-
Posts
23 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Reputation
7 NeutralAbout Bluesage
- Birthday 08/11/1972
Profile Information
-
Gender
Female
-
Location
Charlotte, NC
-
Interests
Reading, writing, photography, film, art, music, and instructional technology.
Contact Methods
-
Biography
Married with one GT, 2e, Aspergers son. First year homeschooling.
-
Location
Charlotte, NC
-
Occupation
AP English & Journalism teacher; School Improvement Facilitator; Asst. Professor
-
I just wanted to clarify that the courses I was taking and the courses I taught in grad school revolved around education. I was earning my PhD in Instructional Technology and teaching pre-service teachers how to incorporate technology into their classrooms. Obviously, in a math or science course, much of the work will still need to be done on paper, as in your physics course. Too, anything like art, music, or drama would rely less heavily on technology. When I was teaching high school, I also found that my AP kiddos embraced and utilized technology much more than my other students, primarily because AP kids have a higher SES and can afford it. I think it's very important that schools provide "technology equality" for all students. I don't plan on relying on technology. I plan to use it as a tool to enhance my son's education. :)
-
I just wanted to post a huge thank you to everyone who has replied to me. I'm so glad I found these boards! I am learning so much and getting great advice! Thank you for taking the time to help out a newbie like me! :grouphug:
-
Thank you! Would it be better for me to just start researching together the history behind what we are learning, or as was suggested, one item over time? What are you planning to do with your 2e ds?
-
This is good wisdom for me to remember! Thank you! I'm sure the first week will be a huge eye- opener for me! I'm hoping that by letting him choose what we learn, he will be interested. It'll be hard when I weave in other subjects, though, as they may not be as interesting to him. If he chooses to study about biology, for example, he would love labeling a plant or the body, but when it comes time to read about a famous biologist or write about it, he could very easily lose interest. What do you do in these situations? I don't want to force him, but if he had his way, he'd never write. And I let him write however he wants, too. I let him make a comic strip or write a short story or even create an advertisement or PowerPoint to show me he's understood what he's learned. It's not like I'd assign an essay a day or anything, but if he doesn't want to write in any form, what do you suggest I do? Thank you in advance! :)
-
Thank you, Lisa! Yes, I know it will be hardest on me because of my background. Thankfully, I was one of those teachers who broke the rules and taught outside of the box successfully, much to the chagrin of my administration, but my kids' achievement kept them from forcing me to do it their way. Now you can't get away with not following scope and sequence, just leaving kids dangling along the way. I hate that! I could never go back to public school teaching. I'd pull my hair out being micromanaged! I've always tried to meet my students where they were and to adapt my curriculum to meet the needs of my various students, but it was not without sacrificing my time, sleep, and even health. It's just impossible when you have 30-40 kids crammed in one 90-minute block! I need to remember I'm not trying to replicate the public school setting. I need to go back and re-read my unschooling books. I need to wrap my head around the freedom I now have in homeschooling. Ironically, it's harder to teach without constraints than it is to teach with them. I admire every homeschooler that takes on this challenge! I'm so thankful I found this site and these boards to help me along the way! Thank you, again, for your advice! :)
-
He did really well with Singapore math in school. I checked out AoPS and love it, but it looks like he'd be in their Beast category, and they've yet to publish a 5th grade book. Maybe it's coming soon. I don't want to dive into pre-algebra, as that is my very weak spot--Algebra. I was a geometry girl. He had some pre-algebra in 3rd in his advanced math class where he was doing 5th grade work. In 4th grade, he had to redo the 4th grade math, which really irked me. Now I'm stuck wondering if I should go 5th grade or 6th grade. He was 100% on the state test for math for 4th, but since he hasn't done 5th since 3rd, maybe I need to help him refresh. I'll definitely give him a bunch of the diagnostic tests to see where he falls. He'll love that! Not! :)
-
He used Singapore Math. He already completed the 5th grade curriculum and was moving into pre-algebra when they pulled the plug in the advanced pull-out classes he was in, so he ended up repeating 4th grade math and working as the classroom tutor. :(. I wonder now if I need to review 5th grade math before moving on. Yes! My son is like your dd. He is much more thorough and careful in his writing when he knows it's being published. He also enjoys anything online much more than paper and pencil, but he's already mastered handwriting and cursive, so I think it's fine he goes digital. :) So do you prefer AoPS for math? I haven't heard anything about LoF here. It looked good to me because it was fun and interesting, but he's the one it needs to work for. I think I'm going to have him help me pick out the curriculum that I'll use for my own reference, as it was highly suggested I don't focus heavily on curriculum in and of itself.
-
This is GREAT advice! Thank you so much for taking time to explain your standpoint. I see what you're saying. The curriculum really is for me, like you said, especially for the subjects I'm not as skilled with. I can use them as reference but use his interests to dealve into what HE wants to learn about and help him make connections through various subjects. He seems to work best on his own or if he's a leader of a group. He was more advanced than his peers in math, so he was being used as the classroom tutor, and he loved that. The best way to learn something is to teach it, so maybe I should let him use whatever "curriculum references" I choose so he can teach ME. What do you think of that idea? No, I haven't read the sequel but will do so immediately. Thanks for the tip! Looking through the 5th grade curriculum offerings, you are right. He's definitely at an upper middle school/lower high school level, and if he's not challenged, he gets bored fast. He doesn't like dull, which is why my first math choice was Life of Fred, as it seems fun and engaging. I do like the Oakmeadow Boomerang program where he gets a book each month and can then discuss it with other kids in an online forum; however, I'm not sure about the copy/dictation element. The rest of the stuff seems pretty good though, but if I understand you correctly, I just need the novel and go explore with him from there, right? You said to just start with what he's into and go from there, but as an Aspie, he gets obsessed with one thing. It started with Thomas the Tank Engine and trains, moved to Legos, and now he wants to eat, breathe, and live Minecraft. I'm not into Minecraft at all. :( I know he'll enjoy the Minecraft Homeschool classes that run like 6 weeks each; they're really inexpensive, too. But I can't see just "running" with this one thing. He also loves Magic: The Gathering. Our whole family plays and goes to competitions. I can't tell you how much it improved both his vocabulary and math skills. I guess I need to read WEM to get a concrete idea of what you mean. I hope I'm at least getting the gist of it. :) Thank you, again!
-
I don't know how to post what you said so my reply makes sense because your reply was within my original post (how do I do that?), so I just copy/pasted it: >>>Look up threads related to vocabulary for recommendations. Typical Vocabulary workbooks are a waste of time and money. Instead, reading great literature (aloud and discussing it) and doing some Latin and Greek Roots are the most effective way to teach an excellent vocabulary. If you use the SOTW Activity Book along with SOTW, there will be lists and lists of recommended reading related to each chapter of SOTW you read. You can also go to the American Library Association's website for lists of award winning books. Between my husband and I, we read aloud great literature about 2 hours per day 5 days per week. Not all in one sitting. If this is new to your family, you may need to start with shorter read loud times and work up to longer ones. There are lots of different Latin and Greek word root options out there. The SOTW Activity Books include mapwork directly related to each chapter of SOTW. Mapping the World with Art is good, but it's also time consuming, so I'd only use it if my child was particularly interested in art. Once you get to copying the coast of Greece, you're going to see if this is a good fit for your child or not. In the SOTW Activity books Bauer recommends a more parts to whole approach to narrations. There are detailed instructions at the beginning of each book. If your child hasn't done narrations yet, I would prioritize that to lay the foundation for writing. A child who can't retain what he's heard or read and articulate a summary will struggle with reading something and then putting thoughts about it on paper. If your child struggles with a more parts to whole approach, or if you just prefer it, you can try a more whole to parts approach like Charlotte Mason recommends. If you use the SOTW Activity books, the great composers are part of the recommended reading lists in the relevant chapters. We've combined that Beethoven's Wig Sing Along Symphonies as they apply. <<<< Thank you for your response! Sounds like the SOTW books will cover the majority of the curriculum if supplemented with fiction and nonfiction reading selections. I think I should get it first before making other choices, as it sounds like it will cover history, reading, geography, art, and music! >>>Choir-1 outside activity. Fencing team -2 outside activities Swim Team-3 outside activities Community Theater-4 outside activities Your outside activities sound terribly unrealistic to me. When will you do school? Laundry? Grocery shop? Have down time so your son can get bored sometimes and come up with creative ways to entertain himself or pursue his own interests to read about or tinker with? When will he play with friends in an unstructured way? When will you have family time? When will he do his chores?<<< I should have been more clear. Choir is at church one night a week. Fencing is offered once a week in Fall. Swimming is offered once a week the latter part of Spring. His age group only attends 3 local meets at the start of summer. His age group for fencing doesn't have matches against other teams. He has to be in HS for that. He specifically asked to do community theater again after being cast in his first play, so I don't want to squelch that. I can work curriculum around the subject and time period of the play if he gets cast again. His chores include the gardening, recycling, and composting, which will also cover some science. I'm lucky in that he's not a messy kid. He has Aspergers, so he's pretty meticulous about his room though he refuses to brush his hair, which many Aspie's have issues with. :) >>>You can simply keep is work in 3 ring binder type notebook(s) and keep your plans on file so you can keep track of what he's been doing. Why does he need a blog?<<< A website and blog he maintains would be better, IMHO, because, like it or not, we are immersed in the age of technology. Many universities require online portfolios now, and it would be a great way to show his progress. Too, he loves using the computer, as do I. I earned my PhD in Instructional Technology, so I know first-hand that we are quickly moving away from consumables into the digital world. He wants to be a computer engineer or architect. He will need as much hands-on technology as I can provide to succeed in both college and the workforce. Even at UT, all our work was submitted electronically within the Blackboard program. We never turned in paper copies of anything, and as an instructor, I provided handouts, notes, feedback, and grades through the same system. Gone are the days of overflowing filing cabinets, binders, and backpacks full of notebooks. Now we just have laptops or tablets and a textbook, many of which are also digital now. Of course, I'm still a proponent of hands-on learning, and I don't want my son stuck in front of the computer all day, so I thought maintaining his own website with his dialectical reading response journal and blog about what he's learning would be a great way to incorporate technology. Believe it or not, kindergartners are learning to create their own websites! I've seen amazing things in regard to technology in education if it's used properly. :)
-
Thank you! This helps tremendously! I'm used to teaching 17-18 yo AP kiddos, and I'm an only child with an only child, so I was relying on his teachers to tell me how he was performing, and it always seemed like his gap between input and output was so great there must be something wrong. Your message has made me feel so much better! :) I'll repost what I said above since it's the same sentiment: Thank you! It's those stupid standardized tests that are always making me think he's behind in writing, but when he cares about something, he writes brilliantly. It's so frustrating. And every teacher he's had has said he's a "reluctant writer" like it's a bad thing. I never taught elementary kids, so I only had what the teachers said to go on. I ended up teaching him how to fake his way through the STAAR writing test with the ridiculous cookie-cutter 5-paragraph method they push us to teach HS kiddos. At least he was able to write something! Otherwise, he wouldn't have written a thing because he didn't like the prompt. They're so generic, who would? Of course, the AP kids could NEVER write like that and get away with it because, well, it's awful! Just shows us how much PS kids are being dumbed down. I will focus on just helping him grow in all areas and forget the difference in levels of performance. You made my day! :) :) :)
-
Thank you! It's those stupid standardized tests that are always making me think he's behind in writing, but when he cares about something, he writes brilliantly. It's so frustrating. And every teacher he's had has said he's a "reluctant writer" like it's a bad thing. I never taught elementary kids, so I only had what the teachers said to go on. I ended up teaching him how to fake his way through the STAAR writing test with the ridiculous cookie-cutter 5-paragraph method they push us to teach HS kiddos. At least he was able to write something! Otherwise, he wouldn't have written a thing because he didn't like the prompt. They're so generic, who would? Of course, the AP kids could NEVER write like that and get away with it because, well, it's awful! Just shows us how much PS kids are being dumbed down. I'm filing all the foreign language suggestions away for the future so I don't bite off more than I can chew my first year, but thanks so much!
-
Thanks for the great advice! I know I'll have to work hard to stay mom and not go into "teacher mode," but with all this support, advice, and encouragement, I'm hoping I can have a successful first year!
-
Thank you for your feedback! I really like what I've seen on Bravewriter so far. The CTY is a talent program he was accepted into--it's from Johns Hopkins. He can take whatever online class he wants. They offer some really fun ones, not just math. He's not doing the big tuition-paid program. He just gets one class per semester. He loves the computer, so I know he'll enjoy having an online class, and he specifically asked to do the Minecraft homeschool online class where he builds his own world and writes an adventure story he sends the other kids on inside the world he creates. That's all him, as I'm not a Minecraft kind of gal. Lol. I agree with both you and Ellie, especially since he hates art. All I can think is that it has something to do with textures. Aspie kids get freaked out by certain textures, and the feeling can even be painful for them. That's why so many of them don't like clothing. He'll be thrilled when I tell him he can practically live in his boxer shorts if we are inside learning. Lol! :) I'm thinking of just doing the MTWWA because he likes maps, and it combines geography and art. I'm definitely going to use the BBC free typing program, and I'm filing the foreign language suggestions away for now so I don't try to do too much. :)
-
Thank you! This is GREAT advice! In fact, I'm going to print it out and tape it inside my journal! I definitely want to let my ds guide the learning because I know he'll be more interested. The more he's interested, the more he'll absorb. I definitely don't want this to be stressful. It should be fun for both of us; otherwise, what's the point? It'll be so freeing to finally be able to take TIME, to go off on learning tangents, and to be able to scrap whatever isn't working. I'm going to take a 180 from traditional teaching, which I've always wanted to do but was never allowed to because I was embedded in education politics where kids DO NOT come first--test scores do!
-
Thank you! Free is great, and I love BBC. He'd definitely like fighting bad guys. :) I will file the Spanish suggestion away because just from reading everyone's awesome replies, I can see that would be biting off more than I can chew my first year. :)