Embassy
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Posts posted by Embassy
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"Would you like me to clean up your plate or are you going to do it?" I say.
"You, do it", says dd.
"Ok, but you should now that I charge $5 to do that. I'm going to go put my plate in the dishwasher now, when I come back if your plate is still here, I'll know that you want me to take care of it for you."
LOL, I do that too, but instead of charging money I charge precious computer/Wii time. Sometimes they will choose to let me do it, but not often.
When they need to clean up an effective strategy has been to let them know that I will keep anything that is still on the floor in x minutes. It is rare for anything to be left on the floor, but when there has been it gets packed away and they have to earn it back with extra chores.
Also, in the morning they have to get dressed and complete their exercise before breakfast or there is no chance of having any computer or Wii time all day.
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We had an ancient Egyptian meal just before Christmas. It was fun and the kids were able to try some interesting flavors. If you want to take a peek you can see pictures of our meal here. If anyone is studying ancient Egypt I highly recommend the book Food and Cooking in Ancient Egypt for recipes.
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My 6 year old will often skip little words like in, of, the, and a during his reading. He is currently reading beginning chapter books. Is this something you have seen?
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I have a 3rd grader right now. I make up a lot of our own curriculum using living books and hands-on activities. I have the curriculum listed that we do use.
This year we are doing:
Bible - Study on world missions, reading biographies of famous missionaries
History - Study on ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and other ancient cultures
Geography - Study on plight of children around the world, and in depth look at China, Thailand, and India.
Science - Study on the human body, genetics, and microbiology.
Art - Study on 4 different famous artists
Music - Guitar lessons, Music Ace for music theory, and music appreciation of classical music and a selection of musicians from the past century. Using Connect the Thoughts for classical music history.
PE - Dr Sears Lean Kids program
Language Arts- MCT LA (grammar, vocabulary, and writing) Grammar Island
Literature and Reading - Selection of 8 classic books for him to read and 8 classics for me to read to him.
Spelling - Sequential Spelling (finish 1 and start 2)
Typing - Mavis Beacon Typing
Drama - Readers Theater with brother
Math - Combination of Singapore with living math.
Handwriting - Copywork
Greek - Hey Andrew Teach Me Some Greek 2
French - L'ART DE LIRE Level 1
Arabic - Alif Baa and Arabian Sinbad
Mandarin - My First Chinese Reader Level 1
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It isn't exactly what you are looking for, but my son loves Wikipedia and will search for many things on there.
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I just started Nallenart and like it so far. I bought the downloadable version, but had trouble printing the flashcards (some pictures were blacked out). I contacted the company, but no one got back to me. I was able to access the downloaded version as soon as I bought it though.
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I don't think it sounds like too much at all.
We started:
Mandarin - Exposure starting in toddlerhood
French, Arabic, Koine Greek - Kindergarten/1st grade
Adding another language within the next year - probably Sinhala if our plans to live among the Sinhalese people happen.
We go slow and steady and progress is slow, but we have many years ahead of us. French has pretty much been exposure only for a couple years. We just started a formal French program. My son wants to learn Latin too so maybe that will be added for him. I speak a little German, Spanish, and Korean to them too. I'm not fluent (or close) but it is fun to communicate in other languages. They pick up bits here and there. A couple weeks ago my daughter surprised me by answering me in German.
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How much of the school year have you completed and when did you start?
We started in late September and are about 20% of the way through the school year. Local schools will be halfway through the school year in early February so we are a little behind. We started later and had some time off for a move.
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2 year old: Where's Daddy?
Me: I think he is at the store.
2 year old: Can I buy him?
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How many days / hours a week do you do science, history, art and geography and what grade / age are your kids?
We don't have a set schedule. Sometimes we may have a week with a lot of a subject and then not do it for awhile, but if I break it down on average it would look like:
1st and 3rd grader
Science - 2x week for 60 minutes each time
History - 2x week for 60 minutes each time
Geography - 2x week for 60 minutes each time
Art - 30-45 minutes a week (art appreciation) for 3rd grader and 35 min 2x week for 1st grader (art appreciation and free art time)
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Trish -- you hit a chord with "emotional explosions that interrupt the day" -- we have fewer now that she's older, but boy oh boy, they can definitely interrupt a day! --and our existential angst reared its head again just last night. We were up at midnight with her afraid of driving to Grandma's in the pounding rain we're experiencing here. She's sure we'll all die and then she'll never be with me again and on and on --they're serious concerns and we discussed them, but I had to really help her learn to calm herself. We worked on deep breaths and focus until she was finally able to sleep.
Have you been to my house? Sounds like it :)
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I'd have him read AT or BELOW his reading level for enjoyment at this age so that he stay in love with reading and have him LISTEN to classics above his level. ;)
Good point. If his only reading was during school I would go that route. He reads for fun all that time. I am using the few classics that I have chosen as an informal way to stretch his language arts skills. I'm reading a list of classics to him as well.
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BTW, I think the version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea on Scholastic Book Wizard may be an abridged version. Here is a site which lists the original as an 8.1. ;)
Yes, I obtained the grade level from Scholastic Book Wizard. He read the Walter Miller version so it wasn't the abridged one.
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Thanks for the suggestions. I'm taking note of them. What is the reason that Uncle Tom's Cabin would be inappropriate? I haven't read it, but haven't found content that would be inappropriate for my ds at this point.
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There is a big leap from Narnia and Farmer Boy to 20,000 Leagues. I did the same thing with my oldest dd when I gave her Anne of Green Gables. I didn't realize that it was at a much higher level than what she had been reading, maturity wise, because of a slower plot and more description. I try to look at reading lists and see what grade level things are listed at. Sometimes it is because of content, but often they are leveled because of the maturity needed to stick with them. :001_smile: I try to find books with higher level vocabulary (usually older books) no matter what. Some books are gems, though, because the vocabulary is great and challenging, but the story is readable for less seasoned readers. Swiss Family Robinson is one example.
He might like the Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy; they are a middle ground up from Narnia. If he likes Farmer Boy, what about The Sign of the Beaver or Johnny Tremain or Carry On, Mr. Bowditch?
If he liked Wrinkle in Time, he might like The Phantom Tollbooth.
Ahh, I think you hit the nail on the head. A "slow plot" is what I need to avoid.
I did check out the grade level for 20,000 Leagues and it was 4.7. It didn't seem like other 4th-5th grade level books though.
You have some good suggestions I'll check out. He found the Phantom Tollbooth boring after a little bit although he did like it at first and he did like The Sign of the Beaver.
These are the other ones I had on this years list. I'm thinking a couple of these should be switched:
Alice in Wonderland
The Hobbit
The Pearl
Ben Hur
Uncle Tom's Cabin
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Which classics have you tried so far?
What are his interests?
Science is his big love and he spends free time reading science books. He does enjoy fiction too. He really enjoyed Farmer Boy, the Narnia series and liked Wrinkle in Time as well. He didn't complain about those.
This year he has read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and A Christmas Carol. He complained some parts were boring but told me tonight that he would read the books again. For 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea I told him to just skip over any boring parts he found (he liked the dialog the best) and he ended up reading most of the book. He is asking to read War of the Worlds by HG Wells, but I don't know if the content is appropriate for his age.
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I am using MCT LA this year for my son and have been having some difficulty finding classics for him to read. It seems as though MCT recommends choosing books that would be difficult or a little above their level to stretch their language arts skills.
How do you know when something is too difficult comprehension wise? He can pretty much read most everything without problem, but he often complains that a classic is boring. In your experience have you found this is because it isn't exciting enough or over your child's head comprehension wise.
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You all are welcome to some. It took 4 recipes of Rice Krispie treats so we have plenty!
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We are studying the human body this year and did a model of the skin - then we ate it!
You can see pictures here. Want a bite?
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Where we live we have mandatory recycling. The "garbage police" don't go through your trash to see if you offend, but I'm sure they would do something if there is a blatant problem though.
Garbage pick-up is free, but limited to 2 bags per house which I find to be more than sufficient. We also have a bin for compost-type materials (kitchen waste) as well as a couple bins for recyclable items.
At first I thought mandatory recycling was too much control by the government, but I think otherwise now. I'm pleased that waste is being reduced in our consumer driven society. After getting into the practice of recycling it really isn't too hard. I just put the items to be recycled in a different place than the trash.
I've lived in places where I have not recycled at all because it was quite labor intensive and picky. By that, I mean I would have to put all recycled items into my own container, transport it to the recycling center, and then separate the recycled items into their appropriate categories. Now, I just put everything in one or two bins and they pick it up at the curb and separate it themselves.
Anyone else have mandatory recycling?
How many bags of trash does your family put out by the curb each week? Do you recycle?
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You read to them. You read with them. You read what they read. You talk to them about the books you both read. They see you reading other books. You foster and hold a love of reading yourself.
:iagree:
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We have rather lazy mornings and start around 10 or 11. We usually have a big lunch break and finish up around 5. My boys are in 1st and 3rd. We spend a lot of time in school, but most of it isn't sit down at the table type of work.
I made a video of our school day last school year. It is somewhat similar to this year if you want a peek.
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I've had Wii for a year and the Active Life Outdoor Challenge has been a great way for my boys to get exercise. They get very sweaty jumping around and having to move fast on the mat. I recently wrote about it and attached a video to my blog post.
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because I learned how much my 6 year old wants to sky dive in an effort to end world poverty.
What are you paying for gas these days?
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
About $4.50 a gallon here.