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Tawlas

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Everything posted by Tawlas

  1. I've been going back and forth on Beast, considering it as a spine for my younger son who excels at . . . well, pretty much anything academic. Honestly didn't think about it for my older two, but once a week like you're suggesting could be a lot of fun. My son does enjoy comics and graphic novels though, so that's another aspect to consider. It may have to wait until the fall and I get more $$ but it's encouraging to think we could do it as a fun family style math lesson. I think I'll pick apart what's working in CLE and what's not and go from there. I still feel like it's a pretty good match for him, he just needs even more review of concepts and facts than it offers and I'm not sure there's even such a thing in one single program. Have him do the problems in each lesson that I know is actually review (something I feel he understands and just needs to keep current) and work on the rest with him, either from CLE or somewhere else.
  2. I'm in the same boat as the above poster. I really think Math Mammoth is a great program, but it just didn't fit for my two oldest. They've gone on to CLE and it's been great for them. My second grader is still in Math Mammoth, and it's still working well. He doesn't need the review and drill like the other two. CLE has that all built in so I don't have to orchestrate it myself. It is weak in word problems . . . I should do something about that, but sometimes there are just bigger fish to fry!
  3. Thanks so much for these replies. I appreciate your insight so much! I'll look into to CTC and Ronit Bird especially and I have seen the lattice method but not partial quotients. . . I'll check them out and see what I can learn! We do use manipulatives when confusion comes up, just some random unifix cube knockoffs. I do have an entire set of MUS manipulatives in my closet, but aside from a brief attempt at MUS Gamma a few years ago (no one liked it), we haven't used them. So I'm 99% sure my dh is dyslexic, not sure about dyscalculic (is that a word?) but I do recall that he struggled somewhat in math and insisted always on knowing the WHY behind all the formulas and procedures. He said he couldn't do it unless he understood why. Keeping that in mind, how far do I go in teaching concepts to ds? I've tried to explain WHY we put a zero in the second row of answers in multidigit multiplication but I'm not sure he really gets it and I'm not sure how important it is? Should I push it more, or just work on mastering the procedure? Honestly, I didn't even truly understand why we did it until I started teaching math to my kids :P How much just comes with maturity? I'm pretty sure MUS broke the numbers up a fair bit, I could also refer to Math Mammoth as I have grades 1-6 for more guidance. And youtube :) I'm just not sure how long to spend on it. I think it's time I just throw out a "normal" time table as far as math goes for this kid. As was mentioned up thread, I guess it's not that important to attempt to keep up if he's still stumbling around. So my answer is probably to spend as long as it takes, slow way down. Maybe I'll set CLE lessons aside for now (or just do one page a day rather than a lesson just to keep the flow going a bit) and supplement with other things to shore up what he knows so far. . .
  4. CLE puts out a pretty great reference sheet that he does use. . . but now that you mention it, it's pretty busy and maybe he doesn't use it as much as he should. It has the multiplication facts on it, lots of formulas and definitions and things like that. I've been thinking about creating him a table top divider with reference sheets on them over the summer. One that includes some of his language arts stumbling blocks as well.
  5. My son, I'm pretty sure is dyslexic and dysgraphic. I have an older daughter diagnosed with both and he has similar challenges. My daughter isn't really affected in math, beyond reading comprehension of word problems and retaining vocabulary meanings. Her ability to recall procedures is fair and memorizing math facts is really quite good. I switched them both over to CLE a few years ago because they both needed more review, a more incremental approach and I needed them to be a little more independent. It's been really good for them both! I was especially pleased with my son's confidence in math, it's really a much better fit than math mammoth was. And all the review and drill in such small chunks has really helped solidify adding and subtracting facts. Fast forward to now. He's just started multiple digit multiplication and the very, very beginning of long division. He's still having trouble with his multiplication facts. He still gets mixed up with the adding in the multiplication problems. He's started to relapse back into forgetting to borrow in subtraction. His success rate is starting to fall a bit. I don't sit through each lesson with him, he likes the independence and if he has any questions we go over it at the end and those we'll do together. I don't want to undermine him and make him sit right next to me the entire time but I'm not sure what else to do to make sure he's on the right track. He's already "behind" by nearly a year, only just beginning fourth grade math although he's techincally almost done grade four. I'm not sure what i"m asking. Hang in there? Maybe it's just a bit of a valley as he masters some of this stuff. Switch it up? Something even more slow and incremental and thorough? Or do two (one and a half?) programs to give him more time and practice to absorb? Take more time to review facts before moving on to free up some brain space for remembering procedures? I do have three school-aged kids (one dyslexic & dysgraphic like I said, and another fairly advanced and needing a challenge) and a precocious four year old begging for more than the 30 minutes I try very hard to set aside just for her. Any more time I spend with him, I feel like I'm taking away from the others or from "fun" stuff for us that makes homeschooling enjoyable and worthwhile, like nature study, art, woodworking, history and science. I'm kind of at a loss, though by no means desperate lol. Any words of wisdom?
  6. Reader's Digest put out a book called "Everyday Life Through the Ages" I loved it, but it may be a bit much for 8 year olds.
  7. Have you seen "Give Your Child the World" ? It's a book of book lists sorted by both continent (and historical period in the index) as well as by age group. We've been doing "Visits to . . . South America" this year as a family and I've ordered in a lot of the books from my library and they've been really fantastic! Maybe it would suit? It's a great deal right now!
  8. How independent would you say MCT is? I've looked at this program before but I don't really know why I ruled it out. I think this kid has a fairly intuitive grasp of things like punctation etc just cause he reads so darn much and retains it all after a few glances, it seems. So I don't want to spend precious one-on-one time in grammar when I could be doing other things with him, ya know?
  9. Another vote for IEW. My two older kids (both dysgraphic) went through IEW-A using dragon dictation and it's been fantastic! They don't love it, but it gets done and they're learning. Next year I plan on using a similar method to start outlining paragraphs/pages in their science and history lessons.
  10. I went with Elemental this year, so I can't say how I like it. Hopefully a lot! We're doing a Prehistory science/history unit before we start earth science (we're secular, my kids are aware of the basics already). I chose Elemental because it schedules time right in for a science fair project - so I may actually get them to do one? - and it seemed to have more dissections and microscope work. I liked that the animal,plant and body studies were separate, after a five week session on biology basics. I've used Elemental and RSO in the grammar stage and I I have a slight preference for Elemental, though I can't say why. . . just a feeling (sorry). Also, I already own a lot of the books that they use :P
  11. All the other grades have a thread, is everyone scared to admit they make plans for the littles? :P I have a four year old who's been begging to "do school" since she was two lol. This year she's been doing lots of cutting workbooks from Kumon and the like, she's raced through eight million sticker books, a couple of maze books, the preschool set put out by CLE (which we both adored!), some old Horizon preschool pages (left over from a brother) and I've probably used a gallon of paint and glue, as well as a ten-pound bag of flour to make play dough! We've read all the books from B4FIAR that I could beg, borrow or buy online for less than $10. We're both bored with it, tired of it all and ready for a change! So, with a big flourish the week after she turned four, I pulled out section 2 and 3 from an unfinished AAR Pre-1 book (from another one of her brothers) and we're now starting her own ABC book. She just about fainted with glee when I pulled out an unused 3-ring binder (just like the big kids!) and wrote her name on the spine. I'm astonished what she's picked up already from listening in, Tad and the Letter Factory, and iPad apps lol. We're combining the two sections, working on recognizing lower-case letters and their most common sound at the same time. I'm heading to a conference later this month and I intend on purchasing the HWOT PreK book to start as well. She writes letters all over everything on her own and I'd like to start some good habits. I own FIAR 1, but I think I'll hold off until the fall to start that. I'm seriously considering the Preschool Math book from Peace Hill Press for some fun easy math games to do with her. This is my last baby!!!! I haven't done FIAR before although I've always thought it would be great. I'm so glad I'm getting to do that with my youngest :) (My seven year old loves the books too) Anyone else thinking ahead to a PreK or K year?
  12. In the logic stage history chapter, the 4th edition of WTM recommends: Study Skills Strategies: Outlining by Mary Mueller Note Taking and Outlining by QL Pearce Not sure how independent they are though . . .
  13. Okay, interesting (about GWG). I wonder if I'll be able to find a copy to thumb through at the upcoming conference. I'm sure I"ll be able to find Rod and Staff - but from the samples (thanks for that link!), it doesn't seem like the religion is too bad . . . Now I"m going back and forth between R&S and CAP. I appreciate everyone's input!
  14. I love CAP. Never crossed my mind to check out their grammar program (it's new, right?) I'll go do that thanks!
  15. I suspect you're right. I use CLE math and it's no problem. I've used CLE LA briefly, and didn't mind the references (they seemed light and random). I've heard R&S is very good, but very religious, so it may not suit. I may see if I can find a sample at an upcoming conference just to be sure. I forgot about this! This might work well! Something else to check out, thanks! I worry about forgetting to be proactive, but this is still an option if just nothing else seems right. Do nothing. Another valid option. You might be right, I could be making a mountain out of a molehill, here. Thank you for your suggestions!
  16. I'd say that if you went through the content in the resources above, you'd have more than sufficiently covered the basics. I'm sure you know that there's no way you can cover everything and have no gaps! Using those resources as guides, I would venture to guess that your kids would encounter all sorts of new ideas and have a good foundation to build on. I'd also hazard to guess that if you're satisfied with your older two kids' education without this "spine", then your youngers will flourish without as much work from you since you basically have a list in front of you to simplify all the decisions you need to make as you go through your school year, thereby giving you more time and energy for everyone. That's really what you're looking for right? I found FLL, WWE and SOTW were pretty open and go. I appreciate that so much can be done orally, especially with littles. Easy to adjust to their level and fairly quick and painless for everyone. I don't have experience with the other resources you listed.
  17. I understand what you mean! My second grader is very similar. I'm not sure if I should bump him up a level or drop it entirely? Gah. My two older kids struggle a lot and yet I always seem to know how to proceed. It's the ones who don't struggle that stump me lol!
  18. I would venture to wonder if your kids might find FLL too repetitive? I don't know. Maybe the youngers wouldn't, at least not at first. I LOVED First Language Lessons at first. Loved the poems, just everything about it. But it was repetitive and I'm throwing in the towel as far as level 4 goes. We'll look for the next wonderful thing next fall :)
  19. Every year I flounder with this kid! I can't seem to make a decision stick. He finds academics easy, but is a typical kid in that he doesn't have a ton of focus. He's played nearby my older kids' home school lessons since he was a toddler and has captured and retained a ton of info (sometimes more than my olders lol). With the combination of strengths, challenges and personalities in our family, my time with each kid is limited. In the fall I've decided to continue to do AAS for one more level with him, as well as Latin For Children A and Writing with Ease 2/3. That's about it for one-on-one time with him in Language Arts. What I'm looking for is a grammar book he can do mostly independently and fill in any gaps he has. He doesn't mind workbooks, this year (in second grade) he already does ETC books for fun as well as Challenging Word Problems and Logic Safari pretty much entirely independently without complaint, but is a bit limited by how much writing he needs to do. His reading and comprehension level is amazing - I'm pretty sure I could almost let him loose with Math Mammoth and he'd be able to teach himself lol. He'll be in third grade in the fall (reading well above a sixth grade level, I suspect) What does he need? Rod and Staff? CLE? Something else? We're secular, but I'm okay with sorting through Christian content as long it's not too pervasive. I know that he'll get a lot of grammar through Latin . . . that's what I told myself for this year (he's not doing grammar right now). Should I continue to leave it at that?
  20. My kids do this so much! I find it's mostly when my oldest is playing with one of the two youngest, but not always. The two little ones do it sometimes as well when they play puppies. I'm always, like, really? You need to tell her to bark and whine? Can't she just do it? It's weird but I remember doing it vaguely as a child myself so . . .
  21. If I don't have my "school money" all used up by April 30, my umbrella school takes it back :( I've been busy since March 30, let me tell you!
  22. Yup, maybe you're right. I've never felt like this about before. I loved it and so did my kids! But maybe it is time to drop it. March is my burn out month, then spring comes . . . maybe it's time to start lightening up a little so I can start to pretend that it's almost time for summer break! My kids do kind of like diagramming, especially dd, but other than that, maybe I'll just let it go for a while. (and start look at more independent, middle school grammar program) Thanks for the suggestions
  23. I'm tired of FLL. My kids are tired of FLL. We used to love it, but the repetitive nature is getting to us. I'm skipping the poems because we memorize other poems from other places this year. I do it with my fifth and fourth graders while the the second grader is in the background doing his printing practice and (hopefully) absorbing a little. We're all of us getting irritable and bored while we're using it, so I think I'd like something else. Suggestions? We've done FLL 1-3 and are about 1/4 of the way through 4. I may drop it until the fall and pick up something new, or I may start now if I'm motivated enough. I wouldn't mind something more independent, but both older kids have varying degrees of dyslexia and dysgraphia, so a ton of reading and writing is not preferable. Suggestions?
  24. Hmmmmmm. Looks amazing! Wonder if it's available in Canada and how bad the exchange rate is right not . . . my give the free month trial a whirl since we're doing simple machines right now. That could be a lot of fun!
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