zaichiki
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Posts posted by zaichiki
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Perspective?
I guess I always consider WHO my kids' peers, coworkers, and schoolmates will be in the future. It's probable that my kids will be competitive with the other kids who are like them.
Dd wants to either be a vet or a violist. So, in college, she's going to be taking classes with other pre-med/pre-vet students (usually not that bottom 5%) or she'll be in a competitive music school with other serious musicians. Or she'll be something else, of course. ;) But why "compare" her to kids from a different world experience with different goals for the future, you know? So... in my mind, I'm "comparing" her to the other high-achieving kids out there... and she fits right in. 50th %ile. :)
Same idea for ds: he's likely to end up a history professor or an aerospace engineer. Really. These are his areas of interest, obsession, and strength. So, why not "compare" him, in my mind, with the other future engineers and professors? I'm not going to be thinking about how much above "average" his scores are, because the "average" that he'll be working/living with will be quite different from the national average IYKWIM.
I guess it's just like your school experience. If you're surrounded by other high achievers/accelerated learners, then *that's* your measuring stick.
Not that we need to measure our kids against other kids all the time, but it helps to put those scores into perspective, doesn't it? Anyway, I *like* my world with the rose-colored glasses *on* where my kids are just one of the pack. :)
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Don't you get 2 scores? One percentile compared to the grade and one percentile compared to their actual agemates? Or is that another test?
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It used to be available in print (the worksheets and the part that you read aloud while looking at the slides on the CDrom), but now it's all on-line.
I print off the worksheets and the part that I read aloud and stick them in a binder with tabs. Then, I read from that notebook while clicking through the on-line section (shows slides of artwork with the occasional audio clip or letter written by the artist or something). The kids do the worksheets/technique sheets at the table during a second session. A third session sees us at the table with all the supplies to do the "hands on" art project. I print out the directions I'm supposed to read for this part, too. Okay... so I don't really read it word for word...
I admit I liked it better when I purchased it four years ago and all the worksheets and my read aloud part were already printed off and stuck in a binder with tabs FOR me. I also got a little packet with postcard-sized prints of some of the artwork. The CDrom was nice, as I could use it on the laptop in the car and whatnot. However... it was nearly three times the price for the track back then. It's cheaper now! :) I guess I can live with printing off the material and accessing the other part online.
Cheers!
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We would recommend it. We're using Track A for the second time with ds(10) and the first time with dd(7). They both enjoy it every time we do it.
I like that famous artists are studied, but the program doesn't leave out technique AND art appreciation. And then the kids make their own masterpiece in the same style as the artist!
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http://giftedexchange.blogspot.com/2008/11/10000-hours.html
This was a topic on Laura Vanderkam's blog back in 2008.
http://giftedexchange.blogspot.com/2009/02/is-genius-born-or-learned.html
Here's a related topic, but don't skip the comments. There are some counterpoints made that are worth reading.
Off to find this book at amazon -
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I really enjoyed this book. I thought the emphasis on hard work was very inspiring.
Jen, I agree that there is obviously an environmental component to success.
This is like the old nature vs. nurture thing. Nurture is a BIGGY -- no doubt. I agree with Dr. Suzuki: "When love is deep, much can be accomplished." I don't think this necessarily means that what will be accomplished or the ability will be equal in every child, though.
I get the feeling that Outliers implies that it's really ALL about the environmental factor. I think that omitting the truth that nature (inborn strengths and abilities) can be important implies that it is not of consequence.
I think I really need to read this book.
:)
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There have been some very thorough discussions of this book over on the davidson's forum. I suggest you check them out. Very interesting...
I haven't yet read the book as a whole, but I've read a LOT of PARTS of it quoted here and there. I've read a bunch of reviews. I don't think it's quite up my alley. I've heard it used as support for those who think there's no need for g&t programs in school and that anyone can be "gifted." I know success in life and giftedness are two different things, but I truly believe that some people pick things up more quickly than others and the 10K hours rule doesn't seem to be involved.
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She's been at the same reading level for a year and a half. If a sound or letter isn't reviewed enough, she just forgets what it is, so most of the time we review what she already knows and try to introduce a new concept slowly. If I take a day off, she forgets.
This is what caught my attention. She's known her letter sounds for 2 years now? But if you don't review them she forgets? Do you mean like simple letter sounds and names? That sounds like a certain child I know who has severe dyslexia. Not, of course, that it means YOUR child has severe dyslexia, but these sentences jumped right out at me. A child who has been a beginning reader for 2 years may just not be READY to learn their letter sounds... but if she HAS learned them yet does not retain them? I'm not sure that is completely typical. It's not MY experience, but I admit my kids are not typical either. It could be typical. What says the group?
Right now my 3 year old knows most of his letter sounds. So did my other two at this age. BUT once they learned them they didn't need constant review. Is that common when kids are learning to read?
(The only one of mine that profits from the review is the middle one who has dyslexia. All the review in the world doesn't always help, though, as it seems to be a brain connection that gives her the trouble. **She learned to read without needing a lot of review in beginning phonics, but now needs the review as we get to the vowel combinations that make several different sounds --3rd grade level phonics approximately.**)
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You could do it two ways:
1. Make a small exit/entrance in that cage they're in. This way, they can get out, but they can also get back in without being followed if they need an escape. *Of course, you have to make sure that the hens can't fit through that hole.*
2. Put them on the roost in the dark, when the hens are *out cold.* Hint: turn off your flashlight. In our experience, chickens aren't too bright. If they wake up next to another chicken they just sort of think to themselves, "Well, I guess you were here yesterday."
All should be fine either way.
I like the idea of introducing them outdoors in a wide open space, too.
Good luck!
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I'm just very honest with my kids: some things come very easily to her, while such-and-such comes very easily to YOU. Some things she can't do without a lot of help are easy for YOU. She has picked this skill up quickly, in part, because she has such a fabulous mentor in YOU.
The only competitive issue we've had so far is that my 7 y.o. dd picks up and plays new music easily, naturally, and expressively. 10 y.o. ds has to work his rear off for his success with his music. She sometimes takes joy in showing him up: I admit it. They are at about the same place, repertoire-wise, though he's been playing for a year more. Thank goodness they play different instruments! Ds still sightreads more easily, though. But, honestly, it is just so OBVIOUS that she is the more "gifted" musician, even to him. It would do him a disservice to try to distract him from the fact that it is her strength.
Oldest ds can run circles around his little sis when it comes to reading, writing, math, and drawing skills. Dd is perhaps a faster runner than her big brother. But, hey... we all have strengths!
I can see how a book that belonged to one child could cause an issue. Perhaps asking before using a sibling's belongings? Or maybe all books should belong to everyone? (We do have books that belong to one child or another, but the topic is usually so child specific -- Star Wars or American Girls for instance -- that we haven't had any trouble yet.) Most of our books belong to the family. It might be a good idea to make sure that a book that might be interesting to another child in the near future was part of the family library.
Could little dd borrow that book from the library instead of borrowing it from big sis?
You know... we all grow up eventually and then our younger brothers and sisters are developmentally our equals. Everyone has to deal with this sooner or later. It's just harder to deal with it when you're a child (not capable of reasoning through it).
Good luck!
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If you let me know what level your dc is at right now and how old your dc is, I can be more helpful.
Angie,
I pm'ed you.
Thanks!
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Many of us (myself anyway) that vote pro-choice might be willing to take a closer look at voting pro-life if we knew there were programs in place that offered help to both the mother and the child with the end goal in mind of helping the mother become a self sufficiant member of this society, regardless if they were offered by the government, private organizations, or charity.
Catholic Charities organizations all over this country provide teen parent support and adoption services for young mothers who do not choose abortion. There's probably a Catholic Charities in your area. So take heart: you can consider voting pro-life! There ARE programs in place out there. Catholic Charities is only ONE of the options. :)
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So I just found out that there are TWO types of dyslexia. The methods used to remediate one aren't the most efficient to remediate the other.
Anyone out there with a child diagnosed with dyseidetic dyslexia? What reading and spelling programs have you found to be the MOST helpful for your child?
Thank you.
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Angie,
Thanks for posting this. I had never heard that there were other types of dyslexia and that the symptoms like my dd's were actually dyslexia, too. I wish I had seen your list when dd was younger. I'm sure I would have done something earlier. Maybe it would have taken some of the frustration off of dd's shoulders.
I was constantly told that she was fine: too young to worry... most kids don't read until 6 or 7 anyway...it's normal... I was told this by a pediatric opthamologist when I had her eyes tested (who looked at me like I was this insane, pushy mother). I was told this by teachers and tons of other moms. But mothers frequently just know when something is going on and we should listen to our gut. It took a behavioral opthamologist and a neurodevelopmental psych to figure it out. I'm still surprised I went that far with everyone telling me she was just normal and fine. I'm glad I did, though. Hopefully we can prevent a lot of the frustration and teach her coping skills now so she can love reading, like she really wants to. (Dh and Df-i-l avoid reading like the plague and now I know why!)
Anyway...
Thank you.
Just in case it helps, I'll also post the signs of dyseidetic dyslexia. I knew something was going on with my youngest dd at an early age, but I didn't know what. I didn't think it was dyslexia, because my dd's issues were primarily visual. She didn't have any problems with rhyming or segmenting or even blending (if you supplied her with the sounds).My dd still had every symptom on this list when she was 7yo, even after vision therapy.
Author Corinne Roth Smith lists the reading and spelling patterns of children with dyseidetic dyslexia (also called visual dyslexia):
* Confusion with letters that differ in orientation (b-d, p-q).
* Confusion with words that can be dynamically reversed (was-saw).
* Very limited sight vocabulary; few words are instantly recognized from their whole configuration — they need to be sounded out laboriously, as though being seen for the first time.
* Losing the place because one doesn’t instantly recognize what had already been read, as when switching one’s gaze from the right side of one line to the left side of the next line.
* Omitting letters and words because they weren’t visually noted.
* Masking the image of one letter, by moving the eye too rapidly to the subsequent letter, may result in omission of the first letter.
* Difficulty learning irregular words that can’t be sounded out (for example, sight).
* Difficulty with rapid retrieval of words due to visual retrieval weaknesses.
* Visual stimuli in reading prove so confusing that it is easier for the child to learn to read by first spelling the words orally and then putting them in print.
* Insertions, omissions, and substitutions, if the meaning of the passage is guiding reading.
* Strengths in left hemisphere language-processing, analytical and sequential abilities, and detail analysis; can laboriously sound out phonetically regular words even up to grade level.
* Difficulty recalling the shape of a letter when writing.
* Spells phonetically but not bizarrely (laf-laugh; bisnis-business).
* Can spell difficult phonetic words but not simple irregular words.
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I think Perry's list is very good for identifying severe dyslexia. In truth there are various "strengths" of dyslexia. A friend's son couldn't remember the name of the letter T, though he *could* make the sound when he saw the letter. My dd had no trouble with rhyming, remembering nursery rhymes, or beginning phonics, but she consistently had trouble following from R to L on the page and would overlook letters.
She was evaluated by a behavioral opthomologist (for tracking, convergience, etc.) and we went to Children's Hospital where we were told "dyslexia."
She constantly loses her place on the page and doesn't seem to see all the letters within words. If I slow her down and make her sound things out, she is fine, but on her own...(?)
She could actually write all of her letters at 3.5 years old. She would sound out whole sentences and write them phonetically in her free time, but she couldn't read them back. Isn't that interesting?!
She confused lowercase b and d until very recently.
Anyway... all of that to say that dyslexia doesn't look the same in all kids. I never thought dd had it because she could read above grade level and picked up early phonics easily. But... there you go.
We have found out that dyslexia (though undiagnosed -- but the same symptoms as dd) runs in the family.
Dd still struggles with the varous sounds of vowels, and although she can tell you the short sounds, long sounds, etc when you ask, will frequently use the *wrong* one when sounding out a word. She mainly reads by sightwords/ wordshape. We're working with her using an Orton-Gillingham method (which I strongly recommend) spelling program called All About Spelling. It has helped.
Good luck!
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That's what's so great about using a common word as your username: no one will ever pick you out from the thousands of references!
:)
PS Zaichiki means bunny rabbits in Russian. Dm-i-l uses this nickname for her children/grandchildren. So that's us: zaichiki.
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I heard recently an interesting comment...when kids lose and cut their first set of teeth, they're ready for reading...the average age is 5-7...6 in the middle :)
Yeah... nice idea... not true in my house.
My oldest lost his first baby tooth at about 6.5, but was reading chapter books (mostly self-taught reader) by 5.
My middle child got her first adult tooth at 4. She was a very early writer, writing for fun (all over scrap paper and even my mail) phonetically by 4.5, but didn't really learn to read sentences until 6.
I think kids are ready for reading when they try to read on their own or ask you to teach them. :) Of course, if they can't figure out blending yet (early phonics), then they aren't ready. I don't think attention span is much of an issue. A child can learn to read in short bursts of 2-5 minutes of focused attention.
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If you don't mind my asking, why wouldn't RMD house be an option? I believe it is a "hotel" option designed specifically to support the families of the children being treated at the hospital.
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Okay, not to be a killjoy, but.....
My daughter, who took the training wheels off at exactly 3, is NOT physically super-capable. She walked early, biked early, but wasn't extra capable on the playground, much less with sports or what have you. In fact, I would guess she's generally been LESS capable than most children.
So you might not push him to be an Olympian based on this.
Just whatever happens will. And it'll be fine :)
Ditto. My older two rode without training wheels between 3.75 and 4.0 years of age. The younger of the two IS pretty fearless when it comes to physical skills, but she's not physically advanced. She's just about average when it comes to sports. (She'll climb 30 ft into a tree, though, and give mother heart attacks! Not really my favorite personality trait!) The older one is actually physically awkward, doesn't like to take physical risks at all, and has always had an awkward running gait/gross motor skills issues.
It's been my experience that most 3-4 olds can easily learn to ride without training wheels. As soon as my kids showed that it could be done, suddenly every 3-4 year old child in my suburban neighborhood was doing it (and I did not teach them). Before we moved in, our child-filled community had never experienced that. I think kids (and parents) just need to see that it really can be done. In many cases I think older kids and parents have a mental block against the idea... fear of falling, etc.
IMHO the big deal is that your young one sees that whatever big brother does, he can do, too. And that is awesome! Sounds like he will have a lot of confidence and be the type of person who is willing to try new things easily. Go him!
It certainly IS something to see such little ones whipping around on a two-wheeler, isn't it?! They're just too amazing!
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I've seen a lot of folks list that they used that, sounds good. I used Math Mammoth because when we needed the time supplement, CurrClick was offering it as a free download. Gotta love free :D.
Definitely!
(I only recommend the Key To series because it is easy to pick/choose the booklets and they are great for remediation. I think they're like $3.50 a booklet or something? They have Key To... Decimals, Fractions, Measurement, Geometry, Algebra... have I left anything out? A friend recommended them to me and I kept brushing her off. Finally I borrowed her set for a week. Then I broke down and bought some of my own. Topics are broken down into bite-sized pieces with just enough repetition. Ds didn't do all the practice problems, but I'm so glad we did it. REALLY helped!)
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In our experience, the most important thing was to teach reading fluently in ONE language before adding another. Speaking is, of course, entirely different and I would encourage teaching the speaking of another language.
Ds picked up reading in English very quickly. The following year, when he was confidently reading chapter books, we introduced the Cyrillic alphabet. (Russian is spoken in our home.) Ds picked it up easily that year, even though he had previously been confused by the letter sounds.
I had always had Russian magnet letters on the fridge. There are some letters that look like English letters but make different sounds (P/R, R/ya, Y/yoo, B/V, L/G, E/yeh, lowercase t/m, X/kh, etc.). This really threw a monkey wrench in things for ds when he was 3 and 4. I wonder if the Greek alphabet would give you a similar issue? (I know it's not an issue for all kids, but I have been told by other bilingual families that it's beneficial to teach reading in one language for a year or two before introducing it in the second, especially when there could be alphabet/letter confusion.)
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If it were me and measurements was her biggest problem area, I would consider a focused period of time on measurements, then retake the placement (I presume you mean a Singapore placement test?). search_free=&search_in_description=1&search_in_author=1&search_in_artist=1
What about Key to Measurements (Metric)? When ds got stuck on multiplying fractions I picked up some of their Key to Fractions booklets. Very much "to the point." One book took only a couple of weeks.
Then, after you "remediate" metric measurements, have her take the Singapore placement test again and see what happens.
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I got my list of what plants to plant when from Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening. In the older version of the book he has a frost map which gives the average dates of the last spring and first fall frosts. He then counts forward/backward and tells how many weeks after the last frost/before the last frost to plant certain crops (all depends on where you live).
Here, in NE, I just started planting my fall garden. Broccoli and cabbage went in two weeks ago. Cauliflower goes in this week. Then we'll plant more carrots, radishes, bush beans, spinach, lettuce etc. in August and September.
I LOVE fall gardening! (I call it "second chance" gardening as I always seem to mess up the spring/summer garden somehow!)
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- Sonlight Core 3 early American history with extra readers
- Sonlight LA 3
- Singapore 4A and 4B with IP
- Science - unit studies including prehistoric animals & a paleo-knowledge competition team and Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry
- lapbook on the American Revolution using History Pockets and Michael Gravois' book
- lapbook on early Presidents and states using own design
- Devotional Stories for Little Folks books
- Meet the Masters art curric
- Suzuki cello lessons and orchestra
- Mavis Beacon Typing Tutor
- town basketball and soccer
This was what my 9-10 year old did this year.
- Sonlight Core 3 early American history with extra readers
I need some perspective on testing...
in Accelerated Learner Board
Posted
Oh, I forgot to mention that those ITBS scores probably mean you've done a great job educating her! :) She was ready to handle that particular hurdle and did it exceptionally well.