unit 2 maps

[LisaE]

I'm wondering why for a majority of the weeks in unit 2 we have no maps. I'm wondering first if my DE is broken some how but I can access other weeks. Then I'm wondering why during the weeks that cover WW2 we have no maps listed. Then I'm wondering for the unit test why test them in geography (D-Day, battles communist block, etc...) if they haven't been working on maps for like 6 out of the 9 weeks. So I'm finding this a little bit frustrating. It's also frustrating to purchase map aids for a unit and not have maps provided - it seems like a waste of money. so if anyone has any answers to these problems let me know.
Lisa

[DanaCinTN]

Hi Lisa,
I can answer part of your question.

The weekly blank maps are for the purpose of completing assignments that say "label" or "shade." You'll find that there are no blank maps if the assignment says to "look at," "observe," or "notice," etc. In this particular instance, we felt it is busy work to ask the student to label battles, etc. The assignments are largely based upon the maps that are in the history books, so the information is easily found.

I hope this helps in understanding why there are not as many maps. Maybe Marcia or someone can address the other issues you've mentioned.

Blessings,

[LisaE]

Thanks for the response. But on the other side of the issue people paid for a map aids product and quite honestly I feel I did not get that because so many weeks have no maps.

On the other side of the "information could be easily found." I tend to disagree with that because I've notice more so in this year than any of the 3 previous years but my girls are having a harder time finding the answers to the questions at the D and R levels in their reading. One week my daughter had questions on FDR but she read very little of him that week in her core books. So I had to give her to teachers notes. so if you say the maps are in the books we purchased to go with TOG maybe they have a good map and maybe they don't. So now we will have to spend time finding the information which was the reason I purchase the maps in the first place so I don't have to research the answers. So I think the issue is two fold. Is there a way to know for units 3 and 4 whether or not the weeks will have maps that are actually worth spending the dollars on. I don't actually think that it is expensive it is really just the point of thinking I'm buying something and getting what I thought I was purchasing. Does that makes sense?
Lisa

[Susan in La]

Dear Lisa,

Something you could do for Units 3 and 4 is to go through the geography assignments before purchasing Map Aids to see how many maps you are going to need. If the assignment says "shade" or "label," you'll need a map. If the assignment says "locate" or "find," you won't need a map. Then you can decide whether or not to purchase Map Aids.

Blessings,

[lahbluebonnet]

When Lisa first brought this to my attention and I went into DE to see for myself, I was flabbergasted to find only 2 maps for the R and D levels. I only have 2 R and D students. I thought that surely there was a glitch in the download, so this explanation from Dana shocks me. Right now I am having difficulty securing the primary core book for WWII, which I assume is the one with all the maps. WWII is a huge event. Although I am used to tweaking as needed, it is most discouraging to buy a product (Map Aids) which of Years 1-3 has consistently provided maps to help us teach. If there was a change in policy, I wish that something would have been said upfront before we had purchaesd this, such as "there are only 2 maps provided for D/R for weeks 17 and 18". Also for only 2 maps, I think the price of the product should have been prorated. Additionally, as much as I respect and deeply consider the theories and perspecitives and opinions of Lampstand Press, I believe it should be left to each individual teacher/mom to decide if the mapwork was busywork or not. Why did maps become busywork suddenly in Y4U2? Actually I've recently had the same thought about the maps and have changed the way I've used them, which has been a big hit around here. I print out the answer key map and give it to my kids on Monday to study. Then I print out the student copy and have them take a quiz on Fri. I decide which locations I want them to identify by listing them in a Word Document and printing it out. This allowed me to not only give a grade, but helped the kids streamline their time while learning key places in history. We all teach differently with our maps, and that power of diversity has been taken away. I am sensitive to how busy Lampstand Press is in completing the Redesign product and we could all likely get into a contest of who has benefited the most from this incredible curriculum. I know that Lampstand Press has sacrificed much in the area of time, etc to produce this. However Lampstand Press does not hold the monopoly on being busy. As homeschool moms, we are busy too and Map Aids helped us to streamline our week as we chose how to best use geography with our kids. I have struggled all weekend about how to say something about this, as I do not like to rock the boat. I respect Lampstand Press for all that they do. I am at a loss to know what to suggest at this point. I am actually praying that someone can provide us with maps. Although I can have my students study a map in a book, I don't have great maps available even on the internet to print, nor time to hunt one down, much less to make my own copy. To be quite honest, I feel that would be busy work. Blessings on Lampstand Press. But for units 3 and 4, I'll probably contact y'all first to see which, if any maps, are in the Map Aids product. Thank you so much for your time. I truely appreciate all of you!

[LisaE]

Well put Laurie. We also do a similar thing with our maps as you mentioned and just recently started doing it. I think for this unit and the block of WW2 I'm going to give them the answer key to the unit quiz and have them study it because I don't have time to locate stuff and at times the information isn't to be found where you would expect it to be (in our reading). I too would like a heads up on units 3 and 4 if it will be like this again. My apologies to lampstand and the staff if I over reacted to the situation because it really isn't for me anyway about the cost - it is about the product I thought I was getting and my own time that is limited. I also feel I'm a limited teacher in my abilities. I like an answer key or a cheat sheet if you will.
Lisa

[Marcia]

Dear ladies,

We ALWAYS appreciate constructive criticism here. You ladies are our heroes and those we love to serve, so please always feel free to let us know when our choices don't serve you.

Let me just point out that the great thing about DE (or digital products like MapAids) is that we can always update/change/incorporate new mapsnin the future (after we get done the Redesign project in late February that is), so your feedback is going to help others who follow you AND you yourselves the next time you go through Year 3.

The busywork question is a real one to us. As you get into Years 3 and 4, topics to cover multiply rapidly, and political boundaries are rapidly changing (especially in Europe), and since events happen quicker and quicker, each one, though meaningful, is less CRUCIAL to the overall flow of history. One has to ask oneself, "How important is it (especially for older students) to do the work of solidifying their understanding of rapidly changing borders?" This is one way that we slowly changed our orientation as we got into writing about the modern era, especially in Europe, that detailed map work involving European countries was pretty much busy work. NOTICING the changing borders is really helpful; marking them, not so much. We could change that orientation if a majority of you moms feel differently.

For the record, busyness has nothing to do with the decision of how MapAids are produced. MapAids has always dovetailed with the curriculum as enabling the DOING of the assignments. It has never been our focus or desire to create a set of reference maps. Hence, when we look at a week-plan where REFERENCE to maps is the assignment, we simply do not put reference maps into MapAids. The model for the product has always been that students would use reference maps to find/label their blank student maps, and that then the teacher maps would be a means for busy moms to check their work. If students are not labeling but "noting" map features, it begs the question, "Are moms going to check if they noticed or not?" Since in many of the main books that we're recommending, in the weeks we didn't provide maps, our mindset was: right there, in their books (or in the atlas that they already own if not), is a map for them to "note" or "look up" and why would moms need a map to check answers? Seemed straightforward at the time, which is why your feedback is helpful. We most certainly could look at retrofitting Teacher Answer maps for each week that students are meant to "notice" individual aspects of regions.

Frankly, it simply never occurred to us to think in terms of # of maps for the money. We never ever produced MapAids (or any of our products) that way. We create TOG with student studies in our minds, thinking of moms and students trying to grasp each week's central points or information, and then do whatever we think will best serve students and moms, regardless of length of the week-plan, number of maps, costs to us in terms of time, etc. Rather, our orientation throughout MapAids productions has been "if they need a map in order to understand how geography related to this week's topic, they get one. If they need two, they get two. If they don't need any, they don't get any." So, while you may at first think that we were either being cheap or over busy, please know that neither of these is the case. Rather, as we wrote the units, we truly felt that, in looking at (especially D/R levels) where a LOT of groundwork can reasonably be expected to have been laid in earlier year-plans and year-plan rotations of the physical features of the regions, and where not only parents but kids are busy with studies, to label maps with transitory borders or, for instance, the exact location of WWII battles, when observation is a good enough level of mastery for a particular week in our opinion, was practically the sole reason for our decisions.

All that said, again, we welcome your input. For rhetorics studying World War II, the focus that we chose was on the leaders of the era, not on the events of the war as much. Dialectics in that unit study more details about the course of the war, but for both of these levels of students, given all that was going on in the ever-more-complex modern world, we felt that this was the right level of Geography work.

Laurie, far be it from us to DECIDE what your students will and will not do! We are all about homeschooling families choosing assignments for their own kids, and deviating from our plans where ever they so choose. That said, we are providing a plan of study--to some degree, offering an assessment of what we do feel is either important or less so--based on much research and many years of teaching. That's our job. We take into account SO MANY factors beyond just keeping things exactly on par with previous years' content. Things like this: the books that are or are not available, the time that it takes to read the books, what the student learned about certain topics in years past with our program (but what if they're coming in fresh?), striking a balance between adequate and overkill with review of previously covered concepts, focus on certain themes of analysis with older students (such as, in Year 4, on leadership) that relies on a factual base built on previous years' studies, etc. OBVIOUSLY, we can't hit the sweet spot spang on every time with each week-plan. The best we can do is aim for the center, or average, and provide enough variety and substance that families will find their unique place on a spectrum.

So, these are thoughts in response to the above posts. I'm eager to hear responses. We can in the future make adjustments if we see that we've not called it right for the majority of customers, and some of your points above do bear consideration as we enter the review process after completing Year 4.

THANKS for the discussion, and for being so patient with us as we labor on your behalf!

[Christine TX]

I just wanted to chime in on this subject. I completely agree with Laurie. I'm doing year 4 this coming year and purchased the print version along with map aids, evaluations and pop quiz. I, too, was SHOCKED that there are no WWII maps.. So now I have to create my own where we label major battles in Europe and major battles in the Pacific. That is part of the reason why I bought map aids, so I wouldn't have to do that. When I cut and paste the curriculum and it says note, many times I put label. I know you didn't think about the price, but like Laurie, it just doesn't seem worth what I paid for it compared to the other three years when it was great!! There are so many blank weeks. Just wanted to give you more feedback.

Christine