mamabear2three
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Posts posted by mamabear2three
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Those are the skills I think are necessary. Students at the Highlands Latin School begin PL in 2nd grade, so it definitely can be done with the right student. The next question would be if you think she will be ready for First Form Latin in 4th grade...it involves a lot more daily work than PL or LC. Both PL and LC have some vocab drill/chants and 1-2 short exercises a day (10-15 minutes, not counting the video once a week), but FFL has 1-2 pages of exercises daily plus vocab drill/chants - easily 45 minutes of intense work. There is a huge jump in the expected output from the student when they reach FFL, and my only criticism of the program...I have to slowly increase the amount of work in LC (using the extra worksheets and activity book) over the year so that by the time they reach FFL there isn't an obviouse increase in the amount of work.
I was looking through the teacher's manual today and decided that I'm going to wait another year - I'm tired and don't feel like studying Latin myself and I don't expect to be any less tired in the fall with a 2 month old, so I'll just make the whole thing easier by waiting until 3rd grade to start Latin.
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Thanks for the ideas! No, it was not my idea to have this baby... it's our "oh ok, so God wanted us to have one more" baby. :lol:
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I am due to have our 4th baby 2 weeks before our 10 year anniversary. I feel like this is a big one and that I've kind of put a crimp in the ability for us to do anything special because we'll have a new baby that we can't leave.
My DH has done so much for me this pregnancy, it's been a rough one for me, and we're not done yet... I need a good idea of something I can make/do/get to make this a special day for him. Any great ideas??
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I like the Latin Centered Curriculum, but I don't start Prima Latina with my kids until 3rd grade. By that time they are fluent readers and have had a year of Rod & Staff grammar. I can't imagine using it with a child that is still learning how to read, is still learning penmanship (the PL student book does not have primary lines), and has not yet learned the basic parts of speech. It could be done, but it would be much, much harder than if the child was a little older. For my kids, starting the MP Latin sequence in 3rd grade is just right.
I've been going back and forth trying to decide whether to do Prima Latina with my daughter next year for second grade - she is a fluent reader well above grade level, knows basic grammar and actually does better with penmanship if she doesn't have to write with the primary lines. So would those be the prerequisite skills you think are necessary?
How much time do you take with it each day?
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Thanks for the encouragement and suggestions! I'll keep working on it for sure!
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My daughter has ADHD and what the pediatrician describes as "intermittent" anxiety issues. In other words, she struggles with anxiety more than "typical" for her age, but it comes and goes so that she is not prevented from doing things she wants. An example is that she will be able to play in the unfinished basement for a week straight and then be unable to even go down the stairs to feed the dog due to paralyzing anxiety about the black spot on the floor that she saw the last time she was down there, (real or imagined) that might be a spider. Another example is that she sleeps on the top bunk every night for weeks, and then one night she is suddenly unable to climb the ladder because the bed is too high and she's terrified of sleeping up on top.
So my mom, who taught me and my brother to swim, worked with her all last summer getting her over her terror of the pool so that she can learn to swim. (She just turned 7) She has learned to jump in and get her head wet (but can't do it every time). She can float on her back... if she relaxes enough to do so. She can kick her feet and move about the pool - providing she has a kick board and can keep her head above water comfortably. She has a blast at the pool but you can see her fighting the anxiety against the desire to learn to swim.
How can I get her more relaxed in the water? What else can I do to help her?
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Thanks for the suggestions :) Sounds like instead of figuring out a chore chart, I need to figure out some routines that will work for us and do those!
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OK ladies, I'm terrible at making my kids do regular chores. They do things when told to - like feeding the dog, clearing their dirty dishes, putting away clothes, etc. but it is not a routine and I'm always having to get onto them about doing what was asked.
I have a 7 year old, 4 year old and 2 year old and baby on the way due in early June.
I am going to take a break from school and focus on teaching chores and routines for the next month so that hopefully once the baby comes we have some good cleaning habits in place and take the pressure off of me. (Also, I admit, I am not the best house keeper!)
But searching for "chore charts" is just overwhelming to me and I don't know what to do. So for those of you who have cleaning routines that work, how do you structure it? What kind of routines/charts/etc. do you use?
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I have Prima Latina for my daughter for next year (strong verbal skills, currently finishing up 2nd grade writing and math material, reading at 4-5th grade level). I feel like it would add so much to her vocabulary/language skills since this is her strongest area.
She is begging to learn Spanish, though, and has picked up some vocabulary already from what little I remember from high school Spanish.
So would it be too much to do Prima Latina and Spanish together next year?
Edited: I'm still trying to find a Spanish program that I like the looks of...
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Are you seeing a pediatric psychiatrist? I would not just rely on a pediatrician for this.
We use Country Life Omega 3 mood (2 per day), Vit, B and D, etc. and they help but we still need the meds.
Has your doctor done any blood work to check for thyroid, anemia, blood sugars, Vit B and D levels, etc? Our psychiatrist does this on a yearly basis and did a baseline before starting meds. She also checks liver and kidney functions. I am very pro med but not so pro having a pediatrician just prescribe a stimulant and send you on your way without first ruling out any other physical issues that could be at at play (allergies, etc. too), getting baseline blood work, and ruling out other mental health concerns---anxiety, mood issues, depression, etc.
We don't see a pediatric psychiatrist, although a psychologist diagnosed her. We recently did a full blood workup because of extreme exhaustion during the winter and everything was normal except vit. D so we are supplementing that.
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This is very interesting - my DH is very against stopping the meds, ironically. And honestly, when we started the meds, they were such a life saver for us in so may ways. Maybe I just need to add some things in to level out the moods and see how that goes.
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So I wonder if some of the sensory tools would help? Like one of those inflatable pillows you sit on, or a resistance band across the feet of her chair? Something to fidget with that might help her focus?
What about essential oils?
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I've asked the pediatrician about switching meds a couple times, but she told me that what I'm telling her about my daughter's behavior and health say that she is tolerating the meds really well. Our issues are minor, but they trouble me - she has trouble gaining weight, (I have to focus daily on making sure she eats enough) and she has to take melatonin to sleep. Then we will have days where she is gloomy and moody and "tired" and has tummy aches so she won't want to eat. Some days it seems the meds don't help much and we have to modify our schedule and I usually call school off for the day (she won't be hyper those days, but can't focus to save her life). All the other days are inbetween - where the meds seem to have made a huge positive impact on our lives.
And I have to say I'm kind of tired of the prescription hassle.
And while we aren't having panic attacks, we have a major issue with anxiety and some days are so severe she can't go to the basement to feed the dog - and she usually has no issue playing in the basement for extended periods of time.
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My daughter has pretty severe ADHD combined type. We have been using meds this school year and for a couple reasons, I'm considering taking her off of them and trying some other methods of dealing with her symptoms.
For those of you who manage without meds, can you please tell me your most helpful tools and tricks?
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OP, I don't know if this thread is helping you, but I am thoroughly enjoying all the responses. This has been really interesting. :)
This thread has been amazing and inspiring... I've bookmarked it so I can re-read it over whenever I need inspiration :)
Public schools may cut art education for budgetary reasons, but I've always made it my goal to not make the same mistake. We do art because I think it's what makes a "well-trained mind" much the same as math, handwriting, history, or science. Art and classical music are like classic literature to me. IMO, it's the foundation of what it means to live here, right now. It's what we build on when we create new things.
This was an interesting perspective that I'd hadn't thought of - I would hate to fall into the same trap as the public school system with art/music.
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My public school background says that the point of art is to give children a creative outlet because there is so few outlets for creativity in public schools. My state requires art included as a portfolio subject but is fine with coloring pages... my husband teaches in the public school system and in his district, they don't have an art class and art is not a required subject but teachers are required to give an art grade. How stupid is that? Anyway, his opinion is that art is a nice extra but since we're tight on money, he'd rather us not spend any money on an art curriculum.
I don't even know what all I can count as "art"... I guess because I'm not sure what the point of art is.
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I have a friend who is asking me for ideas on what games she can play with her son who is having trouble with rhyming words and distinguishing between questions and statements.
The only thing I can think of is the game we play sometimes where we would try to out rhyme each other. What else has anyone played?
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I Think I might finally have a plan for 2nd grade:
History: SOTW2
Science: A Child's Geography for Earth science.
Language Arts: MCT Grammar Island Level plus the MUD trilogy and other reading as assigned.
Math: McRuffy
Music: Story of the Orchestra
PE: Dance class
Language: Prima Latina
Art: I don't have the money for anything here after buying the other things I need, so we will just do this across the curriculum like the last 2 years.
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I appreciate all the advice! I think that I got sucked into the idea that I needed a "challenging" program that would give her the best math background, but maybe going back to McRuffy, the one program that she never complained about, would be the best idea. It's a solid program, even if it might not be the most challenging. I agree that enjoying math might be one of the more important things to focus on, because what you enjoy, you will want to do more and will naturally improve at.
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I've tried to figure out how to teach miquon and I can't figure it out :(
Maybe I need to redouble my efforts there and get it figured out.
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I am a bit confused. You say she is through a 2nd grade math book, but not mature enough for skip counting? Yes, but if you haven't looked at the skip counting chapter in Beast 3A, it's not normal skip counting - the problems even made my head hurt!
Has she mastered her addition and subtraction facts (from 0-9, each fact should be done in <3 seconds)? She has ADHD so she can't run through her math facts in <3 seconds but she is firm and solid on her addition and subtraction 0-10. She is also proficient at solving 2 and 3 digit by 2 and 3 digit addition and subtraction (with carrying and borrowing) using the traditional algorithm.
Can she read a clock? Yes. She can't read it quickly yet but she can read it accurately within 10-20 seconds.
Can she count change? Yes.
How is she at measuring things in length and weights? She has no problems with these types of problems.
Can she skip count by 10s? 5s? 2s? 3s? yes.
At some point "review" must be done until facts are automatic. If she lacks that foundation, she will hit a wall in math.
The wall she is hitting is the mental math - she is being asked to solve 2 digit by 2 digit addition and subtraction in her head by using several smaller steps (strategy taught in MEP) and the mental manipulation of the numbers is difficult for her, probably in part due to the ADHD which makes it difficult to keep things in her head. But even writing out each step doesn't seem to help her.
I am wondering if I need to use something that has a lot of manipulatives?
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I feel like I'm ruining math for my daughter, and don't know what to do. Please don't laugh at my math journey and take pity on the poor mom who just wants to provide a solid math background for her daughter without losing her mind!!
Last year (K) - we started with MEP 1, I loved it. my daughter tolerated it. We hit a wall with memorizing addition facts and put the house on the market in Feb. so I needed something simpler... I tried Math Mammoth and it was a colossal failure. so after some research I bought McRuffy Math grade 1.
McRuffy math was FUN and EASY. She loved the manipulatives and found everything we were doing super easy. After a couple months, I went through and gave her all the tests and quizzes and found that she knew almost everything in the grade one book already. I tried going back to Math Mammoth, only giving her a few things to do in each page and she was still overwhelmed with the amount of stuff on the page and would shut down. Then the house sold in May so school was over for the year as we got packed up and moved.
This year (1st) - I tried Math Mammoth again, using pretests, and finally gave up again, she just can't stand it and it wasn't worth tears every single day. So we started with Horizons 2, and I pretested her through - we finished the first half of second grade in just a couple months.
Horizons was an easy way for me to ensure she knew the concepts, is colorful, and the repetitive drill killed her. She didn't need that much practice. So I supplemented it with Beast 3A, to test the waters and see how well she could handle it - she loved the first chapter on shapes but when we got to skip counting it was obvious that she wasn't mature enough to face the challenge, and I tried going back to Horizons. We finished Horizons 2B and started 3A when she was just so sick of the repetition, even with me modifying each lesson, that I knew I needed to make another change. But going back to Beast didn't sound like a solution so I got out MEP again.
MEP 2a was a breath of fresh air for both of us... for a while. She flew through all of the review, enjoying the different approach to math, and now we are stuck again on lesson 64. Each day is a fight, she can do the work but it is difficult, it makes her think and she doesn't like to work hard.
She has asked to go back to McRuffy because that was "fun math".
I'm frustrated - I like MEP, but don't want to fight over math every day! But I feel like McRuffy is just so expensive for how easy it is and I don't have any idea what level to purchase if I were to go that route!
Please have pity on me and make a suggestion that will make math fun and beneficial all at the same time!
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My son has ADHD too (inattentive), and he is a SLOW processor. He was talking through something similar yesterday out loud, and it was clear that the numbers and his brain weren't going together for that task. He was trying mightily, but the road was just blocked. We did a different task instead.
Sometimes a "bad" math day is a great grammar day. Sometimes the whole day is difficult. I try to save some special stuff (or things they enjoy) for days that are like this. If it's a good day for a different subject, then we tend to focus on that. If it's a bad all around day, we do the special stuff or resort to educational videos, life skills (if they can focus), or whatever makes things work. Sometimes they need to do something therapeutic, like sort legos or sweep the floor.
Sometimes they just need an "organizing" task before they start the day. For my older one, that usually looks like work or sorting. My younger one often needs a physical task or something that makes him have to do something quickly (playing Count Battle on the ipad) to get the brain connections primed.
it sounds like you handled things well. I just threw out the other ideas in case they work for you at some point. It also can take some time to get meds just right, and they still have some random functioning with meds too. The time change is still throwing us off, plus we had a conference at church last week that messed up bedtimes. It shows.
Thank you for these ideas! I used to have a chart with organizing, calming, and stimulating activities, I should really find it and laminate it and put it on the wall so that I remember that sometimes she needs something other than just her meds to get going.
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I think spring fever/cabin fever might be playing into it - we had one nice day this week and all the rest have been cold and rainy.
I decided that today was going to just be a wash and I would start fresh again on Monday. We are only going to the end of May because I'm due in June, I just really wanted to get a decent amount finished before June!
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Help! 10 year anniversary and a new baby
in The Chat Board
Posted
you know, I just remembered something my mom told me a few months ago - they met a couple who was out to dinner with their kids and found out they were celebrating their "family anniversary"... in other words, the anniversary of when their family started... which was not when the first child was born, but rather when mom and dad got married, since that's technically when their family started. I loved the idea then and I think we'll employ that concept now since circumstances are what they are.
We can make it a big important thing and have a nice dinner and everything (and nice might just mean pizza delivery so no one has to clean up!).
Maybe we can even make cards for everyone to show each family member how much we love them and are glad they are a part of the family!