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celticadea

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Everything posted by celticadea

  1. When you did Growing with Grammar, did you just jump into the grade your kids were in? or start at the beginning? as I'm looking at Growing with Grammar more, I'm really liking it. Are you happy with it?
  2. W&R is Writing and Rhetoric by Classical Academic Press (they also do song school latin, etc...)
  3. thanks for the feedback! I think I'm going to do the assessment and see where we fall for the levels. I certainly don't want to shell out the $$ for just one year if they're both at the last level © and have it not cover grammar. I agree the 2nd grader doesn't need more than an intro/familiarization but the 4th grader needs a real program. She's not a pick it up as you go kid. :)
  4. I'm thinking of using LOE Essentials for spelling and grammar for my upcoming 4th and 2nd graders. My older did well with their Foundations books and finally learned to read. She reads well now but spelling is still challenging. Obviously LOE is not the cheapest program in the world ;) but it has worked for her in the past. (we are coming back to hs after 2 yrs off - 1 in catholic school, then moved and tried the local public school). In general we're using Kolbe because I need the lesson planning etc but I'm not sure about their spelling/grammar choices. LOE would be nice because I could, in general, combine them and use their leveled lists. I really like the look of "Well ordered Language" for grammar. I will probably use their "Writing and Rhetoric" for the 4th grader for writing. My questions are: 1. If you've used LOE Essentials (2nd ed especially), what did you think of how good a job it does with grammar? I'm not concerned about the 2nd grader but the 4th is old enough to be getting a real grasp of it and it's not sticking with the standard worksheets that's she's been getting at school. 2. Would Well Ordered Language be too much on top of LOE Essentials? 3. Would we be better off using a different/separate spelling with WOL instead of LOE Essentials? 4. anybody use Kolbe's spelling/grammar and have an opinion? sorry if that was a bit rambly. I hope it makes sense ;) Thanks for your help!!
  5. I would get their flashcards for the phonograms and start teaching/reviewing them to her now. If they start at the beginning of Essentials then you should be good even without the prior prep but it'll be an easier transition if she knows how LOE defines their phonograms (ex: "a" says 4 things not 2....). I tried AAR without success with my dd and she did awesome with LOE Foundations. We are coming back to hs this year and will start up with Essentials as our spelling/grammar since she can read well now.
  6. I have no idea where an appropriate place to ask about this would be so I randomly chose here: I'm considering/planning to use the American Girls Feelings Book and Journal with my soon to be 9 yr old and calling it "health" for next year (probably use Care and Keeping of You for discussion also). The say the journal is a "companion" to the book but, unless I'm blind, the book doesn't seem to tell you when to go play in the journal (it isn't just blank sheets like a normal journal). Has anyone found or made a way to actually coordinate these?
  7. I am coming back to homeschooling after a couple years away. I have an upcoming 4th and 2nd grader (and 3 yr old). The 4th grader is very bright but has difficulty with working memory, recall (possibly dyslexia, add, aspergers....not technically dx'd). She asked to learn Latin this year. We are primarily using Kolbe (I need handholding). They would have her do Latina Christiana in her grade but I'd probably move her down to a Prima Latina. BUT... they both seem like a lot of simple memorization which is not a strong suit of hers. What about Song School Latin? Would their next grade level up (Latin for children I think?) be a better fit for her age? I would intend to do whichever with both girls. The 2nd grader has no learning difficulties (actually, picks up quickly and easily) Another option? (Due to my own medical issues I need simple for parent to use and not too time intensive) Thanks!
  8. RootAnn, If you used mcruffy : did you find it was ahead or behind other programs? Where did you go after mcruffy? I did ask her what the problem was but she couldn't tell me. 😞 . she's also likely aspergers. sometimes totally unrelated things that have been stuck in her head will derail other normal things. We try to encourage her to tell us before they get overwhelming but sometimes she can't figure it out to tell us. She just says that she has thoughts swirling around in her head but can't tell me what. 😞 We decided together to stop the speed drills totally (timed or untimed) and minimize the practice problems for the lesson. I also gave her a break by just letting her play math type games on the computer to, hopefully, decompress from whatever was stressing her out about the situation.
  9. OneStepAtATime, Thanks for the reassurance 😀 but I have a couple questions.... What do you mean by scaffolding? What do you mean by subitization? I did look at those ebooks. Is there one you'd recommend to do first? How long do you plan to stay w CLE? I think it can be used up to 8th grade?Where do you plan to go after CLE? I know it's a long way off for me, but I'm just curious .
  10. I'm considering switching to McRuffy's math for my daughter's 2nd grade. Do you know of a placement test? I've looked through the scope and sequences available and it almost looks like I could use the 3rd grade level, but, since I don't consider my daughter as particularly gifted in the area of math, I have concerns about this plan. She's almost completed CLE 100 series and while, she's not having difficulty with the new material, I think all the practice is causing her to lock up. Lately I've been giving her every other one and dropping the speed test. We'd only been doing it for time, not limiting to 1 min since the beginning. Until recently this has worked well but all of a sudden, she went from consistently doing the speed test in under 2 min to over 5. Lately I've had to read the problems for her and then she gets the answers just fine just to get through the lesson. (odd since she typically has difficulty with auditory learning). I've had her eyes tested since she was complaining of headaches and now has glasses for close work. As background, she's dyslexic (technically too young for the diagnosis but the dyslexia institute in my area who tested her said she had all the markers for it). She's always enjoyed math until recently. I'm wondering if dyscalculic (sp?) since she was upset when a problem has 3 addends (single digit) vertically without the line they use to divide the place columns (she does fine with the horizontal 3 addend problems and had been doing them in her head since before they were taught). Once I put the line in, she was fine. I'd tried Rod & staff and MCP math but both had them figuring out all the ways to add up to a number before actually just teaching the fact. I tried Math in Focus but, again, it had them splitting numbers into all the possible groups. This way of teaching just doesn't work for her. She makes amazing abstract links on her own but I can't teach it to her that way. She was enjoying Shiller math but I couldn't take the typos and eventually the silence from customer service when I had a question. CLE has worked well until now. I don't want math to become a horrible chore. I'm not sure if it's a working memory thing and we've gotten to the point where there are just too many facts floating in her head. Or just getting close to the end of the year? A problem with the CLE program for her? So....any thoughts on switching to McRuffy? using a different program? just stay with CLE with my modifications? I'd love something that's spiral, schedules in the manipulatives, scripted for me, and secular would be a plus.
  11. Thanks for all your input! I'm relieved to hear your experiences. and one less program to do! yippee! I hadn't expected copywork so that's great, too. We're finishing up MP's NAC I and I wasn't sure if I needed to continue with a handwriting program. I'll just add some copywork from her other subjects if she needs more practice. Next year isn't seeming so scary after all! :) (wow! I hadn't realized how out of date my signature was. my oldest is finishing 1st and I have a new minion! haha!....off to fix that)
  12. My dd can more or less read but struggles with syllables-even just hearing them, multi letter vowel sounds, etc which is why we're going through LOE (B for the end of this year). She has all the tendencies/markers for dyslexia but is "too young for the official diagnosis". She generally enjoys reading and is almost through set 4 of the EPS (primary phonics). I didn't realize it before now but my phonics program (MP) doesn't explicitly teach the more complex part of phonics. It seems to come up in spelling later but by then they are supposed to reading. This may work for lots of kids but not her. I am planning to use LOE C & D for 2nd grade this fall. Would Shurley grammar be way too much? We had already planned to use Shurley before I found LOE but haven't bought it yet so it's not a huge deal. My dd is interested in Shurley because of the jingles ;) I think that the LOE does grammar in D which is why i'm not sure about adding another grammar on top. As a secondary question, would you add writing yet or wait til she can "read" real books on her own without help?
  13. I've done MP junior K this past year. if he's not ready for writing or tracing, feel free to not do that part :) you can do the letters on chalkboard, in salt/flour etc.... I recently started AAR-pre (for the phonemic awareness game) and it seems like a nice and gentle letter awareness course. it teaches all caps, them all lower case, then letter sounds. has craft/color sheets for each lesson, a phonemic awareness type of game with each lesson, and suggestions for hands-on learning (making letter out of play do etc..). have you looked at MFW? it is suggested a lot as fun, gentle, & hands on. (unfortunately, for me it doesn't mesh with my religious leanings in the kinder package but it really looks nice if you agree with young earth or are fine with cutting some things out). I will still probably get some or all of their pre-k level for my younger dc. timberdoodle has great colorful hands-on items and packages too.
  14. you don't have to get the puppet. you can use any you have. the directions will reference using the puppet as a surrogate for the kids to learn the game so if you really don't want any puppet, you'll have to adjust your directions. honestly, my daughters both truly love the silly thing and want him to teach other classes or have him listen in on stories. they get very excited for Ziggy class (admittedly, I do a special voice so that may influence them). for the age it's aimed at, I think it is cute and works. he gets to make mistakes and they can teach him the right way.
  15. it works to teach that sort of phonemic awareness, also sentence length, word counting, syllable clapping, etc. each lesson (78 total) does something for phonemic awareness. that's primarily what we're using it for. she knows her letters and sounds and doesn't really like coloring often. but she loves loves the silly puppet and I like the clarity of instruction for me. my 2.5 year old is accidentally learning her letters too. :)
  16. I don't know that it's a delayed program per se but Counting with Numbers (R&S) combined with maybe the Numbers book from MP would go over the numbers a lot more than the other programs I've seen. I would add some counting blocks (like Unifix or 'linking cubes'), bears, whatever counting manipulative she would like (they make bugs, fruits, dinosaurs, etc....or you could use beans or any other thing to count) for her to be able to see and physically count them. With MP junior K, they do 1 number a week but you could definitely slow it down and keep working on the manipulatives and reinforcing the link between the quantity, counting, and the numeral itself. They would both include writing the numbers. If she can't do that, then just orally do the lessons and maybe add practicing the writing part in sand, shaving cream, chalk board, play dough, etc.... Even just tracing the numbers with her finger would be good to help work on the learning the design/layout of the numeral.
  17. I second AAR-pre. we're using it with my 4.5 year old that i recently starting thinking is dyslexic. the phonemic awareness activities have been great even though she doesn't like coloring the activity sheets (super cute if your dc likes to color and paint) . she really can't rhyme even after 11+ rhyming lesson activities from AAR and countless others on my own before starting it but...I decided to move forward anyway and try out the next phonemic awareness exercises and she's done well with them . lots of good preparation for the little phonemic skills (blending, word counts, syllables etc). I don't know if its the best but it was the most open & go I that I found (Barton recommended doing something to develop phonemic awareness before her level 1). as an added bonus my kids LOVE Ziggy the zebra. he even gets requests for other classes.
  18. I'm pretty happy today. After a couple times telling her how M A T sound and then go together to make "mat" and last night she asked about her night gown (mommy's little dreamer). I read all of it and then pointed out the M O M M Y sounds and how they go together. Wasn't overly impressed but she accepted what I said. Then this morning, she decided she was going to be teacher for the day (I think I may incorporate this as a regularly scheduled activity!). As she was telling us the day, month etc. I asked her to tell me what letters spelled "May". I was expecting her just to tell me the letters. Without prompting, she said mmmm aaaa eeeee....May! At first I was worried since Y threw a bit of a wrench into what I'd already told her but then...the way she sounded it out, it worked! haha also reminds me of something I learned from all the ST they get....vowels really have more than one sound to them, example long A, ends with a long E sound....so telling her that Y said E and A said short a still worked ....hehe! I decided to move ahead with the phonemic exercises in AAR - Pre and did the sentence length (long v short), word counting, and sound blending (sh....eep = sheep) and she's done fine as long as she actually pays attention/hears what you said. I'm happy to hear that other kids have learned to read before rhyming. That gives me hope. I'm still concerned if a classical education in the strict sense, is possible for her but, if nothing else, my attitude and motivation to keep working has been bolstered by her today. She did great 'teaching' us (...a version of oral recitation, so the info got in there and she is capable of getting it out in some method), positive results on phonemic stuff, and simply showing that she really has retained what i've been working on with her even if on a normal day, it doesn't seem like it. thanks for all the great suggestions. I'll still be checking into the neuropsych eval and her behaviors still throw me but I will try to hold on to how I feel today when we have the bad days.
  19. Elizabeth B, thanks for the reassurance that a kid can learn to read without rhyming. I dl'd that movie. she knows her letters & sounds but reinforcement is always good and it gets great reviews :) I'll look into Webster spelling. it looks intriguing. thanks!
  20. I was thinking of trying the bob books. all this phonemic awareness stuff is pre-reading so not part of a phonics program per se. I haven't yet tried a real phonics/reading program since we stalled at the rhyming and ending sounds in the pre-reading alphabet books from MP and now AAR-pre. I think I'm just going to try teaching her to read and see what happens. according to Ms. Barton, she's not old enough for level 1 yet but I may use it if we still need the help later.
  21. :( i have a couple of those phonemic awareness books. they all start at rhyming....we can't get past it. so we play rhyming games with and without cards, we read rhyming stories. I follow words on the page of the books we read. A neat game that isn't rhyming is sound bingo. She can do it but it's SLOW. The 2 year old answers way faster :( They all seem to put syllable counting, word counting, letter sounds within a word after rhyming. From what I've been able to learn, this should be either known or easily able to be learned by this age. We keep plugging away at it and hopefully one day it'll stick. I'm thinking that this week I'll start wrtiing the words on the cards (cat, mat, hat, etc...) and maybe seeing the letters repeating will help her 'see' what I mean. something to try anyway.
  22. I think you have great reasons to home school kindergarten! :) but I also understand your reasons not to. For us, if K were still just about playing nicely with friends and was only half-day, I'd send her. It's not though. Recently I've been second guessing myself because my daughter is not turning out to be the easy to school kid that I could so easily show how to learn and enjoy the journey (my rainbows and unicorns daydream version of homeschooling lol). I am scared that maybe she needs 'experts'. but....after remembering why I wanted to home school in the first place (better academic choices, one-on-one instruction, little interference in curriculum choices, etc... only my thoughts), and listening to others recent bad experiences in schools near and far, especially for kids who need more, I realize that I can better meet her needs here. I'm terrified of doing a bad job but I can't imagine I'll do the worst job in the world. I'm her mother. I love her and I want the best for her so I won't stop until I find what works for her. No school is likely to care so much and keep fighting for her. Like your son, she is showing signs that outside the house K would be a bad fit. So....I'm homeschooling Kindergarten because I can continue to accommodate her speech and OT needs in a way that no teacher with a classroom full of kids could do. I'm able to tailor her curriculum to her needs not the general needs of the district or her peers. I can go as fast or slow as I need to on any given topic. Also, most days she still needs a nap which she could never get at school :) I do worry about learning social interaction skills since this is an area that she needs help. School would fit the bill but even her SLP said that it would likely be very difficult for her since the other kids would pick up on her immaturity/lack of social understanding/etc... I already have her in gymnastics and am considering/planning on signing her up for the home school science days at a local hands-on science museum. I also tend to stick close to home, so having a few specific activities will help us all get out and give her chances to practice interacting.
  23. Is K12 the online school or are you guys talking about something different?
  24. that's what I thought at first too, but the tester thought that at her age, this was one of her responses that showed very "concrete" thinking. I remember it so specifically because I knew what she was talking about before the tester figured it out. it's frustrating watching people not know what your kids are communicating. it happens with the younger one too but that's because her speech itself is unclear not the context. nothing particular. that's what's odd to me. Shes had a lot of sinus infections this winter. She started nasonex a couple weeks ago but that was well after all this "high arousal" started. she's been doing a lot less crying since starting the nasonex. I don't know that they're related but, for her, I don't think the med is a bad thing. heh, I just realized that her last big flip-out was the day before she started the med (completely lost it while trying to get a sinus X-ray). I asked her OT last week and she said sometimes SPD (sensory processing disorder) kids "flip" with growth spurts. she has definitely grown a lot lately. the most concrete test, for me, is when the spin them in a swing. when you stop, your eyes should twitch sideways for a few seconds (horizontal nystagmus). my kids' don't . it shows they aren't receiving the input correctly and aren't getting dizzy. this lack of input used to scare her so she avoided new movements, couldn't run, jump, etc. Through gymnastics, she at least learned how to jump, skip, gallop, and hop but was still scared a lot. Now she's seeking out the input and running and spinning, and jumping, and fidgeting constantly. A positive with this sensory flip from avoiding to seeking, is that she's not so fearful about everything now. She's finally trying to ride a bike (w training wheels). she'd outgrown every other ride-on toy we ever bought. We even tried the balance bike thing but she just wouldn't move it. Shes still a bit concerned when OT has her do high things but shes willing :) shes also low tone so some of it is actually hard for her and add the decreased sensory input and you can see that it would be a challenge. Now I just need to remember to get her enough exercise before I expect her to be able to attend to something. I'll check into the neuro psych and insurance. glad to know 5 isn't a ridiculous age. thanks!
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