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Mr. G

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Posts posted by Mr. G

  1. Please explain to me how you use the app to get the most benefit from it.

    What role does Duolingo play in your foreign language studies?

     

    How much time do you/your kid spend with the app each day? How do you monitor and measure progress in the language?

     

    If you've tried other language learning website or apps then why did you choose Duolingo over them?

     

    Do you feel that having high intensity days mixed with low intensity days is beneficial and if so what is the sweet-spot you have found through trial and error?

     

    What do you feel is the greatest weakness of the program, and how do you compensate for that weakness​?

     

    Which areas of language have you found Duolingo to be most helpful for?

     

    What advice do you have for a person considering​ the program?

  2. Languages like Welsh are going to be best learned by amassing a cache of resources. I doubt many QUALITY resources that fit your needs exist.

     

    Use YouTube to find videos on how to read Welsh. I've found d full course s on the phonics of Spanish, French and German the past and scene several others. You may only be able to find ABC videos for a while. Find users who post Welsh videos and write to them from help.

     

    Somewhere​ there is a Welsh popstar. Your job is to find his or her music and acquire at least 10hrs worth of Welsh music from lullabies and folk songs and a healthy dose of modern 2000-to present music

     

     

    The Welsh government has some things on their website and links to Welsh Children's shows.

     

    http://www.meithrin.cymru/welsh-for-the-family/c58/ Is a group that has a lot if Welsh for family type resources.

     

    I think Teach Yourself Welsh and Teach Yourself Welsh Grammar both have audio CDs for pronunciation help.

    • Like 1
  3. My kid liked the book The Story of Chess. It's a picture book and helps kids memorize and visualize the moves and role of each piece.

     

    If you already know how the pieces move then it's just a story book about chess.

     

    Alex and the Wednesday Chess Club is a book about a kid who has always liked chess. Until he loses a game and how he bounces back to playing chess again.

     

    There is a documentary about Susan Polgar, but the name of it escapes me. I think it is an episode of a British show about extraordinary people, maybe not a typical documentary.

  4. Magnus is a documentary about Magnus Carlsen

     

    Knights of the South Bronx is a TV film about David MacEnulty a teacher who taught chess to his students.

     

    Life of a King is a movie based on the true story about an​ ex-con who uses Chess as a way to help inner city kids avoid gangs and what not.

     

    You need to do your due diligence and see which films are suitable for your kid.

  5. See that's more or less what I'm thinking.  My goal in teaching Latin would be to assist in learning other foreign languages, assist in vocabulary development, understanding roots, prefixes, suffixes, etc.  

     

    I know it's the "Classical Way" to teach them Latin but, I'm thinking it might be better to just focus on the parts and then pick up a foreign language in 7th.  

    We've found studying a language directly to be the best way to learn it.

     

    We did a vocabulary program that was centered around roots/prefixes/suffixes. My kids also had a very good vocabulary program in their school. They've been able to make plenty of connections between English and Spanish with out any extra special efforts from me.

  6. The only really good reason to learn Latin is so that one can read Latin. If the primary goal is something else, better to go after it directly, I say.

    I agree. If you want your child to READ Latin, then study Latin directly.

     

    If not, there are a dozen ways to get the "other" benefits of Latin more directly and efficiently.

     

    Personally I have never been able to get behind the idea that there are benefits unique to Latin outside of the ability to read/write/speak Latin.

  7. In the past, I've spent hours on their site and combed the internet for reviews, videos etc. I've read every article about the program, and watched a couple of videos but I don't find them to be the kind of informative that helps me understand the program to know if it's a good fit for my kid, or a good use of my money.

     

    There are no course descriptions or samples of the materials or a scope and sequence to let me know what they are doing.

     

    I don't know. I feel like the things I've found (articles, videos) constantly talk AROUND the program, instead of directly stating what they do and what steps/milestones they take, etc.

  8. I'm also interested in them and find the lack of info about them and their courses a little discouraging.

     

    My kids school participated in an online math competition that they had and my youngest scored internationally competitive for his grade/age range. My eldest scored nationally competitive.

     

    I'm very vaguely thinking of putting them in the online classes, but the lack of info about them is a HUGE turn off for me.

     

  9. In your shoes, is it plausible to re-do the key lessons from MM1 with manipulatives at an accelerated pace over the summer. Require only 1/4 or 1/3 of the answers be recorded in writing. Sit with him and do the math with blocks/orally each time. 

     

    Essentially, 1st grade math is nothing but number bonds and place value. You can find a zillion games online to print that will reinforce the concepts, but no matter which publisher you go with, those are the "main topics" of 1st grade math.

     

    If it's possbile, I would just re-do MM1 with a greater emphasis on the manipulatives and more involvement from the parent.

    Be sure to work on the Part-Part-Whole concept and re-do each word problem using drawings and manipulatives. Number bonds and place value.

    Then move on to MM2.

     

     

     

    • Like 2
  10. HOW did he use MM1? Were you with him the majority of the time, reading the lessons with/to him and leading the lessons?

     

    I've used every chapter of MM1-7 with my kids.  A big part of what made it successful was my close interaction and engagement with them as they used the book. It is a work text, but having an adult keeping things on track and answering questions immediately and correcting mistakes real time is what made the program effective.

     

    • Like 2
  11. Could you please suggest some French resources and/or curriculum that you loved and your kids seemed to retain?

    That all depends.

     

    How old are your kids?

     

    Do you need ONE program that they can do as a group, or do you need 2+ programs for them based on their individual levels?

     

    Do you have any French abilities?

     

    How big of a priority is French in your family?

     

    How big of a priority is French in your home school?

     

    Why are your kids studying French and what do you hope that they get out of it?

     

    We worked with a program that my kids remember nothing from and I felt like it was a huge waste of time.

     

    What were you using and why didn't it work for you?

     

     

    When I added in poems, songs, and games they remembered much more. I am looking for something for my kids that is not online (I use Duolingo for myself) and has an audio component so we can have correct pronunciation.

     

    What did you use as a supplement (for games, songs, poems, etc) and why did that supplement work for you?

     

    With more information, we may be able to recommend resources to try or too avoid based on your answers.

  12. Which grade school math did you stick with?

    Math Mammoth. Done cooperatively, rather than independently.

     

    Why?

    It fit my teaching style and our life-style needs.

    It was an ideal tool for me to use with my kids.

    It provided thoughtful practice that usually re-enforced what and how I taught ("usually." There were a few exceptions, but it didn't impede things. The things that I'd taught differently, I just had my kids do it my way.)

     

    Any regrets?

    Not a single one.

     

     

     

     

    • Like 2
  13. Some materials that I've used and recommend.

    Math Mammoths: The Four Operations with a Touch of Algebra.

    It's a good review of basic arithmetic and the transition into using algebraic relationships to solve problems.

    Key to Algebra

    The set of 10 books makes a gentle, but doable algebra course that allows your student to get a grip on the basics of algebra and when/where/how it's done.

    Key to Fractions

    The set of 4 books gradually and gently guides the student to a mastery of Fractions and how to perform arithmetic on them.

    Middle Grades Math Minutes

    These 1 page worksheets provide a quick warm-up/review of various skills in the middle school curriculum and allows you to keep a variety of skills fresh without over-extending. It also allows you to glance back and see what concepts she's missing consistently.

     

    Many students struggle with fractions in upper level math so I recommend the Key to Fractions (or any Fraction-focused materials) be done before or concurrently with the early books in Key to Algebra so that by the time that you get to books 5-7 in Key to Algebra, which deal with rational numbers (ie; algebraic fractions) you're not struggling with fraction concepts and you're not rusty from having not done any fractions in a long while.

     

    • Like 1
  14. Laremy Tunsil cost himself a couple million dollars by acting stupid with social media. Here is one story I found quickly. There is probably better coverage somewhere. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/draft/2016/04/28/laremy-tunsil-video-marijuana-twitter-nfl-draft/83678590/

     

    Okay, so now that I've read closer, I won't count this.

     

    Someone else posted these things to his account. (The screenshots were literally posted within minutes of him being announced as a draft pick. Was it stupid? Yes. But it wasn't *him* intentionally posting it, you know?.)

     

    Thanks.

     

    If you can think of any others, though, I'd love to have them included.

  15. I'd like to find several, at least 10, but as many as possible, examples of peoples stupid use of and ill-behavior with Social Media coming back and hurting them socially, professionally, and/or personally?

     

    Mostly I'm just finding examples of cyber-bullying, which are tragic, but not what I'm looking for. I need examples of people doing damage to their own lives. And please, nothing sex-related.

     

    So far I have

     

    • Justine Sacco,
    • Adam Smith
    • Lindsey Stone
    • Mike Bacsik,
    • Adria Richards
    • Curt Shilling
    • Amy's Baking Co.
    • Gilbert Gottfried
    • Matt Harrigan
    • Nancy Salem
    • Mark Martin (DaddyOFive)

     

    Can you recommend any others?

     

  16. So I guess my real question is, do you wait for maturity and adjust the challenge of the curriculum for the child in front of you, or do you teach problem solving and stamina in some methodical, well planned way. If it is the later, please do enlighten me. :)

     

    A bit of both, for the most part, I waited for maturity and adjusted the challenge of the curriculum to fit my children. I also gave problem solving opportunities along the path, but first and foremost was equipping them with skills and giving them opportunity to use them creatively. I think it was easier for my kids to do off-the-beaten-path challenging work when they REALLY owned the tools needed to solve the problem.

     

    So when they were doing 4th grade work, we used a lot of "challenging" 2nd-4th grade work, they stretched and grew in their problem solving once the basic tools were mastered because they weren't fretting about how to calculate ____ or remembering the definition of ~~~~~

     

     

    Well he does challenge math every day. "Average challenging" he finds fun....We have a pretty good selection of broad and challenging stuff including Zaccaro but getting better at solving challenging problems isn't exactly the same thing as wanting or being willing to work really hard, ya know?

    It's good that he finds "average challenging" fun. That's where you want him to be. Don't be greedy trying to make your kid into someone that they aren't or you run the risk of spoiling the whole thing. Any time a child is enjoying math and finds it "fun" that's a win.

     

    You're not going to be able to magically install the desire to work hard. The fact that he does challenge math everyday shows that he's willing to work hard, just not work "really" hard.

     

    Gradually build up his skills, then apply those skills to harder and harder problems.

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