freesia
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Posts posted by freesia
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My ds really likes me to work through the section with him. I read it, he works the problems--orally at this point, then we read the solutions. He does the exercises independently and I check them and have him redo the ones he missed. I haven't been having him say the definitions but that is a great idea. He tends to rush things so I am having him write things out more as we go along--too many careless mistakes.
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Where is the best place/forum to get answers to some questions I have about TOG? I'm still not understanding this program and could use more specific answers to my questions.
I have questions like:
In Y1U1, Week 2, why are there no answers to the Dialectic Accountability and Thinking questions? If there are, where are they (page number would be helpful)?
How come there is nothing for history/accountability for the Upper Grammar level? What would one do with a UG child during Y1U1 Week 2?
I'm still really unclear how to make this program work. Where can I turn to for the best help?
I really need a mentor here. :tongue_smilie:
There are no answers for the accountability questions for history and bible. If you look at the history discussion questions on page 30 and ask those questions, then your child's answers will come from their answers to those questions (or a chart they've made some weeks.) Within the answers to the discussion questions you will often find the "answers" to the TQs and AQs.
The answers to the worldview/ Bible questions are often within the Rhetoric Bible discussion (this I do find very odd.)
My UG child read the Usborne Encylopedia assignment that week. She also read Maia of Thebes. I read aloud STOW chapter 4 to both my UG and LG student, they did a narration from it for me (orally.) I also read aloud the Pyramid book and we discussed it as we went. Other days I read the LG history core, in-depth and lit selections out loud to both of them as well as stories from Exodus 1-5 from a story Bible. (I guess I got a lot done that week, not every week is like that.)
Some weeks my UG reads to herself and I ask her to tell me about her reading or ask what is most interesting to her. Often she checks out the links.
We do the Bible Survey questions together at some point, too.
Does that help at all?
Anne
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OOOOO This is a huge thing with me. I had 3 undirected and then my last was directed. I hated the directed pushing. It took me a while afterward to realize that that was why I hated my fourth delivery so much. The undirected for me was much more efficient.
Anne
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IMO K-2 has very little to do with content and very much to do with attention spans and building a good attitude towards learning. It's very common for K'rs to start K doing all 1st grade level work.
I think it is a mistake to push grade level too early. Keep moving forward with reading and number sense (math). Take time to play with numbers -- divide toy carrots among her "bunny" toys. If you add to that reading her some interesting kids lit and maybe some experience-based science, you're doing awesome. Math (number sense) and reading are the two great anchor points in early education. Don't distract from those until they are solid.
If you want to "dip" into some of your 1st grade materials, try doing something interest led. Remember the point isn't to teach "knowledge" but to peak her interest and get her excited about learning. This is a great time to spend a month learning about horses or flowers or...whatever.
I agree with this completely.
Anne
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How do you compare in the categories below? It's ok if your answer is based on hunches, rather than hard facts. I'm just curious. :D I promise I'm not tallying answers to report to the government, either. I didn't mean for it to sound like the census so many were complaining about earlier this year. It's just a list of things I find myself thinking of frequently.
Family Size (more, fewer, or about the same # of kids?)
maternal: same
paternal: we have 1 more
Size of your home?
Maternal: ours is smaller
paternal: ours is larger
Number of moves in your lifetime compared to them?
We have moved more than either family.
Do you have as much of a social support network as they did?
We have similar social support networks.
How do you think your nutrition compares to theirs? What about your overall health?
We have better nutrition. Probably the same health at this age.
Educational Levels?
Maternal: My grandfather had an MBS, grandmother high school, I have a BA plus some random masters credits.
Paternal: I have more education than either.
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I think it's a fine program. Two of mine have used it and are extremely strong readers, one has just learned to read using it and the other is only 2. When I taught first grade the special ed teachers loved it. There are lots of opinions out there. :001_smile:
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Board games
Outdoor "playground games"
5-in-a row
Around the country or around the world with picture books, music, games, food
Music and Movement
Artistic Pursuits
Anne
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Yes, it counts.
Catholic and Christian schools have religion class.(Probably Jewish and Muslim schools, too, I just don't have experience with those.)
When I student taught in Mass. the kids in ps had release time to go across the street to the Catholic school for religion class.
Anne
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Thank you for your reply, that is helpful. Another question: Would I be using http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/sid-a or http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/twsid-a?
Which one do you start with?
The first link is the SWI-A
The second includes the SWI-A but also has the TWSS.
The ideal, if finances permitted, would be to do the combo pack. The TWSS videos are teacher training. The SWI-A is the student course. I have heard that some people do use the SWI-A without having the teacher course but it is helpful to have the philosphy behind it. I was able to borrow it.
Anne
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I am having a hard time figuring out how their writing program works. The student watches the DVD, and then what? It seems there is a workbook? Does the parent watch the DVD with them? Do they walk the student through the exercises? Is there a teacher manual?
I'm a little confused by the description on their website and would appreciate any feedback. Thank you!
There is a DVD, a student workbook and teacher pages. The student can watch the DVD alone but I watched it with my son. If you don't go through the teacher training video (Teaching Writing with Structure and Style) you will need to watch it with your student. I found them entertaining.
Andrew Pudewa walks the student through some exercises. Then there are some assignments for the next week (or 2 depending on how long you want to spread out the DVD course.) The teacher pages have some notes from the lecture and give the assignment. It also gives you a schedule for the year, tells you what parts of the DVD to watch, etc.
It is very straightforward, clear and easy to use.
HTH,
Anne
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One incorrect assumption that seems to be prevalent is that the progression of brain development is strictly influenced by input and not an actual physical change w/in the brain itself. Children whose brains have not reached certain levels of development can not be taught to decode. Sight-reading which is simple recognition of patterns can be mastered w/o the same level of brain maturity as required by decoding. Certain pre-cursors of development are necessary for decoding to be achieved. For example, if a child is incapable of rhyming, identifying initial and final sounds, it will be highly improbable that they will be able to decode. You can teach them hrs and hrs and make little progress. Yet,when their brain matures, suddenly they can do it w/very little effort.
Another brain maturity issue is the ability to process what is being read. The assumption that continuing to give them more difficult materials will automatically translate into constant progression is an incorrect one. While it may be the case for specific individuals, it is not necessarily a truth. Reading comprehension may lag significantly behind decoding ability. Again, that may be more a function of biology (physical brain maturation) vs. anything educational. Being able to accurately interpret complex writing does not necessarily correlate directly to age of initial reading (iow, early readers do not automatically reach higher levels of comprehension at a younger age.)
Brain maturation is typically asynchronous. There simply isn't a single answer for a given scenario. It is very much individual specific. Which is why homeschooling is so advantageous......generalities do not matter at all. Only our specific children and their specific needs matter.
Yes, this.
Anne
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If the child teaches himself/herself to read early, then he/she may well be gifted.
But at least out here, there are a lot of early-reading kids who are only that way because they have pushy parents forcing them to spend a lot of time on it during the preschool years. If they enter K being able to decode BOB books as a result of 2 years' worth of spending several hours per week being drilled on phonics, there's a good chance that they'll "average out". Maybe they'll remain in the top reading group in the class, but to me that's still falling within the average range (albeit the higher end of it).
I agree. I think she meant fluent reading not early decoding skills (let's say third grade or higher).
Anne
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I thought about this more and it actually could end up being ONE MILLION more words per year assuming a child reads 100 words per minute, 30 minutes per day, 365 days a year then that child ends up reading one million words more each year. So a child who enjoys reading and learns to read at 4 and then reads a lot at ages 5 and 6 and 7 and 8 would have read 4 million words by the time he or she starts third grade (assuming third graders are generally 8 and then they turn 9 during the year). If a child learned to read at 7 to 8 the child would have started reading at the average age of a second grader. I think it would be really rare to catch up to the early reader in a year. I think the gap tends to grow AS LONG as the child continues to read independently every day.
This might not hold true in some European countries because some of the languages there are extremely phonetic.
Learning to read in Spanish or Finnish is much easier than English and takes a lot less time to learn so it doesn't cause a problem to wait until later to learn to read.
Actually, it is not rare at all. Reading is a code that needs to be broken. There are only so many phonics rules to learn. There is a huge developmental component to it, as well. Think walking or talking. It is not just a matter of more practice=higher reading level. I often saw a bright child zoom ahead. I remember one girl who left school Friday reading Frog and Toad books and came in on Monday reading Pippi Longstocking. No joke.
An early reader won't necessarily be ready for analysis earlier than a later reader, either.
Now, with regard to knowledge, that's where the 1 million more words comes into play. But for fluency, oddly enough, no.
Anne
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As a general statement, this is plain nonsense.
My early reader DD has consistently read way ahead grade level (as in, unabridged Count of Monte Christo in 5th grade, Grapes of Wrath in 6th, and so on)
Sometimes a child just started early and will level out. Sometimes, the early reading is sign that the child is gifted and will continue to excel throughout life. And sometimes, a child who does not read fluently until late in 1st grade will turn out as gifted as his early reading sibling. (Ask me how I know.)
The same thing happened here. DD didn't read well until 7 and is now (18 months later) reading as well as DS who read at 4 was at the same time. She is also reading as well as her friends who read early. They all continued to read. They all read several levels above grade level.
I also saw it happen in the first and second grades I taught in. Some gifted/bright children don't read until "normal" or even "late." When they start they quickly catch up. It's like the neuroconnections for reading fired and off they went.
It really does often happen. It's not so much the early readers slowing down but the later ones catching up.
My mother (who had 3 gifted children who all read at different ages) said, "If your child reads early you know they are gifted. If they do not read early you don't know if they are or not."
If you want to test, though, I've heard that 7 is the optimal time to do gifted testing.
HTH,
Anne
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I'm an early trainer, too. I use cloth diapers which I think helps. I am a big believer in "the window." While I do believe some kids aren't ready, many more are and I wish more parents hadn't been "brainwashed" into thinking it was better to wait. My advice is to go all out for a week and try it, if it doesn't seem to be working or a power struggle is occurring back off for a few months. (ds 1 started peeing in the corner at 21 months but was trained fully at 26 months.)
Yay for your nanny!
Anne
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I did 1/2 a lesson a day, completing 2 lessons a week. (So, we did it 4x a week.) I think more w/ a struggling second grader would be too much. My goal was to just complete the first book. We did end up starting the second in the spring. There are only 4 books and I feel the ending level is higher than fourth grade so there is no rush.
HTH,
Anne
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Hi,
For health I normally just make a list of things we will cover and include the substance abuse, traffic safety, etc. For patriotism and citizenship I say something like, "Patriotism and citizenship will be taught through discussion about and observation of holidays."
HTH,
Anne
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We did Core 5 this past year and loved it. The Eastern Hemisphere Explorer actually has a range of project that you can do. So, unlike other years, you can make it a very hands on year.
Anne
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Oops, I didn't read the post first. I voted $1000 but really I spend $500 per child. I have 3 schooling.
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I wouldn't worry too much about it really. Just keep at a comfortable pace. You will find pages you can combine, ones you can skip, etc. You will be able to skip the first 10 lessons or so of the book 1 if you start w/o much of a break (bc it is really review.) And, if you find you can't skip then you are at the right pace for your son.
There are widely varying ideas about the correct pace for math instruction and what should be taught when in the elementary years and above.
HTH,
Anne
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I love it.
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My fifth grade boy has the following daily chores: keep room tidy, make bed, wipe bathroom counter, load lunch dishes, help fold laundry, carry laundry baskets, put away his own clothes, pick up the house, and wash the pots and pans/wipe kitchen counter.
Weekly he takes care of the recycling and is supposed to dust and mop the kitchen floor(those 2 are somewhat inconsistant.) He also has weekly 'secret agent" missions in whatever zone we are in.
Does that help?:)
Anne
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I have heard that Finnish is an unusually easy language to read for those who are fluent in the tongue. English is harder because of all the more advanced phonics (e.g. "gh" at the end of a word can say /f/).
Yes, I can see that affecting how easy it is to learn.
However, once the brain is "ready" a child can crack the code in English. I have seen 7 yos learn to read in under a month and I have watched 5/6 yo struggle all year and then watch them click and gain fluency rapidly at 7 (my own child and several I taught.) It has been enough to convince me that for most children 7 is the magic number for "ease" of reading instruction.
I do start to teach my kids earlier but I do back off if there is undue stress. FWIW I've had a 3 yo reader, a 7 yo reader and a 5 yo reader thus far. They are all gifted. The 3 yo reader and the 7 yo reader were at the same fluency level at the end of 3rd grade and my 7 yo reader is at the same reading level as the gifted daughter of a friend (she read at 4.)
Anne
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I don't disagree on most points you have made, but I have never heard that a parent can cause a learning disability. I don't see how that is possible.
I think it is speculation at this point but the theory behind it is that biologically the two hemispheres of the brain are not fully connected until 7/8 in some children. There is some thought that pushing a child to read before they are really ready to read can cause some poor connections due to the immaturity of the brain. It is one of the theories being explored behind the higher prevalence of reading disabilities among boys (whose brain connections mature a bit later than girls.)
I'm not talking about teaching a child who is ready or eager but some parents do keep pushing a child who is crying or just not getting it causing a lot of stress for both parties. I think it's a shame if this is done when, in my experience, there is no real point.
I know you aren't disagreeing w/ my point but I do want to add that I have heard that in Finland, where they have a 99% literacy rate, they don't teach reading until 7.
Anne
Yet another TOG Question...
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
Yes, you have access to the older books and the replacements. There is a book update page where you can download everything you need.