monalisa
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Posts posted by monalisa
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If you want math games, there is an inexpensive book by Peggy Kaye called Games for Math. It is geared to little kids (K through 3rd I think). I got it used pretty cheap, on Amazon I think. Its $11 new
here's the link to Amazon:
I own the Right Start Games; it was expensive, and we haven't really played them. The curriculum itself is very expensive. If Horizons is working, just add some fun homemade games or these in the Peggy Kaye book. I also have a book called Math for the Very Young that has math type ideas to do with little kids; also pretty inexpensive.
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Thanks...these are very helpful insights & descriptions! I think I may order the book & worksheets to give it a try.
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MY dd7 is in BJU Math 1. I like it in many ways (it is comprehensive & mastery based, the TM is good), and my dd7 is doing fine overall with it (she understands the concepts, although she drags her feet doing the workbook). However, I do not see her gaining a lot of deeper math thinking. Plus it is taking her forever to learn her math facts.
I think I want to keep on with BJU for 2nd grade, because she'll could likely be back in school in 3rd or 4th grade. BJU covers all the traditional scope & sequence, and is mastery & concept based. I'm wondering if I should either add a 2nd curriculum as a supplement or just do a different one over the summer (we'll finish BJU1 a few weeks before summer). I'm considering Right Start (or the AL Abacus Activities), Math U See, or Singapore. I watched the MUS demo yesterday and was impressed with the approach. I have the RS games, and my dd loves playing with the abacus, so that makes me wonder if I should do something along that line (although we haven't done much w/ the games).
I'm wondering if anyone has done this type of supplementing w/ BJU, with any of these 3 curr.? If so, how do you schedule it? I am a little intimidated with doing 2 separate programs (not by the math, by the amount of time & planning). But I can see how 2 different perspectives would be helpful. Any experiences & thoughts are appreciated!
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Anyone who has this & is using it, what do you think of it, and how do you use it? How is the book laid out? I'm disappointed that there are no samples on the RS website. I've thought about getting RS B to do once we finish BJU 1 and do it through the summer, but it's so expensive, I wondered if this would be a good alternative.
I would like to supplement my dd7's traditional math curr. which is BJU Grade 1 (which I will stay in because she could end up back in school in 3rd or 4th grade) with something more math-y. Would this book work for that, AND be easy to use?
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OPG is really simple & straightforward and I LOVE it. I haven't seen CLE, but if it has readers, you could just use them with it. I use the BJU Grade 1 readers and lots of library books for read aloud time (10-15 min/day) and I don't worry about it correlating exactly to OPG. I have the book and its been fine for us, but using the PDF with a lesson a day is a good idea. Truly, I do not think you need a workbook to teach phonics - just practice reading. I would just jump into OPG where it makes sense for your dd -- don't start at lesson 1. I started at whatever point it switches from single letters (lesson 42) and we went fast, doing 2 -3 or more lessons at a time; now we do 1 or 2 a day and will finish it before the end of this year. You could just have her read the section in the lessons to figure out where to start with her and start where it starts to get hard.
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Yes, 15 is super low. Last fall, mine was at 27, my doctor put me on drops and now its up to 84. At first I took half a dropper full every other day (no idea how much this was in IUs) for a week, then 2000 iu a day. Now that my level is in the normal range, she backed it off to 1000. I take it off a spoon (its literally a drop). I also give my daughter 1000/day in the winter. I do feel better. I second the advice of getting Carlson drops. Most people in the northern hemisphere are Vitamin D deficient because you can't get enough sun in the winter time (even in Florida!). There are always people against any type of supplement. There is research showing low vitamin D contributes to a host of ailments.
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Has anybody see or used these before:
http://www.keekaroo.com/herihich.html
These seem affordable over the other ones I've been looking at. Reading this thread has got me thinking about getting proper seating for our kids while at the table. We just do everything at the dinner table, but with an adjustable chair I can see us staying at the table but have the correct position etc. Also be helpful at the computer too.
That looks so much like a Stokke, with a little modification so they're not infringing on their design. For the price, I'd give it a try (I have a Stokke, and I'd try one like this if I was getting another one). Looks like it has pretty good reviews.
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You may have enough ideas, but we have the Wee Sing Bible songs CD (about $9) and have found the NT & OT songs really good (easy to learn); I bought a poster at the educational store w/ the books of both posted on our school room wall, and we sing along and follow along (my dd memorized both NT & OT within a week with this).
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I don't think your kids would be learning latin, other than the memory work in Foundations (the morning program for K-6). And it is truly just memorization -- my dd7 can handle it just fine. The morning program is purely memorizing grammar for history, math, science, geography, math, latin, english, plus a fine arts project (art or music) and a science experiment.
As for Essentials, I do not have experience with it but was talking with someone yesterday (who is a director at another campus than mine) whose 2 boys are in it and are loving it. She said the IEW writing is fabulous for them. This part would help with language arts skills, and it also includes activities to cement math.
It is not a complicated program to figure out. Basically, your kids go each week and practice the memory work (and learn the new week's work), then go home and practice memorizing it if you want (or not). As a parent, you just sit in on the class and help the tutor as needed. From what people who have been in coops have told me, its much simpler.
If they would have a good tutor, and the campus seems good, I don't think you can go wrong. It all hinges on how good your tutor is in my opinion. It is only for a year, and if you don't like it you can always drop it. Best of luck!
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We've done CC this year for the first time. To answer the question of what it teaches, it depends on the age of the student.
For K-6, the Foundations program is purely grammar memory work in History, Latin, Science, Math, English, Geography. Each time you meet you also do a fine arts time (music or art depending on the week) and a science experiment. THis is a once a week 9 -12 thing, meeting 24 weeks per year.
For 3-6, there is an afternoon program called Essentials that focuses on writing using IEW and practice in math facts (this is probably too simplified, but its what I know about it)
Challenge classes are Jr. High through High School, getting in to the Rhetoric stage of classical education.
The website will tell you lots more.
If it was the 1st year for a campus, I am not sure I'd do it. This is the 3rd year for the campus I'm part of, and just now a lot of the bugs are getting ironed out. If you go into with eyes wide open realizing it could be iffy, it might be OK for you. But brand new campus with brand new tutors who've never done it before would not be worth $450 in my opinion (unless I was someone helping start it). IMHO, I do not think this is a program that is great for little kids (4's and 5's). You need a REALLY creative tutor to teach this type of material to this age child.
I think it is a really good program overall. But there are opportunity costs. You're not giving up autonomy, but you're giving up most of a day every week for 24 weeks to be there (even if you only do the morning program). That's been a struggle for me, because with the other 4 days I need to spend on school I feel like its hard to take a library day for example. For a new campus, I might give it a year to get established, esp. considering your investment will be about $1200+.
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I agree with the other posts on what you should get (and definitely a larger file box; I do use it for review, but not the current lessons words). You need the tiles that go with the program since they are color coded and multi-letter sounds are one one tile. I would vote for the CD however, because there are a few tricky phonograms and I think its important to get them right (like th - I didn't get the two sounds until I heard it). My $15 magnetic white board from Target is mounted on the wall; its a mixed blessing though because the tiles tend to pop off easily as we are working with them. I didn't get the reader, because my daughter was way beyond that level of reading. For a beginning reader, it might be nice; I thought it was kind of expensive.
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The post before gave lots of good ideas for this! My dd7 has learned the glockenspiel this year and last as part of Kindermusik for the Young Child referred to in the previous post. It is a great instrument for learning beginning music theory, and it is easy to play. She has a small one that she uses at home and takes to class, but they have larger ones in class that they sometimes use, and also use for recitals.
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I'm trying to decide whether to do CC again & at what campus. I have a few options. The one we're at this year may end up being the best fit, but one issue for us this year was the little siblings in the classroom . Sometimes we'll have 4 children 2-3 years old, and sometimes a 10 month old too, and the noise level can be incredible with their talking, playing with toys, reading books etc. I even wonder at times how the kids in the class can hear or focus on the tutor. The other moms seems to be oblivious to the noise being created. The tutor is very laid back and has somewhat wild kids of her own (not in our room), so I think she tunes it out.
I feel like this is not a good environment for learning (plus, it makes ME insane). I've since found out that other campuses sometimes have a nursery. I asked our director about it, and she said she doesn't want to organize one - it would be up to the moms that need one to set it up. Plus, she didn't think the moms w/ little kids felt a need; my reply to that was they probably are so used to chaos in their house they are oblivious to the disruption.
If you've been in a CC with a nursery, can you tell me how it works? Do you have paid workers, and rotate in moms who have kids in there? Do the moms w/ little kids then pay an extra expense, or is it built in somewhere else?
I'm just debating if its worth it to tough it out at this campus & suggest ways to get a nursery started here, find another campus, or drop CC altogether and do the memory work on our own.
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No, we don't have a child's desk, and yes I'm concerned about dd7's posture. I won't let her write etc. sitting improperly (she's so short that in a normal chair her chin is close to the table top!). I have a terrible time with correct posture (and back pain) which probably began as a child, so I can't stand letting her sit in awkward positions to work.
I have a Stokke Tripp-Trapp chair that is adjustable and has a foot rest, so she is sitting at the right height & her feet aren't dangling. We have a normal height table in our school room that she works at. I have had the Stokke since she was 1 yrs old (it had a removable seatbelt) and it was at our dining table, but now I just have chair pads on a regular dining chair to make her higher when eating. I think it is really hard for kids to develop proper writing habits without sitting at the right height. We also tried an adjustable desk chair from Ikea (sized for a kid) which was OK, but her feet were dangling, and she swiveled in it constantly. There is a whole rationale on Stokke if you go to their website; they're expensive, but I've used this one now for 6 years, and it will eventually be a desk chair (it converts all the way to adult size). I got it on sale at a baby store that was going out of business. http://www.stokke.com/en-us/
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Thanks, these are good insights. The 3rd edition no longer has the Spread your Wings, etc. type of books. Just the worktext & Reviews books. I totally forgot about the fact review pages on the CD - I had printed some but not all & have been using Calculadder.
Getting through the workbook pages has been painful at times, but my DD understands it (she's just slow) so I had been wondering if it was too much workbook or the fact that it was mastery vs spiral. I have thought about Abeka or Horizons, but it sounds like the no. of problems is about the same.
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The Writing Road to Reading by Romalda Spalding. Its a complete reading, spelling, writing curriculum that teaches by teaching phonograms (the sounds that letters or letter combinations make; there are 70 or so).
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I am using cards from the Riggs Institute, which are slightly different from WRTR (I think they have one more phonogram), and they do include the letter y saying long e (WRTR teaches y always saying short i instead of long e like in the word baby, which I don't like) . I'm using them with All About Spelling, but have WRTR and may use it eventually. What i like about them is that they build the rules ino what you say for the cards (so for ee you'd say "e, double e, always says ee", and for ck you'd say "k, two letter k".). I got them from a private classical school we've thought about, but you can order them directly from Riggs Institute. I think they were $25. I've heard the Spalding cards are nice quality.
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The review pages are always almost the same as the worktext page on the front, then on the back will be either previous chapter review questions and/or fact drills.
I like the idea of waiting until the next chapter, because review problems for the current days lesson are just more of the same thing.
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Thanks Amber! My problem is that I'm not always confident enough to know how much is just enough practice. I am using the 3rd Edition (most recent) of Math 1. It came with a worktext and a reviews activity book in the homeschool kit which I ordered from Christian Book.com. On the CBD website, it lists a reviews activity book for Grade 2 also.
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How do you use the workbook pages & review book pages that go with the lesson? Do you just do the workbook page, and only do the review if necessary? Both on the same day? I've been in a quandary on this all year. I was using the review page the next day, with the next lessons worksheet. Now I have her doing both on the same day, though I was thinking of skipping the problems just like the workbook page if she got the concept, and just doing the previous chapter review questions. At one point I was skipping the review pages completely, then she wasn't getting enough written facts practice. Either way, it seems like a lot of worksheets but maybe its just me. Anyone know how it compares (number of problems-wise) to other traditional programs (Like Abeka, horizons etc.)?
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We are using Vol. 1. It is a classical approach geared to K-2. You use real books, do simple projects. Very similar to what TWTM recommends, but laid out for you. It is not expensive (Rainbow Resource carries it, and you can google it and find their website). I'm using Vol. 2 next year.
I think it might be mentioned in the Cathy Duffy 100 top curr book (but I might be wrong on this)
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:iagree: I'd be reluctant to commit yet for a 5 year old until you are sure who the tutor will be. I only think CC is worth the $$ at that age if there is a great tutor, and sometimes those decisions aren't settled until over the summer.
If I were you, I'd spend a morning there visiting all the classes, taking note of the tutor's names and meeting other moms. That way, if you're told a certain person has been switched to the 5 year old class for next year you'll have a better idea of whether it is a good fit for you. IME the same person rarely tutors the same grade each year, and tutors come and go each year.
Good luck!
:iagree:Totally with this! I am weighing whether to do this again with a 7 yo next year. In our CC, she was JUST moved to a different class 2 weeks ago because of additional kids in the younger class that caused a domino effect in our class. Until then, I was ready to quit. Our tutor was a 1st timer who was too laid back (though very nice & trying hard), and the kids were young (5s and early 6s, inc. some ADD boys). Our new tutor has a couple years experience, and lots of good classroom management skills. Honestly, I do not think this is a program that works well for younger kids (4's and 5's). Yes, they probably enjoy it, but the material & presentation is not geared to that age. I don't think I would be willing to pay the $ for what they are getting. I'd say wait until they are reading and mature enough to participate in a class like situation. And DEFINITELY you need to see a class in action. I did last year (I saw 2 different groups and sat in on 3 classes) and it still turned out to be different than I expected. I saw that you posted later that this is a new group. I would give them a year to get it going and then check it out. The tutors will then have some experience. I would not want to spend my $ on a new group, honestly. Its a big chunk of time, too, so consider that this is your whole day (with lunch & recess, we're done about 1pm, so we get home about 1:30). Just my 2 cents :) (I am not a tutor or director, just a mom sitting in the back of the room.)
BTW, they probably won't have tutors assigned until very late, possibly right before it starts because they have to know how many kids so they can balance out the classes (8 in a class). So you may not have the luxury of waiting to know who your tutor will be.
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I have these for addition & subtraction (I think they were more than $7.50, got them at a educational supply store). I like them, though my daughter doesn't like ANY flashcards :) I think Ruth Beechik recommends triangular cards.
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I am thinking about math for 2nd grade. My DD7 is fine in math, doesn't love it, but understands it (she might even be a little bored in the curriculum we're using).
I would like to try to set her up to be able to do Algebra in 8th grade so she can do Calculus in 12th if she wants to.
I've read about California math standards meeting that goal. I don't think I want to use Singapore for a variety of reasons that I won't bore you with (and obviously the Standards edition meets this goal). Without accelerating, what other math curricula would get DD to Algebra by 8th? I'm wondering if Horizons does, since I keep reading that it is accelerated, but I realize it only goes through 6th. What do people use after that as a good fit?
I'm currently using BJU math 1, which is so/so for her. I'm considering switching anyhow, maybe to spiral versus mastery. But definitely not to Saxon - I own it and don't like it (for me to teach at least).
Thoughts?
Mathy supplement for BJU Math 1 &/or 2?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
OhElizabeth,
Thanks for your reply! I am using the 3rd edition with the CD; it has Enrichment pages and Fact Review (drills) on the CD. There is a separate Reviews Workbook. I haven't used the enrichment (there are about 3 per chapter), so I should try those. I have used the drills, and sometimes the Reviews. The Reviews pages though, are often identical to the worksheet, with previous chapter review problems on the back.
I almost feel like dd sees too many of the same problems and is getting bored (since the front & back of the worksheet are the same problems, and the reviews are the same problems - just different numbers), and have even wondered if going to more spiral like Abeka would be better for her. That's why I wondered if teaching it from a different perspective would help. I don't want her to just become a recipe follower (like I am, though I always have done good at math & have a decent understanding since I made it through 2 years of Calc.). I personally feel like mastery w/ regular review is better than spiral, but maybe that's not true at this level. I like a lot about BJU. Maybe I just need to finish the year and use all the tools and then reassess.
Thanks for your thoughts!