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Dear Rebecca, I noticed from your samples that some of your guides have vocabulary work in them. Will I need a separate spelling book for my boys? D.E.S. Dear D.E.S., Great question! Absolutely. Although our guides will help students build their vocabulary, we do not follow any sequential phonics or spelling in the guides. The vocabulary words are chosen for their difficulty for the child's age. I suggest a good spelling/phonics book to build a good spelling foundation for the future. Also, a good language/grammar book is important, at least on a part-time basis. (I like Abeka for both because they are sequential and build gradually on the students' knowledge.) I hope this helps. If you'd like me to expand on anything, please write again. I appreciate your questions and comments. Sincerely, Rebecca
Dear Rebecca, I have an 8-year-old boy that will be going into 3rd grade, and a 6-year-old girl that will be going into 1st grade. This will be their first year of homeschool. The oldest is a very good reader, the younger just starting out. Would I be able to do the same study with them both, or do you recommend each their own. The oldest is reading at a 4-6 grade level. Thank you, Erna Dear Erna, Good question. You have a couple of options as you mentioned, and either would work. If you'd like to do the same guide with both of them, your eight-year-old would be able to write the answers and do well with the guide. Your six-year-old would enjoy the story, and be able to discuss the questions with you out loud. Since she is just starting to read, remember that her abilityto write probably won't come easily for another year or so. Another possiblity for you is to do one of the 1st-3rd grade level guides with him, and do our Prereader guide with her. The Prereader Study Guide (for Oscar Otter and Henry & Mudge) is actually two guides for the price of one, including all the questions a regular 1st-3rd grade level guide would have (but no blanks for students to write in; we assume you will discuss questions out loud). The Prereader guide also includes science ideas, arts and craft ideas, coloring pages, and activity/maze pages. This can keep their hands busy while they discuss the book with you. Whichever way you decide to go, I would suggest doing only two guides in their first year, and simply reading lots of books for the rest of their literature for the year. That way they will learn critical reading and comprehension skills, but they won't feel they have to study everything. Choosing reading titles that coincide with your history studies is always fun. When you add some phonics, spelling and grammar, they will be well-coveredin language arts. I hope this helps, have great fun next year! Sincerely, Rebecca
Rebecca, Your guides look wonderful! I have a group of 5 homeschooling girls (grades 8 & 9) who are considering doing a "book club". I would like to see them use your guides at home and then come together to discuss the information with a parent facilitor. What do you think? Would that work? We were thinking of meeting once or twice a month. Is that enough? Do you have any recommendations for starters? (we have never done any literature guides before) Thanks for your help, Susan Dear Susan, What a great idea! I've had many moms and teachers do book clubs using our guides. Meeting weekly works the best if you want to finish a guide in 8 to 9 weeks. Discussing and going over one lesson section per week creates plenty of discussion. If you wish to meet bi-weekly, I recommend taking a little longer to go through the guide, so you can get the most out of it. Discussing two lesson sections per meeting is possible, but be sure to allow plenty of time that day! One option is to have the students read only the chapters they will be working on for the next meeting, and hand out study guide pages that will be discussed at that time. (Some students may read through the entire book quickly instead of waiting, and that's perfectly fine. Personally, my kids are unable to put any book down once they begin). At the next meeting, everyone should have read at least that section of the book, and have the corresponding lesson completed and ready for discussion. Suggest to the parents that the students should do a little work on that week's study guide section each day rather than attempting to complete an entire lesson in one sitting. You'll get much better responses from students if they work through the lessons in small chunks. The choices for a fun discussion groups are many. Anne of Green Gables is a favorite with girls and has many good discussions. Another hot book right now is Holes. It is fabulously written, and a great mystery story. Many teachers and moms are doing it this summer just so they can go see the new movie as an end of book party. The movie is reputed to be excellent. The Hobbit is a great book and Tolkien a marvelous writer. If your students like adventure and history, The Bronze Bow or The Witch of Blackbird Pond would both be good choices. An intense book with many deep issues to discuss is The Giver. Also consider The Secret Garden, Out of the Dust, Redwall, Swiss Family Robinson, Johnny Tremain and any of C.S. Lewis's Narnia books. Remember, a book club is the perfect environment for doing group projects or reports. The guides all have before-you-read ideas and/or projects, and after-you-read essays and/or projects. Keep the group fun, be creative, and don't let them put it off because it's not "real school," just a book club. This is definitely real school and in high school each guide may count as 1/4 literature credit. A final suggestion: Let the girls vote on what book they all want to study. Book clubs usually choose titles together, and this gets them all invested in the decision and they try harder to show they chose well. Good luck and let me know in the future what book they chose and how the group went. God Bless! Rebecca
Dear Rebecca, I'm a homeschooling mom of 2 and just found your guides. I like to do literature based unit studies and have used several different curriculums to do so. I prefer to study literature and history together, following a historical timeline. We are up to the American Revolution in American history. Would your guides help me to continue down this path or is it in your experience, impractical to do this? (the history part, I mean) My kids are boy, 6, reading at 2nd grade level and girl, 9, reading at 5th gr. level. (each always able to be found with book in hand!) Sam the Minuteman seems a good place to start if you think I can use it with both. I'd very much appreciate your advice as I am trying to plan our curriculum for the fall. Sincerely, Chris Dear Chris, It is not impractical to study history and literature together. I did it all the way through with my daughter, now entering college, and I will do so with all the younger children all the way through also. It creates much richer layers of learning as their imagination catches fire for each period in history. Since your children are 6 and 9, Sam the Minuteman would be a great place to start. Although the book will be easier for her to read, the guide will be a great first guide for her. Ox-cart Man is also in the late 1700s, although it does not mention the war. It might be a nice book to read or study next year. Another book that would be a good companion to Sam the Minuteman is George the Drummer Boy, also by Nathaniel Benchley. This is the companion book for Sam, written from the British point of view. We do not have a study guide for it, but it would be great to read. There are many great books on George Washington and other historical figures from the Revolutionary War (try titles by Dave Adler, Jean Fritz, and Quackenbush), also Paul Revere's Ride by Ted Rand. As you move on through history, check our guides descriptions. Each description will include the year/time period and location/setting of the book. If I can help at all, just write again. I can give you more titles if you'd like. Good luck on the coming year! Sincerely, Rebecca Page 1 2 3 |