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sweetpea3829

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Everything posted by sweetpea3829

  1. I'd switch over to Singapore, probably start at grade 2 and just move on along through it. Add in Beast 2 once the entire grade level is complete. Personally, I like to suggest BOTH Singapore and Beast, as they complement each other very well. My son would complete Singapore, and then follow up with the Beast. And just a cautionary note... When my son was your child's age, he was tested (for speech issues...his connected speech was unintelligible) and they strongly recommended we find a mentor for him, to help him advance through his education. He was reading by that point and had been for a year. His math skills were not quite as advanced as your child's, but they may very well have been, had I pushed him through. Anyways, we made a decision back then to not accelerate our son more than a grade past his age-based grade level. There were a lot of reasons for it, but mostly...I didn't want him to hit pre-alg and alg before he was developmentally ready for it...and just because he was advanced at age 5, didn't mean he'd stay advanced. Plus, he wasn't a hugely motivated outlier genius kid. He was a bright boy, who still wanted to play with his Legos. In addition, I was seeing signs that I was burning him out. And so when he would finish a year of Singapore in half the time it should have taken him, instead of moving to the next grade level, I went deeper. We explored math through Beast, through Competitive Math workbooks, etc. He's 11 now, and once again I find myself needing to make decisions. He could absolutely start Pre-Alg right now and he'd do fine. But, I've decided to let him finish Beast 5 (even though he did Singapore 5 last year) and then we'll roll right into Pre-Alg, work on it over the summer, and prepare for Alg. 1 next winter. I have no regrets. I think he's a more confident, solid math student today because we did not allow him to accelerate too quickly. Anyways, just my own .02! Take it with a grain of salt, because every kid is different!
  2. My DS9 (almost 10) is struggling in math and I'm looking for a way to keep him engaged during lessons. So while researching some potential science options, I happened across math interactive notebooks and am wondering if this might be a good way to help him out. So have you used Math INBs? And if so, did you make your own? Use resources from TPT, or ?. Did you find INBs to be more of a distraction than a help? This particular kiddo is prone to spacing out during lessons (he's there, but not present, lol). He's a doodler, though I have not successfully found a way to link his doodling to learning. He may zone out even more if I give him a notebook during math lessons. I've had to kabosh doodling on schoolwork because he literally FILLS his work pages with doodles. But no answers, lol. We're using Singapore, and he, his brother and sister are all working together in 3B. They're actually on the Measurements unit and it's glaringly obvious that M keeps forgetting stuff that he already mastered in previous units...such as division, multi-digit multiplication, etc. To me, it seems as though he's learning his concepts for the lesson, and then it's flying right out that head of his. Maybe an INB would help with that? If you used a Math INB and did not like it, can you share why? Thanks so much guys!
  3. Our boys have each other, and they're only two years between the three of them. But even still, my oldest definitely wanted more guy pals than just his brothers, especially from age 8-10. I think part of it had to do with the books he was reading at the time, which included Sugar Creek Gang, Tom Sawyer, etc. He wanted to have those boy gang experiences...and he actually WAS, it's just that, his "gang" was made up of his brothers, lol. When we put them on the YMCA swim team, he began to make quite a few pals...and even though we don't get to hang out with them away from swim, swim team meets often enough that he is getting his social group needs met. We're actually having our first sleepover next weekend (but the boy who is coming has to travel 45 minutes just to get here, lol). I always said that I absolutely love living out here. I love our Mennonite neighbors, wide open fields, gorgeous views, and that our kids can have Tom Sawyer childhoods, complete with running barefoot through the swamp. But if I could change anything, it would be to transplant our community to within 15 minutes of the city. There are many homeschooling offerings all around us. Sports leagues, fencing, arts, drama, etc. But every single one of them is an hour+ away and I cannot afford to traipse all over NY Stare every single day. So yeah, we feel that isolation rather acutely. And as soon as my kids hit 13, they will have no sports options aside from swim team. Because baseball, soccer, etc., all end at age 12. That's when the real isolation kicks in.
  4. Thanks for the suggestions! They are going to do a science fair project with our homeschool co-op. At least I think so anyways, lol. I've got to get on that, because come to think of it, I think that's due the end of March. I like the suggestion of just going with what they ask for, but I'm already fielding things such as, "Oh Mom, I want to study snakes. Can I buy a python?!" That would be negatory. LOL!
  5. DD12 is working at a 3rd grade level in many subjects, but her IHIP shows her age-appropriate grade level. I would have placed her grade level at her working level on paperwork, but for the fact that the school department and IEP team agreed that she could be tested at the grade level I requested, not the level on her paperwork. My DS10, on the other hand, is working above grade level, has a birthday 2 weeks post-cutoff, and I have him at the age-appropriate grade level. It gives me flexibility in the future. Truth is, if I were to enroll him, I'd enroll him at the grade level he would have been, had his birthday been two weeks earlier.
  6. Lots of great advice given here. Our situation is similar, in that our homeschooled kids are isolated because we live pretty rural, and NY does not allow integration within the public school for extracurricular activities. Different, obviously, in that we are not dealing with a long term residency in another country, neither is there a language barrier. That said, I do have to disagree a bit with some of the points made regarding travel distances. My best friend lives only an hour away. Our husbands are besties, our children are besties, even our dogs LOVE each other. But we really only get to hang out a couple of times a year. An hour is far. That's two hours of just travel time. It's really difficult to form, and maintain, friendships that are meaningful, when a large distance is involved. Obviously it can be done. But the reality is, despite the fact that our kids have been best friends since the womb, during their formative teen years, they're not going to really be able to hang out. Anyways, the point I'm getting at is that I've seen a number of home schooled kids in our church that have gotten lost in their teen years, if they were not part of a good, local peer group. By that point, the ps kids have their cliques and the hs kids are seen as outsiders. It can be quite isolating. And again, those long distance groups are great and all, but I'd seek peer groups that are a little closer to home. Just my own .02!
  7. This year, and for the next couple of years, I'm switching to an open-ended inquiry approach to science. I'm letting them choose a topic each month to learn about. We'll use library books, DVDs, the internet, etc. The only restriction is that it must be a life science topic because we've done years of earth science, lol. So what ideas would you suggest for output here? A science notebook? We've done lapbooks for the past few years and I like them well enough, but this will be different as all four kids will be choosing their own topics. I won't have the time to assist with FOUR different lapbook topics. I want the oldest two to engage in some research and demonstration of the scientific method. I want the youngest two to primarily explore, perhaps with some projects thrown in. Ages... 12, 11 10, 9 (will be 10 and 9 during the science semester). Thoughts? Suggestions?
  8. Planning for next year friends! You favorite/most recommended suggestions for studying US States, Geography (probably mostly US, but I'm open to World), and NY State. The kiddos in question will be in 7th grade, and ages 11/12 and 12/13.
  9. x-posted... I'm not sure if this is allowed...if not, please delete and let me know. But...my dog ate my homework, lol!!! Actually, our Shiba Inu puppy ate the first page of the answer key. If I can get a copy sent to my box, I would so so appreciate it. Sure, I can do the math myself but...time...lol. The book was Singapore Standards Grade 3A, Intensive Practice. And the page was the first page of the solution key. Front and back. I can post a picture of the chewed page to confirm if need be, lol.
  10. I'm not sure if this is allowed...if not, please delete and let me know. But...my dog ate my homework, lol!!! Actually, our Shiba Inu puppy ate the first page of the answer key. If I can get a copy sent to my box, I would so so appreciate it. Sure, I can do the math myself but...time...lol. The book was Singapore Standards Grade 3A, Intensive Practice. And the page was the first page of the solution key. Front and back. I can post a picture of the chewed page to confirm if need be, lol.
  11. My children are spaced 11 mos, 16 mos, and 13 mos apart (3 1/2 years from Kid 1 to Kid 4). The second born is academically accelerated. The oldest has some cognitive weaknesses and mild delays. The middle boy (Kid 3) is about average, but he struggles. And Kid 4 is slightly above average in terms of ability to learn new information. I have Kids 1 and 2 combined for Language Arts. Kids 1, 3 and 4 combined for math, which is being done at Kid 4s level (turns out, the perfect level for Kids 1 and 3). All four have been together for science and history until this year. I say do what works! And if it makes things a bit easier on you, even better.
  12. Send me a pm. I have an intact Alpha level that is used but not written in. The binding is removed. My kids completed it with wet erase markers and dry erase pockets.
  13. She took the 4th grade assessment. She struggled with time management (which is not related to MUS), and content which she had not yet been exposed to. Also, she had little experience with math language outside of MUS and so she struggled with grasping what was being asked of her. She also struggled with problem solving, which we all know is a significant weakness of MUS. She was switched to Math Mammoth and has made huge strides in math. MUS isn't for everyone. And in NY, a must test state (where your scores absolutely CAN be used against you), MUS can be a liability. I used it at the beginning with my daughter, and it set a good foundation. But she really took off conceptually when I switched her to Singapore.
  14. My best friend used MUS with her oldest and regretted it when it came time for mandatory testing. She had too many gaps.
  15. We made our own with continuous print paper (you know, the stuff from the 90s). I bought History Through the Ages time line figures, and I go through pulling the appropriate figures for each chapter. I created a Word Doc with the figures for each book, and then printed on full sheet label paper. Essentially, I made stickers, lol. I colored them myself and we add them to the timeline as we go.
  16. *said in the voice of Nanny McPhee* "The program you need is Beast Academy" Lol! Seriously, I'd give it another shot. Maybe bump him up to level 4. There's another, online curriculum he might like, but I can't remember what is called. I will check when I get home. It's for accelerated kids. He might be a bit young yet, though.
  17. Thanks for the advice folks! All excellent information! Regarding the NVLD...this is on my radar. I'm hoping to have this confirmed or ruled out by the spring. She definitely has some of the typical signs of it
  18. Good afternoon! So my DD12 has some diagnosed LDs (most of you that have been here for awhile know me, but I only pop in every so often, lol). Her LDs are mostly math-related and, at that, they come down to a difficulty with critical thinking, problem solving and spatial weaknesses. She has always held her own in Language Arts. Learning to read was not really a struggle for her. Reading comprehension was ok. But, she's in 6th grade and she has definitely fallen off in terms of reading comp. Identifying setting is seriously difficult for her. My kids read at least two chapter books a month (this is for free-time reading and is in addition to our LA curriculum). They have to complete a reading response/book report for each. One of the questions is on setting. She just finished "Where the Red Fern Grows" and her answer was, "In the spring." I prompted for more and got, "In the spring and winter". I reminded her what setting means, and she added, "in 1981". A little more prompting resulted in "in Cherokee country". *facepalm* ALL of her reading responses are like this. She really seems to struggle with picking out the setting details. And honestly, her summary of the conflict (or even just a basic summary of the book) is pretty poor too. Any suggestions/resources to help work on this? We are using Mosdos Pearl for 6th grade and the comprehension questions are definitely a bit of a stretch for her. I'm thinking of bringing her back a couple of grade levels for comprehension purposes, but am not entirely sold on the idea because she can read at grade level. Thoughts? Suggestions?
  19. If hubby is home, we're off. It just doesn't work well when he's home, lol. Me: "Hubs...even though you're not working today, and this is our home...I need you to remember that this is actually the kids' school house, too. So they need QUIET and no distractions! You cannot build. You cannot ask them to fetch you stuff. You cannot sing, play the piano, tap, put on the TV, etc. Ok? OK! Let's do this!" *10:30AM* Hubby is BUILDING shelves. And other things that involve power tools. Hubby has said power tools and shelves spread out all over our kitchen table (where I teach group lessons). Hubby is asking eldest DS, "Boy, can you fetch me such and such tool?" The day is shot. We take off all of Thanksgiving week, and depending on when Christmas falls, usually the week before Christmas through mid-January. This year, we schooled right up until the Thursday before Christmas, with plans on returning to school after three weeks off. But we ended up taking a full month, lol.
  20. So what do I actually do for lesson planning? Well, we have three semesters...Fall/Winter, Winter/Spring, and Summer. I spend late spring/early summer deciding WHAT we'll study and buying books/curriculum. I then sit down and plan out the rough schedule of WHEN we'll be schooling. 30 weeks. I decide which weeks will be off, when to break for Christmas, etc. Then, I take each curriculum and roughly map it out over the 30 weeks for the Fall and Winter semesters. (Side note, long before any of this, I've already printed a weekly schedule for each school week and placed in a binder...I have two. One for the Bigs, one for the Smalls). Next, I go through the weekly schedule, one curriculum at a time, writing in each day, what's to be covered, etc. At this time, I pull consumable pages and stick them into their respective week/kid as I go. For example, if I'm scheduling Singapore, I'll write in the planner for each day, what we're covering, and I'll pull the worksheet pages that correspond. Those will be stuck in a pocket divider for that week. Once everything is planned and written, I'll go back and organize the work by day/kid. When it's done, I'll have a binder full of everything they'll need for the semester, organized by kid, week, and day, and I'll have a written plan that tells me exactly what I should be covering, with whom, and when. At any time, I can grab a week and go. Makes my life so much simpler during the actual semester. The downside is that it's hard to switch things up mid-semester, if I don't like the direction we're going. Typically, if I find something is a bad fit, we'll stick it out until the end of that semester. So yeah, that's what we do. Lots of legwork up front, but much easier for me to implement and stay on track.
  21. Aww heck...who COULDN'T plan better with all that?! I don't NEED all that though. I just need a place where nobody knows my name... :lol: Also...I'm down for a costume comicCon homeschool retreat/convention/whatever!
  22. Doesn't that sound amazing? Get a hotel with a good breakfast buffet and an attached restaurant and you'd be set, lol. I was thinking it would be even more fun to have a whole bunch of homeschool moms (or dads...whatevs) rent a block of rooms. Plan all day, then gather at night for some fun. A homeschool planning retreat!!!
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