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diaperjoys

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Posts posted by diaperjoys

    CLE for 1st grade....a little confused

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    We used LTR with two kiddos this year:

     

    Kiddo #1, 7yo, 1st grade, reading, but not at all fluent. We began at the beginning of LTR, and went fast, combining two or three lessons each day until the book "caught up" to his reading level. At that point we slowed down to a normal pace, one lesson per day. He just finished the program before Christmas, and I tested his reading level this week - reading almost at 5th grade level! For him it was perfect to back up & move through the whole program from the beginning.

     

    Kiddo #2, 5.5yo, K, beginning to blend three letter words. I thought perhaps this little fellow could work through LTR, but move slower than his big brother. It quickly became clear that this moves much too quickly for him. He didn't have enough practice at the new concepts to become fluent with them before they moved on to something else. We're currently using Phonics Pathways instead, along with easy readers, and a little ETC 1. I plan to have him go through LTR in 1st grade, and I think he'll really benefit from it then.

    Sign up #3 for Veritas Press Self-Paced Group Buy!

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted · Edited by diaperjoys

    Momto5Girls has finished group #2, so it is time to start another group! We need a group of at least 10 to get group pricing.

    If you'd like to hop on to group #3, please send me a PM with:

     

    The group is now closed. Thanks to all who participated!

     

    1) Your full name

    2) Child's full name

    3) Child's DOB (VP uses this to set-up a password for the child's account)

    4) Full address

    5) What course to enroll

    6) Your chosen start date (must be no later than Aug 31, 2012)

    7) also please include an email address so I can contact you via email

     

     

     

    I'd like to have payment by Tuesday, January 24th, at the latest. Payment will work best via check or money order. I can accept a few Paypal payments (please mark them as "gift"), but I can't do all 20+ participants due to PP limits on transfering funds. If you PM me I can get you my address or PP account info.

     

    Here is a link to the VP Self Paced Course Info: http://resource2.veritaspress.com/Resources/Scholars_Online/Scholars_Online_New_Self-Paced.html

     

    Here is a link to the special pricing info: http://resource2.veritaspress.com/Resources/Scholars_Online/Scholars_Online_Self-Paced_Group_Special.html

     

    Once I have 10-15 in this group I'll close it down & let someone else organize the next one.

     

    Cheers!

    Cynthia

    How much phonics does a child need??

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    My first grader is reading well, and is just finishing the CLE Learning to Read series. Is that enough?? CLE continues phonics instruction in their Reading curricula, even throughout second grade. Is higher phonics really necessary???? For example, is it necessary to have down cold the four spellings of schwa + r?? i.e. "er", "ir", "or", "ur"? Will I hamper his reading development if I stop our formal phonics training now?

     

    I'd like to free up some time to do extra work on math concepts.

     

    I'm sure there are a variety of opinions on the topic, and I'd love to hear them all!

    Remedial MUS - how to schedule, when to skip pages??

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    We just purchased MUS Alpha for my 8yo son, who has some gaps in his math understanding. His main math program is CLE 200. I'd like him to move quickly through Alpha, filling in the gaps, but I'm not sure exactly how to go about that. I don't want to skip too much & defeat the purpose of the program, but neither do I want to turn it into a bunch of busywork.

     

    Chapter by chapter, how do I assess mastery? Maybe if he gets 100% on ____ then we can skip _____? Can anyone give me some suggestions??

    Number Recognition?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    My son was totally stuck on numbers 6, 7, 8 & 9. Couldn't identify them at all. I took some time off his math program, and focused on that. And honestly, I'm not sure I made any progress! We'd do a coloring sheet of a 6, personify it (give it little arms & legs, etc.), then we taped a sign to my son saying "Mr. 6", and he'd spend the day being a six. We did all sorts of dorky things like that.

     

    Finally I decided we were getting behind in math & I wasn't going to hold off any more. So I made a number line for him & kept it handy. He could refer to it any time he needed to - he knew it started at 1, and could count along it to find the number he needed.

     

    He also had to write down the numbers 1-10, in order, every day while his brothers were doing their timed tests. He was never done when they were - it just gave him a fixed time to do that little task.

     

    Now he can usually recognize his numbers, and asks less and less what a particular number looks like. So, he's progressing, and doing fine conceptually in all his math assignments. For us the solution has been time & having the numbers available for easy reference.

    Would MUS help this kiddo?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    My 8yo is halfway through CLE 200, and is getting badly bogged down. He's really having a terrible time learning his upper math facts. (He's okay with +2's, and other easy facts, but today, for example, he was totally stumped by 11-5=6). He's also having a hard time skip counting, and counting backwards is difficult as well. In particular, I'm seeing him increasingly dependent on his fingers to calculate the answers to the problems.

     

    Despite his good scores on tests and quizzes up to this point it is pretty clear that he does not have mastery over the early material, and is rapidly getting bogged down as he tries to handle the harder data. He was scoring perfectly on his time tests a couple months ago, but now, with the harder facts, it isn't unusual for him to only get 9 or 10 problems correct in two minutes.

     

    I think he's benefited from the continual review of CLE, and I don't want to ditch the program. So, I'm thinking of getting MUS Alpha, and supplementing - I'm hoping he'd whiz through & fill in some gaps. Maybe drop another subject and do double duty in math for awhile. Does this sound like a good plan????

    Suddenly waaaaaaaaaayyyyy slow in math.

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I don't get it. My 8yo has been using CLE Math 2 this year, and doing (I thought), very well with it. Then we took a break. One week break, plus one week of patchy school because I was sick.

     

    Now, he's gone from completing his time tests in 2 minutes, to only getting 4 or 5 problems done in two minutes. Just to see, I had him finish the time test yesterday, and he spent another 45 minutes, and that was with the abacus. Sounds like a first class example of loitering, (which we do have an issue with), but in this instance his bottom was in the chair, and he (most of the time) seemed to be working.

     

    I don't get it. He took the test for LU 205 yesterday, and scored 98%, seems to grasp the material, but it took him at least an hour to do the test, maybe more.

     

    Anyone else have this issue? What's the solution? I took some time and re-organized his flash cards yesterday, grouped them by +1, +2, etc, rather than fact family, and pulled out my time tests that are also grouped the same way, and we did some serious drilling with the first group. But this child should be almost ready to learn multiplication, and we're almost back to ground zero with addition and subtraction. What to do???????

    Classical Conversations - what subjects does it replace?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Which subjects does CC Foundations actually replace?? Can someone help me with this? I've read lots of threads and browsed their website, but I'm having trouble seeing which parts of CC are supplements, and which parts are complete. For example, this is what my 2nd grader is doing this year - which of these subjects would CC Foundations replace? Or would I need to keep these & CC just reinforces??

     

    Math (CLE 2)

    Spelling (R&S 3)

    History (Veritas Self-Paced)

    Writing - (WWE 3)

    Latin - (Prima Latina)

    Greek - (Alphabet)

    English - (R&S 3)

    Bible - CLE 3

    Art - Mark Kistler

    Science - Real Science Odyssey

     

    Thank you!

    Counting on fingers - should I be concerned?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    My son is half way through CLE Math 2, and I think he's doing very well. Most tests and quizzes he scores 90-100%, and seems to understand the material well. However, I'm noticing that he is using his fingers some when doing addition. Should I be concerned about that?

     

    We used MUS for Kindergarten, and found the lack of review was an issue for him. Any concept not perpetually reviewed is quickly deleted from his brain! So I feel like CLE is a good fit, but I'm a little troubled by the fingers.

    If you switched from MM to CLE or use CLE...

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I'd say begin with 206. We faced a similar quandry when placing my son in CLE last year. He passed the placement test, but barely. I backed him up half a year, and let him whiz through. That was very important for him. He built confidence, got a chance to become acquainted with the way CLE lessons are presented, and filled in all the little gaps, all without feeling overwhelmed about the material.

    Which program for 1st grader learning cursive?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    My 7yo would like to learn cursive. He's officially 1st grade, and can print beautifully. He prints CLE/ETC-style, no slant, so not sure if I can get away with using Classically Cursive with him, which is what I've always used in the classroom & with my oldest.

     

    Here are the options I'm seeing....

     

    New American Cursive - Nice line size for a 1st grader, fun presentation. But it goes in alphabetical order! What's up with that?? Seems like doing the easy letters first makes more sense... Also, this method would take the entire year to get introduced to all the letters, and he wouldn't be using cursive in his other work until 2nd grade at least. Not sure if this is good or bad. Might be good - might satisfy his desire to work with cursive a bit, without overwhelming e

     

    Zaner Bloser - Seems okay. I guess. Starts with easy letters.

     

    Classically Cursive - This is what I'm most familiar with. I've taught from these materials in the 2nd grade classroom, and we take on two letters a day, finish the alphabet in 13 days, and require all work in cursive from that point forward. It's based of D'Nealian/Modern Manuscript font, though, which my son hasn't learned. The font is a little smallish for my first grader. Not sure this is a good fit for him.

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