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mathmarm

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Posts posted by mathmarm

  1. On 8/30/2023 at 8:35 PM, Angela Mora said:

    My son just turned 8 and is struggling with any subject he finds too difficult.

    I am trying to have him learn multiplication, but he says he will just fail at memorizing.

    I've tried outsourcing the subject with themes he likes (Minecraft math, etc), but eventually he gives up.

     

    He reads well, but refuses to try harder books because he doesn't want to struggle to sound it out.

     

    He says he wants to learn cursive, but then he complains it's too difficult.

    I would chop down the tasks down into more manageable chunks and scaffold.

    Break the times tables down into sets and work on 1, 2 or 3 multiplication facts at a time. Go over the concept of Commutative and inverse operations for a couple of days then start memorizing the times tables. Work everyday, don't begin drilling ALL of the 7s.

    Skip count by 7 at the start, middle and end of each session but start memorizing with maybe 7*10, 7*5 and 7*1, (and 10*7, 5*7 and 1*7) then work on the related divisions. When he's got one or two of those mastered, add in ONE or TWO more. So maybe next he learns 7*6 and 7*9.

    But he continues to drill the math facts he's covered (7*1, 7*5, 7*6, 7*9 and 7*10) every day via different exercises. Teach him to multiply 7x2-digit and 7*3-digit numbers composed of what facts knows. So 7*15, 7*51, 510*7, etc. This will prevent utter boredom and also help him see contexts that utilize the multiplication tables.

     

    Gradually build up to memorizing the full 7s times tables by the time he's done, he won't need to memorize

    2*7, 3*7, 4*7, 5*7,...10*7.

    Then he can move on to drill the 7s daily but start memorizing a new table such as *8 or *9.

    For reading: He needs to develop fluency on the advanced end of the Phonics spectrum. Use the Ultimate Phonics FREE word lists.

    He needs to read more at the low-mid spectrum of his reading range. For example: If he can read at a 3.4 level, then have him build fluency at the 1.5 to 2.1 reading level for example. When he reads The Cat in the Hat and Henry and Mudge, his reading should flow. Also, go through picture books or chapters of his current chapter bookcurate a list of words to explicitly pre teach via phonics (and possibly spelling) any multisyllabic words he might need to know to read that book.

     

     

    For cursive, start doing daily prewriting--curves, loops and swirls, practicing various strokes that he needs to use for cursive. You might do cursive strokes, and evaluate cursive samples for a month before he's ready to actually try.

  2. We decided to modify a couple of things. We want to increase the reading so we're aiming for 1h15mins daily. We are focusing on Anatomy in drawing and it serves as a double-purpose 1) review of the anatomy we learned last year and a2)  foundation for the more in-depth human anatomy that we'll learn next year in 6th and for music this year, we've opted for Bucket Drumming.

    Reading: 1.25hr daily  | Math: HM with mom | Drawing:  Cognitive Drawing: Learn The Male Figure and Cognitive Drawing: Learn The Female Figure

    National Study (lots of RWD): HM: US History and Founding Documents
    Science: (light RWD)
    Electronics:   Getting Started with Soldering, Make: Electronics, and  Make: More Electronics
    Biology: RWD from The Way Life Works, The Biology Coloring Workbook
    French:  (lots of RWD): Le Petit Prince with the support of an audiobook, dictionary and notebook.
    Handicrafts: Machine Sewing My First Sewing Machine and Sewing School 2
    Music: Bucket drumming

  3. On 7/29/2023 at 10:32 AM, EKS said:

    You might want to take a look at the Foerster text.  It's less crowded visually than many of the texts I've seen, and it isn't as ridiculously huge.  

    We quite liked Foersters Algebra books and may possibly just do his Calculus book, actually!

    Do you know if Foersters' Calculus book includes Multivariable? From what I could see in some blurry pictures, it looked like it was single variable only

  4. It doesn't sound like the boss was being sneaky when he gave it to you, so I wouldn't assume that it has some nefarious source.

    IF you don't want to keep the money, then don't. You can simply put it back into the donation box and not make a huge deal out of it.

    I would NOT share my theories (iow spread rumors about the boss) to my coworkers. I would simply put the money back if I felt some type of way about it, but I don't know why it is your thinking that the boss did something shady.

    You may have more details about his character than you shared here, but it seems like you feel he's a man of integrity in your suppositions.

    • Like 2
  5. This articles is beating around the bush and I feel it's a false position. There are more and more parents on screens for hours and hours each day, and so there are more and more kids on screens too.

    https://explodingtopics.com/blog/screen-time-stats

    Most young children are being given screen time starting at toddler hood (or sooner). Books simply cant compete with that engagement factor. A large group of K students who are already addicted to screens are not going to find reading worth the effort or the same level of engaging. Some individuals in the group might, but not the most of them.

    Kids have learned to love reading outside of school time for as long as there have been schools teaching reading. Before, kids who loved reading would spend hour(s) outside of school reading--kids would sneak and read what they wanted to read in class. Kids would skip class to hide out with a great book.

    But nowadays millions of kids can't spend hours doing anything mentally active. They don't have the attention span. They don't have the literacy skills. They don't have access to books.

    Due to the huge screen usage and the "bite-sized" clips and bits available on screens, attention spans are being shredded. I was aghast when I saw some of the elementary aged paper backs from today vs thirty years ago. Books have gotten grossly simpler and simpler in their language to accommodate kids not being willing/able to concentrate as much.

    Just look at how many people can't sit in silence--they have to put audio -- whether it's songs or podcasts or audiobooks or whatever.

    In our home,  don't introduce screens to the kids in elementary to try and prevent (maybe just postpone) the screen-take-over. It's a serious problem for people of every age birth to senior citizens.

    I have a small amount of trouble getting my kids to choose long stints with books over other fun non-screen activities (building, drawing, physical horseplay, board games, puzzles, making things, baking, model kids, experiments etc). I can only imagine what would happen if I threw video games and cartoons into the mix.

    • Like 1
  6. I'm so confused about where you work and don't fully understand this scenario. Why do you all have a donation box at a restaurant?

    Or if it's not a restaurant, then what type of business is it?

    If the money was legitimately taken from donations and there's no protocol for using a portion of donations to tip/pay employees, then you should put it back.

  7. In our homeschool, we value writing as a form of communication.

     

    The ability to effortlessly communicate in writing gives you the option too.

     

    I know many young adults and teens who refuse to write by hand because they are embarrassed by the way their writing looks.

    If your child had a severe speech impediment would you want to get them help or let them go  dwrrough theiw whowe  wife taking wike thwis?

    The ability to read and write by hand will never go fully extinct in their life time.

     

    Also, the handwriting they have in English translates into any other language that uses the Latin Alphabet. Many European cultures do not feel handwriting is obsolete and when your child can't write in English, they can't write in French, Norwegian or Romanian either.

     

     

    • Like 1
  8. A couple years ago, we looked into History Quest, but ultimately decided against it. Jr. selected the Zinn book A Young Peoples History of the United States from the library book sale and he has read through it a couple of times. It's not really a year-long book.

    Does your child already have a basic knowledge of the overview of US History and Geography?

    Does each resource go in chronological order?

    If the books go in chronological order, then one idea is that you could read each time-period across the books for a more complete development of history, maybe?

  9. On 7/5/2023 at 5:09 PM, ArteHaus said:

    If you only had one year to teach essay writing to a 5th grader, what curriculum would you use?

    We did essay writing in 4th grade, but my rising 5th grader still needs improvement (he is a reluctant writer who would rather be drawing🥴). We are also doing ISEE test practice this year as well (which is why he needs a boost to his essay writing ability). We use MCT, but I don’t have the time this year for vague essay instruction. We love MCT, but I am looking for something that is more straightforward and explicit (old-school?) in teaching essay writing. My eldest is a natural writer, so it is different instructing my younger fella who has no writing interest. Anyway…

    Any advice?

    I would give the placement test for SRA's Essentials for Writing, which is a single-volume program for older students who need to shore up their basic writing skills. I'm a huge fan of the (made for public schools) SRA Reasoning and Writing Series, but it's a 6-level program (K-5) which are great if you're in it for the long haul and that clicks with what you want at that time.

    SRA's Essentials for Writing is especially designed for older students who have the basics but need some explict and straight forward teaching. It's 80 - 95 daily lessons depending on where your student places. Essentials for Writing is my recommendation based on what you've shared here about what you're looking for and what you're looking to do.

    After EfW, the student should have a strong foundation in the skills that one needs to complete most basic writing tasks and should be able to write strong essays. Once you have that EfW foundation, there will be mental energy to devote to build on from what they know.

     

     

     

    Essentials_Writing_Placement.pdf

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  10. Personally, I don't think it's too much written text. He's processing and explaining things as he's going and recording the thoughts and explanation well for his age.

    So instead of asking myself if my son's writing too much, I'd ask if he's

    • often including too much non-essential detail
    • writing at a reasonable pace
    • rambly or focused in this thought process
    • writing logically sequenced solutions
    • formatting his writing well for readability

    One thing that I'd coach him on is improving the readability of his work and eventually teach him to use abbreviations/shorthand. Not that he needs to use them, but so that he is able to read them when reading others work.

     

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  11. Wow! How time flies!

    Reading: 1hr daily  | Math: HM with mom | Drawing: Undecided

    National Study (lots of RWD) :
    HM: US History and Founding Documents
    Science: (light RWD)
    Electronics:   Getting Started with Soldering, Make: Electronics, and  Make: More Electronics
    Biology: RWD from The Way Life Works, The Biology Coloring Workbook
    French:  (lots of RWD)
    Le Petit Prince with the support of an audiobook, dictionary and notebook.
    Handicrafts: Machine Sewing My First Sewing Machine and Sewing School 2

     


    HM = Home made  | Vint. = Vintage Resources | RWD = Reading, Writing and Drawing across the curriculum

    • Like 2
  12. On 7/4/2023 at 2:01 PM, cintinative said:

    We have been using Artistic Pursuits for years but my dad teaches them and he is a retired graphic artist.  I think without his guidance, it would not have gone so smoothly. I think they have video lessons now so that might be worth looking into. Maybe they have samples?

    That said, I did check out Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain from the library and it wasn't for us.   I recommend you try to see if you can borrow it first. It wasn't what I expected.  We were far beyond those techniques by that point.

    I went and grabbed a copy of the DRSB from the library and it was a bit too dense for me to dive into at this time. I gave it a look-see but then I returned the book a few days later.

    ARTistic Pursuits seem to have waaaay too many books.  Which edition of the series does your family use?

     

  13. If the only issue with MUS is that she was taking her sweet time, I would be tempted to go back to MUS and just accept that she's going to prefer to take her time with the courses. You can also choose to not purchase or use the MUS Test booklets.

    8th grade - MUS Algebra 1 = 35 Lessons

    9th grade - MUS Algebra 2 = 31 Lessons

    10th grade - MUS Geometry = 30 Lessons

    11th grade - MUS Precalc = 30 Lessons

    12th grade - MUS Calculus = 30 Lessons

    So long as she's understanding and retaining the material, I don't know what's wrong with her taking her time/being thorough.

    You can do math through the summer if you're worried but it seems like she has time to do each level and graduate on time.

  14. How strange. Well, you were aware that he might be trying to con you and decided you could afford to risk it.

    The kindness in your act doesn't change.

    It's always possible that he is going to head to that city in the South, he just can't head straight there. Maybe he had to pick someone or something up and then head out.

    But really, in the world of interstate travel, how far will $5 of gas get you in this economy, anyway?

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  15. 1 hour ago, Nm. said:

    Sorry to hijack this thread- would you recommend both drawing squad and drawing textbook to for the basics ?  Which one first?

    For artistic Persuits- there are classic versions and newer versions- which ones?

    Not a hijack at all. I do not recommend using both.

    We used The Drawing Textbook and The Draw Squad is essentially a Revised Second Edition--they cover the same exercises in the same order (someone correct me if I'm wrong). The Draw Squad has step by step illustrations of each exercise where The Drawing Textbook does not. The Draw Squad also has cartoony finishes where as The Drawing Textbook does not.

    Drawing is a core subject in our elementary--not a once-a-week type of thing. So we liked The Drawing Textbook because it was cheaper, more portable and non-consumable--we were able to do the program with the whole family from one book. Also, we felt that we were able to pace it out according the way we wanted with minimal fuss. If we wanted to reschedule or re-do certain exercises, we could.

    However, if you wind up with both (or able to borrow The Draw Squad from the library) if there is a drawing in the course that you're having trouble getting The Draw Squad has step-by-step illustrations to guide you, where as TDT just shows you the finished product and has a paragraph (sometimes short, sometimes not) telling you what to do. The TDT requires more reading comprehension from a child, but since we taught it to them directly, they were able to do the lessons starting at K/1 stage.

    I do not have any experience or knowledge of ARTistic Pursuits and can't offer anything there.

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  16. Buy cheaper books. Don't borrow certain books from the library for  a few months while your 2yo learns better about how to care for books.

     

    Where are the books stored currently? Is the 2yo actively targeting the books or was this a one-off accident?

     

    You could try keeping a few books in a gallon ziploc so that the 5yo can get the books and so long as they can open/close the ziplock the books have a water resistant cover and if your 2yo can't open a ziploc then they can't get them even if they have the bag.

    You can also place them on a shelf where the 5yo can reach but the 2yo can not. Or a shelf where the 5yo needs a step stool to reach, but the 2yo--even with a step stool--can't reach.

    Personally, we bought a lot of used books locally for under a dollar and accepted that some were going to be lost to Toddler Antics.

    • Like 1
  17. After obtaining lots of practice at the level of The Drawing Textbook (or The Draw Squad, if you're more familiar with that) and New Augsburg where do you go?

    What would be the next step up for you?

    What would be the most advanced drawing lessons that one can purchase for At Home use? Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain?  And what would you schedule to proceed the more advanced stuff?

  18. On 6/27/2023 at 9:17 PM, Pintosrock said:

    About 6 years ago, we took the tv out of the living room. My kid (age 9) spends her free time reading,  playing and making lots of art. Success,  right? Nooooo...

    My kid signed up for a theater class this summer,  which she LOVES. The problem is they end every class with a game like charades, except you talk to give clues. Since she doesn't watch TV, my kid is TERRIBLE at guessing the other kids' characters. Today, she decided to be Matilda, which no one, not even the teacher could guess (but her clues were very obvious, if you've read Roald Dahl). 

    My kid has asked to bring the TV back out and be allowed to watch shows/movies. So, what are all the popular things kids are watching? Frozen and Toy Story and ??? I'm so clueless and out of the loop. Help!

    Don't panic OP!

    Remember that there's a difference between cultural literacy and pop-Cultural literacy.

    In our homeschool, we actually make the effort to transmit Cultural Literacy, and to that end we consciously include a combination of language (understanding idioms, vocabulary, understanding/Identifying accents) food (knowing (or just knowing of) favorite dishes/snacks (and the traditions around them--ie candycanes during Xmas, hotdogs on the 4th of July, etc ) past times (knowing or just knowing of) favorite past times which includes sports, games, songs, stories, shows and movies, books) historic and geographic knowledge (knowing Cultural heroes and their basic contributions, geographical landmarks, etc) dances (recognizing or performing them, lots of Americans recognize the Moon walk and The Hokey-Pokey but few can execute them) celebrations (we celebrate some National holidays and teach the history behind many others that we don't celebrate) customs/manners/behaviors and we talk about customs and manners in other parts of the world as a nice contrast.

    The vast majority of my kids knowledge and experience with POP Culture TV shows/movies/characters come from Tie-In Books that we borrow from the library. We don't run out and watch each new kids movie as it appears and they don't watch the shows. But we do pick up the Movie-Books from the library and read them. We will often purchase the sound tracks to popular kids movies so that they know the songs too. Our kids will often learn to draw the characters just because they want too. So even without having seen the show/movie they know the characters, the plot and the sound track well enough to participate in small talk about them if they needed to. However, I don't think that my kids really talk about TV/Movies with their friends. If they do, then not often. For our kids the biggest "gap" has been in toys/video games. We don't allow video games, so my kids can read a book about it and learn to draw the characters if they want, but they have to ultimately say "I don't have one." or "My parents won't let us play those video games" when kids ask them for their names on the games.

    Also, we don't buy any of the franchised toys. So whatever the "in" toy is, they see it in the story, they can interact with in Demo Mode in the box, but we don't ever buy Movie/Show merchandise and by now they know that.

    If I decided to purposely include some Kids Pop Culture I would start by doing some research on the most popular kids programs and movies for the 2010s and 2020s. I wouldn't just bring out the TV, but once I knew which 2-5 shows and which movies I was going to let my kid watch, I would do research and I would prewatch some of the worst episodes of each show so that I know the worst that my child might be exposed to in any franchise that I had selected and decide if that's something I'm willing to introduce the best of. If so, once I knew what show I was bringing into my kids life, I would pre-select "best episodes" from those shows for my child and/or "best arcs" from a season of the shows that I was comfortable with for my child at their current stage.

    I would not let my child watch shows that are still airing, because, again, I don't have the ability to view the Best and Worst of the show to make an informed decision as the parent.

     

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