Jump to content

Menu

thebacabunch

Members
  • Posts

    717
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by thebacabunch

  1. Pick books at her level that are things she is interested in. WOrks like a charm. Also, read aloud to her. Get a book a bit above her level and have 2 copies. One for you to read and one for her to follow. We followed the 100 ez lessons with the bob books and lots of dr seuss.

  2. Since our town is 80% Hispanic, our language of choice is Spanish, lol! Next year ds will start Spanish with Rosetta Stone.

    Before you invest in ROsetta stone I encourage you to take a look at duolingo. I have used both and Duolingo, imo, is superior and FREE! I am bilingual and learned my second language as an adult and tried both rs and dl in both Spanish (my second language) and French (a language I don't know) to compare. I learned far far more on Duolingo. Plus, there is a really cool TED talk about Duolingo which makes me love it even more.

  3. Candy, or other reinforcers, lol. I can get an amazing amount of unliked schoolwork done by using positive reinforcement. I have a drawer full of stickers, candies, and small toys. Heck, my kids love when I take them to the dollar tree to pick out new prizes for the drawer. Also, the finishing of a math workbook gets a big prize. Something around 10 dollars or less. My oldest might pick new mp3s and my youngest usually picks a webkinz. When the kids are having an extra good math day we do more. Also, I tell them that there will be math happening or they will be finishing in summer school. Works like a charm. If we worked really hard on a new concept we get ice cream cones at mcd's.

  4. Ultimately, I find standardized tests useful only as practice for taking the SAT/ACT tests. My rising seventh grader has been all over the place with standardized testing. Our charter has them test 2 months before school is out. I don't know about the rest of you, but I cover a heck of a lot of stuff in 2 months, particularly in math. I do try to cover the range and sequence for each grade, but don't base my performance as a teacher on one test. I look at work at the beginning of the year and then compare it to the end. There is usually a huge difference. Both of my dd's are sn (one has inattentive adhd and is gifted and the other has high functioning autism and is also gifted) and when they are tested in the right way they excel. When they are bubble fillers they kinda suck.

     

    MUS is not going to give you great standardized test scores. Period. They don't teach the same range and sequence for each year. If you love MUS I would use their tests to see how your kids are doing. If you want to compare to most kids taking standardized tests I would switch to something like singapore. I know that one of the best curriculum's for the new common core standards is the beast academy as the art of problem solving curriculum is taught the way the common core tests are given.

    Don't be too hard on yourself.

  5. I don't know what it needs to matter much at all. Do you forsee a swarming of public school students wishing to attend a homeschool graduation all of a sudden? I don't. In looking at life as 'is this worth getting worked up over' I would just let it go. While I do not understand why the child wants to graduate this way, I assume the child or their family has some reason to want it and it's not really a big deal.

     

    I sometimes feel like groups can get caught up in the 'if we let x, then we'll have to forever and then OMZ will happen' when in reality, none of that is probably going to happen and no need to worry much over it at all.

     

    Also, as a parent with a graduating teen if I knew the other student wasn't homeschooled, I'd think to myself 'that's odd' but it wouldn't change anything about my feelings of excitement and pride watching my child walk across the stage or whatever. :)

     

    Somehow this makes me feel like the value of a graduation ceremony is diminished for the kids who are truly graduating from homeschool. It is like saying that their graduation isn't as legit as a regular school (who would never allow this). jmo.

  6. I believe the idea that those who don't study their history are bound to repeat it. I absolutely read the old books with my kids. They are great stepping stones for discussion. My daughters have no problem seeing the racist and sexist points of view in books. These books were written in another time with different values. They are worth studying if for no other reason than to see how far we have come. I don't believe in white washing or presenting revisionist history to my kids. Knowledge is a powerful thing.

  7. I am taking a hybrid approach to Spanish/ Latin. My kid is learning Spanish and studying latin and greek roots. We are using duolinguo for Spanish (which is a superior and FREE spanish program) and Word within the Word after Caesar's English (MCT). I am bilingual, having learned Spanish as an adult, and have no problem reading and learning Latin (which I am doing). It is a lot easier because I learned Spanish.

  8. For what it's worth, my dd8 with autism hates a "school area" and likes to write out a schedule with me each day that includes reading on her bed, jumping and bouncing in the backyard, science at the kitchen table, english on the rug in the living room, etc. It is most important to her to know what needs to be accomplished and to work with her. I also use a ton of reinforcers!!! I have thousands of stickers, tiny toys, and candies, activities, etc to earn for completing tasks. I use what she is wanting to do, eat, play, etc as our reinforcer and have good success that way.

     

    I keep it real. If she is rockin the school work one day we will do extra. If she is struggling (or tantruming) one day we might only get 1 math problem done and feel like we climbed mt everest.

     

    This will be a great opportunity to find what dc is good at and interested in so you can start steering your school in that direction.

  9. I would start by making the eating thing a no fuss thing. Serve what you serve for everyone else and have something that she will eat for her. We have eaten many meals with dd just having cocoa puffs but is around food she doesn't like. We then moved to putting something on her plate she doesn't like but not making her eat it. We reward any attempts to try something new even if it is spit out. She also has 1 night a week that we eat what she wants.

     

    My dh would definately get a talking to if he refused to eat with the family because he doesn't like what a child with special needs was eating or how. That is just me.

     

    dinner time is family time. Maybe food desensitisation should happen at another time and dd should be given what she will eat for now.

  10. I would use his computer gaming obsession to his advantage. How much of his curriculum is computer based? I agree with the ideas for getting him to do things like scratch, etc. I would also use his special interest to steer him to something that can financially sustain him. I would do computer camp, programming classes, robot and computer building, etc. Heck, have him read and study the computer superstars like Bill Gates. I would still limit his time and I would use the opportunity for more as a reward for doing other things you want him to do.

     

    Girl, my dd8 is obsessed with unicorns. At the grocery store she was bawling uncontrollably and causing many to stare at the bad parent (me) who can't get their child under control because she forgot to bring a unicorn with her. Those obsessions are mighty powerful. They are a comfort to these kids who are square pegs in a world of round holes. Are you working with any behavior therapists? They can be tremendously helpful in getting the kids to branch out and try other things. Also, a week without computers for an aspie isn't the same for a week without for a nt. I would do anything in my power to help my kid earn her unicorn priviledges back as soon as possible and a week is just way too long. A day might be. To a neurotypical kid losing the computer tells them "I did something bad and won't get a priviledge" to an aspie it says "I did something that my parents don't like and I might not even understand why and now my comfort item is taken away." Just food for thought.

  11. Because our schedule is different everyday, I keep a calendar for my dd with asd. We go over it frequently so she knows what is coming and what to expect. This is more functional than every day school. We make transition stories and she reads them frequently. I do very light summer school work m-f. We are talking 5 math problems and reading a chapter in a book. This is more for retention. She is higher functioning and 8 so other asd kids might need a more similar day to day structure. She ABSOLUTELY needs to know what is coming, though.

  12. I would tell your kiddo that according to your school district she is in 4th grade and ahead. Tell her that she will be ahead of the game when she goes back. "That's it. End of story. I don't have any control over how the schools decide it, dear." Don't bring up the "started early because of readiness" again because it will make her feel bad that she hasn't kept up. It is always better to blame it on something else that you have no control over. :tongue_smilie:

     

    She will be more than adequately prepared!

  13. I am going in 2 weeks! I am 3.5 hrs away so we don't get to go often. We actually go to Sacramento more often cause we visit family there who watch the kids for us. That is 6 hours away but more practical for us.

×
×
  • Create New...