cottonmama
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Posts posted by cottonmama
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I took the K-6 Secular quiz. We use Singapore with the Standards edition HIG, which involves more manipulatives and games than I think Singapore has a reputation for. I don't know how much that factors into your computations.
We used to use Miquon, but as a teacher I needed better lesson plans.
Score for Beast Academy: 8
Score for Math Mammoth: 2
Score for Math U See: -3
Score for Mathematical Reasoning: 5
Score for Miquon: 13
Score for RightStart: 13
Score for Saxon: -3
Score for Shiller: 13
Score for Singapore: 11
Score for Teaching Textbooks: -3-
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I have a serious problem with a teacher saying that there's room for improvement but showing by his grading policy that he is unwilling to recognize improvement. The teacher isn't actually leaving room for improvement if he refuses to let students earn those higher grades. He's just using a different scale, and it only hurts the students. It's a different matter altogether to say, "I don't give many 100's. You have to work really, really hard to get that score. But I want you to try for it."
I do think grading subjective work is hard for homeschoolers and new teachers, because ideally a teacher will grade students against reasonable expectations of what students in that class ought to be capable of. We just don't have enough experience to know where that bar should be. But it's still part of the job description if you're giving grades -- you have to figure out what your expectations are for top-level work and communicate that in a way that motivates the student to work to meet those expectations.
And there is absolutely no excuse for grading math classes with a hard maximum of less than 100%. The score ought to reflect mastery of what has been taught. Tricky or challenging problems can be part of that, but ultimately the grade should be an honest reflection of how well the student mastered the taught material. And it is absolutely possible to master a math concept 100%.
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My (5- and 7-year-old) kids do their laundry with pods. I think they would be great for college... just have to carry a couple pods to the laundry machines instead of a whole heavy bottle of liquid or powder. We use All Free & Clear because of allergies.
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I have two daughters and a son, so honestly my greatest wedding-planning fear is that my daughters' in-laws will expect us to cover the whole thing, and my son's in-laws will expect us to cover half or more. :svengo:
My main strategy, in any case, is not to contribute many names to the guest list. My mother's list was hundreds of people long, so even with nothing but light snacks at the reception, the catering expenses were very, very high. Without a large guest list, I think our wedding expenses would have been pretty reasonable.
Still, I worry that one of the girls' weddings will involve a social-butterfly mother of the groom who, like my mother, can't imagine not inviting everyone she's ever known. But surely I can trust that if that's the case, we will just provide what we can, and if it's important to the groom's family, they will cover the extra expense?
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Someone's mention of warranties reminded me...
Eyeglasses warranty. I've gotten three new pairs of glasses, and two times were purely results of toddlers mishandling my glasses.
Renter's insurance. There was an apartment fire next door during our third year renting. I actually wish we had spent more for an insurance company with better customer satisfaction, but we would have been so much worse off without it. (Our company insisted on smoke damage removal even though we didn't get access to the building for over a week. The smoke smell had set in so badly that it wasn't adequately removed.)
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I remember calculating that my sewing machine earned its keep in the first year. I reupholstered a glider that I got off Freecycle for just the cost of fabric -- under $40, and new cushions or cushion covers would have cost $100. And I custom sewed training pants for my 18mo (hard to find size!) that would have cost me $150. Can't remember what the fabric cost, I think $50 or less. Then I hemmed a couple pairs of maternity blue jeans, saved paying someone to hem them (and I wasn't finding shorter inseams with waists that would fit me at that stage). I've also saved money sewing curtains.
But the sewing machine has also been a place for me to waste money on projects that didn't pan out. I am not a skilled enough sewer to make clothing to fit my weird post-baby shape, but I sure have tried. I also bought some fabric online for pillow covers, but when I saw it in person, I realized it wouldn't work for that project. (Didn't match existing fabrics like I expected.)
We definitely saved money buying the hair cutting clipper set.
An inexpensive chainsaw (plus safety gear) netted us a few hundred by allowing us to cut up the dead trees the tree guy took down for us.
Cloth diapers, wipes, training pants certainly saved us money.
I think our e-ink Kindle paid for itself through all the free public domain books available for it, and all the bookshelves we don't have to buy. Then we got a second, so I don't know if we still come out ahead.
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an island story or our island story? If it is our island story I'd totally buy it; DS and I are loving that book (we realize it's not 100% accurate historically but tbh that's part of the fun)
They are two names for the same book. :)
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I visited this school and fell under its spell a bit, too, but I ended up going to a more challenging state school, and I don't regret it. Queen's is awfully expensive, IIRC. It wouldn't have been worth a pile of debt to go there, as lovely as it is. Even with a scholarship, I don't think it would have helped me meet my goals as well as the larger school did. Of course, it depends on your dc's goals.
Anyway, my impression when I visited was that Queen's was a good choice for a student who would get lost at a larger school, or for a student who would really make the most of the small school experience -- networking with other motivated students and with professors, creating opportunities for learning beyond the curriculum, being active in campus organizations, etc. For a student whose test scores fall above the average range, I expect they might have to be a bit more intentional to get a comparable education to a more prestigious university. But maybe knowing that going in and being that intentional would make it a better education in the end?
Good luck with the decision!
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I also like the look of Suppose the Wolf Were an Octopus, but haven't used it yet.
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I think anything with humor and creativity as elements can work well for gifted kids. Horrible Histories, Mad Libs, Rory's Story Cubes, Caught Ya: Grammar with a Giggle (haven't started this one yet).
The Project-Based Learning approach could work well for many gifted kids.
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BFSU Science
As a supplement, we're finding Instant Challenges to be a lot of fun.
MindWare Perplexors
The Ambleside Online booklist is a great resource for challenging and well-written books, whether you want to follow their program or not.
I've had such a hard time finding any curricula that I'm satisfied with for history in the elementary years. Almost everything relies on narration or comprehension questions, but I want to engage my kids at a higher level, spend our time in the top levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. So I'm writing my own challenging questions to go with An Island Story. (PM me if you're interested, because I'm thinking of publishing it and would love someone else to try it out and give me feedback.)
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I usually advocate for learning with a teacher in these threads. But if you're talking doing this for a short-ish period of time, i.e. a matter of months, and you are prepared to be quite picky about the technique things you do know, and if you are willing to prioritize technique over the introduction of new songs... I would say it could work.
Keep in mind that a teacher is very useful for problem-solving when new bad habits pop up or when entrenched ones won't go away, for judging when to introduce new techniques and new music, for balancing the focus on different posture/violin-hold/bow-hold/musicality items... etc. The longer you work without a teacher, the more your chance your teacher will have a lot to undo when you go back.
So I really wouldn't recommend doing this long-term. But it sounds like you feel pretty confident about the technique things your child's teacher has been working on with you. If you think you have been an effective practice partner so far, I think you could continue that for a short period of time.
The piano is a great instrument and could be a better option if you don't have a solid plan for budgeting violin lessons back in fairly soon. :-)
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Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire
Teach Like a Champion
Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics
Teaching from Rest (especially the companion interviews)
Project Based Homeschooling, maybe? The approach didn't work for us, but maybe it will for you? Either way, it's a good read.
But actually, some of my favorite resources are free:
Julie Bogart's Periscopes
Read Aloud Revival podcasts
Andrew Kern's lecture on Socratic Teaching (and other episodes from the CIRCE podcast)
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Greek chicken pitas, tacos, Asian lettuce wraps
But six heads? Either you have a large family, or you're going to need to make some salads. ;-)
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If you want to stick with Singapore, try the Home Instructor's Guide. You can use all the manipulatives and teach lessons on a dry erase board with fun colors. Stop when he loses interest, or try to stretch the interest by giving him a physical feat to achieve in between questions. (Run around the couch three times or whatever.)
I can also second the recommendations for Miquon and Beast Academy.
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52 Weeks of Family German is a nice, lightweight option that would organize lessons for a teacher who knows the language.
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Last time we refilled before the recall, EpiPen Jr and Auvi-Q were within $10 of each other. (We have a high deductible plan, so we were talking $300-400 either way.)
So we went with Auvi-Q because it was easier to carry. What a shame if they don't come back from this.
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We have a break week coming up, and I'd like to make the most of it. I'm burnt out on school and behind on the house and on freezer cooking.
How do you use your school breaks?
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I don't remember the exact temperatures throughout the day, but I believe it's been above freezing (on that thermometer, at least) since the precipitation started. Sleet or freezing rain, then rain, and as it was raining I noticed the icicles develop. They definitely developed while the reading was in the 34-35 degree range. I feel like this is the kind of weather you see when it's hovering around 32 plus or minus a degree, which is why I'm so confused.
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I don't know where else to ask this. But if there are icicles hanging down from my trees, but my outdoor thermometer says 35 degrees, is my thermometer wrong, or is there something like cooling-by-evaporation contributing to the formation of ice in above-freezing temps?
It's fairly overcast here, so I don't think the sun could have warmed the sensor up that much if it's really 32 here.
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I would pick up French or dance if the candidates are strong otherwise. If not, anything you have trouble getting to makes sense -- math facts, music theory, physical education, handwriting, etc.
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Oh, hey, I haven't posted here in a while. I started seeing an allergist at the beginning of the month, and my allergy shots are in, so maybe this time next year I will be feeling a lot better. (I tested positive to 30 of 32 allergens they tested me for, including huge reactions to grass and trees.) In the meantime, the allergist put me on Zyrtec, and the little bit of extra drowsiness on top of my usual fatigue is making school incredibly difficult. Might need to switch to something else because this is just not working.
Mostly I'm just feeling down and unmotivated. And having weird temperature regulation issues. My next thyroid check is in May... maybe it's broken enough now that something will show up on a test. *sigh*
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A couple years ago I found a darling little doll-like angel topper at a thrift store. I love how she looks like a humble handmade doll, but with just the right touch of frills and lace. Before we got this topper, we actually didn't use any tree topper at all, because I couldn't find something I liked. Stars seemed too boring, and an angel seemed to be making a religious statement that doesn't fit my beliefs. I like that this "angel" seems more like a doll with wings.
Here's a picture. I don't know if mine is handmade, but it looks pretty easy to make with some basic sewing and/or gluing skills. If I ever need to replace this one, I'll probably just make another one like it.
S/o if money were no object
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
I think you can scratch the travel itch a little bit without actual travel.
Visit the landmarks in your area (get a travel guide and see your town through fresh eyes!)
Visit ethnic restaurants and groceries in your area
Cook ethnic cuisine at home
Visit a cultural festival in your area (Oktoberfest, Swedish Midsummer)
Watch nature shows and travel shows on TV
Watch foreign films (maybe while munching on ethnic snacks and candies)
Learn a language
Recreate some international experience at home (Japanese tea ceremony, Chinese New Year, etc.)
Visit a botanical garden or zoo
I'm sure it depends on why travel calls to you. None of these things is going to recreate the experience of hiking in the Alps or seeing the Grand Canyon. But to me one of the biggest things that interests me about travel is the unique ways of life all over the world. And yeah, that's also going to be better in person, but if recreating the experience locally is your only option, it isn't a bad one. :-)