Gil
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Posts posted by Gil
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1) Find the official website of each political party.
---This is a conversation that requires either a-background knowledge, or b-the ability to read and find background knowledge.
2) The children should already understand Main Idea and Supporting Details
---Talk/PreTeach the 3 reasons people write--to persuade, to inform, to entertain
3) Look at the fliers as a method of IDing the why the fliers were written (to persuade/inform)
---Have your students learned about bias and authors point of view
---Talk about how the fliers appeal to their audience
---See if you can find anything on the fliers that's false-
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52 minutes ago, mathmarm said:
Ok, I've got questions.
What are the basic steps that you took to teach your children Spanish?
I spoke to my children in Spanish. I taught them phrases and sentences, then vocab to mix-and-match into the sentences. I emphasized and taught functional language to them.
They didn't need to introduce themselves to me, or tell about their family, so we didn't waste time with typical "Spanish 1" nonsense.
QuoteHow was their experience learning Japanese different from their experience learning Spanish?
Mostly, I had some idea of what wasn't likely to work with re: Japanese do to some trial and error with Spanish. The improvements that I made with Spanish, were just applied to Japanese directly.
Also, they were older. They had an informed opinion of what they were hoping to be able to accomplish. They had a strong idea of what it feels like to speak a minority language and that was a big source of motivation for them.
I knew to stagger literacy behind conversation.
QuoteDo you have any idea what sort of objective level your childrens' languages are at?
No.
They consume Spanish language media in real time, they converse with native speakers from a variety of countries. They participate in Spanish language social activities without missing a beat. They'd probably be required to take Spanish for Heritage Speakers at the local 4-year-college if they were to take Spanish at college.
They can hold their own with college students majoring in Japanese Language and Culture. They watch anime, listen to Music and chat online in Japanese. I've been told that their accents are really, really good.
QuoteWhen did you decide to focus on a Language-Driven homeschool model?
I would not say that we have a Language-Driven homeschool.
QuoteHow do you fit the other academics around their language learning?
I don't fit anything around the language learning. They learn through Spanish, so it doesn't take any extra time. We read Spanish language books and outline them and study content just like we would with an English text.
As for the rest, we've always done our own thing when it comes to schedule and subjects. Our goal is not to study Japanese, but to develop and maintain Fluent Japanese. I simply schedule a block of time for Japanese and we (mostly) stick to it. We immerse in Japanese media when possible.
Focus and consistency. Day in and day out.
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7 hours ago, Slache said:
Thank you for listing everything I haven't done so that I can now do it.
😶
Two Notes of Caution:
1) I'm not a Japanese Speaker, linguist nor am an expert of anything besides getting things done for The Boys.
2) The Boys are not yet fluent speakers, so this is all one big experiment with no proven results just yet.Essentially our Japanese path began with 1.5-2.5 years of developing aural and oral skills. Our reasoning was two-fold.
1) If you can't hear the language--the words, the particles, sentences, etc--then you'll never be able to converse. Period.
2) The Boys wanted to be able to converse in the language. They wanted to watch Anime in Japanese.So, for better or worse, we focused on hearing (and mimicking) spoken language. Lots and lots of input, and staggered repetitions and practice mimicking. They re-learned Kana with precise pronunciations and started reading simple texts.
Because Japanese is Japanese, we had to tackle Kanji along the way (you can't just learn to read Japanese in a month like Spanish, German or any other alphabetic language). They used the Heisig books to learn the Kanji. It was kind of difficult to go from memorizing Kanji to using them, but I let a language mentor/tutor handle that part.
When they began attending Japanese Conversation groups, they had really strong conversation skills compared to the college kids that they practiced with. However, during the first 2 years, most of the other students had more advanced literacy skills. The Boys have been able to close the Japanese literacy gap with guidance from tutors/more experienced students followed up with daily study and regular practice.
Pimsleur, Beginning Japanese and News in Slow Japanese, were all great for early stage input and practice. We worked very carefully through Beginning Japanese that was our first priority. After getting a conversational foundation, they did Genki. They've been watching Anime in Japanese for the whole 4 years.
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32 minutes ago, mathmarm said:
@Gil How many languages do you speak?
Most days it's 2. Other days it varies from 1.5 to 2.5.
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You can also make audio recordings of books yourself.
Just pick a set of books, ID the most key terms and write out a basic translation. Record yourself reading/performing the story. Then play that recording for your kid.
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9 hours ago, Luda said:
I am teaching him math and Hebrew and he is advancing very well. Unfortunately I can’t use most of the literature resources as they don’t exist in Hebrew, like the The adventures of Odysseus for kids. It upsets me.
Thank you @Gil. I’ll give Hebrew another year to cement the reading abilities fully and switch to English next year, starting with reading, not insisting on comprehension.Yes, but you can read it in English and relate the story in Hebrew now or at any time. The year your child learns to speak English is probably not the year that they'll have the English vocabulary for The Adventures of Odysseus anyway.
When I started teaching The Boys Spanish, I'd make notes on sticky notes and leave them on the pages of the book that I was "reading" to them t remind me of a word or have the equivalent phrase available. Many stories were simplified or streamlined in the early days as I spoke at them in the level that I was proficient AND the level at which they understood.
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Just begin teaching the WTM content material in Hebrew. Replace the English language arts with Hebrew language arts, which means that you will
teach your 5yo to read and write in Hebrew. Teach them basic grammar facts in Hebrew. Teach them poems and songs in Hebrew.I've had success in teaching my children to phonetically read a language that they don't understand. Then literacy becomes a tool in their Language Learning toolbox instead of a constant stumbling block--they know how to pronounce words well, they know when/if letters are silent, etc.
Don't feel like you have to start and master a language now at 5 or it won't be done. It will be get done
For my 2 older children they began systematic study of their 2nd language (Spanish) at around 6ish, because that's when I had the bandwidth and resources to teach them. By 10, they were very advanced in Spanish and began a 3rd langauge (Japanese). They're teenaged now and speak 3 languages really well. We're aiming at being fully trilingual by the time that they graduate highschool in 3 years.
In each language, I always try and teach my child Functional Lanugage first (phrases, sentences and patterns that they need right now and in specific contexts). We over learn irregular verbs or words in contextualized sentences--but we drill all regular verbs using verb tables and sentence frames that have to do with time (or mood) .
My 2 children learned to decode well (I won't say read because reading implies comprehension) 3 languages ahead of actually learning to speak those languages--so you can offer English phonics now. If he struggles with decoding, do a month of phonemic awareness and sound games and try again.
I would not wait until the child speaks English to teach them content or skills.
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23 hours ago, Slache said:
I do not know how to accomplish this with another language. I think I have to learn French but I absolutely do not want to. DD will not be ready for French at that time either, so I don't think I have a choice.
You do not have to learn French. Depending on your income, you may need to get a pt-job in order to pay for French materials and/or tutor though.
The Boys speak Japanese and have been studying and learning for a few years now. I didn't speak Japanese when they started and I don't speak Japanese now that they do.
You figure out the steps that they need to take and you make sure that they take them.
I found a Japanese program that worked for us--it focused on conversational skills and putting sentences together. I made sure that they worked that program diligently. I made sure that I got them the best materials that I could find and afford. I got them a tutor when they reached the point of needing one. I made sure that I knew what the tutor wanted them to do, and guarded the time and the space that they needed to complete the tutors work.
I make sure that they keep orderly notebooks and review material on schedule. I make sure that the internet bill is paid for so that they can access classes and materials that they want/need for Japanese.
Around 5th grade, kids can be lead and supported to work for what they want.
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Stick with Saxon but take out the worksheets. Have her do the problems orally.
For Saxon 2 have her write for 1/3 of the problems for the first half, then work your way up to doing 1/2 of the problems on paper for the second half of Ssaxon Math 2.
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We're still alive.
Spanish
We speak Spanish around the house a lot. The Boys can and do converse with native speakers from various countries on both random topics, as well as topics of interests to them. They read and write for school in Spanish. They learn new academic and hobby material in Spanish. They maintain friendships with monolingual Spanish speakers. They watch movies, shows, YouTubers in Spanish and speak with a really solid accents--they've had people surprised that they speak English at all. The mission is to not grow complacent and to maintain this level of capability in Spanish.Japanese
They meet with a local Japanese language learners group in person every week for conversation and immersion practice. We're using 2 tutors--one for literacy stuff (reading and writing) and one for conversation (speaking and listening). They're always watching Japanese language media online--I have to limit them or they'd get nothing else done. We're just sticking to it inch by inch.
We keep Japanese audio playing most evenings and in the early AM.German
Our greatest accomplishment: Consistency. We're sticking to our several minutes a day, making progress. The Boys have watched Avatar: Der Herr der Elemente all the way through. Conversation is our weakness as we don't have many opportunities to speak German. Our reading and listening is better. We've covered a good bit of grammar and can read ok. The trial year is almost over. I'm going to take a break after the year and then decide what to do.I've thought about giving up German many times throughout the year, but have decided against it. I am trying to teach myself and my kids that quitting isn't something that should be done lightly. We've made some progress in German, but we aren't able to give it the fanatical focus that we typically give to something when starting out. It sucks to not progress as rapidly as we're used to, but we simply don't have the time to study 3 languages proficiently, given the resources that we have.
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So, school starts in 4 days and we don't have a finalized name. I don't want to use an "S". They'd prefer GADGET to GADGETS because
We all agree that matriculating through
GEAR
GIZMO
GADGEThas a better, more satisfying ring to it than matriculating through
GEAR
GIZMO
GADGETS
Unfortunately "Technic" is a noun, but not a place. I need to find a good T-word that suitably ends the acronym.
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16 minutes ago, Garga said:
I sit with my son and read every stinkin’ word on every syllabus. He’s one of those 2E types, where he’s smart as all get out, but due to learning disabilities he still needs some scaffolding from me.
And frankly, every single syllabus we’ve read has been a mess. I get so sick and tired of reading those things, because they often have conflicting information or leave out vital information. He’s taken 8 classes and so far there’s not been a single one that didn’t have a big, glaring error that made it so my son had to contact the professor for clarification.
That is super frustrating! I'm so sorry that you guys have to go through that!
I guess I've been lucky. When I was in college (CC and University) I read every part and page of my syllabi and pacing schedules because I had such a tightly packed schedule and often had to selectively skip assignments or pre-do big assignments. If I saw that I was going to have 5 big papers do at mid-term, I went ahead and wrote them during the first few weeks of school. I would do the hardest parts of "group assignments" well in advance so that if the group was lousy, my grade wouldn't be. My syllabi at the CC level always made sense and were complete.I remember when I transferred to the University that I missed the super-detailed pacing schedules that were routine at the CC level. But some classes still had rigidly upheld pacing schedules and the problem sets/projects were announced in well in advance.
One time we had a bunch of assignments in all the classes moved due to a hurricane devastating our city, but that couldn't be helped. Many students and faculty had fled for their lives and thus couldn't complete assignments at the pre-selected date/time.
As a whole though, I don't remember having many terrible syllabi. There was one class where the professors wife and newborn were having a lot of medical issues so she didn't give a pacing-schedule and that class was canceled a lot. She did announce assignments in reasonable amount of time and would respond to emails though.
I did have 2 professors in the same department who were terrible. They had syllabi but they didn't adhere to them. That was infuriating and highly inconvenient. One of them was also just really bad at their job and didn't seem like they knew what they were doing or talking about. That experience was very traumatizing.
Like you, I also sit with The Boys and make them read through their syllabi, pencil in important dates in both their planner books and add them to their electronic calendars, etc. So far, they've had really solid syllabi and pacing schedules with assignments announced in advance. Fingers crossed that our luck holds.
QuoteI really hate these “gotcha” things meant to make young people look like idiots. As if any of us entered college with the wisdom that we’ve gleaned over 50 years of life. No. We entered college just as confused as the young people are today. Why pick on young people? We were all young and we all had to learn along the way. It’s just so rich that a professor did this, when I know for a fact that they write sloppy, confusing syllabi all the time, yet get snooty and self-righteous about it. It’s getting to the point where my son just flat out doesn’t believe me anymore that reading the syllabus is important, because they’re wrong more often than they’re right and now I look like I’m the clueless one for insisting that we read them all.
The linked article didn't have a smug or mean-spirited tone to it at all. Based on the one article linked, I really don't think that the professor meant to make his students look like idiots.
Personally, I have played this type of prank on my kids before. More than once on my youngest. It wasn't to make them look like idiots, but rather to encourage them to read the friggin instructions which for some reason did not sink in as quickly as I would've liked.
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On 12/22/2021 at 5:36 PM, PaxEtLux said:
Feel like this was just a "gotcha" stunt on the part of the professor. Here's the text of the "free $50", from someone who posted the whole syllabus, but buried within a much large text:
QuoteConsistent with the Faculty Senate policy on Covid absences, attendance is an inseparable function of course learning objectives. As a result, skill-based courses in music may be exempt from Covid-related accommodations as a progression in skills must be obtained across the semester to be successful in these courses. Thus (free to the first who claims; locker one hundred forty-seven; combination fifteen; twenty-five; thirty-five), students may be ineligible to make up classes and coursework beyond the specified number of days as determined by the instructor. Requests will be decided on a case-by-case basis with specific emphasis on the ability to achieve learning outcomes.
Looks like a cut and paste error to me. And is it ethical to go pawing around random lockers that aren't yours just because of a cryptic message in a syllabus? If the locker number and combination had been written on a yellow sticky note on the professor's computer, and a student happened to see it during office hours, would it be ethical for the student to find the locker and try the combination?
To me, this doesn't feel much like a "gotcha" stunt. It literally says "free to the first who claims;" then gives a LOCKER (location) and COMBINATION (a key/password). If students had at least read that portion of the syllabus, some of them would have at least been prompted to ask the professor about that bit.
Personally, I'd have gone and looked in the locker if I saw that in the syllabus, then confirmed with the professor after the fact that the money really was mine to keep.
Seeing a location + passcode on a sticky note in the professor's office is not the same as seeing a notice posted in the professors office.
If I saw what looked like a private self-reminder to the professor, I'd feel guilty about violating his space if I went to the locker.
However, If I saw a public notice that said: Free to the first who claims on the professors wall, I'd go find the locker and try the combination. It's not trespassing at all.-
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On 11/27/2021 at 12:18 PM, Spirea said:
I also just ordered a nice looking, supposedly "like new", copy of Robinson Crusoe for ds10 from ThriftBooks. I hope it is ok. I've never ordered from them and I hate anything with odors, but it is just a $5 gamble.
Just an FYI:
I have ordered from Thriftbooks for years, usually through their Abebooks, Amazon and eBay stores but just so that you know, I've never been burned--in the event that I needed to return a book, I returned it. In the event that a book was not as advertised, I've been refunded and allowed to keep the book.98% of the time, the books have been in better-than-advertised-condition so I've been comfortable ordering books in acceptable and good condition from them.
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20 hours ago, JaiMama said:
Do I have any gaps?
I am wondering if I should try another writing curriculum?Thank you.
re: Gaps. No it looks like you have everything covered.
re: Writing program. I don't recommend starting a composition program until the child is semi-fluent or fluent at physically writing. I would keep them writing in 1st and over the summer then re-assess in the early part and again in the middle of 2nd grade.-
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27 minutes ago, Ellie said:
Well, I don't have any insight, but I do think my teacher's assignment to copy text as much as possible really helped with fluency. We copied everything--magazines, newspaper articles, favorite books, everything.
We've done a bit of copying, but I'm definitely aiming to make it a daily practice going forward.
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We are not living abroad but do school in 2 languages. My younger son could read in his 2nd language, but it was slower and harder than reading in his 1st language English. Everything that he wanted to read was available and easier to read in English. Finally, I bit the bullet and imported books that were in his interest to entice him to read larger, longer texts in the 2nd language. It was well worth the gambit. He went from reading only picture books to and short books in Spanish to reading 300pg Fantasy Novels in Spanish.
I would personally continue working towards your goal of getting him to finish your the last 30 lessons of 100EZ by April.
It is a marathon, not a sprint, but I think that roughly 10 lessons a month is reasonable for a 1st grader. Lots of review and repetition. Make the practice as enjoyable as possible.I would look into purchasing books that will entice him to read. I would by an English children's encyclopedia in a subject or for a video game or cartoon that interests him.
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11 minutes ago, greenfields said:
Which "l" is eliminated in comfortable + ly?
Do we eliminate "le" from comfortable? Or do we eliminate "e" from comfortable and "l" from suffix "ly"?
(Never thought of this my entire life until I homeschooled.)
Thanks to all in advance.
I could be wrong, but the way that I understand it is you are modifying the word "comfort" with the suffix "ably" .
You're not changing the word "comfortable" but the word "comfort".
Treat "comfort" as a base word, so you have ably (suffix that makes an adjective)
Comfort + ably (suffix that makes an adjective) and you get: comfortably-
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3 hours ago, UHP said:
Why not?
I was a poor writer, or poorly trained one, in high school. I only suffered for it a little in college and not at all after — until now. Now I wish knew more about school writing for my 7-year-old's sake.
If The Boys were poor writers, I'd absolutely do something different and go a different way.
But as it stands,I can't imagine going another 4 years with ELA (at the highschool level) because
1) The Boys are really darn solid with ELA currently--wonderful vocabularies, strong writers, capable speakers, really good conversationalists and very widely read.2) Opportunity Cost. ELA for ELA's sake is a time consuming subject and I'm not convinced that there is much Return On Investment to be had to keep moving higher/farther down the continuum as opposed to spending that time and energy on other subjects or concepts.
There are a few niche skills that they'll need to learn but I can't justify stretching out the list for 4 more years when it is likely that one more year will do the trick and if it doesn't, oh well. It doesn't really matter to their future.
For what it's worth, you don't need a high school writing level to teach/guide your elementary school student to write. Also, you have no idea idea how many English and Lit Majors I know whose grammar and writing foundation does not actually surpass The Boys.
That's not me being boastful--a few of them have said it out of their own mouths.
That piece of a paper is a Degree, not a Guarantee.
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So far, I can't see the need for a K-12 plan for ELA skills. I am still not completely sold on doing 4 Years of English at the High School/Undergraduate Level.
For birth to K grade range vocabulary and oral/aural language skills are Ruler Supreme. Lots of talking to and with the child, describing things to the and helping them to speak and understand spoken language clearly.
If I had a do-over, I'd emphasize vocabulary and language development--preferably bilingual--over Early Reading. I'd offer reading and handwriting every couple of months starting in PreK but it'd be ok if we didn't get around to reading until 1st grade so long as the language skills were developing well.
Once hand-eye-coordination is established we'll work on pre-handwriting skills and/or handwriting skills daily, while we're waiting for the reading to kick in.
When they're ready to read, they learn to read via phonics and read for practice. Once they're reading foundation is set, build on it for about 3-12 months (depending on the kid), then begin teaching more sophisticated vocabulary--morpheme based stuff has worked really well for me as a teacher.
I'd do spelling via phonics, morphemes and controlled dictation.
Weekly presentations begin pretty much in 1st grade as a vehicle to tackle a combination of language skills.
We never work on grammar as a stand-alone subject. For better worse, teaching Composition is an intensive, 1-1 coaching process for which I don't prefer any substitutes. But that's how I'm able to teach my students to use grammar, spelling, figurative language and and word choice reliably.
With a Do-Over I'd introduce Shorthand as early as the student demonstrated readiness and ability with reading, writing and penmanship--I'm thinking somewhere between mid-3rd and 6th grade.
I can't imagine continuing ELA through high school.
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On 11/30/2021 at 12:50 AM, Ellie said:
I took Gregg Diamond Jubilee shorthand,1966-67, and 1967-68, my sophomore and junior years of high school.
My second-year teacher encouraged us to practice by copying print material, as often as we could.
As it turns out, even back then I didn't use it very much on the job, and I got married young, so there you go. I used it some for taking notes in Sunday school. 🙂 And I haven't used it in a very, very long time.
I did two years of typing and two years of shorthand. I think those classes actually augmented my English classes as far as writing, because we learned that as good secretaries (that was my track in high school, not college) we would be writing and editing letters our employers would dictate, and we learned to vary word usage, write concisely, and so on. I also learned how to format all sorts of things, from business letters to order forms to books, and I've used those skills, even though I don't actually use shorthand.
Thank you for this information.
We're endeavoring to learn Gregg Shorthand thoroughly but I wish I had more insight on how to best learn and practice Gregg. We've been learning the orthography and doing the dictation exercises and tons of review.
We're using materials published in 1916 (Manual + Dictionary) and 1919 (Graded Readings and Speed Studies).
We're doing and redoing the manual lessons and packing in tons of review. Lots of copying practice and some dictation too.The Boys think it would have been wonderful to know Gregg years ago--just to make their notes in Gregg and do drafts for school reports in and I while I wholeheartedly agree, I told them to be grateful they're learning it now, rather than after college.
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Well guys, it's that time of year again.
What are the some picture goals for your AL for 2022?For reference, here are the past threads if you're curious.
2021 thread -
On 8/26/2021 at 8:56 PM, serendipitous journey said:
Third, that it somehow isn't appropriate for an undergrad student to get help from parents. To be true, it is sort of "unfair" for an undergrad to get help from capable parents because so many undergrads have parents who are less able or less willing to help than lewelma is; but I don't think it is inappropriate.
It's the Mathew Effect of Accumulating Advantage and to be blunt, we're here for it.
On 8/26/2021 at 10:03 PM, EKS said:I'm going to say something that is probably not PC, or whatever the appropriate term is now, but this is one reason that success can be a family trait.
It is natural for parents to act as consultants for their adult children.
Amen. The skills, knowledge and advise that I have to give to my kids, I'm giving them. We don't have tons of money, so the majority of what I can give my kids is my time and attention.
I was in UG only some years ago and I assure you that while I was there many parents also purchase private advisors and counselors for their college aged students.
Parents still routinely pay for expensive private tutoring or exam fees, many parents buy their students business casual or professional dress for mixers and events. These young adults have private counselors who read their essays and give feedback, assist with their applications etc. Many of these young adults have told me out of their mouths that they learned to play golf/racquet ball/tennis growing up in preparation for college and the young adult years.Some parents who don't have the money to purchase these things, still put the time and attention in for the paperwork side of things because many times the academics may be above their capabilities.
The "Young People Need to Sink or Swim" rhetoric leads to a lot of waterlogged corpses unnecessarily. I watched so many of my peers drown with this mentality when ~10hrs of attention with a matter might have helped them through.
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Get a 1 subject notebook and a used copy of Teach Yourself Algebra Visually as a review or as a preview/extension, Teach Yourself Calculus Visually.
There is also the Humongous Book of Algebra Problems Translated for People Who Don't Speak Math.
Things that Seemed to Work But Later Backfired
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
Creating the WRTR Spelling Notebook. It was a glorified handwriting exercise that sabotaged my kids ability to spell and took years for him to recover from.
He was actually a good speller for 4-6 years old, but the the year "learning" spelling rules seemed to confuse him at 6-7 and caused him to regress significantly. It put up a block/barrier in his mind that it literally took me years to get down, so that we could undo the confusion/damage from that spelling notebook.