domestic_engineer
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Posts posted by domestic_engineer
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But as the article pointed out, the author of the study (Procop) didn't follow the instructions in the Abbott test. So, if a user fails to follow the instructions of the test creator, it's not surprising that you get wrong test results.
Quoted from the article....
QuoteAbbott said any problems with the test could stem from samples being stored in a special solution known as viral transport media before being tested, instead of being inserted directly into the ID NOW testing machine.
and then further down in the article ...
QuoteThe Cleveland Clinic's Procop acknowledged that all of the samples in his study were stored in viral transport media before being tested.
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4 hours ago, forty-two said:
I'm assuming, given your concern plus the stealth dyslexia comment, that your dc's spelling is quite a bit below grade level. My oldest was similar (and my middle not far behind her). My oldest's "in the wild" spelling at the end of 5th wasn't great - she was guaranteed to have several misspellings in anything she wrote, and I strongly encouraged her to do rough drafts (that I would spell-check) before she wrote anything she meant to give to someone. (Even so, the garden-variety "bad spelling" she had at the end of 5th was a genuine improvement over the truly wretched spelling she had at the end of 3rd, where anything over CVC was more likely to be misspelled than not.) But by the end of 7th, she was fairly decent, and now she's fairly effective. She can spell most of the top 2,000 words "in the wild", and she can effectively use a dictionary to look up words she isn't sure of. (She says spell-check is only helpful when she's just switched the order of two letters, but otherwise she has more success looking a word up in the dictionary than in spell-check recognizing her attempts.) A key thing is that, between her spelling and dictionary skills, she can figure out most any word - she's no longer having to censor herself, avoiding using words because she doesn't know how to spell them.
In general, to get my girls spelling, I've been doing a three-pronged approach to spelling:
1) work on phonemic awareness (breaking one-syllable words into phonemes and combining phonemes into words, and breaking multi-syllable words into morphemes and combining morphemes into words); I used my homegrown OG-style approach (using Dekodiphukan's sound pictures) for another pass through their phonics book plus Rewards Reading,
2) direct instruction on phonetic spelling (my homegrown OG approach) and then on spelling by morphographs (I used Spelling through Morphographs), and
3) studied dictation, using Spelling You See's visual marking system (we've done a level of SYS, modified WWE dictation to use SYS markings, and done Dictation Day by Day); really, just about everything we did for LA in upper elementary I modified to use SYS markings.Once they had the tools to break words into morphemes and phonemes (and were able to apply them to new words) and were generally successful in their spelling program, studied dictation (and later, once their spelling was good enough, cold dictation) was a big help in getting their spelling skills to transfer to their "in the wild" writing.
~*~
What sorts of things can your dc spell successfully, and what sort of errors do they make? Would you say AAS is working, in the sense that your dc is successfully learning what it is teaching?
In general, if AAS is working, I'd continue it, especially since you own it. I'd be more prone to do Megawords (or another morphograph-based spelling program, like Apples & Pears or Spelling through Morphographs) *after* you finish AAS, not *instead* of AAS. If your dc is successful in their spelling program, but it's not transferring to their writing, you could add in some studied dictation alongside your program and see if it helps.
It's hard for me to know how far "behind" DC is since the older sibling is a natural speller. But your description of your children sounds about right for mine. 🙂. You have given me hope; thanks!
Why do you think studied dictation is so important? What advantages does it give over cold dictation? Is it the repetition of a purposeful, analysis of a word?
I *think* AAS is working, just not as fast as I wish. So, I like your idea to finish AAS and then move on to a morphograph based program.
I appreciate your help and encouragement! Thank you, forty-two.
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20 minutes ago, 8FillTheHeart said:
I don't use AAS bc I think the building of stronger word lists for older kids is too slow bc phonograms are spread out over so many books.
Maybe what you said above is what has me antsy with AAS. Thanks, 8, for the honesty and reality check. I need it!! 🙂
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I dropped the ball with spelling this past year. Does the hive have any ideas/tips/curriculum/plans on how to accelerate spelling instruction over the summer? I'm imagining a crash course / boot camp / jump start /summer intensive type of plan. I fully understand that spelling is best taught in a regular, consistent manner, and I might be asking for the impossible in this post.
This is for a finishing-5th grader who is likely a stealth dyslexic. We've used AAS1-3 and are in the back-half of AAS4. And since this isn't my first child, I have AAS 5&6 on my shelf. Do I keep going through AAS as fast as possible? Do I drop AAS and go to Megawords? or something else?!?!
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Has anyone skipped Magic Lens 2? If so, how did it go? Was it too big of a leap from Magic Lens 1 to Magic Lens 3?
OR if you did do Magic Lens 2, did you find it too repetitive and not enough new content from Magic Lens 1?
TIA!
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Thanks for sharing your find, OP. We fell in love with his Exploding Dots last year, and I never thought about what else he has created. Thanks!!
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2 hours ago, Based on Faith Academy said:
Is this something new on here?
I've never seen that before.If I recall correctly, it happened when they switched to the current version of the boards - back when they shut down for a few days and they merged your store account at WTM with your login here. So a couple of years ago?!?!
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If you don't want the extra space when you hit return, push shift+return.
It'll look like these two lines.-
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I don't have any answers for you only commiseration as my dyslexic kiddo does this .... even on word lists!! You are right - it's immensely frustrating. It's like their brain is in a rut, a deep rut, and can't get out once they have their initial idea of the word.
Something that has helped a bit is the tap-and-say that we've learned from using ABeCeDarian .... and he has to physically use his finger to sound out each letter to get out of the rut. Most of the time he can sound out words, letter by letter, without using his finger, but when he's stuck in a rut and saying the wrong word even after sounding out each phoneme, I have to ask him to truly tap his finger on the page or table. It's happened enough times that I've started calling it his "magic finger". shrug. Oh, also, I think Don Potter was the one that suggested when they get stuck in a rut, have them sound it out end-to-beginning then beginning-to-end then blend. so for example for the word cat, if they get in a pickle, have them do /t/, /a/, /c/, /c/, /a/, /t/, /cat/. That works sometimes too. These techniques, though, are not magical enough to cure the kiddo's frustration or whining - unfortunately; it just gets you to the next word.
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16 hours ago, SCMommy said:
I am attaching a longer writing sample. The little stinker actually wanted glasses because his friend got them. He faked bombing his school vision exam and was flagged. We had an in-depth vision screening with a machine, followed by a double-check with the doctor. His vision is great. His letter reversals and number reversals occur daily. He can literally read words like “exceptional” or “fire extinguisher” and I hear him go through isolating phonemes in the process of sounding things out. He is great at baseball and loves art. He draws very intricate pictures, so motor skills do not seem to be the root cause. He has made an A on every spelling test this year (words are presented as multiple choice with 4 spelling variations). This is a child who has a large enough vocabulary at age 7 to tell me, “It is like I can decode any word I see when I read it, but I can’t spell many of them,” without prompting (no clue how he knows the word “decoding”). That response was when I asked him why it is so difficult to get him to do ELA each day. He has not been evaluated because there have not been flags to prompt it (straight A student). He reads aloud to me regularly with no issues. The breakdown happens when he tries to convert thoughts into written expression.
Is he a perfectionist? I think lots of 2nd graders have a lot to say, but when it comes time to transfer those thoughts to paper, the kids become overwhelmed with all there is to do to get those ideas from their head to the paper (generate ideas in head, remember those ideas, write the words on paper, form the letters correctly, write the words neatly, write the words with correct spelling). And then when faced with all those challenges to just answer the question, it's not something they want to do so they just put enough effort to git--r-done. Then if he's a perfectionist, he's not going to like when he creates words that he *recognizes* are spelled incorrectly. In other words, he knows *what* he wants to say and he knows what it should look like, but the resulting product is *not* what he had in mind. (now that I type it up, it's kinda like me and drawing .... hahaha.... and why I only draw stick figures now .... and avoid playing Pictionary. I laugh, but really, I guess it's the same thing.)
Maybe you can scribe for him to ensure he's generating the ideas for the assignment. And then at the end have him copy the sentence that best sums up his answer. That way you can separate the act of generating ideas from the act of handwriting. Then have a separate time to just work on his handwriting. And then have a separate time to work on spelling. Maybe loop the ELA subjects instead of lumping them together every day would give him more confidence.
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AAS does not have such a book, but @ElizabethB has such a document with all the rules on her website. you might look at this page first for the link to it; http://www.thephonicspage.org/On Spelling/spellinglessonsl.html but I'm pretty sure I got to her spelling rules document through another one of her pages, perhaps her Syllables Spell Success page.
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just an idea (not a tried and tested one): learning to identify bird calls using this.
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47 minutes ago, happysmileylady said:
Pointing towards what another poster mentione, the prices here just aren’t with it to me.
I was thinking the same thing, but then I wondered if the food is organic that they are selling. Then the prices would make more sense. After all, Panera uses Horizon yogurt tubes - not Yoplait's GoGurt -- for their kids' meals.
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2 hours ago, stephanier.1765 said:
Yesterday Southwest canceled my flight in May. I had been waiting for them to do it so I would get a refund vs vouchers. I was wrong. They did not refund my ticket. Instead I received a credit and if I rebook in 60 days they won't charge me for any overages that may incur if my new booking is more expensive than my old one. That's nice and all but I really would rather have the money back. 🤬
did you call them?
I got an email to the same tune, but when I called SW, there was not one bit of pushback when I asked for the money rather than a voucher. it was surprisingly easy.
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39 minutes ago, bnwhitaker said:
I like the idea of "big picture". I really line up more with the big picture idea its just most things I've been around are more the opposite. Is the big picture idea a "type" of teaching? Just wondering so I can look up some different curriculum options. Not really reading/math. I think im understanding my options with that. But mostly everything else. Im wondering if just reading would be best, I mean me reading to him. Or videos/docs/movies.
Do you know if the whole fill in the blank thing after reading in different subjects is something that works well? Something like Sonlight Science worksheets after reading the science or doing the experiment. OR something like Notgrass history the workbook review questions to fill in. Or is that something we shouldn't even worry about? I know for my other two boys it helped them not only to know they needed to pay attention so they would have answers but also to help get it into memory.
For big picture style curriculum, you could search this board for the term "Whole-to-parts" Here's one result (but not the thread that I have a vague memory of) that I got from using the following search terms in google: whole part curriculum site:forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic
I can't answer your question about fill--in-the-blank format to test comprehension as I prefer to have my child summarize or give a narration or just discuss it one-on-one after reading.
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22 minutes ago, Storygirl said:
Memorization is not the only way to learn, but it's very common for homeschool teachers who embrace a classical philosophy to teach via memorization.
this.
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I agree with everyone else in that it sounds like dyslexia. In addition to all the good info that you've received here and on the other board, the thing that stuck out to me is that Star Wars is (1) a visual input and (2) also a story, whereas nearly everything else you listed is rote memorization or memorization of snippets without context or a story. While you ponder getting evaluations, here are some things that worked for us and might help you in the meantime so that both you and he can gain confidence .....
(1). Building off of Dianne Craft's phonics cards, have him create a silly picture using the words that use the phoneme. So for example, for "eigh" that says the long a sound, we put 8 apples on a scale to be weighed. or for the /or/ sound, we drew a boy holding an OAR and a girl holding FOUR lumps of gold ORE standing on the FLOOR. (admittedly that's a lot for one card but it works for my kiddo.)
(2), Allowing the kiddo to immediately use the word/sound/fact in a silly story/sentence/conversation.
(3). put more things you want him to remember into a story format. Memorizing facts verbatim, even bible verses, is not the be-all--end-all. you might try funny poems (perhaps with hand motions) for him to gain confidence in memorizing. Or ... an offshoot of this idea .... put things into chants with a strong beat, perhaps that would tap into the musical side of his brain.
Also -- you mentioned that he didn't want to join soccer because he realized it would be too stressful for him. this made me wonder if anxiety isn't also holding him back with his schoolwork. "If it's difficult and thus stressful, then I don't really want to do it."
Another thought - maybe he's bored with the repetition that is cause from waiting for him to remember his facts, or remember romans 5:8, or remember that 'Chemistry is the study of matter"; what if you went deep instead? what if you studied patterns in math instead? or studied the doctrine of grace instead? or watch video documentaries to dig deep into scientific concepts. Maybe he's more the "big picture" kind of guy.
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Welcome! There are always good book recommendations on these boards, so watch your pocketbook! 🙂
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18 minutes ago, lanabug said:
Are the textbooks required to do this class? I can't determine if I still need to purchase the books or if everything is included in the self-paced class.
From what I read, you have too purchase the three books.
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Biblioplan?
truthquest?
what about creating your own list from the Veritas Press catalog that’s already broken down by time periods basically?
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2 minutes ago, Gil said:
Re: Comparisons.
In general comparisons don't do a ton of good for anyone and are more likely to cause harm than they are to have no effect. Comparing can be helpful to know where your kids are in relation to societal expectations/standards at large and of course it's helpful to know where they are in your sequence of study for your particular goals, but beyond that then what is the good of comparing yourself, not just to others, but to a highly niche sample such as another home school?
I think that I'm more content because, for the most part, I design the gaps that are or will be in The Boys primary education. I know where I am placing the gaps and so the fact that they exist or will exist doesn't bother me. It can't. I'm just one guy, there are only 24 hours in my day. During those hours I still have to parent, have family time, eat, sleep, work, run errands, and so forth. It's important to me that The Boys get a significant portion of those hours to be kids or learn things that I can't be absorbed at a school table.I committed early on to giving them the highest quality education that I can. Using the skills, experiences knowledge and resources that I have or can obtain. If I focused instead on trying to give them a education that is well rounded--as defined by others--then I would lose out on the option of giving them a higher-quality oblong education. I avoid trying to give The Boys a "well rounded" education. I am giving my kids the highest quality education that I can give them. If they really want to fit through round holes, then have the skills, support and the time to pursue rounding themselves off on their own.
Yes, that is very well-said. But I think this perspective is not present in the majority of parents as they begin their homeschool journey. Even if you look at experienced homeschool parents, only a portion will come to this conclusion, but that doesn't diminish your wisdom above.
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I think you could, assuming he will truly digest the information and not just skim read and git ‘r done.
I’m basically reading the TM anyways to my older kids. So I’d give the TM to the kid to read and then record the words and dictation sentences and writing station words. In other words, make it look a lot like IEW’s spelling program by recording everything (except the instruction portion) ahead of time.
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maybe you should just plan a multi-day field trip for you and the kids to a place without cell service. 😄
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How about suggesting she keeps a journal / notes in these first days/weeks/months? It'll be a place for her to process and keep details. Homeschooling 4 kids means there's a lot of details flying through a parent's head, especially if she wants to customize each child's education. You can even say that some more experienced moms (this one!) get overwhelmed by all the details to keep track of for homeschooling, let alone life. She can free up some brain capacity by using the notebook as a "parking lot", of sorts. And this more experienced homeschool mom (feel free to blame it on us) would liken it to feeding your baby at the middle of the night --- a parent comes up with some grand, interesting plans during those feedings in the wee hours of the morning, but experience tells you to hold off on acting on any of those ahem wacky plans made in the middle of the night until you've had some time to process and reevaluate those plans during normal waking hours.
I would guess that she's just lacking confidence and afraid of making a mistake. AND she has *you* to compare herself to; I'm even intimidated to compare myself to you! You seem to have it all together and your kids are obviously thriving. She probably just needs some encouragement to keep trying and taking one step at a time and she'll eventually find the groove that works for *her* family. And hey - a journal would be a great way to look back in a year to see how she's grown!
Edited to add: have you pointed out that her Time and Energy are also valuable commodities? So before she commits to spending those assets, she needs to know what she's gaining from that expense? For example, paying for grocery delivery may sometimes be a better use of her time. (It doesn't sound like this idea would resonate with her, but it might be a different angle to take.)
Crash Course Spelling?!?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
So what I'm hearing is .....
(1) assuming AAS is working, i.e., in-the-wild spelling is equivalent to what has been taught, keep progressing forward with AAS as the explicit, instructional portion.
(2). Dictation, in whatever form, is another crucial component. Cold dictation will challenge DC to apply the lessons learned to in-the-wild scenarios. Studied dictation will provide the scaffolding to proficient, in-the-wild spelling because (a) we are slowing down the student to actively think about the spelling (b) we model and collaborate on the word analysis that is needed (c) can cover the common--but-yet-to-be-learned words.
This explicit modeling of a word analysis makes so much sense. AAS does a bit of that, but I can see how adding more dictation (and thus more guided word analysis) to AAS would be helpful to a dyslexic. And I can see how the color coding system would provide another input to help retain the information.
So, @forty-two, if I don't have SYS, is it worth purchasing a level to become introduced to their philosophy or could I just jump into DDbD/Modern Speller? (I've wondered for years about doing DDbD with this kiddo.)
And @PeterPan, DC's typing skill is pretty good. We do type the words sometimes, but I'm still of the opinion that hand writing is better for the memory than typing. But you're right, that typing the words could be a good way to get the repetition in. (and actually, I see more spelling errors when DC types than when written by hand. Perhaps because the brain is wanting to go so fast and get the ideas out that spelling goes by the wayside?!?!?)
But wait - now that I type that out ....... how do I get the spelling of the words to become automatic? What if during spelling lessons, it seems like it's working because it's all word lists and meaningless dictation sentences with no time pressure. But then when DC is composing a paper, e-mail, or whatever, the ideas can't get on the paper fast enough, so spelling is neglected. Maybe that's what I'm really asking for help on?!?!?