MitchellMom
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Posts posted by MitchellMom
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FWIW, I know this is sort of just the same answer, but I recently discovered Fimo/Sculpey/plasticine clay. I think it would be great for making all the bones of the inner ear.
Other things -
pipe cleaners
old fridge magnet letters
We did a giant "crawl through" model of the ear (Konos curriculum) when my kids were little, and they loved it! We used household items. The old-fashioned kind of coiled phone cord for the semi-circular canal, an oatmeal container with Saran wrap over the opening for the ear drum, a real hammer for the hammer, a real stirrup for the stirrup...that sort of thing. Dad had to crawl through it when he came home at night while the kids explained all the parts and their functions. Very memorable!Awesome ideas! For which part of the inner ear would the magnet letters be used? And is there anything MUCH smaller that could be used as the stirrup?... The model needs to be smaller than a real-life crawl-through (but that is an idea I am going to shelve for future use!). Thanks!
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Thanks! We're wanting to use a variety of items, so clay would work for one part, but then we need to think of other things for other parts - like, what would represent the auditory nerve, and the stirrup?
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My daughter (age 8 1/2) is going to make a model of the inner ear, all the main parts and including the brain. She is going to use a flat piece of cardboard and glue everything to it, so it's not actually a 3D model, but is not as simple as a drawing, either. She is excited about making this but wants help choosing materials. I have no idea what type of materials she should use (I was an English major, lol)! Cheerios? Macaroni? A piece of a balloon? Can someone please offer suggestions on easy-to-find items she can use for each part? Thank you!
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You would get the Economy Package (Teacher's Guide and history), science, devotional, music cd and one of the read aloud book packages. And if you need them, and aren't using Abeka's readers, you could get the emerging reader package too.
Thanks! I added the first items to my cart. But were are the "read aloud book packages?" Is it the three options toward the bottom - the classics, the boy interests, and the girl interests? (If so, which do you think a 6 year old boy would like best?)
I guess we will be using Abeka readers (you mean the books like Fun with Pets, Tiptoes, Stepping Stones, etc., right?). If I decide to use HOD readers, do I need to buy another teacher guide for the emerging readers (Owl at Home, Frog and Toad All Year, etc.)? Or is the schedule in the Beyond teacher guide?...
Thanks SO MUCH for your advice!!!!!!!!!!
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OK ... I looked at the Beyond packages on the HOD site and am so confused.... What exactly do I need from HOD if I decided to use Abeka for phonics and math? :confused:
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My son is almost finished with his kindergarten material (Abeka) and ready to move on to first grade. The only problem is, I can't decide whether to continue with Abeka or do Heart of Dakota. I used HOD with my dd when she was 4 and loved it (for the most part). I want to try it again, but at the same time I want to stick with what my son knows - and what he will use if we ever decide to enroll him in the Christian school that my daughter attends. (The school uses Abeka.) Can any of you offer a few pros and cons and your opinions? :)
Thanks!
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Hm. I've never used Abeka - and I've never had either of my kids mark a vowel. Ever, that I can recall. We've SEEN marked vowels (mainly the line over the long in 100ez). I have a ds7 in 2nd and a ds5 in 1st and both are reading well above grade level.
The main thing I've learned in schooling over the last few years is that you should pick your battles and make sure that as few as possible end up in tears, ever, on either side!! :D If it isn't working to that extent - change it! Change how you teach it, change what you teach from it, or just drop it altogether.
Thank you. All of you have made me feel so much better.
I have not tried HOD with my ds - it was my daughter with whom I used that program. My ds has a short attention span and is very tenderhearted so I need a program that pushes as gently as possible.
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:iagree: This is wonderful advice from a seasoned homeschool mom.
When I was a new homeschooler 16 years ago, I briefly tried ABeka and found that the stress just wasn't worth it. Why does a kindergartener need to mark vowels??? Well, as one reviewer put it, it's great if your goal is to impress the neighbors or the grandparents. Some people think ABeka is "advanced", but the more accurate term is "rushed". It isn't fun for anybody, and it's going to make your kid hate school.
If I were starting over with a kindergartener, here's what I'd do: I would read, read, read. I would read aloud on any topic the kid wanted to learn about. I would get picture books with easy words and let him look at the pictures and pick out a few of the easy sight words (a, and, the, of, for, said, one, two, they, I, me, you. mom, dad...).
I would play counting games and do basic adding and subtracting with manipulatives. I would help him learn to recognize his name in print, and button up his coat, tie his shoes, and take care of toileting needs. I would help him learn to write numbers and the alphabet and learn consonant & vowel sounds. I would help him learn to write his name, address, and phone number.
If all this went well, I would begin to introduce 3-letter short vowel words (can, bed, pig, top, cut, etc.) and rhyming families (bat, cat, mat, rat, etc.). FWIW, this is where my tried-and-true approach differs from ABeka's; they teach word ladders--words that begin with the same sound. I prefer word families--words that end with the same sound. (I think this is the same approach that BJU--probably ABeka's biggest competitor--uses. And it has worked for the kids I've taught.)
After he was comfortable with short vowel words, I might teach about consonant blends (bl, cl, fl, sl, br, cr, fr, tr, etc.) and digraphs (ch, th, sh, etc.) and then final silent 'e' if he was ready, and if I did this in kindergarten, it would be near the end of the school year. But I would not mark vowels. Not even one. Not for a kindergartener.
You made me feel better! Actually, he already knows everything you said in the last two paragraphs - his only problem is sometimes mixing up whether or not he is supposed to recognize the silent e / how to pronounce vowel sounds. He sometimes says it and sometimes doesn't. So you really think I should drop it? Should I drop Abeka altogether?
Honestly I did not want to use it, either, back when I ordered it in August. The only reason I did was that I knew I might be sending him back to the school next year and I wanted him to be "on the same page" (so to speak) as his classmates. I used different curriculums w/ my dd (Abeka, Sonrise, a couple others) and found that Heart of Dakota ultimately worked best for us. I loved it and so did she.
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:grouphug: Calm down. :001_smile:
Honestly, I'd drop it. It's one of those things that can be picked up easily later. Teach him to read without it. He's 5.
I see that he may return to school next year, and that you don't want to have him behind. That's a real concern, and I can understand you feeling anxious. May I ask why you brought him home? If you are creating the same environment that you pulled him out of, perhaps it'd be good to rethink that.
Abeka can be fun, but it can also be intense. You get to control the curriculum and the way it is used when you homeschool. Perhaps now would be the time to tweak it. Don't be worried about that--most of us don't do everything as written and our kiddos are fine--in fact, better--because we are tailoring the curricula to the child. You can do that, too!
Take heart! You can do this, and your ds will be fine!:001_smile:
Actually, he is 6, not 5, which has me even more worried!
I brought him home for a couple of reasons - one being that I really wanted to homeschool him because he had to attend a full-time preschool last year and I missed him ( :) ) and the other being for financial reasons: Our dd attends the Christian school and our youngest ds is autistic and attends a special needs preschool with an astronomical tuition, so we could not afford three tuitions each month.
What you need to understand is that Abeka will repeat all the vowel-marking in 1st and 2nd grade. He will eventually get it.That does make me feel better! But do the ones who come in and don't know much about it catch on fairly quickly?...
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I am desperate for guidance. My ds sped right through the first part of Abeka and we are a little ahead of where his classmates at the local Christian school are (he attended the school last year and might return next year). However, we are stuck and I end each phonics session in either anger or tears. For those of you who don't know, Abeka requires the child to mark vowels in each word (a smile above the short sound, or a stick above the long sound and a line drawn through the vowel that follows it). My son just does not grasp this concept. He does okay sometimes, usually when it's easy words (like cat, cup, plane, etc.), but then he hits a whole box of words where it's like his brain enters a fog and he can't remember any of the rules. I am almost in panic mode because what if he never gets a handle on this and next year, when he's supposed to begin first grade, he has to repeat kindergarten? I really don't want this to happen (obviously). I would drop it and not bother with the "vowel marking" but Abeka requires vowel- and special sound-marking through many grades (my dd is in 2nd grade and is tested weely on marking). Please help!! :sad:
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I used Abeka K5 Phonics last year with my dd. She already knew how to read CVC words when we started.
For phonics I Used :
Curriculum Lesson plan guide,
letters and sounds workbook,
K5 writing with phonics (cursive),
K5 readers
handbook for reading.
I used these things along with a whiteboard.
I started in the Letters and sounds at about lesson 60 and moved forward from there. That combination worked really well for us, and she was reading well by the end of the year.
I didn't use the math, so I can't give a suggestion there.
Thanks! Did you immediately start w/ the first grade reading curriculum when you finished with K5, even though it was during her K5 year?
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If your son already *knows* how to read, the K5 curriculum will be BORING.
I would get:
Handbook for Reading instead of the Word & Blend book (blend cards are simply the consonant with the short vowel... ba, be, bi, bo, bu). If he's going to be using Abeka next year in a school, it will be nice to have the handbook at home to use. I also probably wouldn't get the curriculum guide (as it will go step-by-step in teaching to read sounds and recognize letters). You *could* get the 1st grade guide if you really wanted to do formal lessons, and just go slowly, as needed.
The main difference between Abeka and other phonics approaches is that they do blending at the beginning of the word, vs. end of word. Think
ra-t vs. r-at.
Don't worry about the K5 reader series, I'd get the supplemental readers instead. You will easilly skip the first level, if not the first two complete levels.
Do use the K level penmanship (you really don't need the curriculum guide to do this, unless you are unsure how to teach your child to write). Also, find out if the school teaches cursive first, or if they do manuscript. Abeka does both.
The Number Skills K is also very basic -- but easy, focuses on number recognition and concepts. Abeka 1 gets into addition of basic addition facts pretty quickly, so I would work up to that as well.
I usually get the readiness skills, because it has lots of mazes, simple coloring... fun "work."
Oh, well, if he already knows how to read.... forget it. Do what LisaK said. My two boys went through the K5 phonics program and did really well. They were the oldest. THen, DD comes along this year, having already taught herself most of her letters and I'm having to start half way through the book, but it's been really tough trying to find where to place her. I thought I'd just start her at the beginning and give her a good review, but she was so bored. Really. "Capital A, little a, a says "a" as in apple!" And you do that for a few days. Then go on to the next letter. A Beka's phonics program is really good, and it is thorough, and I love the graphics, but it is very precise and I'm finding it's kind of hard to implement when you have a kid who already knows a lot. I'm sorry I'm not any more help.Thanks for this advice. Now I am feeling overwhelmed! I wanted to do Abeka only because I wanted my ds to be familiar with the material next year. When I homeschooled my dd a couple of years ago, I used a variety of curriculums, experimenting until I found what all worked for her. I'm running out of time now, with my ds. He definitely needs help w/ handwriting, as his penmanship is extremely sloppy. Abeka does cursive so we focus only on cursive writing. I don't mind doing only the basic "bare bones" curriculum. I do not want him to be bored, though. Yet I don't know what else to do. :confused:
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I could do it with the Curriculum guides, both phonics and math and "Letters and Sounds" and "Numbers" and a stack of index cards and markers. Seriously. Oh sure, all the bells and whistles are fun. I got a ton of that stuff for free (don't ask me how, long story) all the flashcards and this card and that card and I gotta hand it to A Beka, I love their visuals. But you can make the blend cards and all that with index cards. No, they won't be as pretty, but they'll get the job done. But, IMO, the curriculum guides and the workbooks are the bare bones basics of the programs. I'd probably include in that the mini-alphabet cards, too. Oh, and don't bother with the science and social studies. I'm using them because I got them free, but... no. If you want to do anything along social studies or science for K5 you'd be better served to go to the library because the A Beka books are worthless.
OK! So you would just do these?
K5 Phonics, Reading, and Writing Curriculum (the instructor guide)
K5 Numbers Curriculum (the instructor guide)
Child Kit:
40495 My Blend and Word Book
53686 Basic Phonics Readers Set
26484 Letters and Sounds K
53651 Miniature Alphabet Flashcards
31461 Kindergarten Writing Tablet Cursive
47236 Writing with Phonics K5 Cursive
47333 Numbers Skills K
53929 Numbers Writing Tablet
If I make the phonics blend cards myself, how do I know how they are supposed to look?...
My son already knows how to read. I'm just doing the K5 curriculum so he will be learning how to read the way his future classmates are learning how, if that makes sense. What are the mini alphabet cards that you mentioned - the Bible Memory Cards?
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We are on a tight budget and I am doing Abeka K5 with my 5 year old son because the school he will be attending next year uses Abeka. I have looked at curriculum stores, eBay, and a couple of web sites looking for used curriculum, and I am wondering: What all do I really need? This is my list (I am not doing any other subjects other than these) and the ones with the asterisk* beside them are the ones I'm not sure about (can I accomplish what I need without them?):
Parent Kit
Child Kit
Homeschool Phonics Charts and Games*
Homeschool Learning Games*
Homeschool Numbers Charts and Games*
Basic Phonics Flashcards*
Social Studies*
Science*
Mini ABC Bible Memory Cards
I'm also using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and my son is on lesson 56, or somewhere thereabouts.
I'd appreciate your advice! :)
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I have another question, not sure if this is really related to her other scores, but she scored grade equivalent 3.1 in Basic Battery and 3.0 in Complete Battery. What are these battery tests/scores? :confused:
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For books, I like to go to the Sonlight site and look at their Readers section for some ideas. You'll need to figure out what grade level she's reading at, roughly, and decide from there.
I tested her and she missed one on the Level 4 Readers (the one with four dots) and missed most on the Level 5, so that means I should find Level 4 reader books for her, right? (Henry and Ribsy, Encyclopedia Brown, More Stories from Grandma's Attic, etc.)
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For books, I like to go to the Sonlight site and look at their Readers section for some ideas. You'll need to figure out what grade level she's reading at, roughly, and decide from there. I also like the Scholastic book Wizard for determining the reading level of a book. It's not exact, but it's useful.
Here's a site that lists 1000 good books compiled by some Christian homeschool moms. I'd check the grade 1-3 easy reader and advanced reader section and see where your daughter places.
You can also search the WTM forums (I use google to search - "xyz site:welltrainedmind.com" will get just WTM results) for those threads where people ask what their x grader should read. I just had one recently for my son and got some great ideas.
My friend has often found good books sold by the lot on Ebay pretty cheap, so that might be a good place to look as well. Yard sales and thrift stores are also great.
This is SO helpful - thank you!
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I would suggest not comparing your daughter to that kid. She may be highly gifted, and she's probably bored out of her mind in school. :tongue_smilie:
Your daughter scored very well - above grade level. I don't think you need to change a thing. She is reading well and enjoying it. And let me tell you, it's a whole lot easier to find appropriate reading material for a first grader at a third grade level than it is to find such material at a 9th grade level. Be happy you have it easier than that kid's mom. ;)
Yes, but what reading materials is appropriate? Where can I find a good "book list" for her? I don't want her reading Junie B. Jones (she read all of them last summer and this summer she needs something much more challenging!).
Some perspective: If your friend's child took the same test as your daughter--that is the first grade Stanford Achievement Test--you need to understand how tests like this are scored. Ninth grade fifth month on a test like this only means that the child did as well as a person in the ninth grade fifth month would do on the *same* test, that is the *first grade* test. I'm surprised that the SAT would report a score that high--usually the ceilings on the first grade tests are much lower--like around grade 3-4. For example, on the first grade ITBS, a test very similar to the SAT, my son only missed one question on the reading comprehension test. The percentile rank for this was 92 and the grade equivalent was 3.1.What sort of books is your daughter reading? That will tell you more definitively than a test how well she is reading.
You know, our local library has a very poor selection of chapter books. It's like they have a wonderful children's picture book selection, but then the juvenile and young adult sections are poorly stocked. So, my daughter really does not have many books to choose from. I guess we need to travel farther away to find a better library. Can anyone provide a really long list of books that could appeal to her? I wouldn't mind finding a big box of such books for sale on ebay and buying them for her.
:iagree: to both. If you want a real wakeup call, go over to the Accelerated Learners forum. Read about the kids who taught themselves to read at 2, or the 8 year olds doing algebra. There is just no point in comparing, because there is just always going to be someone who is further along. That's LIFE, you know? I think a lot of us have to reminds ourselves of this sometimes, myself included. ;)If you are going to try to work with her this summer no matter what everyone else says :tongue_smilie: you could always do some OPGTR. It's cheap and quick, but very solid. Just make SURE you don't inadvertently communicate to your dd that you are worried about her, or that she isn't doing well enough. Also, don't make reading a chore. There are so many people who would do anything to have a child who loves to read. If you want to compare kids, there are a LOT of parents who envy YOUR child in that respect!
Isn't OPGTR for children just learning how to read?
What ?? I don't understand . Your daughter is reading & comprehending above level and you think it's low ?"Language Grade Equivalent was 4.9
Her Spelling Grade Equivalent was 5.4"
I think this is excellent score for a 6yo!
There must be a misunderstanding with Stanford 1st grader scoring at 9 gr level. My son (2nd gr ) scored 95 % , grade level 5.7 ( I think) and he scored the highest in his class. A 2nd grader with 100% would not score higher than 6 grade .
Your daughter must have had the total at least 95-98 % since she is only a 1st grader and scored that high . At least that's how I do the math :) Or maybe the Stanford she took it's different. My son took Stanford 10 at our PS.
P.S. I see she scored the lowest in word study . A good phonics program such as Phonics Pathways , which you can use for spelling as well , should take care of that .
I've never investigated Phonics Pathways so I will do that! I'm assuming it's just one book, and I'll have to pick up somwhere in the middle? Is that how it works?...
Thanks everyone! :grouphug:
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Many people like to have a child alternate to some extent between higher level reading, to expand their range, and a lower level, to increase speed and encourage the child to enjoy reading. If your dd loves to read, that is already really great! What level is she reading at? I bet people could give better suggestions if they knew from where she was starting.
ETA: Also know that there really, truly is a huge range of what is normal (or even bright!) for children. As you already said, you just can't compare one child to another. If your dd is reading a lot, is getting solid phonics instruction, and is practicing her news skills in addition to reading for fun, she will likely thrive.
Thank you. She definitely is bright, which is why I was shocked that she scored lower than I had expected. :(
Her scores:
Subtotal and Grade Equivalent:
Word Study Skills 1.6 (!!! What?!?!?!)
Word Reading 3.6
Sentence Reading 2.8
Reading Comprehension 3.6
Total Reading Grade Equivalent: 2.5
Her Language Grade Equivalent was 4.9
Her Spelling Grade Equivalent was 5.4
(nowhere near ninth grade level! I was so proud when I got these scores but then when my friend told me about her daughter today, I thought WHOA!)
I have to say my daughter LOVES writing stories and drawing. Maybe those are simply her strengths? Or she could have been like me and stared out the window daydreaming during most of the test?? :001_huh: ha ha
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I haven't posted on here in a long time but am homeschooling my children this summer and really could use the advice! My children attend a Christian school and my daughter, who just finished first grade, took the Stanford Achievement Tests. I had expected her to score VERY high because she loves to read and reads so much better than the public school children I know who are the same age. However, she did not score as high as I had hoped. Today one of my friends, whose daughter is in the same class, told her her daughter's reading score put her in the ninth grade, fifth month level!!! I was shocked! This is a 6 year old! I know my daughter might not mentally have the ability to be at this level, but I at least want to provide every opportunity for her to reach the highest reading and word skills level possible. What can I do to help her? Is there a certain program? Are there any particular books she should be reading? Please know that I am trying very hard not to make this a competition between my daughter and other children. I really am not! My youngest son has had some developmental issues and I have had to devote a great deal of time to him these past few months, and part of me is feeling extremely guilty now because I am wondering what I could have been doing with my daughter so that her Stanford reading and word scores would have been higher. Anyway, any advice would be much appreciated!! :)
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McRuffy was great for us at that age. It is very open and go. Everything you need comes in a nice neat box. Lovely curriclum. I wish they had older grades too.
Another member recommended McRuffy for science. I have considered supplementing HOD's science w/ McRuffy science....
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Thanks for replying. Yes, I have seen several times that Sonlight K ahould be used for 1st grade and Sonlight p4/5 should be used for Kindergarten. I think that I am going to use HOD until first grade and then swith to Sonlight K. Good luck!!
I think that's a wise decision! :)
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I was just curious about why you do not want to use Sonlight again? I was thinking about using HOD until my dd is 6 and then using Sonlight K for 1st grade. I am just collecting opinions about Sonlight.
That's a good question. The reason is that I should have waited and done SL K with my daughter this year or even the following year. Instead, I was using it as a preschool program, and that was a huge mistake. I might very well return to SL when my daughter would be ready for the next level (Sonlight 1? maybe in 2nd grade?). But for now, I've already done what I could in the program with a 4/young 5 year old and it just did not work out for her. The LA was fine, but it was many of the other parts for which she was not entirely ready.
HTH! :)
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HOD is the way to go IMHO! It's totally open and go, totally complete, uses the greatest math activities that are fun, easy, and quick, you can combine ages by using the right level of math/LA, and it doesn't take long to do each day! I'm using the first two guides and the fouth one with my 3dc and it's doable. I use all her LA and Math choices too. It's an awesome program! Just have 10 minutes, do a box! Get another 10, do another box...group them up into a few longer sittings or break them down into a dozen short ones, however you can do it. The plans are on one two-page spread that is just for one day. MFW is a great program content-wise, but the flipping back and forth in the plans made it hard for me to see what I had done and what needed to be done (I was also quite new to homeschooling, though the layout is a a common complaint I've heard even with veterens). There are also great key points/objectives in each box of the HOD plans to let you know the goal and the why behind the lesson. Math, LA and poetry are all included so you don't have to plan those yourself (MFW does have math planned for K and 1st).
Thanks - this is great information!
I am really leaning toward HOD and planning to look into McRuffy science....
Suggestions on how to teach multiplication
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
My oldest children need to memorize their multiplication facts, but the regular curriculum and skip-count CDs are not working. Can anyone offer suggestions on workbooks, games, or even entire curriculum that helped your child learn these facts quickly? My children are 11 and 9, and the youngest is a wiggly one!
I considered Math-U-See Gamma but have not used Math-U-See before so I didn't know if suddenly using it would confuse my kids. We are only doing summer bridge activities right now so we have time to focus on multiplication for about a month.
Thanks in advance.