meganrussell
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Posts posted by meganrussell
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I just saw the above schedule, OP, and I think her day sounds full and rich. Language Arts COULD be longer, but I don't know as it needs to be....maybe don't worry too much for now. :)
Thank you! I just bought some reading graphic organizers and worksheets from Teachers Pay Teachers, so I'm going to try to add in some focused reading/comprehension time each day. That is one thing I think she needs to work on.
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We do not do any TV until after 6pm, my kids do not have video games or cell phones or iPads, so there's no screen time (other than schoolwork). In the afternoons, she plays outside, rides her bike, fishes, reads, draws, plays with her dolls, plays with her brothers, makes jewelry, and does arts and crafts. She doesn't get bored or moped around.It is hard to answer if it is "enough" school without knowing her. On paper, I do think the schedule seems really light. But I guess my answer would depend on what she is doing with the rest of the hours in her day. Maybe she rushes through those assigned topics, and then spends her entire afternoon exploring her own good interests. Perhaps she is sort of "unschooling" herself in the afternons. :) (Example: reading the whole afternoon on things that interest her...whatever they may be, working independently through a science project book, romping through fields, free writing, drawing, knitting, trying to "engineer" some new contraption, learning to program, etc. etc.) If that is the case, there might be a lot of learning that isn't shown on paper or your lists. (Not everything has to come from a curriculum!) On the other hand, if she is rushing through work and then spending her whole afternoon moping, or on screens, or being bored, or getting into trouble, or wandering around listlessly---then that is a sign that you might need to change your schedule. (Those are the signs I would be watching for.)
If the later is the case, I would suggest to you is assign times instead of just tasks to check off. So, instead of saying, "Complete this lesson in your creation science book." I would instead have a schedule where subjects are scheduled at certain times each day for a certain length of time. I would make the schedule less about checking things off the list, and instead time set aside to learn things and be interested in things.
Example:
Math: 9-10: Complete this teaching textbooks lesson (100%), drill math facts/mental math, then work through <insert fun math or logic drill book of your choice> until time is up. (example: Edward Zaccaro books, beast academy, life of fred, mysteries you can solve with math, fun math board/card games, logic and critical thinking games, tesselations/art based math, etc. etc.) (This way, you know that she is spending at least an hour on math per day...and it will hopefully not be all work and drudgery...a lot of it will be fun.)
Science 10-10:30AM: Complete this lesson, then spend the rest of the time reading from ANY science book about something that interests you. Give oral (or written narration to mom) about the interesting things you learned. (provide book basket stocked with a ton of interesting science books).
You might also consider providing access to a science project book and the necessary supplies. Teach her to read the instructions and give her access to any supplies she might need. (Maybe teach her to read ahead and make a list of anything she needs to complete a project. Teach her also to clean up her mess when she is finished ;) ) You could also take her to buy some ready made project type things. (Potato powered clock kit, etc. etc.)
Snack 10:30 -11:00AM
Language Arts 11:00AM-12:00PM: Language Lessons for Today 4 (M,W,F), Grammar Minutes (T,TH), Spelling Workout (M,T,W,TH,F).....then if she has time left, that can be spent on doing some creative writing (if that is her thing), brave writer activities, writing letters to friends and family, journal, narrations in content subjects (goal 1 per day in one subject per day), design a comic book, etc. etc.
Lunch 12:00PM-12:30PM, then Break for cleaning, outside time, or exercise 12:30PM-1:00PM
1:00PM-2:00PM- Quiet Reading: (at least an hour in the afternoon)
etc. etc. (Times are all just examples obviously.)
I do most of her work with her. We read the history and science together (taking turns reading sentences as it helps her focus and retain information better). I ask questions, she narrates, she asks questions... We usually do history or science twenty to thirty minutes each day.
Her language arts takes her less than ten minutes. LLFT takes us ten minutes, but Grammar Minutes takes about three or four. She is quick with her spelling, too; I'd say five to ten minutes. She doesn't make mistakes.
Her math takes her about twenty to thirty. She usually gets 100%.
The writing program takes about ten minutes a day, as well.
The art lessons don't take long. We read the lesson and then I let her do the assignment. That's her last subject, and sometimes she works on it throughout the day.
I don't know what else to add, other than worry that her language arts is not enough. This is our first year using LLFT.
Also, we do morning time from 8-8:39, with the family, where I read two chapters in the NT and then read from our read aloud book (currently the Lost Clue). We also do Bible at night where I read three chapters from the OT.
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We do have Rosetta Stone Spanish for homeschool, so I told her I'd like her to start using that. I really would like to use some sort of reading program, but I don't like literature guides. We have used progeny press and memoria press literature guides in the past and I wasn't impressed.
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On paper it looks like enough. I started plotting it out. But then as I did so I began wondering...
Why is history so short? Do you not expect recitations, notetaking, projects, or research?
-Yes, we have been doing the suggested activity, making the memory cards, mapping and timeline. She hasn't had any science experiments yet, but she has one next week.
If the day is so short, why not spread history and science more and take advantage of the time you have to dig deeper in these subjects?
-I do have her read some books to go along with the topics, but I'm not counting that in the time I listed as school time.
Is your daughter actually doing art, or is she only reading about it?
-She is doing the assigned projects, plus she does art all throughout the day.
Is she at the right level for math? Did she test into 4 or did you place her there?
-I just placed her in 4 because she's not solid on her multiplication and division facts. I plan to add in some 15 minute flashcard drills and games.
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My daughter just started her fourth grade curriculum. It takes her NO TIME to finish each day. I'm wondering if I've planned enough for her. Here is what she's using:
Mystery of History (M,T,W)
CKE Creation Science (TH,F)
Teaching Textbooks 4 (M,T,W,TH,F)
Language Lessons for Today 4 (M,W,F)
Grammar Minutes (T,TH)
Spelling Workout (M,T,W,TH,F)
Ocean Adventures in Creative Writing (M,W,F)
Reading 20 minutes (but she usually reads much more than that)
God and the History of Art (T,W,TH,F)
Lessons in Responsibility (home-ec, M)
So she begins at 8:30 and is done by 10 every day. Is that enough school?
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I tried it with my 3rd grade daughter. For us, it was way too teacher intensive. It took forever and a day to complete the lessons, we needed so many components to complete each lesson, and she didn't enjoy it nor could it keep her interested. It was confusing for me, and way too much work. We are using Ocean Adventures in Writing, and she loves this.
https://www.christianbook.com/ocean-adventures-in-writing/jan-may/9780983528173/pd/528173
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Homer Price by Robert McCloskey is laugh out loud funny.
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My dd liked Notgrass America the Beautiful. I liked that it includes a book of primary source documents.
My children also loved America the Beautiful and the documents book.
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When you use these, do you work through all three titles simultaneously? We've used the Fractions series - when TT was getting too challenging I had him stop and just do the first several booklets. They were okay, but I don't think he had any "lightbulb moments". After a few weeks I had him jump back into TT. And, he still struggles with GCF, for example, despite having completed that booklet twice. He just has to work with the concepts again and again before it finally gets solid.
Yes, my children work through the books in order. We don't use any other curriculum. In our experience, it gives them a firm grasp on the concepts being taught. It starts out simple, assuming your child knows nothing about fractions (or decimals or whatever), and it eventually gets challenging. It works well for my kids and gives them plenty of practice. My daughter can do fractions in her sleep now.
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I second the Key to Fractions, Decimals, and Percents. This is a really solid workbook program that WORKS. My kids are using it as their core curriculum for math.
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I vote for the Key to ... Series. My 7th grader is using Key to Decimals, and he will use Key to Fractions and Key to Percents next. My 9th grader is using Key to Algebra. It's very independent, explained very well, and my kids LOVE it. It's also very affordable.
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Christian Kids Explore! My 4th grader will be using Creation Science from CKE.
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My 7th grade son read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory several years ago. He found The Glass Elevator at the library last week, checked it out, read it and loved it. It picks up right where Charlie and the Chocolate Factory left off. It was a fun read, which I think our kids need more of.
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Key to Decimals is working for my 7th grade son. We plan to use Key to Fractions and Key to Percents next.
Bob Jones World Studies (with DVDs) is also one of his favorite courses.
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Tomorrow is the last day!
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I am sure you could tweak them and use them with any phonics program. My son loved the Low game cards and games. They were a lot of fun for him and helped him remember so much.
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Cheerful Cursive is great. It's a gentle and easy way to learn cursive. My 11 and 9 year old children used it two years ago. It is also fairly cheap.
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I don't do spelling for my 3rd grader. She is a pretty good speller. If she misspells a word when she is writing I just have her erase it and spell it correctly. No biggie. My older children didn't use spelling curriculum either.
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My third grader has less than two hours a day of schoolwork. Usually it's an hour and a half, but I'm not counting all of the reading, computer games, and crafts she does on her own. She is using Heart of Dakota's Bigger Hearts with Math Lessons for a Living Education, Rod and Staff grammar, cursive workbook, and Ocean Adventure Creative Writing. She takes about 20 minutes for math, 10 to 15 for grammar, 5 for cursive, and 10 to 15 for creative writing. The history, Bible, and science in HOD take her about thirty minutes, sometimes more if there's a lengthy project. I think four hours a day is a long time for a 3-4 grader.
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Yes, the writing and grammar is half a year starting in 7th grade with Literature the other half. I have a 7th and 9th grader using BJU DVDs. I would not say it's easy, but it's not incredibly hard either. They both do well with it, but the teacher Mrs. Vicks on the DVDs is great. She explains things really well. It's not that much more expensive to use the DVDs and I recommend them. You could definitely use it without them, though. I do love how at the end of each chapter, there is a writing assignment. These are fun! My son is writing a play scene right now, and my daughter is starting a research paper.
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I just wanted to let everyone know that my father's world is having a 25â„… sale of all their curriculum kits. That makes them all around $100 off, some of them more than that. I just ordered the first grade deluxe kit, and I'm thinking about ordering the K kit for my 4 and a half year old son.
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Love this list! Thank you for compiling all of these wonderful resources. Guest Hollow also has several free curriculum for history and science. I haven't checked it out too much, but I am looking for my almost 4th grader now.
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I wouldn't let your guard down. Those particular reversals can be normal, but how long are we talking "a long time to learn"? Are you seeing any other struggles? This could be typical or it could be signs of something more.
How is he doing in other subjects? Did he have difficulty with rhyming, learning numbers, when reading words does he often add sounds that aren't there, how is reading comprehension when read to, does he often mispronounce certain words, how is fine motor/handwriting/coloring/cutting, etc.
My daughter has your son's struggles, plus more. It is somewhat mild, but I was finally convinced there was a problem (after suspecting so for years) when she struggled very much with reading beyond simple cvc words.
We had neuropsych evals a week and a half ago, but don't know the results yet.
By a long time to learn his letters, I mean two years. He did have difficulty in rhyming, and he does often put sounds that aren't there when sounding out words. For example, the word MAN - he may say "mm-aa-nn, matn", making a nonsense word. Or STOP - he might say "ss-tt-oo-pp, stamps". He doesn't always do this, and he does it more when reading stories vs. a list of words.
He has speech issues, and we've had years of speech therapy. He is currently not under a therapist and I work with him on my own. He has shown significant improvements, going from 25â„… of his words being understandable to about 85-90%.
He had trouble learning his numbers, but is doing very well in math. He can add very quickly, can count to 100 without much help. He only has trouble recognizing the teen numbers, but can recognize most other numbers up to 100.
Fine motor is improving, his handwriting is not great and he reverses letters when writing also. He is left handed.
Reading comprehension is so-so. I usually just attribute it to short attention, etc. When being read to, if he can look at pictures he does better with comprehension. If I'm reading a chapter book to him like Reddy Fox even with short chapters, there is little to no comprehension.
I have always felt in my gut that there is something else going on, but he is a happy boy who seems to thrive physically. He was diagnosed with Lyme disease nearly 4 years ago, not sure if that affects anything. He took a month of antibiotics.
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Thank you for that link! That makes me feel a little better. I wonder what age this will correct itself? I have three older children who had zero difficulty with letter reversals, so I'm in uncharted waters right now.
4th grader done with school in an hour and a half??
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
That sounds FANTASTIC. Im off to explore this!