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Several questions :)
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1. Math….we are using Saxon and would rather not change mid year with our math. However, what do CM followers do differently than others when it comes to math? I know in Sonya’s seminar she says Charlotte did not say alot about math. I am not a math person, at all. I picked Saxon because of the teacher’s guide being scripted. Now I have noticed a lot of CM’s using mastery programs and was wondering what the difference is….
2. At ages 7 & 9, what do my children need to be expected to do in a nature study/noteook? I have read the Out-of -Doors e-book and one of Charlotte’s quotes said that if younger children observe and sketch a bird now, that later they will remember him as an old friend when searching for the name ( I guess the scientific name). But then the samples of what her nature studies were like back then talk about how the child names the bird or flower, etc. I guess what I am asking is how much do they need to be guided in a nature study. Right now they are just going outside, finding something that interests them, drawing it, and sometimes writing a sentence about the picture. We sometimes also look things up in a field guide like insects, for example.
3. My daughter, age 9, loves to write her own “books”. She is interested in how books are made, and wants to learn more about authors, publishers, illustrators, etc. Where can I find that information?
Hoping to get lots of help! 😉 I need it! LOL!!!
Amanda
I can’t help much with your first two questions, since I’m a newbie myself. But there is a book called How a Book is Made by Aliki. It was written in the 1980s, but it’s still worth checking out. For information on individual authors, illustrators, etc. google their names. Many of them have websites and/or blogs. Beverly Cleary also wrote her autobiography for children several years back. It’s called The Girl from Yamhill. And of course, lots of books have been written about Laura Ingalls Wilder. The ones by William Anderson are especially good.
HTH,
Karen
With math, I know alot of people have their children do all the odd problems or all the even problems if they show mastery.
We look things up that we include in our nature journals. It just makes it more interesting. The children do this themselves. We’ve invested in alot of field guides about Florida nature so they look up whatever they choose to draw and include a little info about it. Now that they are a little older, I also have them include a little blurp about their nature day or finding that specimen to make it all more memorable. When they were little, we would often find a coloing page on the particular specimen and paste it into their journals.
There is a book I believe called the Marguerite Makes a Book that looks really neat. It’s more a history of how books were made a century ago.
Hope this helps!
Amanda,
You might want to check out valeriebendt.com. She has prepared a unit study on making books with children. Here is a quote from her site, “In this 6 wk bookmaking unit study your children will study authors and illustrators while creating their own books. Complete with diagrams and instructions to make hard-bound, cloth-covered, hand-sewn books.”
Hope that helps!
Cheryl
Amanda-
I am also using Saxon math with my three sons (14, 10, and 9). Saxon is what is known as a spiral approach program. Instead of focusing on a single concept until the child has mastered it (this would be a mastery program), it introduces a concept, you work on it a little, and then move on. Practice problems keep being brought up in subsequent problem sets.
Many people, especially a lot of CMers do not like the spiral approach. However, my boys are doing GREAT with it. For them, I think they need the added review. And, yes, sometimes they review a concept after they’ve already mastered it, but I think it’s good for them, they don’t loose it because they’re still practicing, and there’s a little bit of confidence becuase they’re like, “yeah, I know how to do that!” even if they make be struggling elsewhere.
Anyways, you gotta do what’s right for your kids. My kids are doing really good on the Saxon, and at their age they are able to take the book, read the lesson, and do it on their own. Yes, yes….I know that Saxon does not promote independent study 🙂
HI Amanda,
Regarding the math question, I use Developmental MAthematics, which encourages independant study and is very incremental. That way, I can go slower with my dd and my son can move faster. It is not spiral; my dd would suffer greatly in that style. ONe day a week I use Ray’s for oral work only, besides it fills in an area that is lacking in DM.
ONe day a week, I supplement with MAth Mammoth for specific areas that need extra work; like clock anbd time for my dd and measuring for both of them.
As for practical application, when there are alot of practice problems, I have them do a portion, then the rest we do orally.
Regarding nature/Creation studies; we have Comstock’s Nature Study book which we use (my children found 2 wooly bear moths and they found it in Comstocks book, my son (9) read and I asked the observation questions in the book) and we have multiple guides from Golden Books and Peterson. When we come across something, it’s vital that they know what it is. They draw in their notebooks once a wekk, by schedule and any other time by choice. I have them write under it what it is and what is was/is doing in the drawing.
I also recommend nthe Handbook of Nature Study blog. It has given me ideas on using that book to it’s fullest potential: http://www.handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/
There’s many opportunities to observe G-d’s Creation around here; I have to limit it at times as it can distract from other studies! We also read from PArables in NAture, they read independantly from the Chistian Liberty Nature Readers, books from the library and my son reads the Apologia books (and does the experiments) on his own. We read aloud from Among the…People Series.
HTH,
Rachel
Thanks for the help and encouragement you all! I ordered some Peterson’s First Field Guides on Amazon.com last night, and am very interested in the hand book of nature study book and website. I may look into it more.
I also found Making Books With Children on Amazon used. Good Deal!
As far as math goes, I have tried Abeka, Singapore, Math U See and Saxon. I just don’t like any of them very much, to be honest…..But Saxon’s teacher’s guides for K-3 has been helpful to me. I also like the way Saxon groups their addition, subtraction and multiplication facts better than Abeka. I don’t like that Saxon tries to throw in SO many different things to review and do every day. I have skipped over some of it, but then have had to go back and redo some lessons because they were used again later to make a graph or something like that. I am not going to change math right now, but I would like to have something better. I just don’t know what that would be 🙂
I need help teaching it, I want them to be able to read directions and follow them on their own more often, and we need review too. I am afraid that the upper levels of Saxon will be hard for me to teach because I will not have the scripted teacher guide. I have thought about a DVD type program…..I don’t know! Now I’m just rambling..:)
My oldest is doing BJU math and my younger son is doing Horizons. I have heard that Horizons and Saxon are both advanced, so they might be grade comparable to switch. We like the pictures and the way it has introduced each topic. He’s only in K, but already can count pennys and dimes, knows time to the hour, add simple numbers, count to 40, and recognize patterns. We tried TT5 and it was not really helpful to us. I have an unmotivated child when it comes to math, and I still had to sit with him and direct him with this program. So, it was inconvenient to be on the computer for an hour with him with a baby and a 5 year old that needed stuff too. What we didn’t like about Saxon was how long the teacher guide took, all the games, reviews and other stuff along with a lesson.
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