hlee
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Posts posted by hlee
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My guess is, thinking back to the other NYTimes article featuring Doug Lemov (author of Teach Like a Champion), that superior K teachers have 1) excellent classroom management skills, 2) thorough understanding of the individual strengths and needs of the students in his/her class, and 3) diligence and creativity in communicating with his/her students. I am hoping with my own K-er this year I'll be able to do #2 and #3 since #1 isn't so much an issue at home (unless you include corralling the toddler in the house!) At least, this is my hope, that what we do here at home won't fall too short if at all with what one of those $320K teachers could do. Having said that, I know for me that homeschooling has been a leap of faith since we started last fall, and that I can trust that God will guide me and my kids in this journey. I'm hoping I can free myself from worrying over things like "are my kids keeping up?" or "would they do better in a classroom setting with a really gifted teacher?" If this is where God has led us, which I believe it is, I'm going to try to just do my best and trust God with the rest. =)
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We have been using Better Chinese, initially through a Chinese school but then when spending 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon at school started to feel pretty wearisome, we just tried to do it ourselves at home with an occasional Mandarin-speaking tutor, primarily for my 7-year-old DS. He was working through My First Chinese Reader Vol. 1 and 2; he'd use the CD-ROM to learn the lesson, use some the accompanying activity books (definitely the character cards, for example), and then use the online learning subscription to take a quiz about the chapter to see what he'd retained.
The problem with this program for non-native Mandarin speakers (which would be our family!), is that without consistent review and assistance from a Mandarin speaker, it's hard to make progress. Also, I felt as though my son was developing a dislike for learning the language because it is hard in many senses of the word-- you have to develop a new way of speaking, new sounds, unfamiliar characters, etc.
Anyway, this coming year I am going to scale back from using My First Chinese Reader, I think. I also have a number of the other curricula (My First Chinese Words, for example) and so we may just try to simplify and have more fun with the program rather than trying to slog our way through the Reader. I just want my kids to get a feel for the language if possible, and whatever they learn will be icing on the cake. I also have discovered that if I'm not learning the language alongside them, so that I can banter the vocabulary phrases back and forth (i.e., "What is your name?" "How old are you?" "I love my family!") then it's hard to keep the progress going.
I don't know if this was at all helpful but feel free to PM me with more questions! Good luck!
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Today's officially our last day of school! Our weekly report is up although it's more like a quick summary of the month as I have been behind on posting. I'll also write more in the near future about what has been accomplished this year, but right now we're all feeling good to have successfully survived our first year of homeschooling!
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I started with the US edition for 1A and 1B. But after reading so many comments here about more review and better HIGs and more color in Standards, I made the switch for 2A. I'm glad I did, because as the math is getting more difficult (addition and subtraction with renaming, working with 3-digit numbers) having more practice has been crucial. So I'm glad to have made the switch. Now I don't know what to do with my extra US edition books! Guess I should put them up in the For Sale swap board!
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Hi everyone,
In addition to being a homeschooling mom, I'm a writer working on a book about missional motherhood. I'm looking for homeschooling moms for whom homeschooling has given them freedom to pursue ministry in some way--perhaps by being able to live in the inner city or overseas, for example--and who are very intentional about helping their children learn to be mission-minded as well.
If you fit this description or know someone who does, could you please PM me? I would really appreciate it!
Thanks so much.
_______________
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Great! I look forward to speaking with some of you in the future! You don't have to be a missionary overseas, but I am definitely looking for people who strive to reach out to others and for whom homeschooling has given them more flexibility to do this. Thanks, everyone!
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Hi everyone,
In addition to being a homeschooling mom, I'm a writer working on a book about missional motherhood. I'm looking for homeschooling moms for whom homeschooling has given them freedom to pursue ministry in some way--perhaps by being able to live in the inner city or overseas, for example--and who are very intentional about helping their children learn to be mission-minded as well.
If you fit this description or know someone who does, could you please PM me? I would really appreciate it!
Thanks so much.
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Thanks to everyone who has commented so far! I just wanted to add that I do create a daily assignment sheet for my son. But sometimes, I feel like I underestimate how much time it will take for him to finish everything. There are some days the handwriting or copywork take more time for whatever reason, etc. Math takes longer some days and less time others. So then I'm stuck trying to figure out, did he do enough, or did he waste time which is why he is not done with everything and it's already 3 p.m.? Maybe as the years go by I'll have a better understanding of how much time certain things take, but for this first year I'm still feeling pretty hazy about it. I just was wondering if 2nd grade/young elementary is appropriate for starting to think about time management....seems to go a little bit against a more Charlotte Mason approach that believes in more time for young children to play, etc. Anyway...would love to keep reading more feedback from anyone! Thanks...
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So my husband, who teaches at Moody Bible Institute where a good number of homeschoolers have crossed his paths over the years, recently made a comment about "stereotypical homeschoolers." This is our first year homeschooling and so I have no idea what that means, so when I asked him, he said that the typical rap against homeschoolers is that they aren't good at working on deadline and getting things done in a timely fashion. He guessed that one of the inherent strengths of homeschooling--its flexibility and the freedom to take tangents or focus on one topic more than planned--can at times also be its greatest weakness.
My intent with this thread isn't to debate the validity of the stereotype--like all stereotypes, it might contain a hint of truth, it may be way off base for many of you--but I'm curious to know how those of you who have been doing this for a number of years guard against the potential pitfall of training kids who aren't as good at task-management. I have a 2nd grader this year, and I am unsure when to expect that he can finish a particular assignment in a particular amount of time. At this age, are such time limits necessary or a good thing? He does do timed math drills but we just always aim to "do better than the last time" in terms of finishing a particular number of questions within the designated time. Otherwise, I've never really used a time limit on anything else. If he does seem to languish during the day, I will have him keep going in the day until he finishes what seems reasonable, or I'll just carry tasks over to the next day. It's hard as a new homeschooler to know what to expect in terms of what he should be able to complete in a day, and then I'm sure it all changes with subsequent children!
So I'm eager to hear from the collective wisdom of the hive! What do you do to help your kids with task management, starting from what age, and how do you determine what are reasonable expectations to have of what work they can complete in what time? I'd love any feedback here!
Thanks in advance.
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Thanks, everyone! Lots to think about with the great responses. To clarify something I forgot to mention, big brother will likely be doing MFW's ECC in the fall, and my 5 yo DS loves geography so I think he'll enjoy some aspects of that program. But I definitely don't want him to miss out on typical kindergarten activities, so you all have some good suggestions! Would love to see more if there are others with opinions or experience on this!
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We went through much trial and error this year to find the right combination. Here is what works for us. I used to try to start us all together with a Bible lesson but due to a number of factors, such as music practice ending at different times and the unpredictability of life with a toddler in the mix, I now save that for the end of the day before bed.
After breakfast, my nearly-8 year old and my 5 year old practice their respective instruments. After my eldest is done, I have ready for him all of his independent work for the day. This varies from day to day, but includes at least some of the following: math, copywork, spelling, history reading, science reading, handwriting (cursive), languages (Latin or Chinese) if he has time, which he rarely does. While he does his independent work, I work with my younger sons, helping my 5 year old with his violin practicing and then doing reading, writing, and math with him, or playing with my youngest when he needs.
My eldest will do his work upstairs while I am in the basement with the younger boys. I find it is just too hard for him to concentrate if he is in the same room with us.
Then before lunch, I will do one joint activity together with the two older boys; either geography, history, or science depending on the day. Then it's break time until lunch.
After lunch, when the youngest is asleep is when I do more concentrated work with my eldest--new math concepts, narrations, science experiments, etc. My 5 year old, if he is awake, will join in with us. My eldest will finish up whatever work he has left from the morning, and my 5 year old will just play on his own if he has no other activities to participate in.
So, that's what has been helpful for us. I'm sure each family will be different but this is the rhythm that has been the most easy to implement and continue this year. Good luck!
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Hi everyone,
I'm finishing up our first year of homeschooling, primarily with our eldest who did 2nd grade this year, and also with our second son who just turned 5 and is thus kindergarten age this fall. He would like to do "school at home" as opposed to going to kindergarten as the public school, so that's the plan for him...now I'm trying to figure out what to do with him!
He has progressed nicely through OPGTR this year, more than halfway through, so he is reading Level 2 books with relative ease and thus doesn't need a kindergarten language-arts program that focuses on identifying letters and their sounds. He has also been working on his handwriting this year so he can formulate his letters pretty well.
He's been working through Singapore Earlybird A and is just starting B, so we'll just continue that for math.
Many of the kindergarten curricula I've been looking at seem to not fit where he is academically, but at the same time I don't want for him to miss out on typical kindergarten activities that would be right for him in other ways. This year he joined in with his older brother on science, history, geography and Bible activities, but I did wonder if it would be good for this fall to have activities that are designed especially for his particular age group.
So, WTMers....what have you done for your children that are like this? I do like the idea of a stand-alone curriculum because I'm not yet confident enough in my own homeschooling/teaching abilities to put something together piecemeal for him. But I am feeling somewhat uncertain of the kindergarten curricula I've looked through (which includes Memoria Press K, MFW-K, Oak Meadow, Sonlight...)
I'd love any advice from you experienced homeschoolers! What would you do or what have you done?
Thanks so much,
Helen
(P.S. Happy Mother's Day to all! This is my gift from my husband today...free time to do whatever I'd like and here I am...I must really love these boards!)
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Ours is up, too! Look forward to reading everyone's reports.
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We have used the Primers this year. It's helpful to get the Instructor's Guides in addition to the workbooks, although I wouldn't say that I have relied on them heavily--they're just good to have to refer to if you have a grammatical question which I have occasionally had over the year. I think the picture study/nature study notes are free if you download them (which you will need to do). Then we just use the online free links to the stories that are used for the narrations. PM me if you have more specific questions!
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Ours is up! Link in signature. Have a great weekend, everyone.
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I have been watching this thread with interest, as my DS is going to start 3rd grade in the fall and I'm debating between CW and IEW and who knows what else! He has been using CW Primer this year and I'm leaning towards continuing with Aesop but I'm just not 100% convinced about the progymnasmata...it sounds lovely in theory but I have no idea how it will all turn out and if we go down the CW road it doesn't feel easy to back out and start over with another curriculum. It is a little nervewracking to move from public school in which he was "journaling" every day to the classical approach with narration and copywork instead, which is what we did this year. Anyway, thanks for the feedback here, it's helpful to see the actuality of what CW Aesop will be like if we end up using it!
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Should be working but it was more fun to put up our latest blog post. Link in signature. Look forward to reading other people's posts!
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Schooltime for my 2nd grade son is about 3.5 hours total, plus 45 minutes for piano, four days a week. Then once per week he goes to a homeschool co-op for 3 hours, on top of which he'll do quiet reading time and typing or other work for another 1.5 hours.
We use My Father's World, plus Singapore Math, First Language Lessons, Prima Latina...I guess you could say we're a mix of MFW and WTM. =)
We start with piano at 8:30 a.m. By the time you add in lunch and breaks, we're done by no later than 3 p.m. HTH!
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Oooooh, I'm finding this thread fascinating. I always wonder, "Am I doing enough? Am I doing too much?" I know this is one of those questions for which there is no one right answer but it still is instructive to see what others do. I have a 2nd grader and a preschooler. This is what my 2nd grader does:
7 a.m.-8 a.m.--Get up, get ready, morning chores (tidy room and basement playroom)
8 a.m.-8:30 a.m.--Breakfast
8:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m.--Piano (then he usually has a LONG bathroom break...go figure...!)
around 9:45 a.m.--start independent work while I work with the younger kids. This changes from day to day, but generally includes a page or two of his cursive (New American Cursive), a spelling assignment, history reading, math online drills, Classical Writing Primer.
11:00-11:30 a.m.--Bible, then Science or History or Geography (or some combo of the above) which we do with the preschooler
11:30 a.m.-12 p.m.--break, then lunch (so it's really one long break!)
1 p.m.-1:45 p.m.--Quiet Reading Time (partly assigned, partly free reading from children's classics or other suitable books)
1:45 p.m.-2:15 p.m.--Singapore Math (have to do math when my toddler is asleep otherwise there is no hope for learning anything!)
2:15 p.m.-3 p.m.--Language (Latin or Chinese) and anything else that wasn't finished earlier (usually First Language Lessons)
3 p.m.--done!
I always try to be done at 3 p.m., at the latest, and even if we have things we haven't covered, that's the end of our school day. We do this schedule four days a week; on Fridays, my 2nd grader goes to a co-op where he takes gym, karate, and art. Plus he'll do typing and any leftovers from the week.
We school four weeks on, then one off, generally speaking. We'll take a summer break after we finish our 34-week MFW curriculum, but we'll still do light school during our break, at least that's my plan!
I think this thread is making me realize that I need to loosen up. =)
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Mine is up and it's not even the weekend! (link in signature) Have a wonderful weekend!
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I haven't gotten to that level in Singapore Math, so I have no idea if my idea will help you. But, looking at the problem itself, I would use the information in the following way:
4f + 5P = $66.70
5f + 4p = $62
I would take one of those equations and solve one variable for the other; for example, using the second one, you solve p using f:
p = (62-5f)/4
Then you plug that in for p in the other equation:
4f + 5((62-5f)/4) = 66.7
And you solve the whole thing for f. The answer should turn out to be $4.80. If you wanted to check the answer, you could then insert $4.80 for f in one of the equations and solve for p, which should be $9.50.
I don't know if that helps because it may not be the way Singapore is teaching it! But that is what I would do. =)
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All about our 100 Day Celebration this week in our weekly report! Link in signature, and I look forward to reading everyone's blogs!
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This thread just keeps getting better all the time! Thanks to all who have taken the time to respond, I have been really taking in all the great advice. Tina, I really appreciated everything you wrote! I love the idea of the Things to Remember binder--this thread will absolutely be in there! I don't know how I would ever have homeschooled without these boards. You all are a huge blessing! =)
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I'm loving these responses. Please keep them coming. =)
Help me out here...wwyd
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
I have followed this discussion with interest, because the underlying concept--to let children read "twaddle" or not?--is something I struggle with. I didn't even know what twaddle was until last year when we started homeschooling and I learned about this term! Personally, I'm torn on the issue. If my neighbor had given me handful of, say, Hardy Boys for my sons to read, I probably wouldn't have anything against it. Is it really much different quality-wise than the Boxcar Children series? But Junie B. Jones, which my eldest started reading in kindergarten because his teacher introduced the series to him, is something he still asks for years later, and I just can't get around my very strong dislike for Junie B.-the-character. I guess generally speaking, we each will have our own convictions about which books will be appropriate for our kids and what we will allow them to read. I think it's a pretty individual decision; what one family thinks is appropriate for their children will differ from another family's. It's fine to disagree so long as we show one another grace and mutual respect for our own particular convictions. So, to the OP, I'd read a few of the Animorph books and see what your gut instinct tells you about them. I agree with many of the earlier posters who say that not every book a child reads has to be a classic. And if there is nothing overly offensive to you about the books, and you find interesting redeeming points in the characters or teaching points or some kind or another, then why not let your kids try them? Now you've got me curious about the series because I'm always trying to find things for my 8 year old to read! (He is actually into the American Girls series right now, isn't that funny? I guess it's because he likes historical fiction but there is not much out there in the genre for boys. Oh well, that's better in my mind than reading Junie B. Jones!)