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Bookswithtea
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| Posted: April 25 2006 at 12:10pm | IP Logged
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I've been musing on Elizabeth's latest blog about how workbooks have their place at certain times, even in a CM lifestyle. She shared here that she ordered some workbooks from CHC.
http://ebeth.typepad.com/reallearning/2006/04/workbooks.html
I was also recently reading the introductory material in the CHC K-4 lesson plans. Theresa Johnson says this:
"CHC materials have been designed specifically to save preparation time for the teacher, and facilitate presentation. Homeschooling is not the same as classroom schooling. CHC workbooks are not identical to classroom texts geared to teach a large group of children at varying levels of ability. Rather, CHC materials are designed for a one on one approach that, after a brief presentation of the lesson, allows the student to work far more independently than to most standard texts..." (from the FAQs and Answers)
So here's my question...do you think CHC's workbooks are different from standard workbooks? Do you find that they work more effectively in your home than other workbooks you may have tried that are not designed for a homeschool setting?
Blessings,
~Books
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Elizabeth
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Real Learning
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| Posted: April 25 2006 at 12:22pm | IP Logged
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I've never used any other workbooks in my home. I do find that the CHC workbooks generate conversation. I never really noticed that with classroom notebooks.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: April 25 2006 at 12:55pm | IP Logged
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I have used a few CHC workbooks, though not many. I did find they were different from others in that there was not as much repetition or review of concepts. This may be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your thinking on that.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Shari in NY
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Well, no, not much difference. We have never finished a workbook in this house from any publisher. I will say that the CHC workbooks (4th grade spelling and grammar) produced the least grumbling.
Shari in NY
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Bookswithtea
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| Posted: April 25 2006 at 3:13pm | IP Logged
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I've used the CHC spellers and one year of Language of God. We definitely have had conversations generated from the spellers. And I have found that they don't seem as overwhelming to complete as some other workbooks I've rejected for our family.
I am not sure what I think about the Language of God series. Some of it has gone very well and some has been entirely over the head of my dd (3rd grade).
I told a friend recently that I think using a few well chosen workbooks could be analagous to the occasional can of processed food in my cupboard. I believe in whole foods that are unprocessed. But sometimes I need a shortcut now and again just to make it through the day and still be sane. I find if I strive for the absolute ideal in every single area of life (breastfeeding, mothering, birthing, hsing, organic food, alt. dentistry, etc etc etc...) I start to go mad. 
I think CHC may have a valid point that theirs are different because they are intended for homeschoolers. I can't think of another workbook series that wasn't designed for classroom use. I know they have helped me at times when I felt at my wit's end. Workbooks aren't the ideal. But then my household isn't the ideal, either. 
~Books
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Shari in NY
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| Posted: April 26 2006 at 8:13am | IP Logged
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Dear Books,
We have a sign over our door stating that "This is NOT a Model Home" (we've had this since the 70's when my husband worked as a carpenter building housing complexes in Florida). It has always brought comments to new visiters. And it is SO true . My twins caught on how to "cook" the LOG workbooks and they have been of minimal use since. They do, however, really like Intermediate Language Lessons. No way to shortcut those. I'm sure the LOG workbooks are wonderful for more organized (and inspired by English grammar) moms but for us they turned into busy work, something I had vowed never to do to my kids. I started out as an unschooling follower of John Holt and started using curriculum after the birth of the twins and now have come full circle (or almost). I love Elizabeth's Real Learning, along with Karen Andreola's Charlotte Mason Companion. It is a hard path between "school" and "family". For awhile we were a school first and a family second. That didn't work very well and I was frazzled all the time. Now we are a family first once again and the savings from not buying someone elses curriculum will let us take a vacation for the first time in ten years. (Okay, it's not just the money, it has something to do with the youngest being 6 now and hopefully up for 13 hours in the car) And it helps me to remember that Charlotte Mason was designing a school. I think it is wonderful how all the people on this board have taken her ideas and run with them adapting them to home and family.
But I know what you mean with your processed food analogy. Sometimes we just need to get food on the table!
Shari in NY
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Bookswithtea
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| Posted: April 26 2006 at 12:37pm | IP Logged
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Shari in NY wrote:
| They do, however, really like Intermediate Language Lessons. |
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LOL. We use ILL, too. I have been really happy with it because its gentle and developmentally appropriate and because I don't feel pressured to finish a certain number of lessons in order to feel like we've had a good school year.
~books
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Shari in NY
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| Posted: April 27 2006 at 8:09am | IP Logged
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Dear Books,
It is funny. All of my kids have loved this book. I think it is kinda...well...boring. But my girls loved memorizing Longfellow and my boys think Helen Keller's letter to Oliver Wendell Holmes incredible. How could she write it? Why isn't she more sad? What a rabbit trail that was. And some of the assignments are hard but they would much rather write a story about two squirrels in an elm tree (another trail) than change adjectives to adverbs in a workbook.
Shari in NY
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: April 27 2006 at 11:18am | IP Logged
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We have used CHC workbooks for the past 2 years. Seton's before that. We use them very, very loosely and I don't usually *grade* them. We just go over them for corrections. But they are the only *requirement* I have for getting passed onto the next grade. 
If it's any consolation to anyone, my oldest dd told me this week that her classes only work out of their workbooks perhaps three times the whole year! She said their workbooks primarily just sit on a shelf and never get touched. 
The only reason I'm horrified is because parents pay for those workbooks at the beginning of each school year.  What a wasted forest. 
She said most of their learning process is done in project groups, classroom discussions, reading and studying the text, lots, lots, lots of copying from the board and dictation from the teacher, and lots, lots, lots of tests.
The tests are the only part of this equation I don't approve of, but she thrives on making the grade and studies like a true professor.
__________________
Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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TracyQ
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We have used some on and off, and they do have their place, I think, especially when we want to spend more time on history or science,or nature study, or whatever.
We've used Language of God, and Sarah really liked it, up until the last year. I think she kind of got a bit bored doing the same workbook style over and over again. I guess being a family who seldom uses texts/workbooks may do that to you anyway.
But all in all, I really loved Language of God for her. 
__________________
Blessings and Peace,
Tracy Q.
wife of Marty for 20 years, mom of 3 wonderful children (1 homeschool graduate, 1 12th grader, and a 9th grader),
 homeschooling in 15th year in Buffalo, NY
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mary
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| Posted: April 28 2006 at 6:45am | IP Logged
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i have only used workbooks for math, hwt, and this year CHC's spelling and language of god. i like the math workbooks and hwt. i bought the other books because my son was not doing his sonlight LA and i sought to replace programs. it turns out that he needed the confidence of the workbooks and i think would be ready for something more meaty next year.
i think, books, that your analogy of workbooks and processed food is right on! my kids seemed to enjoy the 'treat' of filling in the pages and then completing a book.
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rivendellmom
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This year like most, I ordered workbooks, and this year like most, I'm looking at them on the shelf, a few pages done, wondering why I wasted the money. We've been doing Sonlight's LA and they love those worksheets! So, SL combined with bravewriter seems to be our perfect fit.
The only exception is in math, where we use all workbooks, because no one in this house can copy a math problem correctly!
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Jen in suburban Chicagoland Mom to Connor(91), Garrett(93), Reilly (95), Mary Katherine (98), Declan (05), Ronan in ^i^ 6/28/08
visit our new blog: http://recreationalscholar.blogspot.com/
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Workbooks
