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Kidlit

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Posts posted by Kidlit

    Suggestions for teaching adding by tens/counting by tens

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    My kindergartener is having a hard time grasping the concept of adding by tens---> 20 + 10 = ____; 30 + 40 = ____; etc. She can count by tens, but the addition is eluding her right now.

     

    We use RightStart math and she's in Level A. Does anyone have any suggestions as to supplemental games or resources to help this along? She LOVES to play games, so anything like that would be a real plus.

     

    Thanks!

    How much handwriting is "enough" for a K-er?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I'm really trying NOT to play the comparison game, and in reality (in this case at least ;)), I'm not. However, last night at our group music class, which we attend with all private or public-schooled, similar-aged students (I think all in attendance last night were kindergarteners), I noticed that dd's handwriting is decidedly messier and, well, just worse.

     

    This led me to question if I'm having her practice enough. That's all. I'm really clueless about this, but she doesn't do a whole lot of intentional writing. She usually does 1-2 pages of HWOT 3 or 4 times a week, and she's been keeping a book log in which she writes the titles and authors of the books she reads.

     

    Is this enough?

     

    How do I encourage her to do her best? I think she's just a messy kid. . .:tongue_smilie:

    Books for preschool human body study

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I am currently doing a human body unit with my 5 year old K-er and my 4 year old pre-K-er. I hope to write it all up for my blog once we finish, but I can tell you that we have really enjoyed a couple of books already. They are

    The First Human Body Encyclopedia (Dorling Kindersley)

    and

    Janice VanCleave's Play and Find Out about the Human Body

     

    The first is obviously an encyclopeida, but it is very visually appealing with huge pictures, etc., and snippets of information. The second is basically a book of easy experiments.

     

    My girls are loving this so far!

     

    Again, eventually I'll have a post about it on my blog, too. :tongue_smilie:

    I'd like some help, advice, opinions! :)

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    My girls both go to a local music program which I suspect is like Kindermusik ('though I know NOTHING about Kindermusik). We've been doing the lessons since my eldest was just under two, I think. She is in the third level of group piano class now, and I am amazed at what she has learned. It's pretty pricey (appr. $120 per month for both girls), but it's their only consistent paid activity. They'll likely be involved in Upward Soccer and Basketball in the future, but neither of those would add too much to our activity expenditures.

     

    I suppose I wrote all that to say that the "outsourced" music classes have been worthwhile for us, especially since they all (from the baby class up through the piano classes) require a partner to always be in attendance. This means I end up tutoring them throughout the week when we practice, etc.

     

    I did review a music program called KinderBach for my blog which you might want to check out. You can read my review here.

    A ? for SAHM's who have a degree

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    I'll add my little story to the mix.

     

    I have a B.S. Ed., a M.L.I.S. (library science), and 18 graduate hours in English. The two degrees were earned before I had children, and I really had not given much serious thought to what I would do once I had children. I even assumed that I would return to work after a year or two, which I now realize was quite ridiculous for me to even think. :tongue_smilie: I earned the 18 graduate hours mostly while I was pregnant or soon after I had my first. My goal was to be able to teach part-time at the college level, and I have done that since my eldest was an infant. It has been the perfect situtation for us, and I am forever thankful to God that He has blessed me with this opportunity.

     

    I do not regret my education at all. As so many of the previous posters have already said, it's all about being an educated person. In addition to that, if I had not gone as far as I already had in my education, I would not be able to do what I'm doing now: working very minimally and spending virtually all of my time at home with my children, educating them.

     

    I will do everything within my power to encourage my own children (girls and the ds we're expecting in late spring) to go to college, no matter what other roads in life they travel down.

    Little House on the Prarie books for a 5 year old?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    I just had to jump in and say that my girls have been listening to the unabridged audiobooks since they were 3 and 4, and they're still going strong. They LOVE the whole series. We have also read together Little House on the Prairie, some of Little House in the Big Woods, and we're currently reading Farmer Boy. We have lots of the picture books (not sure of the series title, and I don't have any in front of me), but these books are simply fodder for their fertile imaginations and more fuel for the fire in terms of their adoration of all things Laura and Mary.

     

    I say go ahead with the real thing now. Truly, hearing the story OVER and OVER and OVER has not put a damper on my girls' enthusiasm in the least.

    SOTW Volume 1

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I'm pretty sure this question has been asked (and answered) ad nauseum ;), but since this thread came up here, I thought I'd throw it out there anyway.

     

    Would you do SOTW 1 with a first grader and a pre-K-er (who simply won't be left out of anything :))? DD1 will be six in May and DD2 will be 5 in November, if that helps.

    Toileting issues in five year old dd--fear of toilet

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Tiff in TX, I think I posted at the same time as you. :)

     

    We've talked about it ad nauseum. We've even borrowed a nutrition/human body curriculum from dh's aunt who runs a program for K-1st graders. It's complete with dancing body parts (video); a doll with removable internal organs for the kids to see, hold, etc.; and "Peri Stolic," the colon, who needs good food to keep him flowing, etc. All of that was a hit, but it didn't "sink in."

     

    I'm thinking we might need to investigate this more with the dr. She actually has an appointment in a bit because she has a cold/sore throat/fever, etc. Maybe we should bite the bullet since she HATES going to the dr. anyway and have him give her a thorough exam.

     

    Prayers are appreciated.

    Toileting issues in five year old dd--fear of toilet

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    DH and I are really grasping at straws over this particular issue, so he thought it would be a good idea for me to mine the collective wisdom and experience here and see if we can come up with some sort of solution, or at the least, encouragement.

     

    Our 5 1/2 year old dd is afraid to have a bowel movement in the toilet. This only started about three weeks ago; up until then, she was very "regular" and had no problems at all going. The cause of this fear is the fact that she got extremely constipated due to some feeding issues (which have since been mostly resolved, thank God!) and had a very painful bowel movement. As far as we know, all of the physical issues "down below" have been rectified, but she still won't go. We're still giving her Miralax (per the doctor's advice) every other day since she's holding it in so much, so her bm's are generally soft. As I mentioned before, this is not her "normal" system--before, it was not unusual for her to have a bm after every meal. She will eventually go in her underpants or in a pull up (if we've put one on her out of desperation).

     

    Advice, anyone? Anyone BTDT and lived to tell about it?:)

    Help name my baby

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    I love the name Asher (one of the 12 tribes, I believe) for a boy, and we are expecting (should find out tomorrow the gender!), but I'm not sure dh would go for it. Both our girls have Biblical first and middle names, so we've set ourselves quite a high bar, especially if we have another girl.

     

    Here are some more rather uncommon names I love for a boy:

     

    Jude

    Ezra

    Obadiah

    Nathaniel

    Isaiah

    Someone reassure me about what we're doing for reading. . . please!

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Again, thanks for all the responses!

     

    DD really LOVES reading in general. She LOVES being read to and usually listens to an audiobook (long chapter book--right now it's Caddie Woodlawn) for her one hour rest time daily. It's not a problem with books, just with doing the nitty-gritty work.

     

    I'm soldiering on. I'm trying to make it as painless as possible for her (white board, window markers, etc.), but I am realizing that some things just have to be done.

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