Recovering Sociopath
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Posts posted by Recovering Sociopath
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Thank you! I will check out JAG ASAP.
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Background: through a variety of circumstances-- unplanned babies, interstate moves, etc.-- we've had various interruptions and slowdowns in our homeschool journey. For my oldest, who just turned 12, grammar seems to the subject where we've fallen most behind. I'm toying with the idea of devoting a few weeks to a grammar intensive this summer. I'd love to hear experience, advice, and curriculum recommendations from anyone who's done something along those lines.
He's currently in FLL 4. He handles the concepts very easily. Just to clarify, this is not a case of wanting to push a child beyond where he's ready-- he's clearly ready for much more. It's just that Mama has had her hands full with All The Other Things.My goal in this wouldn't be to catch him up to some arbitrary grade level so much as to catch him up to his own level, if that makes any sense.
Also, if I plan to do this I don't have to feel guilty and horrible every time it drops off the schedule at the end of the school day. ;)
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We are taking the kids on a family trip to Yellowstone next summer, and I'm wondering if anyone has put together a unit study or even just a list of resources we could use in preparation for the trip. Any links?
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There's an OT Study Guide and an NT Study Guide. It's good, broad, overview.
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For official paperwork it's just the Edman Homeschool. For more informal matters it's The Homeschool Dungeon.
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I am leaving behind the old file crate system where I ripped out all the pages from workbooks, divided them by 36, and put the appropriate amount in each weekly folder, then looked at the appropriate folder at the beginning of the week every week to generate our plans. It served me well when the kids were younger, but instead of aiming to do a certain number of assignments each week I am aiming for a certain number of minutes spent each day on each subject.
What I'm looking for:
Lesson planning
Daily master agenda for me
Individual to do list for each student
Attendance records
Resource/book records (ideally with the ability to import lists from my Goodreads or local library account)
Ability to attach scanned documents (so at the end of the school year, I don't have to cherry pick a a pile of completed assignments and stand over the scanner to compile the portfolios for emailing to our evaluator).
BIG BONUS POINTS for syncing or integration with my Google calendar. I just spent a lot of time plotting out a daily homeschool schedule on my GCal and I really don't want to duplicate those hours of data entry.
I've started looking at Homeschool Tracker Online and a few others, but my eyes glazed over (not enough coffee yet), and I thought I'd just come here and get someone to tell me what I want. :D
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Is his writing reluctance sensory or issues with motor planning or ...?
A bit of both, I think. It's not as bad since he learned cursive, but his handwriting is still sloppy and he still avoids it as much as he can. I'm trying to get him up to a decent typing speed this summer with the intention of letting him type everything he possibly can this coming year. When he has to do an essay for science or history that will be a great solution, but it still doesn't help with complex math. :/
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I should clarify that the test scores were just just a convenient example of the gap between his extremely strong cognitive abilities and his willingness to do things which require, you know, work. I watched him take the test (Stanford Online) and he refused to use the allowed scratch paper and pencil to work any of the problems he *knows* how to do. So he tried to do them in his head, lost track, and made multiple calculation errors. It's been an ongoing issue, but not urgent since up to this point he's been doing math that he could get away with doing almost all mentally. But as he does more complex mathematics he's going to need to show his work so that he can see where he made errors along the way.
There is no way I'd switch from BA to something like Saxon in this particular case.
We are not dropping BA no matter what happens. He loves it and he is learning from it. I'm looking for additional reinforcement to cover BA's lack of practice, and to get him accustomed to showing his work. He's only on BA level 3C right now, so not really on grade level, but I don't mind that as long as he's progressing steadily.
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It depends on the kid. For my oldest, who hates the act of handwriting, I used the wooden letter pieces and went through the preparatory exercises in the teacher's manual *every* lesson, because that's what he needed. With my middle child, who loves writing and drawing and has great fine motor control, it's sufficient to just demonstrate letter formation once and let 'er rip.
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He really needs the practice.
Right now he is using Beast Academy, which he absolutely adores. I have promised him that he does not have to stop using BA, but we need to add something else in to make sure he is getting an appropriate amount of practice. I know some kids do just fine with only BA, but he really needs reinforcement-- for example, on his standardized test his grade level for mathematics problem solving was 10.6, but his grade level for math procedures was 5.2 (he is 11 and about to start 6th grade).
Part of the issue is that he hates the physical act of writing, so he really resists doing things like showing his work-- but at some point that's just something you have to do in math whether you like it or not, so anything that adds a fun factor to all the writing would be a plus.
I showed him some samples from Saxon and he didn't hate it but he wasn't thrilled, either. He's also done the Prodigy online game a bit, but it didn't really catch his interest.
Other suggestions? I guess I'm looking for a rigorous, challenging, complete math curriculum that will give him a strong grounding in mathematics but also be so super fun he won't mind having to use his body and not exclusively his brain. Is that a unicorn?
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We are planning an epic family road trip to Yellowstone NP next summer (July 2017) and I'd love to hear about any history or science resources that would mesh well with a Yellowstone focused study. Our kids will be 12, 10, 6, 4 and 2. Thanks!
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My 9yo absolutely adores Beast Academy and refuses to consider a curriculum switch, but he needs more practice/conceptual reinforcement than the practice book provides. Can anyone recommend a resource that maps easily to BA where we can get the same flavor practice? We are in 3B, if that helps. Thanks!
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If you don't like your doctor, definitely get a new one. The anti BF thing would have me running (I'm nursing a 15mo, too! high five).
I don't think it would look bad to ask for testing right away with a new doc. You can flat out say, "I didn't have great rapport with our last doc, so we wanted to find someone we were comfortable with before we take this big step." That is a perfectly rational thing to do.
I am in a similar boat with 9yo DS, in that for years I've written things off as "just his personality," but I've finally realized some testing may be in order. I asked our pediatrician about testing, and she actually referred us to the school district. Where we live, in PA, the SD is required to make comprehensive special ed evaluations available to everyone, even home schoolers. Our pedi said that once we get an evaluation from the SD we can move on from there in terms of determining what, if any, meds or therapies are appropriate.
Good luck!-
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After years of watching my 9yo struggle with reading, I am finally giving in and taking him to the school district for a comprehensive evaluation for ADHD, dyslexia, etc. I'll be calling to set up the appointment in the new year.
Having made that decision, I'm trying to decide how much work to do in certain areas.
I'm putting his phonics instruction on hold. We started OPG when he was 5, then switched to 100EL, then switched to ETC. He's in book 4 now. Watching him struggle to read has become so awful (not battle of wills awful; heartbreaking awful) that I'm giving us both a break until they evaluate him and we can move on from there.
I had continued his spelling work in Spelling Workout B, but the last lesson he retained NOTHING and I'm questioning whether there's even any point right now. I had thought it might help on the reading front but it doesn't seem to be. Is there any point in continuing this before we get the evaluation done?Also, if anyone has had a comprehensive evaluation done in the Philadelphia SD, how did you find them to work with? Shawn at the SD has been very kind and helpful in telling me what steps I can take, but I'm nervous.
I'm also kind of freaking out because he is in thrid grade this year and required to take a standardized test. He does very well on the non-reading portions as long as I can read the directions and things to him (like word problems in math), but I'm fearful that his reading struggles with cause him to flame out on the whole test and it won't represent how very bright and accomplished he is in other subjects. Any fact he hears verbally he retains, he's good at math, and he loves history and science. He would happily listen to me read stories aloud all day. He's totally decent at grammar as long as we do everything orally.
Any advice, words of wisdom, reassurances, etc. would be welcome at this point. -
My concern would be that there are plenty of people groups/small civilizations/isolated areas that were never part of an empire. Doing everything by empire kind of...erases them. Just a thought.
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My 9yo third grader is about to finish up Spelling Workout C. It's working in the sense that he's learning well and is pretty good speller, but the amount of physical writing is a little overwhelming for him. He had some motor planning issues when he was younger, so I served as his amanuensis for a while, but am trying to transition him to doing most of his own writing.
So, do you have a spelling program you love that doesn't require so much physical writing? I looked at the programs available at Rainbow Resource and the sheer number of them is...overwhelming.We don't hate SW or anything, and like I said, he is learning, so we can stick with it if we need to. I'm just wondering about the other choices out there since this is the only spelling curriculum we've ever used.
Thanks! -
We are being relocated from northern VA to the Philly area. The movers are coming one week from today! (eek!)
I need to find a new pedi who is AP friendly. We vax on schedule, so that's not an issue, but I would really love to find someone who isn't going to give us a hard time about bed sharing, full term breastfeeding, etc. Finding someone who is *actually* supportive of breastfeeding rather than just giving it lip service would be VERY helpful.
So far the only one on my radar is Penny Soppas in Drexel Hill, but only because she is also an IBCLC. Drexel Hill seems a little far from where we'll be in temp housing (Malvern) and we're hoping to settle in Phoenixville, so any recommendations in those areas would be welcome. Thanks! -
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DD is showing signs of reading readiness but I don't think her fine motor skills are up to the writing portion. Is it going to undermine anything to just do the reading portions of 100EL?
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Edited to add:
I do NOT give the school district any medical information on my kids. I do not give them any physical forms or immunization records. Nada. I include a paragraph in my affidavit that states that because of HIPPA and privacy concerns my kid's medical information is maintained at their doctor's office. In my opinion, a doctor trumps a school nurse when it comes to reviewing what my kids might need medically. The school district has chosen not to argue the point with me.
Thank you! I was wondering about this.
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We just did Mudpies to Magnets at the K level. It's high interest and fun for the kiddos, the books are cheap, and the experiments are all done using household items.
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I hope you have a wonderful experience. I expected it to be a good Bible memory program, but I didn't anticipate the heart changes we experienced in our family. I was blown away by how much it impacted us.
My husband works for the American Bible Society, and he said that according to their research, people have to encounter the Bible at least four times a week for change to happen. Seems like the Bible Bee is a great way to get people engaging with the Bible on a daily basis.
That being said, I have to say I'm a little wary of the idea of a Bible Bee--even though my 8yo has a great memory and I think he'd really do well--because I'm squiffy on turning the Bible into a contest. KWIM? Maybe it's just a personality difference (or me projecting my own competitiveness/approval orientation) but I would hate to have my kids think that they somehow aren't good enough if they don't obliterate the competition at the Bee. Could those of you who've done speak to that at all?
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Wordly Wise i3000
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
I was looking at their website today and there doesn't seem to be an option for purchasing anything less than 20 subscriptions for the new online program. Do we know if they'll be offering anything more homeschool friendly?