THIS POST WILL NO LONGER BE UPDATED AFTER 5/2015. NEW PAGE HERE.
THINGS THAT MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE:
- Construct a realistic schedule. In the Writing Manual and Language Arts Overview, sold by the school, it is clear that the “directed reading” and the history assignments are supposed to be separate, unless you have a reluctant reader. To that end, we have 30 minutes of history reading, which may be on audio, and 30 minutes of eyeballs on the page in a book of my choosing. It is recommended that this time in the evenings, but that is not my life. Also the times for music are off. The performances are HOURS long, so schedule accordingly on those weeks.
- Learn the difference between a retelling and a summary and how to teach and grade papers and outlines. The afore mentioned book is super-helpful in that regard. I wish I’d had it years ago. It also explains how to handle papers and corrections.
- Figure out your Latin card system. You or your child will be making a LOT of cards this year. If you want to skip all of that, buy the LCI and LCII cards. If you only have one child in Latin this year, the LCI cards cover the first five lessons. Look over the assignments and plan now how you want to handle it and what resources you need. I use the index card boxes and plastic alphabet dividers and number them with a sharpie marker. (Alternatively, you can try our latest option and use a “smart flashcard system” like quizlet, anki, or memrise.)
- Look over the history books in the assignments, not just the booklist. Some are either/or, but we didn’t know that and got them all. It was not necessary. We love listening and following along. If they’re not at your library on audio, consider getting them from audible.com. If you have the blessing/struggle of someone with dyslexia or other print media diagnosis, all of them can be found on LearningAlly.com. Saved our bacon on the harder books. I can’t read everything aloud!
- Read the History books yourself or print out the Literary Analysis from your enrollment book. If you haven’t read the books yourself, this list of questions is supposed to get you through any book conversation you need. Also, these conversations aren’t scheduled, but it is expected that there will be analytical conversations with you. The whole curriculum is aimed at Thomas Aquinas College which uses a discussion-based method of formation. This is likely why there are no “comprehension” questions in the curriculum. Preparing for a discussion with mom serves the same purpose.
- Get your Egypt and Ancient Near East map blanks and keys ready. We didn’t prepare and the first day was really frustrating. They aren’t easy to find in the recommended book. Do it yourself before you assign it.
- Plan out the Egypt paper assignments: In the online syllabi, we start researching on week 21. Then there’s silence until the paper is due. The suggested outline is given in the first assignment. You will need to put in assignments to work on the paper unless you want to cram at the end. There’s a rubric in the resource section. The Writing Manual and Language Arts Overview mentioned in #1 will tell you how to guide the child through revisions.
- Get your outlines for Voyages ready. Maybe they’re in the teacher’s manual, but I don’t have it. There are these parts of speech outlines assigned and it might throw you for a loop if you don’t already have them worked out yourself. The first one or two are done in the assignments for you in the online syllabi.
- Bundle your memory work resources. Try to do it in one sitting. 6GRDpoetry BC No.2 Q1-149 (Note, last year’s BC goes much deeper into the book, but cherry picks the questions.)
- Bookmark my youtube playlist for 6th grade music (includes the recommended Gregorian chant for calligraphy class).
- Make plans for your Timelines: See how I set up mine HERE. Timeline images HERE. Detailed instructions HERE.
- Make sure you have everything for TOPS. TOPS supply lists sent in by Kristin, thank you! Balance, Pendulums. I did Electricity and Magnetism this year. We found that preparing for a trimester at a time ensured we had enough on hand. Also, we found that doing a few at a time was better than one a week. Dang, we got tired of magnets and batteries.
- Get the Calligraphy supplies: The syllabus mention getting chiseled markers, but we didn’t see that until we’d already bought the real thing. If you aren’t going to do markers get a nib, holder, and washable ink. BTW, my kids REALLY struggle with the recommended book. This year, we are going to substitute with Calligraphy for Kids and this book by Marie Picard in the same series as the early grade handwriting.
- Make Opera rental plans. It doesn’t mention it in any of my booklists, but you need to get Mikado(free on Amazon Prime) and Pirates of Penzance (available on Amazon). The recent Brannaugh version of the Magic Flute is in English, but it has a few issues you will want to see for yourself. There is an unfortunate costume choice in the first fairy scene. The fairies stupidly fall in love and fall all over Tamino. In this version they are dressed as battlefield medical personnel…NUNS. It’s gross and they show a lot of cleavage at one point. The kids also say that this version is sadder and has lots more suicide threats than other versions. I wonder if they only noticed it because it was in English. I have a weirdo 3-part cartoon version of the opera bookmarked on the 6GRD music youtube link above that they didn’t understand as well, but they liked better. Look for “BBC animation” in the title.
- Make sure you already understand WRTR. For the first little bit of the year, you review phonograms and write them in the first 7 pages of the notebook. Then you start going down the Ayers list, 20 words or so at a time. I have a post on this HERE. Also, in the past, the school has offered a one-day online course for parents. It was really helpful. The goal this year is to FINISH the lists. This has not happened for us yet.
- Copy all your Music Worksheets, Latin Quizzes, Math Tests, facts drills, Science Worksheets, Editing sheets….or as many as you can stand for now. I did 10 weeks at a time this year.