Free shipping on USA orders over $129!
Who uses SCM Guides "as is"
- This topic has 14 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 4 months ago by
.
Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)
- Posts
We just finished up our first year with SCM Mod. 5 and it went really well. It started a bit slow, but we found our “groove”
Does anyone use the module’s as is, using the suggested books with out any extra additional guides/commentaries, and feel that it is enough?
I have been reading posts about some of the extras that some families do. From extra comentaries, activies, pinterest boards full of ideas… All great ideas!! I like that the guide was open and go for me to teach. The book suggestions have been really good, but is it really going to be enough. Am I going to need to do more, branch out, especially as they get older? Should we be doing more now??
It is so tough to think “I am not doing enough” but I have to remember I “can’t do it all”
The homeschool conference is in 3 weeks and I am so excited but trying to narrow things down so I don’t get carried away with all the great resources.
This year we used Module 1, although not “as-is”. My DD was 7/8 yrs and we actually omitted a few resources such as the commentary. We also replaced Letters from Egypt with Sojourn in Africa. We did add in a few optional resources suggested in the guide and watched some videos on pyramids. I don’t feel the module was lacking as it was written though.
We did mod 1 and started mod 2. We are not doing it “as is” either. We substituted with what I had on hand and what I could find at the library. I have not yet decided if I will get the new mod 2 or just sub in the new resources. I am looking forward to the new geography resource, though!
Oops — double posted.
I am getting together with some fellow homeschool moms tomorrow night. We’re going to show and tell some of our favorite resources and I plan to take my SCM guides.
I started module 2 as-is near the end of last year. It was good, except we didn’t like the spine – which is what they are changing in the new module…
We are pretty much using it “as is”. I’ve added the Greenleaf Old Testament guide which gives me some narration type questions…we use these to review the lesson on the following day. I’ve also added some History/Bible Scribe pages for written narrations. They have a blank box for them to draw pictures and some lines to write on. The Bible Scribe pages have room to copy a Bible verse as well. We do these once or twice a week.
Neither one of these resources is really extra…the history module has us review the previous reading and narrate the day’s reading. I’m just using these as helps to get them going. I think so many HS programs are so heavy on the history that this seems light at first. Instead of adding more history, we’ve been able to focus on many of the subjects that often get pushed aside (like poetry and art).
I used module 4 basically “as is” with the exception of a few books that I didn’t have and had similar titles to substitute. We used the spine and a majority of the family read aloud books. I did use some of the Veritas Press cards during the time period as desired, not habitually. We have them and refer to them out of curiosity to build an awareness of the historical timeline. It tends to help “place” books in time as we read them. We substituted maps as we had others on hand, but I followed the basic plan in order to use them per guide suggestions. It was pretty much by the book and I felt like it was plenty. We did extend it through our writing lessons at our co-op as they were based on the time period. But, I’d have done more written narrations instead if we hadn’t already had that as part of our plan for the year. No additional commentaries were used. We did follow along with the GOAL Bible lessons each week and loved it!!! I am pleased to say it was a satistying year using the SCM guide.
I know it is the Bible, but boy l’m finding it difficult to get through a lesson without finding a need to skip over, summarize or otherwise shorten the readings due to the graphic nature of the content. If it were just my younger ds is would stick to a children’s version, but my older son is on the verge of jr high.
We are almost finished with Module 1, and we did it pretty much “as is”. We did stop reading Letters From Egypt a couple of months ago, we didn’t enjoy it. For our Bible we use The Orthodox Study Bible and found the footnotes to be sufficient for commentary. Otherwise we followed the guide. It was great!
Last year we used Module 1 and it was mostly by the book except we ditched Letters From Egypt after a few weeks and replaced it with Sojourn in Africa. Also, we didn’t end up using all the commentary books as they got to be a little redundant of what we were already reading. This year we used Module 2 and I tried to incorporate Truthquest in with it. For me it turned out to be a big mistake and just plain overwhelmed me. I am one who sometimes second guesses the simplicity of school and I need to remind myself that often “less is more”. We’ll be completing Module 3 next and I plan to do it “as is”.
I think the SCM team may be disappointed if everyone felt they had to do the modules exactly “as is”. The idea is to have a wonderful guide full of great books, but something you can feel free to adjust to your own family. 🙂 I don’t think people tend to tweak because the guides are too light, but because they have different books available to them or some particular book doesn’t work for their child.
I prefer to do them as is, that was how our first year went (module 5) and it was wonderful for me to have it all planned out, but the next year had changed many of the book selections and they were hard to get at our library so I had to basically substitute most of them, and boy am I glad that Module is over with:) We have also changed books that just weren’t working well for our family before too. I do think the early modules are a bit light in the history for younger years, but I didn’t mind that with all the other things to get done.
We have pretty much done them “as is” because I am not comfortable doing my own thing or veering too far from a guide/text. We have subbed a few books here and there, but I look for/purchase/try to use what is recommended first. Personally, the time it takes to figure out how to make something else work just stresses me out!
I agree with pp, though, I think the SCM team loves to see people do what works for their family/situation and not feel tied to a guide then end up not liking it or feeling as if it was too rigid.
Also, I think their guides are plenty on their own for certain families, but not so much that you can’t squeeze in field trips/movies/projects, etc.
Thanks for sharing all your thoughts 🙂 sometimes I have to “talk things out”
I agree that with SCM guides it seems like enough but room to add if you want to too, which is the appeal to me right now. I dont feel “overloaded” so then I thought, is it really enough, even though I *know* it is. Sometimes I just need to hear that it is going to work from others. 🙂
My3boys – I am also not ready to branch out yet. I like the idea in theory, but not ready. I keep reminding my self I have plenty of time, my oldest is going into 2nd grade, LOL. As the kids get older and my comfort level grows I am sure I will add more.
I grew up being HS’ed but we used a mix, my mom heard of CM but it was not well known as it is now. I have to say she did really great with mixing and matching regular curriculium to fit my siblings and I. She tninks CM sounds great, learning from living books so it has been fun to talk to her about it all.
If I felt that the guide ‘as is’ was too light I would add things in. But I can see the fruits of our efforts this year, in our discussions and in their artwork. We are finishing up with Mod 1 and my older dd draws using her own hieroglyphs in her free time. We also flesh things out by watching documentaries and visiting museums. I don’t like to feel overloaded.
Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)
- The topic ‘Who uses SCM Guides "as is"’ is closed to new replies.