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Kathryn
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| Posted: May 06 2010 at 10:42am | IP Logged
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...book reports, book reviews, composition paragraphs etc for an upcoming 3rd/4th grader (he's in between) and 6th grader?
We're heading into completing our first year of homeschooling and, well, it's been interesting.... 
I did a full enrollment for both kiddos thru Seton but am looking at only enrolling them in Seton English and Reading next year. My thoughts are that I like the idea of them having these specific books laid out that I know are "approved" by a strong Catholic provider and having Seton provide all the materials and such to guide them thru critically reviewing a book on their grade level. Also, I'm thinking that I can't objectively "grade" their work based on other kids on about the same grade level but I'm looking for other opinions...pro and con. And also, are there any other providers that provide this service? I was looking at CHC esp. for my son for English/Reading but I know they don't offer grading.
Oh yeh...honestly I haven't submitted any of their paperwork this year to get grades back for these items to even know if I would like the way Seton does their grading. However, that will be done this month.
Thanks,
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Kathryn in TX
(dd 16, ds 15, dd 8, dd 5)
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Teachin'Mine2
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| Posted: May 06 2010 at 11:00pm | IP Logged
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I'm not so sure how necessary it is to have the work graded at such young ages, but that's just my thinking. To me it's more about getting them to love reading and writing and to do both often and the critical aspect can come later.
If you do decide to sign them up, it would be helpful if you sent the work into them for grading as soon as each assignment is done. That way your kids get feedback and can adjust what they do on the next assignment accordingly. Sending it all in at once at the end of the year doesn't give them the benefit of grading, which is to help them learn how to improve. But I understand it's your first year, and I think there are families who have been doing it that way for many years. Don't forget that if you/they aren't happy with the grade they receive, they can redo the assignment and resubmit it.
Does Kolbe offer this also?
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mom of one 13yo dd
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Kathryn
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| Posted: May 07 2010 at 1:56pm | IP Logged
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Teachin'Mine2 wrote:
it would be helpful if you sent the work into them for grading as soon as each assignment is done. That way your kids get feedback and can adjust what they do on the next assignment accordingly. Sending it all in at once at the end of the year doesn't give them the benefit of grading, which is to help them learn how to improve.
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 This is my failing in actually having them even DO the work to turn it in before now! I'm thinking yes, may be I will pass for my son but sign up just my daughter who takes to this more school-y stuff much better. However, even when she was at the local parish school, they did more "fun" book reports as projects as opposed to just note-taking and outlines and paragraphs...dry, dry, dry but I just don't know how to do it any other way for her. ?!?! May be I'll start another post about that.
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Kathryn in TX
(dd 16, ds 15, dd 8, dd 5)
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Teachin'Mine2
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| Posted: May 07 2010 at 5:24pm | IP Logged
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The first year is definitely a learning year. I think you're doing great if you've gotten all the assignments done by the end of the year.  I don't know what the writing assignments are like in the younger grades, but the jr. high and hs ones are very similar to what I did in school. We did also do some short story writing or more creative writing, but my dd gets to do that for fun on her own time.
You can get the books for him, and then make up your own writing assignments. I think it's important to find out what each student is interested in, and then let them write about that. The more they write the better they get whether it's graded or not.
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ekbell
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Other possible options to consider
I've found the book Comprehensive Composition very useful for my older students (see Cathy Duffy Reviews Comprehensive Composition). It's particularly useful when deciding on reasonable writing assignments for middle school.
CHC's language of God workbooks shift to a more comprehensive format with quite a good composition section for average grade six and up. They also sell writing workshop e-books but I haven't tried them out.[btw I quite like CHC's free study guides for the Father Brown Reader(used in their grade four plans) and King of the Golden City]
If you need help in grading assignments there are rubrics available online to aid teachers in assessment, some of which are quite good.
Another option I've considered has been using one of the available writing services. There are quite a few both on and off line with varying degrees of flexibility.
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time4tea
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Another option for writing you may want to consider is Wordsmith Apprentice. We have used the Wordsmith series at our house and the dc really like it. The lessons are enjoyable, they don't take forever to complete, and I like that I can see improvement in their writing skills and that the books are reasonably priced.
I also second the CHC study guides and readers, esp. the Father Brown, King of the Golden City and Stories of the Saints. My dd will be doing Stories of the Saints next year for 5th grade, along with King of the Golden City. I did Stories of the Saints with my oldest ds several years ago now and it was wonderful!
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