Tracy
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Posts posted by Tracy
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I have always felt like there is no way around a gifted child feeling different. No one told me I was gifted until middle school, but I knew I was different in K. As a result, I was an arrogant little brat as a kid (and my dh had a similar experience).
So we have a lot of conversations about how our family is different but that what is more important than intelligence is kindness and work ethic, etc. We talk about other people we know and why we like them and how we like different people for different things.
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Here is a site that sells books about Poland and its people for children.
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A Polish history book for kids in English is a tough call. We read this book about Casimir Pulaski. It contains a lot of historical background about the partitioning of Poland, which is probably the most important thing to know about Poland's history. Then I supplemented with my own family history, as I just so happen to have great grandparents from each of the three partitions.
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We did WWE3 with my dd9 last year for 3rd grade. Let me just reassure you that WWE works! The only other writing she did last year was spelling. She struggles with writing, so we had to pare it down to the bare minimum.
This year, she has been doing some original composition, and I am amazed at how well WWE worked for her. She knows how to write full sentences that are grammatically and mechanically correct. And they are interesting and creative, too.
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My dh is a physics teacher teaching AP physics. They have completely revamped the AP Physics tests this year. No one knows yet what will be on it, but the guidelines say they are getting away from a lot of math and instead will focus on critical thinking.
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I just write the words that I do not expect her to know how to spell at the bottom of the page. My dd is a decent speller for her age, not great, but not behind. If I had a student who really struggled with spelling, I would not use WWE, or I would use it at a later age, because there comes a point where the spelling just gets in the way of dictation. Or I would choose my own sentences to dictate so I could make sure they contained only words that she had a highly likelihood of spelling correctly.
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I think you are right to be looking at physiological issues. We recently went gluten free because I was diagnosed with celiac disease, and both me and ds6 are sleeping better. Have you had food allergy testing? That could certainly have an effect on both sleep and digestion. The allergy testing is a pretty simple process.
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We had a recent success here that helped me to feel better. We used WWE for 3 years. The lessons always seemed too short and simple. But I had a kid who was really averse to writing, and I felt like I needed to put my trust in this program. I was also using SWR, and I hoped that the two would give a very good foundation for writing. Well, this year I was going to do narration/dictation on my own, because WWE4 was too much. And when dd9 saw ds6 composing his own sentences using his spelling words, she decided she wanted to try (something she completely failed at when she was his age). I was amazed at the beautiful, creative, complex sentences that were also mechanically and grammatically correct. Now it takes her a really long time to get those sentences out, but I can see now that I invested my resources correctly.
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Chores and cleaning are all about habits and routines. It is difficult and time-consuming to create good habits and routines. But they are worth the investment, because once something becomes a habit, that thing is nearly automatic.
For example, when I realized that I was the only one cleaning up from every single meal, I decided that we needed to work on that. My kids were pretty good about doing it when asked, but I needed to not have to remember to remind them or to tell them every detail of what was expected every single time. So I put a candy bar in a jar and a bag of marbles next to it. Every time they cleared the table without being reminded, I put a marble in the jar for each one and made a big deal about how pleased I was. When they filled it, they got to split the candy bar. It took about a month to fill that jar, and we did it once more before it became habit. That is the only life skill we worked on during that time so we could focus all our energy on it. But afterward, when we went out to eat, my kids asked where they should take their plates when they were done. It was that ingrained.
You need to pick the one thing that will help you the most and focus on that. During that time, things will actually get a little worse. You will need to sacrifice the deep cleaning (or whatever else you choose) so you can focus on training your children. But trust me that it is well worth the sacrifice. My children now can get themselves ready in the morning, sort and wash their clothes, and clear the table without any supervision. This is huge! You would not believe what a relief it is to not be very involved in these activities. We are currently working on daily picking up their rooms and picking up after themselves when they have played with something.
Whatever you do, you have to patiently focus on one thing at a time. Change is hard work--even harder work than the work you want them to do. And they don't yet have experience with it, so they will resist at first. Just be consistent and patient. Make sure there is a reward for doing well. Once you succeed with your first goal, the others will come more easily.
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Hehehe, I take it you don't like that? I know people who live that way WITHOUT any adhd. :lol:
Oh, it is not that I don't like it, not at all. They are very good friends of mine. It is just that they really struggle with everything. They still manage to do much good in spite of their limitations. But you cannot be in their presence without seeing the constant struggle. Yes, that is the way the way God made them, and it is frankly beautiful. But it is not normal in the sense of being within the norm.
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I have a friend whose whole family has ADD, parents and children. I would tend to look at them and say it is a disorder. They cope fairly well, but being in their house, well, it just is very different. They have alarms going off all the time. They have a million conversations at once. Impulse control is very difficult.
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Here is what I do with my kids in SWR:
DS6 (5-day/week schedule):
Days 1-4
Review phonograms
Dictate 5 words
Quiz 5 words
Compose sentence using that day's spelling words (I write the sentence)
Day 5
Test 20 words
Choose 1 sentence from the week to copy into his notebook
DD9 (4-day/week schedule):
Days 1-3
Dictate 10 words
Quiz 10 words (may add prefixes or suffixes to work on specific spelling rules)
Compose Sentence using that day's spellings words
Day 4
Dictate 10 words
Test 40 words
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For one of my kids, reading to her is a cure-all for anything from difficult school work to a grumpy mama. Reading on her own is the next best thing.
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I only now just got the e-mail with this thread. Sorry you didn't get a faster answer.
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I dunno. If these contests are for children, can't they be held when children aren't in school?
I didn't get the impression that the competitions were specifically for children. If she is a prodigy, then wouldn't she be playing with/against adults?
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If you are doing Volume 1, it is nice to have a historical atlas on hand so you can compare ancient countries to our modern map.
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All we do is read a lot of books, listen to SOTW audio CD's, and refer to our wall map all the time. My kids know more geography now than I knew when I was in high school.
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My husband is a high school teacher. In his school district, the teachers have been encouraged to (1) differentiate instruction, and (2) give grades for what is actually learned. The way this has effected his students is, (1) Homework is assigned but does not count toward the grade and is not required, and (2) tests can be re-taken, but only if all of the homework has been completed. That way students who do not need the homework to do well are not burdened with "busy work." I don't know if your 10yo is mature enough to handle this, but perhaps you could see if the teacher would be willing to consider this type of arrangement for your dd?
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Before dictating, I quiz my first grader on the phonograms that he will need during that dictation session. That seems to help him. There is lot going on during dictation, and it can be hard to hold it all in your head at once.
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Kudos to you for trying something new! :hurray:
I'm a little jealous that you got some free kids materials for Russian. Dd7 said she wanted to learn Russian this summer, so we did a cursory beginning. I totally felt out of my depth, but by continuing to work on it, it makes more sense.
How did the alphabet go? Below is a resource that helped me to make sense of the Russian Alphabet:
Read the Cyrillic Alphabet in 5 Minutes
If you can, PM me in a few months when you have figured out which resources are worthwhile. I'd appreciate the input.
Thanks for the link. I guess I need to brush up on my Greek alphabet to take full advantage, though. ;)
I'll let you know how it goes. I suspect that interest will fizzle once we get through the alphabet. Our materials are actual Russian picture books (as in printed in Russia). I am expecting another box, so we will see what else is in there.
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Last week, a friend offered quite a few children's Russian language materials to me. I had no plans to do any foreign language this year, much less Russian. But I do have a personal interest in learning some Russian since my g-grandparents were from the Russian partition of Poland, and I would like to be able to read those records.
So here we are starting the Russian alphabet tomorrow. I am very :hurray: but also a little :svengo: . Well, we will do it as long as it is fun and interesting. I have no illusion that anyone here will actually learn to speak it. But reading and writing names would be cool.
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Spell to Write and Read (or Spalding, but I like SWR--either will do the job)
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And, before you all blast me for not being qualified by a university program, I am enrolling now in an online program through Seton Hall with 18 hours of online coursework, plus practicum hours( my teaching job will count for these, as the principal will be supervising me). At the end of the school year I will have my teaching credentials, and will have half the credits needed for a Masters in Special Ed. Oddly, the dean and principal of the school told me that this certification route will most likely make me a WORSE teacher, as the innate creativity and connection with students that a natural teacher like myself demonstrates cannot be taught in a classroom, and is usually hindered by traditional approaches to teaching (their words, not mine). I have received this same feedback from several people - from big wigs to other local teachers (trained formally and working in public schools), all of whom are very encouraging of this step into a classroom. So go a little easy on me, ladies. My heart is in the right place, I am a very quick learner, an extremely hard worker. I have read "The First Days of School" and have role-played and practiced classroom management techniques. I plan to give homework detention for anyone who takes away classroom time. I have been teaching my own wiggly, burping, crazy boys for five years, and these boys are absolutely every teacher's worst nightmare, but they have learned so much, and just aced the standardized test they took, and are about two grade levels ahead in math, and they could teach the science class themselves. Please be kind :)
I am so sorry about the reaction that people are having to your request for curriculum recommendations. I am glad that you are confident about what you are doing anyway. You seem to be very prepared. I think it is completely inappropriate for anyone here to so harshly judge your abilities at the mere request for curriculum suggestions.
FWIW, my dh had only one single education class that he learned anything from (he also being a natural teacher). And when he got his masters in education, he told people that he was purchasing a raise, since he wasn't really learning anything. (Just to test what he could get away with, in one class, he did nothing except attend class. He did no assignments. He did not even buy a textbook. He got a C, along with a note from the instructor about how disappointed she was in his work.) It is a nice touch that you are seeking to obtain those teaching credentials. They seem to mean a lot to other people, but they do not represent your teaching skills in the least.
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This is one of my dd9's favorite videos. She said recently that she wants to be Vi Hart when she grows up, lol.
Educational Neglect: where would you place the bar?
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
I think that you cannot talk about educational neglect in a vacuum. You start out with the assumption that the student is neurotypical. Firstly, that is hard to define. Also, aren't we making assumptions about the family, too? Such as there are no other circumstances that are more urgent than education. Because truly there are reasons to place other things higher in priority than education. If one of us were dying, education would be much lower on my priority list. Likewise if we were starving or homeless. There are lots of people out there who would think that education was so important as to take children out of a family with these circumstances so that they can go to school.
It makes me nervous to see these discussions. Though I have fairly high academic standards (my dh and I both have advanced degrees), I know that if we were in dire circumstances, our priorities would be different, and I don't think that it would be anyone's business to step in and override our family's decisions.