Jump to content

Menu

mohini

Members
  • Posts

    259
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by mohini

  1. Sorry to resurrect this thread but I'd love to know how this turned out. Did your DD end up using/ liking Shmoop? Are all the courses text based or is there an audio/ video component. Are you still using it? Just asking because it's still $120 at HBC and it seems like a great deal.
  2. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check it out. I agree that most 'boy friendly' books tend to highlight or directly address a "problem." That's what I like about the smart girl guides, they normalize those kinds of social growing pains and offer up some strategies for navigating through them. It's depressingly hard to find something similar that's directed at boys or gender neutral though. I guess society at large still thinks that emotional intelligence is just for girls. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  3. My daughter has a few of the 'Smart Girls Guides'. They're not perfect but they're pretty good for my almost 9yr old. The Smart Girls Guide of knowing What To Say and The Feelings Book have helped her navigate some challenging relationships. I know her 11 yr old brother could benefit from reading them too but alas, he won't because they are too 'girly.' (sigh) Can anybody recommend similar book(s) that would be appropriate for an 11-15 yr old boy? Specifically I'm looking for information about emotional intelligence, executive function, relationships etc... It seems that all the 'boy' books focus on physical changes, puberty, sex ed etc.. Are there any good age-appropriate books about emotional stuff for boys??? Thanks
  4. Any recommendations for a book, website or curriculum that covers investing and/or personal finance for upper elementary or middle school? My 10 yr old is asking to learn more about investing. I poked around a bit but everything I come across seems to be for high school and beyond (and also quite dull). Thanks Everyone.
  5. Thanks everybody - this actually helped a lot. I will follow up with some open ended questions like EndofOrdinary suggested but I suspect you are all right - he will get what he needs to out of it. Thanks for the encouragement.
  6. My 10yr old picked up Catcher in the Rye and started reading. I have mixed feelings about him reading it. I honestly thought that he would lose interest but he's really into it. I'm not sure it's appropriate for him but I also don't think it's outrageously inappropriate. That said, there are some themes that I'd like to address - i.e. Holden's smoking, drinking, soliciting prostitutes and generally being angst ridden. I'm not afraid to have an honest conversation with him but I'm not even sure how much of the story he's comprehending. So WWYD? Would you let him come to you with questions or push in to "explain" and "discuss"? I mean like - if he doesn't even get that the girl is a prostitute should I point it out so we can discuss it? Are there any good resources anyone has for it or good follow up books? Or should I just let it go?
  7. Yes - using them to apply for something but I don't see why it would seem odd to try to improve the score. The quant comp section of the Cogat is similar to the quant comp section in the GRE. Both can be improved with increased speed and application of test taking strategies. I don't believe that the Cogat tests "ability" (aka intelligence) any more than I believe that the ITBS tests "achievement." IMO they both require solid knowledge of the content in order to do well but almost any test score can improved by learning how to take the test better. My first job out of university was as an SAT tutor for prep school kids. I routinely saw jumps of 140+ points per section after working with kids, on test-taking strategy (and maybe some vocab.,) for 2-3 months. I think test-taking a valuable skill for kids to learn (though I don't believe it should be a primary academic goal as it is becoming in PS.) Learning test taking techniques requires logic-based strategies. I was really asking for specific recommendations of materials that other people had found useful in teaching strategy specifically for the Cogat.
  8. Interesting. Did you submit a portfolio? (Also no, he didn't finish all the questions. We'll work on speed - good point.)
  9. So we got our Cogat scores and, no surprise, my ds scored 99 percentile in Verbal and 74 in quantitative. I'd like to work on the quant. score. His math scores are in the 93-8th percentile for other standardized tests so I really think it's a matter of practicing the cogat format. What can we use for practice? Zaccaros ? SS intensive practice? What would be the best? Is there anything that has the same format as Cogat with the a/b/c columns? He wants to try for talent search in Jan. Would he qualify on verbal score alone? Any suggestions for practice? (wouldn't mind practicing the non-verbal as well.) He's starting grade 4. Thanks
  10. I wasn't really taking the Cogat score to be a predictor of anything other than how well my ds takes the Cogat. I'm a big believer that testing is a skill on its own - but I do think it's a skill worth developing (I'm sure many here will disagree but c'est la vie.) I will Xpost on the accel. learner board but I thought my question would get more airtime here.
  11. So we got our Cogat scores and, no surprise, my ds scored 99 percentile in Verbal and 74 in quantitative. I'd like to work on the quant. score. His math scores are in the 93-8th percentile for other standardized tests so I really think it's a matter of practicing the cogat format. What can we use for practice? Zaccaros ? SS intensive practice? What would be the best? Is there anything that has the same format as Cogat with the a/b/c columns? He wants to try for talent search in Jan. Would he qualify on verbal score alone? Any suggestions for practice? (wouldn't mind practicing the non-verbal as well.) He's starting grade 4. Thanks
  12. My ds was like that - the things that really helped in 3rd were 1.) VP self paced history - he loved it and went on to read many of the extension books independently - he also did the Mythology exam and got a gold (he was doing ancients w/ VP) 2.) WWE (and paragraph book) instead of creative writing. He initially whined about the narrations but by the end of the year was writing 1-2 paragraphs each time, completely independently. I also had him do a couple of book reports. Funnily enough, he ended up writing a bunch of creative stories on his own time (he used to endlessly nag about not knowing what to say...) 3.Youth digital and scratch - these were extras but they really brought out his love of learning I'll also add that we used BJU science with he DVD which he quite liked and it removed much of the science burden from me. He is also an avid reader so I made him an account on bibliomania where he could keep track of his reading - he loved that too. If you like CLE for math maybe try it for LA and dump the spelling - CLE is dry but never gets complaints here b/c even the kids realize how get 'er done and effective it is.
  13. We're vegetarian here so I'm all for the meatless thing but it sounds like maybe (since you have meat for 5 days/ week) what you should do is find ways to spread the meat out rather than eliminate it. This will also add plenty of veggies into the mix. Think hearty stews served with whole grains - using ground meat to make burgers and adding tofu into the mix too. Chicken can be shredded and added to burritos, nachos, chilli, pasta, salads, casseroles etc... Tacos can have a mix of meat and beans inside You can follow Vegetarian recipes and sneak a little bacon in for "flavor" If I were you I would think along the lines of long term dietary changes that would be sustainable. One thing that my husband, who comes from a mediterranean culture, remembers from his youth is how his grandma used to send him to the store to buy 100grams of meat ..... for the whole (5+ people) family. He says it's funny because his whole family thought he was crazy when he became veg but they rarely ate more than a few bites of meat with a meal unless it was like christmas or something.
  14. Rice with lentils (and onions) vegetable kabobs (mushroom, pepper, zucchini, tomato eggplant) green salad Ice cream (1/2 bananna splits) or fruit salad for dessert
  15. This faux tuna salad (just add all your fav. tuna fixin's like cellery, pepper etc...) http://www.food.com/recipe/mock-tuna-salad-chickpea-salad-87187
  16. For CLE 200's there are about 15 lessons/ Light Unit. Keep in mind that the *01's are the same as the *10's (in other words 110 and 201 cover the same material.) IMO you could comfortably cover 3 LU's over the summer and push it up to 5 for a student that knows the material and can skip some of the review problems.
  17. This is cool! You can start and finish any time? Is there a fee or something?
  18. Actually the MIF way makes sense. In the old way we say "how many times does 8 go into 37" but the MIF way makes you say "how many times does 8 go into 3700." The answer isn't 4, it's 400. My ds definitely needs this clarification or he will get confused with the place value in the answer. IMO you shouldn't revert to the "old way" until the place value is implicitly understood.
  19. Have you tried separate materials? Mine each have their own pencil box with crayons, ruler etc... Those are things they JUST. CAN'T. SHARE. :cursing: This year the only subject they were supposed to do together was science. It was impossible. In the end they take turns doing the lessons even though it would be faster (and easier) if they just did the darn things together! When kids are constantly together EVERYTHING becomes a competition - who finished first, who started first, who did it neater, who did it better, who didn't do it, who should be doing something else ARGH!!! I started telling them that any fights result in lost screen time for everybody regardless of who started it or finished it. Fighting = no t.v./ games/ computer. It *usually* works but there are still days..... I also think it's developmental - between 7- 10ish I remember fighting a lot with my brother too. Then it stopped. Eventually it will stop. I hope.
  20. English from the roots up (flashcards only) and Wordly Wise
  21. Thanks! Just adding that CAP has SM and VP materials which are also 20% off with the code.
  22. Take a look at Developmental Math each book is one topic and can be completed in a few weeks. I've never done the hundreds/ thousands book but the strategies helped my DS a lot with 2 digit mental concepts (making 10's, breaking apart numbers etc...) I'm guessing you'd look at level 10 or 11- there are some samples on Christian Book think RR has them also. They look really simply but have helped my dc's tremendously to solidify their skills. I've only used it as a supplement and never used the TM http://www.christianbook.com/developmental-math-level-10-student-workbook/l-saad/9781587460104/pd/460106?event=ESRCG ETA - be sure to read the table of contents to get an idea of what's in the book - the samples are not wholly representative.
  23. What about FLL and WWE and SOTW with the AG? Also some MP Lit guides done orally.
  24. Agree with pp - the phonics in the LA is not such a big deal (it is very technical but not insurmountable.) It does not take up more than a small portion of each lesson. The reading in gr. 2 is very phonics intensive though. If your dd is a strong reader you might just skip ahead to the 300's (which are not phonics laden) and take them slowly or, the BJU reading program is excellent - similar in scope but not phonics heavy at all.
×
×
  • Create New...