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Jeani

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About Jeani

  • Birthday 09/04/1977

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  • Location
    Central Jersey
  • Interests
    cooking, piano, tae kwon do
  • Occupation
    piano teacher
  1. Pardon a little asynchrony story. FB friends just do see the humor of this kind of stuff LOL! Some kids think inside the box. Some think more outside of the box. I think my ds 7 found the box, stomped on it, took a machete to it, and torched it. On his math test (Singapore 4A) there was an intentionally tricky question that listed numbers to fit into two different categories: (a) prime or (b) composite. Well, he wrote in a third category "© non-composite and non-prime" and then filled it in with the tricky number "1"... A write in vote on a math test? Oh and the best part, he pointed to it, looked at me, gave a big old wink and said "Ha ha ha, they can't fool me!" Mind you, this is the little boy that couldn't remember how to write lowercase "j" and wrote uppercase "J" in the middle of his spelling words for almost an entire week until I reminded him that the entire alphabet is plastered above the cabinets in the room where we do school.
  2. What curriculum/approach is best? I read the recs in WTM, and I'm so wishing Ellen McHenry had a physics curriculum b/c they love her Chemistry and Carbon Chemistry programs. Any help would be really appreciated. ALSO, I thought 4th grade was also supposed to be computer science. How do you all approach that?
  3. So at thanksgiving my sister complained that she was going to gain weight if she kept eating dessert, and my ds6 said, "No you won't, you'll gain mass. You can't really gain weight on Earth. If you want to gain weight, you'd have to go to Jupiter or something." Ummm... awkward. This was after he spent the afternoon hiding from the tv b/c The Wizard of Oz was on and he's afraid of the wicked witch of the west. This is the same child who, at 2, tried to order a Blue Moon b/c he read it on the menu and thought the waitress was actually going to bring him the astronomical variety. The laughing I have done reading these posts feels SO incredibly good! Thank you all for sharing!
  4. My ds6 keeps sending me into panic mode that I'm not doing enough for him. He walked away from a math test today on long division and did not show his work (I always try to force him to before he hands in his tests -- an ongiong battle that I'm only winning because the Wii is on the line), so I said, "Hey, wait a minute, how did you get this answer?" (Still wasn't sure of the answer myself.) He said, "Mother, look at the next problem. Isn't it obvious?" and walked away. Really, I'm "Mother" now? And no, it was not obvious. So, the first problem was a word problem which led to the problem 76 divided by 4. He just wrote 19 and moved on. Part of the next question was a true/false thing that said 74 divided by 4 = 18 + 2. He knew it was false, that it should have said 18 R2. But he used it to solve the earlier problem. He does this all the time. I'll give him an equation to solve, and instead of solving it, he'll give me an equivalent equation and smile while I sputter. It's driving me batty, and I just want to know, at what point can I expect all of this to stop freaking me out? I really don't talk to people about it because, well, you know, for all the reasons we don't really talk to a lot of people about these details. He's in 3rd grade, doing Singapore Math, advanced in all academic areas except handwriting and maturity. I really don't know what else I can do for him at this point.
  5. So glad to hear that other gifted kids are incessant noisemakers... This whole post makes me feel better. I need to hang out here a lot more!
  6. Really appreciate the advice I've received here in the past. So my question is, do I need a separate writing program for 3rd grade? We're def. doing FLL3 for 3rd grade next year, plus Zaner Bloser handwriting. I beef up FLL with more dictation each week from whatever we're reading, letter writing, and we do the recommended narration each week for science and history. I haven't done as much in 2nd as I did in 1st with lit narration, though we did do some this year. The boys have no problem getting ideas out on paper, they are not reluctant writers in that sense. Though my ds6 does HATE the physical act of writing he does not struggle to organize his ideas and summarize things if he dictates to me and then copies. If I beef up the lit narration, do I need something like WWE? It looks so repetitive. I don't want to overload them, but I'm also terrified to go off on my own and miss something important. Also, my ds7 LOVES to write, and he does VERY well. Should I consider something like writing strands for him? If so, any idea what level? Thanks so much! This is such an awesome board!!
  7. Really appreciate the advice I've received here in the past. So my question is, do I need a separate writing program for 3rd grade? We're def. doing FLL3 for 3rd grade next year, plus Zaner Bloser handwriting. I beef up FLL with more dictation each week from whatever we're reading, letter writing, and we do the recommended narration each week for science and history. I haven't done as much in 2nd as I did in 1st with lit narration, though we did do some this year. The boys have no problem getting ideas out on paper, they are not reluctant writers in that sense. Though my ds6 does HATE the physical act of writing he does not struggle to organize his ideas and summarize things if he dictates to me and then copies. If I beef up the lit narration, do I need something like WWE? It looks so repetitive. I don't want to overload them, but I'm also terrified to go off on my own and miss something important. Also, my ds7 LOVES to write, and he does VERY well. Should I consider something like writing strands for him? If so, any idea what level? Thanks so much! This is such an awesome board!!
  8. Thanks everyone... it is so comforting to have feedback and reassurance from people who get it. I was totally overwhelmed by the lecture I received. This board is so helpful!!! I have to hang out here more and on FB less!
  9. Just had my boys do the Stanford Achievement Test for 2nd grade. I warned the proctor that Joe had just turned 6 and was a bit on the immature side, but that he was testing ahead b/c he was in 2nd grade. This was their first standardized test, and it went as I figured. The proctor said John sat still and methodically answered every question, followed directions, behaved perfectly, etc. Joe skipped ahead, ignored the teacher, read the directions on his own and basically did his own thing. When I asked her how it went I got quite a mouthful about character and social skills blah blah blah. What should I have done differently, or what should I do next time? I don't want to administer the test myself, but I do want to continue to have them test every year.
  10. Are the Adventures with Atoms and Molecules books appropriate for advanced learners? Reviews on amazon didn't look promising, but I just wanted to check here. Any other suggestions?
  11. If they are hungry, feed them, I say. I am doing full fledged WTM 1st grade with both of my boys together this year. The oldest is 5.5, and the second is 4.5. They were both ready, and are handling the work really well all things considered. I started preschool with the oldest when he was 2.5, and his little brother, then 18 months, wasn't just sitting there eating cheerios as I suspected. He was learning pre-reading and math skills with his brother and begged to be taught! So I pretty much blew him off and let him play with flashcards while I was doing the "real" teaching with my older one, who did pre-k at 3.5 and K last year at 4.5 (his bday is in early Jan, so if he was a kid when we were, he would've just barely missed the cut off date). Since then I've basically just been throwing the younger one the same kind of stuff I've been doing with the older one, and since no one ever told him he wasn't supposed to be able to keep up, he kept up (tries to race ahead every now and then, too). At the time, I also wasn't really clear on when they were and were not supposed to be able to do certain things. That's the beauty of hsing, you teach them when they are ready, not when they turn some magical age. If I waited two more years to teach the younger one 1st grade, what on earth would I do with him now? And the older one, too. Can't imagine sending him off to kindergarten to learn letter sounds when he's almost ready for chapter books. No one could say you're pushing him if he's asking for it. Sometimes I feel like they are the ones pushing me, and that's okay I think. Teach them where they are, even if where they are is ahead of or behind where they are "supposed" to be, wherever that is. Now don't get me wrong, they aren't running to the table every morning begging me to break out the books, but they do come. And they get off task, and we get back on task, and so the morning goes. I occasionally yell, they occasionally get surly. But we do it, and we are all learning and playing and happy and moody and cranky and occasionally disobedient and tired, just like everyone else's kids.
  12. Every once in a while I feel like I need a refresher on exactly how my boys (4.5 and 5.5) are experiencing the world. The few people who know say "Oh, that's great that they are so smart. That must make hsing easy." But it's so NOT easy! I have no idea exactly how gifted they are, but let's just say my 4 yo is more interested in memorizing heiroglyphs than he is in listening to his art teacher, who for all the world wants him to use less glue, and my 5 yo is so emotionally sensitive I can hardly get through 30 minutes of school without tears. Had a few discipline issues with both of them recently (was pretty much told their behavior is like unto none previously beheld) and am desperate for advice, kind words, soothing thoughts, and recommendations for books/resources. I also shutter to think of where they would fall on a test, but part of me thinks I really may want to find out. Thoughts? -Jeani
  13. The law in NJ states that “every parent, guardian or other person having custody and control of a child between six and 16 to ensure that such child regularly attends the public schools of the district or a day school in which there is given instruction equivalent to that provided in the public schools for children of similar grades and attainments or to receive equivalent instruction elsewhere than at school.†There is no requirement to even notify anyone, though many people do. The schoolboard is not authorized to examine curriculum or monitor outcomes at all. And we like it this way! They don't even specify what "equivalent instruction" is. It's very hands off.
  14. Thanks everyone... I got the library's copy of OPG and started today... we love it so much that it quickly became a "need to own." He's actually moving more quickly with it than he was without it! I'm a little scared :)
  15. I'm right there with you! I read 2 chapters from the library's copy, then just bought the thing and was done with it. My dh had the lightbulb go off too. We're sold. So glad I found this site.
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