Kathie in VA
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Posts posted by Kathie in VA
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Okay, he said he wants to do SM again. Why? You need to find out what it is about SM that he liked and what wasn't working with Saxon. They teach very differently as others have posted.
You said, "He wants to do Singapore again this next year, but I think he needs smaller steps with more repetition." Well, you can easily do this by doing SM lessons with the text and the Home Instructors Guide (HIG) [if you want it, some don't use it], then assign the workbook and assign work from the Extra Practice books. {There are also Intensive Practice workbooks for more challenge and the Challenging Word Problems (CWP) books that many like to use on occation.} This will slow the pace of the new lessons and give the extra practice that you are looking for.
Also keep in mind that the SM "teacher manual" is not the same as the "Home Instructor's Guide". If you are using their 'Teacher Manual' then you might want to look into the HIG.
Another option mentioned was Math Mammouth. This will teach similary to the way SM teaches but include more practice within the main program. Keep in mind that the presentation is not as colorful, from what I've heard.. for some kids this is an issue.
I haven't seen MUS but it's not a bad choice here either.... you just need to remember that it's scope and sequence may be different ... but the depth is there.
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I tend to just make a spreadsheet to organize any info i want to keep. I also print final grades from any outside class and keep them in a binder. Since I don't trust either system to be around (we've had too many hard drive crashes and lost binders) I also try to get copies of everything online... either via google docs or simply an email to myself (we use gmail so emails are always online).
Now there are also free forms at the donnayoung site: http://donnayoung.org/forms/planners/grade.htm
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Fret not, you have options.
1. You can easily get a CAT test from Seton, take time to go through it, send it in and still have results back in plenty of time.
2. You can also choose to have an evaluation done. There are a few people around that do these. They just look at what your kids did learn during this year and go with that.
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Megawords (starts in 4th grade level)
http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/products/details.cfm?seriesonly=900M
or
Apples Daily Spelling Drills for Secondary Students http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Apples%3A+Daily+Spelling+Drills+for+Secondary+Students/017131
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Megawords ... this is their focus. It's for 4th grade and up, workbook style, ...
http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/products/details.cfm?seriesonly=900M
also sold at Rainbow Resource, CBD, etc.
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Here's a fun, light read that I found at our library book sale ages ago...
Odysseus in the Serpent Maze
It's a story about the character Odusseus... what he might have been like when he was young and what he might have went through.
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Drill is particularly important, and, so far as I can tell, is the one key element not explicitly guided in the text/wkbk combo.
and I really wish it was included .. even a line at the bottom that says to drill ... (I just have kids that always think I'm asking more than needed so whenever a curriculum asks for what I want them to do ... I find it very helpful!)
Now you are talking about drilling the basic facts. Do you also do the Mental Math exercises during your drill time, separately, or not at all? I'm referring to the ones listed in the back of the book.
I learned the first time through to anticipate drill needs for fact recall. SM is so logical in teaching 2x, 3x, 4x, etc in order. So, you just keep about 1wk ahead of the needed schedule by glancing ahead in the books. Drill on 4x tables so that you have them mastered a week or so before they begin in SM. Etc, etc.
Drill ahead? I would let the text introduce it and then practice and drill, drill, drill. Why would you drill before they learn the concept?
We schedule 5 min/day in "Math Drill" separately from regular math daily until all the facts (up to 12 x 12) are mastered. IIRC, that means by Gr3 in SM.
Now that's a good idea. I've tried to do this but it tends to get dropped. *I* really need to work on preventing that from happening. It's a separate subject that needs to be done... period. (okay, that was for me)
Triangular flashcards are the handiest thing for drill, but Wrap-Ups, printed papers, games, etc, can all work just fine. I varied drill a lot to keep it interesting.
If you don't drill the facts for fast recall, things DO start bogging down soon in SM once the problems get to 48&369 or whatever (soon!) b/c those problems will require dozens of individual calculations, and those need to be instantaneous unless you want each problem (of 20 on a page) to take 20 minutes! Yoikes!
I really dislike flash cards but do see how they can be helpful.. time to prep them again. We also have the triangle flash cards somewhere, fact wheels, CalcuLadders, TimezAttack (which we will be using over the summer). I *had* the SM software but it doesn't work on the newer computers and there is no upgrade for it! :sad:
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SM wasn't time consuming at our house AT ALL.
Are you using the HIGs? If so, I'd suggest dropping them. Just do the Text/WkBk. It took me maybe 0-5 min of teaching time most days. Occasionally 10 min or so.
I've been wondering about this! This is what I was doing for 1st and 2nd but then started to wonder if I was really missing out. I have been following the Text suggestions on how to teach and it's been working ... not too much of my time. I tend to pull out the abacus instead of all the little blocks (toddler and dog around) so that's faster also. The HIGs did point me to the mental math sheets that I totally missed which made me wonder if that's why it's starting to go slower for dd. I'm thinking of using some form of extra work or just these mental math sheets but I also don't want to add too much time (hmm let's take extra time so we can speed things up...?? I get it but she won't)
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Last year my 2nd grader finished AlphaPhonics and then read various leveled book till we just started a graded reader. We also went through FLL and some of WWE. She did Rod and Staff Spelling and a handwriting book.
For 3rd she will use CW Aesop(for grammar, copywork, dictation, writing), lots of practice reading since she still doesn't like it, R&S Spelling 3, cursive writing.
It's hard to know how long things take as we have a little one to watch over and older kids to keep focused. I'd expect about 1 to 2 hours.
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Kathie, I actually am inquiring about tutoring. I would love the help with tuition...I just found out it will actually be $925 for 2 kids. Yikes! Do you find that tutoring takes up a lot more of your time during the week than if you weren't tutoring?
Well yes, if I'm tutoring I prep for that ... so there's always some time needed.
The amount varied based on:
a- the level of kids that I was tutoring... I've done 6th graders, 5th graders, and 5 year olds ... and the each have different challenges
b- the week... some weeks I put more into it than others for whatever reason
c- my energy level... if I was just really tired we did the basics in class and moved one... I prepped a bunch of methods/tools to pick from ahead of time
so sometimes I spend maybe 30 minutes prepping and other times I spent a few hours ...
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I would really (emphasis on reeeeaaallly) need to justify spending $700-800 per year to enroll my 2 girls. And because we have a really terrific homeschooling group that we are active with, we don't necessarily need it for the social aspect (yes, it's a great bonus, but maybe not $800 worth?).
FWIW, I saved lots by becoming a tutor.... so if you feel you reeeeally want the co-op then look into that option.
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What! She didn't get her math done! Ouch... sounds like my dd! She also fell behind due to a combination of laziness and poor math skills. Here are some things I used:
A math tutor. This was pricier then a class but it helped some.
A summer working with her dad.. she didn't like this but it moved her along.
Dual Enrolling ... 1/2 year at the college is equal to 1 year at high school ... so 2 high school credit in one year right there ... might want to arrange a handy helper or tutor to help make sure the work gets done correctly as not all homework is collected and graded!!
BTW: she is going to continue to take classes at the CC.. they don't care what she did or did not do in high school but a transcript from them will help get into a 4 year college later ... so that's our path
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I did few years of CC foundations .. even tutored a few classes.
*I* believe the history pegs hold better with stories. So when we did it we read related stories like those from SOTW or the Guerber history books or even various books from the library on the current week's topic.
Something Nebel's Elementary Science was good for the science but so were books from the library for the younger years.
Now we definitely needed to do LA and math separately. CC doesn't teach how to read, how to write, how to spell, comprehension on reading, or anything deeper then facts for the math.
Also remember that for long term understanding, the CC memory work is intended as a baseline for the CC Challenge program. So I gather that those facts will be useful in their later studies... that is those classes will refer back to these facts and build on them and make connections.
ymmv
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Life of Fred ... tempting especially for 3rd child but probably too out of the box for dh and ds is already at pre-Algebra
Omnibus from Veritas Press has been tempting me for years! However I knew that it wouldn't be right for my oldest dd. Even my older ds might not have done well with it. Now my next ds might have done great with it ... but at this point we are in a co-op that is really working for us.. and they are settled with TOG.
<does tempted, tried & failed, re-tempted and worked count?>
TOG didn't work for me year ago but it is working now ... co-op helps.
Classical Writing - loved the ideas here... even got it working here for awhile ... then one year it just wasn't the right fit anymore! so sad 8( Now we are back to it with our co-op...
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I agree with what you are saying, Kathie. It sounds like she is grading per semester, and to accurately reflect the GPA, she would have to divide her final total in half (for half a year). I gave grades per year on dd's transcript. Classes that were 1/2 credit (health) were given, for example, 2 pts. for an A instead of 4. (Huh. It never dawned on me to give one grade per semester.)
It sounds like she's making things more complicated than necessary.
It looks like when she organizes it by semester she does divide her final total in half for half the year... at least that's what I needed to do to calculate and match her GPAs. It didn't say she did that; it just seems to work out that way. I agree, I think she made it more difficult than needed. It really threw me off to see the 4 points given for the A in a 1/2 credit class... especially when you look over to the subject oriented version and see 4 points given for the A in the first semester and another 4 points given for the A in the second semester totaling 8 points for the 1 credit class??(non weighted btw) There was no GPA on this version as it was showing an expected graduation in 2017... so I really can't check how she handles this setup.
In your above sample, I would get a 3.6 GPA.
(4+3+2) divided by the number of credits - 2.5
I've never seen it done differently than the "grade points" divided by the number of credits.
Apparently there are two different methods for calculating the GPA .. see links below.
Campbell's method is not complicated and is one of the standard formats used throughout the country. For a standard high school transcript, semesters make sense as not all classes are a year long. You are comparing equivalent units. What follows is my oldest's 9th grade scores from her official transcript:
Algebra 1 A 4 0.50
Art 1 A 4 0.50
Biology A 4 0.50
Global Study 9 A 4 0.50
Lit & Comp 9 A 4 0.50
Spanish 1 A 4 0.50
Theater Design 1 A 4 0.50
Algebra 1 B 3 0.50
Biology A 3 0.50
Fitness and Movement A 4 0.50
Global Study 9 B 3 0.50
Health 1 B 3 0.50
Lit & Comp 9 B H 3 0.50 (unweighted here for honors)
Spanish 1 C 2 0.50
Dd earned seven credits and an unweighted GPA of 3.571. She had a total of 50 grade points divided by 14 semester courses.
Semester grades can tell a more complete "story" about a student and their ability in a course than a yearly grade can provide. Let's say I have two students who each earned an "A" one semester and a "B" another semester in Algebra 2. Their overall grade for the year is exactly the same, but the semesters for their "A"s are flopped. If I am assessing these students and the probability they will succeed in Pre-Calculus, I am going to bet that the student with the "A" the second semester is the stronger student.
In a perfect world, your child is a rocket scientist and trauma has never visited your family. In that case, grade however you see fit for your goals, but if your child has a blip on the radar, you can use those semester grades to tell a more compelling story than a yearly GPA would show. The semester my dd was diagnosed with severe depression is the big fat zit on a relatively healthy transcript. The senior guidance counselor talked us through how to present that information to a college. She told us that colleges would be more interested in dd's "rockin" comeback the next fall after she had been receiving treatment. It many cases, falling isn't equivalent to failing. It really is all about what you do after you fall.
Thank you! I now can understand why someone would want to organize their transcripts by semester!
Here is another view on this: A term grade point average (GPA) is calculated based on the term grade for each marking period and is used to determine honor roll and eligibility for participation in extracurricular activities and sports. This information is included on the report card each term and is called the Term GPA. When calculating a student’s term GPA, all courses are counted equally on a 4.0 (unweighted) scale. http://www.fcps.org/cms/lib02/MD01000577/Centricity/Domain/28/UnderstandingGPAs.pdf
Now to understand why there are different methods for calculating high school GPA.....
The method I've seen used for Semester or Term GPA but is also referred to as just the GPA is
(total number of grade points) / (total number of classes)
this can be found in the book mentioned in OP for semester GPA and also at these sites:
http://www.everyday-education.com/gpacalc/index.shtml
http://www.onlineconversion.com/grade_point_average.htm
http://gpacalculator.net/high-school-gpa-calculator/
http://www.ohe.state.mn.us/sPages/gpa.cfm
http://www.csumentor.edu/planning/high_school/gpa_calculator.asp
Then there is the Cumulative GPA: "A cumulative GPA is calculated for all high school level courses* based on the number of credits received and a 4.0
(unweighted) and 5.0 (weighted) scale. Cumulative GPAs are used by FCPS high schools to determine class rank andgraduation honors, eligibility for the National Honor Society, by colleges as part of the admission criteria, by manyscholarship and grant providers, and occasionally, by employers. ..." http://www.fcps.org/cms/lib02/MD01000577/Centricity/Domain/28/UnderstandingGPAs.pdfThis Cumulative GPA tends to be calculated as (total number of grade points) / (total number of credits) Some simply use this calculation but this maybe due to a confusion of the term 'grade points'. Sites that tend to calculate GPA based on credits tend to use slightly different wording in their calculations.
However the definition of the grade points or quality points seems to alternate here! I'm not referring to weighted grades. That's a different can of worms.
Where before the grade points just equaled the points given for that grade (ie if an A gets 4 pts (weighted or not), then apply 4 pts), here it is adjusted to reflect how much of those points get applied to the GPA (so now they tend to be called quality points). Thus the grade point of 4 will all count for a 1 credit class (ie the QP= 4 gp X 1 credit) but a 1/2 credit class will earn 2 QPs (4 gp X 1/2 credit = 2 QP). So you make these adjustments and then apply this calculation.
So GPA = (total number of quality points) / (total number of credits) Here are websites that follow this method (using QPs or an adjusted GP):
http://donnayoung.org/forms/help/highsc.htm
http://www.fcps.org/cms/lib02/MD01000577/Centricity/Domain/28/UnderstandingGPAs.pdf
http://gradetracker.com/academy/weighted-high-school-gpa-calculator
http://www.college-scholarships.com/online_college_gpa_calculator.htm
http://www.stapleshigh.net/info/grades.html
http://classroom.synonym.com/calculate-high-school-cumulative-average-grade-point-average-2733.html
Here a site that says, "If you are calculating your cumulative GPA and your school doesn't use credit values just enter the number of classes the GPA relates to." http://studentspreunited.com/gpa-calculator-high-school ...So this site seems to think that if you have credit then use them otherwise manage without them.
So that was a lot to just say that there are different, valid ways to calculate the GPA.... and that terminology plays a key role in understanding each of the methods..... and the book I bought to make things easier made it more complicated then it needed to be.
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I do think that it is harder to earn an A in a one year/ 1 credit class then in a 1/2 credit class and that this should be reflected in the GPA.
I also organized the transcript by subject. I was only planning on including a Cum GPA for the whole thing... there seems to be agreement that this does incorporate the credits earned... and doesn't just count the number of classes taken. Now that I see that some put a semester GPA, I might add in a subject GPA... but I will still calculate with the credits earned. I could have set things up to have multiple 1/2 credit classes and if I just count classes then the GPA changes
I don't think we are all on the same page.
class score grade units/credits points Grade-points
earned earned earned earned earned
math 90 A 1 4 (4*1)=4
eng 80 B 1 3 (3*1)=3
logic 90 A .5 4 (4*.5)=2
I would calculate GPA = (4+3+2)/[number of classes = 3] = 9/3 = 3.0
<ETA here the credits are calculated into the Grade points earned and then the GPA is an average of the Grade Points Earned>
What I saw in the book would have a GPA = (sum of points earned 4+3+4) / (number of classes = 3) = 11/3 = 3.66
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I was reading Transcripts Made Easy by Janice Campbell. On p53 it talks about GPA and cumulative GPA.
According to this the GPA is calculated by adding the total number of Grade Points and dividing by the total number of classes taken. The seem to use this for individual semesters.
And the Cumulative GPA is calculated by adding the total number of Grade Points for the whole transcript and dividing by the total number of Units or credits earned.
This seems weird to me. Why would you do the GPA like this (ie dividing by the number of classes and not taking into account the credits earned)? The Cum GPA makes sense but I don't understand why I would use this GPA calculation??
Also, the examples on pages 80 and 81 show a 1/2 credit class with a grade of A getting 4 GPA points. Then the next semester shows the other 1/2 credit of that class with a grade of A getting 4 GPA points ??? so the whole class gets 1 credit and 8 GPA points ... (that's what's on pages 80 and 81). hmm, really? I would have given 4 points for getting an A in the 1 credit class. :confused:
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I'm using Rod and Staff Spelling at this point ... this might be good for you.
Although you might want to look into SpellWell, it goes 1st-5th but then you might want to look into Megawords since it starts in 4th.
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Hunter has a good point. I just assumed that since you already bought the books that you placed you kids based on ability. However you could have just went with the basic age recommendations from the CW site. You can check what will be taught/expected for each core book by reading the scope and sequence for each book or the main scope and sequence for all the books. The links for these are here: http://www.classicalwriting.com/ScopeSequence.htm The grammar in Aesop is light while the grammar in Homer is heavy.
Note that the OB schedules all the work within only 22 weeks. If your school year is longer, keep this in mind. If your dc is doing well just go through it and then either review or add in a CW Poetry course. But know that you can use the extra weeks throughout the year .... ie you can take two weeks to one week by doing the A&I one week and the paper the next. You might want to have you kids alternate on this so one is doing A&I and the other is doing their paper... that might make it easier for you.
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I've had one dd dual enroll as a 12th grader last year. To get into the CC she just needed to take their placement tests and show a transcript (which I doubt they looked at). Now she is continuing at the NOVA CC and intends to do the two years there and then transfer to a 4 yr college (VCU). She never did take the SATs.... just as well since she was behind in math at the time. The only thing she need to register was her diploma. (She is going for a Bio/Chem type degree with hopes to become a doctor)
My ds is next and plans to dual enroll this year in his 12th grade. He hasn't taken the SATs either but he is in a better position having caught up in math. So I wonder if it is worth our time to prep for and take the SATs or ACTs if CC is the planned route to the 4 year university. (He might go for an engineering type degree)
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double post
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They also can't play when the ipads are plugged in, so that's a sort of self-limiter as well. When batteries get low they will go outside or do other (non-screen) things. I don't think I'm going to relocate the chargers any time soon :) .
LOL I like that one!
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It's an issue here. My boys like playing games that take longer to get the the 'ah I did it' feeling. I'm talking about things like Minecraft, AlphaCentari, Roblox, etc. These can be addicting since they take so long to get a feeling of accomplishment.
However they also need access to check their email for scouts and any online classes. They also use the computer for all their papers and most of their written homework... at least for their co-op classes (hist, Lit, and writing). This alone is about 4hrs a week per class so 12hrs/wk just for doing homework. Since we've had hard drive crashes here they use google docs so nothing gets lost... however that requires internet access also.
First I use our router to control internet use and limit websites... if I didn't list it you can't go there! This got relaxed when school work and chores were done. Then I realized I need to watch what they were doing on the computer since they had games that didn't need the internet... so they were restricted to working where I could see the screens (they use laptops). This became hard to always watch, so last thing I've tried was a trial of Kidswatch Time Management Software. I picked this one because it was the only one, that I could tell, that would restrict by program as well as time and internet use. It worked pretty well but since it was on their laptops I needed to have them log off and have me log in to make any changes (like adding a website, program, or changing a time limit (because they got done early or didn't get done), etc).
We also have plenty of educational computer games and programs that some use like Reading Detective, MindBenders, Typing Instructor, TimezAttack, etc.
hmm, this of course is all coming from Mom who is on the computer at 11:40 at night just checking the WTM boards....again. :huh:
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It will seem that they can be taught together as they will start on similar models and skills but the Older Beginners will move much faster. OB will take you through all of Aesop (A&B and through Homer (A&B in one year)....while your younger one will do Aesop A (this is scheduled for 18 weeks so you can do B or take 2 weeks for each scheduled week... ie do the analysis one week and the writing project the next).
Let the Student Guides lead you through the core books. For Aesop, look on page 6 near the top there is a grayed out rectangle. It tells you where in the core book to read the lesson for that day. Then do the workbook page. You will see this for each "day" of assignments. The Older Beginners Student Guide works about the same. I think it also has an initial page for each week to give an Overview of what to cover for each day. The guides will not only direct you to each lesson but also they will take you through the skill levels. There is basically a pattern to the week of assignments... all DAY 1 focus on one thing like spelling or vocab, all DAY 2 focus on something else like grammar, etc. If you read through a week or two and leave a few bookmarks in the core as you go you will see how it takes you through the skills within each lesson/topic. This goes for both the A&I work as well as the writing project lessons.
The CW message board has lots of help also. See http://www.classical...m/messageboard/
Let me know if you still have questions.. I'd be glad to help.
Block schedule
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
I don't schedule everything every day as it has taken too long to get us to switch gears over and over. We find it better to delve into a subject till the work for the week is done. This might not be the block scheduling that others do but it is different then fitting it all in daily. Since we are with a weekly co-op we still keep to a weekly routine.
My rising 8th grader will be returning to our co-op this year... so we will have Friday as due day for most of his work. Some subjects are better done daily, others work well in larger chunks. Right now I'm looking at:
AA History/geography -TOG yr2 4 hrs in 1 day AA Literature/vocabulary -TOG yr2 4 hrs in 1 day AA CW-Diogenese w/Harvey's Grammar 2 hrs / 2 days AA Latin 2 2 hrs / 2 days AA-earth & space Science 4 hrs in 1 day Algebra - BCM & Khan or AoPS videos 1.5 hr / 4 days Intro to TOG Hist & Lit 30 min / 1 day cursive handwriting 30 min / 2 days logic- TT? FD? 30 min / 1 dayThe 4 hour slots will be in the afternoons. Basically, skills in the mornings (math, CW, latin, and logic, handwriting) and content in the afternoons (hist, lit, or science). Hopefully this will leave Thursday afternoons for catchup work, extra study time for tests, long term project work, or interest lead time. He will also have scouts and youth group in the evenings.
Hope this helps some.