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BethG

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Posts posted by BethG

    My shield is ready for the firing squad. Singapore math folks, where's the results?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    We use Singapore through 5B and then move to Life of Fred for the upper levels. Our oldest studied through 6B, but then used Saxon Alg. 1/2 and Alg. 1 before we found LOF. We've seen great results.

     

    Our oldest is inherently mathy, but in 10th grade she is doing LOF Trig (their pre-calc course). She did very well on her PSAT even last year as a ninth grader and always scored in the 90-95th percentile on her CATS. She competes on math team that is mostly comprised of 11th and 12th graders and more than holds her own.

     

    Our second dd is studying Geometry in 8th grade and also scores in the 90th percentile on her CATS in both computation and mathematical reasoning.

     

    Our third dd is in fourth grade and scored in the 99th percentile for mathematical reasoning and in the 97th percentile for computation last year.

     

    A couple of caveats, we do supplement Singapore with fact drill in 1-3 grades. We do daily addition facts, subtraction facts, and then multiplication tables. We use the US edition Singapore texts and the Intensive Practice Workbooks (not the regular ones). One day per week we work through the Challenging Word Problem books. Our first and third children are naturally strong in math, but our second is more of a humanities kind of gal. Her results aren't as dramatic, but are still good.

    Thanks....this is what I want to read more of.

    I just didn't see as many of this type of post from the Singapore mathers.

    My shield is ready for the firing squad. Singapore math folks, where's the results?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Oooooh, those are so bold questions!

     

    I think that Singapore is interesting. We started with it- and despite having a mathy, smart kid, it wasn't right. I think that the general culture and expectations have a lot to do with Singapore's success in mathematics.

     

    For what it's worth, my DD has been able to accelerate with Saxon. Last year we tested and she scored perfectly on the standardized test- she didn't miss a single question.

     

    I'm in the minority, it seems, though.

     

    What do you mean by "I'm in the minority, it seems, though."

    I saw that it was quite common for Saxon users to claim great math success on standardized testing.

    My shield is ready for the firing squad. Singapore math folks, where's the results?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I've been on a math crusade of late and have read more threads than I care to admit to in recent weeks. A common theme I've noticed is that the Saxon folks claim results -- that their upper level kids are good at math as manifested by ability/interest/and test results (standardized). I haven't seen this as much with other programs (from Singapore camp either). Sure, I read how well the kids like it and how a "mathy" kid really excels with it, etc. and of course there's the "look at the country of Singapore" and how much better their kids do in math than Americans. (Can we try to control for the Asian work ethic variable for a moment?...there's a reason some of the Asian kids are playing Mozart concertos at age 4 people and that you CANNOT find a piece of bubblegum on a sidewalk in Singapore).

    Anyway...back to the issue. Has Singapore just not been out as long for their to be the PROOF that I read from Saxonites? Where's the PROOF that it works? Does Singapore even go up to upper levels?

    Again, I just haven't read of folks use of it in uppers and I haven't heard from people who's kid has just scored fabulously on standardized testing (in math) attribute it to Singapore. What's the deal with this? Clarification needed please.

    Miquon Questions (....&%@ S P Y *$#$ C A R *&@ ...)(<----it's subliminal)

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Depending on the material - it takes about 20 minutes for my K'er (he is on simple adding right now). It takes my Gr. 2 ds about 30 minutes or so to do 2 pages.

     

    For my Gr. 2 - we started pairing this with Singapore and he really resisted the workbook aspect of it. So after weeks of struggle, we have him doing Teaching Textbooks 3. This way he learns the concepts in Miquon first and uses TT for review. Because TT isn't structured like a traditional workbook he is happy. So right now we do one lesson a day in TT3 (20 minutes) and two pages of Miquon. Hopegully when he is done Miquon he will be happy to continue on with TT alone.

     

    Thanks. This will help me on my time budgeting.

    Miquon Questions (....&%@ S P Y *$#$ C A R *&@ ...)(<----it's subliminal)

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I have a few Miquon Questions for those of you who are familiar with it.

    (Read many of Spy Car's :auto:entries on it thus my hope that Spy Car will catch the subliminal invite.......:lol:).

     

    Firstly.....how does one pronounce MIQUON? (MY-quon) (me-quon) (MY'-quon) (my-'QUON), (MICK-wan), ?

     

    At what age could you start Miquon and at what pace does one go?

     

    I've never put my hands on it but am considering ordering it but am curious about its implementation.

     

    Does one do a lesson a day or for x number of minutes per day?

     

    How long does it take one to finish one of its books (orange, red, etc.)?

     

    Can someone shed some light on implentation/employment of this series?

     

    Thanks.

    BLOG'ers, please come in and answer some questions I have on blogging

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    I'm thinking about blogging. One of my reasons that I'm considering blogging is as a mean of chronicling/journaling/preserving for all time this epoch (mothering/schooling) in my life. So my question:

     

    When one blogs (there's a book in that "When one blogs"),

    ...i digress...

    when one blogs, is WHAT you blog kept/archived forever? Are your entries/photos/etc. stored for all time or are the older entries deleted with time?

     

    Can you store your blog on media/CDs/memorysticks/etc.?

     

    Also, what websites do you recommend for me to set up my blog?

    Looking for town with great reformed baptist church, good hs network, mild winters...

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    My husband's job is highly portable and we've decided to relocate for reasons that are benign/boring/tedious to go into. Thus we're shopping for a good town/location to move to Spring '12.

     

    We're seeking:

    1. a good reformed baptist church with good preaching

    2. a great homeschool community

    3. mild/short winters

    4. friendly people

     

    Any suggestions?

    Geothermal? Did anyone go this route to heat/cool their home? Pros/cons

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    We LOVE the idea of geothermal...

     

    We had a geothermal unit installed when we built our current home. The company claimed that they had several installations in our area with happy clients. We read RAVE reviews and even talked to someone who had the same unit we wanted. Well, to make a long story short, our unit lasted about 3 years and the energy savings were minimal-- not enough to compensate for the unit only lasting 3 years!!! The company came out once in a futile attempt to make it work for us-- but after one very uncomfortable year the whole thing failed.

     

    In the end the company decided that we did not have the correct soil type --even though they originally said ours was fine!!!!-- our soil was too rocky. We were out of luck since the 'warranty' had expired. They wanted $10,000 to replace the original unit.

     

    We ended up having 2 conventional units (heat pumps) installed and our electric bills went DOWN!

     

    If you decided on Geothermal-- make sure that they can guarantee that your soil type is appropriate.

     

    It was a very costly 'experiment' for us.

     

    Y'OUCH!!!!

     

    Which area of TX are you in?

    How do you(mom/dad) feel about and respond to a sick child(ren)?.....

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Chalk me up as one of those who gets totally ticked off when folks bring their snotty "it's just a cold" sicko kid to an event when they could have easily not brought them.

     

    I don't freak out over illness, but I have 2 kids with immature overactive immune systems and what may be a simple cold to your child when you so *thoughtfully* give it to MY child means febrile seizures (real FUN to hold your infant who is seizing knowing their heart isn't beating and they aren't breathing consistently for 5 minutes), temps in excess of 104F and vomiting to the point of needing an IV.

     

    So please consider that "just a cold" isn't just a cold for quite a few kids. Other's inconsideration means that I can't take my kids in public for 6mo of the year until they grow out of it (around 6-7yo). I think a lot about the many kids to whom a cold is life threatening and how nice it must be for them to know YOUR kid is roaming the stores spewing germs around. If you are contagious -- stay home. Recognize there is a difference between a 7yo that can cough in a sleeve and blow their nose, wash their hands, and a 3yo who wipes snot on everything they see. Is the convenience of taking the sick kid shopping with you really worth making other families sick and miserable for weeks? How many people inhaling your kid's germs are happily shopping for those last things for the big family vacation they have been saving for all year? Maybe they have a newborn at home, or elderly parents with chronic illness?

     

    We aren't designed to be constantly exposed to germs -- that's all part of modern living where West Nile is global. SO keep those germs LOCAL when you can -- stay home. And using the argument that some folks have jobs/schools that don't let them stay home doesn't excuse you when you DO have a choice.

     

    If your kids are too young to contain their germs or their illness is super contagious, please, just keep them home. I promise to do the same. :D

     

    I love you ChandlerMom!

    How do you(mom/dad) feel about and respond to a sick child(ren)?.....

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    I'm one of those moms that is highly irked by illness. It totally bums me out when my kids get sick. When they are sick, we pretty much stay in. The thought of contracting viruses/colds/etc, makes me dread group activities (Sunday school even) during the winter months for the dread of the near-constant snot/colds/flu/crud. I don't like being around sick babies/children and it irks me to no end to hear moms say, "Well I went ahead and brought her because she doesn't have a fever." (Knowing that virus is shed for many days after the fever!)

     

    I find that moms are usually on one end of this spectrum or another and are rarely in the middle, meaning they either are totally unphased by illness (meaning it doesn't alter their family outings/routine/attendance of social functions, etc. or they are totally annoyed with it and it greatly affects their day/outings/etc.

     

    Your thoughts?

    Where do you fit in?

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