It's ALL about God

As many of you know, my father died two weeks ago today. It was terribly sad to say good-bye, but we have such comfort in the fact that we’ll see him again.

I’m in the final stretch of producing Apologia’s newest book, Exploring Creation with Zoology 3. Sadly, it won’t be ready until mid-fall. Happily, it’s really going to be a great book for giving children (and adults) a solid foundation in creation science and evidence to back their beliefs.

In the midst of this, I’m working on getting a domain name for my blog. I am going to use the name Jeannie’s Journal, after my newsletter (which, by the way, is late in its most recent publication). The domain that will be associated with my blog is www.jeanniesjournal.com. It will take a while to get this completed as I have to transfer to a blog site that can also host my domain.  You will still be able to access it by going to the homeschoolblogger address where you are right now.

When Zoology 3 is complete, I’ll get caught up on the newsletter, as well as complete the audio recordings of my science books and finish the co-op manuals. I will also begin work on the next Apologia book.

I hope everyone is having a great summer!

I’ve heard it said that a child should do math facts every day until they take the SAT. Maybe this would be a bit much, but it could be made easier by using Calculadders. We have been using this for several years and I do believe it helps keep the math facts solid. We have used several methods to learn our math facts, including Math Facts in a Flash as well as Times Tales. These programs have helped them learn the math facts, but without reminders in the form of math fact practice, they are prone to forget. <b><b>

The way the program works is your child is given a sheet each day. On the bottom in the number of minutes your child has to complete the page – usually about 4 minutes. Now, I have one child that completely cracks under the stress, but I make him do it anyway because in the real world, we have timelines, time crunches, due dates and he needs to work through his stress on this. It’s all based in fear and we discuss how he is still valuable, special and gifted by God for a unique purpose in life and he isn’t a failure if he doesn’t finish in the time allotted. Further, he’s not "supposed" to finish in that time, it’s the goal we work towards. <b><b>

There are several sheets that cover the same facts before you move to the next set of sheets. So, they have plenty of opportunities to improve their time and hopefully finish before the time is up.

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 We’ve done Books 1 – 3. It’s part of our daily routine and it only takes five minutes total. The four minutes they have to work plus the time it takes to get the sheet, set the timer etc. The kids have it on their daily list and simply get it ready and time themselves. I can’t say they are experts at all the facts, but they are far better than they would be if we didn’t have this daily routine. My oldest has been doing it longest and probably only stumbles on two or three facts in the entire multiplication table. <b><b>

I think daily fact review is essential to success in higher level math. If the child knows her math facts, she won’t linger over long division or have to skip count to find the factors for 36. It’s important that they be familiar with all the facts and have at least most of them memorized. This is helped by doing daily fact work and I have found nothing easier than Calculadders. <b><b>

Teaching Textbooks

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Because it was a company on the market with mixed reviews, I researched Teaching Textbooks quite a bit before I purchased it last year. I knew that Jay Wile, my publisher, wasn’t fond of the Algebra program due to some missing concepts, and I’ve heard from others that it isn’t rigorous enough for college prep. I’ve also heard that TT has included all the missing concepts in the Pre Calculus program and that the students who have used this course in the past did very well on the SATs. <b><b><b><p>

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As my daughter was not quite ready for Algebra, I perused the Pre Algebra program and found that it covered a lot of higher basic math concepts that we had not completely mastered. I also watched the video and loved the way that he explained some of the things my child was struggling to understand. I felt this review of basic mathematic concepts would help her to finally understand, as well as fill in any gaps we may have due to the fact that we skipped around to different math programs throughout the elementary years. <b>

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So, here we are at the end of the year and I have some good news and some not so good news about the program.

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The Good

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First, let me say that my child (almost 14) had never ever before this year liked math. She, well, let’s just say that One and One did not equal two, it equaled tears and protests in our home over the last six or so years of doing math. Not only that, but the careless mistakes were the order of the day (year after year). She excelled in every other subject, almost to the genius level. Math, however, was like walking through thick mud, uphill.

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Then, along comes Teaching Textbooks math. Wow. What can I say? What an easy year? When we finished devotions, the first subject she went for was math. She would plug in her little CD, listen and watch as Greg Sabouri explained the concept. Then she would do her work…happily, independently, really learning. Only a few times did she ever need intervention. She couldn’t remember the procedure for certain problems, and I would show her my ‘short cut’ for getting the answer. I’m sure Mr. Sabouri had a reason for having them take the long way to answer the equation, usually so that they understood the why behind the how. However, there were a couple of equations that the easy way was much faster and easier to remember. That happened probably twice, once with fractions, and once with percents.  Overall, the basic math found in the first ¾ of the Pre Algebra book was well done and completely solved our chronic math woes.

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I think the things that made this work so well were:

1.      How easy it was to use. Popping in and finding your next lesson, watching it, then doing the problems and popping in the solutions CD to help with any problems that weren’t easy to solve was not complicated at all. It is designed with amazing facility.

2.      The explanations he gave solidified many of the concepts she struggled to understand. It may have helped that she was “familiar” with all the concepts and had learned the algorithm at some point in the past. However, learning it from a new perspective was extremely helpful. I believe she finally understands math to a certain extent.

3.      The independence that the program offers. The program is so streamlined and easy to use; each lesson gives just the right amount of new information and there isn’t too much work in the daily assignments. The child can check her answers and if she gets one wrong or struggles over a problem can actually pop in a CD to watch the problem being worked out. It’s so amazing.

Because of these things, I will be getting the program, beginning in sixth grade for my younger children. However, I will only use it for sixth and seventh grade math. I believe the Pre Algebra basic math section is probably a repeat of much of what was learned in 7^th grade math. If more concepts are introduced, I may also get the Pre Algebra program and use it until the child reaches the actual algebra section of Pre Algebra (somewhere near the end of the book).

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To summarize the good parts of this program: It has really helped transform my child from a math hater into a math liker (I didn’t say lover, but if she were a boy she might have turned into a math lover). I can only credit the transformation to this program. She loved it, felt successful all the way through the basic math portion of the book. I believe it filled in the gaps we may have left from our constant elementary math quandary over the last six years. I think it is fabulously designed and really makes it easy for the parent and student to get math done without any problems or tears every single day. Highly recommended for the basic math section.

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Now, to the not so good.

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When we did finally reach the end of the Pre Algebra book and began learning about negative numbers, things got hairy. I couldn’t understand what she didn’t understand because negative numbers makes perfect sense to me. He didn’t seem to be able to explain it in a way that a creative ballerina could really grasp. She would bring the book to me and I would explain it in my own words, but she still did not get it. When she finally understood a concept, there was not enough practice with it in the written lesson. She needed more practice with each new concept. There were about four equations total dealing with the new concept. This is probably due to the fact that it is a Pre Algebra course and not a true Algebra course. I have heard that the Algebra course has more than enough equations dealing with the new concept.

It seemed that we went through a similar routine with every new concept. Was she not ready for algebra? I thought this might be the case. However, I went to our local homeschool store and picked up the Keys To Algebra series. The way negative numbers were explained there turned on a light for her. Was it that she now had two explanations? I can’t be sure. Maybe if we had done Keys To first, she wouldn’t have understood until we listened to the TT explanation. I honestly don’t know.

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I do know that if you asked me to write a review of TT in February or March, I would have gushed on and on about it. However, now, I am unable to do that. We had to put it down because the algebra in the Pre Algebra book is not explained in a way that rings a bell with my child and there isn’t enough practice. So, our experience with the algebra of TT has been a negative one. I cannot make a generalization about all their Algebra products. I also can’t say whether it was due to the fact that my daughter is not math minded, is not ready for algebra, or whether it was the explanations in the book.

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So, as a recap, Teaching Textbooks basic math is superb in the TT Pre Algebra. I’m assuming it will also be in the fifth, sixth and seventh grade math books. I plan to get the sixth grade book for my younger children and work through the series until all the basic math is covered. I will not be using TT for Algebra, however.

I am seriously looking and leaning towards A Fresh Approach Algebra I for Algebra. I have the book and really like what I see. I also have the College Introductory Algebra book by Lial, and it doesn’t seem as easy to understand as A Fresh Approach.

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I hope this was helpful!

Have you ever purchased a particular curriculum with the best of intentions; then, after a couple of weeks, you realize you have too many subjects to teach and can’t fit it in. Well, that is what happened to us with Teaching the Classics, a DVD series on Literary Analysis by Institute for Excellence in Writing. But wait! Don’t leave yet; the story doesn’t end there. <b><b>

I really wanted to teach my 13 year old literary analysis this year. I was determined we would cover the importance of plot, character, theme, setting and all the other literary devices and tools authors use. I didn’t feel equipped to do it without the help of a curriculum, and was immediately drawn to Teaching the Classics, which teaches the Socratic method of literary analysis (if you want to know what that is, you’ll have to buy the course!)<b><b>

We began by watching the first DVD in the series. I have to admit, it began a bit slow and, well…couldn’t compete with all the other interesting things I wanted to teach my child this year. Within two weeks, it was sort of forgotten. <b><b>

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I ran into a friend who said that she had completed the course and her children loved it. I thought to myself, "Hmmm….I should pull that back out and really give it a go for the last six weeks of school. Maybe we can finish it." So, we searched high and low, found the missing DVD’s and began where we left off – this time with determination. I’m so glad we did! We have really, really, really (really) enjoyed all the rest of the DVD’s. Sometimes you just have to keep moving forward when something starts out a bit dry. It’s like classic literature, the first 4 chapters are usually quite dry, detailed and uninteresting, but once you plow through, you find yourself immersed, engrossed and delighted for the rest of the book.

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We began by watching one DVD a day and then applying the concepts we learned to the book she is currently reading (Uncle Tom’s Cabin). It’s been a lot of fun. <b><b>We have so enjoyed learning about the five elements of literature, and going through the exercises. I love that I now have a list of hundreds of questions that I can ask my child throughout her reading of classic literature that will encourage her to think critically and in greater depth of insight about the books she is reading. She can easily determine the author’s purpose, bias and worldview by asking the right questions.

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This DVD course produced by Institute for Excellence in Writing is a winner. I highly recommend it as the first step towards studying great literature. <b><b>

You may wonder what ages this is good for. Well, I believe every homeschool mom should watch the series to learn how to help even their young children think about what they are reading. Students (ages 10 – 18) that are mature will enjoy watching the series with mom.

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If you’ve ever been to a homeschool conference before, then you know how you need to be prayed up before you even walk in. The choices can be overwhelming. Well, I had prayed with total faith that God would not let me go home with any product that was not His perfect will for our family. As I’m strolling down the isles, I see a familiar face: Brian Wasko of Writeathome.com. We met years earlier when we were both new to the homeschool publishing world. <br><br>

I stop by to say hello, and find myself intrigued with his courses. I looked at the scope and sequence of each grade level, and stayed there for a long time, praying silently while I chatted with him. Writeathome is an expensive endeavor, but I thought it might be just what I was needed for my 13 year old daughter. She is a fantastic writer, but nothing we had used challenged her much. Yet, spending $350 on a writing curriculum would have to be totally from God.  I left and prayed more before finding my way back to his booth and made one of the best decisions I made last year.

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I know that it sounds expensive, but for the money, you don’t only get a writing curriculum, which includes weekly grammar and writing lessons, along with a weekly assignment (either a new writing assignment or a rewrite of an edited assignment), you also get a real live living human being writing coach that will nit-pick your child’s writing in a way you would never have the guts to do.

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I believe my child was an excellent writer before she began the year. Adults who had seen her writing continuously remarked on her ability to write well. I can tell you that, today, her writing is much improved, far surpassing her previous writing form and style. If I could get her permission (which I’m sure she would never grant) I would show you the first essay compared to the last. You would think the child had aged three or four years, rather than one. I was so pleased with the last few papers. Her word choice was astute. Everything was fantastic.

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This is the way writeathome works: The child logs in to the website on a certain day each week. She will download her lesson. These lessons are predominantly grammar lessons, things your child may or may not know. Then, she will download her writing assignment. Every three weeks, she has a new writing assignment. If it’s a new writing assignment, the writing assignment will require her to utilize the grammar technique she learned in the lesson.The paper she writes is reviewed and thoroughly edited by a writing coach that is experienced with excellent writing. The comments are very lengthy and detailed. I studied every comment with a critical eye the first few months, and found them to be extremely insightful and helpful.  She noticed when my daughter used the same word too many times. She would ask her to think of more descriptive words and elaborate on certain details. She also taught her how to cut down on wordiness, only keeping in words that really counted. She would have paragraphs of comments that described how she thought my child could improve. When my daughter received these comments, it trained her to write future essays with the newly learned principles and techniques. <br><br>

Sometimes, the writing assignment was for her to edit a paper she previously wrote. When she receives her comments from the teacher, she has to rewrite the paper, incorporating the comments and ideas the coach gave. Every paper was reviewed and commented on three times. The first two times, the student is allowed to edit and rewrite the paper. The last paper is a final draft, yet still includes comments. She then recieves a grade for that assignment.

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I have to admit that I would never have been able to help my child improve this much in such a short time (predominantly because I thought her writing was superb.) I may have suggested that she could have picked a better word here and there, but I would never have made her edit the paper twice. Frankly, she would have been a bit insulted if I had given her the lengthy comments and suggestions that the coach gave. She wasn’t at all insulted by the coach, though. She was encouraged to improve.

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 The most amazing part of this entire thing is that my daughter begged me to do write at home again this year. We have a very heavy academic load next year and I wasn’t sure I wanted to use it. However, I couldn’t resist. So, we will be doing two writing workshops – Essay and Research Papers, which are 9 week courses each. <br><br>

 I am very pleased with this course. If the essay writing course works out well, I think we’ll stick with writeathome through high school. If the essay course isn’t perfect, we’ll take a detour and find a good academic writing course before hopping back into writeathome.