Biblioplan 3 users?

[MIch elle]

I'm thinking of using BP year 3 for 7th grade. What are the essential books that you use? Any pros & cons you can share? :D

 

Thanks!

[Ali in OR]

I probably can't help too much since we're using it with a 3rd grader and a K'er, but here's a few thoughts:

 

*I love History of US. We use it as a read aloud--it will probably fit a 7th grader much better. Definitely worth buying (even better to have MIL buy the whole set for Christmas).

*We also got A Child's Story of America. Definitely do not need two different spines for U.S. stuff. We like History of US better so we don't even use this anymore. Our spines are History of US, SOTW, and UILE of World History. We do K-2 and 3+ readers, family read alouds, and sometimes a 5+ book as a read aloud.

*This course will take us a full year. We started last June. We didn't do much over the summer, but did at least 4 weeks of the plan. Took some time off at Christmas, but not a huge amount. We've had several Biblioplan weeks that take us more than a week to do. And we got a little behind on family read alouds too. Anyway, this is a packed year--so much to cover, so much to read. And I'm guilty of adding a few things too--extra Jean Fritz books, Homeschool in the Woods CDs, etc. We've really enjoyed it all, but just a head's up that there is a lot there.

*Johnny Tremain was definitely our favorite. We're enjoying Carry On Mr. Bowditch and Born in the Year of Courage right now too.

 

Enjoy your year!

[MIch elle]

are you using the SOTW 3 AG and/or the BP 3 maps?

 

It looks like I should have most of what I need to do the program already:

 

SOTW 3 w/AG, KF Encycl., Hakim series, Johnny Tremain, Uncle TOm's Cabin and other literature.

[MIch elle]

I noticed that Christopher's Columbus' World is on the sample schedule. Are any other Genevieve Foster books on the schedule?

 

I was thinking of using the Beautiful Feet Am. Hx & World Hx guide for discussion questions with BP 3.

[BizyPenguin]

We jumped ship from BP before even beginning it in the fall b/c I was soooo very overwhelmed by all of the components. After trying and not succeeding with Winter Promise AC1 and after doing our on "living history" and feeling too all over the place and unfocused, we are now back to BP again. I finally realized that BP has everything nicely laid out and planned, but all I need to do is pick and choose what works for us. My ds is an ADHDer who hates to read and doesn't have good reading comprehension if he does not enjoy what he's reading. With that in mind, even though he's a 6th grader, we're using A Child's Story of America, SOTW, and A History of US as our textbooks. We are not using the encyclopedia spines (neither of us likes these) or Streams of Civilization. We do not schedule the readers either. (Gasp!) One of us reads whichever text I've mentioned above is scheduled for the day in the "Classtime" section of the schedule. Time is set aside at the end of the week to complete BP map work and Cool History questions, as well as writing ideas from the BP schedule. We are only on week 2, but this is working very nicely and neither of us feels overwhelmed and history is finally getting done...with a focus. I do plan to add in a read-aloud beginning in a week or so, but I may choose from the "Reader" or "Family Read Aloud" books. This is how *we* do BP and I encourage everyone using this program to fine tune it to your own student, so that it works. One more thing, I think Hakims's History of US and A Child's Story of America balance each other out nicely, I won't hesitate to drop A Child's Story of Am if I feel it's overkill, however. HTH!

[MIch elle]

We're using SL 6 IG this year for the history schedule but don't do the readers or read-alouds (gasp). We chose our own readers and read-alouds which may or may not be in the SL 6 plan.

 

Biblioplan looks like what I need to keep on schedule to use SOTW 3 and Hakim for next year. I might use some of BP's readers or read-aloud or not. We did SL 3/4 a couple of years ago and some of the books would be repeats for us.

 

Are you using BP maps or SOTW AG maps?

[Ali in OR]

We are using the AG maps and that is working fine. For next year, I might not get the SOTW 4 AG which I hear isn't as good as earlier volumes for younger kids. So I may be trying out the BP maps and coloring pages instead.

 

Since you already have the AG, you can take a look at some of the map pages. It's pretty simple stuff--more elementary level than 7th grade. I haven't seen the BP maps yet, so I don't really know how they compare.

[BizyPenguin]

Are you using BP maps or SOTW AG maps?

 

We're using BP maps and BP Cool History, which I highly recommend!

[MIch elle]

We're using BP maps and BP Cool History, which I highly recommend!

 

to both maps & Cool History?

 

Thanks!

[BizyPenguin]

to both maps & Cool History?

 

Thanks!

 

Cool History does include an answer key. The maps do not. Students are to use the SOTW book, Kingfisher or Usborne books, a globe, or reference book to complete map work. Suggestions are also given as to how to approach each map exercise based on your child's grade level. Many maps also include review questions to discuss. Parents are encouraged to do the maps along with their students. HTH! P.S. I don't frequent the forums as often as I used to, but feel free to PM me if you have more questions. I usually pop in at least once a week for a quick peek.

[BizyPenguin]

I think BP would be the perfect schedule to follow if you want to do SOTW 3 and Hakim. You can simply stick to those two spines ONLY and then do the BP Cool History (which is based on SOTW) along with the map work. Add in timelines and writing exercises if it suits you. Also add in a read-aloud now and then for fun. This would be PLENTY!! Use BP to suit YOU. Remember pick and choose. Don't try to do it all!! BP really helps us stay on track and stay focused. It's also very library friendly. So far we love it!!