[Reading Comprehension -- at what point does this matter? Is there a remedy?]

My oldest son is doing a Minecraft class and he is nuts about it! Younger DS plays Minecraft but has a difficult time getting into the Minecraft handbooks. He is SO intimidated by the classes because they involve coding. He simply does NOT get coding. He WANTS to like Scratch but he tells me that he doesn't understand it. He feels embarrassed about it too ....

 

I'm trying to figure out a way to help him get into Scratch. A class or tutorial or book that will walk him through step by step. He does really enjoy Minecraft but depends on his older brother to walk him through how to do stuff ....

I was thinking more of using literature with minecraft not so much coding. My ds is doing a class on animal habitats but if you search there are some that use SOTW, some based off literature. http://www.homeschoolwithminecraft.com/services.html. This one has magic tree house books too which may be under his level but making it easier may help too...just a thought.

[Reading Comprehension -- at what point does this matter? Is there a remedy?]

My 5th grader dislikes reading most of the time. He tends to like only Non-fiction and then only certain types ;) One thing that has gotten him to read more is I enrolled him on an online Minecraft class. He reads then builds what he read. It has been the one incentive that has worked for him. He can't say not to Minecraft ;)

[How do I include drills and review daily with three students?]

We used MUS CD for skip counting and another xtra math and a flashmaster device they can use to practice facts

[S/O What do you consider a large family?]

I use to think 4 was huge but we have 5 and I don't feel there yet so I said other, thinking 8+. Usually you hear large or small but I feel medium ;)

[Moms of 4 or more, what math do you use?]

Teaching textbooks. Lower grades I've used Singapore but I'm trying out Abeka streaming this year with my K to see how it goes.

[Anyone ever put a child in PS to help them socially?]

We didn't do school, but my ds started taking Tae Kwon Do at age 6 and it really helped him with self confidence. Before he started he was very shy and a little withdrawn. His teacher would literally have to pick him up and put him in his spot at the beginning of class when he started. After about 6 months he won the award for most improved and had built a lot of self confidence and social skills were a lot better. He has wonderful instructors too that make a big difference. 

[Is this a sign of a problem?]

We've hit blocks a few times. Sometimes all mine needed was a week or 2 vacation or just some interest led learning. I did find that we needed to switch math up for my oldest for a time because Singapore advanced quicker than he was ready for. Since it is across the board I would guess her brain may just need a break :)

[Cleaning help poll]

Right now I have a little help. We are bartering cutting my mother-in-laws yard for her and she comes and helps with cleaning so it is not an ongoing thing. We don't start school work till 10 so before that I have time with the little ones and between 9-10 I will tidy up some, but not the whole time ;).  We are almost always done by 3 so break from 3-4 for me then 4-5 is cleaning time. I really hate clutter so we tend not to have a lot of stuff that can get too messy. I also love the book Large Family Logistics and she has a great weekly schedule to get everything done. For us Monday is laundry day (well it happens every day too), Tuesday focus is kitchen, Wed bedrooms, Thursdays is bathroom and Friday make sure everywhere is tidy. My 8 & 10 year olds are a big help. My dh is a neat freak so he can't relax unless things are clean so the house does get messy quick but also can get tidy quick too.

[Why are some people in the US with no health insurance?]

My brother doesn't have it. He is a Full Time student who pays his tuition out of pocket. He says he can't afford it so he doesn't get it. He probably could get a job and only go to school part time to get it, but since he is 30 he wants to get school over with.

[Poll: Are pierced ears out?]

I don't wear them mostly because I have had babies around that like to pull at my ears for a while and I good yank was all it took for me ;) I didn't get my DS ears pierced when she was a baby because my oldest was going through an ear phase where ears were his pacifier. I was afraid he would mess with them. I would let my girls pierce their ears now if they wanted too but they don't really want the pain associated with it :)

I got mine done in 4th grade because everyone else had them :)

[4th grade reading]

I pull some from the major lit based curriculums and then add in some lighter materials from the library that go along with our history or science topics. He also picks out some of what interests him. Some books are easy with pictures, others on grade level and a few longer that have stretched him. I only have him read to me occasionally, but daily ask him to narrate back what he has ready and A few times week he will write a paragraph summary about what he has been reading.

[How long are you considered a newbie?]

You guys are making me paranoid about the seventh year now. I'm planning our sixth, and our seventh will be 9th grade... high school! :scared: :leaving:

Me too...are there any more bumps to worry about ;)

[Math issues - take pity on me!]

Sometimes time is what they need also. I know my kids will hit a wall every once in a while and they just need a month or two and then we revisit the same problem and they have no problem with it then. I don't know if you like computer time for your dc, but xtramath online has been great to help get the facts down for us. When math blues get to the kids also I send in the daddy enforcer for a week. He does math with them and by the end of the week they have no problem with me ;) I know it may not be the best but has helped me. Also, at that age I had one that struggled with the amount of writing that could be involved. he could do the work but the writing overwhelmed him. I don't know if that is a problem, but I would scribe for him if I knew he needed a little help ;)

["Common sense alone can teach you when to use a comma."]

I'm terrible with where to put my commas :( I took a class to be a medical transcriptionist so I could work at home and when I tested the commas are what did me in. I passed, but my scores were low. You would think that someone with a college education should have less problems with this.

[5th grade math CLE/SM/MM?]

So my 4th grader started with SM math and then when he was ready for TT we switched him over. He's half way through TT5 now. He is having a harder time remembering concepts I guess because not enough review. So I don't really love the idea of switching him around again, but I think it is for the best now, plus I don't want to have this problem with my others when we get to this point. So where should we go from here? I'm open to other programs also, these just seem to be the ones I've been looking through lately ;)

[Who cooks in your family? (s/o Good wife)]

I do during the week and he does a lot of the cooking on the weekend. I'm sure he would cook some during the week if I needed him to but since he's not home till 6 PM we would be eating really late ;)

[How Well did Cathy Duffy do at matching you with curriculum?]

I remember doing it when the thread first was posted ;) it took probably 20-30 minutes to complete and told me I should be doing weaver, TOG or BJU. I would go with the advice on the boards here over spending the money on the site ;)

[American History options]

We are enjoying MFW, they combine American with SOTW. Heart of Dakota I love too with Beyond or Bigger hearts for his glory.

[Studied Dictation vs AAS]

Here's our experience so far. DS did the second grade list through HOD then the studied dictation through Preparing. He is about to start 5th grade and tests at about 7th grade for spelling. For him studied dictation has been great. This year we switched over to MFW for now and since they don't have studied dictation we are doing some AAS and I do like it in that he is learning why you spell instead of just knowing that is how you spell something. AAS does take more time than studied dictation. So truthfully I guess you should weight if you want them to know why they spell things the way they do or just know how to spell. I have terrible spelling myself so AAS this year has been really refreshing for us, but may not be necessary for a natural speller.

[Science Curriculum]

for that age, we have really enjoyed Sonlight science, it is a little pricey though. They have some great Discover and Do videos for experiments so those are pretty nice just on their own and the books have lots of pictures so are very engaging. I wouldn't do Apologia for that age range. My second grader has tagged along for Apologia this year and is probably the youngest I would want to use it with. It's a great curriculum but can get a little repetitive and wordy at times. 

[DS Bombed math portion of CAT test :(]

So if I decided to switch what would you suggest? I agree more computer time isn't really the greatest. He really wanted to do life of Fred but I think that may need to be supplemental because he probably does need a lot more review :)

[DS Bombed math portion of CAT test :(]

After reviewing the problems with him he missed he remembered how to do them ;) do you think if I just added in something like Khan academy for now that would be sufficient. I'm also making sure I pay closer attention during math time too but he still seems to be doing well with TT.

[DS Bombed math portion of CAT test :(]

I guess the thing is I taught him this stuff when we were in Singapore math...Wondering if I should do something else of if he will catch up with TT. Both my kids are working about a year ahead in it so I would of thought he would of been ok.

[DS Bombed math portion of CAT test :(]

Which CAT did you use?

It was the 70's version from Christian Liberty.

[DS Bombed math portion of CAT test :(]

He is doing fine with TT. He doesn't make under an 85% and usually stays on the higher 90%. He only made 18 percentile for math, so pretty low. The good news was he did great on spelling and vocabulary and average on the rest.

It may just be the s&s. The problems he was getting wrong were easy division, he totally forgot how to do that and problems like 23x15. He had a few problems with borrowing but I think that is because he was doing it in his head vs writing it down.