2 part question

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  • January 25, 2010 at 4:29 am
    Angie
    Participant

    Hello all, looking for help in two areas.

    First, we’ve gone on a few nature walks but starting next school year we will be doing formal nature studies.  Only draw-back is that we live in the desert southwest, so there’s not much to look for (other than desert plants, rocks and DIRT).  We also have to watch where we go due to rattlers, scorpions, and other such delightful creatures.  Can anyone recommend a book other than Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study to start us off with?  The Handbook is good but doesn’t really help us much here in far west Texas.

    Second, can anyone recommend a language arts program that is not too costly?  Or has anyone ever developed their own way of doing language arts?  I know Queen’s, Simply Grammar, etc, are not too costly but I have 6 kids still going thru language arts (one child graduated, another son is attending college under the dual-credit program).  So, even a $20 tends to get expensive with the remaining 6 chilldren.

    Appreciate any advice given.

    Angie A in TX

    January 25, 2010 at 5:06 am
    crazy4boys
    Participant

    I don’t have many answers for you but I’m in west TX too!  We do a lot of our outside nature study during the winter/spring before it gets smoking hot.  I use the Handbook of Nature Study for doing nature stuff in the house during the summer.  We like to follow this blog http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/

    I found some guidebooks of local birds and such and we had a lot of fun identifying those.  My best advice is find local guide books and don’t be afraid to do nature study in the house.  You can also have them observe how a certain cactus plant looks throughout the year, or how a tree changes, etc.  

    Can’t help you on language arts.  We use Explode the Code and Growing with Grammar which would add up for 6 more kids.

    Best of luck!  Enjoy the cool weather.

    Heather

     

    January 25, 2010 at 5:00 pm
    LindseyD
    Participant

    Not that I can offer any help with your question, but I am in West Texas too! Specifically the Panhandle! Where are you both located? How great to find some fellow West Texans on here!

    January 25, 2010 at 8:25 pm
    Sonya Shafer
    Moderator

    Angie, what aspects of language arts are you needing right now and for what grades? For example, you can do copywork (handwriting), narration (oral or written composition), and dictation (spelling) with passages from the living books you’re reading anyway. So you wouldn’t need an extra purchase for those. Grammar/parts of speech may be the one you need a guide for. What are you wanting to cover?

    January 28, 2010 at 3:06 pm
    Angie
    Participant

    Sonya-  I guess I was looking at something to cover grammar.  I was looking over the posts and someone suggested using the Spelling Wisdom books to cover grammar (after the dictation is complete, ask my child to circle the nouns, underline the adjectives, etc).  We may try that.  Do you think it’s a good idea?  I think when I first wrote out this post, I was in panic mode…you know…where you think you’re not doing enough?  Obviously, I got over it, since it took me several days to get back here!  Still, if there are any programs out there that you can recommend, that will not break the bank, I would really appreciate it. 

    Lindsey, see your inbox!

    Thanks!!

    January 28, 2010 at 5:18 pm
    Sonya Shafer
    Moderator

    Oh, yes. Don’t you love those panic modes? Wink

    I think you could easily use the Spelling Wisdom exercises to reinforce parts of speech. Obviously, you would need to be able to teach/explain the parts of speech first, since the Spelling Wisdom books don’t do that. I’m sure there would be some free information online that could guide you in explaining the parts of speech, if you need that.

    January 29, 2010 at 7:18 pm
    marstar
    Participant

    Angie, I’ve been doing research on Lang Arts and came across this online resource. I thought it might help you out.  They are printable grammar and writing handbooks for grades 1 to 6.  Don’t know if that grade range helps you. Also, there was an extensive list of free resources posted at Well Trained Mind forum.  Do a search for free curriculum and it should come up – that may help you too.  The printable grammar books may help you with the explaining while using SWisdom, if the grades work.  HTH!

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