phonetic Zoo spelling - these both work for my auditory learner.

 

There are minor adjustments that I have to make, mainly with my oldest who struggles a bit, such as less writing for History. My next two do everything by the book and have no problems doing all the writing.

I was really stunned that they deleted him early and all those what ifs..... golly day.

 

We're using TWTM, but our copy books haven't come in yet, or FLL, so some of what we're doing is my eccentric version of what I think we should be doing. For math and science, we're just using workbooks I picked up that claim to cover everything in standardized tests. The history book (we started with Ancient times), is a little slow for him just yet, but we've only done the intro, so I'm sure it'll pick up soon. I'm trying to do everything the WTM way, but do we are skimping on the first two projects. Andrew's already done an extensive family tree for Cub Scouts and a "my life" timeline in school. We're still looking for a groove, but he definitely likes finishing school by lunch, lol.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

We are fairly close to following TWTM. We use their suggestions for math, phonics, grammar, spelling, Latin, and music. We also do copywork, dictation, and narration. We add CW for writing. I follow the 4 year cycle for history but with different resources. We tried science a la WTM and switched to Apologia Elementary. We also tried the DWC for art and finally switched to using 1, 2, 3, Draw books instead. Overall it's worked very well for us for 5 1/2 years now. HTH

[Jenn Robinson]

We follow TWTM very closely and have for 3 years! Both my girls started with OPG for reading, and one finished it so far. We are on our 3rd year of SOTW. They both do FLL & WWE. My 3rd grader is doing Prima Latin. And they are memorize poetry frequently and study artist and composers.

 

What we do different is:

Spelling- we do dictation from McGuffey readers

Science- we do a lot more nature study for the grammar years but plan on doing more WTM science for logic & retoric

 

TWTM is flexable enough that you can add in all the SL reading you want! I like to get the reading list of SL, TOG, MFW, Verits, etc .. and pick to ones that will fit in with the WTM structure!

[QueenbeeX3]

Thanks for all the input.

 

Janice in NJ - I think you're closest to what I'm thinking/feeling..

 

I love teaching history thru literature, I love the use of narration. What I feel most uncertain about is the administration/scheduling of books and activities and the "how-to". For me, I am learning that I like to tweak things to meet our individual needs, but I can't tweak until I understand the basics of how and what I'm doing. For instance, we use Math-U-See, and although I don't follow the program perfectly, it has taught me how to teach math. So I can tweak the curriculum to fit the needs of each child.

 

So I need to learn "how" to teach history, writing, comprehension, critical thinking, etc, within the context of a classical education. Or I feel a slave to the curriculum, or totally lost.

 

Does that make sense?

 

So if I follow the suggestions in TWTM, will I learn "how" to teach? Maybe I need a year of Sonlight or TOG to give me a more solid foundation to work from, at least until I comfortable? Just thinking aloud, anyone want to share more of their experience would be helpful.

 

Also Janice, when you said you read and read during yr 7, what did you read - the literature suggestions fro the program, or other things??

[QueenbeeX3]

I do plan on attending the convention. Cincinnati is my hometown.

 

I went the first year, loved it, missed last yr, would not miss this year for anything! I plan on listening to SWB and looking at Sonlight. I really don't think it's an either/or for SL and TWTM. I see it as using Sonlight for the history portion of our curriculum, using the methods recommended in TWTM

 

But again, I keep asking myself is it worth spending that money for SL when I know I'm not going to use every piece of the SL program. I know I'm not going to do every read aloud, and I know I'm not going to do more than one core, to difficult for me.

 

In case you haven't noticed, I struggle with perfectionist tendencies:tongue_smilie:(if you can't do it 100%, don't do it at all...), I am prayerfully trying to get over it!!:001_smile:

[Jeana]

Queenbeex3,

 

Have you thought of buying a second hand SL TM and then buying only the books you think you will use? I have done that this year. Only I bought my TM from SL and bought all my books second hand and paid half the price for the program. I went this way so I could have all my reading laid out for me. Also, being able to go to the closet and get the next book that they are reading is GREAT. We don't have a good library and most books I can't get my hands on. HTH, Jeana

[iquilt]

We are doing it "by the book", although I've been tempted to try something else in the past. SOTW is a favorite around here and our library is wonderful for finding many of the extra books listed in the AG. We like the maps and the review cards. It's a great group activity that even interests my 3yo occasionally.

[Colleen in NS]

What I feel most uncertain about is the administration/scheduling of books and activities and the "how-to". For me, I am learning that I like to tweak things to meet our individual needs, but I can't tweak until I understand the basics of how and what I'm doing.

 

So I need to learn "how" to teach history, writing, comprehension, critical thinking, etc, within the context of a classical education. Or I feel a slave to the curriculum, or totally lost.

 

So if I follow the suggestions in TWTM, will I learn "how" to teach?

 

I think I'm reading you right.....you want to know *how* to teach something, then you feel more confident plunging in to do it? If so, I'm the same way. And yes, using the WTM methods and resources has helped me a lot to learn to teach various skills. I've also read a lot on these boards for the past 4 years, and plunged in with tons of questions about how to do certain things.

 

For example, using the Latin recs (PL, LC 1 and 2) has helped me learn the beginnings of teaching a foreign language. Learn the letter sounds of the language. Learn vocab, a few words per week. Learn a grammar form each week or so, make sure the grammar forms learned build on each other. Learn all this using flashcards and reciting every day, and writing them a few times a week. Apply this knowledge to translation exercises.

 

Or for writing skills, teach copywork/dictation to learn to put words on paper, teach narration to teach how to put thoughts into words, teach outlining to teach how to analyze written material, teach rewriting from an outline to teach how to put related thoughts into cohesive paragraphs/compositions. There are lots of WTM-related materials that will help with this.....SWB's writing CD, her new book WWE.

 

Or for science, teach observation skills, teach the scientific method, teach how to analyze what a science book says and talk about how that relates to your beliefs....

 

Some things that helped me with starting to teach critical thinking were SWB's writing CD, her science CD, and the Mind Benders books ds and I are working on right now. Also, there are bits and blurbs all through WTM that talk about how to walk your child through thinking.

 

About administrating schedules and books, I just started out doing the WTM suggestions. As I got to know more of what I was doing (an ongoing process for me!), I tweaked the schedules. Much as I'd love to know how to teach everything I'm doing before I start (and believe me, I try), I learn as I go. For example, last winter and spring I tried so hard to figure out the logic stage writing in WTM.....I wanted to understand the transition from grammar stage to logic stage and where it lead to for high school. I read, thought, posted, thought some more, so I'd be ready for the new school year in July. Here it is, our 17th week of the new school year, and I still don't have it perfectly figured out, but I have more understanding than I did 6 months ago, and as I figure out, I implement, and ds learns the skills, bit by bit. I can see now why WTM says to do one level outlining all year long the first year - it has taken me this long to figure out how to guide him through it, LOL!

 

I have found that with most of the WTM resources and methods of teaching, if I just try them out even when I don't completely understand them yet, have worked out. And I learn how to teach something. Yes, I'd have to heartily say that if you just start doing what's suggested, you will find yourself learning how to teach skills, and then how to apply those skills to learn content. Just think, you'll be a pro by the time your kids are done and then you can go out and tutor other kids for a ton of $$!! LOL

[Lovedtodeath]

I have found that with most of the WTM resources and methods of teaching, if I just try them out even when I don't completely understand them yet, have worked out. And I learn how to teach something.

 

For History, is it easy to plug the activities into the appropriate place, or to put two spines together? I was okay with geography, but now I am getting nervous about world history. And it is still a couple of years away.

[Colleen in NS]

For History, is it easy to plug the activities into the appropriate place, or to put two spines together? I was okay with geography, but now I am getting nervous about world history. And it is still a couple of years away.

 

Are you talking about grammar stage history? If so, I think the SOTW (if you're going to use that) has an activity guide that might tell you where to plug activities in. I never used it, though. I guess it depends on what kind of time and energy you have - if you have it, you plug it in on the appropriate week. I've not been a history activity initiator. The kids have done things, though, like incorporating history into their play. Dressing up, battling outside, setting up scenes from the history stories with their Legos/wooden blocks/blanket forts, drawing pictures, acting out with dolls/stuffed animals.

 

Putting two spines together....I'm not sure what you mean. I never put two spines together, it was enough to keep up with one. I tried a couple of years ago to do a Canadian history spine alongside SOTW, and gave up pretty quickly. So for years 2 to 4 of SOTW, I just checked out Canadian history books from the library and plopped them onto the bookshelf along with the other supp. books for the kids to choose from, knowing they'd absorb a lot just from reading. With the occasional Cdn. history book narration (in addition to the SOTW narrations) from them, whenever I remembered.

 

I hope I'm answering your question! :) I've discovered I'm more of just a "read and write about history" person, with occasional field trips when possible (seeing Virginia and NC tobacco plantations a couple of years ago was a HUGE eye opener for us all). The kids seem to come up with history activities on their own that are more meaningful to them.

[Lovedtodeath]

Thank you Colleen! I can't decide if I can do the activities that WP offers without getting their entire program, b/c I really want SOTW and Our Young Folk's Josephus, not their spine. (MOH)