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RebeccaMary

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Everything posted by RebeccaMary

  1. We keep up with our basics: math, reading, science, history, and piano - for us, summer's a good time to do some of the "extras" that we don't get around to during the school year (like take a break from Singapore Math to do Ed Zaccaro's Challenge Math). However, it's very low key for us: if we miss a day, or a week, or even a month, I really don't sweat it. Also, we go on lots more field trips and we do most of our lessons on the picnic table outside.
  2. Singapore Math 3A (ds7) and 4B (ds8) - I have the HIG but we mainly use the textbook and workbook only - I assign all of the workbook problems, but we don't usually go through all the textbook problems. We also don't do every single problem in the review sections - only selected topics that I know need reinforcement.
  3. Our favorites: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon The Neverending Story
  4. A few months back, I read a post on here about a "Great Books" website that has suggested reading lists for all different ages - I think that once you finish the reading list for your age range, you could send in for a badge or something... Anyway, the lists were really fantastic, but now I can't seem to find that website again - can anyone help?
  5. Wonder (my choice) and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (my husband's) to our 7 & 8 year-old.
  6. Once my kids could read an MTH book in one evening, we 'graduated' from teaching reading as a subject. My boys pretty much just read on their own now, whatever and whenever they please. Your son is happily reading independently, so go with that. There are lots of lists out there for the next stage of books after MTH, and you might browse through some of them if you need inspiration. Comprehension is best assessed through informal discussions. One thing - from my own experience, I would suggest that you have your son read aloud to you every now and again. I didn't think to do that with my boys, and although their comprehension is great, I have noticed that when they read aloud, they have some very unusual pronunciations of certain words.
  7. Also, check out this web page: http://www.the-best-childrens-books.org/forest-habitat.html
  8. My kids go to a teacher but they use the Faber series and it's very clear and self-explanatory. I think that if you have any background in piano at all you should be able to help them at least through the first few levels (Primer and Level 1).
  9. This is a great list! My 8.5 year old also loved Harry Potter, the Gregor books, Mysterious Benedict Society, Series of Unfortunate Events, both Percy Jackson series, the Kane Chronicles and Sisters Grimm. I would add: • The NERDS series by Michael Buckley (author of Sisters Grimm) • Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke. • Storybound and Story's End by Marissa Burt • Wonder by RJ Palacio.
  10. For rain forests: The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazonian Rain Forest. For cactus forests: Cactus Hotel
  11. We don't do much formally - our only daily practice is the writing associated with AAS. On his own time, he gets a good bit of practice - he spends a lot of time writing and illustrating his stories and comic strips.
  12. Yes - I've had IT band issues on and off for the past few years (especially bad when I'm hiking or running downhill). I've recently found a simple regimen that works for me: I have one of those white foam rollers that I use to stretch out the band before I exercise (I really should do it a few times each day, but I don't). Then I ice it for about 20 minutes after I run (again, I should probably be icing both before and after I run, but...). Anyway, these two simple steps have made a huge difference. If you google "IT band foam roller" you should get some good tips on where to buy it/how to use it. Hope it helps!
  13. I agree with the previous posters: we do spelling 4 days a week for no more than 15-20 minutes at a time. It's hard for the concepts to stick when you go days without revisiting them. We always just pick up where we've left off in the lesson. We're now on Level 4 and though we really struggled with some of the steps in the early levels, it did get better! My strategy was to keep moving through the steps while holding onto cards in the "Review" section until they were truly mastered. One issue that would come up with us is that the boys would learn some rule, spell everything correctly because all of the words in that step follow that rule, then totally forget that concept two weeks later - to deal with this I made a habit of keeping a few cards from each step in the daily review pack even if they were seemingly mastered. One more thing that's great about AAS - there is a lot of review built into the later levels; the dictations sentences continually revisit concepts taught in previous levels, so if the floss rule doesn't really seem to stick this time around, don't stress it - you can come back to it later. It's good to have the foundation now, so that when they invariably forget, you can have the shorthand to remind them ("remember the floss rule?").
  14. How about breaking it down even further and making it pictorial so he can really see why he's dividing his fractions: Draw a rectangle - the whole thing is 100%. Divide it into seven equal pieces - explain that each of these pieces represents 1/7 of the 100% or 100 "divided by" 7 - have him divide 100 by 7 to get the value of each piece (14.3). Now, shade in 4 of those pieces - he can see that 4 of the pieces will add up to 57.2% (14.3 x 4). Finally, show that you can directly calculate 4/7 of 100 in one step (100/7 x 4) -- conceptually, you are taking 100, dividing it into 7 pieces, and then multiplying it by 4. (For these types of problems, when he sees "/" he should say "divided by"). Have him continue to go stepwise through pictorial representations of fractions/percents until it makes sense intuitively. (Also, if this idea of using division to calculate fractions is the real hang-up, then you don't need to start with percents; he can start by calculating fractions of any number, then move on to percents once he's mastered that).
  15. If you're looking for read-alouds - the Pippi Longstocking and Mrs. Piggle Wiggle series are also funny/slightly ridiculous (though neither have any of that dark Dahl humor)...
  16. I'm not sure if this helps at all, but I like to think about the conversion of fractions to percentages this way: To convert the fraction 4/7 to a percent, think about your fraction as representing 4/7 of "the whole thing" - or 100 percent. So, written mathematically, this would be 4/7 x 100% = 400/7 = 57.14% This allows you to avoid going through the step of making a decimal and then multiplying by 100 to get back to a percent; he'll eventually want to get comfortable with that process, but this strategy should help him see that with percents, you think of your fraction as some portion of 100 (as opposed to some portion of 1). (Or, put another way, 4/7 of 1 would be 0.5714 while 4/7 of 100 would be 57.14....)
  17. There's not a whole lot out there for elementary chemistry! Here is what we've used with our boys (7 and 8): As a spine: "The Elements" & "Carbon Chemistry" by Ellen McHenry (download at: http://store.ellenjmchenry.com). Basher Books: "The Periodic Table Elements with Style" and "Chemistry: Getting a Big Reaction" "Matter Matters" by Tom Adams. "The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe" by Theodore Gray. NOVA: Hunting the Elements (PBS) - this 2-hour NOVA special is really great! The Periodic Table of Videos: http://www.periodicvideos.com (put together by a bunch of chemists from Nottingham). If you want to learn more about carbon and climate change: http://www.npr.org/news/specials/climate/video/ Rebecca Rupp's website lists a bunch of other resources, though much of it is geared toward older kids: http://www.rebeccaruppresources.com/?p=6484 and http://www.rebeccaruppresources.com/?p=6423
  18. You didn't list it as an option, but Singapore Math is very well-aligned with Liping Ma's recommendations. The curriculum emphasizes developing deep mathematical understanding - rather than just mindlessly following algorithms - and the Home Instructor's Guide can help you effectively introduce conceptually challenging subjects.
  19. I recommend "The History of US" series by Joy Hakim. Book 6 covers the Civil War and Books 5 and 7 discuss the lead-up to the war and the Reconstruction Era, respectively.
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