SOS?

I’ve used SOS for Math and Language Arts, and I have a couple of friends who use it for everything. As far as I know, you can purchase it bundled or separately- I usually buy from CBD.

We’ve used a couple of times- one year for my oldest for Language Arts, and for LA and Math when the secondborn was 10- we only had one computer at the time, so using it for everyone has never been an option. It was a very nice curriculum, IMO. My only complaint was in Math- if the program wants .30 as the answer, and you put .3, it will mark it wrong, which can be confusing at first. I don’t know if they have ever changed that.

My friends who use it also love it- their kids can work independently, there is some parental involvement, but I think it allows for a nice blend of freedom and structure. The price is definitely very reasonable when compared to other computer/DVD curriculum.

We have been using this curriculum for 4 years now (just ended the 4th) with our kids. If your kids enjoy reading and spending time on the computer AND they learn well on their own, this curriculum works well. In addition to being a great value price-wise, it is easy to handle grading, rescheduling, etc. We have always bought the 5-subjects bundled together, and like Susan, we buy it from one of the discounters. This year, we also bought the first year of Spanish to put with the other subjects.

We install it in the “server” mode. We have one computer acting as the server, and we have several other computers acting as clients over the network. The advantage to this is that any of the computers (including the server) can be used either for the students or the teacher. The disadvantage is that since the server is a desktop, we can’t take it with us when we go places, and the client laptops can’t do anything without the server. If you install separate copies on different laptops, you can take it with you, but then the grades/results will be stored in more than one place. I think AOP could do a lot to make this program more usable in that sense. The program is smart enough to catch a child if he is in the middle of a test or quiz (which can’t be exited out of without automatic grading) and goes to a different computer to look up the answer.

We’ve also supplemented this curriculum with other things as well. For typing, Latin, and critical thinking, I obviously didn’t use SOS.

As Susan mentioned, it can be pretty picky with the answers, but if it wants .30 instead of .3, it *usually* asks for 2 decimal places. However, it’s very easy to reset the problem, or change the answer from the teacher application. Sometimes, the answers in the key are flat-out wrong, and you just give credit for getting the right answer. They publish curriculum updates several times a year to fix these bugs. The kids can use the SOS internal messaging system to send you a PM if they have a question, or they are convinced their answer is correct, and when you read the PM, you can go directly to the problem in question. One thing this system doesn’t work so well on is questions where the answers are very similar, and sometimes the right answer depends on how the question was read or what the student was thinking, especially if the wording in the question is ambiguous. However, you can again handle this by discussing with the child what he was thinking and then grade accordingly. I’ve had to do this more than I would have liked, but the grading is still much easier for the stuff where it’s just tedious to grade (multiple choice, T/F, fill in the blank, etc.). In any case, you still have to grade projects, reports, etc. by hand.

We’ve had some friends that didn’t like this program so well because their kids couldn’t sit still in front of the computer for long enough to concentrate for a whole day of schooling. Also, we have heard from some that the curriculum is too difficult. We have noticed that our kids are not getting the grades they were in Christian school (they always got straight-A’s with the A Beka curriculum the school used). Now they get mostly B’s with some A’s, but I’m happier with how much they have to think. I also use the 8-point grading scale instead of the 10-point scale my kids would prefer. You can set this with the program.

All in all, I’m pretty happy with the curriculum. I think it could be better in some ways. It does mean my kids spend a lot of time on the computer, but that’s better, IMO, than the video curriculums where they watch TV much of the day. I also love the fact that all their work, except for some projects, is saved without my having to keep piles of paper around. All of the last 4 years’ work is saved in the database.

Ditto that about video curriculum. A good workaround for the problem of spending alot of time in front of a computer is to use SOS for core subjects like Language Arts and Math, or just for electives like Spanish and Bible.

We have always used textbooks/curriculum for LA and Math, and real books for history, geography, science… the kids and I like the variety. A few times we’ve used (and compared) the information in textbooks (from used book sales, garage sales, etc) to reference books at the library or sources on the internet. It’s a real hoot when you find conflicting information and you have to figure out a way to ascertain which one is correct. Well, I guess that’s another thread… but it sure does hone those research skills and teaches critical thinking. ;)

Anyway, I recommend having an occasional family meeting to take inventory about what is working, what isn’t, and why. It will help you pinpoint what methods and resources will be the best fit for the family. I have heard very few complaints about SOS, and lots of good feedback.

[Diane Heeney] Susan, I got a note back from the folks at customer service and they told me there are no text books. I am with you, I think I’d prefer to have actual books for history at least. Maybe I’ll do Beautiful Feet along with this. It seems from what others say that a sort of teacher’s overview can be purchased and the books can be gotten from the library or some other source.

Right- when I used SOS, there were no accompanying textbooks, but if I remember correctly, there were some book suggestions, as well as excerpts from books included in the lessons. The student can also use a ‘reader’ to read the lessons out loud- this was handy for words they did not know and is a boon to audio-learners, but also could be used as a crutch- depends on the child.

At http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find/983244774?Ntk=ke…] CBD you can purchase the subjects separately- I just wanted to verify that.

It really is not all that difficult to plan the year so that the student can have some goals and stay on track, even if you use the mix&match method of HSing. Some folks like the way that much of the packaged curriculum matches in every subject- for instance, if you start school in Sept. and stay on target with the prescribed schedule, then in November all the lessons in each subject will have a harvest/Thanksgiving theme. Matchy-matchy makes me nuts. My furniture doesn’t match, my shoes and purse don’t match, and I’ve had the same earrings in since March. :p

Most email programs provide a corresponding calendar- you can use this to create goals, print off the calendars (to decorate the fridge with, of course), and set it to email reminders to you or to your kids if they have an email address. With Parental Controls and filtering programs you can use things like this to make scheduling easy and fun, and get the kids engaged more. At least that has been my experience. They love getting emails from me about their school work and upcoming assignments.

[Diane Heeney] Your shoes do match each other, though…right? ;)

Occasionally. :D My shopping methods consist of finding something I like that fits, and getting one in every color. I’m in trouble if I dress in the dark, because then I end up with one black shoe and one dark brown shoe, or a blue shoe and a green shoe.

I have my bookmark at what used to be called the Foundry, and your post, Diane, showed up at the top of the list of newest posts. Hummmmm

[Diane Heeney] Bro Dave,

I have heard of folks having their kids take Latin. I’d be interested to know why you did.

Well, it’s not because they are going to meet Caesar tomorrow, or even start reading the Vulgate! :)

Simply put, it’s because Latin roots are behind much of today’s (western) languages. My family is bilingual (my wife is a German citizen), and now the kids have completed a year of Spanish toward the state requirements. I wanted them to have some understanding of the roots and how the words relate to what they use today. My oldest enjoys seeing parallels between Latin and German, and especially between Latin and Spanish, and she really appreciates having taken the small amount of Latin I taught them, to the point of getting excited when she figures out something because of it. The younger hasn’t had the light bulb come on yet, but she has grudgingly admitted that she was able to get some of the Spanish exercises because of what she got from Latin.

As part of this, we didn’t bother with the part of the curriculum (we used BJ for this) that dealt with pronunciation, which I thought was mostly contrived anyway, and we also didn’t do very many of the exercises of translating English into Latin, because that’s not a skill that they will realistically ever need. Translating Latin into English, however, is something we spent most of our time on. I’d like to do a little more with them if I can work it into the schedule for next year, though I’m sure my younger daughter will not thank me for it! :) I think even if all we did was vocabulary words, it would be tremendously helpful.