FAQs
This is the original file in its entirety.
I have broken the FAQ's into sections - to be more easily accessed in this section....
Showing posts with label AWOA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AWOA. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
5 Where to start?
Any ideas for studying creation before we start?
Can I start part-way through the first volume?
Can I start with volume two?
Where do I start with my younger children when the older ones are already doing later units?
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Any ideas for studying creation before we start?
Last summer before beginning LA our family embarked on our own adventure through Creation to Abraham. I used 3 main Books as spines and then added other storybooks, videos, coloring pages, crossword puzzles that I found online, and any other materials I could find. My own units are usually like that. I use what I can find Smile
I used 2 books by Ruth Beechick that I very HIGHLY recommend. These were "Adam and His Kin" and "Genesis: Finding Our Roots." I used these for History/ Literature and also copy work, dictation, and creative writing, geography, map work, etc. In the "roots" book, there are many ideas for further study and also a time line project, which we have been adding to since. I also used "Unlocking the Mysteries of Creation," as our science book. This is a print version of a Creation Science Seminar. I used this as our spine and also used it to debunk many of the evolutionary myths we would be coming across this year and in future years using library books and other secular sources. I do try to steer clear of secular sources, but this is not always feasible. I have pulled this book out many times this year during our other studies. It came in handy especially during our Rock/ mineral/ volcano/ earthquake unit.
To the science, we also added experiments, drawings and videos.
I also can recommend the Turner Broadcasting series of Biblical Movies for this unit (for older children and grown ups only, please view with your children or preview.) For the younger set, we loved Hanna Barbera's Superbook series and the Testament series.
This study took us 9 weeks, but could be squashed down to 6. It is worth 1/2 credit for High Schoolers. I counted this one for Ancient History/Old Testament Survey...1/4 cr Science/ Physical Science....1/4th credit. I hope this helps someone. Blessings, (Faithe)
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I highly recommend Diana Waring's set of tapes called "WHAT IN THE WORLD'S GOING ON HERE" (Creation to Christ). The accompanying study guide: "ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS & THE BIBLE" has a chapter on Creation. In it she recommends these books: UNLOCKING THE MYSTERIES OF CREATION by Dennis Peterson, ADAM & HIS KIN by Ruth Beechick, and THE GREAT DINOSAUR MYSTERY AND THE BIBLE by Paul S. Taylor. In addition, she has resources for older students, questions to discuss, research ideas, vocabulary, maps and mapping, arts in action, art appreciation, music, cooking, drama. These are *not worked out in detail like Dorian's unit study*, but they are great ideas that you can pick and choose from…
Even if you just read the three books mentioned above, plus the chapters in Genesis, of course, you would learn a lot! By His Grace ~ For His Glory (Elaine in NC)
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For creation we are starting a unit type study called "Creationism". It is by Charles Lynn. It has 7 lessons. It comes with a teacher’s guide, student workbook and a video by Dr. Kent Hovind. He teaches for about 10 minutes for each lesson. The best part it only was $41.00 WITH shipping. WOW I could not pass that up. It looks great. It also has activities to go along with it. Just what we are doing. I ordered it from Dr. Kent Hovind's ministry - Creation Science Evangelism - We love his work, and we have most of his videos. They are wonderful. If you what to really study Creation Science watch these!!! My kids have learned SOOOOO much.
Creation Science Evangelism's number is: 850-479-3466 or toll free: 877-479-3466 their web site is: www.drdino.com their site is great. They have so much stuff... adult and children’s books, adult and children videos, shirts, ties, bumper stickers, and my sons favorite replicas of fossils!!! you can buy. Also if you’re near Pensacola, Florida they now have "Dinosaur Adventure Land".
(I don't think the "Creationism" curriculum is on the site yet. It is brand new. You can call them and just ask for the Homeschool study on creation.)
I also found this wonderful on Creation. I thought you would enjoy. We are studying this this summer to get ready for Egypt in the fall.
http://www.athomeschool.com/unitstudy/creation_index.html
(Tammy in IN)
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Also see http://www.answersingenesis.org/cec/ for excellent articles, lessons and study guides.
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Can I start part-way through the first volume?
I think it is important that we use it in the order it is written. When you get to the part on the Middle Ages, your kids will might say "WOW, so that's how it all fits in." At least we might say "WOW". (Lori)
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I can understand why you wouldn't want to re-do Egypt or Greece if you've done an in-depth study already. Although, you might find that A World of Adventure approaches the study in a different way than the way you covered it. For example, in the study of Egypt there is a great study of the story of Joseph in Egypt. I wouldn't have wanted to miss that. The unit also studies the Exodus and the Ten Commandments, and gives instructions for a Passover celebration with great Passover recipes. The science unit studies deserts and does some good experiments and projects.
In the Greece unit there is a study of Aesops fables and Greek and Roman myths. The literature selection they use for this is soooo good. I learned so much about myths and word origins and expressions that come from Greek mythology. The science in this unit is body systems and first aid. The unit ends with an Olympic games celebration. I'm in the Rome unit now and am as happy as ever with the curriculum.
To answer your question about the "structure of the program," what would be the most challenging thing to catch up on is the writing process that is taught progressively. You will have to go back and teach your kids how to do the pre-writing activities and outlining and such that are taught in the early units. Picking that up in the middle of the book might be frustrating to your kids. The grammar is also progressive. It starts out slowly and simply in the first couple units but builds to more complex things after that. (Kristi)
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Each book [i.e. each volume of Learning Adventures] can be used independently of the others, but we do NOT recommend that you do any out of order (Start with book 2 and then do book 1, for example). Also, once you start a book, you should start at the very beginning if at all possible - or at the very least, do NOT do the units out of order. The concepts and skills that are introduced build on one another as the book progresses - it would be very confusing to jump around. (Dorian – author)
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We thought of starting LA halfway through, at the Middle Ages section, but finally decided it was worth starting at the beginning. My main thought (I'm a retired language/literacy/ESL teacher) was to "begin at the beginning" of Dorian's approach to the Language arts rather than trying to pick bits out to try to "catch up" on the first 90 days' work.
What we are finding is that the other content is different from what we had done, consolidates and expands on it, looks at different aspects etc. so it is definitely not wasting time to start again at Egypt. (Dorothy)
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Can I start with volume two?
If you have not done a very recent and fairly detailed study of ancient history up through about the 1600's, we STRONGLY discourage you from using Book Two as the first book. Your children will be missing so many answers about why and where everything came from as we delve into American history. You would be missing a COMPLETE understanding of WHY people came to America in the first place and you would not completely understand WHY the French and Indian Wars never seemed to end - why our founding fathers were able to establish such an excellent governmental structure - because of the good and the bad they had learned from ancient history . . . the list goes on and on.
As for the language arts - Peggy is right - the same basic and fundamental intermediate skills will be covered - just in slightly different ways and within a completely different context. But there will also be different kinds of writing in Book Two - such as, much more emphasis on mini-"report" writing that will be added to the state, world, and president notebooks, and newspaper writing - both of which we did not cover at all in Book One. However, to do this, there will be less emphasis on other very fundamental writing concepts that were covered in Book One - such as contrast and comparison, for example. Not to say that this would be completely left out - but we can't possibly "emphasize" everything every year and still give lots of time to practice all of it. I'm not done writing all of the writing parts so I can't give you more specifics yet - as I don't know exactly how it will all "shake out" in the end.
All that to say - PLEASE don't jump into Book Two just because you really like "American" History, and don't really want to cover ancient history. We have a lot of private e-mails about this very thing. You are not giving your kids the whole picture if you have a chance to ancient history, and don't.
However, if you have finished a DETAILED study of ancient history (preferably in a non-textbook program) up through the 1600's by means of a different curriculum within the last year - you'd be able to slide right into Book Two without any gaps.
We can't "FORCE" people to use Book One before Book Two, but we can try to get them to see how much they are missing by using Book Two first – and then hope that they trust us when we say we really are thinking in the best interest of their children when we give this advice. (Dorian – author)
Also see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Learning_Adventures/message/5530
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Where do I start with my younger children when the older ones are already doing later units?
HOW THE LA VOLUMES WORK CHRONOLOGICALLY AND CYCLICALLY
If you are finishing Book 1 at the end of this school year and are using it with a fourth grader, you will move on to Book 2 after that. If you have a younger student joining in on Book 2, he will simply join the adventure at that point. You would not start over for him, because that would either mean that the older child would have to repeat the same year over again - or that you would be doing two separate studies for each of your children. That defeats the whole purpose of the unit study approach. While we strongly advocate the chronological approach to history (starting at the beginning) - if you have more than one child at different levels and want to use a unit study approach, it simply is not possible to ALWAYS do it (start at the VERY beginning) this way. However, you will still be moving chronologically - no matter where you start in history - if you follow the books in the series' order. You will add children to the study as they are ready and follow along together until the end. Then you will all repeat the series and those who have finished it completely already will supplement at higher levels (or move on to a different course of study - perhaps a little more condensed this time around so they will have a good thorough review. They should have already gotten a SOLID foundation through the LA series and will be familiar with much of what is reviewed/and covered the second time around.) The younger ones will now go through the series as written, this time picking up what they were too young for the last time around. They can either follow the series all the way through again, or branch off and do some supplementing of their own when they feel they have already covered a period thoroughly in LA.
I know it seems a little confusing - especially if you have lots of children. But, think of it this way - you will start in the beginning with Book one and go on through Book five, then start over again. Whichever one of your kids enters or exits the study (or adds or subtracts from it) depends on readiness and family preference. The cycle will continue so that you can cover the span of history thoroughly, but also in enough time to allow for a thorough review of it later, as well.
My experience has been this: if you go too fast and cover the entire span of history every year or two, you will never really do get anything out of it because you will have covered too much - too fast, and you will not have had time to catch any of the details. If you go too slowly and only cover one civilization or so per year (I believe) you will not get finished in time to do a thorough review. I can say this with credibility because it is happening to us right now! Ryan and I started too slowly - that's why I wrote the Adventure book(s) differently. I favor the five-year approach so that you can dig into each period without burning out on it, but you will be finished in time to get that good review. (Dorian – author)
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I have addressed the question of how grammar (and other subjects) will be covered in future books to some of you individually, but I don't think I've explained this to the whole group. In any case, with so MANY new adventurers in our group, let me make sure you all understand how they will work once again. First of all, each book in this series is for ALL children in grades four through eight. The first book is NOT a fourth grade book, the second a fifth grade book, etc. Each book can be used for ANY child in grades four through eight. So, if you think about the books that way, it will help you to understand that they are to be used in a cycle. When the five-year cycle is completed and you still have younger children that have not completed it, you can just start over with them and either have your older ones do a review with some good supplements or replacements in certain subjects, or have them working completely on their own in some areas, but staying with you in bible and history (they would be doing an in-depth review at their own level, but would also be moving along with the rest of your family through the span of history), for example. Still others will want to have their high schoolers working out of formal high school textbooks in order to prepare for college while the rest of the family completes the cycle again. ANY child can start the cycle at the beginning of any of the books and the only thing that he/she will miss out on is the sequence of history that was covered in the previous book(s). Nothing else will be "continuous" in the same way, though. Different science topics will be covered in Book 2 with basic science objectives, different Bible themes will be covered with basic spiritual enrichment objectives, fine arts will be covered as it pertains to early American history (and some European history of the same time period), and the same basic social studies objectives will be covered (geography and map skills, cultures, etc.) only they, too, will pertain to the time period we will be studying. All language arts concepts and skills will be taught again, but within the context of the required literature or the time period.
Just as the parts of speech, writing skills, punctuation, study and reference skills, figurative language, etc. are covered in a fourth grade text book, these are also covered in fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade textbooks. Children learn through repetition and review - that is why these topics are covered over and over again each year, so that by the time your kids are in high school, they will know these "basics." Just as a textbook reviews topics at the beginning of each year, we will also do this in the Adventure series - so that any child coming into the series at the beginning of any one of the books will be exposed to each concept and skill in a way that is easy to understand. IF he/she has never learned the skill/concept before, it will be easy enough to pick it up because we will always provide plenty of information to use with a beginner. Older children in your family who either already know and understand the skill/concept - or, who have gone successfully through a previous Adventure book will use that same activity as a review. You will note that these concepts - such as grammar, get increasingly more difficult within the course of each book, so that by the end of each year, your younger students (maybe 3rd and 4th graders) may not catch on to everything. That's okay, though, because our job is not to beat something into our children's heads the first time they hear it, but to EXPOSE them to a concept toward eventual complete understanding. We will review as the year continues and the next year the same concepts will be introduced and reviewed again - just like they would be in school. Think about it, if we all understood, mastered, and remembered EVERYTHING the very first time, there would be no need for twelve whole grades! Since this is not the case, we need many years to practice, review, and master the skills that are necessary to function with literacy, godly integrity, and success in our adult world. Some students will catch onto certain concepts the very first time and find them very "easy" - others will NEED all five years of "re-introduction" and review on a certain topic in order to gain confidence and mastery of it.
So . . . Peggy, in answer to your question about where your younger son will fit into the picture when he gets to fourth grade, and his older brothers are in sixth and seventh grades . . . ALL of your children will be working out of the same Adventure book on the same lessons. By then, if your oldest child has completely mastered a certain concept, you should supplement with something more advanced. This would be just like if one of your kids was in the sixth grade, but was working ahead of that in some subjects - even if you were using text books, you would want to supplement them or replace them with something that would be more challenging to him.
For now, with your third grader, just try to expose him to each of the concepts, and if he struggles, either adjust the assignment and/or move on. He will see it again when we review it and at least it will be familiar to him, even though he might not understand it all. Each time it is covered, he will meet it again. I have used the example of a "friend" to illustrate this - and I will use it again here to help make this clear. When you meet someone, you know NOTHING about him/her except what you have seen and learned from that first introduction. You can't possibly know everything about him because you have just met him! Each time you see him, you get to know a little more about him and feel more comfortable around him. The more time you spend with him, the more easily you get along with him until, after seeing him periodically for an entire year - he has become a "good friend" - someone with whom you are completely comfortable and know well. It should be the same thing with new skills/concepts and the learning curves of our children. To expect them to master a subject just after it is introduced would be unreasonable and unfair of us. Yet we tend to do just that when it comes to teaching our kids. Perhaps it is because we constantly find ourselves on the defensive with non-home educators. We always feel the intense need to PROVE that our kids our learning - even at the expense of our children - by FORCING them to GET SOMETHING before they are ready! Do you know what I mean? I'm sure we ALL have done this at one time or another - I know I have. After all, it is a reflection on us as parents and teachers if our kids don't "get something" isn't it?
We DO have a responsibility to teach our children and there should be high expectations and high standards - but they should also be reasonable – and the definition of "teach" does not include "forcing knowledge down the throat" of a child!
I am sorry if it seems that I am belaboring this question with an unecessarily LONG answer, but I can't even COUNT the number of moms who have asked questions that really pertain to the "levels" of their children. Because we grew up using textbooks, it is hard for us to even THINK about skills and concepts out of their "grade-level box" and to those who are new to the unit study approach (especially) this is a FUNDAMENTAL issue in understanding how it all works.
Your goal should be to teach all of your 4th-8th graders from this curriculum - you will find that some children are a perfect fit, to others it will be more challenging (just keep gently moving on), and still others (more advanced in certain areas) will need more challenging supplements to go along with this curriculum. For younger students, or for those who are really struggling with a certain concept, adjust the assignment so they are exposed to it, but are not forced to do the entire thing. Remember, if you skip something entirely because your child doesn't understand it - you are not doing him any favors. Later on, he WILL need to understand it, but he won't have even a clue as to what it is about. Again, if you just introduce that "new friend" to your child don't force them to "work at it until they get it" just as you might force a child to "play with a new friend for hours" - instead - just make sure they keep "meeting" for rather brief periods at a time - and eventually they will become more comfortable with the concept. They still may not understand everything about it, but at least there will be a familiarity with it - which is a great start.
Peggy, you are right to be thinking ahead - I hope I have answered your questions and have not confused you further! This is sort of a hard concept to get across to parents - especially since most of us came from textbook backgrounds ourselves! These questions about grade "levels" have got to be some of the most frequently asked questions, so don't think you are alone! If you have any further questions or still don't quite understand what I have tried to say here, please let me know. (Dorian – author)
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Can I start part-way through the first volume?
Can I start with volume two?
Where do I start with my younger children when the older ones are already doing later units?
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Any ideas for studying creation before we start?
Last summer before beginning LA our family embarked on our own adventure through Creation to Abraham. I used 3 main Books as spines and then added other storybooks, videos, coloring pages, crossword puzzles that I found online, and any other materials I could find. My own units are usually like that. I use what I can find Smile
I used 2 books by Ruth Beechick that I very HIGHLY recommend. These were "Adam and His Kin" and "Genesis: Finding Our Roots." I used these for History/ Literature and also copy work, dictation, and creative writing, geography, map work, etc. In the "roots" book, there are many ideas for further study and also a time line project, which we have been adding to since. I also used "Unlocking the Mysteries of Creation," as our science book. This is a print version of a Creation Science Seminar. I used this as our spine and also used it to debunk many of the evolutionary myths we would be coming across this year and in future years using library books and other secular sources. I do try to steer clear of secular sources, but this is not always feasible. I have pulled this book out many times this year during our other studies. It came in handy especially during our Rock/ mineral/ volcano/ earthquake unit.
To the science, we also added experiments, drawings and videos.
I also can recommend the Turner Broadcasting series of Biblical Movies for this unit (for older children and grown ups only, please view with your children or preview.) For the younger set, we loved Hanna Barbera's Superbook series and the Testament series.
This study took us 9 weeks, but could be squashed down to 6. It is worth 1/2 credit for High Schoolers. I counted this one for Ancient History/Old Testament Survey...1/4 cr Science/ Physical Science....1/4th credit. I hope this helps someone. Blessings, (Faithe)
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I highly recommend Diana Waring's set of tapes called "WHAT IN THE WORLD'S GOING ON HERE" (Creation to Christ). The accompanying study guide: "ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS & THE BIBLE" has a chapter on Creation. In it she recommends these books: UNLOCKING THE MYSTERIES OF CREATION by Dennis Peterson, ADAM & HIS KIN by Ruth Beechick, and THE GREAT DINOSAUR MYSTERY AND THE BIBLE by Paul S. Taylor. In addition, she has resources for older students, questions to discuss, research ideas, vocabulary, maps and mapping, arts in action, art appreciation, music, cooking, drama. These are *not worked out in detail like Dorian's unit study*, but they are great ideas that you can pick and choose from…
Even if you just read the three books mentioned above, plus the chapters in Genesis, of course, you would learn a lot! By His Grace ~ For His Glory (Elaine in NC)
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For creation we are starting a unit type study called "Creationism". It is by Charles Lynn. It has 7 lessons. It comes with a teacher’s guide, student workbook and a video by Dr. Kent Hovind. He teaches for about 10 minutes for each lesson. The best part it only was $41.00 WITH shipping. WOW I could not pass that up. It looks great. It also has activities to go along with it. Just what we are doing. I ordered it from Dr. Kent Hovind's ministry - Creation Science Evangelism - We love his work, and we have most of his videos. They are wonderful. If you what to really study Creation Science watch these!!! My kids have learned SOOOOO much.
Creation Science Evangelism's number is: 850-479-3466 or toll free: 877-479-3466 their web site is: www.drdino.com their site is great. They have so much stuff... adult and children’s books, adult and children videos, shirts, ties, bumper stickers, and my sons favorite replicas of fossils!!! you can buy. Also if you’re near Pensacola, Florida they now have "Dinosaur Adventure Land".
(I don't think the "Creationism" curriculum is on the site yet. It is brand new. You can call them and just ask for the Homeschool study on creation.)
I also found this wonderful on Creation. I thought you would enjoy. We are studying this this summer to get ready for Egypt in the fall.
http://www.athomeschool.com/unitstudy/creation_index.html
(Tammy in IN)
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Also see http://www.answersingenesis.org/cec/ for excellent articles, lessons and study guides.
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Can I start part-way through the first volume?
I think it is important that we use it in the order it is written. When you get to the part on the Middle Ages, your kids will might say "WOW, so that's how it all fits in." At least we might say "WOW". (Lori)
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I can understand why you wouldn't want to re-do Egypt or Greece if you've done an in-depth study already. Although, you might find that A World of Adventure approaches the study in a different way than the way you covered it. For example, in the study of Egypt there is a great study of the story of Joseph in Egypt. I wouldn't have wanted to miss that. The unit also studies the Exodus and the Ten Commandments, and gives instructions for a Passover celebration with great Passover recipes. The science unit studies deserts and does some good experiments and projects.
In the Greece unit there is a study of Aesops fables and Greek and Roman myths. The literature selection they use for this is soooo good. I learned so much about myths and word origins and expressions that come from Greek mythology. The science in this unit is body systems and first aid. The unit ends with an Olympic games celebration. I'm in the Rome unit now and am as happy as ever with the curriculum.
To answer your question about the "structure of the program," what would be the most challenging thing to catch up on is the writing process that is taught progressively. You will have to go back and teach your kids how to do the pre-writing activities and outlining and such that are taught in the early units. Picking that up in the middle of the book might be frustrating to your kids. The grammar is also progressive. It starts out slowly and simply in the first couple units but builds to more complex things after that. (Kristi)
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Each book [i.e. each volume of Learning Adventures] can be used independently of the others, but we do NOT recommend that you do any out of order (Start with book 2 and then do book 1, for example). Also, once you start a book, you should start at the very beginning if at all possible - or at the very least, do NOT do the units out of order. The concepts and skills that are introduced build on one another as the book progresses - it would be very confusing to jump around. (Dorian – author)
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We thought of starting LA halfway through, at the Middle Ages section, but finally decided it was worth starting at the beginning. My main thought (I'm a retired language/literacy/ESL teacher) was to "begin at the beginning" of Dorian's approach to the Language arts rather than trying to pick bits out to try to "catch up" on the first 90 days' work.
What we are finding is that the other content is different from what we had done, consolidates and expands on it, looks at different aspects etc. so it is definitely not wasting time to start again at Egypt. (Dorothy)
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Can I start with volume two?
If you have not done a very recent and fairly detailed study of ancient history up through about the 1600's, we STRONGLY discourage you from using Book Two as the first book. Your children will be missing so many answers about why and where everything came from as we delve into American history. You would be missing a COMPLETE understanding of WHY people came to America in the first place and you would not completely understand WHY the French and Indian Wars never seemed to end - why our founding fathers were able to establish such an excellent governmental structure - because of the good and the bad they had learned from ancient history . . . the list goes on and on.
As for the language arts - Peggy is right - the same basic and fundamental intermediate skills will be covered - just in slightly different ways and within a completely different context. But there will also be different kinds of writing in Book Two - such as, much more emphasis on mini-"report" writing that will be added to the state, world, and president notebooks, and newspaper writing - both of which we did not cover at all in Book One. However, to do this, there will be less emphasis on other very fundamental writing concepts that were covered in Book One - such as contrast and comparison, for example. Not to say that this would be completely left out - but we can't possibly "emphasize" everything every year and still give lots of time to practice all of it. I'm not done writing all of the writing parts so I can't give you more specifics yet - as I don't know exactly how it will all "shake out" in the end.
All that to say - PLEASE don't jump into Book Two just because you really like "American" History, and don't really want to cover ancient history. We have a lot of private e-mails about this very thing. You are not giving your kids the whole picture if you have a chance to ancient history, and don't.
However, if you have finished a DETAILED study of ancient history (preferably in a non-textbook program) up through the 1600's by means of a different curriculum within the last year - you'd be able to slide right into Book Two without any gaps.
We can't "FORCE" people to use Book One before Book Two, but we can try to get them to see how much they are missing by using Book Two first – and then hope that they trust us when we say we really are thinking in the best interest of their children when we give this advice. (Dorian – author)
Also see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Learning_Adventures/message/5530
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Where do I start with my younger children when the older ones are already doing later units?
HOW THE LA VOLUMES WORK CHRONOLOGICALLY AND CYCLICALLY
If you are finishing Book 1 at the end of this school year and are using it with a fourth grader, you will move on to Book 2 after that. If you have a younger student joining in on Book 2, he will simply join the adventure at that point. You would not start over for him, because that would either mean that the older child would have to repeat the same year over again - or that you would be doing two separate studies for each of your children. That defeats the whole purpose of the unit study approach. While we strongly advocate the chronological approach to history (starting at the beginning) - if you have more than one child at different levels and want to use a unit study approach, it simply is not possible to ALWAYS do it (start at the VERY beginning) this way. However, you will still be moving chronologically - no matter where you start in history - if you follow the books in the series' order. You will add children to the study as they are ready and follow along together until the end. Then you will all repeat the series and those who have finished it completely already will supplement at higher levels (or move on to a different course of study - perhaps a little more condensed this time around so they will have a good thorough review. They should have already gotten a SOLID foundation through the LA series and will be familiar with much of what is reviewed/and covered the second time around.) The younger ones will now go through the series as written, this time picking up what they were too young for the last time around. They can either follow the series all the way through again, or branch off and do some supplementing of their own when they feel they have already covered a period thoroughly in LA.
I know it seems a little confusing - especially if you have lots of children. But, think of it this way - you will start in the beginning with Book one and go on through Book five, then start over again. Whichever one of your kids enters or exits the study (or adds or subtracts from it) depends on readiness and family preference. The cycle will continue so that you can cover the span of history thoroughly, but also in enough time to allow for a thorough review of it later, as well.
My experience has been this: if you go too fast and cover the entire span of history every year or two, you will never really do get anything out of it because you will have covered too much - too fast, and you will not have had time to catch any of the details. If you go too slowly and only cover one civilization or so per year (I believe) you will not get finished in time to do a thorough review. I can say this with credibility because it is happening to us right now! Ryan and I started too slowly - that's why I wrote the Adventure book(s) differently. I favor the five-year approach so that you can dig into each period without burning out on it, but you will be finished in time to get that good review. (Dorian – author)
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I have addressed the question of how grammar (and other subjects) will be covered in future books to some of you individually, but I don't think I've explained this to the whole group. In any case, with so MANY new adventurers in our group, let me make sure you all understand how they will work once again. First of all, each book in this series is for ALL children in grades four through eight. The first book is NOT a fourth grade book, the second a fifth grade book, etc. Each book can be used for ANY child in grades four through eight. So, if you think about the books that way, it will help you to understand that they are to be used in a cycle. When the five-year cycle is completed and you still have younger children that have not completed it, you can just start over with them and either have your older ones do a review with some good supplements or replacements in certain subjects, or have them working completely on their own in some areas, but staying with you in bible and history (they would be doing an in-depth review at their own level, but would also be moving along with the rest of your family through the span of history), for example. Still others will want to have their high schoolers working out of formal high school textbooks in order to prepare for college while the rest of the family completes the cycle again. ANY child can start the cycle at the beginning of any of the books and the only thing that he/she will miss out on is the sequence of history that was covered in the previous book(s). Nothing else will be "continuous" in the same way, though. Different science topics will be covered in Book 2 with basic science objectives, different Bible themes will be covered with basic spiritual enrichment objectives, fine arts will be covered as it pertains to early American history (and some European history of the same time period), and the same basic social studies objectives will be covered (geography and map skills, cultures, etc.) only they, too, will pertain to the time period we will be studying. All language arts concepts and skills will be taught again, but within the context of the required literature or the time period.
Just as the parts of speech, writing skills, punctuation, study and reference skills, figurative language, etc. are covered in a fourth grade text book, these are also covered in fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade textbooks. Children learn through repetition and review - that is why these topics are covered over and over again each year, so that by the time your kids are in high school, they will know these "basics." Just as a textbook reviews topics at the beginning of each year, we will also do this in the Adventure series - so that any child coming into the series at the beginning of any one of the books will be exposed to each concept and skill in a way that is easy to understand. IF he/she has never learned the skill/concept before, it will be easy enough to pick it up because we will always provide plenty of information to use with a beginner. Older children in your family who either already know and understand the skill/concept - or, who have gone successfully through a previous Adventure book will use that same activity as a review. You will note that these concepts - such as grammar, get increasingly more difficult within the course of each book, so that by the end of each year, your younger students (maybe 3rd and 4th graders) may not catch on to everything. That's okay, though, because our job is not to beat something into our children's heads the first time they hear it, but to EXPOSE them to a concept toward eventual complete understanding. We will review as the year continues and the next year the same concepts will be introduced and reviewed again - just like they would be in school. Think about it, if we all understood, mastered, and remembered EVERYTHING the very first time, there would be no need for twelve whole grades! Since this is not the case, we need many years to practice, review, and master the skills that are necessary to function with literacy, godly integrity, and success in our adult world. Some students will catch onto certain concepts the very first time and find them very "easy" - others will NEED all five years of "re-introduction" and review on a certain topic in order to gain confidence and mastery of it.
So . . . Peggy, in answer to your question about where your younger son will fit into the picture when he gets to fourth grade, and his older brothers are in sixth and seventh grades . . . ALL of your children will be working out of the same Adventure book on the same lessons. By then, if your oldest child has completely mastered a certain concept, you should supplement with something more advanced. This would be just like if one of your kids was in the sixth grade, but was working ahead of that in some subjects - even if you were using text books, you would want to supplement them or replace them with something that would be more challenging to him.
For now, with your third grader, just try to expose him to each of the concepts, and if he struggles, either adjust the assignment and/or move on. He will see it again when we review it and at least it will be familiar to him, even though he might not understand it all. Each time it is covered, he will meet it again. I have used the example of a "friend" to illustrate this - and I will use it again here to help make this clear. When you meet someone, you know NOTHING about him/her except what you have seen and learned from that first introduction. You can't possibly know everything about him because you have just met him! Each time you see him, you get to know a little more about him and feel more comfortable around him. The more time you spend with him, the more easily you get along with him until, after seeing him periodically for an entire year - he has become a "good friend" - someone with whom you are completely comfortable and know well. It should be the same thing with new skills/concepts and the learning curves of our children. To expect them to master a subject just after it is introduced would be unreasonable and unfair of us. Yet we tend to do just that when it comes to teaching our kids. Perhaps it is because we constantly find ourselves on the defensive with non-home educators. We always feel the intense need to PROVE that our kids our learning - even at the expense of our children - by FORCING them to GET SOMETHING before they are ready! Do you know what I mean? I'm sure we ALL have done this at one time or another - I know I have. After all, it is a reflection on us as parents and teachers if our kids don't "get something" isn't it?
We DO have a responsibility to teach our children and there should be high expectations and high standards - but they should also be reasonable – and the definition of "teach" does not include "forcing knowledge down the throat" of a child!
I am sorry if it seems that I am belaboring this question with an unecessarily LONG answer, but I can't even COUNT the number of moms who have asked questions that really pertain to the "levels" of their children. Because we grew up using textbooks, it is hard for us to even THINK about skills and concepts out of their "grade-level box" and to those who are new to the unit study approach (especially) this is a FUNDAMENTAL issue in understanding how it all works.
Your goal should be to teach all of your 4th-8th graders from this curriculum - you will find that some children are a perfect fit, to others it will be more challenging (just keep gently moving on), and still others (more advanced in certain areas) will need more challenging supplements to go along with this curriculum. For younger students, or for those who are really struggling with a certain concept, adjust the assignment so they are exposed to it, but are not forced to do the entire thing. Remember, if you skip something entirely because your child doesn't understand it - you are not doing him any favors. Later on, he WILL need to understand it, but he won't have even a clue as to what it is about. Again, if you just introduce that "new friend" to your child don't force them to "work at it until they get it" just as you might force a child to "play with a new friend for hours" - instead - just make sure they keep "meeting" for rather brief periods at a time - and eventually they will become more comfortable with the concept. They still may not understand everything about it, but at least there will be a familiarity with it - which is a great start.
Peggy, you are right to be thinking ahead - I hope I have answered your questions and have not confused you further! This is sort of a hard concept to get across to parents - especially since most of us came from textbook backgrounds ourselves! These questions about grade "levels" have got to be some of the most frequently asked questions, so don't think you are alone! If you have any further questions or still don't quite understand what I have tried to say here, please let me know. (Dorian – author)
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4 Supplementing
There is NO need to supplement the LA unit studies.... but here are some ideas from others.....
Co-op ideas
Does anyone use LA along with another curriculum?
Can we use "The Well Trained Mind" along with LA?
Can we use the "Institute for Excellence in Writing" ideas along with LA?
Do you supplement the language arts?
Help, my kids are struggling with the writing assignments.
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Co-op ideas
You can decide what type of co-op you want. You can do hands-on activities using some of the suggested books, such as Classical Kids. You can make the projects together. You could do the maps, the science experiments, the book could be read aloud and then do discussion/comprehension questions, and/or present the writing papers aloud.
We have a co-op of 6 families where most use Learning Adventures. We do related historical projects that we are not apt to do on our own. For Rome, we made togas, sandals, jewelry and head laurels. Some of the children made paper mache helmets and others made Hannibal’s elephants. We made pottery theater masks and mosaics. We built an aquaduct and made a simple catapult and flung mini-marshmallows. We had the children write scripts to act out and performed them at a toga party. We used Make it Work-Rome and Classical Kids as some of our resources. For Middle Ages, we are making a stained glass piece, writing in Illumination method, making a sand castle, designing a Coat of Arms, making a Book of Days, making a fur coat, etc. We are studying color theory for the art section using Teach Children Art. Science, we are covering fun aspects of Rocks and Minerals that we didn't get to during Rome; like making a Jello earth ball, the ice cream volcano and metamorphic rock bars, and then going into growing an herb garden, making poultices, using herbs to cook with and the study of plants. Some of these ideas we got from Knights and Castles activity book. (Christina in PA)
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Barb and I are still co-oping and the festivals have been a hoot and the dads are having a blast with them. We are meeting one day a week together and doing the fine arts and sciences as well as extras we come across. (Amber)
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I've been in a coop with two other families for a year. I was the only one using LA last year, but this year one person has already ordered it and hopefully the second one will soon! Smile
Anyway--we started last year in September and we were all studying history chronologically so we did units on Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. We met every other week for an hour and a half (sometimes two hours) and we three moms alternated teaching nine children, ranging in age from kindergarten to 7th grade. We tried to have one small part of each session a lecture so the older kids would have a chance to take notes (youngers colored theme-related sheets), and the rest of the time we would do hands-on things. Examples: during Egypt we made the Nile (per AWOA), during Greece we dramatized the fall of Troy and made and decorated Greek-style pottery, and for Rome we made and blew up a volcano in the back yard. At the end of each unit, we had some kind of a feast for all of the families (and Dads) where we made authentic food, wore costumes (the kids), had music, and did related activities. For Egypt, all the children did a presentation for the parents and the rest of the kids after we ate. For the Greek unit we did a mock-Olympics. I think we ran out of time and never really did anything together for Rome, although our family had a Roman "meal."
This year we are going to do the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation, and the Age of Exploration. We have planned 15 meetings (five for each unit), roughed out a lot of what we want to cover, and assigned weeks on a calendar. We try to choose activities that are more fun for a group and that are things we tend to hesitate to do at home--messy art stuff, science things and drama. We always make maps and cover the geography of each area, and this year we want to focus more on individual people (esp. for the R. and R. unit.) We plan to assign people to all of the kids and have them present a report with a visual aid to the others. (Dana)
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We had participated in a co-op for the first time this last semester. We had a really good time and I did realized that it looked and was much easier than I had originally thought.
One meeting was put together just to brainstorm on what classes that the mom's wanted to teach. There was one mom and a helper per class. In this case though, we had about 20 moms and about 50plus kiddos. Since you would only using the LA classes, I would suggest a teacher for Literature, (which would include-grammar, writing, and possibly spelling-I would keep the actual reading of the book itself to home, only because of the length of chapters and how time can go by so fast). I would also suggest a teacher for Fine-Arts, History and also one for Science. You could have classes once a week , 45 mins. a class, with time-out for lunch. You could have two people help with babies and toddlers, and two people help teach Pre-K ans K doing phonics and such, and rotate. You could make lesson plans at the beginning of your semester so each mom would know what project would be taking place in the co-op classes and be prepared for that. If you wanted to include your own lessons to correlate with the LA book, that is an option too! There are so many possibilities. Of course, I am assuming everyone would be starting with the same unit. At the end of your semester, it would be fun to have everyone display their projects and do a food festival of sorts then. There are a lot of good kids cookbooks on ethical foods that they could also include with the ones in the LA book. You could do a mini play of the literature for that unit and make family presentations. There really is so much you can do with a group. At the beginning planning meeting, see what the other families would like to see taught. Many moms are gifted in areas we don't even know about unless we ask. Maybe there is a Sculpey mom out there like the sample sent over the internet [http://www.geocities.com/the100acrewood/Learning-Adventures.html], or a mom that teaches drama, or a mom that teaches sewing and can make costumes of the time period, or a basket weaver or such to show how crafts could have been made during the time period. We had a $20 per student-$30 family maximum per semester that went for materials (if needed), help to pay church for utilities, space and copy machine, and $ left over for out finale-paper goods, drinks etc. You don't have to make it a lot of $ either. You could have some of the teens take pictures of the classes and combine the pictures for a small yearbook, or do a newsletter and make it real time-period like! I would recommend taking a few days off to do a related field trip if it can be worked in. We went 10 weeks with one week a month for a field trip. That may be too long for some, that is where the planning meeting comes in and the families decide.
For some field trips, in Ft. Worth now, we have one of the round dome theaters that is showing an Egyptian movie. I can't remember the title at the moment, but it is like a documentary. Also sometimes the museums have traveling expo's of Egyptian artifacts. You could call a museum near you and see if they know of an exhibit around. During the year around us we also have Medieval festivals and there is a restaurant that serves a medieval fare and also has a live tournament-all for fun. It is quite expensive, like $35 a plate, but I think that during the day they have school groups that can go into the place and see some of their things and a mini museum of such. Maybe a get together at a restaurant that serves the food of that time period. It would be great if a restaurant could serve up sample plates to a group and talk about their country!
Instead of actually going anywhere, you could have a missionary from the country you are studying and come and talk to your group. Maybe during the Egyptian Passover study, you could visit a place that teaches Jewish dancing or every other year a homeschool group I had been in would invite a rabbi in to share with us the meaning of Passover. Again, an endless list. It's all up to your imagination.................
Have fun- the options are limitless! (Terri)
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Does anyone use LA along with another curriculum?
We're planning on M-Th of LA and Fri for all those other things I don't want to let go of - Thinking Skills, God's World for current events, more in-depth foreign language session, real-life math and if necessary completion of any fine arts sections of LA (like fine tuning the Nile). (Linda in CA)
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…our days are pretty full with just LA and our math and stuff. You may be able to incorporate some of the books and ideas from FIAR if it's from the same time period - but LA is a complete course (except for math) - so I wouldn't suggest trying to do them both. (Peggy)
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Just remember, that to make the most out of a unit study - you will need to participate in as many of the integrated features as possible – because that is how learning is reinforced in a unit study. Each time you replace a subject in LA with your own different program - you are moving farther away from the benefits of the unit study approach. Each time you ADD something to the program according to your own philosophy of education, you are adding length (and pressure) to your school day. If you feel the need to do this, just make sure to adjust the curriculum accordingly, but know that you will be sacrificing one thing for another. This is not to say that combining two philosophies cannot be done very successfully - you just need to know that you'll have to pick and choose carefully - and then not be stressed about what you chose to exclude. The good news is that you really can do what you want - and you can make adjustments slowly, over time - according to how the needs of your family might change.
It is in our zeal to provide the best possible education for our children that we sometimes get overwhelmed with how much we want to pack into their brains. But even though the things we sometimes want to add are VERY good things - they are no longer good if we cram too much into our school days and teach our kids to hate learning because it is too overwhelming for them! (Dorian – author)
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I would like to answer the question on why I chose to include a textbook with LA. It is certainly NOT necessary but I felt because we would be reading many secular books from the library and I wanted a book to give a Christian worldview to my children. In secular books we are bombarded by "billions of years ago..." or When cavemen first started to use language..." or my personal favorite (sarcasm here) the Bible is a fable. I wanted to arm myself and my children with the Christian answer to humanist views. I always give my kids my opinion and worldview of a subject but somehow seeing it in a book makes it official for them. I feel the A Beka Old World History and Streams of Civilization do this beautifully.
I am going to use the chapter or chapters that correlate with each unit during our read aloud time first to give us an overview of the period we are about to study. We will then dig in to other books which I have gotten from the library and my own home library. It looks like the text will take one session of our reading time, which is not much in a 30 day unit. I also will have the children make some kind of notebook page for each reading we do.
This is really what I love about this unit study. We are free to use whatever books we choose (and God leads us to,) and can combine teaching methods to get the subject across to our children. I love the unit study approach with a Classical bend and a little Charlotte Mason/ Literature base. I call this the smorgasboard approach. Takes what works for you and your children and discard the rest. I do not have an aversion to using textbooks as a spine and I often find material in them that leads us to wonderful discussion and research. Is a textbook necessary? No. But books on Ancient History from a Christian Perspective are not widely available from the Public Library and I found these to fill the gap nicely… I plan to use the sections of the text as read aloud material during our first and/or second read aloud session of each unit. I also plan on using the wonderful maps and continent studies because they are beautiful and I think my kids will like them. We always do the comprehension questions orally or even skip them and go over them at the end of the entire unit as conversation starters. (Faithe)
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Can we use "The Well Trained Mind" along with LA?
I love the notebooking ideas in WTM and also the Chronological History. I am finding LA fits right in there. LA does not have specific books for History or science but has a history and science lesson followed by a reading time. That is where I fill in with WTM and also suggested reading from Beautiful Feet. The Books I have used recommended from LA go with their Literature lessons. These are wonderful. I am only in the Greece unit so I am not sure if their is a "required" reading for Hx or science in further units, but my point is WTM goes very nicely with LA. (Faithe)
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The Well Trained Mind is very seductive and it is a wonderful way to teach and learn. But it is very time intensive and requires a huge amount of parental involvement. Not that either of these is a bad thing, just not practical for everyone. The Well Trained Mind approach is my ideal, but my reality is Learning Adventures! I am trying to blend what I feel most strongly about from the WTM approach with LA. For me, it is the notebooking, narration and living books, along with the chronological study of history and science as it relates to history. Learning Adventures can be adapted to this very easily. It is already literature based, it presents history chronologically, and the science follows logically. It teaches Latin and Greek roots, has very good writing exercises, what more could you ask for? The notebooking and timelines are very easy to incorporate. I like to think of Learning Adventures as Well Trained Mind lite! Seriously, LA is an excellent program. (Francie)
See the notebooking section for more on how people incorporate ideas from the Well Trained Mind.
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I wanted to respond about using LA with WTM and
Highschoolers since I plan on doing just that.
For my highschooler I plan on including her in all our LA reading and studies. I
have added a (eek!) textbook, (Streams of Civilization) to make sure she covers the
bases and also receives a Christian perspective to some of the secular history we
will be reading. I also added Abeka's Old World History and Geography to my 4th and
6th graders program to do the same. I am including Introductory Logic/
Intermediate Logic, Apologia Biology and 2 term papers(1 on a historical theme and
one on a science theme.) I am also using Ancient Literature such as: The Holy
Bible, the Epic of Gilgamesh and other Sumerian writings, The Iliad and the Odessey
etc. I am using books from Sonlight, Beautiful Feet and the Elijah Company as a
guide to her reading. We will be creating a time line and also note book pages. We
will be doing map work etc.
It seems to me that WTM will work beautifully with LA.
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an we use the "Institute for Excellence in Writing" ideas along with LA?
We use IEW for our writing, and it is a PERFECT match for LA! My children have had no problem with the LA writing assignments, and to be honest, I add more writing than LA assigns. My children write paragraphs on whatever topic we are studying in history, and since we are learning about Ancient Greece now, they have been re-writing Aesop's fables… (unknown)
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My third daughter and I just took the Institute for Excellence in Writing Workshop last fall, and Dorian's writing assignments are extremely similar in scope, so I'm very pleased with that. LA is quite strong in history and science… As far as art and music, some of that is included (and what I've seen is very good), but that's not LA’s major emphasis. (Joni in TX)
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Do you supplement the language arts?
I have done some research on their grammar content. I have found that the 180 days of work contains grammar that is comparable to the first level of Winston Grammar. Language arts is covered every day but not every aspect of it. You might do spelling and writing for a bit then vocabulary and literature for a bit. It rotates so you are not overloaded with subjects in one day. Every subject builds upon the others and all tie together. The books are easy to find. The writing instruction is excellent and is the first writing my kids have really taken to and been able to follow. We are seeing very good results. I have used some of the WTM principles and the children write down grammar rules etc. We keep notebooks.
If your child is in the 4th-8th grade my personal opinion is not to add anything to what Dorian does for grammar and language arts. I will only be using EFTTC and PLL,ILL with my 2nd grader until he is able to do LA language arts. If the LA language arts gets tough for him next year, I am going to use PLL to replace the language arts from LA until he can do it with us. (Stephanie)
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While I do not feel that LA lacks anything, my dear 11 year old son, really needs help with grammar, punctuation, etc. so we are using daily grams and easy grammar as a supplement. That does not bother him, he actually likes those anyways. (Christina)
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We are working on Day 5 and loving the writing assignments included with LA plus the instruction before the assignment. So often, in other unit studies, there is no prior instruction, just a topic to write about. I must say that my dc are reluctant writers. They are used to lots of oral narration but very little writing. This is even with a 14, and a 12 year old. I can't imagine having them write more than what is called for in the LA manual!! (Ruan)
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Well - as far as the writing - it is excellent! The very best! The instructions are clear and the topics are interesting. Last year I stated off using another grammar program, but then I noticed a couple things. The grammar really does meet the objectives. Also, it reinforces what we have been learning in science, history and the literature we've been reading. That's sort of like getting a two for one deal!! Surprised) My oldest remembers all of it (grammar and the other topics) longer and better because it ties in with everything else.
The spelling also isn't just memorized for the week and forgotten -- it really becomes part of his knowledge base -- I think because it was learned in context. The lessons cover such a wide variety of writing forms also -- better than most programs I have looked at -- from writing plays - fables - taking notes - business & personal letters -- essays and biographies ...... It truly is the best program I've ever used -- textbook or no.
As far as dictating and narration - there are all kinds of different activities in LA. They do a lot of comprehension questions/discussion - which could be used for narration. They do have some exercises in which they specifically asked the student to recall the events of the story in order and that kind of thing... We do oral narration all the time with this. Now dictation could also easily be done if you read the grammar sections to them - or read the history or science sections and have them write them down. We haven't done this - my son HATES to write - so I don't make him do it any more than he has to. He is learning to type and that will help hopefully. Surprised)
(Peggy in KS)
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We don't supplement at all and are finding AWoA to be quite fulfilling in terms of content and practice. Dorian provides the basics for the assignment and it is up to you to add or take away from each according to the needs of your children. I am working with an 8 year old dd and a 10 (almost 11) year old ds. This is the best curriculum we've used so far. We're hooked. The grammar in LA is geared to be a spine. I just use the kids' own writing to build on each area. I know several in this group do supplement and that is very appropriate if you feel you want more structured grammar instruction. (Margot)
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Once you start using LA, you'll gain a better idea of what supplements (if any) are needed and how much. Get a feel of what you believe they will need in addition and what your schedule allows, then it should work just fine. But if you overcrowd it with supplements then you and the girls will not enjoy the curriculum. (Dorothy)
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Regarding grammar and spelling - and the question of whether to supplement or not - our approach is that children can master skills by doing grammar and spelling exercises each day, but when they cannot speak or write with clarity and accuracy - all the grammar and spelling "exercises" that they have done every day have not been put to good USE! Children need to WRITE every day so that they can practice USING spelling and grammar. This is why we provide grammar and spelling rules and exercises, but try not to over-emphasize their importance in and of themselves. Instead - we try to emphasize the WRITING part in LA - by providing daily opportunities for the student to write and then edit his own work. (Dorian – author)
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So, what seems to be the never-ending question - the one that must have been asked at least a thousand times already - remains: should I supplement or not - and if so, where. Only YOU can decide that! If you haven’t purchased AWOA yet, but are planning to use it - please try it first and then decide if you want to supplement! No one else can make that decision for you! If you are using AWOA and supplementing in certain areas – and everything is running smoothly - then you should continue if you are happy. If you are not supplementing and you feel the need to - then try it for awhile and see how it works. If you are not supplementing and do not feel you need to start - then don’t - and DON’T let anyone make you feel guilty for not doing it! For those of you who are supplementing, PLEASE be careful not to burn your kids out on learning in your zeal to make sure they get everything you think they need. (Dorian – author)
See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Learning_Adventures/message/3584 for the rest of this message.
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See http://www.learning-adventures.org/Sample_Lesson_Plans/sample_lesson_plans.html for examples from the sample lessons.
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Help, my kids are struggling with the writing assignments.
Have a look at this file (in the "language arts" directory of the group’s files) for encouragement and advice on writing problems:
Tips for the writing assignments
Look also in this forum - all of the files and archives are here.....
Co-op ideas
Does anyone use LA along with another curriculum?
Can we use "The Well Trained Mind" along with LA?
Can we use the "Institute for Excellence in Writing" ideas along with LA?
Do you supplement the language arts?
Help, my kids are struggling with the writing assignments.
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Co-op ideas
You can decide what type of co-op you want. You can do hands-on activities using some of the suggested books, such as Classical Kids. You can make the projects together. You could do the maps, the science experiments, the book could be read aloud and then do discussion/comprehension questions, and/or present the writing papers aloud.
We have a co-op of 6 families where most use Learning Adventures. We do related historical projects that we are not apt to do on our own. For Rome, we made togas, sandals, jewelry and head laurels. Some of the children made paper mache helmets and others made Hannibal’s elephants. We made pottery theater masks and mosaics. We built an aquaduct and made a simple catapult and flung mini-marshmallows. We had the children write scripts to act out and performed them at a toga party. We used Make it Work-Rome and Classical Kids as some of our resources. For Middle Ages, we are making a stained glass piece, writing in Illumination method, making a sand castle, designing a Coat of Arms, making a Book of Days, making a fur coat, etc. We are studying color theory for the art section using Teach Children Art. Science, we are covering fun aspects of Rocks and Minerals that we didn't get to during Rome; like making a Jello earth ball, the ice cream volcano and metamorphic rock bars, and then going into growing an herb garden, making poultices, using herbs to cook with and the study of plants. Some of these ideas we got from Knights and Castles activity book. (Christina in PA)
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Barb and I are still co-oping and the festivals have been a hoot and the dads are having a blast with them. We are meeting one day a week together and doing the fine arts and sciences as well as extras we come across. (Amber)
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I've been in a coop with two other families for a year. I was the only one using LA last year, but this year one person has already ordered it and hopefully the second one will soon! Smile
Anyway--we started last year in September and we were all studying history chronologically so we did units on Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. We met every other week for an hour and a half (sometimes two hours) and we three moms alternated teaching nine children, ranging in age from kindergarten to 7th grade. We tried to have one small part of each session a lecture so the older kids would have a chance to take notes (youngers colored theme-related sheets), and the rest of the time we would do hands-on things. Examples: during Egypt we made the Nile (per AWOA), during Greece we dramatized the fall of Troy and made and decorated Greek-style pottery, and for Rome we made and blew up a volcano in the back yard. At the end of each unit, we had some kind of a feast for all of the families (and Dads) where we made authentic food, wore costumes (the kids), had music, and did related activities. For Egypt, all the children did a presentation for the parents and the rest of the kids after we ate. For the Greek unit we did a mock-Olympics. I think we ran out of time and never really did anything together for Rome, although our family had a Roman "meal."
This year we are going to do the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation, and the Age of Exploration. We have planned 15 meetings (five for each unit), roughed out a lot of what we want to cover, and assigned weeks on a calendar. We try to choose activities that are more fun for a group and that are things we tend to hesitate to do at home--messy art stuff, science things and drama. We always make maps and cover the geography of each area, and this year we want to focus more on individual people (esp. for the R. and R. unit.) We plan to assign people to all of the kids and have them present a report with a visual aid to the others. (Dana)
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We had participated in a co-op for the first time this last semester. We had a really good time and I did realized that it looked and was much easier than I had originally thought.
One meeting was put together just to brainstorm on what classes that the mom's wanted to teach. There was one mom and a helper per class. In this case though, we had about 20 moms and about 50plus kiddos. Since you would only using the LA classes, I would suggest a teacher for Literature, (which would include-grammar, writing, and possibly spelling-I would keep the actual reading of the book itself to home, only because of the length of chapters and how time can go by so fast). I would also suggest a teacher for Fine-Arts, History and also one for Science. You could have classes once a week , 45 mins. a class, with time-out for lunch. You could have two people help with babies and toddlers, and two people help teach Pre-K ans K doing phonics and such, and rotate. You could make lesson plans at the beginning of your semester so each mom would know what project would be taking place in the co-op classes and be prepared for that. If you wanted to include your own lessons to correlate with the LA book, that is an option too! There are so many possibilities. Of course, I am assuming everyone would be starting with the same unit. At the end of your semester, it would be fun to have everyone display their projects and do a food festival of sorts then. There are a lot of good kids cookbooks on ethical foods that they could also include with the ones in the LA book. You could do a mini play of the literature for that unit and make family presentations. There really is so much you can do with a group. At the beginning planning meeting, see what the other families would like to see taught. Many moms are gifted in areas we don't even know about unless we ask. Maybe there is a Sculpey mom out there like the sample sent over the internet [http://www.geocities.com/the100acrewood/Learning-Adventures.html], or a mom that teaches drama, or a mom that teaches sewing and can make costumes of the time period, or a basket weaver or such to show how crafts could have been made during the time period. We had a $20 per student-$30 family maximum per semester that went for materials (if needed), help to pay church for utilities, space and copy machine, and $ left over for out finale-paper goods, drinks etc. You don't have to make it a lot of $ either. You could have some of the teens take pictures of the classes and combine the pictures for a small yearbook, or do a newsletter and make it real time-period like! I would recommend taking a few days off to do a related field trip if it can be worked in. We went 10 weeks with one week a month for a field trip. That may be too long for some, that is where the planning meeting comes in and the families decide.
For some field trips, in Ft. Worth now, we have one of the round dome theaters that is showing an Egyptian movie. I can't remember the title at the moment, but it is like a documentary. Also sometimes the museums have traveling expo's of Egyptian artifacts. You could call a museum near you and see if they know of an exhibit around. During the year around us we also have Medieval festivals and there is a restaurant that serves a medieval fare and also has a live tournament-all for fun. It is quite expensive, like $35 a plate, but I think that during the day they have school groups that can go into the place and see some of their things and a mini museum of such. Maybe a get together at a restaurant that serves the food of that time period. It would be great if a restaurant could serve up sample plates to a group and talk about their country!
Instead of actually going anywhere, you could have a missionary from the country you are studying and come and talk to your group. Maybe during the Egyptian Passover study, you could visit a place that teaches Jewish dancing or every other year a homeschool group I had been in would invite a rabbi in to share with us the meaning of Passover. Again, an endless list. It's all up to your imagination.................
Have fun- the options are limitless! (Terri)
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Does anyone use LA along with another curriculum?
We're planning on M-Th of LA and Fri for all those other things I don't want to let go of - Thinking Skills, God's World for current events, more in-depth foreign language session, real-life math and if necessary completion of any fine arts sections of LA (like fine tuning the Nile). (Linda in CA)
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…our days are pretty full with just LA and our math and stuff. You may be able to incorporate some of the books and ideas from FIAR if it's from the same time period - but LA is a complete course (except for math) - so I wouldn't suggest trying to do them both. (Peggy)
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Just remember, that to make the most out of a unit study - you will need to participate in as many of the integrated features as possible – because that is how learning is reinforced in a unit study. Each time you replace a subject in LA with your own different program - you are moving farther away from the benefits of the unit study approach. Each time you ADD something to the program according to your own philosophy of education, you are adding length (and pressure) to your school day. If you feel the need to do this, just make sure to adjust the curriculum accordingly, but know that you will be sacrificing one thing for another. This is not to say that combining two philosophies cannot be done very successfully - you just need to know that you'll have to pick and choose carefully - and then not be stressed about what you chose to exclude. The good news is that you really can do what you want - and you can make adjustments slowly, over time - according to how the needs of your family might change.
It is in our zeal to provide the best possible education for our children that we sometimes get overwhelmed with how much we want to pack into their brains. But even though the things we sometimes want to add are VERY good things - they are no longer good if we cram too much into our school days and teach our kids to hate learning because it is too overwhelming for them! (Dorian – author)
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I would like to answer the question on why I chose to include a textbook with LA. It is certainly NOT necessary but I felt because we would be reading many secular books from the library and I wanted a book to give a Christian worldview to my children. In secular books we are bombarded by "billions of years ago..." or When cavemen first started to use language..." or my personal favorite (sarcasm here) the Bible is a fable. I wanted to arm myself and my children with the Christian answer to humanist views. I always give my kids my opinion and worldview of a subject
I am going to use the chapter or chapters that correlate with each unit during our read aloud time first to give us an overview of the period we are about to study. We will then dig in to other books which I have gotten from the library and my own home library. It looks like the text will take one session of our reading time, which is not much in a 30 day unit. I also will have the children make some kind of notebook page for each reading we do.
This is really what I love about this unit study. We are free to use whatever books we choose (and God leads us to,) and can combine teaching methods to get the subject across to our children. I love the unit study approach with a Classical bend and a little Charlotte Mason/ Literature base. I call this the smorgasboard approach. Takes what works for you and your children and discard the rest. I do not have an aversion to using textbooks as a spine and I often find material in them that leads us to wonderful discussion and research. Is a textbook necessary? No. But books on Ancient History from a Christian Perspective are not widely available from the Public Library and I found these to fill the gap nicely… I plan to use the sections of the text as read aloud material during our first and/or second read aloud session of each unit. I also plan on using the wonderful maps and continent studies because they are beautiful and I think my kids will like them. We always do the comprehension questions orally or even skip them and go over them at the end of the entire unit as conversation starters. (Faithe)
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Can we use "The Well Trained Mind" along with LA?
I love the notebooking ideas in WTM and also the Chronological History. I am finding LA fits right in there. LA does not have specific books for History or science but has a history and science lesson followed by a reading time. That is where I fill in with WTM and also suggested reading from Beautiful Feet. The Books I have used recommended from LA go with their Literature lessons. These are wonderful. I am only in the Greece unit so I am not sure if their is a "required" reading for Hx or science in further units, but my point is WTM goes very nicely with LA. (Faithe)
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The Well Trained Mind is very seductive and it is a wonderful way to teach and learn. But it is very time intensive and requires a huge amount of parental involvement. Not that either of these is a bad thing, just not practical for everyone. The Well Trained Mind approach is my ideal, but my reality is Learning Adventures! I am trying to blend what I feel most strongly about from the WTM approach with LA. For me, it is the notebooking, narration and living books, along with the chronological study of history and science as it relates to history. Learning Adventures can be adapted to this very easily. It is already literature based, it presents history chronologically, and the science follows logically. It teaches Latin and Greek roots, has very good writing exercises, what more could you ask for? The notebooking and timelines are very easy to incorporate. I like to think of Learning Adventures as Well Trained Mind lite! Seriously, LA is an excellent program. (Francie)
See the notebooking section for more on how people incorporate ideas from the Well Trained Mind.
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I wanted to respond about using LA with WTM and
Highschoolers since I plan on doing just that.
For my highschooler I plan on including her in all our LA reading and studies. I
have added a (eek!) textbook, (Streams of Civilization) to make sure she covers the
bases and also receives a Christian perspective to some of the secular history we
will be reading. I also added Abeka's Old World History and Geography to my 4th and
6th graders program to do the same. I am including Introductory Logic/
Intermediate Logic, Apologia Biology and 2 term papers(1 on a historical theme and
one on a science theme.) I am also using Ancient Literature such as: The Holy
Bible, the Epic of Gilgamesh and other Sumerian writings, The Iliad and the Odessey
etc. I am using books from Sonlight, Beautiful Feet and the Elijah Company as a
guide to her reading. We will be creating a time line and also note book pages. We
will be doing map work etc.
It seems to me that WTM will work beautifully with LA.
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an we use the "Institute for Excellence in Writing" ideas along with LA?
We use IEW for our writing, and it is a PERFECT match for LA! My children have had no problem with the LA writing assignments, and to be honest, I add more writing than LA assigns. My children write paragraphs on whatever topic we are studying in history, and since we are learning about Ancient Greece now, they have been re-writing Aesop's fables… (unknown)
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My third daughter and I just took the Institute for Excellence in Writing Workshop last fall, and Dorian's writing assignments are extremely similar in scope, so I'm very pleased with that. LA is quite strong in history and science… As far as art and music, some of that is included (and what I've seen is very good), but that's not LA’s major emphasis. (Joni in TX)
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Do you supplement the language arts?
I have done some research on their grammar content. I have found that the 180 days of work contains grammar that is comparable to the first level of Winston Grammar. Language arts is covered every day but not every aspect of it. You might do spelling and writing for a bit then vocabulary and literature for a bit. It rotates so you are not overloaded with subjects in one day. Every subject builds upon the others and all tie together. The books are easy to find. The writing instruction is excellent and is the first writing my kids have really taken to and been able to follow. We are seeing very good results. I have used some of the WTM principles and the children write down grammar rules etc. We keep notebooks.
If your child is in the 4th-8th grade my personal opinion is not to add anything to what Dorian does for grammar and language arts. I will only be using EFTTC and PLL,ILL with my 2nd grader until he is able to do LA language arts. If the LA language arts gets tough for him next year, I am going to use PLL to replace the language arts from LA until he can do it with us. (Stephanie)
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While I do not feel that LA lacks anything, my dear 11 year old son, really needs help with grammar, punctuation, etc. so we are using daily grams and easy grammar as a supplement. That does not bother him, he actually likes those anyways. (Christina)
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We are working on Day 5 and loving the writing assignments included with LA plus the instruction before the assignment. So often, in other unit studies, there is no prior instruction, just a topic to write about. I must say that my dc are reluctant writers. They are used to lots of oral narration but very little writing. This is even with a 14, and a 12 year old. I can't imagine having them write more than what is called for in the LA manual!! (Ruan)
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Well - as far as the writing - it is excellent! The very best! The instructions are clear and the topics are interesting. Last year I stated off using another grammar program, but then I noticed a couple things. The grammar really does meet the objectives. Also, it reinforces what we have been learning in science, history and the literature we've been reading. That's sort of like getting a two for one deal!! Surprised) My oldest remembers all of it (grammar and the other topics) longer and better because it ties in with everything else.
The spelling also isn't just memorized for the week and forgotten -- it really becomes part of his knowledge base -- I think because it was learned in context. The lessons cover such a wide variety of writing forms also -- better than most programs I have looked at -- from writing plays - fables - taking notes - business & personal letters -- essays and biographies ...... It truly is the best program I've ever used -- textbook or no.
As far as dictating and narration - there are all kinds of different activities in LA. They do a lot of comprehension questions/discussion - which could be used for narration. They do have some exercises in which they specifically asked the student to recall the events of the story in order and that kind of thing... We do oral narration all the time with this. Now dictation could also easily be done if you read the grammar sections to them - or read the history or science sections and have them write them down. We haven't done this - my son HATES to write - so I don't make him do it any more than he has to. He is learning to type and that will help hopefully. Surprised)
(Peggy in KS)
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We don't supplement at all and are finding AWoA to be quite fulfilling in terms of content and practice. Dorian provides the basics for the assignment and it is up to you to add or take away from each according to the needs of your children. I am working with an 8 year old dd and a 10 (almost 11) year old ds. This is the best curriculum we've used so far. We're hooked. The grammar in LA is geared to be a spine. I just use the kids' own writing to build on each area. I know several in this group do supplement and that is very appropriate if you feel you want more structured grammar instruction. (Margot)
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Once you start using LA, you'll gain a better idea of what supplements (if any) are needed and how much. Get a feel of what you believe they will need in addition and what your schedule allows, then it should work just fine. But if you overcrowd it with supplements then you and the girls will not enjoy the curriculum. (Dorothy)
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Regarding grammar and spelling - and the question of whether to supplement or not - our approach is that children can master skills by doing grammar and spelling exercises each day, but when they cannot speak or write with clarity and accuracy - all the grammar and spelling "exercises" that they have done every day have not been put to good USE! Children need to WRITE every day so that they can practice USING spelling and grammar. This is why we provide grammar and spelling rules and exercises, but try not to over-emphasize their importance in and of themselves. Instead - we try to emphasize the WRITING part in LA - by providing daily opportunities for the student to write and then edit his own work. (Dorian – author)
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So, what seems to be the never-ending question - the one that must have been asked at least a thousand times already - remains: should I supplement or not - and if so, where. Only YOU can decide that! If you haven’t purchased AWOA yet, but are planning to use it - please try it first and then decide if you want to supplement! No one else can make that decision for you! If you are using AWOA and supplementing in certain areas – and everything is running smoothly - then you should continue if you are happy. If you are not supplementing and you feel the need to - then try it for awhile and see how it works. If you are not supplementing and do not feel you need to start - then don’t - and DON’T let anyone make you feel guilty for not doing it! For those of you who are supplementing, PLEASE be careful not to burn your kids out on learning in your zeal to make sure they get everything you think they need. (Dorian – author)
See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Learning_Adventures/message/3584 for the rest of this message.
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See http://www.learning-adventures.org/Sample_Lesson_Plans/sample_lesson_plans.html for examples from the sample lessons.
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Help, my kids are struggling with the writing assignments.
Have a look at this file (in the "language arts" directory of the group’s files) for encouragement and advice on writing problems:
Tips for the writing assignments
Look also in this forum - all of the files and archives are here.....
3 Using LA Day-to-Day
How long do you spend on LA each day?
What do you do with the vocabulary words?
How is spelling taught?
How is science covered?
How do you organize your notebooks and folders?
Timeline ideas
Creating a Portfolio for Assessments
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How long do you spend on LA each day?
This will vary depending on how many books you read - how much discussion time you have.... I think you can control that a lot by the way you do school. (Peggy in KS)
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We read the bible portion, key word outline the social studies and science, do the grammar assignment and work sheets, writing of some sort, and our math. That's mostly the day's work in about 2 hours. THEN, we watch related videos, do projects, computer stuff, and look through and read all the books we have available on the topics for that day. We read whenever, but every day and use the questions from LA as a springboard for discussion. So eventually we get everything in. (Donna)
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I spend anywhere from 1 1/2 - 3 hours a day with an average day being about 2 1/2 hours. There have been a few days that longer and I divided it into 2 days. You can plan to do this however you care to as far as how many days a week. I do about 3-4 days a week as I always have interruptions. I am schooling a 2nd, 5th, and 7th grader with this. (Stephanie)
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What do you do with the vocabulary words?
The vocabulary words before each daily literature selection are only provided because it is likely that those words will be new to your child (and some will be new to you, too!) It is simply a "heads-up" for your kids - they might hear some words they don't know, and these are the meanings. I would just read through the list of words and ask your kids if they know the meanings as you move down the list. If they can tell you - great! If not, tell them the meaning and move on to the next word on the list. These are not really meant to be mastered on the spot - they are only there to serve as an introduction to new words and their meanings, and to help you through the reading selection for the day. Although it is never good to have constant teacher-directed questions interrupting a good story, you may want to keep the list handy as you read, in case you need to refer to it again for a meaning that might help with any confusion or help you all to understand a passage better. The child will hear the word defined orally once before the story, and then will be exposed to it again within the context of the story. It would also be a good idea (but not necessary) to orally review the words and meanings they didn't know the first time around, AFTER your reading and discussion time. Then they are hearing the word and meaning a third time.
The key to really adding a word to your personal vocabulary is to USE it. Doing worksheets on long daily lists or memorizing lots of new meanings each day will only help with short-term memory of those words - unless you continue to do those same worksheets every single day. This will be almost impossible due to the length of the lists. Reading a lot will increase your vocabulary because you are in constant contact with words within a context. Using a word yourself in oral or written context is the BEST way to learn meanings of new words because it takes the learning process beyond just memorizing a meaning and forces the application of that knowledge. But you simply won't be able to have them do this with every word on the vocabulary lists. If you want to extend the vocabulary lesson in an easy way, here is my favorite approach. Choose a few words from the list that you really want to have your child come away with at the end of the day. Write them on a notecard and stick them on the refrigerator each day for all to see. Require each child to use those words (or a form of those words) correctly in context, in the course of their conversation with other family members - at least two times before the day is over. Use a tally system for each child on the card to keep track. By hearing each other use those words in context many times each day, everyone will greatly increase their vocabulary. The words can be used in regular conversation - or just used in made up sentences that have nothing to do with your daily conversation. You can require one sentence before or after lunch, and one before or after dinner, or perhaps one in the evening - or each child can report in as desired, whenever they think of a good way to use the word. You can give different words to different kids - or have a family notecard. Change notecards daily - or as desired by the parent.
Some of the vocabulary lists are EXTREMELY long, because many of the words in the chapters are new and/or difficult. It would unrealistic to require mastery of ALL the words on the daily lists! The point of each daily list is that when a new word is introduced, we need to take advantage of it then. It will pop up again and again as time goes by - and each time it does that word will be more familiar to your child.
Some will want to keep copies of the vocabulary words and meanings in a vocabulary folder to review periodically. This is a good addition to the portfolio many of you are required to compile. You can also pop this folder in the car and take it with you for "mini-oral quizzes" on the road, or wherever. Others - those of you who are worksheet-oriented or have kids who like worksheets, will feel a strong need to "DO SOMETHING" with those words! Smile So, go for it if you want to! Smile There are some great ideas for crossword puzzles that I have seen shared on this group. Crossword puzzles do require that the student know the meanings of words, so this is a good vocabulary extension idea if you are into worksheets. You can also have your kids make their own matching games of words and definitions. If you are still in Egypt, Lori Imel has lots of great games that include the vocabulary words [see the group’s files] - so that is another fun way to help your children learn more of the meanings. Just remember, that the language arts section is already often very full in a day - and you are making more work for your child and adding to the overall length of the school day - especially if you are going by the literal daily plan in AWOA. There is nothing wrong with extending a lesson in any way, if it is VALUABLE, and if your children don't learn to hate learning new words in the process. (Dorian – Author)
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…we do not write down the vocab words for the literature. The only vocab words we DO write down-are the Latin/Greek words that we put on cards and file away in box. These are the ones we go over daily and she learns. We do go over the listed vocab words listed for the chapter in each story. I ask her if she knows what each word means. She tells me "her" definition and we go from there. If she is way off-I just check the word in list and we go back over it the next day. (Debra)
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I am still in the Egypt unit, but we use the vocabulary words as our handwriting practice. I have them write the words only (we go over the definitions orally). If the list is long, they do half before lunch and half after lunch. (Elaine)
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We are using a program called Word Puzzler to learn these. It will make vocabulary lists, word finds, crossword puzzles and vocabulary quizzes easily. I downloaded it from: http://members.aol.com/a2zware/wordpuz.htm You can use it for 30 days free. The registration fee is $15 and you can register on-line if you want to (I did).
I have used the one at Ed Helper but Word Puzzler has so many more options and I don't have to be on-line to use it. But the URL for the Ed Helper is: http://www.edhelper.com/ The site has many resources! (Denise)
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I know many on this list really study the terms and vocabulary: writing, praticing, gaming, testing. We do not elect to do that. I go over them with my children and, through discussion, make sure they have a good understanding of the concept. Occasionally, we investigate more about the meaning - finding examples and studying - but the only writing I assign from LA is the specific writing assignment given in the guide. (Margot)
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There is a site at http://school.discovery.com/teachingtools/vocabularyquizwhiz/index.html
Where you can type in the vocabulary words and they will put the definitions in and then the children match them. If you search around on this site you can do other word puzzles too. We have used it for spelling words. (Catherine)
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Just a note about the Desert Bingo game I just loaded in the files [in the Egypt section of the language arts directory]: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Learning_Adventures/files/Language%20Arts%20Directory/Egypt/
There are nine different BINGO game cards and five pages of the vocabulary with definitions included. I plan to simply read the definitions in random order and let the children see if that vocabulary word is on their board. You won't be calling out B...or I...etc. The children will just look over their entire card for the word and cover it if it is there. Anyway, I hope you have fun with it. (Peggy)
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I use couple of different FREE software program and I make matching pages and crossword puzzles with the vocabulary words (and any other "new words"). This give them the chance to use the new words and meaning without writing the words and meanings. I just print out the pages for the week ahead of time and hole punch them , slip them in my binder with the page that has the vocabulary words. Here are a couple of free software downloads that you can use. I just plug in the words and the meanings and you can choose between crosswords, word finds, matching and blank line with meanings or words. To print out from Hot Potatoes, just copy and paste it into a word file, or your child can just do the exercises on the computer.
Hot Potatoes http://web.uvic.ca/hrd/hotpot/
Discovery www.puzzlemaker.com
Worksheet Factory http://www.worksheetfactory.com/products.html
The Worksheet Factory only gives you 20 tries before you have to buy, but I make a bunch of worksheets at one time. They have a math and grammar program. (Janice T.)
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How is spelling taught?
In her introduction to spelling (day 2 of the Egypt unit), Dorian suggests several methods: lots of reading and writing, the use of a word processor with a spell checker for immediate reinforcement, concentrating on frequently misspelled words ("keeping track of misspelled words for each child and adding them to the spelling list"), and learning basic spelling rules ("we will be reviewing some of the major spelling rules and word groups"). (Gail)
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Yes, there are spelling lists in LA - we cover all the basic spelling rules (i before e, except after c) etc. and the spelling words apply to each of the rules. There are also lists pertaining to the topic you will be studying (example - some of the spelling words during the time you will cover the astronomy unit are: Mercury, Venus, telescope, etc.) There are also several groups of spelling words on "words commonly misspelled in today's world" in addition to lists of how to use the correct spellings of words within the context of sentences (example - I will ACCEPT your gift. I told everyone EXCEPT Bill). In addition to this, we STRONGLY encourage you to keep track of each of your children's misspelled words from their daily work and add these to the regular spelling lists (this would be the individual list that Debra was talking about). Spelling lists are not usually given every week, so a really good plan is to use the lists provided on the weeks they are given, and concentrate on each child's individual list during the weeks that formal lists are not given. We USUALLY trade off with spelling and grammar, so that you won't have spelling on grammar days, and you won't have grammar on spelling days. However, this is not always the case and MANY times the spelling assignments are interwoven directly into another skill we are covering, such as dictionary skills, writing - or even punctuation and grammar assignments. (Dorian – author)
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There is some spelling included. There isn't tons and tons of it.... but there are lessons and they teach some spelling rules that really seem to go well with whatever we are studying. (Peggy in KS)
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Regarding spelling words:
Yes! Add words to each child's individual list that he/she spells wrong - in any subject - or however you may want to do it. These are really the words your child needs to work on learning to spell. The lists I provide only pertain to that one rule each time and, while it is important to know, understand, and then USE the rule in their own writing, the words that they continue to spell wrong should be the ones they have on their individual lists. You will have to use your best judgment here. Some children will spell SO many words wrong that you will completely discourage them by giving them 40 (or more!) words for their spelling list each week. The idea of adding words with the same letter and sound pattern is EXCELLENT - the very BEST way to teach spelling! Just make sure that the words you add really apply in letter and sound. For example, if a child gets the word COUGH wrong and is having trouble with the GH ending saying the F sound. Good words to add to his list would be ROUGH, TOUGH, or LAUGH. Do NOT use the word THROUGH, because even though it has the GH spelling at the end, the GH does not make the F sound in this case and does not apply to the sound/spelling pattern. This is a rather obvious example so that you will all see what I mean, but as you add words with similar patterns, please be aware of this. When your child has tested correctly on a word, you may cross it out until he spells it wrong again (hopefully he won't, but don't hold your breath), or you may make a check by it on his master list so that you can review it again orally on an informal basis. That will be up to you. If your child is a very poor speller be careful not to burn him out with too many spelling words each week. It is better for him to conquer some of the rules and patterns with confidence than it is to spread him too thin and not learn any well at all. Spelling is SO INDIVIDUAL with kids - and adults! We all have our own little hang-ups when it comes to remembering the correct spellings of words. That is why I SO FAVOR individualized lists. I am a very good speller by nature, but I always have to stop and think when I come to the word ATTACH. I always want to spell it ATTATCH, which makes so much more sense to me! So, I wonder if we ever REALLY conquer spelling completely. We just have to keep reading a lot, writing a lot, and doing our best to be accurate and keep on learning the rest of our lives. (Dorian – author)
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Spelling is not done every week. On the weeks when there are no prepared lists, Dorian suggests that you use words that they misspell often. I have started doing this with my younger one. I give him no more than 5 words at a time (he is in 3rd grade now). We work on those 5 words for a day and then I ask him to spell them the next day orally. If he can spell them they get taken off his list. If he can't we keep practicing every day. I see no need to keep practicing words he knows. When he gets a word scratched off his list we add another one. This is working well and I plan on implementing it with my 4th-8th graders also. (Stephanie Proctor)
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Regarding grammar and spelling - and the question of whether to supplement or not - our approach is that children can master skills by doing grammar and spelling exercises each day, but when they cannot speak or write with clarity and accuracy - all the grammar and spelling "exercises" that they have done every day have not been put to good USE! Children need to WRITE every day so that they can practice USING spelling and grammar. This is why we provide grammar and spelling rules and exercises, but try not to over-emphasize their importance in and of themselves. Instead - we try to emphasize the WRITING part in LA - by providing daily opportunities for the student to write and then edit his own work. (Dorian – author)
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See http://www.learning-adventures.org/Sample_Lesson_Plans/sample_lesson_plans.html for examples from the sample lessons.
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How is science covered?
I think the science is appropriately balanced with the other material in this unit for the 4th-8th graders. (Dorian says that older kids [grade 9 and above] will need a different science option.)
We just finished the Ren/Ref unit, which focused on astronomy. The main thrust of the unit is for you to read a bit every day (this makes sure all the basics do get covered) and the kids then can read from the science books you get from the library. There were a ton of books to choose from at our library, easy readers for my 1st grader, and on up. Periodically experiments are included.
One day we used a lamp and 2 thermometers to see how the temperatures differ from the same heat source depending on distance. A few days later we are to make a booklet of phases of the moon by observing it for 28 nights, and label etc. There are a couple more experiments/projects and we keep reading.
Towards the end of the unit we are to make an astronomy game...a good project for bringing together everything we have learned along with art skills, design, planning etc. There is PLENTY to do!! I think you will really like the balance of history/science here. (Cindy in Kansas)
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I can't imagine supplementing the science at all. We have learned more science with LA than we did with any of the other programs we used. That's because there are no boundaries! (Margot)
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In answer to the question about science projects in LA - yes, the science portions of the curriculum are just as wonderful as the other subjects. Dorian has done lots of research about the science subjects and has included her own instruction in addition to her recommendations for reading in supplemental library books. There are many simple science experiments included, with lists of supplies provided. A huge thank-you to Dorian for finding simple experiments. If they were more complicated I'm afraid I'd never get around to buying the supplies or doing the experiments. (Kristi in VA)
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…we believe science is best learned through grade eight - through real books, experiences in nature, experiments, and projects - not through the use of science textbooks. (Dorian – author)
See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Learning_Adventures/message/3584 for the rest of this message.
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As for science - and whether or not a child can move into a formal text in 9th grade after having used a unit study approach before that time . . . it really does work! Ryan had such a good background in REAL books and hands-on science using only the unit study approach and the "open-ended" science method - with library books, nature study, and projects up through the eighth grade, that he went SMOOTHLY into Jay Wile's high school biology textbook in 9th grade - and did VERY well.
If you are doing the science as provided in LA and are requiring plenty of class time (not just 15 minutes a day, for example) for it - you absolutely do NOT need to "supplement" the science in LA until NINTH grade - and then we suggest that you replace the science in LA with a formal science program - unless you can work the textbook(s) in with the LA lessons in some way. (Dorian – author)
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See http://www.learning-adventures.org/Sample_Lesson_Plans/sample_lesson_plans.html for examples from the sample lessons.
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How do you organize your notebooks and folders?
I have modified the idea of notebooks from the Well Trained Mind. Keeping track of several different notebooks for each child was just too much. Sometimes I have to take school on the road (when we travel with dh) – and that is just too much work. I compromised and have one large notebook with dividers - and a smaller notebook with dividers for the "rules" that they are supposed to memorize. That's where spelling and grammar rules go – math formulas - Bible verses - Latin/Greek words (though I may change that now to the card system LA advises) etc. The other large notebook contains all their "work" in the different subjects.
Other people do notebooks on sections of their study (for example with LA you could have one for Egypt, one for Greece etc). Some even just have one notebook and just put everything in from beginning to end - no dividers or anything.
Some people who have portfolio reviews do one large notebook for themselves - and a separate sample notebook for "show & tell". You can keep records in your notebook on books you have read, games you've played and videos you have watched as well. Take pictures of projects that won't fit in your portfolio/notebook (like the miniature Egypt activity) – and possibly even insert cassettes of your children's memory work - or songs they have sung.
I do suggest keeping the notebooks in a prominent place and sharing them with visitors often. This accomplishes two things - the children work harder to make sure it is presentable - and other people see how hard your children are working and what they are learning - a great way to help educate others on the positives of homeschooling. (Peggy in KS)
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I'd like for my children to have written details of the experiments they perform, and what results they find. For instance, when we did the experiment about cloud covers and water evaporation, they recorded what they did, the eventual results, and how that applied to deserts. I also took photos of them holding the full jars, and then holding the jars at the end of the experiment, and will add those photos to those notebooks. We hope to add photos of each significant experiment, to add some visual fun to their notebooks. (Liddy)
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I am doing a notebook, similar to how it is outlined in The Well Trained Mind. My daughter just turned eight and we are still doing a lot of narration, some of which I type out for her to put in her notebook. We use a lot of the Dover and Bellerophon coloring books. We use maps quite a bit, so we trace or print them out, color and label. I search the web for fun puzzles and things that we can add. I also create wordsearches with newly encountered words. We do one or two handwritten paragraphs per week, usually for history or science. We work on these, edit and revise, until we are satisfied they are our best work and then they go in the notebook. Also, I am using one large 3in binder with plastic tab divider sheets for our notebook. Everything is in this notebook, including our community service and special projects. It makes it so much easier to deal with, rather than having notebooks for each subject. At the end of the year, I will transfer these pages into History, Science, Language Arts, etc., notebooks. My daughter enjoys looking at and talking about her notebook. As we add more to it, she is able to see all the progress she has made. Also, it will be an easy and convenient way to present our work to our evaluator. (Francie)
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This is what we have decided to do with notebooks. I bought each child a 5 subject notebook with pockets. They put their Language Writing in one section, spelling in another section, History in another, Science in another and so forth. We are using the alphabetical vocabulary list one of the other ladies made up. We copy 2 words per day into our science notebook, Other things that go into it are pictures they color etc. All the writing assignments are in there too. I started looking them over after only 2 weeks of actual work and and it looks like they've been at it longer. My daughter puts lots of extras in it as she has been coloring up a storm. (Stephanie)
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For four days beginning on day 24, Dorian lists desert words you should know. I've compiled and alphabetized these lists and plan on having my kids write out a couple of definitions each day to make their own glossaries for their desert booklets. I'm including the list below in case anyone else is interested in doing something similar. (Glenda)
Here's the list:
Alluvial fan - fan shaped deposit of gravel, sand and silt. It forms when a
stream flows into a plain and slows down, depositing its load
Annuals - plants that last only one year or season. They start growing from seeds each year.
Aquifer - underground layer of rock with holes where water collects
Aridity - A long-term lack of moisture.
See message #146 for the rest of the list
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Just wanted to put in my $.02 on the notebook thread. WTM suggests a notebook for each subject and many dividers. This is great if you have 1 child, but with hs'ing 4 of them and a toddler, I had to come up with a better plan...so... I took Dorian’s advice and bought a whole case of folders from Staples (I got the ones with the tabs to put 3 hole punched paper in and also 2 pockets.) Then I also bought each child one 3 ring binder to use for reference, i.e. spelling rules, grammar rules and math formulas. Then for each unit in LA I gave the children a folder. On one side they put all the history narrations, research, drawings etc. On the other side they put the Science research, lab sheets, diagrams etc. When we finished the unit, I had the children organize their research into a book with a table of contents and their unit work. We put their maps, drawings and other non- 3 hole punched stuff in the pockets and now they have a nice keepsake of their studies. I also gave them a writing folder, a Latin folder and a math folder. These keep their work much neater, easy to store in their school boxes and they take up much less space in the closet. (Faithe)
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Each of my children has a notebook where they put their drawings, writing, etc. They both use Saxon and we have those black and white composition notebooks for them to do their math. That way it stays in one place, I can grade it easily and know at a glance if they need extra help with a concept. They also have a Rubbermaid storage box that holds their pencils, folders, etc. We've had these since we started homeschooling....my kids know all their school stuff belongs in their boxes when not schooling. BTW, we are also learning about today's Egypt as we go along. It is interesting to see what is different and what is the same. (Robin Poppy)
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In our notebooks, I have had the girls write the words and definitions, especially from the science (desert) sections. That is a good idea about illustrating these definitions. (Lori)
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Illustration is always a good idea, although it can be time consuming. My kids have some notebook papers in their notebooks under History entitled "Vocabulary" "Class Notes" and the same under Science. This way, they can write down any of the very important facts we come up with so they have them at their fingertips later. I'm reading Elizabeth Payne's Pharoahs of Ancient Egypt book (a Landmark) to the kids right now, and so yesterday they wrote up a bit on the Rosetta Stone in their "Class Notes". Today they made note that Menes was the first Pharaoh.... stuff like that.
But ILLUSTRATIONS are a wonderful idea. They are all over the house right now looking up desert animals that they have chosen to study up on for their desert books. It has been music to my ears, hearing one say "Who had the kangaroo rat -- here's a good picture of one!!" LOL. (Rebecca)
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What I did was get binders (3 inch) that I had picked up at a yard sale. They were the kind with the clear view pocket on front and back. I let the kids pick a picture on the Internet according to their interest (eg. airplanes, horse, fishing, dog & koala ) and we copied it enlarged it and put their name and year (2000-2001) on it (I did this in Word) and printed them in color. A simple concept, but they really loved them and have taken special care of them.
I put dividers in labeled Language Arts, Spelling (I know this is Lang. Arts, but we also do another book so I wanted this separate), Science, Social Studies, Memory Work. The oldest three also have a section for Spanish. The only other notebook they have is a Math notebook with graph paper pages (the younger kids have workbooks), so essentially all their school work (except Math) is there in the binder. The map work we put under Social Studies.
I pre-filled the binders with loose leaf paper and blank white paper for drawings and maps, so there is no need for the work to ever leave the binder. I copied the passage of Scripture we are working on for LA on the computer enlarged, as well as any other verses, and or memory work that I want them to memorize. The younger ones have days of the week, months in the year type fact sheets, multiplication tables, Spelling bee lists, etc. The older ones have US blank map, world map to name continents, Spelling Bee words, whatever I want them to look at when they have time to do memory work (most printed from the web).
The Kindergarten student does not do a binder but the 3rd graders on up keep one. The older kids just read more and higher level books and are expected to do a higher level work. I take that into account.
I also bought a file card binder that I write the Latin/Greek root words on, and their English derivatives, so I can review these easily as a group with the kids. I also printed our Bible verses there also so I could have a ready reference when they were prepared to recite. I plan to photograph our events and important hands on projects so by the end of the unit, I will have a ready made record of what they learned (not required by my state).
I am only doing 1 file card box for all the kids, btw. And I will be adding a Grammar section as we need extra help with that this year (never got around to much before), and I feel we need an extra book for that. (There is grammar in LA, I just have a special situation). (J'Aimee)
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You might consider using loose-leaf notebooks. I have a big ol' box of page protectors that the kids can just insert into the notebooks wherever they need to and they just slip their artwork, etc. into those. (Rebecca)
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Yes, we do notebooks (we all enjoy creating these). My children have drawn maps, adding to them as we study the different pyramids, cities, etc. Today they sketched the Great Pyramid along with the two temples, causeway, Queens' pyramids and all. Then they sketched the pyramid on the inside (like a cut-away view) showing the different chambers. This goes along with a paragraph they are working on about the Great Pyramid. (My assignment, not LA.) They have sketched a shaduf and wrote a few sentences explaining its purpose. I also include color pages from Life in Ancient Egypt coloring book (by Dover). They will do summaries of the different pharaoh’s (a name and their accomplishment), hopefully with a picture of something applicable. They also did a fact wheel on Ancient Egypt. (A page where you turn the paper wheel and a fact shows in a window on the top page). They picked six important facts and wrote them down. I also include any postcards or brochures from museums, photos of projects, and vocabulary also goes in the notebook.
I find that creating these mini-booklets helps them to retain the information, and it certainly creates a wonderful notebook that they enjoy showing to people. They regularly pull notebooks they have created during the past several years off the shelf and re-read them, (providing an instant review of material, by the way.)
Science notebooks work the same way. (unknown)
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Timeline ideas
Dorian gives easy to follow instructions for making your timeline on day 11 of the Egypt unit. She suggests using note-cards mounted on the wall chronologically, or pages in a 3-ring binder.
Janice has posted photos of their timeline in the files (misc. folder) - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Learning_Adventures/files/Misc.%20Directory/Timeline%20Samples/
The following sites have examples of different types of timelines:
http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/timeline.htm
http://www.weschoolathome.homestead.com/timelines.html
http://www.lhs.thompson.k12.co.us/acad/ss/sshds1.txt
http://www.bright.net/%7Edouble/timelin1.htm
http://www.kv5.com/html/timeline.html
(Gail)
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Also, another timeline idea -- I apologize if this has been mentioned -- is to put timeline events on index cards. Put the person/event/etc. on one side and the year(s) on the backside. These can be filed in a file box, and then as a pop quiz - you can pull out the cards, shuffle, and have the kids lay them out in order... not as readily visual as a timeline on a wall, but it is a bit of a spacesaver! I think we may do both, although we aren't to day 11 yet, and I haven't talked to the kids about what they prefer. (Rebecca)
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We bought a spiral bound timeline book from Sonlight several years ago. Each year we just add too it according to whatever we are studying. I also put photos of grandparents, parents, in the book so the kids can see where they fit into history.
You can use your favorite computer encyclopedia or do a web search for people's pictures online.....simply print out and WHALA!! you don't have to draw the timeline figures. (Robin Poppy)
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A friend of mine made a neat timeline by taking pieces of card stock and taping them together to create an "accordian-type" book...she had BC on one side of the timeline and AD on the other side....I liked this idea...but, stuck with my book idea because I like the idea of having it in a binder...I can add pages at any time if we run out of space!... (Trisha)
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Someone asked about making timelines so I thought I'd chime in. This year we have 2 different types ,one an accordion style that I made by taping cardstock together with packing tape and another for each of my older children in a spiral bound sketch book. For the accordion one I began at Creation (4000 B.C.) and used the Bible to date the Patriarchs to the Flood (1653 A.C. after creation) then to Abraham. I use 1 inch for each 100 years. For main events( Creation, The Fall, Cain and Abel, The Flood, Tower of Babel, Abraham and Isaac on Mt.Moriah,etc.) I had my 6yo ds make a sticker label with a small drawing then tape it on. This way if he made a mistake we could just make a different sticker… In the sketch book timelines I had the children date each 2 page spread for 50 years. At the to we ran After creation and at the bottom B.C. and A.D. for ex. Creation to 50 A.C. at the top and Creation - 3950 B.C. at the bottom. On this page we put drawings of the 6 Creation days and 1 of rest. We are filling the lines with dates as we come across them and since my children love to draw I am just having them make pictures as timeline
figures. I will also photocopy book covers to paste in where they belong or pictures off the net as I come across them. These books are turning into a sort of scrap book for the year.
Oh Yeah, I also put us on the line so they would have a perspective where in history we are. (Faithe)
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I basically took a 3 ring notebook, and using top loading page protectors and heavyweight card stock paper, labeled each sheet at the top for a 100 years, like 1000 - 1100 AD(early history) Later years, you might want to only have 50 or even 20 years to a page. I only labeled the pages we were entering items for. Then, for each entry we used a half of a 3 x 5 card and wrote the date and drew a picture. For instance Leif Ericson @ 1000 AD and a picture of a Viking ship, and then used tacky stick stuff (don't remember the real name) that is removable, to stick in on the page and then placed it in the sheet protector, in the notebook. This way, if a page gets crowded we can move stuff around, add new pages etc. I got the idea from a website that I don't remember...too many ideas...too many websites. We call it "Our Line Through Time" Super simple, super flexible, just my style Smile (Diana)
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See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Learning_Adventures/message/5228 for more information from Dorian on timelines.
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Creating a Portfolio for Assessments
I wouldn't worry too much about documenting bible - as your district won't give a hoot if you did it or not - and YOU will know in your heart the benefits that your children have received (in their hearts) without having to document and "prove" it in writing. For those of you implementing the WTM notebooking approach - or for those required by law to present a portfolio of work - here are a couple of ideas:
Have your children each write down the books they have read (for each subject separately) - and if you want to impress the district rep.- have it done neatly and in bibliographic format - in your own child's handwriting or typing (if age and ability level permit). Have children write brief summaries of selected books read - and illustrate with appropriate drawings/paintings that apply to each book. For younger students – use narration to incorporate their summaries - they can add the illustrations.
Include a list of vocabulary words from each topic (compiled by your children). Many - if not MOST of the non-fiction books you read each day include a glossary that would be VERY easy to draw these terms from – and it would provide reinforcement for your children in each of the topics.
Remember - in a unit study - so much of the work overlaps, that it is difficult to ''separate" it into subjects. If they require you to do this - and you have an abundance of writing and language arts papers already (which you probably will have) - you can place some of those into other categories. For example, the assignment on writing about living in ancient Rome normally falls under Language Arts - but it also fits PERFECTLY into the history section - so include it there if you want to have more in the history category. The key-wording writing assignment on smoking being dangerous to the lungs can be placed just as easily in the science category as it could in the language arts category. Start thinking about which assignments can "cross-over" into another subject very naturally. Same thing with the Joseph writing assignments - you could include them in the bible section if you have plenty of language arts stuff already. When I include an assignment, such as in the Middle Ages unit about researching London Bridge, include a summary in the history category instead of in the Study Skills/Language Arts category.
Include any maps, illustrations, charts, or graphs your children have drawn to go along with each of the units.
Include timelines of each period - and if your child has done one on the wall, have them make one that can be placed in a portfolio by creating one of their own based on the ones we include in AWOA for each unit. Or - include a photo of each appropriate section of your wall timeline for each unit, and include photos of the kids making and adding to it.
Include summaries of each experiment, activity, or projects – preferably done by the child.
Include any nature journaling done by your child in the science category - if you are Charlotte Mason fans you should have some good stuff to include here. If you aren't already doing this, you can apply it to each unit by (for example - having your children draw examples of desert life/reptiles for the Egypt Unit - or plants and flowers in their backyard or at the park for the Middle Ages Unit - or different rock samples and types for the Rome Unit - or ocean scenes and sea-life if you live by the coast - or if you can get to an aquarium easily for the Explorers Unit.)
ALWAYS keep a camera handy! Keep a wonderful pictorial record of your school days - working on assignments, projects, plays, and activities - cooking together and the finished products - your family unit celebrations - costumes created . . . all of this is GREAT stuff for including in a portfolio. Think - "SCRAPBOOK" - and have your kids add summaries and descriptions under each photo as a part of the documentation. Date all photos and entries for further credibility. Make sure you get a photo record of any field trips and include summaries of each by your kids. If you take LOTS of photos - you can separate them into different subjects as well. For example, the photos of the Passover celebration apply to history and bible - so create a document for both subjects - using different pictures for each as they apply best to each subject.
Include any notes or outlines your children have compiled from non-fiction books read. Those of you doing keyword outlining on anything – include them topically - not under language arts (for writing) exclusively.
Make use of any extra pages you have printed out from the internet on related topics - I have seen literally hundreds of web sites shared among this group - there has to be LOTS of good stuff you could add to your portfolios - just make sure you have covered it with your kids and are not just printing it out to "pad" your portfolio!
Can you include audio and video tapes in a portfolio? If so - have tapes of children reciting memory work, performing plays, carrying out projects and celebrations - cooking unit foods, etc.
Does the assessment take place in your home? If so, can you have your children work together to make a favorite dish from a particular unit – or have them re-create the platter of Egyptian fruits to serve? Would this be considered "bribery" or could it not be considered a "simple offering" presented with a servant's heart from some enthusiastic learners? Each of you will have a different situation, but this might add a personal touch - if it is allowed!
Lastly, if any of you want to include a scope and sequence of A World of Adventure in your portfolio, there are three versions available to those of you who have already paid for the book:
1.) The complete scope and sequence is over 30 pages long and includes a DETAILED summary of each day of the year (with all spelling and vocabulary words listed). It is in a daily format.
2.) The condensed scope and sequence is about half the size of the complete version and is broken down by unit and then further by subject (a PERFECT addition to your portfolio - by the way). It, too, includes spelling and vocabulary words covered in each unit.
3.) The ultra condensed scope and sequence is a 2-page brief of the year. It is broken down by subject and includes general skills and concepts covered, but does not include individual vocabulary and spelling words. [see scope & sequence above]
(This third ultra-condensed version is available to anyone on this group, regardless of whether you have paid for the book or not. It will give you a good idea of what is covered in AWOA if you are still deciding if this is the right curriculum for you.)
If you are interested in us e-mailing you one of these scope and sequence documents, just (and he's gonna really love me for this) let John know and he will take care of it for you. (Dorian – author)
What do you do with the vocabulary words?
How is spelling taught?
How is science covered?
How do you organize your notebooks and folders?
Timeline ideas
Creating a Portfolio for Assessments
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How long do you spend on LA each day?
This will vary depending on how many books you read - how much discussion time you have.... I think you can control that a lot by the way you do school. (Peggy in KS)
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We read the bible portion, key word outline the social studies and science, do the grammar assignment and work sheets, writing of some sort, and our math. That's mostly the day's work in about 2 hours. THEN, we watch related videos, do projects, computer stuff, and look through and read all the books we have available on the topics for that day. We read whenever, but every day and use the questions from LA as a springboard for discussion. So eventually we get everything in. (Donna)
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I spend anywhere from 1 1/2 - 3 hours a day with an average day being about 2 1/2 hours. There have been a few days that longer and I divided it into 2 days. You can plan to do this however you care to as far as how many days a week. I do about 3-4 days a week as I always have interruptions. I am schooling a 2nd, 5th, and 7th grader with this. (Stephanie)
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What do you do with the vocabulary words?
The vocabulary words before each daily literature selection are only provided because it is likely that those words will be new to your child (and some will be new to you, too!) It is simply a "heads-up" for your kids - they might hear some words they don't know, and these are the meanings. I would just read through the list of words and ask your kids if they know the meanings as you move down the list. If they can tell you - great! If not, tell them the meaning and move on to the next word on the list. These are not really meant to be mastered on the spot - they are only there to serve as an introduction to new words and their meanings, and to help you through the reading selection for the day. Although it is never good to have constant teacher-directed questions interrupting a good story, you may want to keep the list handy as you read, in case you need to refer to it again for a meaning that might help with any confusion or help you all to understand a passage better. The child will hear the word defined orally once before the story, and then will be exposed to it again within the context of the story. It would also be a good idea (but not necessary) to orally review the words and meanings they didn't know the first time around, AFTER your reading and discussion time. Then they are hearing the word and meaning a third time.
The key to really adding a word to your personal vocabulary is to USE it. Doing worksheets on long daily lists or memorizing lots of new meanings each day will only help with short-term memory of those words - unless you continue to do those same worksheets every single day. This will be almost impossible due to the length of the lists. Reading a lot will increase your vocabulary because you are in constant contact with words within a context. Using a word yourself in oral or written context is the BEST way to learn meanings of new words because it takes the learning process beyond just memorizing a meaning and forces the application of that knowledge. But you simply won't be able to have them do this with every word on the vocabulary lists. If you want to extend the vocabulary lesson in an easy way, here is my favorite approach. Choose a few words from the list that you really want to have your child come away with at the end of the day. Write them on a notecard and stick them on the refrigerator each day for all to see. Require each child to use those words (or a form of those words) correctly in context, in the course of their conversation with other family members - at least two times before the day is over. Use a tally system for each child on the card to keep track. By hearing each other use those words in context many times each day, everyone will greatly increase their vocabulary. The words can be used in regular conversation - or just used in made up sentences that have nothing to do with your daily conversation. You can require one sentence before or after lunch, and one before or after dinner, or perhaps one in the evening - or each child can report in as desired, whenever they think of a good way to use the word. You can give different words to different kids - or have a family notecard. Change notecards daily - or as desired by the parent.
Some of the vocabulary lists are EXTREMELY long, because many of the words in the chapters are new and/or difficult. It would unrealistic to require mastery of ALL the words on the daily lists! The point of each daily list is that when a new word is introduced, we need to take advantage of it then. It will pop up again and again as time goes by - and each time it does that word will be more familiar to your child.
Some will want to keep copies of the vocabulary words and meanings in a vocabulary folder to review periodically. This is a good addition to the portfolio many of you are required to compile. You can also pop this folder in the car and take it with you for "mini-oral quizzes" on the road, or wherever. Others - those of you who are worksheet-oriented or have kids who like worksheets, will feel a strong need to "DO SOMETHING" with those words! Smile So, go for it if you want to! Smile There are some great ideas for crossword puzzles that I have seen shared on this group. Crossword puzzles do require that the student know the meanings of words, so this is a good vocabulary extension idea if you are into worksheets. You can also have your kids make their own matching games of words and definitions. If you are still in Egypt, Lori Imel has lots of great games that include the vocabulary words [see the group’s files] - so that is another fun way to help your children learn more of the meanings. Just remember, that the language arts section is already often very full in a day - and you are making more work for your child and adding to the overall length of the school day - especially if you are going by the literal daily plan in AWOA. There is nothing wrong with extending a lesson in any way, if it is VALUABLE, and if your children don't learn to hate learning new words in the process. (Dorian – Author)
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…we do not write down the vocab words for the literature. The only vocab words we DO write down-are the Latin/Greek words that we put on cards and file away in box. These are the ones we go over daily and she learns. We do go over the listed vocab words listed for the chapter in each story. I ask her if she knows what each word means. She tells me "her" definition and we go from there. If she is way off-I just check the word in list and we go back over it the next day. (Debra)
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I am still in the Egypt unit, but we use the vocabulary words as our handwriting practice. I have them write the words only (we go over the definitions orally). If the list is long, they do half before lunch and half after lunch. (Elaine)
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We are using a program called Word Puzzler to learn these. It will make vocabulary lists, word finds, crossword puzzles and vocabulary quizzes easily. I downloaded it from: http://members.aol.com/a2zware/wordpuz.htm You can use it for 30 days free. The registration fee is $15 and you can register on-line if you want to (I did).
I have used the one at Ed Helper but Word Puzzler has so many more options and I don't have to be on-line to use it. But the URL for the Ed Helper is: http://www.edhelper.com/ The site has many resources! (Denise)
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I know many on this list really study the terms and vocabulary: writing, praticing, gaming, testing. We do not elect to do that. I go over them with my children and, through discussion, make sure they have a good understanding of the concept. Occasionally, we investigate more about the meaning - finding examples and studying - but the only writing I assign from LA is the specific writing assignment given in the guide. (Margot)
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There is a site at http://school.discovery.com/teachingtools/vocabularyquizwhiz/index.html
Where you can type in the vocabulary words and they will put the definitions in and then the children match them. If you search around on this site you can do other word puzzles too. We have used it for spelling words. (Catherine)
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Just a note about the Desert Bingo game I just loaded in the files [in the Egypt section of the language arts directory]: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Learning_Adventures/files/Language%20Arts%20Directory/Egypt/
There are nine different BINGO game cards and five pages of the vocabulary with definitions included. I plan to simply read the definitions in random order and let the children see if that vocabulary word is on their board. You won't be calling out B...or I...etc. The children will just look over their entire card for the word and cover it if it is there. Anyway, I hope you have fun with it. (Peggy)
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I use couple of different FREE software program and I make matching pages and crossword puzzles with the vocabulary words (and any other "new words"). This give them the chance to use the new words and meaning without writing the words and meanings. I just print out the pages for the week ahead of time and hole punch them , slip them in my binder with the page that has the vocabulary words. Here are a couple of free software downloads that you can use. I just plug in the words and the meanings and you can choose between crosswords, word finds, matching and blank line with meanings or words. To print out from Hot Potatoes, just copy and paste it into a word file, or your child can just do the exercises on the computer.
Hot Potatoes http://web.uvic.ca/hrd/hotpot/
Discovery www.puzzlemaker.com
Worksheet Factory http://www.worksheetfactory.com/products.html
The Worksheet Factory only gives you 20 tries before you have to buy, but I make a bunch of worksheets at one time. They have a math and grammar program. (Janice T.)
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How is spelling taught?
In her introduction to spelling (day 2 of the Egypt unit), Dorian suggests several methods: lots of reading and writing, the use of a word processor with a spell checker for immediate reinforcement, concentrating on frequently misspelled words ("keeping track of misspelled words for each child and adding them to the spelling list"), and learning basic spelling rules ("we will be reviewing some of the major spelling rules and word groups"). (Gail)
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Yes, there are spelling lists in LA - we cover all the basic spelling rules (i before e, except after c) etc. and the spelling words apply to each of the rules. There are also lists pertaining to the topic you will be studying (example - some of the spelling words during the time you will cover the astronomy unit are: Mercury, Venus, telescope, etc.) There are also several groups of spelling words on "words commonly misspelled in today's world" in addition to lists of how to use the correct spellings of words within the context of sentences (example - I will ACCEPT your gift. I told everyone EXCEPT Bill). In addition to this, we STRONGLY encourage you to keep track of each of your children's misspelled words from their daily work and add these to the regular spelling lists (this would be the individual list that Debra was talking about). Spelling lists are not usually given every week, so a really good plan is to use the lists provided on the weeks they are given, and concentrate on each child's individual list during the weeks that formal lists are not given. We USUALLY trade off with spelling and grammar, so that you won't have spelling on grammar days, and you won't have grammar on spelling days. However, this is not always the case and MANY times the spelling assignments are interwoven directly into another skill we are covering, such as dictionary skills, writing - or even punctuation and grammar assignments. (Dorian – author)
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There is some spelling included. There isn't tons and tons of it.... but there are lessons and they teach some spelling rules that really seem to go well with whatever we are studying. (Peggy in KS)
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Regarding spelling words:
Yes! Add words to each child's individual list that he/she spells wrong - in any subject - or however you may want to do it. These are really the words your child needs to work on learning to spell. The lists I provide only pertain to that one rule each time and, while it is important to know, understand, and then USE the rule in their own writing, the words that they continue to spell wrong should be the ones they have on their individual lists. You will have to use your best judgment here. Some children will spell SO many words wrong that you will completely discourage them by giving them 40 (or more!) words for their spelling list each week. The idea of adding words with the same letter and sound pattern is EXCELLENT - the very BEST way to teach spelling! Just make sure that the words you add really apply in letter and sound. For example, if a child gets the word COUGH wrong and is having trouble with the GH ending saying the F sound. Good words to add to his list would be ROUGH, TOUGH, or LAUGH. Do NOT use the word THROUGH, because even though it has the GH spelling at the end, the GH does not make the F sound in this case and does not apply to the sound/spelling pattern. This is a rather obvious example so that you will all see what I mean, but as you add words with similar patterns, please be aware of this. When your child has tested correctly on a word, you may cross it out until he spells it wrong again (hopefully he won't, but don't hold your breath), or you may make a check by it on his master list so that you can review it again orally on an informal basis. That will be up to you. If your child is a very poor speller be careful not to burn him out with too many spelling words each week. It is better for him to conquer some of the rules and patterns with confidence than it is to spread him too thin and not learn any well at all. Spelling is SO INDIVIDUAL with kids - and adults! We all have our own little hang-ups when it comes to remembering the correct spellings of words. That is why I SO FAVOR individualized lists. I am a very good speller by nature, but I always have to stop and think when I come to the word ATTACH. I always want to spell it ATTATCH, which makes so much more sense to me! So, I wonder if we ever REALLY conquer spelling completely. We just have to keep reading a lot, writing a lot, and doing our best to be accurate and keep on learning the rest of our lives. (Dorian – author)
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Spelling is not done every week. On the weeks when there are no prepared lists, Dorian suggests that you use words that they misspell often. I have started doing this with my younger one. I give him no more than 5 words at a time (he is in 3rd grade now). We work on those 5 words for a day and then I ask him to spell them the next day orally. If he can spell them they get taken off his list. If he can't we keep practicing every day. I see no need to keep practicing words he knows. When he gets a word scratched off his list we add another one. This is working well and I plan on implementing it with my 4th-8th graders also. (Stephanie Proctor)
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Regarding grammar and spelling - and the question of whether to supplement or not - our approach is that children can master skills by doing grammar and spelling exercises each day, but when they cannot speak or write with clarity and accuracy - all the grammar and spelling "exercises" that they have done every day have not been put to good USE! Children need to WRITE every day so that they can practice USING spelling and grammar. This is why we provide grammar and spelling rules and exercises, but try not to over-emphasize their importance in and of themselves. Instead - we try to emphasize the WRITING part in LA - by providing daily opportunities for the student to write and then edit his own work. (Dorian – author)
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See http://www.learning-adventures.org/Sample_Lesson_Plans/sample_lesson_plans.html for examples from the sample lessons.
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How is science covered?
I think the science is appropriately balanced with the other material in this unit for the 4th-8th graders. (Dorian says that older kids [grade 9 and above] will need a different science option.)
We just finished the Ren/Ref unit, which focused on astronomy. The main thrust of the unit is for you to read a bit every day (this makes sure all the basics do get covered) and the kids then can read from the science books you get from the library. There were a ton of books to choose from at our library, easy readers for my 1st grader, and on up. Periodically experiments are included.
One day we used a lamp and 2 thermometers to see how the temperatures differ from the same heat source depending on distance. A few days later we are to make a booklet of phases of the moon by observing it for 28 nights, and label etc. There are a couple more experiments/projects and we keep reading.
Towards the end of the unit we are to make an astronomy game...a good project for bringing together everything we have learned along with art skills, design, planning etc. There is PLENTY to do!! I think you will really like the balance of history/science here. (Cindy in Kansas)
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I can't imagine supplementing the science at all. We have learned more science with LA than we did with any of the other programs we used. That's because there are no boundaries! (Margot)
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In answer to the question about science projects in LA - yes, the science portions of the curriculum are just as wonderful as the other subjects. Dorian has done lots of research about the science subjects and has included her own instruction in addition to her recommendations for reading in supplemental library books. There are many simple science experiments included, with lists of supplies provided. A huge thank-you to Dorian for finding simple experiments. If they were more complicated I'm afraid I'd never get around to buying the supplies or doing the experiments. (Kristi in VA)
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…we believe science is best learned through grade eight - through real books, experiences in nature, experiments, and projects - not through the use of science textbooks. (Dorian – author)
See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Learning_Adventures/message/3584 for the rest of this message.
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As for science - and whether or not a child can move into a formal text in 9th grade after having used a unit study approach before that time . . . it really does work! Ryan had such a good background in REAL books and hands-on science using only the unit study approach and the "open-ended" science method - with library books, nature study, and projects up through the eighth grade, that he went SMOOTHLY into Jay Wile's high school biology textbook in 9th grade - and did VERY well.
If you are doing the science as provided in LA and are requiring plenty of class time (not just 15 minutes a day, for example) for it - you absolutely do NOT need to "supplement" the science in LA until NINTH grade - and then we suggest that you replace the science in LA with a formal science program - unless you can work the textbook(s) in with the LA lessons in some way. (Dorian – author)
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See http://www.learning-adventures.org/Sample_Lesson_Plans/sample_lesson_plans.html for examples from the sample lessons.
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How do you organize your notebooks and folders?
I have modified the idea of notebooks from the Well Trained Mind. Keeping track of several different notebooks for each child was just too much. Sometimes I have to take school on the road (when we travel with dh) – and that is just too much work. I compromised and have one large notebook with dividers - and a smaller notebook with dividers for the "rules" that they are supposed to memorize. That's where spelling and grammar rules go – math formulas - Bible verses - Latin/Greek words (though I may change that now to the card system LA advises) etc. The other large notebook contains all their "work" in the different subjects.
Other people do notebooks on sections of their study (for example with LA you could have one for Egypt, one for Greece etc). Some even just have one notebook and just put everything in from beginning to end - no dividers or anything.
Some people who have portfolio reviews do one large notebook for themselves - and a separate sample notebook for "show & tell". You can keep records in your notebook on books you have read, games you've played and videos you have watched as well. Take pictures of projects that won't fit in your portfolio/notebook (like the miniature Egypt activity) – and possibly even insert cassettes of your children's memory work - or songs they have sung.
I do suggest keeping the notebooks in a prominent place and sharing them with visitors often. This accomplishes two things - the children work harder to make sure it is presentable - and other people see how hard your children are working and what they are learning - a great way to help educate others on the positives of homeschooling. (Peggy in KS)
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I'd like for my children to have written details of the experiments they perform, and what results they find. For instance, when we did the experiment about cloud covers and water evaporation, they recorded what they did, the eventual results, and how that applied to deserts. I also took photos of them holding the full jars, and then holding the jars at the end of the experiment, and will add those photos to those notebooks. We hope to add photos of each significant experiment, to add some visual fun to their notebooks. (Liddy)
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I am doing a notebook, similar to how it is outlined in The Well Trained Mind. My daughter just turned eight and we are still doing a lot of narration, some of which I type out for her to put in her notebook. We use a lot of the Dover and Bellerophon coloring books. We use maps quite a bit, so we trace or print them out, color and label. I search the web for fun puzzles and things that we can add. I also create wordsearches with newly encountered words. We do one or two handwritten paragraphs per week, usually for history or science. We work on these, edit and revise, until we are satisfied they are our best work and then they go in the notebook. Also, I am using one large 3in binder with plastic tab divider sheets for our notebook. Everything is in this notebook, including our community service and special projects. It makes it so much easier to deal with, rather than having notebooks for each subject. At the end of the year, I will transfer these pages into History, Science, Language Arts, etc., notebooks. My daughter enjoys looking at and talking about her notebook. As we add more to it, she is able to see all the progress she has made. Also, it will be an easy and convenient way to present our work to our evaluator. (Francie)
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This is what we have decided to do with notebooks. I bought each child a 5 subject notebook with pockets. They put their Language Writing in one section, spelling in another section, History in another, Science in another and so forth. We are using the alphabetical vocabulary list one of the other ladies made up. We copy 2 words per day into our science notebook, Other things that go into it are pictures they color etc. All the writing assignments are in there too. I started looking them over after only 2 weeks of actual work and and it looks like they've been at it longer. My daughter puts lots of extras in it as she has been coloring up a storm. (Stephanie)
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For four days beginning on day 24, Dorian lists desert words you should know. I've compiled and alphabetized these lists and plan on having my kids write out a couple of definitions each day to make their own glossaries for their desert booklets. I'm including the list below in case anyone else is interested in doing something similar. (Glenda)
Here's the list:
Alluvial fan - fan shaped deposit of gravel, sand and silt. It forms when a
stream flows into a plain and slows down, depositing its load
Annuals - plants that last only one year or season. They start growing from seeds each year.
Aquifer - underground layer of rock with holes where water collects
Aridity - A long-term lack of moisture.
See message #146 for the rest of the list
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Just wanted to put in my $.02 on the notebook thread. WTM suggests a notebook for each subject and many dividers. This is great if you have 1 child, but with hs'ing 4 of them and a toddler, I had to come up with a better plan...so... I took Dorian’s advice and bought a whole case of folders from Staples (I got the ones with the tabs to put 3 hole punched paper in and also 2 pockets.) Then I also bought each child one 3 ring binder to use for reference, i.e. spelling rules, grammar rules and math formulas. Then for each unit in LA I gave the children a folder. On one side they put all the history narrations, research, drawings etc. On the other side they put the Science research, lab sheets, diagrams etc. When we finished the unit, I had the children organize their research into a book with a table of contents and their unit work. We put their maps, drawings and other non- 3 hole punched stuff in the pockets and now they have a nice keepsake of their studies. I also gave them a writing folder, a Latin folder and a math folder. These keep their work much neater, easy to store in their school boxes and they take up much less space in the closet. (Faithe)
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Each of my children has a notebook where they put their drawings, writing, etc. They both use Saxon and we have those black and white composition notebooks for them to do their math. That way it stays in one place, I can grade it easily and know at a glance if they need extra help with a concept. They also have a Rubbermaid storage box that holds their pencils, folders, etc. We've had these since we started homeschooling....my kids know all their school stuff belongs in their boxes when not schooling. BTW, we are also learning about today's Egypt as we go along. It is interesting to see what is different and what is the same. (Robin Poppy)
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In our notebooks, I have had the girls write the words and definitions, especially from the science (desert) sections. That is a good idea about illustrating these definitions. (Lori)
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Illustration is always a good idea, although it can be time consuming. My kids have some notebook papers in their notebooks under History entitled "Vocabulary" "Class Notes" and the same under Science. This way, they can write down any of the very important facts we come up with so they have them at their fingertips later. I'm reading Elizabeth Payne's Pharoahs of Ancient Egypt book (a Landmark) to the kids right now, and so yesterday they wrote up a bit on the Rosetta Stone in their "Class Notes". Today they made note that Menes was the first Pharaoh.... stuff like that.
But ILLUSTRATIONS are a wonderful idea. They are all over the house right now looking up desert animals that they have chosen to study up on for their desert books. It has been music to my ears, hearing one say "Who had the kangaroo rat -- here's a good picture of one!!" LOL. (Rebecca)
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What I did was get binders (3 inch) that I had picked up at a yard sale. They were the kind with the clear view pocket on front and back. I let the kids pick a picture on the Internet according to their interest (eg. airplanes, horse, fishing, dog & koala ) and we copied it enlarged it and put their name and year (2000-2001) on it (I did this in Word) and printed them in color. A simple concept, but they really loved them and have taken special care of them.
I put dividers in labeled Language Arts, Spelling (I know this is Lang. Arts, but we also do another book so I wanted this separate), Science, Social Studies, Memory Work. The oldest three also have a section for Spanish. The only other notebook they have is a Math notebook with graph paper pages (the younger kids have workbooks), so essentially all their school work (except Math) is there in the binder. The map work we put under Social Studies.
I pre-filled the binders with loose leaf paper and blank white paper for drawings and maps, so there is no need for the work to ever leave the binder. I copied the passage of Scripture we are working on for LA on the computer enlarged, as well as any other verses, and or memory work that I want them to memorize. The younger ones have days of the week, months in the year type fact sheets, multiplication tables, Spelling bee lists, etc. The older ones have US blank map, world map to name continents, Spelling Bee words, whatever I want them to look at when they have time to do memory work (most printed from the web).
The Kindergarten student does not do a binder but the 3rd graders on up keep one. The older kids just read more and higher level books and are expected to do a higher level work. I take that into account.
I also bought a file card binder that I write the Latin/Greek root words on, and their English derivatives, so I can review these easily as a group with the kids. I also printed our Bible verses there also so I could have a ready reference when they were prepared to recite. I plan to photograph our events and important hands on projects so by the end of the unit, I will have a ready made record of what they learned (not required by my state).
I am only doing 1 file card box for all the kids, btw. And I will be adding a Grammar section as we need extra help with that this year (never got around to much before), and I feel we need an extra book for that. (There is grammar in LA, I just have a special situation). (J'Aimee)
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You might consider using loose-leaf notebooks. I have a big ol' box of page protectors that the kids can just insert into the notebooks wherever they need to and they just slip their artwork, etc. into those. (Rebecca)
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Yes, we do notebooks (we all enjoy creating these). My children have drawn maps, adding to them as we study the different pyramids, cities, etc. Today they sketched the Great Pyramid along with the two temples, causeway, Queens' pyramids and all. Then they sketched the pyramid on the inside (like a cut-away view) showing the different chambers. This goes along with a paragraph they are working on about the Great Pyramid. (My assignment, not LA.) They have sketched a shaduf and wrote a few sentences explaining its purpose. I also include color pages from Life in Ancient Egypt coloring book (by Dover). They will do summaries of the different pharaoh’s (a name and their accomplishment), hopefully with a picture of something applicable. They also did a fact wheel on Ancient Egypt. (A page where you turn the paper wheel and a fact shows in a window on the top page). They picked six important facts and wrote them down. I also include any postcards or brochures from museums, photos of projects, and vocabulary also goes in the notebook.
I find that creating these mini-booklets helps them to retain the information, and it certainly creates a wonderful notebook that they enjoy showing to people. They regularly pull notebooks they have created during the past several years off the shelf and re-read them, (providing an instant review of material, by the way.)
Science notebooks work the same way. (unknown)
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Timeline ideas
Dorian gives easy to follow instructions for making your timeline on day 11 of the Egypt unit. She suggests using note-cards mounted on the wall chronologically, or pages in a 3-ring binder.
Janice has posted photos of their timeline in the files (misc. folder) - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Learning_Adventures/files/Misc.%20Directory/Timeline%20Samples/
The following sites have examples of different types of timelines:
http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/timeline.htm
http://www.weschoolathome.homestead.com/timelines.html
http://www.lhs.thompson.k12.co.us/acad/ss/sshds1.txt
http://www.bright.net/%7Edouble/timelin1.htm
http://www.kv5.com/html/timeline.html
(Gail)
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Also, another timeline idea -- I apologize if this has been mentioned -- is to put timeline events on index cards. Put the person/event/etc. on one side and the year(s) on the backside. These can be filed in a file box, and then as a pop quiz - you can pull out the cards, shuffle, and have the kids lay them out in order... not as readily visual as a timeline on a wall, but it is a bit of a spacesaver! I think we may do both, although we aren't to day 11 yet, and I haven't talked to the kids about what they prefer. (Rebecca)
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We bought a spiral bound timeline book from Sonlight several years ago. Each year we just add too it according to whatever we are studying. I also put photos of grandparents, parents, in the book so the kids can see where they fit into history.
You can use your favorite computer encyclopedia or do a web search for people's pictures online.....simply print out and WHALA!! you don't have to draw the timeline figures. (Robin Poppy)
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A friend of mine made a neat timeline by taking pieces of card stock and taping them together to create an "accordian-type" book...she had BC on one side of the timeline and AD on the other side....I liked this idea...but, stuck with my book idea because I like the idea of having it in a binder...I can add pages at any time if we run out of space!... (Trisha)
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Someone asked about making timelines so I thought I'd chime in. This year we have 2 different types ,one an accordion style that I made by taping cardstock together with packing tape and another for each of my older children in a spiral bound sketch book. For the accordion one I began at Creation (4000 B.C.) and used the Bible to date the Patriarchs to the Flood (1653 A.C. after creation) then to Abraham. I use 1 inch for each 100 years. For main events( Creation, The Fall, Cain and Abel, The Flood, Tower of Babel, Abraham and Isaac on Mt.Moriah,etc.) I had my 6yo ds make a sticker label with a small drawing then tape it on. This way if he made a mistake we could just make a different sticker… In the sketch book timelines I had the children date each 2 page spread for 50 years. At the to we ran After creation and at the bottom B.C. and A.D. for ex. Creation to 50 A.C. at the top and Creation - 3950 B.C. at the bottom. On this page we put drawings of the 6 Creation days and 1 of rest. We are filling the lines with dates as we come across them and since my children love to draw I am just having them make pictures as timeline
figures. I will also photocopy book covers to paste in where they belong or pictures off the net as I come across them. These books are turning into a sort of scrap book for the year.
Oh Yeah, I also put us on the line so they would have a perspective where in history we are. (Faithe)
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I basically took a 3 ring notebook, and using top loading page protectors and heavyweight card stock paper, labeled each sheet at the top for a 100 years, like 1000 - 1100 AD(early history) Later years, you might want to only have 50 or even 20 years to a page. I only labeled the pages we were entering items for. Then, for each entry we used a half of a 3 x 5 card and wrote the date and drew a picture. For instance Leif Ericson @ 1000 AD and a picture of a Viking ship, and then used tacky stick stuff (don't remember the real name) that is removable, to stick in on the page and then placed it in the sheet protector, in the notebook. This way, if a page gets crowded we can move stuff around, add new pages etc. I got the idea from a website that I don't remember...too many ideas...too many websites. We call it "Our Line Through Time" Super simple, super flexible, just my style Smile (Diana)
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See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Learning_Adventures/message/5228 for more information from Dorian on timelines.
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Creating a Portfolio for Assessments
I wouldn't worry too much about documenting bible - as your district won't give a hoot if you did it or not - and YOU will know in your heart the benefits that your children have received (in their hearts) without having to document and "prove" it in writing. For those of you implementing the WTM notebooking approach - or for those required by law to present a portfolio of work - here are a couple of ideas:
Have your children each write down the books they have read (for each subject separately) - and if you want to impress the district rep.- have it done neatly and in bibliographic format - in your own child's handwriting or typing (if age and ability level permit). Have children write brief summaries of selected books read - and illustrate with appropriate drawings/paintings that apply to each book. For younger students – use narration to incorporate their summaries - they can add the illustrations.
Include a list of vocabulary words from each topic (compiled by your children). Many - if not MOST of the non-fiction books you read each day include a glossary that would be VERY easy to draw these terms from – and it would provide reinforcement for your children in each of the topics.
Remember - in a unit study - so much of the work overlaps, that it is difficult to ''separate" it into subjects. If they require you to do this - and you have an abundance of writing and language arts papers already (which you probably will have) - you can place some of those into other categories. For example, the assignment on writing about living in ancient Rome normally falls under Language Arts - but it also fits PERFECTLY into the history section - so include it there if you want to have more in the history category. The key-wording writing assignment on smoking being dangerous to the lungs can be placed just as easily in the science category as it could in the language arts category. Start thinking about which assignments can "cross-over" into another subject very naturally. Same thing with the Joseph writing assignments - you could include them in the bible section if you have plenty of language arts stuff already. When I include an assignment, such as in the Middle Ages unit about researching London Bridge, include a summary in the history category instead of in the Study Skills/Language Arts category.
Include any maps, illustrations, charts, or graphs your children have drawn to go along with each of the units.
Include timelines of each period - and if your child has done one on the wall, have them make one that can be placed in a portfolio by creating one of their own based on the ones we include in AWOA for each unit. Or - include a photo of each appropriate section of your wall timeline for each unit, and include photos of the kids making and adding to it.
Include summaries of each experiment, activity, or projects – preferably done by the child.
Include any nature journaling done by your child in the science category - if you are Charlotte Mason fans you should have some good stuff to include here. If you aren't already doing this, you can apply it to each unit by (for example - having your children draw examples of desert life/reptiles for the Egypt Unit - or plants and flowers in their backyard or at the park for the Middle Ages Unit - or different rock samples and types for the Rome Unit - or ocean scenes and sea-life if you live by the coast - or if you can get to an aquarium easily for the Explorers Unit.)
ALWAYS keep a camera handy! Keep a wonderful pictorial record of your school days - working on assignments, projects, plays, and activities - cooking together and the finished products - your family unit celebrations - costumes created . . . all of this is GREAT stuff for including in a portfolio. Think - "SCRAPBOOK" - and have your kids add summaries and descriptions under each photo as a part of the documentation. Date all photos and entries for further credibility. Make sure you get a photo record of any field trips and include summaries of each by your kids. If you take LOTS of photos - you can separate them into different subjects as well. For example, the photos of the Passover celebration apply to history and bible - so create a document for both subjects - using different pictures for each as they apply best to each subject.
Include any notes or outlines your children have compiled from non-fiction books read. Those of you doing keyword outlining on anything – include them topically - not under language arts (for writing) exclusively.
Make use of any extra pages you have printed out from the internet on related topics - I have seen literally hundreds of web sites shared among this group - there has to be LOTS of good stuff you could add to your portfolios - just make sure you have covered it with your kids and are not just printing it out to "pad" your portfolio!
Can you include audio and video tapes in a portfolio? If so - have tapes of children reciting memory work, performing plays, carrying out projects and celebrations - cooking unit foods, etc.
Does the assessment take place in your home? If so, can you have your children work together to make a favorite dish from a particular unit – or have them re-create the platter of Egyptian fruits to serve? Would this be considered "bribery" or could it not be considered a "simple offering" presented with a servant's heart from some enthusiastic learners? Each of you will have a different situation, but this might add a personal touch - if it is allowed!
Lastly, if any of you want to include a scope and sequence of A World of Adventure in your portfolio, there are three versions available to those of you who have already paid for the book:
1.) The complete scope and sequence is over 30 pages long and includes a DETAILED summary of each day of the year (with all spelling and vocabulary words listed). It is in a daily format.
2.) The condensed scope and sequence is about half the size of the complete version and is broken down by unit and then further by subject (a PERFECT addition to your portfolio - by the way). It, too, includes spelling and vocabulary words covered in each unit.
3.) The ultra condensed scope and sequence is a 2-page brief of the year. It is broken down by subject and includes general skills and concepts covered, but does not include individual vocabulary and spelling words. [see scope & sequence above]
(This third ultra-condensed version is available to anyone on this group, regardless of whether you have paid for the book or not. It will give you a good idea of what is covered in AWOA if you are still deciding if this is the right curriculum for you.)
If you are interested in us e-mailing you one of these scope and sequence documents, just (and he's gonna really love me for this) let John know and he will take care of it for you. (Dorian – author)
2 Comparing LA with other Curricula
How does LA compare with textbook/workbook curricula?
How does LA compare with Sonlight?
How does LA compare with KONOS?
How does LA compare with Weaver?
How does LA compare with Life in America?
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How does LA compare with textbook/workbook curricula?
I. too, am using Abeka and have for the past 4 years. I have a 4th grader and a 2nd grader. It is SO much work and, well, BORING! I want more out of the time I spend teaching them. I don't want them to be like I was in school... regurgitating facts to pass a test. I want them to EXPERIENCE knowledge. (Michael in SC)
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I was just getting so frustrated last year, with all the differing books per child per subject, as were our kids. (Toni)
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We just dropped Abeka mid-year to do this because we were all beginning to hate doing school. LA has brought us closer and we are having a great time doing it. We just made pyramids out of legos this morning. I haven't played with Legos in years and I had as much fun as they did. What a refreshing change. We are still using Abeka math, but everything else is LA. We purchased The Golden Goblet (one of the required books) and everything else is from the library. MUCH, much cheaper than Abeka and OH, so much more fun! (Michael)
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I'm fairly new to homeschooling and started out using a boxed curriculum (Calvert), and after 3 months I was ready to throw in the towel. I didn't start homeschooling so my kids could sit in a chair for 3-4 hours working out of boring workbooks. I wanted to get to know my kids and interact with them and learn all the things I forgot myself. When I ran across LA I was desperate to find something different and like you I didn't have the foggiest idea how to put a unit study together. This looks perfect. I couldn't put it down after I got it in the mail. (Maryanne)
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You would love LA. We too used textbooks and were burned out hardly before holidays each year. We tried a unit study on the Little House books and we were hooked. I will tell you though-LA is the best laid one out there that I have seen, thus far. No planning and no searching for millions of books. The grammar, spelling, writing, Bible, literature, science, history-are all right there for you. Easy!! (Debra)
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I was using Abeka and I will be starting Learning Adventures on Monday. I have been reading The Well Trained Mind in addition to going over and over again LA just to see if its standard are high enough. The vocabulary is incredible and the writing assignments are more then Abeka ever had. Depending on your child you might want to sup. with Daily Grams, my 3rd grader will use Abeka. (Tina)
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See the first couple of pages of the website www.learning-adventures.org for some discussion about this.
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How does LA compare with Sonlight?
I have used The Weaver and Sonlight, so can share my thought on them. I do think they are both excellent programs. For us, the Weaver was too much planning. They had a lot of information, but there were too many suggestions for me. Sonlight has wonderful living books and this is the part I love. I have tried to use Sonlights language arts, but have not been successful with it. I have taken and continue to take the parts from Sonlight that work well for my family, which are the history read alouds. They don't have the hands on that LA has. We have only been using LA for about a month, but I can say it has been much easier on me. No planning on my part except to have the things on hand that we will need and it is all listed in the beginning of the unit. I also think LA is easier to use with multiple age children, which I am doing. You can take the lesson plan and add more for older children or require less for the younger. It has simplified our days and we are loving it! (Karen in WA)
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LA has more hands on, not as time consuming, more focused on Christianity- my children find LA much more fun (Stephanie)
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You can still incorporate Sonlight's readers in this program as well as their mark-it map stuff. You'll see that the Bible and Science parts of LA are better integrated than Sonlight. (Donna)
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I think many of us have already used Sonlight. I tried to use it on and off for two years. LA is really more comprehensive, chronological, same books, better organized, and MUCH easier to use. LA is also a literature based program.
So I have SL2, FT4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th incl. science and language arts on my bookshelf collecting dust. Every time I take them out to re-evaluate, I vote for LA hands down.
You can always incorporate what you like about SL into LA, but not vice versa. (Donna)
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I used that too and had such a hard time keeping up to all of those books. I too did like some of it, but it was just a little too much reading and not much else. There weren't many projects or hands on things to do. (Foo Foo)
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WOW, I just got my LA and I am so impressed! We have tried...Konos, Sonlight, a TOG waiter, and other stuff. I bought the Well Trained Mind and decided to become 'classical' to the extent of chronological history, notebooks, 'root words', but didn't know how to put it all together. You have done this for US!! Thanks so much... My 11ds is so excited, we have been reading together some of the activities, and reading and he can't wait to start. He informed his siblings that "we get to eat pomegranates, and use our hands, and make a river..." WOW! (Kathi)
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How does LA compare with KONOS?
LA is all plannned for you and take almost no prep time - way less time consuming. Includes everything with nothing to add but math, is not open-ended like KONOS and doesn't leave gaps (Stephanie)
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It is planned much better than KONOS. KONOS gives you a list of things to choose from and you have to break it down into how much you'll do and on what days - etc. This one tells you exactly what to do each day - even what to say and how to explain things. All the questions have answers listed and everything. It couldn't be laid out for you more than it is. (Peggy)
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I was one of the eager for TOG people and grieved when it demised. I have used Konos, Sonlight, my own Unit creations, other mixtures of curriculum, and Well Trained Mind. With the exception of Sonlight, all of those required a "ton" of work. I hesitated to buy LA when I saw it advertised on Vegsource. I knew Robin Poppy (Hi Robin!) from a former Charlotte Mason loop and asked her for her "true" opinion. I was mostly influenced by her statement that one could pick it up and go!! and the fact she has a large family. The other factor is that LA is following History in a chronological order. I feel like it has given me some time back to enjoy the homeschooling experience. I do not have to spend all my spare time planning!! I am so thankful for that. (Christina)
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I haven't reviewed KONOS for around five years now, BUT, I have an opinion from when we DID use it! Smile KONOS is good, BUT, I feel LA has it beat, and for this reason: LA goes through history chronologically! The children are not confused as to where we are in history.... And, Dorian has ALL the hands-on items needed listed very neatly at the beginning of the unit. (Deb from Nebraska)
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Another Konos defector enjoying the decision-free method of LA! I love being able to just pick it up each day and do it! No pre planning, except to make sure you have the supplies on hand (they actually give you a day by day list!) I like knowing I've actually FINISHED something, which I never felt like I did with Konos! (Gina)
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How does LA compare with Weaver?
I have used both and hands down I prefer Learning Adventures. I stopped to think about why and the reasons came flooding in. I am not saying that Weaver is a bad curriculum! I am just saying to compare the two, LA is so much more fun, much easier to use, more helps for us mom's teaching, less resources to search for, LESS expensive, more for your money, etc., etc.! Again this is my opinion. We used one volume of the Weaver years ago and it was just too much for me to do. I do not think we even completed it. When I think of Weaver, my first thought is "boy was that stuff expensive!"............I did buy the recommended books to go with the Volume. Then to know that I would spend that much again on the next volumes was way beyond what I cared to think of! LOL. I am sure since you are posting to the Learning Adventure list most would agree that LA is their preferred choice. So, if I seem partial to LA..........it is because I am. Surprised) In all honesty, I am not saying all this just because this is a LA list.........I would say this on any message board too. (Kelly)
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I used Weaver for many years when I had 5 of my 6 at home. I had from K-12 at that time. I found it to be a lifesaver. But I think that it took more prep time, like library time, than I need to spend on LA. Because it was written to cover all ages, I did not need to adjust any of it. I like the format of LA where all you need is there and in one book. Weaver had 3-4 books to use. Wisdom words for language, day by day for the general instructions each day, the volumes were also needed for the lessons and then if you have 7-12 grades you had to have those to. I really liked Weaver, but it is very expensive and did have lots of prep time. I think that LA can be used with older ones with some adjustments that will not be too hard. (Cheryl)
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I used Weaver for a couple of years. My kids were young at the time (3-9) and it did require more of my time to plan. It also gave a lot of choices for each level and subject, so I had to choose which ones we would use. At the time, it just didn't work for us. Maybe with older kids it would work better. I have only been using LA for about a month and am really loving having it all planned out for me. I do make adjustments when I need to, but it is so easy to do that with. (Karen in WA)
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How does LA compare with Life in America?
I have used both LIA & LA - and they are both good programs. There are a few differences though.
#1 - Different ages? - LA is geared for 4th - 8th grades. The reason for that is that they met the objectives for language arts and science for 4th - 8th grades. LIA claims to be for K-12th - but they are mostly geared for about the same level (read the review in either Mary Pride's book or Cathy Duffy's which said the same thing - mostly geared for middle school/higher elementary). In order to have higher sciences with LIA you have to use supplemental CDs or programs. The language arts is supposed to transfer because you do the same activities on your own level - but you have to buy the handbooks that teach you how to do those assignments - and grammar is not covered adequately (in my opinion). The author said she did that on purpose and that the grammar gets covered as the series progresses.
LA teaches you all the language arts right in the book - so you don't *need* anything else. It starts off very easy and advances as the book progresses. The writing program is excellent -- the best I have ever used. The instructions are clear and easy to understand -- and there are even some examples to help guide you. Initially we continued with our grammar and spelling, but when I actually compared the two programs I saw that the grammar in AWOA matched up with the topics covered in the other program. The language arts also reinforces the science, history and literature from the rest of the program. It flows together so beautifully!! The spelling and vocabulary are more meaningful to my son. Instead of just memorizing the list and then forgetting it -- he now remembers and applies the lessons learned. Surprised)
I currently have a 1st grade boy and a 6th grade boy. We do Literature reading - some history - Bible, science projects and some art projects together. Then they do math and english at their own levels. In order to make it work for a higher level student - you use your own language and science. They can read higher level books and the author has included digging deeper activities for advanced or older students.
I should add that when people consistently complained that there wasn't enough for their younger children in LIA - and that they needed more language arts instruction - LIA is now making books to address these issues - they will still cost extra though.
#2 - Bible. LIA talks about God throughout the books - and does believe that history is His Story. LA does that as well - but also has a Bible section - where you are working on/out of the Bible every day. You read verses- memorize scripture - learn about how the Bible was translated... compare the myths with the true Bible account of creation.. There are lessons in LIA that don't even mention God. For example - I saw two in a row that are supposed to last 3 days each (if you finish each book in one semester) that have no Biblical content at all. When it is covered in LIA it is good - and they do a great job of delivering historically accurate information from a Christian perspective - but LA does have more Bible study included. It also has memory verses - which tie in perfectly with what we are studying. It is one more way that they see that God's Word applies to everyday life-- history & science.
#3 Lessons. LIA has lessons with 4 step methods and then activity choices for each step. This makes it very flexible to use - you can pick and choose the things you want to do. These lessons can take anywhere from 2 - 6 days or more - depending on the activities you choose and the ages of your children. Planning which activities to do and making sure that I covered enough was very challenging for me. I felt like I had to do it all. It was also hard to guage which activities would be appropriate for which ages. Was my 4th grader supposed to be able to do that? Or was that one of the ones designed for high school? LA has everything laid out in a day by day plan - what you need to say - questions - answers - activities. The things they list for a day are what they designed for you to do. You pick and choose books to supplement your study but the basic outline of what to do is already laid out for you. This saves you a lot more prep time. It also takes away a lot of the stress of a unit study. Dorian has already done all the planning and organizing.
#4 Re-use factor - Because LIA is arranged for K-12th grades to use - and there are many different levels of activities to choose from - you can re-use them once your child is done with the other books. Then they just do the higher level activities that were too hard for them the last time. LA is geared just for 4th - 8th grades - and the grammar meets the objectives for that level. Since there is only one set of daily activities and required books - it's not something you would want to do again - unless the child is just listening in (like a
Kindergartener for example). It is 180 daily lesson plans broken down into 6 sections. There are also people who use this with their whole families as a guide. The high school students have their own science & English programs - and use higher level books that flow along the same historical time period. They also have the digging deeper sections in the front of each section and can do more research type activities.
#5. Time Periods - The reason I chose LA over LIA last year was because I wanted to study the ancients. LIA does not have a book to cover this time period. LIA starts with 1000 AD & The Vikings. Then
you cover exploration - which does cover quite a bit of World History. Then the focus does become American History - though there is enough to count for a high school World History credit (according to NARS - a school that offers homeschoolers diplomas if they meet their criteria). LIA also offers a world history CD supplement for some volumes (that may be how they meet the standard). LIA plans to have 7
volumes - mostly based in AMerican History - with more world history in the last volume - A World at War.
LA starts with ancient Egypt. Then you cover all the way to the age of exploration in the first book. They plan to have five books to get all the way to the present.... again the second volume on will mostly cover American History - although World History will be involved as it applies. I like both these programs - and I bought a world HIstory Encyclopedia that I used with LIA - and I use as a supplement with LA to incorporate more information. It's a great way to involve more of that history even after the books start to focus more on American history.
They both cover history chronologically - which is something they have over many unit study programs. I believe that really helps you to understand cause and effect and how history builds on itself. They also both cover Greek and Latin root words which really helps with vocabulary.
LIA has some pictures to look at in their book (black and white). LA has some charts and timelines... but no illustrations.
As far as cost - LA costs $75 for one year (Most people use the library for the books - although one lady bought all the required books at Half.com for $35).
LIA costs $55 for a core book - the extras cost more (CDs are around $15 each (some core books use one CD - some use 6)/writing handbooks are around $18 each.. the science program is $30, the History CD is
$30, History of US books were around $18, I think.... The books to teach writing and grammar will run you arond $50 for the set.....Literature packs run around $30..... etc.) - It lasts anywhere from a semester if you follow the schedule to a year if they are younger and you go through it more slowly.
(Peggy in KS)
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I presently use LA and have purchased LIA in the past....
In comparing the two for ease of use, I vote for LA. With LA I don't have to get language arts resources they are all in the curriculum. Also, there is no real planning or prep with LA. I like the whole thing because everything ties in. The bible ties in with the history and the science and the spelling etc. In trying to put together LIA I found too much for me to do. LIA looked very good!!!, but I knew I would not put it together. I really like the writing in LA. I know you said you would stay with your Language program, but the writing in LA has really helped my children improve. I like the way Dorian puts a biblical perspective on things like the Greek Gods etc. It has given me a greater understanding of the culture. (Stephanie)
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I purchased a used copy of LIA at our homeschool store here in Houston, and simply never could get into it like LA. I have to admit that I had one of the copies that was full of errors, and that was an initial turn-off for me. It made me doubt the integrity of the research. I suppose that's not fair, since "typing" is a far different skill than research. Smile My bottom line: LIA really is good, but LA is much better.
I have other built in prejudices, I must admit. Dorian Holt's methods for taking children through the writing process are VERY similar to that taught by The Institute for Excellence in Writing. She actually takes the child through the writing process, rather than simply assign "creative" writing assignments. For this and other reasons, it's a much more "complete" program.
The lesson plans are very easy to follow. At the beginning of each unit, she reminds us what we will need for the entire unit, so that we can gather up those items ahead of time. Other than that, we just pick up the manual and "go." I can't sing it's praises highly enough. I knew when I purchased LIA that I was purchasing it as a reference book, since I knew myself well enough to know that I'm not organized enough to do unit studies and attend to other areas of our busy lives. I am very sure, however, that I WILL be able to do Learning Adventures. For me, that's the major factor in choosing between the two. It's not perfect, but it's closest to what I would have written. (Joni)
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While I don't think I can do as good a job as Peggy with her comparison I'll share my experience with LIA. My family worked through vol. 1, vol. 2 & sortof vol. 3. I bought LIA sight unseen & all the recommended resources because we were leaving for Poland missionaries) & I needed everything. This was a decision that I have regretted (never used most of what was "required" & spent a great amount of $$$) and therefore was very cautious when buying LA. I felt that LIA was very weak on literature and supplemented a great deal with library books.
LIA strives to cover American history with some world history thrown in. They bill this as a unit study but frankly they fall far below my expectations for all subjects but history. I also feel that LIA would be better suited for a specific age range rather than K-12. Ellen Gardner has spent considerable time writing LIA & I think it would be an excellent history study for upper grades, especially high school. She covers so much information in such detail that an elementary child would get lost or bogged down. She also uses old-fashioned quaint text. While this is sound information oftentimes the children can't understand the wording & you find yourself rewording everything. I wanted the work done for me!!! Things like maps for geography work were not included. Bible is done sporadically as is other subjects. If you are looking for just a good high school level history course this is it otherwise look somewhere else.
LA, haven't used yet, but have read through. Well planned. Subjects well covered. Age appropriate. Science is as exciting as history. Best writing program I've seen. The only negative -- Dorian doesn't cover math!! (ROFLOL). (Susan B. in N)
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LIA lists different activities for you to choose from, based on your child's learning style and your teaching style. However, instructions on how to do things are sparse at best!
The narrative written in the LIA books is very good and thorough, but I have found that it comes up short in applying the information to today. LA seems to make the connection better than LIA.
The activities we have done with LIA are so loosely related to the topic that they have held little to no educational value for my kids (of course, this might be my lack of teaching ability, which is why I like that LA is more thorough in this area).
Don't get me wrong -- LIA is a very good unit study, but it doesn't seem as *connected* as LA. (Donna in NJ)
How does LA compare with Sonlight?
How does LA compare with KONOS?
How does LA compare with Weaver?
How does LA compare with Life in America?
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How does LA compare with textbook/workbook curricula?
I. too, am using Abeka and have for the past 4 years. I have a 4th grader and a 2nd grader. It is SO much work and, well, BORING! I want more out of the time I spend teaching them. I don't want them to be like I was in school... regurgitating facts to pass a test. I want them to EXPERIENCE knowledge. (Michael in SC)
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I was just getting so frustrated last year, with all the differing books per child per subject, as were our kids. (Toni)
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We just dropped Abeka mid-year to do this because we were all beginning to hate doing school. LA has brought us closer and we are having a great time doing it. We just made pyramids out of legos this morning. I haven't played with Legos in years and I had as much fun as they did. What a refreshing change. We are still using Abeka math, but everything else is LA. We purchased The Golden Goblet (one of the required books) and everything else is from the library. MUCH, much cheaper than Abeka and OH, so much more fun! (Michael)
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I'm fairly new to homeschooling and started out using a boxed curriculum (Calvert), and after 3 months I was ready to throw in the towel. I didn't start homeschooling so my kids could sit in a chair for 3-4 hours working out of boring workbooks. I wanted to get to know my kids and interact with them and learn all the things I forgot myself. When I ran across LA I was desperate to find something different and like you I didn't have the foggiest idea how to put a unit study together. This looks perfect. I couldn't put it down after I got it in the mail. (Maryanne)
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You would love LA. We too used textbooks and were burned out hardly before holidays each year. We tried a unit study on the Little House books and we were hooked. I will tell you though-LA is the best laid one out there that I have seen, thus far. No planning and no searching for millions of books. The grammar, spelling, writing, Bible, literature, science, history-are all right there for you. Easy!! (Debra)
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I was using Abeka and I will be starting Learning Adventures on Monday. I have been reading The Well Trained Mind in addition to going over and over again LA just to see if its standard are high enough. The vocabulary is incredible and the writing assignments are more then Abeka ever had. Depending on your child you might want to sup. with Daily Grams, my 3rd grader will use Abeka. (Tina)
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See the first couple of pages of the website www.learning-adventures.org for some discussion about this.
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How does LA compare with Sonlight?
I have used The Weaver and Sonlight, so can share my thought on them. I do think they are both excellent programs. For us, the Weaver was too much planning. They had a lot of information, but there were too many suggestions for me. Sonlight has wonderful living books and this is the part I love. I have tried to use Sonlights language arts, but have not been successful with it. I have taken and continue to take the parts from Sonlight that work well for my family, which are the history read alouds. They don't have the hands on that LA has. We have only been using LA for about a month, but I can say it has been much easier on me. No planning on my part except to have the things on hand that we will need and it is all listed in the beginning of the unit. I also think LA is easier to use with multiple age children, which I am doing. You can take the lesson plan and add more for older children or require less for the younger. It has simplified our days and we are loving it! (Karen in WA)
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LA has more hands on, not as time consuming, more focused on Christianity- my children find LA much more fun (Stephanie)
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You can still incorporate Sonlight's readers in this program as well as their mark-it map stuff. You'll see that the Bible and Science parts of LA are better integrated than Sonlight. (Donna)
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I think many of us have already used Sonlight. I tried to use it on and off for two years. LA is really more comprehensive, chronological, same books, better organized, and MUCH easier to use. LA is also a literature based program.
So I have SL2, FT4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th incl. science and language arts on my bookshelf collecting dust. Every time I take them out to re-evaluate, I vote for LA hands down.
You can always incorporate what you like about SL into LA, but not vice versa. (Donna)
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I used that too and had such a hard time keeping up to all of those books. I too did like some of it, but it was just a little too much reading and not much else. There weren't many projects or hands on things to do. (Foo Foo)
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WOW, I just got my LA and I am so impressed! We have tried...Konos, Sonlight, a TOG waiter, and other stuff. I bought the Well Trained Mind and decided to become 'classical' to the extent of chronological history, notebooks, 'root words', but didn't know how to put it all together. You have done this for US!! Thanks so much... My 11ds is so excited, we have been reading together some of the activities, and reading and he can't wait to start. He informed his siblings that "we get to eat pomegranates, and use our hands, and make a river..." WOW! (Kathi)
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How does LA compare with KONOS?
LA is all plannned for you and take almost no prep time - way less time consuming. Includes everything with nothing to add but math, is not open-ended like KONOS and doesn't leave gaps (Stephanie)
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It is planned much better than KONOS. KONOS gives you a list of things to choose from and you have to break it down into how much you'll do and on what days - etc. This one tells you exactly what to do each day - even what to say and how to explain things. All the questions have answers listed and everything. It couldn't be laid out for you more than it is. (Peggy)
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I was one of the eager for TOG people and grieved when it demised. I have used Konos, Sonlight, my own Unit creations, other mixtures of curriculum, and Well Trained Mind. With the exception of Sonlight, all of those required a "ton" of work. I hesitated to buy LA when I saw it advertised on Vegsource. I knew Robin Poppy (Hi Robin!) from a former Charlotte Mason loop and asked her for her "true" opinion. I was mostly influenced by her statement that one could pick it up and go!! and the fact she has a large family. The other factor is that LA is following History in a chronological order. I feel like it has given me some time back to enjoy the homeschooling experience. I do not have to spend all my spare time planning!! I am so thankful for that. (Christina)
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I haven't reviewed KONOS for around five years now, BUT, I have an opinion from when we DID use it! Smile KONOS is good, BUT, I feel LA has it beat, and for this reason: LA goes through history chronologically! The children are not confused as to where we are in history.... And, Dorian has ALL the hands-on items needed listed very neatly at the beginning of the unit. (Deb from Nebraska)
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Another Konos defector enjoying the decision-free method of LA! I love being able to just pick it up each day and do it! No pre planning, except to make sure you have the supplies on hand (they actually give you a day by day list!) I like knowing I've actually FINISHED something, which I never felt like I did with Konos! (Gina)
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How does LA compare with Weaver?
I have used both and hands down I prefer Learning Adventures. I stopped to think about why and the reasons came flooding in. I am not saying that Weaver is a bad curriculum! I am just saying to compare the two, LA is so much more fun, much easier to use, more helps for us mom's teaching, less resources to search for, LESS expensive, more for your money, etc., etc.! Again this is my opinion. We used one volume of the Weaver years ago and it was just too much for me to do. I do not think we even completed it. When I think of Weaver, my first thought is "boy was that stuff expensive!"............I did buy the recommended books to go with the Volume. Then to know that I would spend that much again on the next volumes was way beyond what I cared to think of! LOL. I am sure since you are posting to the Learning Adventure list most would agree that LA is their preferred choice. So, if I seem partial to LA..........it is because I am. Surprised) In all honesty, I am not saying all this just because this is a LA list.........I would say this on any message board too. (Kelly)
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I used Weaver for many years when I had 5 of my 6 at home. I had from K-12 at that time. I found it to be a lifesaver. But I think that it took more prep time, like library time, than I need to spend on LA. Because it was written to cover all ages, I did not need to adjust any of it. I like the format of LA where all you need is there and in one book. Weaver had 3-4 books to use. Wisdom words for language, day by day for the general instructions each day, the volumes were also needed for the lessons and then if you have 7-12 grades you had to have those to. I really liked Weaver, but it is very expensive and did have lots of prep time. I think that LA can be used with older ones with some adjustments that will not be too hard. (Cheryl)
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I used Weaver for a couple of years. My kids were young at the time (3-9) and it did require more of my time to plan. It also gave a lot of choices for each level and subject, so I had to choose which ones we would use. At the time, it just didn't work for us. Maybe with older kids it would work better. I have only been using LA for about a month and am really loving having it all planned out for me. I do make adjustments when I need to, but it is so easy to do that with. (Karen in WA)
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How does LA compare with Life in America?
I have used both LIA & LA - and they are both good programs. There are a few differences though.
#1 - Different ages? - LA is geared for 4th - 8th grades. The reason for that is that they met the objectives for language arts and science for 4th - 8th grades. LIA claims to be for K-12th - but they are mostly geared for about the same level (read the review in either Mary Pride's book or Cathy Duffy's which said the same thing - mostly geared for middle school/higher elementary). In order to have higher sciences with LIA you have to use supplemental CDs or programs. The language arts is supposed to transfer because you do the same activities on your own level - but you have to buy the handbooks that teach you how to do those assignments - and grammar is not covered adequately (in my opinion). The author said she did that on purpose and that the grammar gets covered as the series progresses.
LA teaches you all the language arts right in the book - so you don't *need* anything else. It starts off very easy and advances as the book progresses. The writing program is excellent -- the best I have ever used. The instructions are clear and easy to understand -- and there are even some examples to help guide you. Initially we continued with our grammar and spelling, but when I actually compared the two programs I saw that the grammar in AWOA matched up with the topics covered in the other program. The language arts also reinforces the science, history and literature from the rest of the program. It flows together so beautifully!! The spelling and vocabulary are more meaningful to my son. Instead of just memorizing the list and then forgetting it -- he now remembers and applies the lessons learned. Surprised)
I currently have a 1st grade boy and a 6th grade boy. We do Literature reading - some history - Bible, science projects and some art projects together. Then they do math and english at their own levels. In order to make it work for a higher level student - you use your own language and science. They can read higher level books and the author has included digging deeper activities for advanced or older students.
I should add that when people consistently complained that there wasn't enough for their younger children in LIA - and that they needed more language arts instruction - LIA is now making books to address these issues - they will still cost extra though.
#2 - Bible. LIA talks about God throughout the books - and does believe that history is His Story. LA does that as well - but also has a Bible section - where you are working on/out of the Bible every day. You read verses- memorize scripture - learn about how the Bible was translated... compare the myths with the true Bible account of creation.. There are lessons in LIA that don't even mention God. For example - I saw two in a row that are supposed to last 3 days each (if you finish each book in one semester) that have no Biblical content at all. When it is covered in LIA it is good - and they do a great job of delivering historically accurate information from a Christian perspective - but LA does have more Bible study included. It also has memory verses - which tie in perfectly with what we are studying. It is one more way that they see that God's Word applies to everyday life-- history & science.
#3 Lessons. LIA has lessons with 4 step methods and then activity choices for each step. This makes it very flexible to use - you can pick and choose the things you want to do. These lessons can take anywhere from 2 - 6 days or more - depending on the activities you choose and the ages of your children. Planning which activities to do and making sure that I covered enough was very challenging for me. I felt like I had to do it all. It was also hard to guage which activities would be appropriate for which ages. Was my 4th grader supposed to be able to do that? Or was that one of the ones designed for high school? LA has everything laid out in a day by day plan - what you need to say - questions - answers - activities. The things they list for a day are what they designed for you to do. You pick and choose books to supplement your study but the basic outline of what to do is already laid out for you. This saves you a lot more prep time. It also takes away a lot of the stress of a unit study. Dorian has already done all the planning and organizing.
#4 Re-use factor - Because LIA is arranged for K-12th grades to use - and there are many different levels of activities to choose from - you can re-use them once your child is done with the other books. Then they just do the higher level activities that were too hard for them the last time. LA is geared just for 4th - 8th grades - and the grammar meets the objectives for that level. Since there is only one set of daily activities and required books - it's not something you would want to do again - unless the child is just listening in (like a
Kindergartener for example). It is 180 daily lesson plans broken down into 6 sections. There are also people who use this with their whole families as a guide. The high school students have their own science & English programs - and use higher level books that flow along the same historical time period. They also have the digging deeper sections in the front of each section and can do more research type activities.
#5. Time Periods - The reason I chose LA over LIA last year was because I wanted to study the ancients. LIA does not have a book to cover this time period. LIA starts with 1000 AD & The Vikings. Then
you cover exploration - which does cover quite a bit of World History. Then the focus does become American History - though there is enough to count for a high school World History credit (according to NARS - a school that offers homeschoolers diplomas if they meet their criteria). LIA also offers a world history CD supplement for some volumes (that may be how they meet the standard). LIA plans to have 7
volumes - mostly based in AMerican History - with more world history in the last volume - A World at War.
LA starts with ancient Egypt. Then you cover all the way to the age of exploration in the first book. They plan to have five books to get all the way to the present.... again the second volume on will mostly cover American History - although World History will be involved as it applies. I like both these programs - and I bought a world HIstory Encyclopedia that I used with LIA - and I use as a supplement with LA to incorporate more information. It's a great way to involve more of that history even after the books start to focus more on American history.
They both cover history chronologically - which is something they have over many unit study programs. I believe that really helps you to understand cause and effect and how history builds on itself. They also both cover Greek and Latin root words which really helps with vocabulary.
LIA has some pictures to look at in their book (black and white). LA has some charts and timelines... but no illustrations.
As far as cost - LA costs $75 for one year (Most people use the library for the books - although one lady bought all the required books at Half.com for $35).
LIA costs $55 for a core book - the extras cost more (CDs are around $15 each (some core books use one CD - some use 6)/writing handbooks are around $18 each.. the science program is $30, the History CD is
$30, History of US books were around $18, I think.... The books to teach writing and grammar will run you arond $50 for the set.....Literature packs run around $30..... etc.) - It lasts anywhere from a semester if you follow the schedule to a year if they are younger and you go through it more slowly.
(Peggy in KS)
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I presently use LA and have purchased LIA in the past....
In comparing the two for ease of use, I vote for LA. With LA I don't have to get language arts resources they are all in the curriculum. Also, there is no real planning or prep with LA. I like the whole thing because everything ties in. The bible ties in with the history and the science and the spelling etc. In trying to put together LIA I found too much for me to do. LIA looked very good!!!, but I knew I would not put it together. I really like the writing in LA. I know you said you would stay with your Language program, but the writing in LA has really helped my children improve. I like the way Dorian puts a biblical perspective on things like the Greek Gods etc. It has given me a greater understanding of the culture. (Stephanie)
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I purchased a used copy of LIA at our homeschool store here in Houston, and simply never could get into it like LA. I have to admit that I had one of the copies that was full of errors, and that was an initial turn-off for me. It made me doubt the integrity of the research. I suppose that's not fair, since "typing" is a far different skill than research. Smile My bottom line: LIA really is good, but LA is much better.
I have other built in prejudices, I must admit. Dorian Holt's methods for taking children through the writing process are VERY similar to that taught by The Institute for Excellence in Writing. She actually takes the child through the writing process, rather than simply assign "creative" writing assignments. For this and other reasons, it's a much more "complete" program.
The lesson plans are very easy to follow. At the beginning of each unit, she reminds us what we will need for the entire unit, so that we can gather up those items ahead of time. Other than that, we just pick up the manual and "go." I can't sing it's praises highly enough. I knew when I purchased LIA that I was purchasing it as a reference book, since I knew myself well enough to know that I'm not organized enough to do unit studies and attend to other areas of our busy lives. I am very sure, however, that I WILL be able to do Learning Adventures. For me, that's the major factor in choosing between the two. It's not perfect, but it's closest to what I would have written. (Joni)
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While I don't think I can do as good a job as Peggy with her comparison I'll share my experience with LIA. My family worked through vol. 1, vol. 2 & sortof vol. 3. I bought LIA sight unseen & all the recommended resources because we were leaving for Poland missionaries) & I needed everything. This was a decision that I have regretted (never used most of what was "required" & spent a great amount of $$$) and therefore was very cautious when buying LA. I felt that LIA was very weak on literature and supplemented a great deal with library books.
LIA strives to cover American history with some world history thrown in. They bill this as a unit study but frankly they fall far below my expectations for all subjects but history. I also feel that LIA would be better suited for a specific age range rather than K-12. Ellen Gardner has spent considerable time writing LIA & I think it would be an excellent history study for upper grades, especially high school. She covers so much information in such detail that an elementary child would get lost or bogged down. She also uses old-fashioned quaint text. While this is sound information oftentimes the children can't understand the wording & you find yourself rewording everything. I wanted the work done for me!!! Things like maps for geography work were not included. Bible is done sporadically as is other subjects. If you are looking for just a good high school level history course this is it otherwise look somewhere else.
LA, haven't used yet, but have read through. Well planned. Subjects well covered. Age appropriate. Science is as exciting as history. Best writing program I've seen. The only negative -- Dorian doesn't cover math!! (ROFLOL). (Susan B. in N)
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LIA lists different activities for you to choose from, based on your child's learning style and your teaching style. However, instructions on how to do things are sparse at best!
The narrative written in the LIA books is very good and thorough, but I have found that it comes up short in applying the information to today. LA seems to make the connection better than LIA.
The activities we have done with LIA are so loosely related to the topic that they have held little to no educational value for my kids (of course, this might be my lack of teaching ability, which is why I like that LA is more thorough in this area).
Don't get me wrong -- LIA is a very good unit study, but it doesn't seem as *connected* as LA. (Donna in NJ)
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