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Ummto4

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Everything posted by Ummto4

  1. I called some reading centers recommended by the local dyslexia association + an LD organization. Yes, I get several names that need to be checked.
  2. Good news. This famous professor (recommended by a spec. ed attorney) replied my email saying that he evaluates children (including many homeschooled students) in Uof Houston psych. clinic. I thought that he is no longer in practice because I can't find his clinic number from various websites mentioning his name. He also recommends two neurospych from UT H and Texas Med Center. But he also mentions that he runs the clinic with one other neuropsych plus graduate students. Mmmm ... good sign or not so good sign ??
  3. Finally, one sp. education advocate emails me and gives me a recommendation from a special ed. attorney, but strangely, this recommended neuropsych. is not in practice. He's famous, yes, but not in practice. So I email this famous neuropsych. prof for a recommendation. Hopefully I will get a name. I have contacted the Eides also, but they don't know anybody personally in Houston. I'll contact the Hip Homeschooler's owner and search through the blog.
  4. I need to get my 11 yo boy evaluated for learning disabilities. I'm looking for a good neuropsych. in Houston TX area. I've called a dyslexia organization and also disability advocate office for recommendation - but nobody returns the call (yet). I've tried Sandy's Learning Abled yahoogroup - no reply yet. I myself have been googling and looking at various websites, but am still undecided. Suppose I don't get any recommendation - how do you decide which one to go ? Thanks Dian
  5. Yes, this. In general though, a muslim should avoid drawing animal/human being if it's used as an ornament (purely for art) for grown-ups to enjoy. E.g. Monalisa is a no-no, but Mickey Mouse in a nursery room is fine for some scholars. But, for science, textbook illustration, story book illustration, activity books, children bedding, children t-shirt, etc, opinions differ. Same with photography. In my country of origin, most people wouldn't mind to be photographed, or hang the photographs on the wall. YOu can't say the same for muslims from other country. A couple of things that a muslim cannot draw: Godand prophet Muhammad, and some say - prophet Muhammad's companions and other prophets (including prophet Isa/Jesus). HTH
  6. Learn with a mentor, preferably locally (so you can see her mouth when she's pronouncing the letter). Start with a primer and then proceed to juz amma. Listen to Mishary - he has clear voice and his recitation is beautiful. The best place to find a mentor is a masjid with an ongoing full time hifz program. Usually it only has a handful of girls. Go beg the female teacher to teach you in the morning with the girls. PM me your location. I may be able to help.
  7. I have a daughter who just turned 9 a couple of days ago and is doing MM5. She's good at math, loves puzzles, and likes discovering patterns. I'm thinking of introducing her to AOPS Pre-algebra this fall when she's 9.5, right after MM5. Is it a good plan ? Or should I do some chapters of MM6 with her first, and if so, what is the pre-requisite of of doing AOPS-Prealgebra ? Thanks.
  8. RE: Islamic art. At some point, you'll encounter sufi aft/drawing which looks pretty different from other kind of Islamic art because the sufis incorporate animal/human in their drawing, whereas other classical Islamic arts avoid humans/animals and focus on geometry. At this point, you can enrich the lesson by studying what sufism/Islamic mystic is.
  9. Mahabarata, Ramayana, and Bhagavadgita (part of Mahabarata) are what I suggest your children to be sort of familiar with. Lots of symbolism and eastern wisdom there, and they're v. famous - even outside the Indian subcontinent. Lots of Indian merchants interacted with Indo-Malaysian/South East Asian people and brought HIndu and Buddhist influence there. I am not Indian (am from Indonesia) , but was brought up with these stories and talked about them like the western children talk about Greek/Roman mythology and the Bible. YOu can even watch the series in youtube. Also, all muslim children would be familiar with the biography of prophet Muhammad, his companions (males and females), and some prominent muslims of later time. Other work you want to cover are Arabian night stories and some poetry from the middle east - Rumi, or Khalil Gibran. If you manage to get the work of some middle eastern muslim authors from the golden age of Islam (circa 800-1400) - not necessarily literatures per se, but could be history a philosophy book,s you'll find that they refer to muslim tradition and Quran, like: books by Averoes/ibn Rushdi (philosopher), Ibn Khaldun (historian/sociolgist), and Ghazali (philosopher, a sufi). Muh. Ghazali, in particular, is v. influential. This is from: http://plato.stanfor...ies/al-ghazali/ "Al-Ghazâlî (c.1055–1111) was one of the most prominent and influential philosophers, theologians, jurists, and mystics of Sunni Islam. He was active at a time when Sunni theology had just passed through its consolidation and entered a period of intense challenges from Shiite Ismâ’îlite theology and the Arabic tradition of Aristotelian philosophy (falsafa). Al-Ghazâlî understood the importance of falsafa and developed a complex response that rejected and condemned some of its teachings, while it also allowed him to accept and apply others. Al-Ghazâlî's critique of twenty positions of falsafa in his Incoherence of the Philosophers (Tahâfut al-falâsifa) is a significant landmark in the history of philosophy as it advances the nominalist critique of Aristotelian science developed later in 14th century Europe. On the Arabic and Muslim side al-Ghazâlî's acceptance of demonstration (apodeixis) led to a much more refined and precise discourse on epistemology and a flowering of Aristotelian logics and metaphysics. With al-Ghazâlî begins the successful introduction of Aristotelianism or rather Avicennism into Muslim theology. After a period of appropriation of the Greek sciences in the translation movement from Greek into Arabic and the writings of the falâsifa up to Avicenna (Ibn Sînâ, c.980–1037), philosophy and the Greek sciences were “naturalized†into the discourse of kalâm and Muslim theology (Sabra 1987). Al-Ghazâlî's approach to resolving apparent contradictions between reason and revelation was accepted by almost all later Muslim theologians and had, via the works of Averroes (Ibn Rushd, 1126–98) and Jewish authors a significant influence on Latin medieval thinking." FOr Quran translation and explanation, I love Yahiya Emerick's work. He has one complete Quran translation and explanation for children, and a couple for adults. Just type in his name in amazon. HTH.
  10. Do you want a survey-type of course or more in-depth one ? Thing is, non-Western civilization encompasses a lot of civilization - Indian subcontinent, African , middle eastern, oriental (Chinese, Japanese), etc. Also, are you looking for Eastern wisdom/way of thinking kind of course or more of literature course ?
  11. Upon my insistence, my pediatrician ordered a bunch of lab tests and bone X-ray in addition to a physical check-up when my son was 8. The test turned out to be normal, but his bone age was behind (not even 6 years). So he just gets monitored for his weight and height every year, and so far, his growth rate is normal (i.e. 2.25 inches/year). He's still small though. I would expect your GP to do at least the same - may be some physical check up + X-ray + lab test. We're Asian, and while we're normal for Asian (hubby - at 5'7" is considered pretty tall), we're considered short here in the US. A couple of our relatives are short - men around 5'3" and women under 5" with small frames (aka light weight). Is your husband a Chinese, Laura ? If so, how tall are his relatives ? It could just be genes, you know.
  12. I'm thinking of doing a 1.5 year prealgebra using all of MM6 (non-CC) and select chapters of something. What topics should I include ? What is the best option ? 1. MM6 + select chapters of Lial's pre-algebra. 2. MM6 + SYRWTL Math 3. 3. MM6 + Singapore DM 1. 4. Other ?? Or can they go straight into a child-friendly algebra program ? What program then ? This is going to be for my son and daughter who are going to be 11.5 and 9.5, respectively this fall. They've been using MM from the start and are solid in arithmetic. Thanks. Dian
  13. We'll visit S-pore this April for about a week. I would like to visit a bookstore or two and browse on S-pore curricula. Question: 1. Which bookstore ? 2. What is the good brand/publisher for junior high curricula ? Thanks Dian
  14. How much do you expect your children to understand when reading non-fiction books independently ? I just started checking my children's reading comprehension when reading non fictions, and found out that they don't always understand the books, science in particular. I know many moms use non-fictions to 'unschool' history and science. If that's the case, do you have some kind of assessment to make sure your children understand what they're reading ? Do you read with them/to them ? Do you explain ? Do you quiz ? Thanks.
  15. Hubby tried to teach me parallel park, but couldn't. He has the instinct; I don't. But I managed to find a website which teaches explicitely how to parallel park. The key is to use reference. You should know when to do the reverse, and the angle you turn. That website suggests a 45 degree reverse to the right, then go on (while maintaining 45 degree position) till you see the pavement and the front of the car clears the pole. At that point, do the reverse to the left. When I was practising, I would go to the DMV a few afternoon and practise this manouver again and again until I was certain that I could do this consistently (9 out of10). That's it .... Once you know the reference (what to look for), it's easy. Then it's just a matter of perfecting the manouver with the car that you're going to use for the test.
  16. How do you define slow processing ? Is it working too slowly ? Slow to understand ? Pls describe (with examples). Thanks.
  17. Thanks for the response. Yes, I'm not a native speaker, although I've been here for 10 years and got my undergrad + grad. degree in the UK. I have to always proof read what I write because in my native language there is neither subject-verb agreement nor tenses unless I'm writing quickly. As a non-native I sometimes also have to pause a bit before saying or writing anything so that it doesn't come out too weird. I will definitely farm out English class in high school and possibly even junior high, but I'm not sure where to ... yet. I'll ask this board next year ..:). But, I sure hope that I can still manage to teach the basic ones. With my son though, I think his difficulties are not caused by him living with non-native parents and being homeschooled. I have an 8 yo daughter who doesn't have difficulties. Hence, I just wonder whether he - although brought up as a native - is a kind of a child who needs more explicit instructions. I even talked to my husband whether it would be a good idea to fetch my English book from junior high when I visit my parents next year. He thought that it'll be too boring ....:). But thanks for the response, and I'll appreciate if you can give me more suggestions. TIA
  18. My son is 5th grade and he's not one w/ natural ability in language art. His usage and punctuation are shaky. His writing also sometimes doesn't flow well. Plus he sometimes cannot make good sentences to explain something. His 8 yo sister uses the same thing as him, but all is well with her. This is what we use for his 4th and 5th grade : - Grammar: KISS and Evan Moore editing. - Usage: ILL. - Writing: ILL w/ writing strand 3 - Spelling: Apples and Pears. I also have one of reading comprehension book for him to do once a week. He learns to summarize via content subjects. He summarizes pretty well verbally, but got messed up in writing. In light of his weaknesses for punctuation and usage as well as his trouble in articulating his thought in writing, I am just wondering, whether I should instead get curricula which teach these skills more explicitly and repetitively. I know he hates GWG (used this for his 3rd grade), so I'm thinking of getting him Hake for grammar and keep Evan Moore for editing. So what I'm thinking is like this: - Grammar and usage: Evan MOore and Hake (dump ILL- uusage and KISS) - Spelling: keep A& P - Writing: WWS 1 (dump WS and ILL-writing). - keep ILL for the poetry and prose part Do you think I need to give him a chance till he finishes 5th grade and just try to do the same thing dilligently or get a more explicit curricula (above) now? He loves ILL and KISS, but I get a feeling that Hake = GWG except that it's spiral. So, he may hate this, but my gut feeling is that he needs repetition (aka boring curricula) and what we're using, although is good and work really well for my daughter, are not enough for my son. Advice ? TIA
  19. I'm trying to gauge what appropriate amount of work is for a fifth grade. So how long is your 5th grader homeschool day including assigned reading (lit. reading, historical fiction, etc). Thanks.
  20. Is it possible that the type of problems the US teenagers and young people face in America is entirely cultural ? So every culture will have its own set of problems which are unique for the culture. E.g. entitlement -- I've seen it again and again in the US/UK- you know, the feeling that the world owes you something. This very rarely happens in third world countries (at least it's rare from where I came from) even when the children come from affluent families (and a bit spoiled) just because life is hard over there. YOu have to have something really wrong in your head to think that you're entitled to something. So most people have 'accepting' behavior and just bears the study/work day to day although deep inside they're not happy with their position. Sometimes, because the entry-level wage is too small, adult children still have to stay w/ parents (even after marriage) and the parents put up with them w/o asking for a rent ...:). The children though, usually will pitch in financially, e.g. paying bills, groceries, etc. Respect to parents is another - it's big in Asia. Arguments may erupt between parents and children, but most would never lead to a situation where parents would not speak EVER to the children or vice versa. It's cultural, but may also be because children view parents as something which symbolizes security. But then in Asia, where I come from, corruption and bribery are rampant. So chances are high that young adults and teenagers over there will be involved one way or another in corruption/bribery. Neead a driver license ? There's an easy way to get it ..:). Will you be happy if you find ut your children are working adults, but engaged in this kind of activities (e.g. you need my signature ? pay me such and such ...). Copyright of software, books, etc is not respected. So while here in the WTMboard people are arguing whether it's okay to copy this and that, or to save workbooks by using dry-erase and plastic cover (which amuses me), over there, people are just going to copy textbooks, software, etc. Heck, my sister used to sell those pirated CDs (pirated by her friends) to her college friends ...:). So you see, when something becomes cultural, your teenager's/young people's chances to become 'other' is slimmer, and can't be blamed to the parenting. IT's just cultural. YOu just have to do the best, and, if you're religious, pray that s/he would turn out to be okay by His standard.
  21. My first child is not exactly a struggling student, but he's not what you would call 'mathy'. But MM has given him a thorough understanding of math that he can do complex problems painlessly. The program is v. incremental and heavy on practice, which you can skip or re-print as needed. It's a semi-mastery program though, so cumulative reviews are only offered at the end of each chapter. You can do several chapters at once to give it more of a spiral feeling. HTH
  22. We've been using Math Mammoth since 2008 w/ school-age children which they started when they're first grade. Both my 10 and 8 yo children are using MM 5A right now, and we couldn't be happier. Both of them are solid conceptually. They're capable of solving complex word problems on their own and can reason well enough to solve new problems without even being shown the 'standard way' of doing it. Let me give you an example. Last year, while in MM 4, I asked them to solve 1/5 + 1/7. Now, they were never shown and taught explicitly what to do with this type of problems. But they did know: a. that it's necessary to make the denominator the same before adding up fractions (and they know why). b. how to rename fractions. c. multiplication facts. They both could do that problem w/o me telling them what to do. I would consider that a success. The beauty of MM is that it teaches different concepts so solidly and incrementally that students can often apply previously-taught concepts to advanced problems w/o being taught the algorithm/standard way of doing it. Another example. My students can solve this type of questions: " If 2/5 of Andy's money is $200, how much money does Andy have ? " without being told the standard way of doing it, which is flipping the fraction to find the whole - so in this case it would be: 5/2 * 200 = 500. Instead, they solved it by finding the 1/5 (i.e. $100), then multiplying it by 5. My children can also compare fractions w/ different denominators and numerators on their own w/o being shown the trick (butterfly trick) of doing it. When teaching them the algorithm of long division and multiple column multiplication, I also found my students were able to reason how to do that the first time. I just guided them in 'that' direction.But, before teaching them the actual algorithm, I've already given the basis of the algorithm as taught in MM, e.g. getting the distributive property pat down, calculating reminder, multiplying whole tens/hundreds (tagging zero), etc. All in all, with MM it's possible for students to discover the algorithm/standard way on their own or w/ guidance. W/o solid understanding, children won't be able to do that.
  23. Yes, I have to learn to let go things. Like cursive - I taught him for almost 3 years, and still he hasn't caught on. He can do cursive if he concentrates, but now it's not worth it. I just let him print.
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