Name: Spreading the Feast Gathering
Start: 2025-07-11T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-07-12T23:59:59-05:00
Location: LaGrange, KY

Tagged: Andreola

This topic has 6 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 11 months ago by baileymom.

Viewing 7 posts - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

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July 16, 2009 at 12:24 pm
baileymom
Member
We have gotten rid of quite a bit of our “curriculum” these last few months in order to do things CM. But we are still using R&S English for grammar/compostition, Spelling Power and English from the Roots Up for vocabulary. It’s taking a VERY long time to complete, and doesn’t seem to be instilling a love of learning like I would like to school to do for my children.
I love what Andreola suggests for language arts…just narration and writing for compostion, waiting until 10 for grammar (then using something simple, of course she suggests Simply Grammar:), using the child’s own misspelled words for spelling, and talking up to children for vocabulary.
Does anyone do anything this simple, and if so, is it working?
*OT…has anyone read Robin Sampson’s The Heart of Wisdom? Any reviews?
Kathi
July 16, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Sharon
Participant
Hello Kathi:
I haven’t been consistent using the CM methods the last three years and my children are still young, so I can’t answer the first part, but I completely understand and sympathize with your question. I have felt the very same way. I do plan to incorporate more of a CM approach this coming year and ignite the love of learning. I’m not sure if you want to change the curriculum you use, but in the past, what I did with my R&S was to use it in a more CM way. I did it orally with my younger dd and use short lessons. I then moved to copywork and next year we’ll be using a more structured grammar curriculum.
I have read “The Heart of Wisdom” (HOW). I read it after reading, “What Your Child Needs to Know When.” It was more than a year ago and I really enjoyed it and found it refreshing. What attracted me to the book was how she wrote about “bible first,” discipling our children for the Lord and then combined many of the different methods, CM, Lifestyle of Learning, unit studies, etc. to teach your child.
I will share the path the Lord took me through. It’s not the only path, but it’s the path He took me on. Each of our paths will be different and that’s o.k.
Since the beginning of my homeschool, I was always searching for the latest and greatest and on and on. The Lord had been convicting me of my priorities with my children. I wanted to truly disciple them for the Lord, to be Ambassadors for Christ, to have a Rock solid foundation and to prepare them for life. When I read HOW, I found that she answered many questions or concerns that I had in my heart, e.g., going back to the Hebrew Educational model and not the Greek’s and putting the bible first in every subject area.
After I read HOW, I noticed she only had year one of her curriculum completed and she wasn’t planning to create years two-four, although she did include the needed resources for the specific years in “HOW”. She also explains how to put a year together, but I found that I needed something already put together. That’s when the Lord led me to Student of the Word (SOW). The Bible is at the center and every subject surrounds the Word. Different teaching methods (CM, unit study, etc.) are also used and I can tweak, change and modify very easily. They recommend using SOW “as is” for the first year since it’s very different.
This coming school year, I will be adding a lot of SCM into our school year and combining it with SOW. Since I’ve used it for a year, I’m very comfortable with making modifications. Although I will still use SOW’s bible, I like SCM’s history flow a better and many of their resources.
I still refer to HOW for encouragement every now and then. For encouragement, Robin specifically recommends to read section one (Lessons from Exodus) and chapter 21 (Scheduling by Faith). I think it’s a great book. Although I don’t use HOW, Robin shares the Godly wisdom the Lord has given her. You can go to her website and see a sample from her book at http://homeschool-books.com/xcart/home.php.
I also have her book on Biblical Holidays. Great resource!
God bless!
Sharon Nelson
July 16, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Rene
Participant
Hi Kathi,
I use Spelling Wisdom (from SCM) and we LOVE it! It takes just a few minutes each day – my daughter studies the selection fora day or so, taking note of any words she thinks she might have trouble with. She studies those words (it’s usually just a couple), and then twice a week I dictate the passage to her. She will come up to me and just spell a word she had a while back and let me know that she remembers. 🙂
I think Charlotte Mason was right-on in her view that spelling is best learned by memorizing how a word looks. Even I was getting bogged down and frustrated trying to help my daugher understand all the “spelling rules” laid out in the R&S English, that was taking over an hour for my daughter to do each day.
We also are doing Easy Grammar, just a page a day. I really like this for now. I do have Simply Grammar and English for the Thoughtful Child but haven’t looked into them enough to decide if I’ll use them for now.

HTH!
Rene’

July 16, 2009 at 3:25 pm
caroline4kids
Member
Well, I can tell you my jouney. We started with HOW in 2002, before that we used AO. I loved it, but was quickly overwhelmed because I was new to homeschooling and unsure of my “style”. I needed more direction and realized quickly that scrapbooking-to-learn was not my style either. I wanted to spend lots of time in the bible, but I never seemed to get to the other things (3 r’s). I have Robin’s book as well, which I re-read recently, but it has so much added to the CM method I just knew I wouldn’t stick with it.
So my next stop was SOW. I loved the prayer letters, but wanted more guidence and felt overwhelmed (again) with language arts being so from scratch. After a year of that I decided not to continue with it but move to a new curriculum….Bedell.
I loved Bedell and still use it for devotions, but I felt the history too weak to stand alone and so begain the tweaking fit I so often end up in. 🙂 I have 7 of the volumes and use them still, but mostly as a family study. We then used Five in a Row for a few years which we really enjoyed.
Then I found SCM!! I had read everything I could on CM, many times, but felt unsure how to combine it all. I feel at home with living books/copywork/dictation/narration. I love that I can plug what I want in. I feel at home here and plan to stay for the duration.
Now on to that illusive language arts problem. I have wanted to only use copywork and dictation. Up until grade 3 I only do that. If I had chosen better books it probably would have gone better than it has. I didn’t pick books very well (copywork out of twaddle just DOES NOT WORK ) The last few months I have been using Rod and Staff a few days a week and Karen Anderola’s Story Starters, one day a week. I LOVE this arrangement. They also narrate everything. My kids also love Queen Language Lessons, but I wanted something that would cover more and cost less, hence R&S at a more CM pace. I will use QLL for my younger two until fifth grade or so and then switch to R&S/ Story Starters. I like R&S because it covers so much, but we do most orally and skip things liberally.
July 16, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Esby
Member
We have not done any formal grammer work yet. My oldest child is 10, almost 11. Her oral narration skills have developed nicely over the years, and she is good at storytelling. She prefers to tell stories orally, but when she writes them, they are well-crafted. I do believe that the exposure to good literature and narration are the reasons is storytelling skills are as good as they are. I didn’t start formal spelling lessons with her until she was a fluent and solid reader, and the spelling words were “easy” compared to her vocabulary. We are very slowly moving into written narrations. So far, her written narrations are quite short but I remember her first oral narrations were short and often a struggle so I’m not worried. We’ll begin more formal grammar within the next year, but taking it slowly. I haven’t picked a grammar book yet and might just start by going over grammar rules with her myself, using our own writing and selections from our books to point out how grammar is to be used effectively. My goal is to make grammar a tool for excellent and entertaining writing…not a dry, seperate topic that bungles up her writing.
My son is a fluent reader at a younger age than my daughter was, but I still plan to hold off on spelling and written assignment.
I would introduce grammar and writing assignments ealier if I thought there was a possibility my children would have to attend a school during the elementary years. Their Language Art skills wouldn’t match what is being done in the schools for their grade level. I feel confident enough that we will continue homeschooling and I am entirely comfortable with the slower pace. I hear my kids tell excellent stories and narrations, and I’m beginning to see their skills transferred to the written work. I’m happy with the results.
Writing is a big part of my life and I wouldn’t proceed with this approach if I didn’t think it was solid and effective. I am completely sold on the value of oral narration and reading, reading, reading quality literature as a way before introducing more formal grammar.
Every parent has a different approach, different goals, different children. What we can encourage with each other is that if you take a slower approach, it’s okay. Absolutely okay.
July 16, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Esby
Member
Yikes, I don’t see the edit option to correct all the mistakes in my above post. Just loving making mistakes in a post about GRAMMAR! LOL!! Kindly overlook them, please. 🙂
July 17, 2009 at 12:48 am
baileymom
Member
Thanks everyone.
I think we’re just going to give it a whirl with Andreola’s ideas. I will probably drop R&S 3 for my younger DD and give her a break for a year before starting Simply Grammar. I think I will switch my older DD now (well, as soon as I get SG from Amazon).
I’m having all 3 of my schooling DC narrate, and they’re getting better. 1st grade DS is just doing short oral narrations. I was having my 3rd grader do oral and written narrations, and I think I will stop that, and just have her do oral for one more year. But, am I correct that my 7th grader should do oral and then written narrations? Or do we skip the oral (I don’t really like the idea of that).
I think for Spelling/Dictation we will do our personal Spelling Notebooks (Andreola/HOW method) and dictation from our current Literature Read Aloud. And for Vocabulary, a personal Vocab-Latin-Greek Notebook (HOW method).
I actually already own HOW, and have been reading it the last few weeks and LOVE it…I was just wondering if anyone else had read it. I don’t think we will purchase any of her studies, I just love all her “methodology”.
Thanks again everyone for your thoughts. SOW looks neat, I just don’t want to add more curriculum, I really just want to use what we have and put some life into it…and REALLY focus on our bible study.
Kathi