thebacabunch
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Posts posted by thebacabunch
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I care. I care for the same reasons I want every generation of Americans to know how to read and write, not just understand how reading and writing works. I care for the same reasons I want the policy that shapes, and the laws that govern my society to be motivated by logical reasoning, rational thought, and inspired by actual information, not based on beliefs and feelings and deep desires and fears. I care for the same reasons I see the change in Iraq in my lifetime and lament the loss of empowerment to half the population due to nothing more than religious domination in public policy. I care because ignorance doesn't just affect the student, and when ignorance is honored and personal belief is taught as fact, it changes the culture significantly in such a way that is detrimental to everyone, including those kids who are simply raised to believe mythology-as-fact because they trust their parents and teachers to be knowledgeable.
It's not a matter of simply understanding the theory of evolution of plants and animals, it's a matter of understanding how the natural world works, how the scientific method works, and having critical thinking skills to address new mysteries. These things affect everything else, from believing the earth is 6000 years old, to believing women can't get pregnant from rape, to believing tin-foil hats will prevent unwanted access to brainwaves.
When the United States was founded and a new system of government experiment was set up for the first time, it was thought that the general population ought to have a say in public policy, rather than those few born into privileged families (yes, I know this was a very limited population included at first). The support for public education was built on the fact that ignorant people voting for public policy don't contribute positively to society as much as an educated public, and so it became clear that education is a worthwhile investment for the public. That hasn't changed. Ignorant people shouldn't be contributing to wide-spread public policy, but suppressing that voice isn't the best answer - educating the person who has that voice is. Why would anyone want to suppress knowledge? Maybe that's something to think about - why would someone's religious group encourage ignorance and blind obedience when knowledge is available to us as a society?
The explanation for earth's natural world is no more a controversy any than witchcraft and astrology are a controversy. It's a knowledge-based conclusion based on facts and rational thought, and blind faith in any religion or "worldview" is not required to understand the mechanics of the natural world. It's one thing to have been raised to not know how the world works, it's quite another to deny a child that knowledge in today's society. We have the means necessary to educate each and every child, at the public expense, privately obtained, or at home, but information shouldn't be suppressed from children raised in one religion any more than it should be for another.
OH my, this is rough! I am not sure you understood Crimsonwifes position. I did not get from her posts that she was not teaching her kids what is considered the latest and greatest in scientific fact or how those facts were found. Quite the contrary imo. She said she teaches her kids the pervailing scientific ideas, shares her beliefs in the context of those facts, and gives her kids the tools to decide for themselves. It is the right of parents to bring up their children with their beliefs. It gets murky with homeschoolers (to the outside) because parents teach both. Why sneer at someone because they don't share your "worldview"?
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Is the coop supposed to cover that subject completely? I don't have a coop here and thought it was a supplement. Sotw is so fantastic. I would hate to moosh it all into a 1 year span. That takes away a lot of the magic of the series.
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I don't care how God did it, how long it took God to do it, how God may have evolved or not the human body. I only care that HE did it. I have no problem reconciling an OE view of the world or evolution with my faith. I am also open to future science that says everything we thought was right, was wrong. I feel like, until God reveals how He did things for Himself, the argument for or against modern science is a distraction, and a divisive distraction at that.
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In such a terrible job market I would advise your dh to hold on to his current job with both fists and thank the Almighty that he has one. No way no how would my dh be working that far away from me for a year if he had a job, a mortgage, and a family who needs him.
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GO old school and get a red pen for the writing. Nothing more depressing than a red ink covered paper that needs revisions. :laugh: I have used mandm's with math.
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I taught my kids phonics, but they took off before I finished any program. I think phonics are the best but don't understand making it a big subject that goes on and on. Once my kids could read they took off. They are also great spellers. My dd12 reads at a 12th grade level and my dd8, with autism, reads at a 5th grade level. She reads at a 7th grade level without the comprehension. If your kid can read, great!
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SotW!!!!! But don't buy the text, get the cd's and listen to them in the car with a captive audience. We love Jim Weiss and have so enjoyed listening to the sotw. We do lots of activities, all of the mapwork, lots of games and get great ideas for books to read from the activity guide. I would so not worry about being on a first grade level. My dd6 got quite a bit out of them at 6. They are just fun and we have learned a ton. I am not concerned at this age about retention of facts, that can start in the logic stage, right now it is just a gental overview of world history.
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awesome! THANKS SO MUCH!
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I vote for history pockets. There are k through 3 books and 4 through 6 plus books. THe 1 book is meant to be used by a teacher to make copies for all of her students which would make the curriculum very affordable (1 book plus the cost of copies). The history pockets for 4th grade and up are actually pretty fantastic. They are challenging and fun. Have you looked at them? Again, it would be one book for the teacher plus the price of copies for the students. There are several for 4 to 6 plus that would be appropriate for the 3rd through 8th although I would put the k=3 together and the 4-6 together and the 7-8 together.
Another option would be to just do the chapters in the sotw books that cover American history. If the kids each had their own sotw workbook and textbook it wouldn't be too terribly expensive. Only the teacher would need the activity guide because all of the maps, etc are in the student workbooks.
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I so agree with Bill! To implement SM correctly you will be using manipulatives at the beginning of each new concept. You should take a look at the teacher's manual and not just the workbooks because the manual lays out how to teach with the manipulatives. If it helps my dd8 has autism and is doing very well with Singapore standards edition. Manipulatives are key! Once she has them down she understands the other ways Singapore is teaching the lessons. Good luck to you and bless you for choosing to mother a sn kid!
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Because of the thriving tutoring industry, NOT because of the schools, even supposedly "California Distinguished Schools" in affluent suburbs like mine. If my little one stays enrolled in the PS here past 1st grade (I hope to bring her home by then, but it is unclear whether she'll be at a point where I can forgo the services she receives for her autism), I will need to "afterschool" math. I have seen the math textbooks my district uses, and while they aren't as horrendous as the Every Day Math ones used in our old district (another affluent suburb), I can see why there are multiple tutoring centers in my town.
Hey, just curious, I believe you use a charter, right? Does your dd go to a separate school? My dd with autism is part of our charter and her speech and resource funding is through the charter district. It gets confusing, no?
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Which state are you in? We have never, NEVER been tested in history or "social studies". The testing is math and language arts with an occasional science test. Don't worry!
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Thank you for answering my post so thoroughly. I appreciate your advice. I love the suggestion to check out library books to fill in the gaps. I'm very interested in SOTW, but had no idea how I could do that while covering economy, government, etc. I think I need "unschooling" more than my boys. I'm still very much in a public school frame of mind. :) Our state requires annual standardized testing, so I'm terrified that I'm going to miss something.
I can assure you that SOTW will cover geography, history, civics, economy, and government and in a way that actually makes sense: chronologically.
Here is my SOTW advice: Get the cd's. THat Jim Weiss is so fun to listen to. We listen to our chapters in the car as we are out and about. They get so much more out of it that way. Also, the activity guide is a must! It has mapwork, games, and other activities plus book lists that coordinate with each chapter, copywork, review questions, and ideas for hands on activities like how to mummify a chicken or how to eat like a monk with recipes. My kids use good quality watercolor pencils to color in their maps and then paint over them to make them pretty. HEHE. There are also corresponding page numbers for the usborne and kingfisher encyclopedias.
One of the worst things that ps does is teach history out of time and out of context. With your kids you could do all 4 years of sotw and still follow the public school model of history through high school so that colleges will have the classes they want on your kids transcripts. You won't be sorry!
Welcome to hs! I remember the day that I chucked the ps text I was using for history and ordered sotw. I could NEVER go back now.
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SOTW is a world history. DOes your director want a strict American history? How often does your coop meet? We do about 2 chapter a week to finish 1 sotw in a school year. WHat are the ages?
Have you looked at the history pockets? Those are fun and cover a good amount of US history. I guess it just depends on the frequency of meetings, age of kids, and length of each class. I would be hard pressed to cover all of sotw3 and 4 with just my 2 kids at home. It would be a very superficial glance at the curriculum.
Are you supposed to go with just one curriculum?
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My local school is a "california distinguished school" and they are soooooooo mediocre. After 3rd grade the kids all spiral down down down in math.
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AFAIK California schools were struggling before the introduction of the new math standards.
I don't think that high standards hurt. Ordinary children, taught effectively, should be able to achieve the California standards for 1997. Heaven knows they do in other countries.
While I agree with you, it seems counterintuitive to me to make math harder for kids who aren't getting it in the first place. I feel that the problems are: mediocre curriculum, teachers who aren't teaching math correctly (no I am not saying all teachers in CA are bad. I don't think that the teachers are being effectively trained to teach math), a large population of esl students, a large population of poor students, a large population period (although the other "super states" are doing well in math, just not CA).
Our kids need more arithmetic and less algebra in the younger grades. They have a weak foundation and are being pushed to do higher math too soon. If you aren't being taught one on one or with a tutor it is incredibly difficult to succeed with ca math as it is. Just one of the many reasons I homeschool. Even a weak-sauce day at home one on one is more effective than a good day in a classroom would be for my kids.
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It is a long process. Hang in there.
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Okay. I have to say something. Yes, this kid looks like a spoiled brat. He seems like that under-disciplined kid. BUT. I have a nephew who looks like that kid. He thinks only for himself. He cries and makes everything look like it's about him. He is sometimes hard to be around. He was just diagnosed with high-functioning autism. My sister is exhausted with him. She is tired. She finally has a diagnosis. My nephew is nearly 7.
There may very well be a not-yet-determined diagnosis here. This child may have something else going on. Yes. You need to protect your son. I don't know what to tell you about that. But, his mom may very well be overwhelmed with him. She may not know what to do.
yes, this is me! My dd8 is not EVER invited to birthday parties, playdates, or anything because she has difficulties resulting from her autism. This has been going on for years. The parents want as little to do with her as the kids. I get it, but it is tough. I don't let her physically hurt anybody, not that she has ever tried, but she certainly isn't modeling appropriate behavior.
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Our schools are mediocre. The families are neither struggling nor are they well-to-do. The performance of the kids is also mediocre. I think I just proved your point, Bill, lol.
I pay little attention to what the state and federal standards are except to make sure that we are exceeding them.
I still say to OP, you are doing fine. If you are worried you can supplement or do some math over the summer. Is you 10 year old a 4th grader? That is 4th grade here. In that case you are on target or ahead with 4a and 4b.
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Get something from the registry. It's easy and you know she will like it.
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Sad! Not all believers in God and Christianity think evolution is evil. Good grief! I don't care how the earth was created! To me the real difference in believer and non-believer shouldn't be how it was done but who, if anyone, was behind it. I buy secular science on purpose because I am an old earth-I have no problem with evolution-science is beautiful- believer. So want to get my hands on those Biology books!!!
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Make sure you know your state standards for testing kids with autism. My dd is not required to do testing.
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GO to horriblebooks.com. There are tons of educational and disgusting books available there.
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Also, OP, take CA standards with a grain of salt. We are in the bottom 3 in the nation for test scores. Evidently the push to make kids learn harder stuff earlier hasn't worked out so well (duh). I don't know what the rationale was "gee, the kids aren't doing so well. Let's make it harder and push algebra earlier". Usually when my kid is struggling the first thing I do is make their curriculum harder and push them to do harder math sooner, cause that will help them catch up (not).
Do we have a 7th grade thread for next year yet?
in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges
Posted
Still trying to figure everything out!
So far:
Math: AoP pre-algebra
LA: WWS continue with wws1 as we started late in the year
Caesar's English 1 and 2
Grammar voyage and a world of poetry (MCT)
Working through the mensa middle school reading list
Language: spanish (haven't picked a curriculum)
Science: Help me! I have no idea
History Sotw early modern times with an emphasis on American History (maybe use some history pockets)
Music: guitar lessons
Art: We are going to find private art lessons
PE: swim team