Spectrum workbooks--opinions?

Discuss the pros and cons of various curriculums, or get help on which to choose!

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Heath_Crew
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Spectrum workbooks--opinions?

Postby Heath_Crew » Thu Sep 27, 2007 3:23 pm

I'm just wondering what anyone may think of the Spectrum workbooks. We are currently using them for Language Arts grades 2 and 4, Geography grade 4 and Phonics grade 2. Because they are working so well for my kids, I'm considering using them for all subjects next year, except for history and science. Your thoughts on this? Should they be used with other texts as a supplement, or are they ok on their own? Of course, we'll be doing other things in each area as we are now, like writing letters and stories, gardening, art projects that center around things like astronomy and holidays, baking, etc. (We do not do just text book learning.) Thoughts please? TYIA
HS Mom of 3 in Maine

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Morgan
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Postby Morgan » Thu Sep 27, 2007 3:56 pm

I found Spectrum Math workbooks for my grade level helpful when I was doing Geometry. As I was not homeschooled as a young child I can not honestly tell you whether these books worked well for young students, but I know I enjoyed using the Spectrum books for Math.

For Language Arts, I do have a recommendation. Wordly Wise 3000 is a series of workbooks that mainly deals with vocabulary of different words. They range in grade level from K-12, and they have been the most enjoyable Vocabulary books I have ever used. They do not, however, cover the area of Grammar and they do not teach the important rules of grammar or the parts of speech (verb, noun, etc.) Wordly Wise helps with systematic, sequential vocabulary development and has a small article or very short story at the end of each lesson. I think they are great, but keep in mind you would need another textbook or source for learning the parts of speech and other areas that Wordly Wise 3000 does not cover.

I hope I'm not blabbing and hope this helps!
"What we want to see is the child in pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit of the child."
- George Bernard Shaw

Heath_Crew
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WW 3000

Postby Heath_Crew » Thu Sep 27, 2007 6:16 pm

Thanks for your input, I almost got those for this year, but with only one income, money was getting tight, so went with spelling workout and spectrum language arts. I think the vocab may help, especially considering their ages, and they'll get more knowledge of dictionary skills. Thanks again!
HS Mom of 3 in Maine

StellarStory
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Postby StellarStory » Thu Sep 27, 2007 9:54 pm

I liked them for the early grades. I typically got one per grade that covered several areas.

However after grade eight they don't have much anymore. At that point I had to look for other materials.

I am not one for busy work though. Workbooks are often used for that. I'm more of a quality over quantity person.

isamama
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Postby isamama » Sat Sep 29, 2007 11:59 pm

My first year of hsing I had my oldest dd used spectrum. She was in 7th grade. The following year I had to put my kids back in ps (long story, but we found ourselves homeless). She was able to skip 8th grade and took Algebra successfully. Store bought workbooks, including Spectrum, are usually pretty good quality. I just bought dd8 one from Costco that came with a cd that provides numerous additional worksheets online.

I was very uninformed as to what was available for hsers way back then in 1995/96 and all I had to go by is what bookstores sold. That year I didn't use any curriculum nor have access to the internet; although, we did do a lot of Oregon trail for dd's social studies that year - that was great fun! For science she did anatomy/body and put together the invisible woman for the year's end evaluation.

Five years later I returned to hsing and had access to the internet. I also had a high schooler to hs and I needed to seek out high school level materials, so I used curriculum. I love trying new materials, so I also used curriculum for my younger children.
I not only use all the brains I have, but all I can borrow. - Woodrow Wilson.

Heath_Crew
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Postby Heath_Crew » Sun Sep 30, 2007 12:25 am

That's encouraging! (That she was able to skip the 8th grade.) I feel okay about where my kids are academically, but dh thinks they should be doing more, i.e. they should be smarter than ps kids their age. (We've only got 4 weeks under our belt, I'm thinking it'll take a bit longer than that! LOL!) As far as doing more, they are doing more than our states requirements, and we are also doing things they would not learn in ps, at least not until they were in high school. Anyway, thanks for your input/experience.
HS Mom of 3 in Maine


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