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omd21

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Posts posted by omd21

    Math Sequence, SAT Subject Test….

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    Hello ladies,

     

    DD12 is done with AOPS Intro to Algebra book. She has also done some light geometry with me but no formal Geometry. She's taking the SAT in October.

     

    I'm undecided on whether we should do Number Theory & Counting and Probability now or go on to the AOPS Geometry book. She's really solid on the Intro to Algebra concepts. Are there any pros and cons on choosing one or the other?

     

    Also, at what point does she take an SAT subject test and which one?

     

    Thank you!

     

     

     

     

    Marine Biology for 7th and 2nd

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    Are you near a rocky intertidal zone, or just a sandy beach?  There are heaps of good experiments you could do if it is a rocky intertidal.

     

    My ds did an oceanography project at age 11 that might interest you.  I wrote it up week by week as we did it. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/361740-scientific-inquiry/

     

    Ruth in NZ

     

    We are in South FL, so we have both, but predominantly sandy beaches, although I believe there are some rocky intertidal areas close to us in the FL keys.

     

    We often go to a natural beach that has a fair amount of rocky areas, lots of crab and tiny fish and shrimp.

     

    I'm going to go read your report now, thank you so much!   :)

    Marine Biology for 7th and 2nd

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    Hello!

     

    DD12 and DD7 are very interested in focusing on Marine Biology this year. We live near the water and already spend a lot of time in the ocean. My DD12 has plans to get certified for diving.

     

    I would love to hear your ideas / suggestions on texts, living books, documentaries, museums, trips, etc. We want to cover this subject from an environmental science aspect as well, and would love to tie it into history if possible.

     

    A trip to the Bahamas is very doable for us as well.

     

    Just brainstorming, hoping for some guidance.

    Science for 12 yr old

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    Last year I let my chemistry-curious DD read science books according to her interests. After a year she requested an actual curriculum and I purchased Rainbow Science. She finished the Physics portion in a couple of weeks and is finding the Chemistry too boring and written too simply for her.  She is asking to take real chemistry and wants more experiments; she wants to "make things bubble and blow up". 

     

    Any thoughts on Spectrum Chemistry at this stage? She is working at the high school level in other subjects and just finished the first half of AOPS Intro to Algebra.

     

    We've pulled a few science experiments off the internet but I want her to have a deeper understanding of why's and hows instead of just following directions to make cool things happen.

     

     

     

     

     

    Improving Vocabulary

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    Thank you, ladies. We haven't done much reading aloud; I'm going to ramp that up.

    I've been curious about MCT. This past year we did R&S English. We started with the 5th grade book and switched to 7th grade mid year. I'm wondering if Cesar's English will be too much with a Latin 1 class, and a greek/ latin roots class.

    Reading Observations with DD

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    My son reverses numbers as well (writing them backwards and sometimes writes them in the wrong place value slot in spite of having a fantastic grasp of place value), has trouble with directionality in real life, reads a number of small words backwards at times (was/saw) and seems to be taking words in by sight as well as phonics. (...) Vowels are a sticking point--he frequently guesses at them even though he seems to know them. I think he literally ignores them and looks at the consonants unless he absolutely has to look at the vowels.

     

    This is DD to a t. She reads 21 as 12 constantly, etc. I'm glad to hear that your FIL is not worried about these reversals at this age. Thank you.

     

    you can look into a book called QRI-3 for assessing reading level. It's a book I learned to use in college

     

    My daughter went through a short phase where she could read the multi-syllable words and not the easier words, and I simply reminded her to sound it out and refused to tell her what the words were. I don't know what was going on in her brain but she got over it. The thing that I like about a good running record is the ability to figure out which phonics skills needed work.

     

    Here's more info on how to do a running record. 

     

    Thank you so much. I'll go take a look at the book you mentioned. I'd love to be able to identify the specific areas where she's having the most difficulty so I can give her customized help.

     

    It sounds perfectly normal to me. I have had a fairly wide range of readers at this age. I think there's a huge range for normal in newer readers. Once things settle down and reading becomes as natural as walking (or time passes and it doesn't become that way), then you can more accurately assess if what you are dealing with is normal. It's kind of like walking- babies and toddlers have a wide range of normal paths to learn to walk, and then, once most of the kids are walking well, you can see who will be the best sprinters and who may need orthotics. 

     

    For your specific question, I found my children who learn to read quickly would also frequently misread easy words. I think at times they may be anticipating a short word and not really reading each word- which is normal- adults do that too. Harder words grab their attention and force them to *look* in ways that smaller words don't. It also may have to do with simple misspeaking- they see and know the words, they'd get it if you asked, but the speed at which they are reading may make them stumble- kind of like if they call you Daddy instead of Mommy. For my kids who picked up reading more slowly, they went more slowly on every word and didn't slip over the easy ones as much. 

     

    If she stumbles over the easy words in isolation and out of context, that would be a red flag to me. I would think she may have just memorized a large variety of words and could run into trouble down the road when memorizing becomes impractical. Also, is she left handed? My unscientific opinion based on an extremely small sample is that left handers reverse letters more often and for longer than righties.

     

    This makes sense, and I'm thinking I need to come back to this and re-evaluate where she is in 6 months or a year. She made a lot of progress quickly, in a 3 month span and it may be that she needs an adjustment period. She can read the high frequency words correctly in isolation, but tends to get them wrong within the text, so it does sound like she is maybe guessing in order to go faster, when she should be going at a slower pace. She is not left handed but DH is.

     

    Your responses were so helpful. I have only had experience teaching one other child and it was completely different, so I'm glad to hear this is not uncommon. I'll be working with her closely and keeping an eye on her progress. I think I'm going to record her reading so I can have a good base to compare in six months or so.

    Reading Observations with DD

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    DD, who just turned 6, and just finished K, is reading at what I believe to be a 2.5 grade level. Most of her progress in reading has occurred in the past 3 months. She will read about 5 pages of a Magic Schoolhouse book in 30 minutes and has good comprehension.

     

    However, she will read a paragraph or two perfectly and quickly, and has no problem reading words such as "desperately", "overlooking", and "disaster", but within minutes she'll have trouble with high frequency words, like "eat", or easy ones, like "graze".

     

    She still confuses b for d about 40% of the time, and will reverse words, saying "rowng" instead of "grown", or incorporating the next word into the word she is currently on.

     

    Is this normal for her age? Are my expectations just not realistic for her age level? I only have DD11 to compare her to, and DD11 started reading at 4 and very well. DH and I started at 4 too.

     

    Also, how do you accurately test your children for reading level? I'm only going by the RL rating on the book she is currently reading.

     

    She is brilliant in everything else, so what gives?

     

    Any thoughts?

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Programming

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    DD11 has been expressing curiosity about programming and robotics. I'm a humanities person and haven't the slightest clue on where to start looking for resources. 

     

    She will have a pretty challenging schedule next year, starting Intro to Algebra in the fall, as well as a Latin class that will require additional study time. I'm hoping to find a way for her to learn programming in her spare time as a fun side project.

     

    Are there any courses / books / websites you could recommend? Also, what can she expect to accomplish learning programming at this age? (When I said I was clueless, I wasn't kidding.) :)

     

    Thank you!

    What do you and your spouse enjoy doing together...

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    DH is constantly out of town for work and this thread is making me miss him terribly tonight.

     

    Because he's gone so much most of our free time involves the kids. But these are the things him and I do together.

     

    We laugh, we giggle, wrestle, tickle each other, sometimes we have water fights inside the house. LOL

     

    We take spontaneous road trips. We counted them recently and in 14 years together we have gone on around 90 road trips.

     

    We've built a few houses together.

     

    He comes to work with me to be my assistant.

     

    We watch weird shows on TV, like "How It's Made".

     

    We talk, and talk, and then talk some more. I've never had a better friend.

    Socratic Discussion appropriate for 11 yr old

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    We focus a lot on the overall ideas expressed about the roles of men, women, and children. Also society and ruling class/government, but those don't apply to all books as well. Having my son see the cultural messages of those roles has really helped him frame the historical trends going on in a time period. The society/government roles help him to identify the recurring struggles of civilization (responsibility & freedom/ control & rules; inequality & financial disruption/ distribution of wealth & stability; expansion & conflict/ limited resources & limited choices). These sorts of discussions have really broadened and deepened his understanding of literature as a cultural representation of people.


    This is great. Thank you so much! We are still reading a lot of fantasy and adventure but these are great topics to apply and I will certaily keep them in mind. I'll check out the YouTube videos as well. I YouTube things for them all the time, they've done a ton of drawing and painting from lessons I pulled from there recently.
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