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zarabellesmom

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Posts posted by zarabellesmom

    Help me teach my 8th grader to write non-fiction.

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Ugh. I love this child. I really really do. BUT... Teaching her to write is like beating my head against a wall. She writes pages and pages of beautiful fiction and constructs lovely poetry. This is actually a recent development. She was determined to be dysgraphic in third grade. After completing all 10 levels of Barton she's actually a pretty decent speller (I never thought I would be able to say that and I'm so proud of her) and she has fairly decent handwriting. She cannot/will not write a report and honestly, I have no idea how to teach her. We had a bargain in November where she would do NaNoWriMo and then after that, she would begin doing some nonfiction writing without complaint. What bologna! She doesn't know how and doesn't want to know how and is passively resistant (meaning wandering off to read a book when she is supposed to be writing and she knows I'm working with her sister and won't catch her). She uses the same method to get out of chores, but that's a struggle for some other day. 

    I don't know where to begin. Please help.

    History of Dance Elective? Long Shot...

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    17 hours ago, Lori D. said:

    History of Dance: An Interactive Arts Approach looks like a fantastic textbook to use as a spine for creating your own course. You could add in some of the specific "learning activities" included in the textbook, plus add in some of the following ideas, and make a 1-credit (year-long) course:

    - watch some documentaries about different types of dance (and perhaps write a short informational paper about the content of each)
    - do deeper research & write a longer paper on student's choice of a specific dance type or period of dance, or a key performer/choreographer
    - create/present an informational slideshow to present to family/friends from time to time 
    - live-perform several short dance segments, each in the style of one of the historical types of dance, for a visual comparison
    - read a few biographies on key choreographers / performers of different dance types through history
     

    To get a feel for types of resources and output for a Dance History course, check out these detailed syllabi:
    - 1-semester Dance History course -- high school level (listed as "11th grade")
    - 10-week arts-based high school level study of Dance History -- high school level
    - 1-semester History & Appreciation of Dance -- Community College level course
    - 1-semester History of Western Dance since 1450 -- upper division level university course

    Wow! I saw the textbook but somehow missed that I could look inside. I'm so intimidated with trying to put something together about topics I know nothing about, but you make it sound doable. This is great info! Thank you so much.

    IEW, someone reassure me...or not

    in The Learning Challenges Board

    Posted

    Freesia: Yes, that is exactly the information I was looking for. I guess, "all the way through" isn't the best way to phrase it. I meant more like, has anyone used this as their primary writing curriculum for their children and feel like those children became good writers. It's not at all the way I learned to write and I used to be a pretty decent writer--but being able to write and being able to teach writing seem to be two completely different things for me, and I didn't struggle with reading or spelling either. 

    • Like 1

    IEW, someone reassure me...or not

    in The Learning Challenges Board

    Posted

    So, my 10YO has just started Level 7 of Barton, is reading pretty well and her spelling is improving but still has a long way to go. I have IEW SWI A, and CC-A, which I used with my older daughter before moving away from it. (She found the method really frustrating.) I pulled it out and have started Lesson 1 with DD10. Has anyone used this all the way through and felt like their child was a successful writer? Also, DD is still learning to type and is nowhere near proficient despite having worked on this skill for a long time (years...). We are using Google Docs with speech to text and maybe she just needs more practice, but she finds it very frustrating. Tell me this gets better...

    Sex-Ed recommendations?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted · Edited by zarabellesmom

    My daughter is 13 and I need ideas. She already knows about her body and puberty. She knows the very most basic rudimentary facts about sex. I'd like something that covers things in more detail and I want to include topics on consent, gender identity and LGBQ. I've already checked out It's So Amazing and It's Perfectly Normal but have ruled them out. The art and tone (it seems almost talking down to the audience? I'm not sure, it just seems off-putting to me and it's not going to play well with her). She's a pretty serious girl and shy as well. I was hoping she would start asking questions and we could approach it in a sort of natural way, but she's 13 and has never shown any curiosity so that didn't really work out for me. She hasn't shown any interest in dating/romantic relationships and that's fine, but I'd really like her to be informed before that time comes along. We live in the absolute middle of nowhere and so even though I'd really like to put her in one of the Unitarian church's Our Whole Lives programs, that just doesn't exist anywhere near here. Someone please help me!!! 

    • Like 1

    Planning 8th Grade and Feeling Uninspired

    in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges

    Posted

    5 hours ago, Lori D. said:

    Here's what I see you listing:

    Math = AoPS
    English
       Lit = reading lots of books
       Writing = CAP
       Grammar = Fix It
    Science = ?
    Social Studies = ?
    Foreign Language = WTMA French 1
    Elective(s) = ?

    My thought is that middle school, esp. 8th grade, is often your last window of opportunity to explore bunny trails of interest. I don't see any electives or extracurriculars in there to explore DD#1's interests, or expose her to new interests. Perhaps this is the year to do that? Another suggestion is that this might be the year to combine your 2 DDs with a few things.

    For example, if you go with Geography/World Cultures this year for Social Studies, together each week for each new country studied you can make a food, listen to music, play a game, watch a feature film set there or a documentary/travelogue, do a read-aloud, practice online Geography games for countries/capitals/locations, etc., and then have each student reading books , with activities done together as a family.

    You might also all enjoy dropping to a 4-day/week schedule and day 5 can be the day for educational and logic games, lengthy art/history projects and big science experiences or science fair project, watch educational/supplemental movies and documentaries, and schedule time for exploring a new interest -- soldering electronics, robotics, cake decorating, jewelry making, wood working -- whatever each DD would enjoy trying out.

    Finally, add a spark of enjoyment and something to look forward this year by planning regular field trips, tours of local places, nature walks/hikes, etc. Maybe join a homeschool support group for outside the home activities, or get involved in a community activity such as youth theater, or model railroading, or history recreation group. Or volunteer together once a month.

    BEST of luck in planning for interest and joy in this new school year!

     

    When I was listing things, I probably wasn't as thorough as I could have been. She dances 12 hours a week, so electives are covered. We've joined a homeschool group. It's going to use our Mondays. I have no idea how academic it will be, but I haven't really considered it as covering any of our academic stuff even though they will do science and history and hands on projects. She was placed a year back because the 8th grade class was full. She's an advanced student in a lot of ways so I'm just not sure how much she'll get out of it, outside of the group aspect (which she had asked for). They also plan a lot of field trips, so we will probably get out and about more this year and I think we are all looking forward to that.

    After driving myself crazy and taking in everyone's suggestions, I think you are right, a year of geography is probably a good choice for where we are right now. Also, it's something she's expressed interest in, so yay! Science wise, I've decided to be kind of traditional and do physical science. Hopefully it will review some of the things she's already covered and fill in anything she missed, giving her a good foundation for next year's science.

    And if her online sociology class pans out, then I'll shift things around...again. ? 

    Thanks everyone for taking the time to offer ideas. I'm starting to feel like I'll be ready next Monday. Maybe, just maybe.

    Teresa

    • Like 1

    Spelling problems in a super bright kid-nothing working

    in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges

    Posted

    2 hours ago, camino said:

    I have a twelve-year-old son like this, too. (And he loves the same novels!) He has a diagnosis of Dysgraphia -- it is so severe that he was diagnosed in second grade -- but later testers have used different language. One person called him Dyslexic, and wanted us to do a whole program starting from the beginning. The last person we worked with about a year ago, a very well-known and respected psychologist and psycho-educational evaluator in my area, calls it "Language-Based Learning Difference that manifests as" ... in my son's case, specific writing challenges. Basically this psychologist won't distinguish between Dyslexia and Dysgraphia because their origins are the same. What he says makes a lot of sense to me. My son had a lot of the same issues (problems crossing the midline, bilateral coordination) that dyslexic kids do but has always enjoyed reading. I find that Dyslexia is not a *useful* descriptor but I can believe -- I do believe -- that the early Montessori and then homeschool instruction he received helped him address work through potential decoding problems that he probably would have otherwise had.

     

    Both of my children attended a Montessori school through kindergarten. I do think that the way they teach reading helps immensely. It's interesting--to me at least--when experts talk about teaching children with dyslexia/dysgraphia to read and spell, Orton-Gillingham method is pretty much standard (though I think we are going to be seeing more interventions using structured word inquiry soon, but I digress). When you look at the way Montessori teaches reading and compare it to Orton-Gillingham approaches, there are a lot of similarities. I've often wondered whether my oldest, who reads well but is dysgraphic, would have been diagnosed dyslexic without Montessori. I don't think so really because the early signs were not there and her testing results don't show any weaknesses in phonemic awareness, etc. I DO think that my younger daughter, who IS dyslexic, would have fared much worse had she not had the Montessori reading foundation that she did. With my youngest, I knew something was up before reading really entered the picture but she did begin to learn reading at her Montessori school and actually left Kindergarten reading pretty well for that level. She just kind of stalled after that.

    Anyway, I guess that was a bit off topic. Sorry OP.

    Teresa

    Planning 8th Grade and Feeling Uninspired

    in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges

    Posted

    20 minutes ago, 5ofus said:

    I also have a 13 year old entering 8th grade. He's done the general science topics as well. So this year, the *plan* is to just read great books - at least for science. So, he is going to be assigned Napoleon's Buttons, a favorite of mine, some John Hudson Tiner books such as Johannes Kepler bio and 100 Scientists who changed the world, as well as a couple of math/science history books by the same author. I'm not sure how that's going to work out but that's the plan for science. 

    Other than science, IEW to help him learn to write, Fix It for grammar, a variety of Pre-algebra including Math Mammoth and Life of Fred, a second year of Spanish, an art class he enjoys and music appreciation when we can get to it. Oh, and I'm trying to plan a course on Excel/Powerpoint/ etc just to make sure we get it out of the way. It can be a high school credit possibly.  Geography is just something I've made up as we go along. We've had good luck with You Tube videos such as Rick Steves travel paired with making our own travel brochures for each country we study. Our geography binder is getting quite thick.  We will continue this project. 

    Anyway, that's the plan. I'm sure it will change drastically as is usual for us. Good luck! 

    Wow, there's some great stuff here! I'm going to go check out these books. Can you tell me a little more about your geography binder? I've considered the travel brochure idea too because it looks like fun and seems like something she would enjoy. Do you include other things in it? Going to check out Rick Steves on youTube as well.

    Thanks.

     

    Planning 8th Grade and Feeling Uninspired

    in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges

    Posted

    13 minutes ago, Garga said:

    What is GHF’s Story of Science?  

    Is it Joy Hakim’s The Story of Science?  If it isn’t, then you might want to look at Hakim’s Story of Science series.  There are three books and they study science starting with Aristotle.  It feels like a combination of a history book/science book.  The writer goes through the discoveries in science as they happened, studying the lives of the scientists/time in history along the way.  

    We only read the first one and enjoyed it, and I got a teacher’s guide and workbook as well.  The guide and workbook slowed us down or we’d have read all of them in a year.

    Yes, It's Hakim's Story of Science series. The teacher did a great job of incorporating other resources and made it really hands on. She's not teaching it anymore though. I'm sad because I was planning it for my youngest as well. I loved the series. If anyone else is looking for middle school science, I agree Garga, they really should consider it.

    Thanks.

     

    Planning 8th Grade and Feeling Uninspired

    in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges

    Posted · Edited by zarabellesmom

    Title pretty much says it all. My daughter is 13 and will be in 8th grade this year. I've looked over curriculum until my eyes were crossed. Then I thought of going it alone on subjects and can't even begin to start putting something together. I had planned an online sociology class and now it looks like it will be cancelled due to insufficient enrollment (someone help me by signing up for this so it can still happen ?). She's taken a pretty broad range of science over the last three years with GHF's Story of Science classes with related hands on work and now has a very good backround in physical science, chemistry and biology. I don't really want to repeat that stuff only to cover it again at a high school level so soon. I'm at a complete loss. Same goes for History. Since the next couple of years are going to hit World History and American History pretty in depth, I don't want to do those either. So far I have:

    AoPS Algebra 1 (We've already started this and it's going well)

    CAP Writing and Rhetoric (I've tried every writing program there is and this one is the most tolerated so on we go.) She's just started doing some creative writing because she WANTS to. It's amazing for her because she has protested writing so much in the past.

    Fix-It (And I'm questioning this because something seems to have clicked over the last year and grammar and spelling are working just fine for my little dysgraphic girl.)

    WTMA French 1

    She already devours books. I like to let her choose her own reading, though I sometimes make suggestions. She's pretty open to this so I hate to change up something that's working right now.

    I've thought about Geography for the coming year. I even bought BYL7 and quite a few of the books but when I look at it, I see a lot of busy work or things that I'm not going to use because I prefer to cover those skills a different way (writing for instance). I've looked at the 8th grade planning thread over and over.

    I'm not sure if this is a whine or an invitation for ideas (which are definitely welcome--secular only please). I'm feeling so blah. And then I wonder if I want curriculum at all. Maybe I'm just feeling a bit unschooly at this point (which is so NOT me usually). But next year is high school and it feels like this is our last chance to be relaxed. GAHHH!

    The other situation is that I have a soon to be 10 yo who is dyslexic. With tutoring and other skill work, her day is pretty full. If she looks over and sees her sister playing Minecraft or something else fun during what she perceives as school hours, she's going to be pretty upset.

    Anyone else? Or any ideas?

    Teresa

    Spelling problems in a super bright kid-nothing working

    in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges

    Posted

    My oldest daughter is dysgraphic and had significant spelling problems. I feel like I tried everything too--Logic of English, All About Spelling, Apples and Pears, Rod and Staff, Sequential Spelling. Anyway, she struggled some with writing and copying when she was younger and I still wouldn't she say she is the best writer, but she does pretty well. Her handwriting is OK, not fabulous. It used to be a lot worse. Anyway, I had her tested in the third grade wondering if this was some sort of super sneaky stealth dyslexia. Nope. She reads at a quite advance level and every test that would possibly reveal dyslexia, revealed none. She's just dysgraphic. (I say "just" but it's been a pretty big handicap.) In any case, my youngest daughter IS dyslexic and I ended up purchasing Barton Reading and Spelling. Since I was buying it, I decided to run my older daughter through it as well. She finished it this summer--completing all 10 levels in 1.5 years, though we could have gone faster but I was tutoring my youngest as well. She spells pretty well now. It made an amazing difference. It's expensive though--but not so much if you buy each level used and then sell it when you are done using the money to buy the next level. It holds its resale value very well and I haven't had any trouble selling them when I've finished with them.

    • Like 3

    Pro/Con of Summer breaks

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    We mostly take summers off. Until last summer we took summers completely off and found it completely frustrating when no one could math when we came back. Then my youngest daughter was found to be dyslexic and tutoring absolutely had to continue over the summer. We decided to stick with math and tutoring for dyslexia over the summer and it worked out really well so we are attempting to do that this summer as well. It's a little more complicated this year as my oldest has four weeks of dance intensives and is pretty wiped out when she gets home. Luckily, it seems like a little summer math goes a long way.

    • Like 1

    CAP Writing & Rhetoric

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    14 hours ago, Targhee said:

    Some people feel there isn’t enough in the teacher manual (there isn’t a lot, but there are good things in there).  We did use the Remedia Press outlining book for several weeks b cause the outlining instruction was insufficient. Otherwise I really I have loved this program.  Good luck, HTH

     

    I agree with the outlining instruction being insufficient. I looked for a Remedia Press book on outlining but a quick search isn't turning it up for me. Can't you point me in the right direction Targhee?

    8th Grade Lit Recommendations? (not traditional classics)

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I need some recommendations for books to read with my 8th grader next year. I'm not interested in a list of classics as I have that part covered. I would like a diverse list of more recent works that aren't necessarily ALL depressing. She likes fantasy novels but I want to broaden her horizons without killing her love of books. I'm totally uninspired and feel like I've looked at hundreds of book lists. Bonus points for books that have diverse characters, though that isn't an absolute necessity.  Where are you Farrar?

     

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