Suzannah
-
Posts
678 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Classifieds
Store
Posts posted by Suzannah
-
-
Danestress, yes, I'm sure he was just stalling. :) He didn't actually ask about educational goals, but my saying "This is important and you'll be glad you know it later" just isn't lighting a fire under him to do his work without huffing, rolling his eyes or groaning.
I probably will get a bunch of library books for him though. He's always been homeschooled and sometimes I think he just doesn't realize how good he has it. :rolleyes:
Keep those suggestions coming!
-
See, this is why I love this forum. I had thought of having him read TWTM but figured that was overkill. Of course he could read a few relevant chapters to at least understand that this isn't something I made up on a whim to keep him from playing video games.
If anyone happens to think of a classical education book for kids to read or even just something promoting diligence and hard work, I'd love to hear about it.
I've added Created for Work to my Amazon wishlist so I won't forget the title but haven't purchased it yet. Has anyone here read it and found it useful?
-
My 10yo DS who is normally very compliant has been less cooperative lately about things. Which things? Well, just about everything, but it generally comes down to things (chores, extra activities not of his choosing, certain assignments though not entire subjects) that he doesn't care to do and doesn't see the point of. Today I realized that he doesn't have a clear idea of my educational philosophy so I told him we'd sit down later this week and make some plans for next year and I would explain why we need to do each of them. :o
I have seen others recommend letting kids have a hand in choosing new curricula to let them feel more involved. Frankly I don't want him to have that sort of control over everything, but I'm willing to let him look over a few texts and see what other methods do in say math and that what is required of him is in line with what would be required in another program.
Anyway, I'll be sitting down with him to talk it all out, but are there any books for this age describing and extolling the virtues of a classical education? He's a good reader but I don't know that Climbing Parnassus would be appropriate at this time.
Any thoughts?
-
I guess it does look like I'm rushing into Spelling. DD actually turned 6 in January so we're doing a sort of K/1st thing this year and more of a 1st/2nd thing next year. She's actually pretty good at phonics. TWTM recommends beginning spelling when Phonics Pathways is completed or nearly completed. I'm not going through it as intensively as I did with DS but DD practices reading every day or every other day and she absolutely loves to copy things I've written for her or telling me what she wants to write so I can spell any words she can't figure out.
I had also wondered if it was necessarily a given that she is an auditory learner simply because of her vision problems. I haven't quite figured out what her strongest learning style is.
Thank you everyone for your suggestions. Sometimes I'm just not sure which questions I'm forgetting to ask. I really appreciate the forums when I do think of a good one. :)
-
My 10yo DS has been doing this a lot lately. He's always been a bit faster answering questions orally than in writing, but once he (mostly) got over his handwriting phobia it seemed to get better.
I thought it was mostly confined to math. But math has been taking so long lately he hasn't had much of an opportunity to write in other subjects.
Any suggestions would be most appreciated. With math I've tried timing him (which freaks him out because he thinks he won't have enough time) to letting him work in a room by himself (where he often gets distracted) to making him work at the table with the rest of us (where he says everyone else is distracting him).
-
I looked it up on the IEW site. Have you used it? I'm familiar with the writing program but have never actually seen Phonetic Zoo first hand. Does anyone else have an opinion? How necessary are the audio CDs? Is the DVD basically common sense or does it actually provide useful information? At first glance it looks like it would work well for a primarily auditory learner.
-
Thanks for those suggestions. It really only dawned on me the other day that there might be a better way to handle spelling so I hadn't considered either of those ideas.
-
Hey all! I'm beginning to make out my wishlist for next year and trying to make some decisions for my rising 1st grader. She has low-vision but wears reading glasses and is learning to read. She's been doing a low-key version of school for a couple of years now because she wanted to imitate her brother. She enjoys math (Saxon 1) and handwriting (Italic) and will probably continue with those. We also use FLL for grammar which is nearly all oral at this point. Reading is going well but the smaller the print naturally the more difficult it is.
I've used Spelling Workout for the last five years with her older brother and we like it well enough, but I happened to think that there might be something more suitable for her situation. What is the best way to teach spelling to someone who doesn't see well? :confused:
-
I don't know whether or not CLE is ahead of public schools or Abeka. Even if it isn't, don't worry about making comparisons. If any of the previous ideas sounds daunting, try doing one and a half lessons each day instead of just one.
We use Saxon and if we've gotten behind my own self-imposed schedule we combine lessons. We'll walk through say lessons 58 and 59 and do both practice sections, but will do only the problems for lesson 59. Since Saxon reviews everything in each lesson this works pretty well.
Good luck.
-
Awww, how sad! I know what you mean about some public figures affecting you more than others when they pass away. I saw him speak several times, once at my alma mater, Harding University. He will be missed.
-
Here in Northern Virginia that's about how long it takes to get anywhere. Here's how I evaluate that kind of time commitment. If it's a serious pursuit, something that the child intends to pursue as a long-term goal and the location is non-negotiable, then it's worth it. However, it might be nice to get to know other students in the class and arrange to share pick-ups and drop-offs with other moms and dads. If it is a limited-time only, special circumstances class it might also be worth it. Our family is just finishing-up our 12th week of Scottish Country Dance classes. This was something I had wanted to do for years and even though it has been a lot of trouble squeezing this into our week, we have enjoyed it and met new friends. And it was only for a limited time.
With some of our activities, I find that I am able to do school work with one child while the other is in class. DD and I practice phonics during DS' guitar lesson. If there happens to be a library or grocery store near the class, you might be able to combine it with other errands.
Good luck with your decision. Ultimately it comes down to your priorities, not what the rest of us think.
-
The tests cover material up to five lessons before. So the test after lesson 20 would cover material up to lesson 15. So once you find a test they have trouble with, you'll want to back up at least 5, maybe 10 lessons and begin there.
Good luck on your homeschool journey!
-
My 6yo dd loves My Little Pony and we have exhausted all of the activities on the Hasbro site. She'll be excited to see the other activities that match up with some of the books we get from the library too.
Thanks!
-
I heard that there was an easier transition from print to cursive with italics. I also liked the look of the script and thought my kids would produce a neater handwriting than with the "loopy" traditional cursive I learned. For the most part I think it's a good system, although my oldest is a boy. He is capable of writing beautifully...I've seen it a time or two. But he doesn't always try to write neatly. This year (5th grade) I told him we would discontinue handwriting/copywork if he would show me consistent, neat handwriting. He hasn't really upheld his part if the bargain. I was thrilled to see...umm...sorry, can't remember her name. The Medieval Italic Copybook.
We've pretty much used italics from the beginning, but DS did free online worksheets in Kindergarten that were Zaner-Bloser. The transition was mostly painless. There are a few letters that are formed very differently but they are mostly the same.
-
Oh wow! I didn't know there was a CD. Thanks for the info. I'm really out-of-the-loop after taking time out from the boards to have a baby last summer.
-
When DS was in first grade I couldn't wait to start Latin. I knew he was bright and *I* was going to do all sorts of fun and educational things with our school. It ended up being more difficult than I thought. I hadn't taken into account the attention span of a 6-yo or the fact that he wasn't absolutely going to love doing math. Then I figured we'd start in 2nd grade. But we had some reading resistance. In the end, we waited until 3rd grade to start Latin and it was exactly the right time for us.
In short, you may want to wait until you get into the rhythm of school before introducing Latin.
Good luck!
-
We were able to see it afterall. And, as a bonus, we could see it through the two-story windows in our living room so we didn't even have to stay outside! 5yo DD was very excted, but while we were waiting to see it she asked to go to bed and got onto me for not putting her to bed on time. Oh well. She and 10yo DS argued over the binoculars some but it was worth it.
-
I had been planning to let the kids stay up to watch, but here in the DC area it looks like it might be cloudy. :rolleyes: I'll check the cloud-cover at bedtime and see what it looks like then.
We won't be back in astronomy until next year, but we take fun opportunities as they come.
-
We'v e used G_D Italics every year untilthis year and I see that my 5th grader still needs regular practice. I was just trying to decide what to do about it. This looks fabulous and I love the selection of quotes and prayers, etc. Thank you!
-
Gothic Girl--that is quite a list of...umm...information. I come from a clown family too, though not the "big top" variety. Those are the creme de la creme of clowns. My mom and step dad took a clowning class when I came home for the summer and saw how much fun they were having I took the class too. I haven't done anything with it in several years but my parents have done lots of special events and some Christian clowning.
I have a bunch of Calliope magazines too and I would bet that you and I are probably the only ones on the board that have actually seen one. :)
Bump a nose!
-
DH has worked on Capital Hill now for ten years for various House and Senate offices and has met many people of note including politicians, reporters and various other news-makers.
My mom went to high school in Maryland with Coach "Tubby" Smith and someone who was on the Lawrence Welk show...Aldrich sisters? My grandmother knew Al Gore's mother and grandmother and him when he was little. And my mom was the first woman in the state of Indiana to earn her private detective's license. That has to count for something.
When I worked at Mount Vernon I saw several famous people including Barry Bostwick, Joe Montana and Robin Leach (who spoke to me). I also saw Ted and John Kennedy Jr. with John's then fiance and Sonny and Mary Bono. This was within a few months of their respective deaths.
My brother was best friends in kindergarten with Matt Grondin, son of Jack Grondin, the drummer from 38 Special.
-
I think the Word Locker is just a list or notebook for problem words, as SWB suggests keeping in TWTM.
HTH
-
As someone else said, it's very thorough with way more review than you will probably need. I actually go through every few weeks or months and circle excercises that I think are most important and note things which DS needs to copy (rules, charts, diagrams, etc). Then when I assign say pages 38-40, DS does whichever excercises have been circled. This extra step became necessary for me within the first semester or so of Language 3. We were doing 2-3 pages three times a week and I realized that we would never get through the book at that pace, but DS was (and still is to some extent) reluctant to write much and we were often ending the day in tears. Anyway, this was what worked for us. DS is now in 5th grade and has a pretty good grasp of grammar.
-
I have not used it but a friend who is a PS Latin teacher offered to tutor my son in Latin in exchange for piano lessons for her daughter. DS had already done Latin Primer 1 & 2. She ultimately decided on Cambridge for us, but initially she had planned on Ecce and let me borrow the books to look over. It follows a story and has some pictures. We're enjoying Cambridge but since I'm not teaching it I can't offer much about ease of use, etc.
Good luck!
I guess we're in the logic stage now
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
Well one of the problems this year is he doesn't care for the Latin program we're using. We began with Latin Primer...dry as dust but he thrived with it. Then this year a PS teacher friend of mine offered to tutor him in Latin along with her daughter in exchange for my giving her daughter piano lessons. The text she is using is Cambridge which has pictures and a story to follow. It should be much more interesting but DS doesn't care for it. And because he doesn't care for it it's like pulling teeth to get him to review vocabulary and do the assignments whereas he used to really enjoy Latin. I don't think he's retaining as much as he did the last two years but I hate to give up the free tutor.
So, there's one situation where I probably will give him some say in which text we use next year, although the ultimate decision will be mine because I'm the teacher with three kids who still has to do housework and fix meals. :)