Jennefer@SSA
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Posts posted by Jennefer@SSA
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I would check the weight that your upstairs floors are rated for and decide whether or not you think it could withstand your (fully loaded) bookcases. That would be my major concern.
Hmmm....never, ever would have thought about this. Thanks. :001_smile:
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Our schoolroom is currently in our (tiny) downstairs dining room. Bookcases line all the walls making it even tinier. Dh wants me to considering moving it upstairs into our (very large) playroom. I need to "think out loud" here and get some feedback.
My thoughts about moving upstairs:
1. I am nervous about feeling "stuck" upstairs. Ds10 is extremely hard to focus and if/when I came downstairs to make lunch, throw laundry into the dryer, etc... he would be off-task immediately. I would feel like I need to stay upstairs and that makes me feel a bit stir-crazy just thinking about it. That brings up a whole other issue about maybe I need to be 100% focused on them during school hours and not trying to do other things???
2. Now the boys hardly use their playroom at all. They prefer to be downstairs with us. BUT in a few years when we have pre-teens I would imagine they would prefer to use that space as big kid hang out. I have always said that I want to have the home where all the kids come. This is the room I always imagined this happening in - a pool table, tv, comfy couch and so on...I am not sure I want to lose that.
3. Currently I go upstairs only twice daily. It's the kids' domain. I am up there to wake them up and get our day started and at night to wind up the day with them. :001_smile: Being up there all day I am worried I would feel...disconnected. I don't know if I can explain that.
4. In our current schoolroom, I can move around the whole downstairs and not be more than a minute or two away from the boys when I need to check on them. Our home is pretty open so I can see the boys easily from several places. I am a big believer in being with my kids the majority of the time while schooling, especially when they are young BUT I do step away to get snacks, change laundry and do other quick chores. :o
5. Now I can clean breakfast, prepare lunch and prep dinner without ever leaving the boys alone.
6. Currently I separate the boys to school - 1 in schoolroom (typically ds10) and the youngers and I will sit at a picnic table in the kitchen to do their work. Even though we have lots of space upstairs I don't know if ds10 can work with us right there in the room with him...even with noise cancelling headphones and turned away (yes, he is that ADHD).
Advantages to moving upstairs:
1. More room - the playroom is at least 4-5 times bigger than our current space.
2. Maybe we would all get done more quickly if we had more of a space where we went to do school? It would possibly keep us more focused being up there. We get plenty of distractions downstairs from UPS deliveries to the garbage men to who knows what ;)
Anyone want to enter into my inner dialogue? :D
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Maybe I'm misunderstanding... but you already limit it to 30 min/ day and 1 hr on Saturday, and you consider them addicts? Gaming addiction is when people do not eat or sleep enough, quit their jobs, neglect their family, to keep on gaming. Your kids might be very into gaming, but they are not addicts.
When I say that I didn't mean to make light of true addictions. I am sorry if I came off flippant. I just meant that my boys seem to always be planning their next "fix". They are constantly talking about what their next game will be, even if it's a week away. Drawing time often consists of drawing things from their games. Outside playtime is Mario Kart where they are racing around the yard pretending to be in the video game. It drives me crazy. I am not a gamer. Never have been. As a child I always had my nose in a book and despised tv or video games. When I got grounded I was forced to put my book away and come watch tv with the family. :blink: I am trying to meet them in the middle and not be extreme by throwing games out completely (besides dh wouldn't let me - he is more moderate than me and doesn't jump to extremes ;)) I don't understand the draw of video games. I really don't. I know though that for dh they are the only time he can make his mind stop. His mind is constantly full of work and games allow him to disengage and be playful. My boys take after him for sure.
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May I back you up a second? How does it go in the car? Do you have any rules?
My kids (again, young!) ride 17 hrs to Florida 2 -3 x a year. They don't have hand-held devices. They do have a DVD player, that is only allowed to be used for 3 hrs total for the trip. That's the extent of screen time on the ride. And, my kids BEG to take car trips all the time. Much moreso than they ever do for a video game.
We have just started limiting videos in the car this year. My youngest is not a happy traveler. Our last 2 car trips we have alternated audio books and movies on the portable DVD players. On this trip we tried letting them look at books but they all are like me and got car sick after about two minutes. :tongue_smilie: The first trip was more successful b/c they engaged with the audio book better. This time they didn't like it as much and it made the whole trip harder. I learned to always have a back up in the future! ;)
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OK, the first thing I will say is please don't make screen time a reward for reading. That makes me sad, as it turns reading into a chore.
First off, thanks for sharing. I would love to discuss this further and get more opinions. I wasn't posting that saying this is what I would do for sure, just as an idea. I can argue both sides. I certainly never want my boys to see reading as a chore or punishment (for the same reason I never use schoolwork or writing Bible verses as punishment). At the same time reading is a huge value in our home. Dh and I are huge readers. The way my friend described it he never viewed reading as a punishment growing up. His dad explained to him that reading is one of the most valuable and worthwhile things you can do with your time. It was a priority and came first. The "brain candy" could only come after the really good stuff had been completed. Reading got the best part of their time and energy, media only got the leftovers when brains were tired and needed a break. I would think a HUGE part of how kids took it would be in how it was presented AND if the kids truly see from the parents living it out that reading is a priority as well. It might embitter them to hear parents preach it but not live it out themselves.
Agree? Disagree?
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I am thankful I am not the only one dealing with the tv/media addictions. I was explaining to my boys this morning how when we traveled to my grandparents when I was a child (9 hours each way) we didn't have tv/iPads/leapsters. They were aghast! ;) Since I would get carsick the only thing I could do was look straight ahead and sit very still...and maybe sleep a bit. They were shocked. :tongue_smilie:
I sat them down this morning and explained this weekend there would be no media time whatsoever. We just returned from a visit with grandparents and there was quite a bit of screen time between travel and such. I told them it was their responsibility to keep occupied but I would be available to give them ideas if they got stuck.
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Can you share with me how to help your children manage tv/computer/video game time? I would love to hear how other families have dealt with this (and not just those who have chunked the tv out the window ;)) Here is my story:
My boys are completely media/game addicted. For us media includes computer, PS3, Wii and Leapsters. We currently limit their time to 30 minutes of educational computer or Leapster time per day on school days and 1 hour on Saturdays but it can be any type of media (meaning it doesn't have to be educational).
Our boys also get a movie night on Mondays while we are doing small group downstairs. They watch one or two shows on Friday nights and occasionally a bit of other tv here and there if they have a sitter or if there is a fun show on Animal Planet we watch as a family.
In a post awhile back when I posted about this one mom shared that those things which are withheld are coveted; her suggestion was not to limit it and allow them to self-regulate b/c they would eventually burn out. NOT mine. Really and truly mine would play just about all day every day, especially my Aspie who has very addictive tendencies anyway.
I do not feel that our boys are extremely limited yet they are like little addicts, always planning their next "fix". They talk about it all.the.time. At breakfast on Monday they are talking about what they will play that coming Saturday.:tongue_smilie: My natural tendency is to ban all media (done it a few times now actually) but I want to help them manage better - not just jump to an extreme. The reality is that I like a bit of mommy media time, too. I have one show I DVR to watch a week plus a cooking show or two. I usually watch a documentary on Netflix a few times a month as well. I come here for a bit of "playtime" as well every once in a while. ;)
We are so fed up with it. They are asking constantly if they can do this or that, always media/video game related. They have a beautiful playroom full of toys. They are all great readers and enjoy reading (and we have oodles and oodles of books and audio books). They are active in sports and enjoy riding bikes, playing soccer and baseball and such. Yet video games/tv is their one true love that holds the affections of their hearts. :crying:
Dh and I are thinking of giving them a media "allowance" each week. Maybe 5 tokens that each represent 30 minutes of media. They can use them any time they wish but when they are done, they are done. They cannot watch each other (another huge issue in our house - one is having media time and the other two are standing there watching) or talk about it either.
Dh mentioned last night that he thinks they should maybe have to earn these five tokens. What would that look like? Our boys already have morning and evening chores. We are dealing with some pretty huge issues in regards to our Aspie obeying and/or treating others with respect. Life is all.about.him. We are thinking how we could use this to help him exercise better self-control (he has it, he just chooses not to use it most of the time).
Sigh, I am tired just typing all this out. I think we have gotten to this point for a few reasons:
1. Oldest, the Aspie, is adored by his younger brothers and he has such a HUGE love for this stuff and holds it so dear that the youngers have followed suit.
2. Sometimes playtime in our house is not so fun. My oldest can end up EXTREMELY frustrated when others do not follow his "script". The youngers end up just as frustrated that big brother is controlling every.little.thing. Fights break out, feelings get hurt, yelling happens. I think video time is safer in many respects. We are working really, really hard on these issues with our oldest but it is still the default when we (dh and I) are the slightest bit distracted or when the boys are tired and so on.
A friend of mine had to earn tv time by reading when he was growing up. 30 minutes of reading bought 30 minutes of tv. Even through hs! If he wanted to watch a 3 hour football game on Saturday, he had to plan that in advance and read 3 hours before the game started sometime that week prior.
Okay I am rambling at this point. I am hoping that some of you have dealt with similar issues and/or have some great ideas to share! :001_smile:
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To be honest, I'm not sure. Writing is my dd weakest point. She complains whenever she has to write something out. BUT she loves grammar and enjoyed the workbook-ish style of CLE.
I would love to use EFTC but I'm afraid she'll hate it with too much writing but I'm just as worried that R&S will be boring and dry...
Have you considered WWE? It would help with the writing, covers a bit of grammar mixed in and is in a workbook style. My ds7 is in WWE 1 and my ds10 is in WWE4. You could beef up with GWG if you wanted a bit more grammar.
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I'm just wondering, if we are finishing up Winston Grammar should I move her into JAG or AG? I don't know if JAG would be just reviewing the grammar she has just finished. Does AG also cover the same punctuation?
JAG is the first season of AG. Here is what their website says:
Jr. Analytical Grammar is a program intended to introduce the ideas of English grammar to younger students. It is designed to be taught in an 11-week grammar "season" in either 4th or 5th grade. Created in response to parent requests for grammar materials for younger students, it covers the same material found in the first ten units of Analytical Grammar, but the exercises are shorter and the reading level is lower. It is also more "interactive" as far as the parent is concerned. Rather than the student reading notes, the "notes" are really a series of questions and activities designed to help the child understand the grammatical concepts.Does that help? I think you could go either way. If your dd has been in Winston I am guessing she could start AG or JAG, depending on your goals.
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My dd is 8 and in 2nd grade. I should have clarified...is JAG wouldn't work then right?
Oops, sorry! I should have checked your siggy. Yes, the AG website says about JAG:
Jr. Analytical Grammar is a program intended to introduce the ideas of English grammar to younger students. It is designed to be taught in an 11-week grammar "season" in either 4th or 5th grade.And this about JAG: Mechanics:
Jr. AG: Mechanics consists of 15 weeklong units and is recommended for students who have completed either Junior Analytical Grammar or the first "season" of Analytical Grammar.Currently with my younger son I am using GWG until he is old enough for JAG. It takes 5-7 minutes a day and is plenty for him to get some of the basics until he is old enough for JAG. I know that the whole purpose of JAG/AG is now to have to teach grammar for years and years on end but GWG is a great compromise for me since it is so easy and quick. He is getting the basics with little time and effort. I did this automatically with my oldest and truly used no formal curriculum until we got to JAG but I had more time to spend with him. As we read we would talk about commas and punctuation and parts of speech. Now that I am schooling 3 boys my time is so stretched that GWG allows me to feel like I am not leaving him out completely.
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Another vote for JAG. DS10 used JAG last year in 4th grade and is using JAG: Mechanics in 5th grade. His retention is amazing. He is pointing out what he has learned in books and readings across the curriculum. I am thoroughly impressed with this program.
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Looking for something, preferably printable, that will help dd11 learn the rules to punctuation. We use Winston Grammar and WWTB and WWS so all I need is something simple on punctuation. She knows the basics such as, end of sentence, and others, but I want to make sure we have it all covered. I am weak in this area so I need something that tells me what she needs to know and how to teach it or exercises to go with it. Thanks!
Analytical Grammar hands down. I have been so very happy with this program. For an 11 yo you could do Junior Analytical Grammar: Mechanics. Ds 10 just completed Unit 9 this week and is doing beautifully. I am weak on grammar and I ordered 2 student workbooks so I could work right alongside Ds. I am amazed at how thorough and systematic this program is. I also purchased the new teaching DVD they have to go with JAG:Mechanics. It is simple and straightforward but ds likes listening to another voice other than mine. ;)
You can see here what all JAG: Mechanics covers.
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If you are Pinterest you can look up vegan and it will come up with lots of recipes from people's blogs. I like it better than google, you can find things that you didn't even know to look for.
Sigh...I have been hoping to skip the Pinterest phenomena but it just seems it won't happen. ;):D
Thanks for the tip.
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This will be a shift mostly for me, the rest of the family (read dh ;)) won't even consider it. I am planning on phasing this in over the next few months. I am not sure if I will be 100% plant-based but that would be my hope (the thought of giving up a few dairy products I love the most is my toughest hurdle as well as a select few meat products).
Helpful websites, magazines, cookbooks and so on would be much appreciated. :)
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I am going to be the lone dissenter (sort of...maybe just adding more of a caveat). I have come to believe more and more in the concept of "overteach". Not too many things need to be "overtaught" (taught until it is so absolutely automatic that they can do it in their sleep) but imo math and phonics are two biggies that demand overteach.
If your child can spell all the words from ETC 1 without having to even stop and think (or at least not think much ;)) I would move on. If not, I would do the half books. I have taught 3 boys to read and spell with ETC and we did every.single.book.in.the.series - even when they could do the above. We just flew through the half books and made it fun. :001_smile: My youngest is on 1 1/2 now. His reading is really strong but his spelling is slower so we are taking our time and working through each and every assignment. I sit right beside my boys the entire time they are working on ETC to catch any errors and to provide instant support as well. I never use it as independent work. Obviously not everyone will use it the same way I have but I wanted to share my experiences.
Here is an old blog post of mine that details more about how I used (am using) ETC with my boys: Thoughts on Explode the Code
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Watch SWB's youtube video. :)
Goodness, that was so helpful! Ds10 and I sat down and watched the video together; we were BOTH very encouraged. Susan repeated the passage a few times before even starting to count her official 3 times to read it and still after that continued to repeat parts of it until Dan could say it correctly. Imo, that video url should be listed as a resource in the teacher's part of the book. To see the author using the material with her own students is so helpful and empowering. I should be able to take material and tweak it. I should. I should. I should. But I am that rigid type who tries to follow everything to the letter. If it says only read it 3 times then by golly I get locked into that. :blush:
Susan, thanks for allowing us a glimpse into your home and your school. To all who replied thank you for your encouragement and pointing me in the right direction.
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Thanks everyone. I am feeling much better and honestly am relieved to find others sharing similar struggles. We will keep plodding along. He is doing well with the narrations and has made huge progress in that respect this year. I will continue to modify his dictations to work for us.
Phew, I sure wish I would have come on here and posted this sooner. :D
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Just to give background, before starting WWE 4 Ds10 completed WT1 in fourth grade. He also did SOTW 4 last year including all outlining and writing. He did very well with WT1 and I bought WT2 but since the author isn't going to be able to produce new levels I decided to make the switch to another program now. I really like the approach of WWE/WWS better than WT and we jumped right in.
Enter WWS Level 1. We started it at the start of this year but quickly realized it was far beyond Ds10's ability. Oh, I should add he is an Aspie; I only add that because I know that writing tends to be a particular challenge for ASD kiddos. We backed up to WWE Level 4.
Today for Week 9, Day 4 the dictation was:
Lowell believed that the canals are the work of intelligent beings. These canals must have a width of about thirty miles in order to be visible to us on earth.
The directions say to tell the child that you will only read the sentences three times before asking him to write and will not repeat them afterwards. After three times he didn't even have the first sentence down, even with single word prompts. He tends to take the words and change them up and then his way is stuck in his head, not the given way. Usually it means almost the same thing - sometimes not so much. Just to see how many times it would take I continued repeating until he could say these two short sentences perfectly. It took twenty-three repetitions. :( Now granted today was very excessive but his not being able to hold these sentences long enough to repeat them back immediately not to mention get them onto paper is a huge issue.
Now this is the same child who can watch a car commercial and then turn around and quote the entire commercial verbatim after hearing it only one time.
Can anyone give advice? I am so discouraged. I do not know what to do to help him improve on this skill.
Thanks in advance
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This looks wonderful. I have never seen anything like this anywhere else. I hope programs like this expand all over...specifically to Texas in the next eight years before we send our Aspie off. :001_smile:
Thanks for the link.
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Some of this echoes what others have said but I agree that math should be done 4-5 days a week and that 15-20 minutes daily is better than 40 minutes 2x weekly. (You didn't mention how you were pacing her 2 lessons throughout the week so you may be doing this).
I have all three of my boys in Horizons math and am a big Horizons fan. That being said, my oldest 2 boys completed the K math book in the first semester of Kindergarten. They both found it so simple that they raced through two lessons daily. We started the 1st grade book second semester of Kindergarten. I like getting a little bit ahead because when they get to third grade and beyond it allowed us to slow down and really take time on concepts where they needed extra review without feeling like we were getting behind.
I would question whether Horizons is the best fit for your dd if she is in first grade and is struggling mightily in the K book. If there are no LD's or other developmental issues then maybe another curriculum may suit her better. Have you found that she balks at any/all math type activities or it is just when you open the Horizons book? To me so much of the battle is their excitement and willingness to try. If she is math-phobic then changing math programs may get her more excited just by virtue of it being different??
Another idea would be to look at the scope and sequence of the K and 1 book and write down all the skills she needs to learn/strengthen. Then look for every educational game or board game you can get that would teach those same skills in a game format that wouldn't require formal lessons or pencil to paper.
One more idea...think of little ways you can make math more fun for her. After she finishes she gets 20 minutes of free time? Or a board game with mom? Or time to draw? I keep a bag of miniature Reeces in the freezer for my boys. They are allowed one a day at any time during their school day. I tell them to save it for a lesson that may feel particularly challenging to him. I have explained to them it is a burst of energy, a pick me up and a tiny way to say, "Way to go!!!" This is the only candy my boys get in a week so they LOVE it!! My oldest saves his Reeces each day for writing and my middle son saves it for phonics, each being his own most challenging/least liked subject. It gives them something to look forward to when they open that book!
I love Horizons and it has been a fantastic fit for our family. I hope it works for you but if not, don't hesitate to try different things. Best of luck to you.
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I was concerned about this very thing. We now have one full week under our belts and ds 10 has had no problems, but I think it is in part due to me taking grate pains to help him stay on task.
I made up bookmarks with exactly how many pages he needed to read in each book each week and stuck them in the books at the right spots. I went over the books and the assignments with him at the beginning of the week and checked numerous times over the course of each day to see how much he had read and how much he had left. To my surprise he kept a very good handle on it, but it helped that he was never in question about what needed to get done. Also, those books stayed out on the table the whole week so that he wouldn't forget one or another...
I love this idea as well. Bookmarks with boxes ds can check when he is finished will work well for him as he loves the accomplishment of checking off a box when he completes something (apple didn't fall far from the tree in this manner ;)). I also love the idea of a Monday morning meeting where we go over "the big picture" for the week. I think it will help him when he knows, not only what is to be done each day, but the whole of the week. I want to incorporate a Friday meeting as well to sum everything up. We will talk lots and lots during the week about what he is reading and learning but I love the idea of wrapping up any loose ends on Friday.
One of the ways I teach paragraph writing is to say, "Tell 'em what you are going to tell 'em. Tell 'em. Tell 'em what you told 'em!" -- basically, introduction, body and conclusion. I am liking the idea more and more of a Monday morning meeting to give an introduction to the week and clearly go over assignments. Then follow through during the week with lots of discussion and feedback. Finishing up on Friday with a meeting to tie it up with a bow.
I think the bulk of your post was to share the idea about bookmarks (which I love) but I ran with the meeting idea buried within. :D Inspiration at 6:00 AM is a good thing.
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Thank you each so much for the very helpful replies. I posted this a week and a half ago and then promptly forgot all about it (more likely my brain was on overload and refused to let me remember :tongue_smilie:). Today I am preparing our next few weeks of TOG and remembered this post. What a treat to come back and see such great advice.
I am much relieved to know that I am not alone in this struggle. That is a huge comfort. I have realized how unprepared we truly are for narrations. We completed SOTW 4 last year with all the accompanying outlines as well as WT1. I got WWS1 confident we could ease right in...WRONG! :tongue_smilie: We need major work on narrations and it begins with even trying to identify the main points of a story. I backtracked and spent two weeks trying to remediate hoping to jump back into WWS1; in the end I realized that going back to WWE4 would be a better fit for ds at this time. I would rather start too far back and move at a bit more rapid pace (if he proves ready) than start a bit too far ahead and proceed at a snail's pace.
I remember a post that Colleen in NS wrote (I think I am attributing it to the correct author) awhile back about how most of the time in her homeschool journey they have had struggles she can pinpoint it back to not following WTM guidelines/recs. I wish I could find the post. It was great, and in this case, I can say the exact thing! My oldest is an aspie and narrations were *H*A*R*D* when he was younger (all kids can certainly struggle with narrations but I think aspies/asd kids find them particularly challenging). With many difficult skills we just set it aside, and when we pick it back up months later he is ready and gets it right away. Not with this skill. Not by a mile. Hindsight is 20/20 but I feel like I should've know better. Narration is not like most other skills. And I didn't see the big picture. I had no idea how important narrations would become. Again the hindsight is 20/20 thing.
Back to TOG. I am writing new lesson plans this week. Baby steps. Baby steps! Thanks OElizabeth. :001_smile: I am having him read more with us and just assigning a few pages for him to read alone. We will build up. I won't give up this time. But I will make it manageable for him...and for me. I am incorporating so many of your wonderful ideas: Rhonda I love your visual aids to help with narrations. I already have an idea for one of his readings this week that will incorporate this. M&M and Matilda thanks for the support and ideas. Corbie, love the checklist. Thanks to each of you who shared. Ah...I love this board.
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I got my subscription through the Homeschool Buyers Co-op. Look under the Group Buys section a bit down the page on the right. Then once it takes you to the Group Buys section look under Resources.
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I had never heard of this program and I think it might be just what I am looking for to use when my kids get older. I want to teach them grammar, but don't want to do grammar workbooks every year. I love the way it is set up. I would love to hear any reviews by people who have actually used it. Also, does it ever go on sale? I am planning on purchasing it for myself to learn now. I never had any grammar in school and would love to learn some.
We used JAG last year and are about to start JAG: Mechanics as soon as our teaching DVD arrives! :) We are so happy with JAG.
Sue in St. Pete has a great review of AG she posted awhile back. Here is a link.
Hope that helps!
Dis/Advantages of having schoolroom upstairs? Considering moving ours.
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
Love out of the box thinking; that is so not my forte. ;) We really use and enjoy our main living room. It is even larger than the playroom and fills up the majority of our downstairs. We love to have families over for dinner and visiting time and our living room is where all this happens. It connects to our kitchen and forms a "great room". It is the heart of our family life.