craftyerin
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Posts posted by craftyerin
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We have a variety, but these are my favorite: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50153123/ I should get a few more next time I'm in Ikea!
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Yes! I did one in my classroom 4 years in a row when we studied the ancients (classical school) and I will absolutely do one with my kids! Love the chicken mummy!
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still steamy in New Orleans! That's normal for here through at least Halloween, though.
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I am waiting on the book, too.
In the same genre, I enjoyed "The Learning Gap" and "The Teaching Gap," as we'll as the math specific "Knowing and teaching elementary math." They might be good books to reserve and read while waiting.
FWIW, Smartest Kids in the World is probably my favorite education book since Paul Tough's How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiousity and the Hidden Power of Charcter and his earlier work Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America.
If you want a school-y book to read while waiting for Smartest Kids to surface in your library queue, Tough's books are worth a look. I highlighted the heck out of both of them. :)
Thanks so much for the other recommendations!
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My boys will just want to go to Target and pick out a new superhero. Currently the thought is DS6 as Wolverine and DS5 as Iron Man, but that is subject to change. DD5 has not committed, but is leaning toward a My Little Pony. She's the only one who lets me sew for her anymore. I've got my eye on this tutorial if she sticks with the current plan: http://pinterest.com/pin/35677022021481095/ Of course, she's not satisfied with any of them that aren't unicorns, so I'm sure I'll get to wing horn construction on my own. :rolleyes:
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I've remembered to do a row on my sky scarf so far every day this week! I know that's not saying much, though. :tongue_smilie:
and I finished this baby gift for a friend
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fire station was our favorite field trip last year!
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We have enjoyed the following books about Louis Armstrong and jazz. We live in New Orleans, so we've spent some time on it. ;)
Jazz Fly is an adorable book and accompanying audio CD
Play, Louis, Play! is a really fun biography of Louis Armstrong's childhood
When Louis Armstrong Taught me Scat is a silly picture book, but tons of fun
This Jazz Man gives a brief introduction to many of the famous jazz artists
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Craftyrein--Unless your kid is space crazy. Then the Space Center in Houston is a must-see.
Ahh, I truly did forget about Space Center Houston. I guess if you had spaced-crazed kids it might be worth it, but Houston still would be a distant 3rd of favorite city/areas in Texas. We're probably moving back there in a few years, but I'm not thrilled. :glare:
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I was on my phone earlier and couldn't type much. Coming back to add more. Don't try to do more than one city/area on your trip. Texas is HUGE. Personally, I think Austin/San Antonio (which are close enough to do in one trip) is the best bet for a first visit to Texas. See the state capital, the University of Texas campus, the LBJ presidential library, the Wildflower Center, etc in Austin, take a hike in the hill country, go the Alamo and the Riverwalk in San Antonio, and Sea World if you like, eat at a WIDE variety of fabulous restaurants in both places. Like a previous poster said, if you like live music, SXSW in Austin would be fun. Really, central Texas in the spring is LOVELY. Highly recommend.
If you aren't into that, I'd recommend Dallas/Ft Worth as a 2nd choice. Lots to do in both of those places as well, and they're really one big metropolitan area (much closer together than even Austin and San Antonio).
I'd skip Houston. Sure, the rodeo is fun, but Houston just doesn't have as much to offer as the other two areas, IMO.
Houston people, don't flame me! I've lived in all three places!! Houston as wonderful people, and a few good museums, but just doesn't hold a candle to the *experience* of central Texas for tourists, IMO.
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Thanks so much! I put it on hold at my library. Currently all 5 are checked out, but I'm #1 on the list. Shouldn't be too long!
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I heard an interview with the author on NPR. I immediately put it on hold at the library, but I'm still waiting.
This book sounds excellent. :bigear:
What show was it on, do you remember? I'd love to listen!
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Bluebonnets won't be in bloom until late March. I'd recommend Austin and San Antonio for a first trip to Texas.
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My kids work at the kitchen table sitting in Ikea junior chairs. I loooooove these chairs! We've had them since the kids were 2.5 and 1.5, and they still fit wonderfully at 6 and 5. I can't recommend them highly enough!
We have the Agam, but there are actually several: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?query=junior+chairs
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We love FIAR!! It adds anywhere from 20 to 60 min to my day depending on if we're reading the book and discussing something simple or if we have a project of some sort. Please don't be scared of it! It's really not hard at all to plan. I wrote a blog post about how I plan FIAR, if that would help. The forum is helpful for finding some activities, but the most practical FIAR support right now, I believe, is a very active Facebook group. People pop on and ask for suggestions with planning a "row" and other such things all the time. Here's the link if you're interested.
If I were you, though, I'd do the 3Rs and drop down to one "other", especially for kindergarten. I wouldn't try to keep up with HOD, the other picture book activity book, FIAR, etc. Unless you plan to alternate them and not do them in the same week. FIAR is wonderfully rich and rewarding for us, and I can't imagine running it on top of other programs that include the same subjects.
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You are at getting close to the age where they start becoming more aware of each other's strengths & weaknesses, and comparing them to their own. Because of that, I would NOT do skill subjects (math, language arts) together much longer if I were you. Combine them for content subjects (history, science, etc.).
We do AAS separately. Times four kids, who are all roughly at the same place in the book. :( I think it is worth it though - fantastic program!
Yes, I have these two and then they have a brother that is only 12 months older. I have already had to split out skill subjects with the older DS and the twins, so right now I do 3Rs with big brother, and then 3Rs with twins. I am aware that at some point I may need to split the twins, but right now, they are RIGHT at the same place, and LOVE working together. I'm not going to complicate my schedule any further until I have to. ;) Of course, they do their reading aloud to me independently, although they sometimes beg to buddy read for me, and do it by themselves all the time for fun. :tongue_smilie:
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I agree.
My kindergartener’ language arts study consists of HWOT and Language Smarts. For reading, he is working through the last few multi-syllable word pyramids in Reading Pathways. He also buddy reads one story or chapter with me each day.
I can, and I might. My husband asked me the same thing over dinner. I guess I don't have any compelling reason to start them on a formal spelling program, except that I figured that was the next most logical step. I'll think on this a little more!
and thank you for reminding me that this book exists! I think that could be an awesome thing to work through with them while they work on cementing their decoding skills.
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I voted tubal, but actually I have essure. No issues with it whatsoever.
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How did you teach them to read - what did you use?
Phonics Pathways, mostly. Some Happy Phonics games, some phonics readers (Bob, Nora Gaydos), some ETC. Basically, a little of this and a little of that. Phonics Pathways has been the only constant, though. I've thought about DIYing spelling, but I don't really want to. LOL
The lesson parts of AAS could be done together, but you'd probably want to have them individually spell the words as there aren't that many of them per chapter.
OK, that's what I was thinking, based on what I remembered. It's been a while since I've looked at it. I'm going to pull it out later and look through more carefully. I actually borrowed it from a friend thinking I might try it with DS6, not the twins, so I need to look at it with new eyes. ;)
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Since I have AAS 1, I may give it a go. I suspect they'd like using the tiles. I need to pull it out and look at it more carefully, but do you think I could use it with both if them simultaneously? Like, is there enough in a lesson to take turns and such?
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Thanks for this book title, too. Have you read the first review on the Amazon page? It's by "A Customer" and is titled Warning to Brand New Teachers. It's overall a very positive review but one of the reviewer's statements is "Trust me: if your only rules on the wall are from the Love and Logic list, you will be eaten alive." Would you agree with that, craftyerin?
Regards,
Kareni
I haven't read the Amazon reviews. We're big fans of Jim Fay and his Love and Logic parenting book, too, and his list of home or classroom rules is intentionally short in both books. The meat of both books is in his creative and logical enforcement of the rules, though, not the rules themselves. I was an excellent classroom manager, and Love and Logic's methods felt very natural to me. I think the book is worth the read.
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In my ideal life, we'd have one or two more. Mine came SO fast and furious that we needed a break after the twins before considering more. And now that we're in a place where we feel our heads are above water, we don't want to start all the way over with babies! Ahh well, these 3 are pretty awesome.
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My 5yo hasn't had a problem keeping up with the writing in WRTR. They'll start out by learning how to write the letters correctly as they learn the phonogram cards. You don't skip that introductory stage even if they're already reading. When they've gone through it they'll be ready for the K amount of spelling words when you get to them.
I should have mentioned that I've been teaching phonograms as we get to them in Phonics Pathways, using the Spalding cards, and they already know more than enough of them to start the word list in WRTR. They know them forwards and backwards, but their writing is SO slow and I get "how do I make a ____ again?" most of the time. I guess I could spend some time just drilling phonograms and working on writing them down in preparation for doing the WRTR word list. In the long run, Spalding certainly would be the most straightforward. I used it the classroom, so I'm comfortable with it. Hmm...
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Did you decide to go with Classical Conversations? If so, that's a lot!! I wouldn't worry about adding much to CC besides some learning letters and sounds and reading aloud a lot of good books.
My favorite resources when my kids were PK were All About Reading's pre-reading program. It's FANTASTIC. Takes you through all the letters, upper and lower case, learning to recognize and write them, and then goes through them again learning their sounds. Each lesson also has a phonemic awareness activity that builds reading-readiness skills. So valuable! We also used Handwriting Without Tears' PK materials, and about mid-way through their 4yo year, started with the "A" book of Singapore Essential Math.
The Smartest Kids in the World..anyone read this?
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
My library copy is in! I'm going to drag the kids with me to pick it up this afternoon. I'm excited!