Canadian Handwriting Series

 Elementary, Handwriting  4 Responses »
Jun 102011
 

For years we did not use a handwriting program.  Miss 18 learned cursive from Richard Scarry’s big picture books and the handwritten examples I made up for her in a little scribbler.  She was enthusiastic and learned quickly.

My son, on the other hand, was not enthusiastic.  He even had trouble printing.  When I tried to teach him cursive using my own examples, I soon concluded he was not ready.  The trouble was, he never, ever did become ready, and now he’s 16 and still finds cursive difficult.

Even though Miss 13 learned well and quickly, Miss 10 is as reluctant as her brother.

So I’ve made a decision.  Ready or not, the Little Misses are learning cursive.  If it’s hard, they can go slowly, but they will practice.  Regularly.

There are many beautiful and involved handwriting programs out there, but we chose a simple, convenient, no-frill set of workbooks with a solid track record, the Canadian Handwriting Series.

Books A to G are available, with the transition from printing to cursive in Book C.  Each book has 80 pages full of careful examples and lots of practice space.

Each letter is taught on its own page, and similar letters are taught consecutively.  Numbered letter strokes show the child exactly how to make each letter.  The first three books have dashed-line examples for the children to trace before they try to make the letters on their own.

In later books, more detailed instruction, including written description of the letters, is given.  Common mistakes are pointed out, and troublesome letters and letter combinations are carefully reviewed.  Students are even taught how to evaluate their writing and improve it:

Sometimes the practice sentences discuss Canada, so this handwriting series teaches the students some geography and interesting facts as well. However, the Canadian content is not overwhelming, at least in levels C and D which we have used.    Here’s the page on Canada at the end of level D:

All I, as a mom, have to do is encourage, help with a few tough letters when the transition to cursive is made, and correct the pages.  That’s a whole lot easier than making personalized lessons for each child!

The only complaint I have is that these books teach children to make loops in the bottom of the ‘p,’ which leads to messy-looking writing.  I’ve told my children to avoid the loops, and that works most of the time.

I’m pleased with the Canadian Handwriting Series and wish we had used them for all our children.

This inexpensive series is available from most Canadian homeschool suppliers, such as The Learning House or Heritage Resources.

-Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five, who reviews and blogs at Tea Time with Annie Kate.  You can read her other Curriculum Choice reviews here.

Art with A Purpose

 Art, Elementary, Hands On  3 Responses »
May 262011
 

I love art and even considered making it my career.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on which child I’m talking to), I never seem to get around to teaching art as a hands-on, let’s-get-creative-and-make-a-mess activity.  I don’t know why; it’s just one of those things.

So what do my children do for art?  Well, we do Charlotte Mason style picture study every few weeks, and each of my children works through the entire Art with A Purpose curriculum, doing about one lesson a week for eight years.

Art With a Purpose is an easy-to-teach curriculum that covers everything from coloring and pasting in the younger grades to lettering, color combining, perspective, and pen and ink drawings in the older grades.  It does not, however, teach art history or appreciation at all.  (Hence the picture study lessons.) 

Each year’s Artpac contains 36 simple, step-by-step art lessons.  Materials are usually simple to obtain.  In fact, the only ones we’ve had trouble finding are the brass fasteners needed to allow movement in a monkey’s limbs and the hands of a clock.

Using this curriculum, moms have little teaching to do in the younger grades and even less as the children get older because the instructions are clear and easy to follow. Although classroom teachers are encouraged to work through each Artpac to provide their students with examples, this was not necessary for us at home.

Rod and Staff breaks down each year’s skills as follows:

  • Artpac 1 Simple coloring skills, color-by-number, cutting and pasting.
  • Artpac 2 Simple coloring skills, cutting, pasting, simple perspective drawing.
  • Artpac 3 Coloring, shading with crayons, simple grid drawing and painting.
  • Artpac 4 Coloring, shading with crayons, drawing stick figures, simple grid drawing, and perspective drawing.
  • Artpac 5 Shading with colored pencils, drawing faces, painting and paint mixing, lettering, and grid work.
  • Artpac 6 Shading with colored pencils, drawing faces, lettering, grid work, freehand and perspective drawing.
  • Artpac 7 Advanced shading with soft lead colored pencils, grid drawing, calligraphy, paint mixing and painting, and sketching.
  • Artpac 8 Shading with pen and ink.

View detailed outlines of each course, with samples.

Most weeks my children spend between 30 minutes and two hours on their Artpacs, depending on the effort they are willing to expend. They are usually pleased with their work, and often give the cards, pictures, or crafts as gifts.  Many of them also adorn the bedroom doors.

We’ve encountered very few problems over the years.  Some lessons in the early years are much too difficult and take too long.  We don’t skip those, but I allowed the child to work on them for a long time, pointing out that it was a lesson in perseverance as well as in art.  I also allowed children who struggled with motor skills to progress slowly, with the beneficial result that they were able to do a better job at the upper levels as well.

Published by Rod and Staff, the Artpacs feature a few pictures that are obviously Mennonite.  Wording, where there is any, is inspiring and often Christian.  Although the Artpacs have no projects about Halloween, Easter bunnies, Santa Claus, or baby Jesus, I have received several wonderful Mothers’ Day cards.

Each year’s worth of lessons is well under $10.  This is a very good deal, especially for the grade 8 Artpac’s pen and ink pages that would retail for several hundred dollars at my local art supply store.

If you’re not the kind of person who thrives on doing hands-on crafts with your children, but you still want them to learn the basics of art, it’s worth checking out Art with A Purpose.  It’s thorough, easy to use, Christian, and inexpensive.

Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five, who reviews and blogs at Tea Time with Annie Kate.

Disclosure: Having used Artpacs for a dozen years, I love telling people about them.  I receive no compensation for this review.

A Pioneer Story by Barbara Greenwood

 Elementary, History, Living books, Unit study resources  2 Responses »
Apr 142011
 

Here’s one book no homeschooling family should miss:  A Pioneer Story: The Daily Life of a Canadian Family in 1840.  It combines heartwarming stories of a busy pioneer family with the background information and hands-on activities of a unit study.  Truly, it is a winning combination.

Beautifully illustrated, this story of the Robertsons fills our hearts and minds with the life of a pioneer family in the backwoods of eastern Canada.  We follow Sarah (10), Willy(9), George(13), and Meg (15), as well as Granny, Pa, Ma, little sister Lizzy, and baby Tommy, through a whole year of maple sugaring, baby animals, milking, sheep shearing, fishing and more.

With the Robertson children we face the terror of meeting a lynx, the thrills of building a new home, the hard work of bringing in the harvest before the storm, and the joys of surviving a night lost in the wintery woods.  We trade with a jolly peddler, meet a new English boy at the school, and visit Uncle Jacob’s home for a thrillingly different Christmas.

Reminiscent of Laura Ingalls Wilders’ stories, these tales are not only the delightful story of a busy family, but also a wonderful introduction to the book’s detailed explanations and activities.

For example, in the chapter “Finding a Honey Tree,” Uncle Jacob took Sarah and Willy out to mark a bee tree in anticipation of the fall, when the honey could be harvested.   After enjoying the story, we learn about bees, harvesting wild honey, and pioneer remedies.

“Signs of Spring” shows us the family’s house, winter diet, cooking, and farmyard in such wonderfully illustrated detail that we can almost imagine their lives for ourselves.  When Sarah found the year’s first egg, the entire breadth of pioneer experience is revealed in Ma’s response:

Ma stroked the egg dreamily.  “Pudding,” she said.  “I’ll make a nice egg pudding for tonight’s supper.  There’ll be a good mouthful for each of us.”

When the peddler arrived, he brought joy and excitement to everyone in the family.  Itinerant preachers, shoe makers, peddlers, tailors, and tinkers all were welcome visitors at the farm.  Crafts in “The Peddler’s Visit” include making a punched tin picture, a pioneer water carrier, and a sand clock.

Willy spent a lot of time with his friend Neekeek, and occasionally Neekeek’s uncle would teach the boys a new skill.  Once he taught them how to catch trout with their bare hands.  When Willy came home triumphantly with the fish he had just caught, George scoffed at his story.  Granny, on the other hand, laughed, “Och, aye!  Tickling trout. Your granda was a dab hand at that. Many’s the poached fish we had from the laird’s stream.  Scooped up just that way.  Good for you, young Will!”  Of course this chapter discusses fishing, hunting, guns, and snares.

Throughout the book we learn to read the weather, make a balance scale, prepare for winter, make candles, use a bake oven, build a road, and thresh the grain while we live, laugh, and bicker with the family.  While the bickering does bother me, this book is, on the whole, happy and inspiring. The illustrations are a joy, and the stories are a treat.  My children enjoyed A Pioneer Story even more than I did both times I read it aloud, and they’ve enjoyed it on their own as well.

A free Teaching Guide is available.

-Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five, who reviews and blogs at Tea Time with Annie Kate.


Apologia High School Science

 High School, Mom Helps, Science  No Responses »
Feb 252011
 

Homeschooling parents used to send their teens to school, feeling they couldn’t provide quality high school science instruction at home.  That hasn’t been necessary since Dr. Jay L. Wile wrote and revised his Apologia high school texts.  These excellent, Creation-based courses are clear enough to be essentially self-teaching, even though they cover difficult material.  In fact, as a scientist, I am impressed by the breadth and depth of these texts as well as their clarity.

The Apologia high school science textbook series includes

Each well-organized textbook is full of important and detailed information, presented in a chatty style.  Dr. Wile is an excellent teacher and explains the material carefully, especially in the second edition texts.  Each book contains worked out examples and ‘On Your Own’ questions that are answered in detail in the text.  At the end of each chapter, a series of questions summarizes important concepts and checks for comprehension.  These questions are answered in the separate Solutions Manual.

The texts also contain detailed instructions and explanations for the labs. Many of these labs can be performed using only household materials, but others require specialized equipment such as dissection kits, microscopes, and an array of chemicals which are available in a kit.

For detailed tables of contents and a sample of each course, click on the above links. The texts we own (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Advanced Chemistry, and Advanced Physics) are all quite similar to Advanced Chemistry which I’ve reviewed in great detail here.

Each of these Apologia courses comes with a Solutions and Tests Manual as well as a textbook.  The Solutions and Tests Manuals provide solutions for each chapter’s study guide questions.  They also contain tests and answer keys, and the second edition manuals include detailed marking schemes and exams with solutions as well.

Each course also comes with full curriculum support by mail, email, fax, or phone.  Some also have other supporting components such as CD ROM’s, lab equipment, and an invaluable website.

Most of these courses have been revised to make them even more user-friendly. For details of the differences between the two editions, see my review of the second edition of Advanced Chemistry.  If at all possible, I recommend buying the second edition.  At the high school level, ease of use for both student and parent is crucial and is well worth the difference in price between a new second edition and a used first edition textbook.

Obviously, these are Christian courses, written from a creationist viewpoint. That is one of the reasons I love them.  They do, however, present and explain evolution respectfully, while pointing out problems with current theories.  Christian students need this sort of knowledge to be able to function and thrive in secular universities and colleges.  However, if students plan to write the big standardized subject tests, they would do well to learn more about evolution from a secular source.

We’re in our fourth year of high school at home, and Miss 18 has completed the second editions of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, and is currently studying Advanced Chemistry and Advanced Physics. Unfortunately, at this time Apologia has no plans for a second edition of Advanced Physics.  Mr. 15 is working on Biology and will soon begin Chemistry.

After all these years of using Dr. Wile’s texts, we are very pleased with the breadth, depth, and user-friendliness of these courses.  The textbook explanations are so clear that my teens rarely come to me for help with their science, but I know they are learning much more than I did in high school, including a good many first year university topics.

Because of the Apologia science texts, homeschooled high school students have access to better quality science education than most students in public or private schools, even if their parents do not know science.  The extensive support system mentioned above, the clarity of the textbooks, and the many detailed examples all help to make the courses essentially self-teaching, even though they are rigorous.

Dr. Wile’s high school science texts are an incredible resource for the Christian homeschool movement and should also be used by Christian private schools that do not have qualified high school science teachers.

For information about Apologia’s  junior high science, please read this informative review.

Disclosure: I am not compensated for this review and the opinions expressed are entirely my own.  I received one of the textbooks, Advanced Chemistry, for the purpose of reviewing it.

Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five, who reviews and blogs at Tea Time with Annie Kate.

Illustrated Family Bible

 Bible  2 Responses »
Jan 072011
 

Our family uses the Bible itself as our main Bible curriculum.  Every few years, however, we pull out the Illustrated Family Bible.  With its stunning, historically accurate illustrations and informative side panels, it always gives us a fresh view of all those familiar stories.

Currently we are going through this Bible for the third or fourth time as a family.  (We’ve had it for almost a decade and a half, so we can’t quite remember.)  Each time we read through it, we learn more about the background of the stories, and that helps us understand them more clearly.  The children clearly find this Bible fascinating, and they are learning much about Biblical times, customs, and geography.

Most of the stories cover a two-page spread, complete with lavish, annotated illustrations.  The words used are actually from the Bible, with chapter and verse marked, but only the ‘exciting bits’ are included.  The illustrated side panels often include relevant photos of places, artwork, or archeological finds as well as cultural information.  Seeing photos of a Jewish well gives extra meaning to the story of Jesus at the well, for example.

Not only are each of the stories illustrated, but each section begins with a few pages of background commentary, cultural explanations, and illustrations. These can be helpful, and we usually look at the pictures, but the children asked me not to read them this time.  Other years I’ve read these pages out loud as well.

The Illustrated Family Bible approaches the Bible respectfully and takes it seriously.  Nevertheless, there are a few things I don’t like.  Occasionally the verses left out in this version of the Bible contain crucial information, subtly altering the meaning.  That, I think, is inherent in the nature of such a book and is to be expected.  Furthermore, some of the pictures are gory, although I can usually cover them discretely with my hand while I read the story.  Finally, I do not appreciate the pictures used for Revelation; who are we to try to draw ‘the Son of Man’ in all his glory?  And how can anyone even begin to portray the amazing events and symbolism of Revelation without unwittingly ‘adding to or subtracting from’ this book?

Even with these flaws, the Illustrated Family Bible has been a blessing to our family.

Disclosure:  We have owned the Illustrated Family Bible for many years.  I receive no compensation for my reviews and the opinions expressed are my own.

-Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five, who reviews and blogs at Tea Time with Annie Kate.

French is Fun

 Foreign Language, High School, Middle School  1 Response »
Dec 082010
 

In grade 7, after years of low-key, informal French, our children start French is Fun 1.  This inexpensive textbook from AMSCO works well for us, helping the children consolidate all their earlier knowledge and extending it dramatically.

French is Fun, Book 1:  Lively Lessons for Beginners, Third Edition by Gail Stein and Heywood Wald brings beginners to a reasonable level of proficiency.  Students learn listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills through oral and written exercises, stories, and more.  This course requires a teacher who knows some French.

The Student Text

French is Fun 1 is divided into six parts, each containing four lessons and a thorough review.  Although it can be used as a work-text, we have been using it as a textbook with the children doing the written work in a scribbler.

Each of the 24 lessons teaches vocabulary using pictures and provides a formal list at the end of the lesson.  Grammar concepts are usually taught by example, leaving the student to puzzle out the rules.  However, each review chapter provides organized grammar rules for students who learn better that way. Several oral exercises are provided in each chapter, with scripted questions and prompts from the Teacher’s Manual and Key.  There are also a good number of written exercises.  Each chapter has a story of some kind, often humorous, that showcases concepts to be learned.  A cartoon conversation lesson adds comic relief, and a cultural section teaches about life in France.  The final section allows the student to practice recently learned skills on authentic French material and to build self-confidence.

Supplementary Materials

As mentioned, the Teacher’s Manual and Key includes oral exercises, answers to the written exercises, lesson quizzes, tests after every fourth lesson, and two exams.  You need this manual to teach the course. We have not used the companion workbook or the expensive audio program.

How We Use It

We have tried many different ways of studying French is Fun 1. What seems to work best for our children is a daily 15 minute session with me, practicing vocabulary, reading stories, learning new material, doing oral exercises, and reviewing.  After that, the child goes off to do the relevant exercises on his/her own. This method allows us to complete the course in about a year and a half without overloading the child.

When a child finishes French is Fun 1, we start him/her on French is Fun 2 by Gail Stein.  There are no newer editions of Level 2 and it is not as user-friendly as the third edition Level 1 text.  On the other hand, it does present a lot of important information.  Since we usually only have half a year left to study Level 2 before starting our high school French program, we just make do.

After we’d used our second hand copy of French is Fun 1 for a while, the pages started to come out.  We had it spiral bound, as you can see, and it is still serving us well many years later.

Our Opinions

French is Fun 1 is an affordable and pleasant introduction to formal French.  It teaches the language clearly and engages the students on many levels by incorporating pictures, stories, real-life French examples, and cultural information.  Parents who know some French will find it easy to use.

This is not a Christian book.  We skip the occasional exercise, such as those about lotteries, and once or twice I had to black out a word in a story.  Concepts such as dating and the importance of teen popularity are assumed.  Since this is a book that requires a parent to teach it, we can discuss each issue as it arises, making it a mini-worldview course as well as a language course.

The fourth edition of French is Fun 1, with supplementary materials, is available from AMSCO, and earlier editions can be bought second hand.  We own the third edition.

Disclosure:  We have owned French is Fun 1 for many years.  I receive no compensation for my reviews and the opinions expressed are my own.

-Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five, who reviews and blogs at Tea Time with Annie Kate. http://homeschoolblogger.com/reviewsandmore/.

Dover Coloring Books

 Art, History, Science, Unit study resources  4 Responses »
Nov 102010
 

We have many, many Dover coloring books, and they have changed the life of at least one of our children.  Miss 12 spends hours carefully coloring fashions of the past.  She has learned so much history simply from studying the pictures and reading the captions.  In fact, when she looks at paintings she can date them accurately, just by what the people are wearing!  She’s also learned a lot about color, realism, different media, and shading from the historical fashion coloring books.

Of course, not all Dover coloring books are about historical fashions.  We have books about military planes, cowboys, dogs, birds of prey, weeds, butterflies, and more.  Many of these books have small full-color examples of each coloring page, and all of them have informative captions for each picture.  Other coloring book titles include castles, farm animals, and ABC’s .  You can see them all here.

Note that these are not your typical scribble-in-when-you-are-four-years-old coloring books.  The pictures are detailed and accurate and would be a pleasant challenge even for an adult.  The paper is high quality, and we’ve even used markers on them, although pencil crayons and gel-pens work better.

For children who love to do something with their hands while mom reads aloud or while chatting with friends, there is no better Christmas gift or add-on to a school subject.  Of course these books will not work for all children, but since they are relatively inexpensive it’s worth a try.  If the kids don’t like them, you can always color them yourself.  In fact, I’m regularly tempted to order some of the great artists books for myself, but right now my days are too full to add a project like that.

To try out actual coloring pages, you can sign up for free weekly samples at the Dover web site.

Caution:  Occasionally the outfits in the fashion coloring books are indecent.  Some of the other books, such as those about art, may need a similar warning, but I have not seen them.

Disclosure

This review is based on the many Dover coloring books we have bought over the years. I do not receive any compensation for it.

-Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five great children, who blogs at Tea Time With Annie Kate.

Seterra Geography Program

 Geography, Online  6 Responses »
Oct 182010
 

My kids can easily locate many countries, cities, and landforms on the map.  Part of this is because we like atlases and we look places up when we read about them.  The main reason, however, is that we like to play Seterra.

Seterra is an addicting and highly educational geography program.  What’s more, it is free.

Here is how it works.  You open the program and decide what area of the world to focus on:  Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Australasia, or The World.  Each of these has various options.  For example, ‘Australasia’ has two options, ‘Australia: Surrounding Countries’ and ‘Australia and New Zealand:  Cities.’  On the other hand, ‘Europe’ has many choices, and focuses on individual countries as well as the continent as a whole.  ‘North America’ also has a large number of options including US states, capitals, large cities, and cities in different regions.  There are also two choices for Canada that are just right for my Little Misses, one about cities, and one about provinces and territories.  You can even study flags!

Once you’ve clicked on your choice of game, the screen fills with a green map and a name attaches itself to your cursor.  The object is to quickly click on the correct location on the map which then turns white.  If you get it after one error, that part of the map turns light yellow, and if you make two errors, it turns bright yellow. If you get it wrong three times, the correct area turns bright green as a hint, and when you click on it, it turns red.  The upshot of all of this is that you will soon have a brightly colored screen that clearly shows what you know and don’t know.  At the end of a game, you can click on the colored areas to learn their identities.  If you’re like our family, you will then immediately restart the game to see if you can get it correct this time.  Or the next time.  Or the time after that.

To increase the addiction factor, your time is measured to the second, and your score in percents is recorded.  The ten fastest and highest scores are permanently listed, together with the names of the players.  My children and I tend to choose a topic and then practice, practice, practice until we can get 100%.  Then we work on reducing the time, aiming for a place among the top 10.

In the past the older children did so well that the little ones could no longer make the top 10, so we downloaded Seterra onto everyone’s account.  This way each of us can compete against ourselves, which is probably a good idea.  Now, after more than a year of no competition among us, I think we might download Seterra to a public account so that anyone who wants to compete with siblings (or Mama) can.

I was surprised that even prereaders can play Seterra using pattern recognition. Probably little actual learning goes on in their case, but they certainly become familiar with maps.  On the other end of the age spectrum, I also learn a lot from the program.

We discovered that it is easy to forget the places we’ve memorized with Seterra unless we learn more about each location, whether from books, DVD’s, or first-hand stories.  Such in-depth knowledge is, of course, the goal of geography. Without knowing the maps, however, the stories often don’t make sense.  That’s why we think Seterra is an invaluable component of any person’s education.

Disclosure:  Seterra, developed by Marianne Wartoft from Sweden, is freeware that we have enjoyed for years.

-Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five great children, who blogs at Tea Time With Annie Kate.

The Key To… Math Curriculum

 Elementary, Mathematics, Middle School  3 Responses »
Sep 242010
 

As a physicist, I understand, somewhat, the nature of mathematics.  It’s actually a language, and children can benefit from being taught it as a language.  Among other things, this means using many different resources rather than just one curriculum.  One wonderful resource, the Key to… Math Series, has been a part of our math program for eight years now.

Many people think of the Key To… Math curriculum as a remedial aid.  We use it in a completely different way:  to increase the children’s ability to understand mathematical concepts on their own. Naturally this also increases their confidence and reduces my workload.

Summary

Key to… Math is a series of teaching workbooks covering Fractions, Decimals, Percents, Measurement, Metric Measurement, Geometry, and Algebra. It spans several years of math instruction and provides a wonderful introduction to each of these topics.

Description

Each Key To… topic is made up of a series of workbooks and a teacher’s book containing student pages with all the answers written in.  The booklets teach the concepts so simply that my children rarely have to ask me for help.  Instead, they learn independent study skills and gain confidence in their ability to teach themselves.  There is a lot of practice for each concept, so that by the time a child has finished a series of booklets, he has mastered the concept.

This series is, thus, not a spiral approach to mathematics, but a mastery approach.  Obviously, math concepts build on each other so some review is inevitable, but it is not a focus in these books.  The lack of review could be a challenge for some children, but mine like learning a topic well, being able to use it, and then moving on.

Each booklet is about 30-40 pages, except for some of the geometry booklets which are combined volumes.  Each page is simple, black and white, with space for the answers to be written in.  There is no clutter and no distracting color or silliness. (View sample pages by clicking on each workbook here.)  Math history is illustrated on the covers of the booklets and explained in detail so that children learn the background of mathematics as well as its substance.

How We Fit Key To…Math into our Homeschool

After our children have finished Miquon Math, we let them begin the Key To Fractions series.  Since we have the children write the answers out in a scribbler rather than in the workbooks, it is a difficult transition at first, but by fourth grade our children have been able to manage this.  When they begin the series, they occasionally need me to explain the workbook’s explanations.  The explanations themselves are clear, but at that age the children have a hard time slowing down enough to read them, and often they don’t really believe that they can figure the problem out by themselves.  So I generally just read the workbook’s explanation out loud, slowly.  Occasionally I’ll also work out the problem on paper.  Rarely, I make up a few extra practice problems just to verify that the children understand the concept.

I mark the work as soon as possible, and the children redo each incorrect answer.

Because our children use overlapping curricula as well as various drill programs, they occasionally want to challenge a booklet.  I allow them to study it, and then take the end of booklet practice tests just as usual.  Although we do not use the available test booklet, we do use the practice tests at the end of each booklet.  If our children score over 90% they have completed the booklet, are rewarded, and move on.  If their mark is between 80% and 90%, they have to restudy problem concepts, and if they score below 80% they have to buckle down and actually do (or redo) the booklet.  In mathematics it’s no use moving on to more difficult concepts if earlier concepts are not mastered.

Each year the children study several workbooks, and we aim to finish Fractions, Decimals, Percents, and Metric Measurement by the middle of grade 6.  Metric Measurement is a treat that gets divided up over the three years, because it is hands-on and full of simple projects.

After that, the children take a break from the Key To… Series and review it all by whizzing through Singapore Math 3a to 6b almost entirely on their own.   Then I have them struggle through the Singapore PSLE book.  By that time they are well into grade 7 and ready to work through Key to Geometry and start Key to Algebra.  After the fifth algebra booklet, they do Singapore’s NEM 1, and then return to Key to Algebra before finishing the NEM series. Singapore math is known to be advanced and teacher-intensive, but after using the Key To… Series my children are able to learn Singapore math almost entirely on their own.

What We Think

If your child does not do well with the spiral approach to learning mathematics, try the mastery approach.  In these booklets, each concept is taught thoroughly until a child knows it.

Our children needed more drill and more practice with large number multiplication and division than was provided in this series.  Other than that, the elementary Key To… Series is a wonderful curriculum.  Our children do well at math, understand it, and are not afraid of it.

Key to Geometry is an amazing hands-on course, but it does not meet the geometry needs of a high school student.  It gives an intuitive understanding that helps with a later logic-based geometry course, though.

Key to Algebra is a great introduction and confidence booster, but it is not a final algebra course.  It really helps students understand the concepts as opposed to just telling them what to do.

I love the Key To…Series booklets.  They give my children confidence, teach them math rather than techniques, and reduce my teaching load.

Disclosure: We have been using the Key To…Series for many years.  I received nothing from Key Curriculum Press in order to write this review.

-Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five great children, who blogs at Tea Time With Annie Kate.

Rod and Staff Grammar

 Charlotte Mason, Grammar, High School, Junior High Language Arts, Language Arts  5 Responses »
Jul 232010
 

When I was a child, my younger sisters studied grammar differently than I did. They learned something mysterious called ‘diagramming’ and had very interesting textbooks.

Many years later a friend of mine was selling some books, and in the pile I found Rod and Staff grammar texts. Exactly what my sisters had studied! Of course I bought them.  We were ready for a formal grammar program.

Following Charlotte Mason’s ideas, we did not do grammar for the first few years, but my oldest was certainly old enough by this time. We had tried Simply Grammar, but it did not have enough practice for the children and required too much of my time. We tried Grammar Songs, but did not appreciate the music. We had a little grocery store diagramming booklet, but that wasn’t enough. Daily Grams had been a good introduction, but we were ready to move on, and the accompanying Easy Grammar was not as thorough as I wished. Christian Liberty Press Grammar had been a huge disappointment because it did not teach in a way that worked for us.

So we were eager to try something else. It turned out that the Building Christian English series from Rod and Staff Publishers was the answer. This is a rigorous, thorough, well-organized, clear, Christian, mom-friendly, multi-year grammar program, with good answer keys and tests. It also includes significant lessons on writing and communication.

About Building Christian English Levels 4-8:

  • Each hard cover student text contains about eleven chapters, comprising approximately 120 lessons, and is illustrated with simple black and white drawings.
  • The lessons contain clear explanations and examples, with important concepts in boxes.
  • After some oral drill questions, the lessons end with written practice and occasionally a review section. Every chapter also ends with an entire review lesson.
  • Interspersed through the grammar teaching are writing exercises which are clearly labeled in the table of contents as well as in the text itself.
  • The index is clear and thorough.
  • In each of these volumes, poetry appreciation and sentence diagramming are taught.
  • Exercises and examples often relate to the Bible, nature, or everyday Mennonite life.

The Teacher’s Manual contains the entire student text, with teaching notes and answers printed in large, colored margins. Answers to the worksheets, the chapter tests, and the exams (for higher levels only) are in the back of the book. The worksheets, tests, and exams come in 8×11 inch paperback booklets.

Building With Diligence, 4

This book begins with an overview of the text itself and then moves on to simple studies of subjects and predicates; sentences; nouns; verbs; pronouns; adjectives; adverbs; punctuation; prepositions and conjunctions; and capitalization and dictionary use. Composition lessons include instruction about sentences, paragraphs, unity and order in paragraphs, poetry, reports, stories, and letters. Each chapter begins with a relevant rhyme and has worksheets and a test.

Following the Plan, 5

This level begins with review and covers the previous year’s topics in greater depth—topics such as compound sentences; appositives; outlining; kinds of pronouns; direct, indirect, and divided quotations; conversation in stories; using a concordance; and more. Chapters begin with picture discussions of the subject matter.

Progressing with Courage, 6

Topics range from perfect tenses to diagramming appositive adjectives, from courtesy in conversation to using subordinate conjunctions, and from complex sentences to writing a report. Each chapter begins with a grammar definition and a Bible text. A final test finishes up the year.

Building Securely, 7

This book teaches paragraph coherence, taking notes, oral reports, poetry, and stories. It also refines the student’s understanding of complex sentences, verbals, pronouns, conjunctions and much more.

Preparing for Usefulness, 8

Originally the final volume in the series, this book deepens a student’s ability to prepare paragraphs, letters, reports, outlines, stories, poetry, directions, and summaries. It also reviews and enhances grammar concepts such as compound complex sentences, dashes and parentheses, and verbal phrases.

We are beginning the level 9&10 books, Communicating Effectively, this summer. The two books at this level do not follow each other but can be studied independently. They involve more writing, editing, and speaking skills and less grammar. At this level our children are learning a lot of grammar in their foreign language studies, so I think we will really appreciate the focus on communication.

How We Used It

After a bit of fumbling about with my oldest, who was the patient guinea pig in our search for a grammar program, we discovered a great way to use the Rod and Staff grammar series. Since it only goes to level 9&10, and since it is quite rigorous, we decided to study each volume two years later than recommended. So, in grade 6 our children begin with the level 4 text, and so on.

This works well because by this age our children can study largely on their own. They do not want me to sit down and explain each concept; that is much too slow for them. The writing involved in level 4 is not too overwhelming for a child in grade 6. By the time the child is in grade 7, working on the level 5 book, he or she is able to absorb much of the content without doing all the exercises. I’ll mark whatever a child chooses to do, and then the child takes the test. If the test score is below 80%, the child has to repeat the chapter, doing all the work in order to learn the material. In this way our children develop maturity and are allowed to take charge of their own learning. At the same time, they acquire a thorough and rigorous knowledge of grammar which is helpful in their writing and their foreign language studies.

By starting with the level 4 book, we miss the content of the earlier textbooks. That is not a problem, because by grade 6 our children have learned a lot of grammar concepts from their language lesson programs. Through the years we also casually discuss parts of speech, often in relation to a foreign language.

Obviously, the children need to do their work in scribblers. They write the tests on loose leaf, though this requires creativity with some of the proofreading exercises. For those, the children usually copy down the word or words that need correction. Although this takes some extra time, it works well for us. Of course, you can always buy a test booklet for each child.

We are eager to begin the level 9/10 program for grade 12 next year. I think we will be able to do both texts in one year if we use the content of other courses as topics for the writing exercises.

Our Opinions

The Building Christian English program from Rod and Staff Publishers is rigorous but not overwhelming. It is suitable for independent study, and has a very helpful and thorough answer key for the grammar lessons. Unfortunately there are no marking rubrics for the writing assignments. The tests are thorough, balanced, and have clear answer keys.

Even though we do not agree with every idea presented, I love the fact that many of the examples and exercises reflect the Bible and Christian living. A non-Christian family might find the religious content overwhelming; for us it is part of the program’s appeal.

Our Recommendations

If you want a thorough, well-organized, Christian grammar program, you should check out the Building Christian English series from Rod and Staff Publishers. Although this Mennonite publishing company has no website, there are two related sites that sell this grammar series: Rod and Staff Books and More (sample lessons available) and Anabaptist Bookstore. The series is also available from some homeschool suppliers.

Disclosure: This review is of a textbook series we have used and loved for years. We already had the products and received no compensation for this review.

-Written by Annie Kate, a Christian homeschooling mom of five great children, who blogs at Tea Time With Annie Kate.

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