Justmeandyou
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Posts posted by Justmeandyou
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I'd rather have a root canal
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Hugs. Low carb makes me very ill, but not vomiting. I get dizzy, have heart palpitations and shakiness, but no stomach issues.
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I don't care how you do your laundry.
:)
You probably would consider some of my chores overkill too. Whatever, we are all different.
Glad your kids are doing okay in most areas. Since you clarified this, it believe it indicates that something is working right. In your shoes, I would.
a. Find a solid math program that you can stand and just stick to it.
b. Try to reform your own math-phobia. (easier said that done, I know)
c. Watch a Khan academy video every night. (you can work on a math lesson for 20 minutes a day and learn a remarkable amount. You may need to back up and learn some basics. I am really surprised at how much I have learned homeschooling my kids. I understand more about math's WHYs. In school, I knew the HOWs, but not the WHYs. )
d. Figure out a way to juggle the teaching of math. You CAN do it. (even if you are doing tons of laundry :) )
e. I might create a contract with my kids about attitude and schoolwork. It's basically the DRAMA that's driving you bonkers right? I would detail what a good school attitude looks like and what a bad attitude looks like. Then I would tie something in with the bad attitude (no screen time or something for a bad attitude. Whatever would work wiht your kids) If your kids are scoring well, then math must not be too horrible, so find a way to deal with the math DRAMA.
Perfect.
Yes, it is the drama. All of your advice is spot on. Thank you. I have made a Khan Academy account and can do that on my tablet while I fold laundry. :) I am looking into the other video series that was posted as well
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Our max time for math is 1 hour 15 minutes.
Thank you to all the ladies that posted kind, constructive and practical information. I really appreciate it.
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Never wearing anything twice, even pajamas and those items are unspoiled by sweat or stain, is a decision in itself. One may choose unnecessary laundering over math instruction but do know that it's a choice.
We are very clean people and always come out as "above average" in the "How Often Do You Do Laundry" threads here, but when freshly bathed children's bodies are put into clean pajamas in which they climb into clean beds, there is no reason other than either OCD or an absolute love of laundry work to wash pajamas and sheets every day.
Everyone has opinions and this is mine: If a mother would rather wash clean clothes than teach math, then there are schools available in most locales.
I don't wash sheets daily, just weekly. My kids help out plenty. I am satisfied with my level of cleanliness and laundry and have no plans to change nor plans to put my children in school. It is my opinion that the dead skin cells that are in clothes, plus sweat (we live in a very hot climate) make even PJs dirty over night. Add eating breakfast in them, and you have dirty clothes! We are anti-public school and private school would be over $40K for all the kids. But, that is beside the point of a math thread.
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Sounds good but honestly I would still give her the placement test just to see where there might be some gaps. CLE has a bit different scope and sequence and some things she may not have covered yet that she will be expected to know by the last 3 light units. I would hate for her to get frustrated on day one with CLE just because she needed a bit of instruction in a concept she had not had yet but was expected to already know. The placement test is easy to download off their site. Just save it to your computer then print it out. If there are some gaps they may be things you can easily go over with her yourself before starting her on the light units you ordered. They usually take a few days to a couple of weeks to arrive so you have plenty of time.
FWIW, at the beginning of each lesson it will ask you to review the flashcards that are specific to CLE. Since you didn't order those, if you want, I can give you the specific problems they are targeting for each lesson. If you have your own addition and subtraction flash cards you can do the targeted flash card drill even without the CLE set (although the CLE set is awesome and I LOVE the targeted way they work on specific skill sets in smaller chunks before each and every lesson so I highly recommend getting them for level 3 if you choose to stay with CLE).
Good info for me, thank you!
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I agree with a pp that you want to make sure you do the placement tests. Lots of kids need to back up when they enter CLE.
I think you'll find you have time to sit with each child to go over the new CLE material daily if needed. It's just a short bit of new stuff to begin each lesson. It really takes very little time to teach that portion and run through the drills. For one of mine, he likes CLE better if we do 1/2 at one point in a day and 1/2 at another. The full lesson is just too much at once for him (not conceptually, just in volume of problems). If a particular lesson just isn't clicking you could look at your math mammoth presentation, education unboxed videos, youtube, or similar for ideas. That doesn't take long when you know what you need to cover, and probably won't happen much anyway.
Do you have to be out of the house every day for the entire afternoon? I'm schooling 5th grade with two, and we couldn't get the musts done with that schedule. On the other hand, you and your kids are doing well to cover those subjects in that time frame.
Another thought. Do you do math in the summers? If not, that can take a huge amount of pressure off in terms of completing grade levels, eliminates the need to review when starting a new year, and might even free up some time for fun with math. One subject most days won't put much of a dent in a summer schedule. Forgive me if you've already said you're doing that on this thread. I skimmed replies.
Yes, we do math all summer long. Usually just 3 days a week, but we don't take a full summer break. This summer we will be reading history too.
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Well, you're certainly getting a lot of advice. :) Since my angle on your situation hasn't been mentioned yet, I thought I'd throw it out there. I'm also a non-mathy mom of four, two in homeschool. Assuming that your children are generally cooperative, this is what I'd do:
Put away math for your 2nd grader. Yep. For the rest of the year. Start her next year in Strayer Upton's first book, which is cheap, self-explanatory, incremental, and at the 3rd grade level. Read the Bluedorn's or Beechick's or Benezet's advice on math if you want to feel better about it.
For the 5th grader: Systematic Mathematics. I tried several popular programs before we discovered this, and it is the bomb. Read their testimonials, and email the company with any questions you may have. They are friendly and responsive. They may place your 5th grader in Strayer Upton, if she's not ready for the 6th grade level which is where their programs start. But my DS went straight into the 6th grade program from Singapore 5A. They are video-based, with excellent instruction, very incremental, plenty of application. You print out a worksheet for each lesson. I don't do anything with my DS's math. He watches the video, does the sheet, and then corrects it himself. His progress and solid grasp of the concepts has been amazing. He used to say he hated math but now if you ask him he says, "It's okay." :)
Here's a little blurb they put on Youtube:
I have never heard of this, thanks so much for bringing it to my attention!
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Have you explored the possibility of dyscalculia, in yourself and your kids? I can't say that's going on at all from your post, but it's certainly something to look into if you have not ruled it out yet.
DD and I have dyscalculia. Primary Mathematics (third edition) has worked for us.
I have wondered about dyscalculia for me. I do not think this is the case for my kids. I had really very poor math teaching in K-12. I took a lot of remedial classes in college hoping to shore up my deficits, and I made A's, but needed a tutor for College Algebra and Trigonometry. Mathematical Statistics was very easy for me, I have no idea why though. I went on to graduate Sum Cum Laude and obtain a health field related Master's degree, so I am not stupid, but Algebra still gives me fits.
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Really, really loving CLE here. The new parts of the lessons are in small segments with lots of review over time of previously learned concepts. Doesn't work for all kids but it is definitely working beautifully for mine. Areas that were a huge struggle before are now making sense to the kids.
But did you give the placement tests? I can't remember if you posted that you did. I would NOT start a child in a CLE light unit without giving the placement tests. They are free on-line. Even though you have already ordered the program, I would still give any child you plan to place in the program the placement tests. The tests are a bit long and your kids are unhappy with math right now so I would break them up into several sessions, either on the same day or over the course of the rest of this week or whatever. Do the placement tests in place of any further math work for this week. I would start with the level 100 placement test even if it seems too basic since math is a struggle. Move forward from there and see where there might be gaps. Target the gaps. They may have gaps you aren't even aware of. Until those gaps are dealt with moving forward may cause more frustration than actual learning.
Also, did you order the TM, the flash cards and the reference cards? Those are a huge help here, at least for the levels we have used.
Good luck and best wishes.
I ordered the last 3 units for 2nd grade for my 2nd grader. It looks like it would cover about 2/3 review and 1/3 new for her. I got the answer keys, but not the TM. If she likes it, I'll order a complete set for 3rd. I am going to take a look at it for my 5th grader as well. She is still in MM 5A. I am not sure I would want to switch her mid stream though.
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Same here, we NEVER get caught up on laundry. :glare:
Yep! Tons of clothes (we don't wear things twice either). Dog blankets, rugs, people bedding (5 beds), towels, dishrags ....it adds up quickly.
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You do it for 20 minutes each- that's an hour and a half a day. Once you've TAUGHT the subject that way, they can still do further practice alone.
OR you do it for 20 minutes with kid 1 and 2 on M and W, and with kid 3 and 4 on T and Th, and reserve Friday for the one or two that most need further help, or play a family math game, or simply take it off. That's only 40 minutes a day. Again, they can still do solo practice on their off days.
If you are truly truly unable to set aside time for playing together with math give each kid one day a week. That's just 20 minutes a day, and even that can make a big difference. Reserve this teaching tactic for especially trouble subjects, or for when you are first introducing a new subject.
But honestly? In pre-high-school kids? I would drop other subjects to MAKE time for teaching math. Math is important. More important than history or science or art in grades 1-5.
But history and science are the only things that are fun and that my kids love. Seriously. They would revolt if I told them no history.
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Maybe math is done too independently.
Tibbie said what I was thinking. MEP math is another program that lays it out for you, the teacher.
I'd highly recommend working the math at night for yourself. Start your 2nd grader in Year 1, and emphasize the interactive activities in the teacher's guide. Start your 5th grader down in level too.
Play math games. Work Singapore CWP together.
Okay, seriously, how do you have time to do this? I have 4 kiddos as well. We do school from 9:00-2:00 ish everyday, taking about 45 minutes for lunch. 2:30-5:00 ish most days is music lessons, field trips, church. Dinner prep, then dinner, then clean up, then bath, bed by 9:00 for all 4. I then fold clothes from the 4-5 loads of laundry I did that day, unload-reload the dishwasher, do a small amount of work from my paying job, then fall into bed around 11:00 or 11:30. How do you make time to play math games and teach yourself math at night?
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Have you possibly passed on your own distaste for math by letting them know you aren't "mathy"? I agree with the above poster that you need to know and understand the lessons. Even though I am a math person (have a degree in it) and am not language-oriented, I have worked hard to understand grammar and literary analysis. It's involved spending some of my own free time to learn it, though.
If you want another math curricula suggestion, I would suggest you look at CLE. https://clp.org/store/browse/31_curriculum
It has a very gentle approach to introducing new concepts and plenty of review of previous skills. It teaches to the student, so I think the explanations would be good for you as well. Placement tests would help you figure out where they fall. You can order the printed test or just print the sections you would need from the full samples. https://clp.org/store/by_grade/21
Math is something which is very necessary even for the most non-mathy people, so perseverance is essential. You can do it!
I just ordered 3 CLE units to try, thanks.
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So-- if you have to teach math in the 'Let's me and you learn math', or even in a lecture style-- how in the world do you do that with 4 (or more) kids. That would take up my entire homeschooling day. When would we get to history, grammar, writing, phonics, spelling etc? Serious question--not being snarky.
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Rest of homeschool is just fine. Some typical grumbling here and there, but no fits. I am a pretty tough parent and don't allow much nonsense, so the math fits are unusual for my kids.
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I am a non-mathy mom with at least 3 non-mathy kids. The kids are better than me, due to a much better foundation, but they do not like math at all. The whining, crying, sobbing, rolling on the floor is just about to do me in. I don't know what else to try. I've tried multiple math currics, but maybe do something else? Right now the 5th grader is almost done with Math Mammoth 5A. We are about 3 months behind schedule. The 2nd grader just finished Math U See Beta. We typically move on the Math Mammoth for 3rd-6th, but after 2 days, she is literally throwing the biggest fit I've ever seen. In the past we've also given Horizons and Teaching Textbooks a try. I am just at a loss. I want to reduce the tears and make sure my kids really learn math. Is this ever possible?
ETA-- tutoring or math classes here are super expensive. Tutoring is $40-$60 per hour, math classes for pre-alg and up are $500 per semester. Really out of our price range.
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OH my goodness... I am SO SO SO glad she intervened. The 13yo tested on a 1st grade level, and you want her to just butt out??????
OP, I am so incredibly proud of you. You were concerned. You got involved gently and found out all the facts and helped take care of it. Good for you!!!
Thanks for this!
I had a request to update. The kids seem to be happy and are making progress. They are getting extra tutoring several days a week after school.
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Thanks so much!
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Zappos has done that for me before.
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Ah! I just saw the cover of the book. Lightning as is ZAP, not Lightening as in lighten your load in teaching literature. Ha! More attention to detail needed on my part.
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:lol:
:) Okay. You could probably craft something, I am sure, it just would take many hours.
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Good ideas! Thanks!
Child rushes through work just to get done and then gets angry when it's wrong?
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
For us, this type of attitude ended when we eliminated all video games. We only had an old game system briefly, but the change in attitude and general argumentativeness went through the roof when we had it. Once it was gone, the attitude problems disappeared.