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MASHomeschooler

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Posts posted by MASHomeschooler

  1. My oldest did math only at home until last year. When we applied to Davidson, they asked for 3 recommendations - 1 from an English teacher, 1 from a math teacher, and one other teacher or coach, etc. Since she hadn't had a math teacher, they did allow us to ask another teacher instead (the only classes she'd taken online besides English were history, so that's the teacher who did it, but he still got the math recommendation form, so he had to put that he didn't know for the math-specific parts). This summer she's going to MathPath, and they also required a recommendation from a math teacher (and 1 personal recommendation). Since she's at school now, she did have a math teacher who was happy to recommend her, so I don't know if they would also accept a substitution. Partly because of my daughter's experience, we did have my son take a couple AoPS online classes (and fortunately he did more than one, because the first teacher he asked said they were too busy!). He did enjoy the classes, too, and preferred it to just working through the book, although I don't think he learned the material any better. But, yes, if she might want to apply to selective high schools or camps, she may need a recommendation from a subject-specific teacher. Another possibility, though, may be if she attends any math club, circle, or competitions (or equivalent for other subjects), the person running those may suffice.

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  2. My oldest will be going to a high school that doesn't require volunteer hours. Should she still track them? And if so, should she be having someone "sign off", or just track them herself? Basically, at some point will colleges (or some other entity) want to know exactly how much volunteering she has done, and will they want it verified, or will just listing it be fine? Also, are there any online site commonly used for tracking, or do you just track in something like Excel?

    • Like 1
  3. I used to grade the proof or "power" round at ARML meets. The proofs come from all areas of math. They give you the background info that you need, and then they break the question into multiple parts, some easier than others. Teammates volunteer to prove different pieces of the problem. Points are awarded not only for the correct answers, but also for clear & well-reasoned written arguments.

     

    Any of the AoPS books would be great for getting used to formulating proofs, including geometry. Try number theory and counting & probability if your daughter hasn't been exposed to those areas.

     

    Another idea would be to work through old archived ARML exams. You can find the past two years (look for Proof round) on the main ARML website.

     

    Congratulations to your daughter for making the team! We had lots of fun at the Penn State ARML when dd was in high school. :)

     

    Thank you! That is very helpful!

  4. Thanks. Any particular ones? She did use AoPS for Pre-Algebra, Intro to Algebra, Intro to Number Theory, and Intro to Counting & Probability, but she doesn't feel that she really knows how to write proofs well. Maybe she's thinking it's more formal than it is? She is in a school now, so not using AoPS for Geometry. Is that the one to look at?

  5. Is there a good resource for proof writing? My oldest is on an ARML team, and one of the rounds involves proof writing. It's a team effort, and there are some on her team who have some experience with this, but she would like to contribute more. She is currently taking geometry, but they haven't done much proof writing.

  6. He doesn't know what pickup notes are? These two examples sound like a rigidity that comes from inexperience, to me.

     

    Apparently not, and my daughter even knew the term (anacrusis?). My music theory is not that good, so when I'm catching these things, I am not happy, so, yeah, we're done.

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  7. I probably wouldn't mention it, but I'm curious to know what kind of inaccuracies these were?

     

    The first time he asked if she knew what the time signature meant. She said the top number is beats in a measure, and the bottom number is the note that gets a beat. He said no, a quarter note is always 1 beat, the time signature just means (top number) (bottom number notes) per measure. I've heard it referred to this way as well, but her way is I think more accurate and definitely not wrong.

     

    I can't remember the second. The most recent (this week) was he pointed out that the last measure had a missing beat, and she said, "Oh, because of (name of this, which I don't know), the missing beat is in the first measure. He said no, it was a mistake. He said the first measure could be missing some, and you just take it as starting with rests, but the last measure always needs all the beats, so they had to decide to either add a rest or extend the last note.

     

    Oh, and he also once mis-corrected my son about vocabulary. He asked him if he knew what contemporary was, my son answered, "From the same time," and he said no. I can't remember exactly what he said it did mean, but it was like the first incident, where it worked, but my son's answer was actually more accurate and he told him it was wrong.

     

    Thanks, everyone. I won't mention it. I was leaning towards that anyway (especially since I hate conflict), but then started wondering if I had an "obligation" to be more honest. Glad I don't :D

    • Like 1
  8. We are preparing to switch piano teachers. Our current teacher is one we've been seeing about 6 months, since we moved to the area. He is young (college student), which I thought would be a positive for my kids, but his inexperience has been a negative. The main reason we're quitting is I've noticed 3 times he's given incorrect music theory info to my youngest. Since I've noticed them, I've corrected the info with her. But I'm concerned that he's likely also teaching my other child some things incorrectly (and I don't know, since his level of music theory is above mine). The new teacher we're going to try is much more experienced, with a music degree and decades of teaching (and performing) experience. She will also come to our house, which will be more convenient and comfortable than going to the current teacher's house.

     

    So, when I tell the current teacher we're leaving, should I mention the music theory inaccuracies, or just say the new one will work better for us logistically?

  9. I do not understand what the parents of vaxed kids should need protection from as far as unvaxed kids.  I thought the whole point of vaxing my kids is that they can be exposed to measles and not catch it.

     

    The problem is when the infected kid exposes those who are not fully immunized due to age or health issues. Fully vaxed 8 year olds should be fine; fully vaxed 8 month olds, though, still have more rounds to go before they are fully immunized. And some kids (very few, but some) have health issues that make vaccines risky or not work for them; some of these issues also make the actual diseases more risky for them as well, so they count on herd immunity to keep them safe. Kids who are not vaxed even though they could/should be (and especially who think they are doing others favors by exposing their infected kids to everyone else) jeopardize the health of those 2 populations (in addition to their own kids, of course).

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  10. We are getting ready to move and I want to get gifts to show our appreciation for the following:

     

    a) Violin teacher for 7 years, taught all 3 kids, hasn't increased very reasonable rate the whole time, helped them be very successful with orchestra auditions, etc. and attended orchestra concerts when possible, very supportive including spending time outside lessons to help and support them

     

    b) Math club coach, just this year, just the oldest, but went above and beyond a few times

     

    c) Chess club coach, also just this year, the 2 older kids, also went above and beyond

     

    I'm drawing a blank, especially for the violin teacher, so any ideas would be much appreciated.

  11. I can see giving your child a lot of educational freedom but restricting behavior outside of education; lots of people do the reverse.

     

    Yes, but the outcome is not exactly the point (I assume you're commenting on my post). The point is she's spouting all the philosophical reasons to unschool (e.g., always follow the child's lead; the child naturally knows what they need; everything should be driven by the child, not the parent; it is disrespectful to the child to impose the parent's will on them; parents shouldn't force children to become what the parents want them to be, but allow them to become who they want to be; etc.), but is not acting as if she actually believes them outside of the narrow area in which she learned about them (schooling).

     

    So she says things like, "We unschool so she can learn to think for herself and make her own decisions" AND "She really wants to cut her [very long] hair but I won't let her because it's just so lovely." She makes statements about how unschooling empowers kids to learn for themselves, while making her 11yo daughter run decisions about what to do next at the park by her. To me it comes across like she thinks unschooling is "cool" and so she full-on embraced "doing it" (i.e., no curriculum and repeating the "let the child find their way" lines) but she doesn't actually subscribe to the philosophy, so outside the context in which she is "doing it", she is not really "living it".

     

    I may be seeing it wrong. I fully admit I am much closer the reverse ("strict" on schooling, more "lax" on behaviors - I do enforce being respectful, etc. but let them dress and wear their hair how they want, play how they want as long it's safe and respectful) so I may be missing something. But I really don't think it would bother me so much if the reason strongly given for not imposing a specific education on the kid wasn't an even better reason to not impose a specific hair length or playtime activity on them.

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  12. I know someone like this (maybe more, but one really jumps to mind). She acts like a free-flowing hippy type and makes a big deal about being an unschooler and how important it is to let kids do what they want (wrt learning). But she micromanages her tween on everything. She won't let her get her hair cut because she likes it long, she has her check in every few minutes at the park, etc., she admonishes her for slightly exuberant behavior. Tons of examples along these lines, but when people discuss learning she is all "the children know what they need and we should never impose our will on that process" sort of stuff. Which I don't necessarily agree with, but at least I can see that other unschoolers in our group really believe that, and everything they do with their kids clearly follows from this belief. Not so with her - at all. And it's the same with other areas - talks all about new age stuff, very artsy, very into alternative ideas, but when it comes to specifics she has to have things her way and she says things like "I would never" about things she hasn't really considered, etc. - but the unschooling w/ super-strict parenting really stands out the most to me.

  13. I was able to talk with the teacher, and it sounds like it is Tier II. She didn't use that term, but said that the SLP wanted to meet with her 6 times to gather data to decide whether to pursue an MET/IEP. She said she had thought the SLP was going to contact me and apologized that no one had. And she said she will ask her to find a different time to do the last 3 sessions. Thanks, everyone, for your help in figuring out what was going on and what we can expect and what's reasonable or not.

    • Like 5
  14. Your state dept of ed will have on their site pdf copies of all the forms used in your state for the IEP process. That will allow you to get the names. Then you simply ask what it was you signed. That way you can determine where you are. But fact remains, if the teacher said she was putting through the request to begin the IEP process, she should have done that. So there's a stink if you THOUGHT that was being done and that hasn't been done. It's a stink because that filing by her would have started the legal 120 day timeline, a very important protection. 

     

    Like Story says, you may have signed a permission. They may have sent you stuff and it went to an old address. You won't know till you ask. 

     

    Well let us know how it pans out! Hopefully it's a simple explanation! :)

     

    Actually I thought we'd basically just agreed that we'd probably start the process "at some time" - but not actually started the process, if that makes sense. I don't know, though - does discussing it all officially start the process? We've been at the same address since my oldest started in the district, so that's not it. I will be sure to let you know what I find out. Thanks again. 

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