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Tidbits of Learning

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  1. I would think by 8 if autism was a concern that a pediatrician would have flagged it earlier. My kids have all went through obsessions. They aren't autistic. I think there would have to be a lot more than just being into cars at this age to think autism.
  2. We went with a charter school for a year and a half and got the teacher recommendation for an evaluation then our dr. put the referral in and our insurance paid the $1000 max that they allow. I would call your insurance and see what they do cover. We couldn't get those results as plain homeschoolers, but since the "school" recommended it...they paid easily.
  3. This is straight up honestly how I would tackle the dilemma. I would talk with my husband more as I value our goals for our children's education first and foremost. Homeschooling and your personal goals are subjective. I would probably look at his learning style and probably change the curricula that I felt did not fit his learning style. Not all children will do well in the classical school model. Trying to keep the kids together in history may hinder him bridging gaps in the subjects he struggles in right now. I would not worry over history right now at all. You may have to step back and insert some other stuff to gain interest. Timberdoodle has lots of historic graphic novels that my ds would devour anytime over a schoolish looking history book. I will tell you that 3rd-4th grade is the prime time to discover issues. My ds has dysgraphia/dyslexia. It is painful to watch him write and even more painful to try to read it sometimes. His spelling was atrocious. We pursued an eval beginning in 4th grade even though he reads like a champ. BTW, his reading turned the corner dramatically over night it seemed after 3rd grade. They were pretty amazed he read so well and definitely said if he hadn't been homeschooled that would probably not have been the case. So I 2nd the evaluation suggestion. Poor reading, poor spelling, and poor writing after finishing 3rd grade are huge red flags. I would not look at it as failing ever. I don't feel my ds has failed 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade even though he did not complete all his curricula during those years or do so hot on the parts that he completed. His standardized tests were abysmal those years as well. Every year we moved up to the next age appropriate grade level even if he was not using that grade level material. Normally he was just a grade level below here and there in certain subjects. It is finally starting to level out this year. He is pretty much working approaching grade level or grade level across the board. I look at it as I met him where he was each year. I gave him the gift of time to even out on some things and it gave us the gift of time to figure out what actually worked for him in the long run. I could have wrote your post 2 years ago. I worried so much about ds and his "grade" level and what to do and if to keep moving him forward grade level wise as his 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade looked nothing like my 2 older daughters. I would encourage you to talk to your husband and your pediatrician. Take in samples of his writing and spelling. It could be something more than just him being disinterested.
  4. Most of the times you have no clue what children have issues. dd was in a class that I wondered about a boy that inappropriately referenced his privates a lot. This was 1st grade. By 3rd grade, I had found out he was 2 years older than dd and he had gotten violent with the teacher and students. He was almost as tall as myself at 10 and muscular build. He was upset b/c high stakes testing had come around. He threw a chair on my dd the last year they were at school together in 3rd grade. The school totally didn't tell me what happened. dd came to the kindergarten area where I was picking up her younger brother with an ice bag on her ankle and she was bleeding. I assumed a playground accident, but dd told me what happened. The principal wouldn't talk to me that day even though she was still on campus and basically this kid got an out b/c he had "issues" and an IEP. He was physically threatening to the female teachers as well. He had to be included to the detriment of everyone else in the class and school. That was our last year at school. It is not fair to the other kids at the school and in the classroom at all.
  5. A lot of this began with redshirting. They wanted me to hold back ds11 when he was in kindergarten due to maturity. He should have been an older k'er due to a December b-day. He wasn't by far. He was one of the youngest in the class b/c he was 5 for 4 months before turning 6. Most of the boys in his k class were 6 turning 7 in kindergarten. Most of the kids in my kids classes were 2 years older than them by the time the school year was over. My kids met the birthday cutoff and started on time. I also learned the only way they could hold the kids back in k for non-academic reasons was if you let them. They were over the top with us. They sent me daily notes on how terrible ds was doing on end of year testing and kindergarten exit exam. I quit writing them back. He tested fine and they had just been winding me up hoping I would say stop testing he isn't ready. He had been to day school for 2 years prior to public kindergarten. He knew how to act in class for age appropriate time periods and lessons. However, they no longer had time for naps or even 15 min. of quiet time. They only got 1-15 min. recess a day. They had a 20 min. no talking lunch. They switched teachers 3 times during the day. They had a different teacher for reading resource, regular kindergarten subjects, and art. He was done by the afternoon and the teacher knew it. She told me so. She was forced to take away his 15 min. recess every day b/c he was done by then and had to turn a behavior card. He was compared to 7 yr old boys who were more mature and the girls in the class were almost all 6 turning 7 as well. That is a crazy unfair scenario. It is the scenario we would go back into if we went back to school now. He would be younger than his class mates and it would show. The expectations of kindergarten are unrealistic of a 5 yr old child, but as I learned there are almost no 5 year old children in kindergarten here. And if they do go at 5, the teacher starts on day 1 talking to you about how they may need to be held back and mature. ds7 went to day school as well even though I was homeschooling the other children by then. He was 3 turning 4 and his 3 yr old pre-k was comparable to the girls kindergarten years just 5 years prior. It is very unrealistic to the children and their actual age development.
  6. Be prepared no matter what you do that the all day school will tire her out. My dd who always did a quiet time/nap had a rough adjustment to k where they only had a 15 min. quiet time on a mat (not enough time for a nap) and the rest of the time was all business at school. She acted out once she got home and you could just tell she was done for the day. You weren't going to get anything else out of her productive. We started coming in from school and having a snack then going to quiet time with a little tv every afternoon. Sometimes she fell asleep and sometimes not. I did not let her sleep more than an hour and had her up in time to play a bit then eat and bathe. It was a very grueling schedule for my then 5 yr old and it took it's toll on her. She got sick a lot her kindergarten year and I do wonder if her body just being worn down had anything to do with her being more susceptible to illness. She did a lot better in 1st grade, but K was very hard on her b/c it was just too much for her 5 yr old self without getting a good break in the day. It is often that way though as my ds11 when he was in k was not productive at all after lunch. It was then that he got behavior reports and recess taken away every day. :( I get that you can't homeschool right now or do 1/2 day. We did Montessori day school and it was great. Public K was not that great. I would talk this year to the Montessori teachers and since they are for child led learning maybe they would be for child led resting. ;)
  7. What grade is your student? If you have an ipad or nook or android tablet, look up homeschool helper. It has a bird for the icon. It is only $4.99 and does everything you need. You email your reports to your email (report card, field trips, resources used, lesson plans....). That is the cheapest one that I love! And it is something you don't have to renew yearly. http://www.homeschoolhelperapp.com/ My other favorite and the one we switch to in high school is homeschool minder. It is $39.99 a year. I need it for the transcripts. That is the one thing that homeschool helper doesn't do-transcripts. http://www.homeschoolminder.com/
  8. I do think testing can really help you see where your child is weak and strong in subjects. I like to test in the fall and spring to note progress through the school year. The one at the beginning of the year shows me our weak areas. The one at the end of the year shows their growth. I really like the stanford online. Seton is supposed to have it available year round in July. We have used the CAT, IOWA, online CAT, and the online Stanford. I really like the online Stanford the best for the breakdown of each topic. We used classical conversation for our online Stanford this year. You can also use Brewer testing for the online Stanford as well.
  9. Do you have a 504? You do realize this would be accommodated in school and on ACT/SAT's if you get it documented? They get more time on tests and a proctor to read the test and scribe for them if needed. My son has dysgraphia/dyslexia and having a 504 saves him at testing time. It is a lot more than just telling them to type their assignments. They get longer on assignments, untimed testing, accommodations on national tests. I don't think the computation score is reflective of his ability if he has a known issue that isn't being addressed with the test. I just went back and read through that you don't have a formal diagnosis. I would get that first and foremost. It was definitely worth it for us to get a diagnosis as it helped us move forward.
  10. I think the region you are in has a lot to do with typical graduating ages. Where I am originally from no one holds back or starts at 6 if they meet the cut-off. They start at 5. I was 17 when I graduated. I will have 2-17 year old graduates and 2-18 year old graduates due to birthdays and cutoffs for starting k. The region we live in now...it is not unusual to have kids 6 turning 7 starting kindergarten. Most graduates are 18 turning 19 or 19 senior year here without having failed a grade. That would be unusual in my home state. So my kids are young for their grades here and it shows even in the homeschooling community. Out of the 3 homeschool graduates in our hs group this year...2 were 19 years old. My boys who I always thought would be the oldest in their grades due to the December birthdays are not. I agree it would have felt odd to be a grown adult and in high school still for another year or year and a half.
  11. Challenge is changing now. You have to be 14 to do Challenge 1 and you have to take all the courses now. You can't opt out of anything and they are still iffy on whether you can do a different science/math level than the Challenge level your student is taking. I was really interested in it until these changes were put into effect this year.
  12. For the cost at the Challenge level, you should have some sort of education background and experience. We toured CC Challenge 1 this year and had a great experience with the one tutor who knew science and latin pretty well. Then I sat in on the most awful Algebra 1 experience ever. The tutor was not good at regular math let alone Algebraic thinking. I can pay the same cost (if not less) and get a dual enrolled Algebra class at the community college.
  13. If you are using a conceptual math program then those are going to be high scores. If you are using a drill and kill math program then computation are going to be high scores. Over time, no matter which you use it evens out. Kids that start out drill and kill hit conceptual later in the middle to high school maths. Kids who start out conceptual/abstract (singapore/miquon/asian style math) will over time memorize the facts without the drill and kill. The ITBS is a good test, but the math sections can be hard especially with the time limits. My ds7 who is finishing 1st grade did not score well on the ITBS on different sections that I thought he was pretty decent at in his in real life work. We chose to do another test with no test prep. He took the online CAT and scored so much better. I am talking went from being in the low stanine to high/advanced stanine. The format of the online test worked better for him. 1 questions at a time and no bubble sheet to get bored or off track with filling in the bubbles. I went from being devastated by his test scores to feeling elated in a matter of a few weeks. What it taught me was don't base anything on one test.
  14. It looks great, but would only work for my youngest. I may try it next year though. I like that 5th grade includes the book for boys and girls care and keeping of you book. It gives me a great resource for my boys that I didn't know existed. I bought the girls book when my girls were younger and swear by it.
  15. So from looking at it....it just is fully developed through 5th grade?
  16. We use HOD. My 2nd grader will be completing Beyond and moving into Bigger. This is my 2nd go through with 2nd grade. :) My older girls went to school in 2nd grade. What I find works best for my 2nd graders has been- Reading- Drop the reading/phonics based programs with readers or an anthology of stories once they are reading and ready for leveled story readers to prepare for chapter books. HOD's Emerging Readers Schedule does this with Bloom's taxonomy. I so wish that they sold just the ERS schedule as a pdf so you don't have to buy the guide to get the schedule. It helps for an easy transition into chapter books. You can just go to the site and read the ERS books in the order they are pictured. ;) I find anthology stories and reading programs to be busy work for my kids and would really rather they read novels after learning to read. I do use MCP Phonics all the way through from MCP phonics K through Word Study F. Love it! Language Arts- Spelling through HOD then switch to dictation. Grammar is FLL. He is not needing more workbooks. I love Learning Language through Literature after finishing FLL to have an all in one language arts program. It seems too easy but has huge rewards. Math- Right now we are doing MIquon Math with my current 2nd grader. He will move into Singapore when we finish Miquon. I have really been all over the board with math though. I have used R&S Math with my previous 2nd grader. It really depends on your kid how it will go. It is a lot of rote memorization/old school math. When I first came home to home school, I really thought that was the best. However, now that I have older kids and have actively used math programs that think through math (miquon, singapore, jump at home math)...I think the opposite is true. Children really need to know the why's of math to be prepared for the higher level maths. A simple set of flashcards can cement the facts in a few weeks. I also think whatever math style or philosophy that you choose-don't switch every year. Pick a solid math that fits your math philosophy and goals and use it until you get to Algebra. History- At this age, it really is gravy. The 3 r's are the most important thing. That said, find an interesting history program that has hands on fun and your 2nd grader is swimming in gravy. ;) Science- Again, gravy subject at this age. Do lots of experiments even if they don't turn out as expected. :) Art- Have fun with it! At this point, we have a co-op class for art plus our curriculum adds it in here and there. Music- Piano lessons with a fun (cheap) graduated homeschooler who is going through nursing school and really gets wiggly little boys. :) Spanish- Interjecting spanish into every day life. Sprinkling Spanish into our English conversations. I also plan to get Song School Spanish. I feel the older style spanish learning is just not going to keep his interest. I want to make it fun. I tried Mango on the computer but found it didn't keep his interest long b/c it really wasn't for his age group specifically. I found a Jumpstart languages sampler CD and am on the hunt to see if I can find the full version as he loved it. P.E.- We do sports. Soccer mainly. Swimming lessons right now all summer. We try to stay active in rec sports year round. To me art, music, foreign language, and PE are great outsourced in group activities if you can find one in your area. I am one who believes in keeping the extracurricular activities available and to keep the kids in diverse groups. I don't want us to just be in homeschool groups and activities. My ds7 will be starting his 2nd year of cub scouts at a Catholic School in our area. We do an outside co-op on Wednesdays with homeschoolers. This has been a take the good with the bad type of deal mostly. We are thinking of going to an after school program that is for all types of schoolers (public/private/homeschool) this year and seeing if we like it better.
  17. We didn't have cable for years. Think a decade plus of no cable. Just the antenna and the kids watched pbs mainly. We did spring for netflix when the oldest got about 10 and enjoyed it for a few years. The reason we broke down and got cable was the year we did online school through a charter. Our phone dsl internet would not keep up with 4 kids on 4 computers doing all online school. So we got cable internet and loved it. Well since we got cable internet, hubby wanted sports. So now we have full cable with the sports and kids tiers. The kids tiers really doesn't bring much to the table. My kids watch most of the shows they like on demand instead of channel surfing or we set up the dvr to record so we can fast forward through commercials. The TV actually gets watched the most by hubby on his off time. I like cable and the kids have tv's in their rooms, but I guess years of no cable, dvd watching, and netflix have trained them to pick out something to watch instead of surfing for something to watch. I don't surf through tv anymore either and I did as a kid and adult before we went without cable for so long. My kids actually love anime and bbc shows. I would love it if we could just pick the channels we love and watch and get rid of the rest. ;) Mostly though my kids get into a show or program and we dvr them to watch on our own time. Hubby stays on the history channel, the military channel, and all things sports.
  18. I haven't read through all of the thread but some of it on page 1. I have 4 kiddos. They are 13, 12, 11, and 7. I hate playdates with a passion. I didn't really do them with my older kids b/c they had each other. With my youngest, I have done a few playdates at the request of the other parent. It is so awful. It is fun if we meet friends at the park, skating rink, water park, community pool and the kids are really playing and having fun on neutral territory. It is awful when we try to meet friends and have play time at their house. My ds7 doesn't have to deal with toddlers or babies or being quiet during naps and the like. My ds doesn't have to ask to get drink or snack in our house. He doesn't get it when other parents have gates to the kitchen and hand out everything. He would definitely say something if he felt he was being singled out by another parent. It sounds like the other mom is a bit overbearing and it wore thin on your child. I am going to try and word this gently so as not to offend anyone, but the mom is not doing her kid any favors. Your child is not getting a playdate. Your child is getting a heavily supervised training exercise in how to play with the other child that the mom finds acceptable to her standards for her child's needs being met. Your child's social needs won't be met in this scenario. I, personally, wouldn't stress individual friendships blossoming at 6. My kids did group activities and went to the park regularly. We played sports, participated in 4H, and scouts. They learned a lot from those group activities. My kids are thoroughly enjoying the pool this summer and have no trouble striking up a conversation with a new kid in new situations. My 12 and 13 year old drum up their own activities and frequently meet up and are dropped off to hang out at public places with their friends. I really would not stress playdates and socialization of that type at 6 in an environment such as you described. I have only horror stories to tell of the few playdates that we have attempted through the years. Some were parenting differences. Some were children just not meshing well. At one point I realized that my kids did better when I did not try to arrange friendships and play time for them and just put them in situations where they could play and meet friends. The play dates at people's houses have never went well for us. I would encourage activities with the friend in a public setting where the mom has to back off a bit.
  19. All states do it. It is part of no child left behind. Each state does it differently, but they can hold back a student based on standardized testing. The ARMT (Alabama Reading and Math Test) is used for accountability for third though eight grade to meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind. The ARMT assesses Alabama student achievement in reading and math content standards. The ARMT has a 100% alignment to the Alabama state content standards in reading and mathematics. Performance is reported in the following achievement levels: Level I—Does not meet academic content standards Level II—Partially meets academic content standards Level III—Meets academic content standards (proficient or grade-level performance) Level IV—Exceeds academic content standards The ARMT is a criterion-referenced test. It consists of selected items from the Stanford Achievement Test (Stanford 10) that match the Alabama state content standards in reading and mathematics. Additional test items were developed to be included so that all content standards were fully covered. It is this combination of Stanford 10 items and newly developed items that is known as the ARMT. Format of the Alabama State Board of Education Standardized Tests For students starting grade 3, assessments are used to determine academic proficiency in Reading and Mathematics. Alabama schools use the Stanford 10 and related Otis-Lennon School Ability Test to assess students in grades 3-8. The Reading assessment covers vocabulary and comprehension, the Language portion covers grammar and mechanics, and the Mathematics assessment covers mathematical procedures and problem solving. Students in grades 5 and 7 are given the Science assessment which covers the nature of science and life, physical, earth and space science. In grade 6 students are also assessed in Social Studies in topics such as history, geography, civics/government and economics. Each spring, the Alabama Reading and Mathematics Tests (ARMT) are given across the state to students in grades 4, 6 and 8. These tests are criterion-based tests aligned to the learning objectives (the criteria) developed by the Common Core Standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics. In high school, students must take and pass the Alabama High School Graduation Exam (AHSGE). This is first given to students in grade 10 as a checkpoint into students’ abilities and weaknesses. If a student passes the examination at this point, they will receive credit for having passed. These assessments are given in a five day testing period at various points throughout the school year. The subjects covered are Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and Reading. In each assessment students receive a result of either pass/mastery or fail/non-mastery. For those who do not pass, determinations are made about the need for instructional support and the student will have the opportunity to retake the test in grade 11. Beyond that, further retake opportunities are made available to students. For all assessments, students with disabilities who require accommodations or alternatives will receive their necessary accommodations. Each state has a different grade that students must pass reading or math. They don't have to be proficient in both. Georgia's is 3rd and 5th. Louisiana's is 4th and 8th. But each state has it b/c all fall under no child left behind. It looks like Alabama's are 4th, 6th, and 8th from reading about it.
  20. In certain grades, standardized testing is pass/fail in public school. It is a different grade in every state, but there are grades that you could have all A's on your report card and "fail" the standardized testing and you will be held back in public school unless you retake the test. Here it is 4th and 8th. My son missed by 2 points last year and had to do summer school and then retake and pass the test before being promoted to 5th.
  21. Personally, I wouldn't summer school subjects. I would summer school test taking skills. I would buy a spectrum test booklet for their grade and work through it and re-test. You have plenty of time before August to get results in if you test-prep for about 2 weeks and then re-take in July leaving 2-3 weeks for results. That would be if you are really concerned on the grade. Here it is 25% as well that they need to "pass" to the next grade. This is what schools do for students who don't pass the state test. They do test prep all summer so they will pass.
  22. I have not personally, but was offered the opportunity this year. A mutual friend did take the "job" and it was a hot mess. It did not work out for their family. It did interfere with their children's opportunities. They were paid the equivalent of day care costs in our area. The child was working with the same virtual school as her children. Here are the complaints I heard this year... 1. Resentment over time of the other child 2. She was having to spend more time teaching the other child than her own children 3. They weren't able to go to as many outings or field trips 4. It was really not worth the money. Are you thinking of this for an income? I have had several friends do daycare as well as this arrangement. It did effect their own children's education and their stress levels.
  23. I have to say that I like Math in Focus the best after using Singapore US and Singapore Thinking Math. Math in Focus really does not need the Teacher's guide as it is very step by step broken down in the student textbook. The textbook is also hardback which means it will take a beating and can go through many kids better than the paper back textbooks in the US Edition. The whole homeschool kit with the 2 hardback textbooks and 2 workbooks and answer key is very similar to the price of the US edition with the HIG. I did not feel there was a major difference in the approaches used in Singapore US Edition, Thinking Math, and MIF. My personal preference is the MIF b/c of the hardback books and the step by step breakdowns of the Singapore Method. I wish MIF had been around when my older 2 started Singapore Math. http://www.ourtidbitsoflearning.blogspot.com/2014/05/singapore-math-ins-and-outs.html
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