mathmarm
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Posts posted by mathmarm
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We teach cursive and manuscript. We balance the assignments required in each. Our end-goal is for the children to be able to effortlessly and legibly write in both so that they can choose which to use and when throughout their adult life.
When one method of writing is slower, clunkier and less fluid than the other, then it's not really much of an option.
We intend to require daily written output in both through the end of 8th grade.
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OP, I think you're over thinking this. You like A Beka. You're daughter is thriving with it. Purchase only the Phonics with Cursive Writing book that you need for her and use it. You don't need the lesson plans and all the extras.
Ultimately, it's a cursive workbook. Do what is sustainable and makes sense each week/day/session to develop your daughters handwriting. On days when she's done a lot of writing, skip or reduce the cursive assignment for that day.
Penmanship is about muscle memory, so you want to use the book in such a way that she develops skill and the correct muscle memory.
Ultimately whatever phonics A Beka teachers are NOT going to conflict whatever phonics she learns via whatever phonics program you choose.
Deep breath. It's okay. If you realize that you've made a mistake (I don't think that you are) then you can adjust from there.
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1 hour ago, Ting Tang said:
That is where we are coming from. 🙂 But.... I sold all of our Abeka grade 2 curriculum from her brother, and I didn't want to re-buy the lesson plans. Then I started getting worried if she just does the Abeka cursive workbook with their phonics, it might not align with another phonics program.
I never even considered purchasing the rest of A Beka, I only considered their Cursive because they were the only publisher I could find that started cursive in Kindergarten.
Since you used to own it, why do you feel that you need all the lesson plans to do A Beka cursive? Why not just...use the Cursive book according to your judgement? That might be 15 minutes a day or 2 pages a day or whatever makes sense for your home school.
I wouldn't worry about the phonics aligning perfectly. Fortunately all phonics are going to be consistent so she's going to eventually learn all her sounds and sound combinations anyway.
QuoteMay I ask what you did for the rest of language arts, using the Abeka cursive? I've been considering Memoria Press and Cottage Press along with the MCT Poodle books. (It just feels like when it comes to these lower grades, it's hard to piece together programs.)
We did not use A Beka because it's Christian and there was no way to filter/censor the religious content due to the nature of the workbooks/subject. However we were sorely tempted too because A Beka was the only publisher I could find that taught cursive starting in Kindergarten.
Before they're fluent readers and writers, the only ELA skills my kids work on are phonetic reading and penmanship. We used the Kumon books (but any book that teaches by letter formation will work) and wove in extra work for reinforcement.
To get their handwriting fluent, we have them
- write missing letters to complete words
- write words from dictation.
- drill handwriting phonics-combos
- drill handwriting high frequence words
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copy
- words
- phrases
- sentences and
- passages
that relate to whatever we're learning about
Also, while they're doing this we monitor for
- pencil grip
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correct
- formation
- spacing
- sizing
- alignment
- sloppy effort and have them re-do poor work
and keep it up for about 4 years
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As a family that also places a strong emphasis on handwriting in the elementary years, are you familiar specifically with A Beka's Handwriting track? It starts with the Writing with Phonics series?
Cursive Writing with Phonics K4
Cursive Writing with Phonics K5
Cursive Writing with Phonics 1
Cursive Writing with Phonics 2 This was followed up with the discontinued
Cursive Writing with Phonics 3 (discontinued) and then with
Penmanship Mastery I
Penmanship Mastery IIWe're not Christian so we don't use A Beka products, but we couldn't find anything as good as A Beka for cursive.
We used Kumon Cursive books (there are only 2 and they aren't nearly as complete) but we used that font and hacked together our own secular version of continuous cursive instruction for our children.-
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For a US States Study, I want my students to have a greater understanding of their country. We don't focus on trivia, though we do include it.
I would make sure that my kids have a solid idea of the regions and can label a blank map with total accuracy and confidence. I would want them to actively know Alaska and Hawaii in the correct geographical context--not as insets in the lower portion of the Contiguous 48 with some vague idea that there's either 52 (Canada and Mexico) or 50. There are various videos on YouTube that teach you to memorize the US States by geography so that you can fill in a blank map.
I'd want them to know 25+ major US cities (not capitals) and what states they're in. (If someone says Las Vegas they should know it's in Nevada)
They should know the major mountain ranges and rivers in the US and be able to draw them into a map.
Additionally, the states + capitals + abbreviations.
I'd want them to know which states certain prominent people hail from as well as the most popular sports teams and colleges for that state.We'd do the US State Quarter Album and look up the significance of each of the engravings chosen.
At G4 and above, I want them to read up on and begin to understand the natural resources as well as the main industries in each region and state so that they have useful knowledge about their country in their minds. Reading about state birds and flowers are nice, but we don't focus on that type of information at all.
They'd memorize the states in order of their admission to the Union and I'd let them watch an animation of the countries growth every day or every other to get that in their minds. (This is useful for studying history later)I'd also have them learn to draw certain historic tracks on the US map and label them with their distance. For example, the Oregon Trail, The Cumberland Gap, The Trail of Tears, etc.
For cultural knowledge and "appreciation of current affairs" I'd want them to geographically understand terms like Rust Belt, Bread Basket, Bible Belt, Salt Belt, etc.
I'd want them to know How the States Got their Shapes
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Congratulations!
What will her talk be about?
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40 minutes ago, Baseballandhockey said:
So, just out of curiosity, does that mean that none of you take your kids with nut allergies to places where nuts might be, like birthday parties?
Would you take your kids to events where an item laced with deadly-poison was going to be served?
Would you take them even if there were a whole spread of food and only one of the items contained a deadly-poison?
Your niece has been conditioned to trust you--your food, your home and your cooking--with her life.
How bizarre to flip the script and explain that today, you have decided to endanger her life because look at how cool this cake looks!
You can make a cake that looks just as cool and amazing as whatever this Cake is, without endangering the life of your niece and risking your family over it.
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It's not reasonable to make a cake that could literally kill one of the guests at this event.
Cakes can be designed, cut and styled to fit a theme regardless of the ingredients.
Please make a cake that does not pose a life-threatening risk to a minor-guest.
If any thing goes wrong, you will never be able to go back or apologize.
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My elementary boy liked these materials with an audio component, and minimal or no writing.
McGraw Hill French For Kids
French for Beginners and
French for Kids with Paul Noble
French with Paul Noble (the regular series for adults)-
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Ok, I've got questions.
What are the basic steps that you took to teach your children Spanish?
How was their experience learning Japanese different from their experience learning Spanish?
Do you have any idea what sort of objective level your childrens' languages are at?
When did you decide to focus on a Language-Driven homeschool model?How do you fit the other academics around their language learning?
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I'm very intrigued by this. We're having our kids learn French.
But finding the optimal way to go about it has not been easy.
I'd like to re-think the way that we teach/learn French here.
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@Gil How many languages do you speak?
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For his English reading, I recommend an intensive phonics component. I remediated reading for an older child (11yo) in about 6 months of intensive phonics with handwriting so if there is no severe learning difference I think that you may see similar results.
I would give him a list of 1 syllable words (not sentences, just words) and have him read them aloud. On an identical copy, mark every word that he misreads and when he's done, compute his accuracy. You want to get a baseline for where he is and the result will not matter as much.
Use a phonics sequence so that you can focus on what he needs. If he's reading CVC words perfectly, then no need to include those. If he's misreading a lot of CVVC words, then that gives you a place to start.If he's lacking in phonics for 1-syllable words, then you've identified a major weakness that you can do something about. Once he's doing well with 1-syllable words, you can expand to 2-syllable words. Then a program to take older children through a program meant for older children like Megawords or REWARDS.
At his age, if there are no severe motor difficulties, I would have him write in every phonics lesson.
Good luck on the evaluations.-
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36 minutes ago, Servant4Christ said:
Wow, that's amazing and sounds very similar to the method I've been reading about that is used in SWR. Very streamlined, which I like. I'm curious, if you don't mind, what do you use for teaching how to read?
We couldn't find a program that we really liked so wound up putting together the best features of the best programs we could find to teach reading.
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On 4/4/2022 at 8:12 PM, Green Bean said:
Downside to R&S Spelling is the word lists are all mostly religious words- Bible books, and such. Nothing wrong with that as the focus is more on the patterns/rules, but something to consider.
On 4/4/2022 at 8:28 PM, Brittany1116 said:There are some, but those are hardly the focus. I didn't recall any from the year we did it so I looked up the lists. I skimmed levels 2 through 5 and only saw 12-15 Biblical references between the four levels.
To this point, I checked our notes and the rough word count and category is as follows:
SbSS 2: 333 secular words and 2 religious
SbSS 3: 353 secular words and 13 religious
SbSS 4: 552 secular words and 22 religious
SbSS 5: 534 secular words and 20 religious
SbSS 6: 500 secular words and 27 religious
SbSS 2,273 secular words and 84 religiousNow, the word exercises--sentences, content paragraphs can be very religious. It can be a little heavy-handed. But we just rephrase or change those sentences. However, the words are not mostly religious. I will guesstimate that the around 30-45% of the lesson material has a religious bent depending on the level.
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On 4/6/2022 at 1:19 PM, Servant4Christ said:
I'm interested in how you implement this with just the TM. I can see how it would be simple enough for a non Christian to just cross out the religious words on the spelling lists, but not using the workbook at all sounds intriguing.
I don't think it's difficult to teach SbSS from just the TM. We do SbSS2-6 in this manner. It's important to realize that the Teachers Manual is the student workbook with extra essays, explanations and notes throughout the lessons and answers to all the exercises. Also, we do not begin spelling with a child until they are very fluent in reading and solid in handwriting. This means that when they're doing spelling, the focus is on learning spelling and other meta-skills. Spelling is an opportunity to exercise and reinforce their handwriting--but we're not wasting time with "how do you write __ again?"
As for teaching SbSS from the Teachers Manual we prefer this as it allows us to adjust the difficulty, save money and space (purchasing 5 workbooks for each child vs using a couple of regular notebooks that we get for $0.25-$1.00) and prevents us needing to reinvent the wheel of spelling instruction. For SbSS 2 and 3, the night before, we write the words out from the lesson on the board in cursive and print, (if we're going to eliminate or change a word, we do it now). We accelerate through the material at the lower-levels. We split the days between book work and block work.
During the lesson, we have the kids
1) read the list of words aloud clearly pronouncing each word and we take turns using the words in sentences.
2) say each word sound-by-sound as they finger-spell the word
3) say each word sound-by-sound as they mark the words on the board.
---) while learning to read, our kids are taught to mark digraphs, trigraphs, consonant-blends, and vowel teams using differing symbols.
NOTE: Most of the words in SbSS 2 are 1 syllable, but it does include several 2 syllable words
4) say each word syllable-by-syllable as they finger-spell the syllable
5) say each word syllable-by-syllable as they mark the words on the board
6) record the lesson in their 1-subject notebookFor their lesson the student has a 1-subject notebook in which we simply label the page for the lesson (ie Lesson 7: Common Short Vowels - Part A) and write blanks for the words (later the student takes on this responsibility). For the blanks, we read the clues for the words from the TM-workbook (we do any re-wording or censoring as needed), and the student says the words, spells the words, then writes it sound-by-sound and later on they do this syllable-by-syllable.
If they're right, then they write it in their notebook. If they're wrong, we put a little mark there and move on to the next word. Any words that got marked out, we make a note of in the TM and make sure to practice that word more intentionally. We practice any missed words at the start of most sessions.
Trouble words get written on the bottom of the page. On review lessons, we do the words spelling bee style. We give the word, then the kid says the word, spell the word and say the word. All words are written in cursive on review days.
Next we use a few of the recommended Spelling Drills from the TM (only in SbSS 2 and 3). For their block work, the student has a magnetic whiteboard and magnetic letters, letter tiles, etc. We do board work, block work and book work based on the TM-workbook.
For board work the child works at a whiteboard and we usually do:
Drill 01: Fill in the vowel,
Drill 02: Write the spelling word that sounds like ______
Drill 08: Say and spell the words from the list(s) in turns (orally)
Drill 14b: Kid says the word, uses the word in a sentence, and writes the wordFor magnet work the child works at a magnetic surface and we usually do:
Drill 06: put words in alphabetical order
Drill 07: put words together crossword style
Drill 11: student spells a set of words with the magnets, then checks his/her spelling against the list on the board.
Drill 12: give the child a clue and have them spell the word on the whiteboardFor book work the student uses their notebook and we usually do:
Drill HM: Write and color-code the word
Drill 02: Write the spelling word that is written like like _____
Drill 03: Create 2 (or 3) columns and write words based on their syllables
Drill 04: dictate a sentence that has multiple spelling words and the kids write the whole sentence
Drill 06: put words in alphabetical order
Drill 13: Write them a spelling word that rhymes with__________
Drill 14a: The kids compose and write a sentence using multiple spelling wordsThe work for SbSS 2 and 3 fit in a 1-subject notebook along. We use SbSS2 and 3 as a gentle introduction and training of attention, teaching them to use a notebook, etc.
The work for SbSS 4-6, along with some additional notes and drill work that we choose to give the kids, fit into a 3 subject notebook. When they have the paragraphs that the kids must fill in the blanks for, we have the kids just number the paper for the task and we read the paragraph to them. It's a listening comprehension exercise. We have the list of words on the board and we read the passage to them 2-3 times.
In SbSS4-6:
If the lesson is to transcribe diacritics - > words, then we don't put it on the board in advance. We have the kids write the words on the boards by diacritics so we say "east" and they sound-by-sound say /e/ /s/ /t/ and write it on the board using the diacritics. Then they copy the diacritics and the word into their notebook.If the lesson is to complete a word, then put the word up with blanks on the board in advance. They complete it on the board, then copy the entire word into their notebook.
We simply omit Bible-specific words--such as the lessons that teach you to spell books of the Bible or characters of the Bible--we simply have a shorter word list and spend a bit more time reviewing rules, patterns or past-words. We simply skip the Bible Thoughts activity all together.
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I'd make an appointment to have him put down, and race to find any rescue that could take him before then. If nothing comes up before X:00 on D-Day, then he'd be put down.
I'm sorry, this must be so frustrating and difficult for your family.
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On 4/4/2022 at 8:12 PM, Green Bean said:
Downside to R&S Spelling is the word lists are all mostly religious words- Bible books, and such. Nothing wrong with that as the focus is more on the patterns/rules, but something to consider.
This is incorrect. We use R&S Spelling by Sound and Structure but are not Christian. We teach the program from Teacher Books so we're able to easily filter-out/censor the religious vocabulary out of the program. We've taken 2 children through levels 2-6 now.
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I feel like the OYAN book and NanoWrimo workbook are similar in the all pre-planning support.
I think that I'll offer him just the NanoWrimo booklet.
My intention is to offer him a resource that will be useful and inspiring. I don't want to overwhelm him. He loves writing and I want him to still love writing when it's over. I think that the NNWM Workbook is going to be the sort of support needed to help him enthusiastically plan and dream out his novel for a few months, and we can write in the summer/fall.
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Is anyone familiar with Usborne Creative Writing?
2 hours ago, abbeyej said:One of my kids really enjoyed the One Year Adventure Novel. It's designed for 6th and up, but a highly motivated upper elementary school student could definitely use it. It's a bit cheesy and there are some Christian references, though it's been too long for me to say how much that played into it. I think not a lot. The videos on the website will help you determine if the cheesiness level is fun and appealing or wildly off-putting for you and your kid. 🙂
OYAN seems to be video based, is there any way to use it without the videos?
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On 3/30/2022 at 5:15 PM, Shoes+Ships+SealingWax said:
My DS has absolutely loved the YWP resources & found them incredibly useful! Participating in NaNoWriMo has become a beloved tradition he looks forward to each year. The planning doesn’t need to be completed workbook-style; it can be discussion-based. You also don’t have to complete ALL of it. It’s the detailed thinking & pre-planning involved that is so beneficial. You really get to know your characters & the world they are operating in prior to trying to write about them.
I'm so glad to hear this! I was worried that it would be dry or boring to a child but with your feedback I'm going to print a complete workbook and make it available to him.
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He loves writing and illustrating stories and he keeps talking about writing a novel. Does anyone have any ideas for books that might be inspiring or useful to him?
I've downloaded the NanoWrimo YWP Workbook and perused it, but it feels a lot like a huge collection of worksheets and not particularly inspiring or useful. Hopefully that's an incorrect impression. I'm considering purchasing or printing a YWP Workbook for him. But are there any other books that you're young writes have loved?
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1 minute ago, Farrar said:
I guess that's just unfortunate to me. We can't go around worrying about and carrying things for ourselves all the time. But my concerns drive how I vote, and I absolutely vote with public education (among other issues) in mind and I think we all should. And when people don't, that's part of how public education ends up in this sort of mess.
I am from a Multi-generational family of Teachers. Public Education is definitely an issue that I tend to be hyper-aware of since the time that I was school-aged myself. *shrug*. I've spent nearly 30 years actively working To Be Part of The Solution--outside of and beyond simply checking a box on election day.
Whether I worry myself with the Public Education system or not, doesn't change my local Public Education system.
A huge change has to take place, simultaneously, from the top (district admin) middle (school-personnel) and bottom (the families/children themselves).
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2 hours ago, Farrar said:
Sadly, you and your kids will have to live in a nation where the vast majority of people didn't have that privilege and the consequences of doing so. You can opt your kids out of specifically attending public schools. But no one can opt out of the ramifications of public education.
I know, however, that would be the case even if my children attended Public Schools. I can't raise, parent and guide the kids in my local school district.
I did, indeed, opt-out of worrying about Public Education.-
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Intentionally Passing "Folk Games" Down via Education
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted · Edited by mathmarm
added links, fixed types, expanded list and altered wording.
We consider "traditional" games a part of our kids elementary education so we very intentionally teach them to play these games/activities from PreK on up.
It would be cumbersome to type up the rules and games that we used to play as kids, so instead let's share any resources that we know of that can help in the preservation and passing on of favorite childhood games.
String Games
There are Books of String Games and MomsMiniVan has a blog and playlist where she demonstrates how to play several as well.
Marbles Games
The book Marbles: 101 Games includes many, many, many variety of Marbles Games that can be played.
Sidewalk Games
Card Games
We prioritize teaching games that can be played with a standard deck of cards. Currently, this is a weakness in our home school, the only know about 5--actually about 8 games to play with a standard deck of cards. Using a deck of cards, my kids know and play:
Go Fish, Old Maid, War, Crazy 8s, Slap Jack, Cheat, Memory/Concentration and Solitaire.
We're making an effort to teach them to play 15 more card games over the next 2 years.
The Ultimate Book of Family Card Games and then later upgrading to a more comprehensive book such as
The Penguin Book of Card Games
Commercially Available Card Games:
Uno | Rook | Racko | Phase 10 | Monopoly Card Game
Commercially Available Board Games:
Sorry | Clue | Life | Twister | Operation
Clapping Games, Rhythm Games, Chants and Finger Plays
The Kids absolutely love these. We taught the ones we knew from childhood as well as use several books for additional games and rhymes.
Anna Banana: 101 Jump Rope Rhymes
Miss Mary Mack and other Children's Street Rhymes
Hand Clap!
The Complete Book of Rhymes, Songs, Poems, Fingerplays, and Chants
I Saw You In The Bathtub and other Folk Rhymes
Hand Rhymes
Play Rhymes
Classic Play Things
Yoyo
Frisbee
Boomerangs
Jacks
Marbles
Bicycles
Pogo Stick
Unicycle
Jump Rope
Hula Hoop
Paddle Ball
Chalk
Tiddlywinks
Pick Up Sticks
Board Games:
Chess
Mancala
Checkers
Dominoes
Yahtzee
Outdoor Group Games:
Kick the Can
Kickball
Dodgeball
O-U-T Out
Capture the Flag
Hopscotch
Four Square
Tag (and variations)
Hide and Seek (and variations)
Monkey in the Middle
Duck Duck Goose
Simon Says
Musical Chairs
Please chime in with suggestions for resources or games that we might not have known as kids or just be forgetting in our old age.