Tsuga Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 We have too much stuff going on. Kids are in new books in music. Kids scored very well on math assessment tests. Kids are like their mom and cannot take adaptive computer tests. Our family must find a better strategy for this. The non-adaptive tests, they do much better--very well, actually. DD1 who was previously bottom of her class in reading and language arts is now in the top 1% in the nation. Take that, IQ tests. ​She didn't learn to read until 2 months before her 7th birthday, booyah. I got "Journey Through Time Doodles" from a book fair at school but nobody does it because we are all so busy. The chess teacher said DD2 had the know-how but not the maturity, attention span, or general "chess attitude" to progress so he was really making her work for each chess skill to get to the next level. Fine with me. She is immature, fidgety, and generally ridiculous. She says "booyah" when she takes someone else's piece which is very inappropriate. I promised them I wouldn't put her in a tournament without their prior approval. DD2 is at grade level in her immersion language. And DD1 is in a programming club and loves it even though there are only two girls. What is this, a brag thread? Let me also insert, therefore, that I have threatened my children with an end to music lessons if they don't practice three times this quarter. Also, got a new BA in the mail. Mainly for myself to read. I'm going to sit there reading it for fun and when she begs to read it I'm going to say, "But hon... you still haven't finished yours..." I will let you know how that works. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 We are coming to the end of the year here. Everyone is tired and scratchy and ready for a break. Ds8 has managed well in his 86 kids in the gym for 3 months set up but ds6 seems to be struggling with having 46 kids and 2 teachers in a generous sized but still meant for 30 classroom. We will get class placements in a few weeks and I am just praying we get teachers that both I and the kids can communicate with. We are all so tired. Roll on Christmas and summer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 (edited) We are also so busy. I'm not sure how we lived through the fall soccer season. We are still not completely settled in our newly remodeled house. The kids started jr. band with clarinet and trumpet. I'm asking them to practice both piano and their band instruments 3-4x per week, but it doesn't always happen. Still, better than last year. I let them choose what to play on the piano - I just ask them to practice something old and take on something new each time. They seem to like this approach. In school, they are almost independent with homework and studies. Once in a while they screw up and get a bad grade or a nastygram. Overall they are doing fine. Their homework load is reasonable, but when it's light I add some more practice work. They just love that. :p We've had a few behavior incidents and need to watch the sugar better. Their teacher seems great so far. Some of the work is tough for MIss A, but she does fine with extra practice. Miss E made the "wall of fame" (for getting 125 AR points) 2 months into the school year, which is exceptional, but given that she is a book freak, not surprising. We are slowly working through a pile of workbooks at home. I still haven't gotten to enrichment stuff. I think realistically we can't start that until the dust settles in January. Well, they did do some hands-on enrichment classes, educational nature hikes, a one-day theater camp. They studied aviation and photography at scouts. But enrichment "at home" isn't happening. I bought some new videos and they like Gadget Boys history DVDs. Not my favorite. ;) I haven't done any read-alouds in the past couple months. I want to start Heidi soon. I would love to start chess - been saying that for years and never really get to it. Maybe I'll get a travel set and use it during our overseas trip next month. Or maybe I'll get the girls a chess game for their DS. Or both. Hmm. The girls signed up for an AHG pen pal, and they will have to write their pen pal monthly once they get matched up. The girls' sports schedule was pretty busy up until October 31 with soccer, swim team, gymnastics, TKD, and horse riding when we could fit it in. Now soccer and swim team are on hold until the next season in 2016. We will spend more time on TKD and horse riding. I have also started us all doing yoga with DVDs in the living room. We did some volunteer work together. And the kids are making the most of any time they can play outside with the neighbors. Next week we are skipping Thanskgiving with the fam and going to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and Disneyland. I will be bringing work for all 3 of us. :) I am hoping that they complete a couple of scout badges over the next couple weeks. (I've said that before though.) I still haven't made arrangements for Miss E to be tested by the public school. Just not getting to it. Now it's time for Christmas season to take up all the rest of our time. :) We will have to be good about church attendance and practce for the holiday music program and the annual Nativity. Probably do something with the scouts. [updated - missing horse parade due to travel, but the kids may participate in a dog show instead.] Photos, cards, gifts. What else am I forgetting? So far so good. Edited November 20, 2015 by SKL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted November 20, 2015 Author Share Posted November 20, 2015 SKL, thank god my children both decided not to do soccer. Gymnastics mats stink but oh my god the practice schedules, and since of course they can't find fields we are all over the city. Next up: ski season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathnerd Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 going to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and Disneyland. I will be bringing work for all 3 of us. We did a similar trip last thanksgiving and I tried really hard to make DS do a little work that was due when we got back - and, it was impossible - even though he is normally highly motivated and focused. He was either tired of sitting or needed to stretch or there were too many distractions and noises or he needed to unwind after walking for hours through many touristy places or he needed to catch up on sleep. I would like to know how your kids can get work done during travel and vacations :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 We did a similar trip last thanksgiving and I tried really hard to make DS do a little work that was due when we got back - and, it was impossible - even though he is normally highly motivated and focused. He was either tired of sitting or needed to stretch or there were too many distractions and noises or he needed to unwind after walking for hours through many touristy places or he needed to catch up on sleep. I would like to know how your kids can get work done during travel and vacations :) We don't get a ton done, but I try to have them do at least a little math and LA most days. It might be reading a book about the place we are visiting, and a few review worksheets. We usually get some make-up work done on the plane on the way back, although this time we are taking the red-eye on a school night, so they should probably sleep on the plane. I should warn their teacher in advance so she can send home any make-up work before we leave. We fly out Wednesday afternoon, so they will have about a day at home to work on school assignments. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Have kids -- will travel Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 We don't get a ton done, but I try to have them do at least a little math and LA most days. It might be reading a book about the place we are visiting, and a few review worksheets. We usually get some make-up work done on the plane on the way back, although this time we are taking the red-eye on a school night, so they should probably sleep on the plane. I should warn their teacher in advance so she can send home any make-up work before we leave. We fly out Wednesday afternoon, so they will have about a day at home to work on school assignments. Impressive that you do manage to get a bit in on holidays! Mine are quite a bit younger, but travelling is so tiring that my big one usually isn't doing much more than occasionally reading. Of course, travel is enriching in its own ways, for sure! Life here has been very crazy this month. I went back to work, so the kids have gotten adjusted to having the nanny do school runs and activities. Also, we've had several Dutch celebrations that require preparation: a lantern for St. Maarten's and a dance for Sinterklaas. Add in lots of wish-list writing for Sinterklaas, and I'm lucky if DS finishes his reading. DS is finishing his fun math class this week, and I've asked the program to test if he needs to skip a class again. He loves the class, but his fine motor skills held up his progress for a while. Now he's writing for fun (I never thought that would happen) and making lots of progress, so I'd like the class to come a bit closer to his math abilities. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted November 23, 2015 Author Share Posted November 23, 2015 Impressive that you do manage to get a bit in on holidays! Mine are quite a bit younger, but travelling is so tiring that my big one usually isn't doing much more than occasionally reading. Of course, travel is enriching in its own ways, for sure! Life here has been very crazy this month. I went back to work, so the kids have gotten adjusted to having the nanny do school runs and activities. Also, we've had several Dutch celebrations that require preparation: a lantern for St. Maarten's and a dance for Sinterklaas. Add in lots of wish-list writing for Sinterklaas, and I'm lucky if DS finishes his reading. DS is finishing his fun math class this week, and I've asked the program to test if he needs to skip a class again. He loves the class, but his fine motor skills held up his progress for a while. Now he's writing for fun (I never thought that would happen) and making lots of progress, so I'd like the class to come a bit closer to his math abilities. Thanks to Ellie for reporting our spam. To HKWT, fun times! I don't do school on vacations. The mind needs a rest, at least, mine does. Nice to have you here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted November 26, 2015 Author Share Posted November 26, 2015 Well, have fun on your vacation, SKL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 DD is almost halfway through her sophomore year in college. I can hardly believe it. She comes home Christmas week for about a month. In the meantime I have three piecrusts to fill, and cookies to bake. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 I've been saying NO to every committment outside of my own home for months now. It took me 3 solid months of saying NO to innumerable requests for my time/attention to get the point where I had a single weekend without a committment already scheduled. Oh, the relief. I've had two free weekends in a row and it's been glorious. I'll not give this up lightly. Ds13 does hap ki do. Ds10 plays the guitar. We school for 6 - 7 hours a day. And that's about it. Ds13 also makes cookies for homeless people in his spare time. I've discovered that everyone in my family needs (needs) lots of downtime. And for the first time ever, I'm not fighting that. We're going to take our downtime without any shame. And now I finally have time to spend some of my downtime slowly gearing up for high school. I was getting a bit desperate until two weekends ago because I had absolutely zero time to gear up for high school. That's when I started saying NO to everything. So now, as of two weekends ago, my time is spent educating the boys, keeping the house relatively tidy, preparing for high school, and playing Zoo Tycoon with the boys on the computer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted November 29, 2015 Author Share Posted November 29, 2015 That's okay Margaret, even if you bumped this to avoid spam for a single second, we still value your opinion. I figure, this particular board is always so quiet, it's nice to have a little check-in thread. And Garga, you are awesome. Good for you for just saying no! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debi21 Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 May I share my angst? Because that's how it is going. I am so ambivalent about my 1st grader's school (charter). They give so much homework in math/spelling/reading and it is so busywork in my opinion. There are all these elements of rigid behavior required from 1st graders that are rubbing me the wrong way even though my people-pleaser is doing fabulously. I feel like this is the cliche "going to suck the joy out of learning" type school and kill his creativity. My son loves it and hates it. He loves the people (teachers/administrators/students) - he is doing very well and he doesn't want to leave school. He is much more social than me and loves recess. But simultaneously doesn't want to go to school and hates the length of the day and the homework. I pushed him to be in accelerated groups in math and reading, which are on a more appropriate level for his abilities (he is with 2nd graders for math and 3rd graders for reading), but makes the homework situation worse. I have been "fighting" rather unsuccessfully with the reading group teacher via email to decrease the homework level and it makes me feel worse. Haven't these teachers read the studies about the ineffectiveness of elementary HW? I expected teachers to work more with parents. DS is terrified of missing assignments which would result in missing recess and is kept in check that way (I've proposed some busy nights simply not doing it). As a result of the homework situation and the time it takes, I do little afterschooling with him and it makes me sad. I have him in extracurricular art, music, gymnastics, and soccer, and take him to a math circle most Saturday mornings. I want him to do fun things that keep him well rounded and give him additional social interaction. At home, I prioritize having him play (mainly with legos or pretend with his brother). At age 6, this seems more important. I also try to give him some computer screen time, since that is what his preference is (We do Zoo Tycoon too - but lately it's all about Lego video games, too). But I wish I had more time for him to do free reading, read alouds by me, more interesting math, more interest-driven writing, and pursue his questions and interests in the sciences/social sciences freely. I feel like overall, this would result in more academic progress, actually. We spent the week in Phoenix and were able to do multiple "field trips" that I felt were interesting and educational and I would love to do more of this. But actually pulling him out of school seems unfeasible at this time and he likely wouldn't be able to get back into this school if it didn't work out. Then I wonder if I should just let everything academic go and focus on social skills, building relationships, etc. Not a strength of mine, and I realize it might be more important in the long run. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 deb, does your son like to read? If so, just an occasional trip to the library and a couple of good magazine subscriptions could be fun learning opportunities. There are also some good DVDs for that age group. My kids really enjoyed the Magic Schoolbus, Liberty's Kids, and Carmen Sandiego videos. For additional math fun, maybe give him a little money to budget and spend on his own. My kids also liked Math Blaster (computer game) at that age. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debi21 Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 I don't know if I would say that he likes to read - that is, if he has an option to play computer games, he would always choose that. But he would rather read than go to sleep :) It's just that by the time that he gets out of school, does an extracurricular, does his homework, and has dinner, there's time for a little playing and a little screen time and it's bedtime. I yearn to do more with him - I think he's at such a great age. It's a question of accepting the 'ok' when what I want is the amazing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 May I share my angst? Share! Because that's how it is going. I am so ambivalent about my 1st grader's school (charter). They give so much homework in math/spelling/reading and it is so busywork in my opinion. We have that in the immersion school, but on the other hand, her math facts are superb! There are all these elements of rigid behavior required from 1st graders that are rubbing me the wrong way even though my people-pleaser is doing fabulously. So that's a plus! I feel like this is the cliche "going to suck the joy out of learning" type school and kill his creativity. My son loves it and hates it. He loves the people (teachers/administrators/students) - he is doing very well and he doesn't want to leave school. He is much more social than me and loves recess. But simultaneously doesn't want to go to school and hates the length of the day and the homework. I pushed him to be in accelerated groups in math and reading, which are on a more appropriate level for his abilities (he is with 2nd graders for math and 3rd graders for reading), but makes the homework situation worse. My daughter gets the 2nd grade math and obviously not 3rd grade reading--she's on grade level but it's two languages--and I hear you. It is a LOT. What I try to do is really make it quick by using a timer and "if you're done, you're done". We get a weekly packet and DD1 (not in immersion, so with less homework) does her enrichment and DD2 does the entire week's work on Saturday morning. Timer, 5 minutes, sheet one. I have been "fighting" rather unsuccessfully with the reading group teacher via email to decrease the homework level and it makes me feel worse. Haven't these teachers read the studies about the ineffectiveness of elementary HW? I expected teachers to work more with parents. DS is terrified of missing assignments which would result in missing recess and is kept in check that way (I've proposed some busy nights simply not doing it). ​Well... those studies are pretty ambiguous. Few are randomized, controlled trials. Those that are, suggest that what you put in, you get out. As a result of the homework situation and the time it takes, I do little afterschooling with him and it makes me sad. I have him in extracurricular art, music, gymnastics, and soccer, and take him to a math circle most Saturday mornings. Well... there's a lot of time right there! I understand the need to be well-rounded, but surely one sport would work? If he's already doing math ahead at school, do you need math circle as well? Though that does sound fun. We spent the week in Phoenix and were able to do multiple "field trips" that I felt were interesting and educational and I would love to do more of this. But actually pulling him out of school seems unfeasible at this time and he likely wouldn't be able to get back into this school if it didn't work out. If he is enjoying school then I'd much sooner let go of one sport, the extra math (I had to let go of this with my first grader who is in a higher math group at school, just no time) and let him have fun. Does HE like the art? Do they have art at school? Then I wonder if I should just let everything academic go and focus on social skills, building relationships, etc. Not a strength of mine, and I realize it might be more important in the long run. I would definitely limit myself to fewer than three extracurriculars: art and sport if you aren't getting them at school come to mind, and then if absolutely necessary something else. That said I share your feelings on many of these issues and I feel for you. It's tough when you have an outgoing kid who also want to do activities and then need free time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 We used to do several physical activities (noncompetitive) as well as piano lessons when my kids were in 1st grade, but that was because my kids really needed the activity. And the sports lent structure and set a pace that helped keep the momentum going throughout the evening. It wasn't easy, but I'm not sure that a slower pace would have made us more productive academically. Of course all kids are different. It would be great if I had kids who got smarter the more I left them alone. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calledtobehome Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 So far so good! My 6th grader has transitioned well at his private school. What I like best is the classroom size. There's a total of 12 kids. He's taken the responsibility of making sure he completes his homework and small projects. The teacher doesn't give too much homework and that's a plus in my book. I am keeping an eye on his math work and grades. It seems like he's a little lost at times. I started out giving him work to do after school but it seemed to be a bit much with everything else we had going on. I may try to implement extra work again when we get back from break. It's going to be another busy season with basketball practice and games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 The chess teacher said DD2 had the know-how but not the maturity, attention span, or general "chess attitude" to progress so he was really making her work for each chess skill to get to the next level. Fine with me. She is immature, fidgety, and generally ridiculous. She says "booyah" when she takes someone else's piece which is very inappropriate. I promised them I wouldn't put her in a tournament without their prior approval. If your daughter is anything like the chess kids I know, she will just learn how to push the boundaries some other way. Almost all of the kids on my son's former chess team were troublemakers mischief makers who schemed together to think of ways to psych out their opponents. These were high schoolers who went to nationals and placed in the very top. Their coach reached sainthood for the extreme patience he extended to them. Chess players in general are notorious for bad behavior, even adults. At one tournament that my son attended, a grown man in his 40s who was playing poorly, waited until the place was busy, snuck up to the table with the big trophy, snatched it and ran out of the building (a hotel). They eventually caught him and got the trophy back but it was quite the fiasco. Definitely not good sportsmanship. Just about every single tournament has incidents. It's unusual when they don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 (edited) We have the rest of January off before the new school year starts. Both my kids are relaxed about the teachers they have for 2016. We are doing free writes to try and help ds6 get over his perfectionism but I think until he can spell all the words he wants to use it may be a lost cause. Luckily he does spell well but the teachers want him to write faster and not worry so much about spelling and grammar. I don't really agree but it is what it is. We are also doing math mammoth (fractions 1 for ds8 and PV2 for ds6). Edited January 1, 2016 by kiwik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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