mommy4ever
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Posts posted by mommy4ever
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What are editing books? Sorry still catching up on all the new acronyms, etc. This isn't an acronym, but I think I'm missing a reference to understand.
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We have been considering bringing dd13 home from Catholic school. We already have her 2 younger sisters homeschooling as of this spring. DH feels the decisions should be hers, and she's wavering. After what she told me today, :glare: I really want her home. However, that decision isn't completely mine.
We were talking about things that her sister hadn't learned. Every time dd11 tells me she doesn't know something, I have to take it with a grain of salt. She likes to be spoon fed, but as dd13 is a 2 years ahead of her, she can corroborate many things, as she was in the same school. She was almost positive she was coming home in the fall, now she is thinking she will stay in the school system :tongue_smilie:. So I was considering afterschooling, especially grammar and spelling, for a kid with 90's, her spelling and grammar suck big time. She was discussing with her teacher that her mom wanted to do spelling with her at home. Her teacher told her "Tell your mom not to worry about it, you're one of the best spellers in grade 7, and anyway, when you get in the workforce, you won't need it anyway, your computer will correct your spelling and grammar errors.".
WHAT???????????? So this teacher feels it's ok to send out semi illiterate people into the workforce? Sorry, but I want a doctor, lawyer, surgeon, banker that can read and spell with ease....not to mention, if they are graduating the semi-illiterate to become our next generation of teachers....how will the next generation of students fare? Who will write quality books for the kids to read?
I also found out that the government is changing what you require in order to graduate, you only need a grade 10 math. You need a grade 12 Social Studies that is so full of drivel it isn't even funny, and I don't know, but I use math way more than I do my social studies. SO they not only can't read, but can't do basic calculations.
Between the teacher attitudes, and the insanity of the curriculum, I can't believe what is going on with the school system here. I don't know what it is elsewhere... perhaps it is par for the course.
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DS15 is a great kid, drives me crazy some days, knows what buttons to push most :lol: Welcome to teens.
As we are learning more and more about the school system, with dd11 who has just gotten home from Catholic school.... and some serious 'lackage' (as ds would say). He is in a really good school, I have to say it is fabulous, but they can't make up for the substandard curriculum the gov't dictates.
In a couple years he graduates. He is an honor student. He works HARD to get those grades, and in most areas, he is taking courses in high school now that were college level in 'the day'. Although lots of drivel has replaced some very good solid foundation work in the current curriculum.
In about a year and a half to 2 years he will have to write 2 major essays that will affect 50% of his grade. I have found out dd11 didn't get taught grammar beyond noun, verb, adverb and adjective, lots of frustration in starting homeschooling.... to find out dd13 hasn't learned these things either... and tonight ds15 told me he hasn't either. Yet his final marks of his 12 years of schooling will be based on his ability to WRITE. It's not just content, it is QUALITY.
SO, I have approx 18-24 months to help him learn the art of writing well, and how to write an essay. Let me tell you this when the 2 youngest(dd6 and dd11) get to be 17, they will write a wicked essay. And I want to give him as much opportunity to improve on this!
What curriculum should I consider using? We have approx 10 of those months where he is NOT in school, he'll be in an apprenticeship program working, so schooling after work with no other homework will be tremendously successful and keep his brain working.
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:bigear: Thanks for this thread! I was just considering if it would help dd11 to start from the beginning and work through it! I can see it is definitely the right thing to do! Narration, copywork and all.
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We are using AAS level 1. DD6 LOVES it! I don't find it time consuming, we sit and play with it. I have melded it with OPGTR, it seems to teach very similar and with letter blends she struggles with in AAS, I can open to the sound in the OPGTR and do that lesson, and then the AAS makes sense again! AAS I find moves at a nice clip. Sometimes spelling with tiles bores her, so we get the white board marker out.
I have to say, the programs has helped her in more than reading and writing. I have had concerns about her speech. She does have a tendancy to baby talk, but even when she wasn't, there were speech issues. I was going to bring her to be assessed. Since we started AAS and OPGTR, I have found out she simply wasn't hearing the more subtle sounds. Now she is, and she is making an effort to say the sounds. Sometimes it requires lots of effort on her part. But it's coming along nicely. I'm happy to say she is no longer telling every one I'm forty-six but thorty-six..lol. Yes thorty. But it's a huge improvement. And we'll tackle those sounds in a week or two when we hit that part. But I am no longer concerned, it's partially mishearing, partially age developmental and partially laziness, it'll come in the next few months.
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We have been working hard, and the reward of seeing her learning to read is immense!
I started with Ordinary parents Guide. Unknown to me, was that AAS was a complete phonics program when I ordered it. It sat on the shelf for a few weeks before we pulled it out, I figured we should have her reading some before starting spelling.
Then during down time, I pulled out the book and read. WELL.... I was pleasantly surprised that it was phonics based too. Or my interpretation of phonics based. So a little confused, I emailed Merry at AAS, and asked her about it, she said it was phonics and I didn't need to supplement, but many families have commented that they use OPGTR with it and it intermixes very well.
So I started doing both. I found that AAS got her doing consonant sounds way faster, but OPGTR helped her with the short-vowel sounds much better. So now we are at lesson 12 in AAS. She is reading really well now, considering we started only a couple weeks ago. And lesson 43 in OPGTR. And Merry was very right, the complement each other very well. Yesterday, in OPGTR, we covered double consonants and ck. And today, in AAS, we cover it. The other day, something was covered in AAS and a day or so later, it was in OPGTR. It is a consistent review, in different formats. I don't do as many tactile things in OPGTR, as AAS does that. And it works well during appts, or when at piano lessons for dd11. DD6 and I do OPGTR.
I love the combination! She has made amazing progress in such a short time!
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I would say no. We are going through the same thing. DS15 has been little for a long long time. In October we measured him as he was finally tall than me(5'2") and he was 5'3". In mid November, we decided to measure him again He was 5'5.5". Now he's about 5'7-ish. He is always tired, putting himself to bed at 8, reading 30-45 minutes and down til 6:30.
Food is costly one in the last year. But it's cheaper to supply good food, than have him waste his on junk at school because he's hungry. Not to mention the $ value on whole foods is money well spent nutritionally.
Keep a good supply of nutrient rich foods, make sure he is resting, and it will stop eventually. :lol:
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Originally Posted by martinswife
Okay, so I tried reading her 1 section of the Intro. and then asked her the questions. There were only 2 questions. She couldn't answer the first question even though I read her just that part that had the answer like 5X. Oh, and the whole time I was reading (I don't drone either, I pitch my voice differently and read excitedly) she was playing with a bracelet, counting stickers on a page, humming, and making silly faces at her sister. I would stop, call her attention and see it wander again. Is she just too immature for it? She is 5 1/2 and really bright, but just can't sit still for long with ANY reading. Should I wait until later or try again tomorrow?
My dd is a little older than yours, but she is young for her age. What time of day did you do the reading? Was it after doing other school work? I find that if I wait until after we do other subjects, she's restless and can't really focus. She did exactly what you described your daughter doing. However, if that is one of the first things we do in the day, she's focused and listens much better. I find I need to be done school by about 11:30 and after that we do more fun things cause she is done for the day for more focused activities. Try changing when you are trying to work on it. Perhaps history needs to be the first activity of the day, so you can get her best focus. What ever my main focus of the day will be, we do it first. Of course, AAS can happen anytime of day and she'll focus..lol. But she does still get distracted, just gently steer her back. If different times don't work, set it aside for the fall. No harm in waiting a couple more months.
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I'd purchased FLL 3 for her, and she gave me the deer in the headlight look, she had no idea what was going on. I'm serious when I say she has NO grammar. She's articulate enough, due to her love of reading, but when it comes to breaking things down to write a semi-decent sentence, she's completely lost. Looking at her books from school, they don't require sentences for anything. It's all short little phrases.
I did look at Grammar Island. I think in a year, she'd love it, but not right now, to many missing pieces.
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As I am working with dd11, the more I realize that PS doesn't work with grammar, and truthfully, I am wondering what and if they teach at all at this point. She knows noun and verb, not object, adjective or adverb or preposition.... Her knowledge is very very minimal in this area.
I have FLL 1/2 and 3 that I am working through with dd6.
What if I were to go through and pull the important stuff, reduce the copy work, increase dictation for those levels(her retention for dictation is low, only 4 or 5 words). Would it work? It does mean more work for me, but I don't really care. I want her to learn and thrive. She loves to write, but it is really low quality due to lack of building blocks. I want to give her what she needs to write WELL.
I have gotten a grammar program, but it is written with the supposition that she has at least very basic grammar which she doesn't.
I am not concerned about not using it at this point, it came highly recommended, and we can use it when we get the foundation building blocks laid down.
Would the FLL path get her what she needs with a little tweaking?
Is there a side activity we can do for the rules of grammar? I've heard of mini offices.... would it maybe work for grammar too? Just something she can build on, and refer to until it is just happening?
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We use FLL 1/2, pdf format. FLL 1/2 includes the teachers guide as part of the book. Not separate. It doesn't separate until level 3 and 4. 1 and 2 are all-in-one.
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Thanks Cleo.
Any suggestions for a 6yo starting french? Well, sorta starting, she was in ps in french immersion for K and 7 mo of grade1.
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I grew up in a bilingual community. We had lots of people come from Quebec in the 40-60's so there was 3 program. Francophone, french immersion and English with french as second language. It started in 1974-76. I went to school starting in 1979.
So I have a reference to what it was, and am extremely disappointed in what it is today, at least in the school system we're in.
She knows most of the vocabulary, she has a pretty sound basic vocabulary, and the words she doesn't know, tend to be the same I don't. Typically it has to do with new technology or with slang. She speaks decently overall but when it comes to basic grammar, it's a different story, although the grammar issues does appear in her spoken language to some extent, not as bad as the older daughter(13) who you can tell is thinking in English and trying to translate directly, and it doesn't work that way.
I am looking to see what there is for french grammar out there, that is at an immersion level, not a francophone, if that is possible :lol: I got one workbook, where the grade 1 vocabulary had me thinking pretty hard, as it was French as a first language..lol
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Hi Cleo,
That is weird as I went through immersion until grade 6, in grade 6 we were merged with and to the horror of the francophone students and then transferred to the francophone program with no hitches. She'd be lost in a francophone program.
But it doesn't surprise me....
I keep hearing that the curriculum is so much better than when we were kids... however, I'm continuously finding more and more that she hasn't learned.
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I do know we are on a learning curve, and it takes time. But I'm getting frustrated with dd11.
With dd6, I simply started over, period. It is going great! She is reading, we are cruising through some areas where she had learned something at the school, and I'm simply re-inforcing. We did spelling dictation and she is writing short phrases! Considering she didn't even know her letter sounds overly well, she is an early reader after only 4 weeks. Her math is slower, but coming. Her comprehension is fantastic, her narrations are accurate.
But dd11. I can't pinpoint what she HAS learned. I know her grammar knowledge is next to nothing. I got Easy Grammar 5, and we did the pretest, and she only completed 1/2 of it, and some of that was incorrect. We did the first couple pages to day, and she is resisting, but she will learn.
In science, she wants all the answers to everything spoon fed(insert lazy here).
Math, which is her 'strongest' subject on her report card, I've had to go down to 4th grade, and even some of that wasn't covered. Caveat here, I'm told that our school system here is 1 year behind the US, but that means she should have covered most of this already, at least 1/2 :( But we are able to progress with it, slower than anticipated, but moving forward.
History is all new..lol. So that is ok. She is interested, so that is good.
But her basics in writing, grammar, spelling and math... truthfully, it sucks. And I don't know where to start. I get something that 'should' be remedial, and it's all new. She doesn't seem to have any building blocks. And I'm at loss how to help her, where to go.
And our province brags at having top notch schooling here :confused:
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Hi there,
My dd11 has recently come home from ps. She has been in the immersion program since preschool. She speaks quite well in french, however when it comes time to work in french, she doesn't seem to have any real knowledge of french. She didn't even know what 'Mets les phrases a la forme interrogative.' or 'point d'interrogation' was. I also asked her if she know what 'virgule' was. She said she'd heard of it, but didn't know what it was.
I am completely floored by the lack of teaching that has occurred.
What can I use to help her? I'd say catch up, but now that we're home, that's irrelevant.
I'm ready to dump the french immersion altogether, as there are massive gaps, then simply do french as a second language, and start over.
I don't think the pages should be too hard, they are grade 4/5 immersion.
I don't know how much remedial work I can do, before I am simply starting over.
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I am looking for some fun sheets to break up the day. They also come in handy when i have an appointment, so they are busy :)
I had some, dd11 likes Sudoku, hidden pictures. DD6 likes dot to dot, hidden pictures, find the difference(not sure what they are called, compare and find what is different), color by number, I had some with additions, but only 1, it was fantastic, she really worked hard as she wanted to color the pictures..lol.
Any other ideas? Most I find are pre-K, so it's hard to find some neat ones for them.
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Thank you! I will take a peak at those recommended, and go from there.
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We were doing a workbook today(from Costco) and dd11 asked for help. I thought I helped, yet when looking at the answer key, I became confused, and dd11, as a result, very frustrated. It was about objects, subject, direct and indirect. So apparently, my own grammar requires help..lol.
So... I am doing first language lessons with the younger daughter, who is 6. and had gotten the 3rd for dd11..but it's pretty simple. Not sure where to go from there. I think it is a great review for both of us to go through the lessons, even if we are going quickly and skimming. I want to have her build a grammar dictionary - a reference for herself, or perhaps a mini-office type set up so she has a reference(and me too).
But beyond the 4 levels, what do you recommend? Or is there something better for remedial grammar? and move from there?
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I get mine from a few places. I like ebooks, especially when there are worksheets, easier to print than to photocopy. (2 kids, so like at least the elders items to be re-used for the younger). Some are from places like Chapters(Writing with Ease, they have the workbooks as well). My city has a lady to does consignment, so there is a lot available through her. I get my french curriculums from Ontario(immersion) and Québec. As well as ordering from the US. I hate paying shipping, but it is what it is. It's going to hurt when I get my biology items, as the company only ships UPS. But I can't find a Canadian resource that will sell biology specimen to a non-school, registered facility only.
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I haven't used it, however, I was speaking to some one who did and is using it. She said this... you can do Level 1 without using prelevel 1 but she doesn't recommend doing level 2 without level 1, as 2 builds on concepts learned in 1. Since you said you haven't done lots that is in level 1, level 2 might be very frustrating?
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I am by no means an experienced home schooler. I just started this year(2010). But this is what we are doing with tremendous success.
I am using the Ordinary Parents Guide to reading by Jessie Wise, along with All About Spelling level 1 they complement each other well enough. As well as using Writing with Ease, and First Language lessons, both by Jessie Wise, all are her books are available at Peacehill Press. DD6, went from struggling with her letter sounds, to starting to read and sound out words in just a little over a month! Her comprehension is well beyond the grade 1 level, we just need to stock her mental tool box for reading and she'll be unstoppable. We are very excited with her progress as she was seriously struggling in a class room. Now she starting to blossom and i think soon there will be a full bloom!
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My daughter (almost 5) just started working on Working with Ease by Ms. Bauer. We really love it, but now I have to decide what grammar book to use. I just read about MCT on another thread, but the price seems really high for a grammar program. If people have been using MCT, please kindly let me know whether it incorporates copywork and narration, since WWE has this, and I didn't want to pay just to skip these two areas, and why they chose MCT over other programs. Also, I've considered FLL, but I haven't gone the next step of purchasing it (e.g. reviews are mixed). Of course if anyone has used and loved FLL, please let me know also. I was also thinking of Sonlight's Language Arts which incorporates copywork, narration, and grammar. For $38, it's cheaper than some other programs. However, Sonlight does not teach sentence diagramming at all in their higher level Language Arts books, so I hesitated in starting with their program; it teaches grammar for the sake of writing well.
Any other suggestions?
If you liked Writing with Ease, have you considered
First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind?
By Jessie Wise?
I have started this with my dd6, and she likes it. She loves everything to do with Peacehill Press.
I am doing a review with dd11, as I have no idea if she did much grammar at the school she was in, and she is enjoying it too.We are doing it as narrative for her so far and doing only dictation for the activities for her to expand her retention.
All the reading materials required are all included in the student pages at the back of the book, the instructor part is at the beginning. It is available as a paperback or PDF. The first book is Level 1 and 2, no separate Instructor guide. PDF is only $15, no shipping :). Level 3 and 4 are 2 separate books each having separate instructor books. So 4 books for the last 2 levels.
The Well-Trained Mind has recommendations beyond level 4, to continue the grammar path.
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I'm not concerned with dd6, we are just starting homeschooling and she hadn't started English reading at school, so we are a blank slate, and have her covered, she is coming along nicely. In fact, I grabbed some A Beka readers from the school board. I showed her when we got home, and she was so excited, she sat down and started READING! She was almost screaming in excitement after she finished the first page. :lol: And we are doing other things for grammar and writing, but working with a blank slate is so so easy!
However for dd11 and in the fall dd13, I am not sure where they are at. I know dd13's spelling is atrocious, dd11 is somewhat better. I want to give them some solid grammar, and move into writing. I know in grade 9/10 here at the schools there's a huge importance laid on persuasive writing, where ds16 suffers miserably..lol.(cause he hates writing, period, anything, a list, a sentence, etc).
I want to be sure all of them have solid writing skills. Is there a curriculum, like a remedial grammar and spelling for that age group? And a good writing curriculum?
Loving teaching dd6 to read!
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
We hit a bump in the road yesterday. I typically do AAS first and then OPGTR. However yesterday, we had tears of frustration. She didn't want me to stop, but she was getting herself worked up.
We went and did a lesson in OPGTR, and it was the same topic. She worked through it with giggles. We moved on with the day. She didn't want to do AAS again. In the afternoon, I pulled it out, and started again, and with 0 effort, she got it.
SO, we have hit a point in learning, that it is no longer just putting the pieces together, but acquiring new puzzle pieces and placing them. We will move slower now, I'm sure, which is 100% fine. But we will now be starting with OPGTR. I am looking at AAS, and making sure it is covered with OPGTR first. Teaching with that, and reinforcing and practical use with AAS.
I so totally love SWB!!! DD loves everything we use by her and JW. I takes me a bit to get into it, get a rhythm, but all I need this year is some learning from dd6, she has slipped into homeschooling SO easily. I thought there would be tons of tears and I don't wanna's, but she has been SO good about everything.
I do get the 'i don't wanna do school' so I send her outside to play and do gym. She built a snow man yesterday. Other days she does Wii fit. We are learning to skip. We made a hopscotch that went to 120 she giggled and giggled as her sister made it and jumped like little wild things for nearly any hour. Then she is ready to do school.