Fresh on the heels of in one breath writing a blog about how much I did not care for Switched On Schoolhouse and in the other praising our new system for Sierra, I am here to say I have entered a new phase of irritation with a curriculum choice at the root of all my agitation....and it is a curriculum for Sierra.
I asked for advice on a Language Arts program for Sierra and Christian Light Publications came highly recommended. Of course, the issue with not having a homeschool store within a good distance is that it is hard to really look at a curriculum before committing to buy it. I did go to a store that is a fair distance from here and looked for this program, but they did not seem to have it. Maybe this should have been my first and only clue NOT to buy it, but the woman who recommended it just was so positive about it, I thought I couldn't lose. I did check out the sample online, but it was hardly useful in fully grasping what we were getting into.
Sadly, this little voice inside me said to just buy one workbook (one of the things I liked about this program is it came in workbook forms...she would finish one and pick up another one....twelve in total, I think). I did not listen to that voice and ended up buying it all. Perusing it when I got it seemed to be good, but I failed to really look at it and see it's flaws and how it would frustrate my daughter.
It immediately jumps in to finding verbs, linking verbs, being verbs, adjectives, adverbs, diagramming, etc. Doesn't sound unreasonable, right? Well, how about if the sentences she had to label and diagram were, for the most part, in a more classic, old English language? Ok, not all of it was, but even the ones that were not were more of an old American language. I found myself scratching my head at some of these sentences...many packed with words Sierra has never heard.
Now, it is good to be exposed to this language, but more in a literary form...to expect her to break the sentence apart into the different parts of speech was simply way too much to expect. I could see her slowly shutting down with each lesson...and, honestly, I was too.
This is added to a severe lack of foundation in the subject after being in public school for so long. Public school focuses so much on reading and less time on mechanics. She is just plain lost. Luckily for me, I am doing a great grammar program with Daniel called Shurley Grammar. Daniel is already learning about different parts of the sentence. After many sleepless nights and prayerful moments, I decided to go through Daniel's grammar with Sierra...but at a much faster pace. There is no hurry with Daniel...many do not even opt to teach grammar at his grade level (though I am told that even though this is 2nd Grade, it is well above grade level). As I am going through this with her, I am adding the difficulty of diagramming sentences as we go along. Just today, we went through his first 3 chapters of grammar (she caught up to him in one day). She is more at ease and I am more at peace. Course, with her cruising through Shurley Grammar 2, I will have to buy Shurley Grammar 3 in no time...and 4 soon after and so on. Luckily, this program is working well for Daniel and I have no plans on stopping, so I can buy them for her and use them with him.
A definite key to homeschooling is to not sweat the small stuff. It is so easy to just give up...throw in the towel. But, with careful prayer and thought, a solution will come.
In the meantime, anyone interested in buying a very barely used notebook filled with a year's worth of 8th grade Christian Light Publications Language Arts program??
I asked for advice on a Language Arts program for Sierra and Christian Light Publications came highly recommended. Of course, the issue with not having a homeschool store within a good distance is that it is hard to really look at a curriculum before committing to buy it. I did go to a store that is a fair distance from here and looked for this program, but they did not seem to have it. Maybe this should have been my first and only clue NOT to buy it, but the woman who recommended it just was so positive about it, I thought I couldn't lose. I did check out the sample online, but it was hardly useful in fully grasping what we were getting into.
Sadly, this little voice inside me said to just buy one workbook (one of the things I liked about this program is it came in workbook forms...she would finish one and pick up another one....twelve in total, I think). I did not listen to that voice and ended up buying it all. Perusing it when I got it seemed to be good, but I failed to really look at it and see it's flaws and how it would frustrate my daughter.
It immediately jumps in to finding verbs, linking verbs, being verbs, adjectives, adverbs, diagramming, etc. Doesn't sound unreasonable, right? Well, how about if the sentences she had to label and diagram were, for the most part, in a more classic, old English language? Ok, not all of it was, but even the ones that were not were more of an old American language. I found myself scratching my head at some of these sentences...many packed with words Sierra has never heard.
Now, it is good to be exposed to this language, but more in a literary form...to expect her to break the sentence apart into the different parts of speech was simply way too much to expect. I could see her slowly shutting down with each lesson...and, honestly, I was too.
This is added to a severe lack of foundation in the subject after being in public school for so long. Public school focuses so much on reading and less time on mechanics. She is just plain lost. Luckily for me, I am doing a great grammar program with Daniel called Shurley Grammar. Daniel is already learning about different parts of the sentence. After many sleepless nights and prayerful moments, I decided to go through Daniel's grammar with Sierra...but at a much faster pace. There is no hurry with Daniel...many do not even opt to teach grammar at his grade level (though I am told that even though this is 2nd Grade, it is well above grade level). As I am going through this with her, I am adding the difficulty of diagramming sentences as we go along. Just today, we went through his first 3 chapters of grammar (she caught up to him in one day). She is more at ease and I am more at peace. Course, with her cruising through Shurley Grammar 2, I will have to buy Shurley Grammar 3 in no time...and 4 soon after and so on. Luckily, this program is working well for Daniel and I have no plans on stopping, so I can buy them for her and use them with him.
A definite key to homeschooling is to not sweat the small stuff. It is so easy to just give up...throw in the towel. But, with careful prayer and thought, a solution will come.
In the meantime, anyone interested in buying a very barely used notebook filled with a year's worth of 8th grade Christian Light Publications Language Arts program??
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