rzberrymom
-
Posts
418 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Classifieds
Store
Posts posted by rzberrymom
-
-
I disagree. I think Beast Academy is much more thorough when supplemented with something like Singapore. I think BA has been FANTASTIC for preparing my kiddo for pre-algebra and for boosting her critical thinking, but SM does cover a lot more topics that I'm very glad we didn't skip/miss out on.
-
3
-
-
MEP years 7 and 8 (http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mep/)
Year 7 unit 1 – logic
Year 7 unit 21 – probability of one event
Year 8 unit 10 – probability of two events
Group activities are included in the Teacher Support Material. Practice pages could be completed individually or as small group activities.
There are logic and probability lessons in MEP primary, but you would need to wade through other material as well. In the secondary materials they are discrete units.
Perfect--thanks so much!
-
Our homeschool group puts together co-op short courses, we have a group of 10-12 year olds that love European board games and chess, and so I'm hoping to come up with some kind of course on probability, logic, real world math, etc. Anyone have an idea of a curriculum that might work or something that would get me started?
I checked out the AoPS Counting and Probability book, but many of these kids haven't had any algebra yet so it seemed like it wouldn't be a great fit. I've ordered the new Beast Academy 4D book, which seems like it has some probability, but I'll probably need more than just that.
Any ideas for this age group?
-
You're paying for a service, and the service isn't right for you. Find a new provider.
When I was a kid I was relatively serious about flute. I had a very serious teacher - she was the principal of our city's symphony - and she made me so nervous that I literally got blisters on my fingers on the mornings I had flute lessons. I finally got the courage to tell her I was going to find a new teacher when I was 15, and the difference in my playing within 3-4 months of switching was huge. I was finally able to get actual teaching during lessons, instead of just criticism for problems/issues that never arose in my playing other than with her - there was no need for those corrections, as the mistakes literally only happened in that room. When I got a teacher who was more relaxed, and focused very specifically on what I wanted to improve vs just playing through classical pieces I had no interest in, my playing in general got a lot better and I started making district/state bands.
Interestingly, I only switched when my parents told me I had $x dollars/month for flute lessons and it was up to me what I did with them. I couldn't see paying my old flute teacher (a wonderful woman, btw, just not a great teacher for me personally) for lessons that weren't helping me get better.
Yeah, you pretty much described our situation exactly.
It really has been an incredible waste of $ to spend hours correcting mistakes that only happen when she gets near this teacher. She's considered one of the two best teachers in our city, so I know it's not her--I probably really should look at her as a great teacher, just not a great teacher for my kiddo personally.
-
Your daughter's level of anxiety is concerning, and this teacher relationship sounds like it's not working, but at this level it is also very common to run into problems related to inefficient practice (ask me how I know :-}). This is a great resource on efficient practice, and all the things I wished I had known long ago.
http://www.bulletproofmusician.com
He's got a practice/performing course (which I haven't done and my kids are too young for), but the blog covers many things about efficient and mindful practice.
Thanks! I read some of his blog posts with my kiddo months ago (they were a big help), but I didn't know about the course!
-
1
-
-
The teacher should not be visibly frustrated with your dd during a lesson when you've already let her know about your dd's anxiety. That is only going to make your dd more anxious.
I truly don't think she can help it. I can see her trying hard not to get frustrated--that made me feel better to know that she's trying, so I gave it more time. But, it's still happening.
-
If that's the case, all the more reason to just find a new teacher. I will say though... my anxious ds is also my performer. He never hesitates on stage and has done a number of community theater roles and big parts in children's theater. He has no qualms about it ever. The anxiety is all behind the scenes for him about other stuff. And it's exactly like you're saying - it's the situations that should be more low pressure where he can often fall apart.
I guess anything is possible, but it sure seems like I would have seen *some* sign by now given the amount of time I spend with her. I've never seen a single thing until this situation.
-
1
-
-
A great teacher is a mentor. This teacher does not sound like the mentor your daughter needs.
Hmmm, that is a different way for me to look at it. The last teacher was sweet and kind but didn't really challenge her, and I was thrilled with this one because the challenge level was perfect for my DD. But, she's definitely not a mentor to my kiddo. More like a tough coach--piano kind of feels more like a sport than an art.
-
1
-
-
It's actually a reasonably common issue for a student to spend a lot of time and effort getting a piece sounding great at home, only to have it fall apart when playing it in the lesson. One possible reason is inappropriate expectations from the teacher, which has already been mentioned. The other possibility is that it's a result of sub-optimal practice techniques. If your child is in the habit of sitting down at the piano and repeating the piece over and over until it sounds good, then she isn't practicing efficiently. In fact, she is practicing taking an hour or more to get a correct play through. If she goes all week not getting it right until the 2nd, 3rd, 10th, or whatever time at home, she can't expect to get it on the first try at lessons, where there is more pressure (even with the gentlest teacher). This might be something for you and your child to consider once you have gotten her settled in with a new teacher.
Yes, but she plays perfectly fine in recitals and these mini-recital practice sessions they have once/month. It's only at the lesson that she falls apart. She feels more pressure at a lesson than at a recital with 75 people, and I haven't been able to help her through it.
-
Giving up would be quitting piano.
This is "wow, this teaching style is not working well for me, I will seek out a way in which I can learn this subject better. In this case, that means a different teacher."
I know you're right. I did use the example of college with my DD, where you might drop a class if the approach isn't a good fit, the material is either boring or too fast, etc. I do think she gets that we're not just flitting all over the place when things aren't perfect.
-
I'll just add, as the parent of an anxious kid, I hope you're finding good ways to help her with her anxiety in general. If it's happening in this case with tears and everything, then I'm sure it's under the surface for some other things.
This is what's made me most concerned. She's not the least bit anxious--she's been on big stages countless times in both professional shows and choirs, she was just in an opera in front of 3000 people every night, she's been on the radio, recorded over and over. And she has never shown a *single* ounce of anxiety or nerves. She's been as cool as a cucumber her entire life.
Until this teacher. And I guess that's what makes it more devastating to me that she's having to deal with this stuff and feel like this.
-
Aw. I feel sad for your dd. You're paying for this service! It's time to leave and I think you know it.
I know. And I pay too much too. I just kind of don't like modeling giving up on things with my DD. It's so easy to do with homeschooling--there's always some other teacher to try, some other program to go to. This is already the second teacher, so I wanted to really make sure whether this approach (the one chance thing--not the getting frustrated) was commonplace.
-
You would think that if she had any insight, the teacher would realize that if the child can play it much much better the second time without anything else changing, maybe that has some sort of meaning.
The teacher did agree to hear one song again the other day, and she acknowledged that the difference was tremendous. She was still annoyed with the situation and said she's not comfortable with that approach, but I'm going to keep an eye on what happens this coming week. I'm still holding out hope that the teacher will come up with some kind of clever approach, but I kind of think she doesn't have the time and energy for all this.
-
Have you discussed the issue with the teacher?
Yes, multiple times. My DD has been in tears at 2 lessons because of the pressure, so it has come up. The teacher feels she has done all she can to reassure my DD, and the last time it happened it was clear that she's pretty fed up with DD.
I've been there for every lesson, and she does get quite frustrated with my DD when the nervous mistakes start to happen--but we've had several talks and the teacher absolutely doesn't see herself that way, so there's really nothing I can do but help my DD adapt to it or move on.
-
BTW, this style of teaching is not uncommon, but it certainly can stop many great kids from learning.
That's definitely what I needed to hear. I have been wary of jumping ship with this teacher and then having to just deal with the same thing with another. I had no idea if it was common or not.
-
This is the part that throws my DD. The teacher assumes she's at a very low level after once through because of the loads of mistakes, but most of the mistakes (not all, of course) are related to my DD's high level of worry about only getting one chance to show the teacher the level she's at. If she gets a chance to play it a 2nd time, 90% of the mistakes seem to go away. But, the teacher isn't comfortable with another chance because you don't get a 2nd chance in performances.That first time playing the song in a typical lesson is for the teacher to see where the child is at now, and what the focus of the lesson will be for the song.
My DD is practicing 90 quality minutes/day, and yet she doesn't seem to progress from week to week because of the nervousness about that chance to show the level she's at. The lack of progress annoys the teacher, which makes DD even more nervous about that one chance to show her level. It's become a cycle I can't seem to get her out of.
-
I'm curious what your intermediate piano player's lessons look like. When she was a beginner, my DD's old piano teacher had her play a certain piano piece once to warm up, and then she had her play it again and they would critique it/make improvements. Now that she's at an intermediate level, her new teacher has her play a certain piece just once and then they critique it. My DD gets herself SO nervous at this one chance that she often makes a ton of mistakes--this frustrates the teacher tremendously, which of course makes my kid more nervous and she makes more mistakes. We've been with this teacher for 7 months, I thought my kiddo would adjust after a while, but the worry/nervousness isn't getting better.
Is one chance to play a piece without mistakes normal for an intermediate level lesson? I'm guessing it is, since they need to get ready for performing. But, I need to hear it from someone before I go looking for a teacher that makes her less nervous.
The weird thing is, performing doesn't make my kid nervous at all. She usually plays without many mistakes at all at a performance--it's the lessons that make her nervous. :(
-
My DH is an engineering professor, and he always says that he wishes his students had all used Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding at that age: http://www.amazon.com/Building-Foundations-Scientific-Understanding-Curriculum/dp/1432706101
-
I considered AoPS pre-algebra when my DD finished Singapore 5, but I was swayed by the many folks on here that suggested going deeper with math before speeding on to pre-algebra. I went back and did Beast Academy with her before AoPS, and I'm sooooo glad I did!! It sounds nuts to go back to 3rd and 4th grade books, but we just skipped the sections that she knew very solidly from Singapore, and we were left with some of the most fantastic critical thinking math problems I've seen! We're doing the pre-algebra book now and feel like she was exceptionally well prepared by Beast Academy. Just another idea...
-
1
-
-
If your son really does want to attend there, he might want to send an email and talk with his admissions rep to help them see that if accepted off the waitlist, he really will attend. Of course if others are higher on his list, he may want to find out decisions on those schools first. He can also ask if some of the merit scholarships might be available to those accepted off the waitlist. I'd guess that some of the original recipients may choose to attend elsewhere.
My kids are little, but I just wanted to say that this was my experience too with grad school. I was waitlisted at Princeton, and the best advice anyone gave me was to keep working as if I were still getting ready to apply--I took another calculus class, I updated my resume and my activities, and then I emailed them a few times to say "I just wanted to update you on my recent progress..." I got a full scholarship including room and board (4 other waitlisted kids did as well), so there's still hope even with waitlisting!
-
9
-
-
My 10 year is at almost exactly the same spot in AOPS pre-algebra, and I'm not all that thrilled with it so far. I thought it would be like Beast Academy, where the problems get a little harder each time, and then the authors throw in some spectacular twist that tests the kid's critical thinking skills and shows if the kid *really* understands.
Instead, it feels like a lot of memorizing rules. And the questions are either really easy or really difficult, with no build-up and not really much critical thinking required. I'm hoping it gets better as we go along, but so far it feels like a very mainstream math book to me--full of memorization. :(
My point is, I feel his pain--I don't think they did a very good job leading up to those challenge problems. I may just be ruined by Beast Academy though. That was just beyond fantastic.
-
1
-
-
Growing a Farmer and Growing a Feast by Kurt Timmermeister. I especially loved the feast one, and you'll be wanting to run off to cute and quirky Vashon Island after you read them: http://www.amazon.com/Kurt-Timmermeister/e/B003MCHP2E
This one is a wonderful, hysterical read: http://www.amazon.com/Farm-City-Education-Urban-Farmer/dp/0143117289
-
1
-
-
And I don't think your child has to be a "prodigy", whatever that means. You know how many people use that term, and in actuality the kid is talented, yes, but mostly they practice hours a day and saturate themselves with music?
I'm so glad you said that about prodigies. My DD's teacher has 24 of the best kids in town, and only one is a true prodigy--the rest just practice and practice and practice and practice...
-
1
-
-
Yes, this sounds exactly like my DD's teacher (even down to the requirement that the teacher plays the piano in the store before we purchase it). There are two teachers in my city that have the students that win everything, and my DD's teacher is one of them. Her older kids win every award, take every scholarship, etc. She has *extremely* high expectations for this group of kids (and they seem to rise to the occasion), and I do now understand that she seems to have an unwritten rule that they're going to get a grand once they get to the intermediate level.In my ds' piano studio, it is a requirement to have a well maintained grand. The teacher also requires that she play the piano at the store/factory prior to purchase. This is a serious studio with a serious and dedicated teacher. Her students compete nationally and internationally and win all the time. There is a huge difference between an upright and a grand, for all the reasons mentioned in this thread. The bottom line is that for an advancing student, staying on an upright will limit her progression.
Having said that, YOU need to decide if you can accommodate a grand: financially, space-wise, and sound-wise. We made the purchase when our oldest was 12 and we switched studios to this very serious one. The more beginner and intermediate studios didn't have the same requirement. It made a HUGE difference in what my dc could do musically. It was a major purchase for us and we did a lot of research and shopping before we bought it.
To your original question...I can't see it spoiling your child at all. I don't think she'll make a connection like that. A quality musical instrument is a tool to serve a purpose, not a pair of designer jeans, kwim?
I'm not sure she's necessarily nuts or pathologically pompous. I just think she has the best kids in town and has some extremely high expectations for what the parents will do for them.
She agreed to take my DD because she is homeschooled and therefore has time to practice all day, I just felt *tremendously* grateful, and I never thought about the consequences of being with this group.
Beast Academy as Stand Alone?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
We had already finished SM when we discovered BA, so I never did them side-by-side. We often used BA in sort of a spiral way--if a section of BA had already been well-covered in SM, I would give her a few problems as a review. We always did all the word problems and starred problems, and I basically used them as an alternative to the CWP (since I liked BA's word problems much better).
If you do SM and BA, I personally don't see the need for CWP and IP--that does seem like complete overkill to me. I just found that SM covered a good number of topics that BA skipped over, and I was glad we had been able to cover those.