diaperjoys
-
Posts
540 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Classifieds
Store
Posts posted by diaperjoys
-
-
My 7.5 and 9yo kiddos are going to use Song School 2 this year - how important are the flash cards? I was going to get the DVD for them, and of course, the workbooks. But are the flash cards that essential?
-
I'm curious about trying some type of headphone for my easily distracted kiddos. We have two (out of our crew of five) that have focus difficulties, yet there are times when they must be working in the same room. Any suggestions for headphones to try/avoid? Other ideas?
Thanks!
-
The teacher's manuals are wonderful! For me, it is a lifesaver. It isn't that I cannot calculate the correct answer to a long division problem. But with 5 kiddos, I don't want to add pages and pages of calculations to my daily "to do" list. With the teacher's manual beside me I can bust through corrections for four kids and quickly be finished.
-
1
-
-
I teach piano, and when parents of potential students as me about starting piano, my first question is generally about how the child is reading. Yes, a young non-reading child (4-5yo) can certainly learn piano. But, because they are not reading the parent will generally need to sit in on, and guide, every single practice session at home. A reading child can work from an assignment sheet to follow practice instructions, and also read the practice direction in their music book, so much of the practice can be done independently. So, because of that I encourage starting piano when a child is reading, or beginning to read. As far as progress is concerned, a child who starts later usually progresses quicker, and quickly matches or exceeds the progress of a child that starts younger.
Hope that helps!
-
2
-
-
We're using Apples and Pears as well, and I really like it thus far. It breaks down words into their parts, which is all kinds of good for our boy. He can effectively memorize a list of words, but doesn't carry that over to other writing. Also, it is strengthening his reading ability - he is 9yo and we had him screened for dyslexia, among other things. The gal that did the screening said he had a sight word vocabulary of a sixth grader - however, that leaves him high and dry when he encounters something new and doesn't know how to break the word apart so he can sound it out properly.
Apples and Pears is great for spelling, and great for reading too.
-
1
-
-
We have four school aged kiddos who are drooling at the idea of a treasure box. Some of the classrooms in the private school they were attending had a treasure box, or treasure chest, and they were always so excited to earn the chance to pick something out.
Do you use one? How do you have the system set up? How is a trip to the treasure box earned? We've thought about a star chart, or tickets earned. But I'd love to hear specifics of lots of different ways to do it.
Thanks a bunch!
-
This is for our 12yo who will be in 7th grade. He doesn't need a spelling program anymore, so I want to switch him to vocabulary. We got Vocabulary from Classical Roots, and I like the content. However, it looks like it is set up to require a substantial amount of teacher interaction. I'm needing something he can do largely on his own, with me checking in periodically. Any recommendations?
-
And when working at that speed - one lesson per day - do you have the students do all of the writing for each lesson, or should the we pick and choose with the writing?
-
Can anyone suggest how to begin Writing and Rhetoric with these ages? The 12yo is an avid reader, and very gifted with words, but I wouldn't consider him advanced in his ability to get those words on paper.
The 11yo is more average in his ability, a steady solid learner.
If possible I'd like to work with the two of them together...
Do we start with Fable, and work quickly? Or do we just jump to Narrative? If so, would we try Narrative 1 or Narrative 2?
Thanks for any suggestions!
-
I'm looking for suggestions for our 11yo son. Math is his (very) challenging subject. We had some neurological and academic testing done last year which showed, among other things, that he has ADHD, doesn't have Asperger's, has off the charts intelligence with anything word related, and average (compared with his peers) ability with math. He is technically "math disabled" because the "math" and "word" scores are so dynamically different. However, on paper, his math capability tests solidly average.
In real life, however, math is a big challenge. We homeschooled through the early elementary years, he did 4th and most of fifth at a private school, and now he's home again, and we anticipate the kids being home for the forseeable future. In the early years we discovered that mastery programs are terrible for him - any mathematical data that isn't constantly used will disappear from his brain and needs to be retaught. Seriously. I think we went through maybe 5 1st grade curricula before we realized that a tight spiral was a necessity.
At private school they used Saxon, which was okay for awhile until the concepts ramped up and outpaced him. We began using TT at home while he was in private school, and that was a huge success. The instant feedback, the ability to try a problem a second time, the visual presentation. All very good.
Now, though, at home we're again running into roadblocks again. I suspect that the concepts have again outpaced him, and we may need to backtrack and take another run at things. But I'm more cautious now - we have quite a bit of math yet to learn before graduation, and if we continually repeat levels we are losing valuable time. On the other hand, though, i would rather have him truly learning a lower level of math, than failing his way through high level math programs.
So. I'm looking for suggestions! Right now he's in CLE 405, working with equivalent fractions, and converting mixed numbers to improper fractions. He's also doing TT level 6, lesson 99. The last 20 lessons or so have been terribly discouraging for him - lots of work with multiplying and dividing fractions and decimals. Some of it he understands, others he blunders through. The remaining TT lessons focus on radius, perimeter and shapes, so things are looking up. However, I'm positive he isn't fluent with the fractions and decimals.
So I'm not sure where to go from here. The CLE is very good for him - that tight spiral is critical. But TT is also good, because it gets done, and it auto-corrects. With our batch of kiddos we certainly have those days where I simply cannot sit down and go through every CLE error with him and give him the feedback he needs. I'm not sure how much of a jump TT7 is - perhaps it will re-teach all the decimals and fractions, and that will be just what he needs. But I'd love to hear any opinions and suggestions from those of you who have "been there done that".
-
I think we'll use Biology for the Logic Stage from Elemental Science this year. Has anyone tried their experiment kits? I'm debating whether to chase down all our own supplies or spring for a kit. Can anyone share their experiences?
Thanks!
-
I'm leaning towards ES Biology for the Logic Stage for our oldest two boys, who will be 12 and 11 this year. For the younger sibs, though, I'm deciding how to incorporate them. They will be turning 10 and turning 8 midyear, and I need everything pretty streamlined this year. Do I have the youngers just tag along with what the older kids are doing? Or do I also order Grammar Stage biology and hope it lines up somewhat? Or perhaps the two programs are somewhat independent and it would be reasonable to have both going at the same time.
Has anyone used ES with a couple age groups of kids?
Also, how self-directed is ES for the Logic age? Once I show the kids how the program works, can they do it somewhat independently, or do I need to present each and every lesson?
-
Can you explain the specific issues you are seeing with pairing CLE and TT? If you could maybe give more specifics we could provide better suggestions that target your areas of concern.
FWIW, I have used both TT and CLE. They each have strengths and weaknesses. I agree that TT needs more review for many students. My kids both needed more spiral review. They also needed more exposure to writing out the math, VERBALIZING the math, etc. Honestly, until we started using CLE, I had no idea how critical it was for my kids to be able to verbalize the math terms, labels, processes, etc. for them to actually understand and retain the material. TT doesn't really do anything with regards to verbalizing. CLE filled in a lot of the gaps that TT just didn't (at least for us). We also incorporate Khan Academy and word problems from Math In Focus, plus we use some Beast Academy. Mainly, though, we use CLE now.
I love the CLE program - very solid, etc. It's just that with CLE & TT together it becomes pretty overwhelming for my kiddo. And, perhaps we just need to carry on. However, if there is another spiral program out there that would do the job with a little less intensity, then I thought I should consider it.
-
1
-
-
Our 11yo is using TT as his main math program (finishing level 6) - the instant feedback, endless patience, and objective presentation are real winners for him. And, it always gets done - another win!
However, TT is not enough for this kiddo. He has some math challenges, and we've discovered that if he isn't continuously using his math skills, they instantly disappear and literally have to be retaught. We've had times in the past where we've taken a math break of 2-3 weeks, and then literally lost half a grade of math skills. He has to exercise those math skills far longer than average before they really stick for good.
He needs some kind of a review program that spirals tightly. We've been using CLE this semester - but a grade or so behind. The idea was for the main learning to be happening in TT, and for CLE to be just review - so we placed him low - grade 4. And this has been effective to a point. But it is a. lot. of. problems. I'm not sure that this is our ongoing solution.
Can ya'll give me some ideas for something spiral to use alongside TT?
-
We're using CLE as our TT supplement - but a grade or so behind where they are in TT. I want it to be quick and easy to do, but we have a kiddo that thrives on the instant feedback of TT, yet desperately needs the tight CLE spiral. So far so good!
-
1
-
-
I'm looking for opinions on this curriculum. I'd love to hear your views on the writing sections as well as the grammar sections. I'm looking at about grade 6 for my boys.
-
We're transitioning the kids' grades, and I'm not sure what grade to order for testing.
11yo boy - half a year in 5th at a classical school, he's home now, and we're calling this semester 6th, the upcoming year will be 7th. He's super strong with language, and math is difficult - he's about three quarters of the way through TT6 for math right now.
9yo boy - half a year in 2nd at classical school, he's now home, and we're calling this semester 3rd, and next year he'll officially be 4th. When we brought him home I put him in Apples & Pears Spelling, level B, and Fast Track reading. He's excelling in both, but we're shoring up weak spots. For math he's doing TT3, easily completes two lessons in less than 30 minutes, and he's working his way through CLE 2nd grade for review.
So what grade IOWA tests do I order? I want the tests to contain useful information, yet not totally overwhelm them with content. We're required to test every year, and I need the test to happen within the next month or so, so I need to pick something and run with it.What test level would you choose???
-
Could we do that schedule? No way. Our kids next year will be 12, 11, 10, 8, and 1. So, similar to your ages. We really treasure having dinner together, and having some time to just "be". We're out three nights a week just now, and we have 3-4 sports games that happen on Saturday. That is, for us, a "busy stretch". No way would we consider adding more events than that. We want time to head to the trail and have an impromptu hike, where the 10yo keeps pace with Papa and has time to tell him everything that is on his little mind. Time to "be". And, also, we want to retain enough flexibility in our schedule so that we can help friends when they need it.
We're also doing much more of our schooling together. Biblioplan for everyone. The older two will be grouped in nearly all their subjects, and the 10 & 8yo will be grouped too. Once we get into the swing of things we may add either TKD, or swimming, but only if I can find afternoon practice times. Evenings are for family time...
-
1
-
-
I despise scripting, so while I'm sure it is a great program, I do avoid FLL. CLE is something we've been really happy with. Straightforward, and very manageable.
-
Or would it be important to do level 1 first?
-
We need to choose a lightweight Latin curriculum for our 9yo and 7yo to use this upcoming year. The year will be a transition year for us as we pull all the kiddos out of the classical school they are attending and get going again with homeschooling. We'll be busy establishing new routines and looking for ways to be efficient & productive with our school time. So, while I do want the younger crew to begin Latin, I want it to be lightweight, kinda fun, and not grammar intensive. This will be their first official year with Latin. What suggestions do ya'll have?
-
You might want to check out Biblioplan. We're very happy with the resources in combination with flexibility that we see in this program.
-
1
-
-
Apples and Pears is not a grammar program. It is a remedial spelling program for kids with dyslexia. It is not in any way a substitute for grammar.
Yes, I purchased it looking for remedial spelling. But when it arrived, the new cover calls it "The one-stop programme for spelling, punctuation and grammar." And that description came as a surprise to me. Level A doesn't have what I'd consider adequate grammar coverage, but I was wondering if the later levels covered that more thoroughly. Sounds pretty iffy to me, so at this point I'm planning on including another grammar program in our school week.
-
Thanks to all of you for your great suggestions. I went ahead and re-tested him this morning, and he easily tested out of the next 20 levels. This kiddo passed his dyslexia screening, yet has many dyslexia-like traits. We were told that he has a sight reading vocabulary of a sixth grader, yet we see him ineffectively sounding out new words, skipping, and generally making a muddle of unfamiliar material. He is quite able to memorize a spelling list, but doesn't carry that spelling over into his other work. I suspect he won't be using the apples/pears & fast track systems very long, but I think they will cement his decoding skills, and like a previous poster, I think (hope) it will change the way he is thinking about spelling, and help him to bring together the skill fragments into a usable whole.
Song School Latin - need flash cards?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
We're jumping right into level 2, since the kiddos are older, so this is their introduction to Latin... No prior flashcard use.