Switched on Schoolhouse

[topekaclark]

I am so sorry, I thought I started a new thread, I will get a mod help move it into a thread, I am so sorry......


Question, I'm gearing up for next year and making plans.......

I have several ages:

5th grade

8th grade

11th grade


my junior, it's his first year of homeschooling, he has always struggled in school and will be repeating alot of his classes except English and possibly history which he is currently holding a high b in that class. So I know he is capable just not motavited.....so any advice please I wouldreally appreciate it.[/B] I was thinking of community college classes from like 1 or two at the most.


On my 8th grader, I found switched on school house cd set on a used site, does anyone know anything about that and do I need order workbooks?

The little one I have used abeka and have some textbooks here already for her, she is so simple, yeah....


I was thinking of unit studies on history and science......i have begun making plans.

Any advice bring it on, pretty please......:lol2

also I have connected with our homeschool group here so I can learn how to cover the high school needs.

[WordyTrees]

I hope you will post your question over at the Well Trained Mind Forums. You will gets tons of GREAT advice there! I would be concerned that your 8th grader will get bored with SOS. Also, you can get a copy of the book, The Well Trained Mind on Amazon, the newest edition started shipping yesterday. If you don't own it already, GET IT. You will NEVER regret it.

[topekaclark]

Thank you, going there right now.:hat

[My Abba's Child]

I am so sorry, I thought I started a new thread, I will get a mod help move it into a thread, I am so sorry......


Question, I'm gearing up for next year and making plans.......

I have several ages:

5th grade

8th grade

11th grade


my junior, it's his first year of homeschooling, he has always struggled in school and will be repeating alot of his classes except English and possibly history which he is currently holding a high b in that class. So I know he is capable just not motavited.....so any advice please I wouldreally appreciate it.[/B] I was thinking of community college classes from like 1 or two at the most.


On my 8th grader, I found switched on school house cd set on a used site, does anyone know anything about that and do I need order workbooks?

The little one I have used abeka and have some textbooks here already for her, she is so simple, yeah....


I was thinking of unit studies on history and science......i have begun making plans.

Any advice bring it on, pretty please......:lol2

also I have connected with our homeschool group here so I can learn how to cover the high school needs.

Switched on Schoolhouse has no workbooks... it's all done on computer, the teaching lessons are offered on the computer, the practice work is done on the computer, the software grades the practice work, quizzes and tests, etc... It also allows you to set up your yearly calendar and then assigns lessons based on what calendar you set up. It's Bible based curriculum and can also be suited to work at each child's speed. However, if you have children in more than 1 grade, it can be EXPENSIVE because you'd have to buy more than 1 curriculum (they run about $250 per grade).

We're planning to switch to AoP's Weaver curriculum, it looks EXCELLENT!! It's unit studies based on the Bible, it can be taught at all grade levels, and it's not used up, so you can use it year after year. Unit studies are AWESOME for Bible study, history/geography, literature and science... it really ties things altogether and shows that the Bible is REAL and RELEVANT and is a satisfying thing to wrap your life around! :)

In His love,

[Lucy]

I love SOS.
I bought mine used on Ebay and use it for 3 kids. We supplement with Saxon math but that is our personal choice as we feel math is very important and we like to get as much as we can. We also supplement with some personal Bible study although that is also not necessary. The scheduling features are nice and I have found it to be complete in scope and sequence and simple to grade. We also like the Spanish elective choices. SOS has freed me to allow them some personal space to work alone and some time for me to complete other projects with them that I didn't have time for when I had to be right on top of them. There is also an accountability factor with deadlines and timelines that they have had to work within that homeschoolers sometimes struggle with. The current edition isn't that much different from last year's or the year before... Just my .02

[paul_answers]

I love SOS.
I bought mine used on Ebay and use it for 3 kids. We supplement with Saxon math but that is our personal choice as we feel math is very important and we like to get as much as we can. We also supplement with some personal Bible study although that is also not necessary. The scheduling features are nice and I have found it to be complete in scope and sequence and simple to grade. We also like the Spanish elective choices. SOS has freed me to allow them some personal space to work alone and some time for me to complete other projects with them that I didn't have time for when I had to be right on top of them. There is also an accountability factor with deadlines and timelines that they have had to work within that homeschoolers sometimes struggle with. The current edition isn't that much different from last year's or the year before... Just my .02

:nod

[topekaclark]

thanks all, I refuse to get stress with trying to get ready for next year. Most of the stuff I brought a couple years ago was used, I am very frugal and it has rubbed off on my children....

I think I told the story of my then 15 year old child, I gave him $4 dollars to go buy stamps thinking he would get several stamps at 39 cents.

He had to use the stamp machine at wal-mart, he was gone for the longest time. My husband found him with a handful of 1 cent stamps feeding money into the machine to get more......he sure made that money go far.....lol I was laughing so hard I had tears rolling.

[paul_answers]

thanks all, I refuse to get stress with trying to get ready for next year. Most of the stuff I brought a couple years ago was used, I am very frugal and it has rubbed off on my children....

I think I told the story of my then 15 year old child, I gave him $4 dollars to go buy stamps thinking he would get several stamps at 39 cents.

He had to use the stamp machine at wal-mart, he was gone for the longest time. My husband found him with a handful of 1 cent stamps feeding money into the machine to get more......he sure made that money go far.....lol I was laughing so hard I had tears rolling.

:lol2

[nevermore]

anyone else used Switched on Schoolhouse?

Debating getting it, how is the Language Arts in it?

I mean what does that consist of? Reading, spelling ,phonics, comprehension , what?

[NewWorldOrder]

anyone else used Switched on Schoolhouse?

Debating getting it, how is the Language Arts in it?

I mean what does that consist of? Reading, spelling ,phonics, comprehension , what?

I used SOS years ago, and we didn't like it. My daughter got very frustrated with it because you have to put exactly the right answer or the program counts it wrong. So, if she answered a question correctly, but it didn't have just the right words or it was misspelled, she got it wrong. If you are using a textbook and you are doing the grading, you make exceptions for things like that in most subjects, unless what they're working on requires the answer to be exact. For that reason, parents and kids get frustrated with it because the parent would have to go back and recheck the work to see if they actually did the answer correct and if they did, change the grade in the program. It's not perfect. Nothing will replace traditional teaching methods.