and please forgive me if I have already asked this before. But, I have a catalog and was flipping through it yesterday and again I really liked the curriculum they use. I kept trying to find out if you can just purchase the curriculum and not be bound to them at all after that. I am not interested in checking in with them or doing tests, etc. Can anyone answer this question for me? Thanks a bunch!
Yes, you just buy Calvert. If you want to have an advisory teacher correct the work that you send in you have to pay the ATS fee. We are using 1st grade and it's really nice. I like how they have all the questions to ask the child about the story. Be warned though that you will probably want to read ahead and highlight/mark the questions so you don't have to read the non student part to dc.
Hi Missy..... Yes...Calvert continues to be excellent! As Sheila said you don't have to do NOTHING if you don't want. They are accredited so it serves some states well to have the Advisory Teaching Service. Calvert served as breath of fresh air when I had one nursing, one toddler and a preschooler. The lessons plans are laid out, complete with comprehension questions and read alouds in the manual for engaging oral retelling skills. Their presentation, quality of materials, ideas and comprehension exercises are wonderful. Because of their excellent writing and composition instruction, I am finding it hard in obtaining their equal. I compared Writing Strands, Rod and Staff and Calvert's third grade. I went back and read the reviews and it shows that Calvert continues to excel in that area. I know most people won't do what i do, but I will get the whole grade level to use that part of it. Their langauge arts gets the rave reviews along with the elemtary math. This year I'm incorporating a lot of my own, but I always have.hee hee I have never liked the history or science since its done in a spiral fashion. However, the experiments and ideas they give are helpful for those subjects. HTH TinaTx
Well, that's good to know! It is so expensive though. I'm sure it is worth it if you mainly stick to their curriculum and use some of what you already have to supplement. I'm considering using it down the road but not for next school year. Thanks for all the info!
I must say that with all my adding in and such. I've really been happy with Calvert. I started to waffle, if I would use them for 2nd grade but...I think for my oldest it is best if I just continue to use them and then add in extras for him. Their LA is really wonderful and I like how I can adjust it to fit our needs. We are ahead of the game but, we seem to have found our fit - FINALLY. My second....who knows what we will do... Boarding school? LOL He's only 18 months so...I've got some time. I do believe that Calvert teach a lot in the early years and everything that I've heard and read is that students that come to Calvert later on....are behind on grade level. Not that I'm trying to push to you use Calvert in anyway. I just think it's nice to have all the facts and be able to make your own gut decision. On the thinking aspect alone I've noticed a huge improvement in ds. In the beginning he was simply "I don't know" and now he will look a the picture, read the story again if he needs to and try to find the answer. Those gears are turning. Good luck!
