UnlikelyHomeschoolingMama
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Posts posted by UnlikelyHomeschoolingMama
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Well I followed everybody's advice and headed to Rainbow Resources first. I snagged BA 3A and 3B for my daughter to use this year with Saxon. I didn't want to buy whole thing yet, so half is good. We bought RightStart for my rising 2nd grader. I LOVED talking to them, because I was going to place him in Level B and they showed me why he belonged in C. That was nice. Sometimes people are better than placement tests.
My FAVORITE find was Circle C Adventures. Bought a book/lapbook set for my 9 year old DD and can't WAIT to buy more for her, because I know she will love them!
Finally, in the insanely huge Used Curriculum Sale I was disciplined. Found some really good readers for my boys (since my girls is now out of readers and I've sold all the girly ones), I found some awesome American Girl things for my daughter and some Saddle Up books for her. They are readers, but we got like 25 of them for $10, so it'll be good for car rides or something. :)
We had a great time and LOVED listening to Hal and Melanie Young. Phil Tuttle was great also, but more than anything the small conversations and encouragement from people throughout the weekend was just awesome.
I love convention!!
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You all are cracking me up! I've got some girlfriends who always go together. My husband and I enjoy it though. He is really helpful helping me think things through and this year especially I have some major decisions to make (MATH!) for my 7 year old, so I'm looking forward to having him help. Also...he carries the loot. :)
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I've only been to two, just for the vendor halls, but I learned with the second one to go to Rainbow Resource first if I'm planning on purchasing because the popular stuff sells out. The last conference I went to, just a few weeks ago, I was planning on purchasing AAR 3 (sold out), Zaner Bloser 2M/2C (I purchased the last ones, but needed two) and AAS 2 (sold out). I know I can buy online and get free shipping (with a $50 purchase) but I was kind of excited to get my hands on them at the event. Of course I found enough other things at their tables to make up for it!
So funny....last night I listed out the booths we have to go to as soon as the exhibit hall opens. Number 1? Rainbow Resource. Then today I got an email from them. I had inquired about Beast Academy being there and the guy wrote back and said it would be, but I should be there early to get my hands on it. I told him it was literally the FIRST thing on my list! RR is a great booth, but yes....the popular stuff goes quickly!!
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Yes! Is that the one you're going to?????
Yep!! I live in the mountains, so we are dropping the kids with the in-laws and making the trek east! :) I went two years ago but didn't go last year. I'm looking forward to it and planning now. I still need stuff for next year, so we have a lot to research and look at. It is nice to have a purpose....two years ago I didn't "need" anything, but got a TON of encouragement and spent a bit too much money. ;-)
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I'm going to our state convention this weekend!!!!! I already have everything I need for next year, so I'm going to be getting myself into trouble!
HEAV??
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Here is what my preschooler did this year when we did school (when he wasn't in front of TV....no guilt here...sometimes you do what you gotta do). More often than not though he was:
With us at table - coloring, cutting, pasting, folding, etc. I just bought a ton of paper and let him go to town.
Do a Dots.
Big paint brush, cup of water, front porch. Happy kid. And I could "watch" him.
I have five bins - one with black beans, one with popcorn (unpopped), one with rice and one with macaroni pasta. The last bin has ice cube tray, tongs (to pick out poms), measuring cups, measuring spoons, little cups, old spice jars and tops, etc. He would choose a bin (like rice) and then have at it on play room floor. If it got too messy I took it away. He kept it neat. :)
Shaker container (like at pizza places that have the red pepper flakes or parmesan chese) - and some toothpicks. Putting toothpicks in little holes was super fun!
Cookie sheet and magnetic letters.
Felt board with various pieces.
Boogie Board LED writer.
Finally...after our morning time, my two big kids had "reading time". They had to read for 20 minutes to themselves. My first grader isn't a great reader and would often flip through Usborne encyclopedias and what not. In that 20 minutes I would do "school" with the preschooler. He got his tank full of Mommy time early on and we were all happier for it.
Not sure if any of this would help. Oh....and at christmas my father got him a leap pad epic. TONS of educational games on it and it is a treat, so that was a fun go to as well. :)
Good luck!!
Courtney
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Which booth do you hit first? Which curriculum are you dying to get your hands on? The used curriculum sale is about the size of a football field....what type of things do you hunt for there?
Any other convention tips? Tis the season....
Thanks!
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My DD is going into 4th grade and LOVES to write. I've not done any sort of writing curriculum to date because she is always writing something and I just let it go. Not a ton of correction (if any). I just like to see her little mind word. Anyway...she also LOVES CLE LA and it is the one thing she has requested to use next year. We have Writers in Residence ready to go, but I don't know if she is ready for something so independent. Her reading comprehension isn't quite there yet. Anyway...I like how incremental CLE is and there is SOME writing. How can I supplement? I'm so overwhelmed by this writing thing. Any ideas would be great. I've looked around and the Hake Writing looks like it might be good (one time per week as well as incremental). Would it make sense just to do THAT portion of the program combined with CLE? She'll be doing Saxon 6/5 and I'm not sure Hake grammar's book would appeal to her at this point. And she really does love and do well with CLE.
Anyway...any ideas from you wise and more experienced parents?? Thank you!!
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I have a rising 4th grade girl....a rising 2nd grade boy and a 4.5 year old doing fairly advances math for his age and starting to read.
I would love to give them each a folder on our ipad for "school time" if i need fun fillers.
So what do you love and find valueable? Ready.....go....
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Great. Hopefully they will be consistent with their booth!! Thanks so much!!
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As I head to convention in a couple of weeks I have BA on my list of things to check out. Although it doesn't look like they will be there. Could I be looking under the wrong name? OR would I be able to flip through at Rainbow Resources booth or something? Thanks so much!!
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My DD is going into 4th grade and is a pretty natural speller. She is very visual and reads a ton, so it just translates well into spelling. We have gone through AAS 5 and I'm over it. My DS coming up behind her just needs more of my time, so I'm trying to find ways to move my time around.
I keep reading about keeping a notebook of mis-spelled words and I'd like to know strategies behind this and WHEN you write those down. This child writes ALL THE TIME. Do I scrutinize everything or just her school writing? Once it goes into the notebook, do I just have her practice over and over? Play games with those words? Make it a spelling list of sorts?
I would also love to know if there is an independent spelling program. Just to look into. I've looked at Phonetic Zoo, but I don't like the price and since she isn't very auditory I don't think it would work well.
Thanks so much!!
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Why did you switch to Versatiles?
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We used Bambinoluk and then switched to Versatiles.
They were well loved here. I rotated through the books so only one or two was available at a time, and they were used while we had a different activity for the other child each week. We rotated through those, shape games, logic puzzles, pounding pegs in clay, stencils, and other things. I don't think I would use the books too frequently, each page only took about a minute or so to complete, up to maybe ten minutes for the Versatiles.
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Has anybody here used MiniLuk? I'm looking at it for my 4.5 year old as something he can do somewhat independently while I do school with my 2nd and 4th graders. He is already reading CVC words and doing simple addition and subtraction. He won't be 5 until December, so I'm just trying to keep him busy and engaged. He seems to be teaching himself things, so I figure give him other "interesting" learning opportunities and not do anything formal for a while.
MiniLuk looks like something fun and engaging. Anybody have any experience with it?Thanks!
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It sounds like you want to limit writing by using RightStart and to use it for a solid foundation of conceptual math. For both of those reasons, yes, it would be a good move. The added bonus if he does have some AD/HD traits is that it brings many different manipulatives and games into play to keep the novelty and pace fun.
Thanks! He will be in 2nd grade and did great in ABEAK 1. Math facts are down! Should he start in B or C? Looks like B may be better in terms of the newness to RightStart, but would it set him back? Or if he needs to speed up, can we? Just curious if you can pace that way with the curriculum.
Thanks!
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I'm confused. Are you saying that he struggles with the physical act of writing and it is affecting his functionality in math? Or he cannot get his thoughts on paper but the physical act itself is fine?
What are the things you are seeing that make you think he has ADD?
As for whether Right Start would work or not, I don't know. Are you seeking a math program that requires very little physical writing?
I'm sorry. Yes, physical act of writing. So he can do math well, but the act of writing the answers KILLS him. Or he can do his phonics or spelling, but the act of writing is torture. We are going to work on it, but I don't see any reason to stick with ABEKA (worksheet heavy) if we can do something else with less writing. I also would like more emphasis in mental math ANYWAY, so this seems to fit the bill.
His ADD symptoms are minor, easily distractable, impulsivity has always been an issue (a little more than a normal 7 year old boy), hard time transitioning activities, sensitive to noises, tastes, etc., quick (very quick) temper. But more than that in his schoolwork is the act of writing....poor kid just hates it. And it isn't behavioral..he has such a hard time with it that distractions kick in, he gets more frustrated, etc.
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So my son may have a touch of ADD. My best friend has her doctorate in clinical child psychology and is the director of a developmental clinic in a children's hospital. She knows my DS and also watched a recent 9 minute video of him doing school work. She says there are some "flavors" of ADD, but nothing TOO major. However, he has a MAJOR relative learning difficulty with pen to paper writing. My goal next year is to minimize that (he will be in 2nd grade) so he doesn't end up hating school. He is so smart and GREAT at math. It is just writing that kills him.
So, I want to possibly start RightStart. Is that a good move? I also think that it may be good for my Pre-K boy....who is already doing simple math problems in his head, greater than less than, etc. I would love to develop conceptual math more. We've been doing ABEKA and while my older DD and my DS (mentioned above) do fine on their standardized tests I KNOW there is something missing. My older DS will be doing Saxon 6/5 with BA supplementing next year.
Does RightStart make sense for my 2nd grade DD? Is level B appropriate for him? The placement test isn't very extensive and gave us that because he "doesn't know his facts up to 18" but then again he is "regrouping when needed his double-digit addition facts" which would put him in C.
What do you all think? Thank you!!
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I just got my DDs test scores back. Math, social studies and everything was great. Her weakest was by FAR reading comp. She decodes two years above grade level. How do i get her to comorehend better? We are doing sonlight next year and I got readers at 4th grade level. Just read read read?
Thanks!!
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At our house, math and problem solving are two separate subjects.
For "math" my kids spend about 15 minutes doing Math Mammoth; it is rigorous and conceptual, but is doesn't really stretch their brain and make them think. I love Math Mammoth because it does a good job explaining why numbers work as they do, and it provides the drill and review my kids need to keep their basic math skills strong, but I don't love that it never stumps them. They never start a problem, realize their approach isn't working and have to consider what other strategies might work. Other than a careless mistake or two, they never get problems wrong.
"Problem Solving", OTOH, is all about the process. My 8 year old spends 20-30 minutes a day working on Beast Academy or Singapore Challenging Word Problems or Balance Benders or logic puzzles. Sometimes he spends all 30 minutes puzzling over one challenging question - studying it, approaching it from one angle, backing off and reassessing, trying another strategy, etc. I think that perseverance and complex thinking are the most important parts of true math (as opposed to arithmetic), so as long as Beast Academy and the rest are challenging DS to that level, I truly don't care how long it takes for him to get through them. Right now he is is MM5a and BA3d; I expect that in the next year or so, he will begin AOPS prealgebra, but still spend some time every day hanging out with the beasts as he slowly savors his way through BA4 and 5.
Wendy
I really really love this. I think I'll take this approach next year with Saxon/BA.
Thanks for sharing!!
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We use Saxon and BA as a supplement for my oldest. Basically I assign all our Saxon as normal, but Friday is Beast Academy math day. So he does BA for an hour instead of Saxon. This could end up being a whole bunch of pages, or maybe just a problem or two, depending on what it is. You do need the guide and the practice book to make it worth your time. The practice books are where they learn that sometimes you have to think about a math problem for a really long time and that is normal. :)
We've slowly worked through all of level 3 in BA this way, even though he's advanced in Saxon. Since the way BA presents math is so different, the levels of the books don't really correspond to grade level, IME.
For what its worth, having done it this way for 2 years, we're moving entirely to BA for math next year.
I always see BA mentioned here and have never looked at it until last night and it looks amazing!! My rising 4th grade DD is starting Saxon 6/5 next year. She has just finished up ABEKA 3, which is why we are going to 6/5.
Saxon has more variety in problem presentation than ABEKA and more focus on mental math, but I like the looks of BA for more strategies and conceptual thinking.
Did you find you got behind in Saxon? I guess that isn't an issue since she is technically a year ahead anyway. And since she has NEVER done anything like this, starting at 3A is probably a good idea, huh? Even looking at the placement tests, it seems like just putting her there would be good.
Thanks!!
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I love the mathematical reasoning as a supplement ONLY and as summer work. I also used Building Thinking Skills for my 2nd grade DD. She was OK with it but the lack of color was "eh" at that point in her life. She may like it better now. I plan on checking out their booth at the convention I'm going to in a month. :) Mind Benders sounds like a winner!!
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I just got the Mardel Student Planner for my rising 5th grader. It is pretty, it has lots of extra space for doodling and notes, and I got myself the matching one. I plan to give her a basic list with what she is to accomplish each day and let her write it in the planner. We have also used the one you are using now, Well Planned Day, and Plan in Place. The quality of the Mardel planners is unmatched by the others. This is my first year using Mardel.
I just looked at the Mardel!! What a great planner for a great price. I thinks he will love that. She wants to feel grown up with a real planner, which is the only reason I'm not doing a composition book. :)
Thanks everybody!
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My DD will be in 4th grade next year and so much more of her work will be independent. She wants a planner, which it is time for. I've never done a checklist or anything. I have one in MY planner, but never for the kids. They just do what I tell them and one year we did drawers.
Anyway...now I need to get more organized to let HER be more organized and learn time management skills and such. She is very responsible and is ready to be "more grown up". ;-) What do you all do? What is your system? She definitely wants a planner (not just pages printed out). I've always used the Ultimate Homeschool Planner, but am wondering if I can try something else. Any suggestions?
OK, thanks for any ideas you can give me or suggestions.
Favorite curriculum to teach reading?
in PreK and K
Posted
You will not find a lot of ABEKA supporters here, but I honestly like it for phonics. It just makes sense. Word families "cat, hat, bat" don't help my kids at all, because rarely do words actually rhyme. Beyond CVC words, I just don't see how it sets a good foundation. Teaching blend ladders from the beginning "ca, ha, ba" and jumping off from THERE just makes more sense and has really helped my kids decode effectively...even in 4th and 2nd grade. ABEKA doesn't need to be so hard to teach, but I'm also familiar with it at this point and know what I can do and not do. I don't use it for anything else but phonics, because I've found it just makes sense. AAR was something I bought for my third child (found it really cheap) but then sold because it just didn't make as much sense to me to teach reading. Now...I LOVE All About Spelling once a child has started to read, but for me ABEKA is just a fantastic foundation.
So here is one recommendation to go with what you have. ;-)