We are Making CHANGES! September Homeschool Update II Sonlight Curriculum, Logic of English, Abeka
Вставка
- Опубліковано 10 жов 2024
- I decided to switch up some of our homeschool curriculum after September, which I chat about in this video! But, I also gush about all the areas of our homeschool that are going well - such as Sonlight, Logic of English, and Abeka! How was your September?
Support my Channel:
⛅ Sonlight Referral Link ($10 off orders over $100, first time customers only):
www.sonlight.c...
📝Bravewriter Referral link ($10 off): bravewriter.re...
🍎Logic of English Affliliate Link: logicofenglish...
📦 Amazon Shop: www.amazon.com...
Let's be friends:
📚 Book Channel (Book Mama): @bookmama / @bookmama26
📧 Email: angiesciencemama@gmail.com
📷Instagram: / angiesciencemama
🎥 Equipment used:
Camera: amzn.to/3uCA4gd
Editing Software: Adobe Premiere Pro
Small tripod: amzn.to/3wIVSYX
Ring light: amzn.to/3fw7vga
Music: UA-cam Free Library
I’ve missed your videos! It was good to hear an update, and it’s great to hear the good and the bad of curriculums because it just gives a more realistic perspective. I think coming at it the way you do is the way to do it, you’re not bashing any curriculum, you are recognizing where there are strengths and weaknesses and honestly, these are the most helpful reviews!
Agree
Thanks for sharing! It seems like LA is usually where I'm troubleshooting midyear in our homeschool, too. I personally don't love the most popular LA options and am excited to hear how sonlight goes for you guys.
I very much appreciate your thought process for sorting out your daughter’s math struggles. Time of day, what they’re hurrying for, is something I hadn’t thought to access for during this school year.
It’s also reassuring to hear our house isn’t the only house that can feel like a mad house at times simply because of that our resident tiny tornado is up to (the wild three year old toddler) lol I feel like whatever he is doing can escalate our house so fast and it becomes my primary job to diffuse more than it does to teach.
I love your update videos! I think one of the best things about homeschooling is that we can constantly reassess what is or isn't working. ❤
I love your updates. My children are older (6th and 8th grade) but I love hearing what you’re loving and what you’re tweaking. It has taken us trying so many LA programs to find that Sonlight works best for our family. My daughter has tried 4 different LA curricula. My son has used 3. I found that with both of my children reading and love for reading really came on strong in 4th grade. Grammar started to really click in 5th grade, and writing really developed into a more independent and enjoyable subject in 6th grade. My son, the 8th grader, hammers out 6 to 7 pages every week, because he loves it so much. The only exception was a literary response where he wasn’t quite as confident and didn’t quite understand how he should develop his response since it was his first formal response. But Sonlight is really developing all areas of LA and I am so happy that we trusted the process. I take every opportunity that I can to share our experience since there is a lot of confusion about how Sonlight scaffolds the steps in LA. But it really does result in strong written and oral communication skills. I couldn’t be happier with Sonlight.
Totally makes sense to use sonlight, I would use is too it makes the language arts easier and make more sense and it probably is more beneficial for them understanding further what they’re just read about in HBL too. I think their language arts is underrated for sure.
Thank you So much for your review on IEW, that is my biggest qualm with it. We use both Rod & Staff English and Sonlight la, and it’s such a good mix. Rod & Staff teach writing and what I love is that it’s been a gradual build, (we have used from 2 to 6 so far,) plus of course teaches grammar so brilliantly. Rod & Staff are teaching my son (who’s currently in book 6) how to outline from two sources, and write from his outline, he has learnt how to create interesting sentences, using active and passive voices, and varying sentence openers. What I have loved is there is no rigid formula at all and it has also been in the book a few times to not add unnecessary words, no fluff, but to keep writing clear and precise. And Sonlight la has given my kids the opportunity for more creative writing projects.
HBL D sounds great. We are mid way through C and loving it. Thanks again for sharing.
Finding the rhythm and routine is the key in homeschooling that's what i m getting to realize.
🎃 Thank you for your videos and your honesty on how things are working out in your homeschool! So helpful to hear what works well with others and their struggles, too ❤️
We had to drop TGATB 4 as well. It just wasn’t what my daughter needed. We switched to Essentials in Writing level 3 and we absolutely love it! We also added in Blossom and Root language arts simply for the literature and the creative expression projects. It’s been wonderful and a piece that’s been missing in our homeschool. We’re currently reading The Phantom Tollbooth and I’m having the best time listening to it lol! We’re loving all the word play and silliness. Aside from those two switches everything else has been perfect. We finally have the right resource for all of the subjects and it feels great to be settled and in a good groove.
Interestingly, I don't use hardly any of the same curriculum as you do, but I enjoy watching your videos. Also happened to make some tweaks in our home in language arts. I'm getting ready to add in Easy Grammar for my fourth grader as she needs more than what she is currently getting. IEW worked great for my oldest, but I'm not sure if it is really going to work for my current middle schooler. We plan to go through the year with it and then reevaluate.
I did IEW with my son when he was young and I had the same complaints. Now that he’s in high school, we gave it another shot with their Advanced American History program (since it goes so well with his history this year…so why not American Literature). It’s going much better this go round. I told him at the beginning he didn’t have to force words in to fit the requirement if he couldn’t do it naturally in what he wanted to say. At his age, he can grasp that idea and isn’t hindering himself so much with meeting the checklist.
For TGATB rewrite in your own words assignments, I utilized IEW keyword outlines techniques. Made a world of difference. We took it one sentence at a time, picking out the key ideas/words, and then rewriting from our outline.
You do what you need to do, don’t worry about people not liking it! I personally don’t like TGATB at all, I just personally don’t think it’s enough so we have been using other things.
🎃🧡 i really enjoy hearing your thoughts and honest opinions on curriculum etc. I am using TGTB LA for my 1st grade and kindergartener and we are really liking it so far. Supplementing with abeka readers for kinder. Both seem to be progressing and learning so I plan to stick with it unless something changes. I have come back to your videos several times for sonlight read aloud recommendations!
I will say if you do decide to throw in the towel on IEW, they have a fantastic return policy. Super simple and easy.
We love our literature history too! ❤❤ We have taken 2 years+ to do it 😅 But they are learning and loving it!
We just finished Walk the Worlds Rim! Thanks for the movie recommendation, my daughter loved Esteban and will love to see that! ❤
🎃 Hey Angie! I think going back and forth a bit with Math and LA is great! No judgment here! I feel like ADJUSTMENT is our beginning of school year word! 😂 Good to hear how things are going!😊
If Sonlight for Writing doesn't work out for you, I highly recommend Essentials in Writing instead of IEW!!! Much more straight forward, short lessons, but still allows for a lot of growth in writing!
I second this!! My first year using it with my fifth grader and we love it! Such a game changer in our homeschool!
We're just about to start EIW with my 5th grader too! I wanted something more independent. Glad to hear yall like it. I can't find many reviews
If you would like a new idea, you could look into a classical writing approach. It emphasizes imitation from great writers, which I think is more helpful for kids because finding your own voice in writing is hard (even for adults). Just a thought. :) I would suggest looking at Classical Academic Press' "Writing and Rhetoric" series, or Cottage Press Publishing.
Oh, "Stories from the pilgrims" would go so well with your history right now!! Grandma Karla on UA-cam does a read aloud for it.
I felt the same about TGTB. The grammar was enjoyable. But we didn’t like the writing, spelling, or readers. We switched to Moving Beyond the Page and are doing an IEW class which has really helped with structure! Language Arts is such a monster of a subject and ever-changing 😅
We loved Walk the World’s Rim! I’ve read it twice now as I have used D twice so far.
I’m not a fan of those two either, even though they are quite popular! Sounds like the all-in-one, tied together approach of Sonlight LA will work well, can’t wait to hear what you think after a couple of months.
Are you planning on using Sonlight in its entirety with your daughter? MCP phonics? Worldly wise?
🎃 thanks Angie! Good luck with the changes!
🎃
I am the same as you with LA, and I predict Sonlight LA won’t work. Those paraphrasing exercises in TGTB are difficult. I think using the KWO technique for those exercises may be helpful. I would not throw out TGTB based just on those exercises (we used that level last year).
How is language arts D going since the switch? I’m thinking of switching my 4th grader. We are doing the same with having two kids do HBL D and I pull my 1st grader in with the matching picture books from A when it’s possible. My oldest of the two doing D is on the older side so we also pull books from G (I think it’s G 🤪) and BFB because she’s a quick read and the individual readers are a bit young for her.
My 4th grader is dyslexic and has been in BJU English, but LA D has gotten my attention a few times.
🎃 thanks for sharing some real life kid's behavior when it comes to math. My son does the same with Language arts. 😊
I too had to stop with TGATB. It’s a solid program. I just don’t like LA programs that push too much, too young. We started LLFALE and I really like that approach much better.
I feel like the first 6-8 weeks of a school year are full of adjustments. I'm making adjustments too. I purchased curriculum that I thought would be a great fit but once we started using it, I realized it's not. What do you do with the curriculum you're no longer using?
🧡
I could not agree more with your thoughts on IEW. The formula makes no sense in my children's brains. If you put classic literature up against their formula it wouldn't be "good enough". We found for us EIW worked so much better. There is structure and understandable explanations without the overdone formulas.
🎃🧡🍂
🎃 ❤
🎃🎃
🎃
I very much appreciate your thought process for sorting out your daughter’s math struggles. Time of day, what they’re hurrying for, is something I hadn’t thought to access for during this school year.
It’s also reassuring to hear our house isn’t the only house that can feel like a mad house at times simply because of that our resident tiny tornado is up to (the wild three year old toddler) lol I feel like whatever he is doing can escalate our house so fast and it becomes my primary job to diffuse more than it does to teach.
🎃
🎃🎃
🎃
🎃
🎃
🎃
🎃
🎃
🎃
🎃
🎃
🎃
🎃
🎃
🎃
🎃