TC5
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Posts posted by TC5
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My first grader does Math Mammoth and Math U See Alpha along with Life of Fred Elementary on Fridays. We do an every other day thing on the Math Mammoth and Math U See. We also throw in some Math-tacular DVDs to help understand the concepts better when we come across something new.
My two 4th graders do Math Mammoth, Saxon 5/4 Math and Math U See Gamma. We do Saxon 4 days a week and Math Mammoth and Math U See Gamma on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. We also throw in some Math-tacular DVDs when we come across new concepts for better understanding.
My 7th grader does Saxon Math and Math Mammoth in the same sequence as my 4th graders and he adds in Life of Fred on weekends.
My children (4th and 7th graders) also do 100 problem math charts each day for math facts mastering (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). They are really good at these and can complete the 4 different charts of 100 problems each in less than 3 minutes for each chart. That adds in only an extra 12 minutes a day or so of time, but has enhanced their math fact skills greatly.
It is going well, they don't get confused by the different programs and they are learning various math concepts thoroughly before moving on. We take our time and make sure they really have it down before moving on to the next chapter in each program. We school all year round here, so we have a lot of time to finish each program in the school year before moving onto the next grade level.
I'm glad to hear this is possible, as I want my 6th, 3rd, and 1st graders to do MUS, MM, and LoF, CWP, and a few other smaller supplements. We're doing only 5 days of math each week, though, so we may not be able to do it all, in which case we'll do less of MM. We do school year-round, as well, but it's been tough to get all of our "school time" in the past couple of years because of unexpected, extended travel for my husband's job.
I like the reminder in your last paragraph to go for mastery, not to just get through a bunch of books. All too often, I have to remind myself of the purpose of these programs!
Can you tell me more about the 100-problem math charts? Are they filling in the multiplication table and similar? Did you make or buy them? Thanks for the idea!
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Next month we start: GWSL for 3rd and 6th. This is the first year of Latin for my 3rd-grader. My 6th-grader started Latin with Lively Latin in 4th grade, but when I didn't keep up, he took long breaks. So, while doing GSWL, we're also going to review LL Big Book 1 for the first 16 weeks or so (about 10 pages/day -- unless we decide we can go faster). Then we'll do BB2 together more slowly.
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We're going to try when we start our new school year next month, so I'm interested in how others are doing it and whether I'm planning way too much.
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Wow! I'd never heard of any of these. I haven't read the sites thoroughly yet, but these would all be great for my oldest son.
1. Where do the students take the tests? Do they let homeschoolers do them at home administered by their parents?
2. Are there other tests like this in other subjects?
3. These tests are totally unrelated and from different organizations, right? So they all work differently?
Thanks for your help, and thanks for the initial post! I had no idea such contests existed. These could be a real motivator for my son to study Latin more this year, and he's loved mythology for about 5 years, so he'd enjoy that one.
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I know you said you're not home every evening, but an idea for when you are home: We all go to the younger boys' bedroom, so they can be in bed. My 4yo often complains about the book I'm reading (right now the ONLY book he likes is a collection of Mother Goose rhymes), but if he is tired enough, which he usually is, he'll calm down within a few minutes (especially if I threaten to leave the room -- he likes me to be there until he falls asleep). Then I can read to the older three, and the 4yo falls asleep while I read. The length of our readaloud time usually corresponds directly to how long it takes for my 4yo to drift off. If the baby is already asleep or quiet in my arms, the older boys get their wish of more reading. Of course, if my baby is awake still when we read, which he usually is, he might mess up the whole thing. I stand up holding him and the book and read for as long as he can handle it. Did you say you have a 2yo? I had a hard time with readalouds when my now-4yo was 2. Staggered bedtimes and reading time was the only way for us then and probably will be again when the baby is a little older.
This has worked better than anything else I've ever tried, and we've finally gotten into a good routine this past year. But, I'm going to attempt to change all of that very soon and read in the morning right after breakfast (I've never been able to read at meal times for various reasons). I'll let the boys play with blocks, color, etc., and I really hope my 4yo can handle it and baby naps then. If we can use the morning for the readalouds I choose, then my boys will get back the bedtime stories they can choose. I'm also hoping to be able to read for longer in the morning than we can do at night when we're all so tired. If mornings don't work, we'll go back to night-time.
I hope you find something that works for your family. I agree with others that you should find a book that you all enjoy. Don't worry about it being for history or science or great literature -- just find something really fun while you get into a groove and get your children wanting that readaloud time. Once it is going well, you can introduce more complex literature -- if you want to.
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I agree about too many ads in Nat. Geo. Kids. I always thought it odd to have big features on new movies in every issue. Some science involved probably, but I didn't notice it in the articles I read.
I'd forgotten about Ranger Rick and hadn't heard of the Yes Mag or Know. I loved Cricket magazine when I was a kid, but I didn't know they had science magazines. This is such a helpful thread. Thank you!
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My kids (DD K and DS 1st) love National Geographic Kids. Lots of interesting articles for DS who is an avid reader, and lots of great pictures for DD, who is still learning. I think it's probably appropriate up through the tween years--teen kids might think it skews too young and would rather be reading regular National Geographic. :001_smile:
My almost-11 year old likes both National Geographic magazines. He goes through the Kids version in about half an hour, though, so we don't buy it -- he can read it at the library. The regular Nat. Geographic we've been getting for years, and he reads the old ones, as often as the new ones.
I'd like to know whether there are any other science magazines for kids. I found one once only to discover it was no longer published. I seem to remember it being along the lines of Scientific American for kids.
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The school day for each child is shorter than it would be if they were in public school, but it is definitely a full day for me!
:iagree:
This is exactly why I am exhausted all the time. I can't blame my sweet baby boy for waking me up every 2-3 hours or my stealing some time after everyone goes to bed for my own relaxation here, so it must be the all-day schooling!
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You can ask me questions. However I must tell you that we haven't used much of it. Actually we are still using SWR and I only use this when something comes up that I have no time to teach SWR.
The main thing I want to know is whether it follows the same phonograms and rules as SWR. Are they explicitly taught or understood?
Also, have you seen Spelling Workout to know how it compares to that in format? How many pages per lesson, about how long do you plan for it, how many lessons per book?
Thanks for your time!
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Once you use a program like SWR I think it is hard to switch to a different one. The method is just so solid. We are trying How To Teach Spelling for dd1. So far so good.
Oooh! This looks really interesting. I don't see any samples on the web site, though. Do you know if any are available? If not, can I ask you questions about it?
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Maybe this will be easier as we get into it more, but any suggestions for where to find fallacies? We were just trying to do page 23 today, which is the first time the student is asked to find examples (non-argumentative persuasion and appeal to illegitimate authority). Maybe it was because I was holding a fussy baby while we were thinking about it, but we shelved it. (All I could think of was the picture of a happy baby on the side of a box of diapers. non-argumentative persuasion?) Now I have a headache, so I haven't been able to think of anything to tell my son tomorrow. Where do I find these? We don't have cable tv at home, but we do in costa rica for a few more weeks -- mostly in Spanish, which we're not too good at, and we haven't been watching it much anyway. We don't have any magazines here but do get some at home that might work. Junk mail? Internet? Where do you find examples? I don't really want to use the DVDs, for reasons already mentioned by others, but my feeling today of having no clue what to do made me remember the dvds. Please tell me I'm making this harder than it is.
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I think the separate e-mails are to save the dashboard progress for each student. On the dashboard the stars light up as you pass each topic. If all the students were on one email you would have to track every problem answered on the dashboard and manual progress each topic.
I guess I could track manually. Thanks for answering.
Teonei
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As the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) guidelines dictate one has to be thirteen for a gmail or facebook account, the only solution would be for them to use your account. (?)
(This system seems a bit clumsy.)
Will it work to have me as coach and two or more children as students all signed in with the same gmail account? Or do I have to open a couple of new accounts for me that will really be used by them? Do they actually need the email aspect or just the login info to use the Khan Academy? :confused:
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My dd9 and ds11 will start the modern era in history in the fall. Dd9 will use SOTW4 with the AG. My plan was to have the kids read each SOTW chapter together. Then, ds11 would study the events of that week's chapter by following the WTM recommendations for 5th grade history (list of facts, outlines, timeline, etc., using the National Geographic Almanac of World History and other resources).
However, as I read SOTW4, I find that many of the chapters are made up of sections that talk about very different events. For example, Chapter 2 has a section on Japan opening up to foreign trade and a section on the Crimean War.
In a case like this I'm trying to decide if:
a)Ds11 should just pick one section for in-depth study for the week and skip the other, or
b)He should follow the sequence of the NG Almanac of World History and just read sections in SOTW as they relate to NG Almanac section he's working on.
In this case he and his sister would be studying different things at different times (for some reason I want them doing the same topic at the same time, but not sure if that's entirely rational...)
Anyone else faced this dilemma? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
You've probably already started school, but I just saw this and wanted to tell you that we did this last year. Option A. We used SOTW 3 as the spine for my 5th- and 3rd-graders. The 5th-grader also read Kingfisher but not for every section. He read 2 pages in Kingfisher for each SOTW chapter we did. I chose the section that I thought it was most important for him to learn more about (he didn't care, or I'd have let him choose). He usually took his once-weekly list of facts from Kingfisher (again, I'd choose which day we had a topic I thought he should take notes from and remember more) and did an outline once each week from another source. Sometimes he outlined SOTW and sometimes other books (I'd choose about 6 paragraphs that I thought were good to remember, and he'd outline those.). It worked very well.
I hope you've found something that is working for you.
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If you don't want to do a lit "program", you could always cover the literary terms by using a workbook of some sort like Figuratively Speaking. I have my ds keep a "literary terms" section in his binder. Every so often, we'll discuss a term that comes up in his reading. He writes that term and definition at the top of a notebook page. As he sees examples of that term that really "stick out" to him in his reading, he'll write the example on the same page. I think that by high school, students should be familiar with most literary terms (foreshadowing, irony, conflict, metaphor, theme, etc.)
This looks like just what I want! Thank you!
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Great lists. I am trying to adapt for a young 6th-grader studying Modern times. Lots to chose from. Thanks!
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My son doesn't like it, either. But I am pretty sure what he really doesn't like is that I'm not sitting with him teaching him. When I do sit down with him to explain things or just be with him, it's no longer so hard. He's just that kind of kid.
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My DD is using WWS and we are using Roget's International Thesaurus 6th Edition. It seems to be set up as SWB describes in WWS, although I think we might have different edition because it doesn't totally line up. I like how thorough it is, although it is intimidating at over 1200 pages long. We are just finishing Week 7, and my DD is just starting to get the hang of using the thesaurus. We have always just used the little, cheap school versions here, so it was a bit of a learning curve for her.
After it is introduced in Week 3, is the thesaurus needed in the first 10 weeks or so? I was planning to start WWS this Wednesday, but we won't have a thesaurus until we return to the United States. I was going to skip the two days of thesaurus use in Week 3 and do those when we get home. Is that a bad idea? Will we want to have a thesaurus on hand for all the lessons? If so, we can wait and start WWS in November. I just wanted to be able to start SOME of our regular curriculum sooner. I figured my son could skip Week 1 and get through Week 6 or 7 before we go home.
I guess we could use that online version Sebastian mentioned. I just wanted to be sure we learn how to use the book.
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Could you recommend a couple thesauri (thesauruses?) that would be appropriate to the lessons in WWS?
We're finding that the more recent thesaurus I bought don't have the initial section with the numbered headings. Nor does it seem to have many entries for common nouns (dirt and animal in lesson 3.4 weren't really covered, even under the different synonyms listed in the teacher text).
Which one did you buy? I'm planning to get Roget's International Thesaurus, 7th Edition, as soon as I get back to the United States. Hmm. I think the price went up by a few dollars since I last checked. Still not bad.
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A student who finishes Writing With Skill should be able to go into freshman composition and do just fine.
A student who finishes Writing With Style should be able to skip freshman comp and go straight to upper level writing courses.
Hope that helps. :)
SWB
Impressive! Thank you. Now to hope WWSt will come out right after WWSk, so my oldest can use at least part of it. We are so excited to have WWSk. Thank you very much!
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Actually, the outlines in SOTW4 are, practically speaking, one level--the student is given a topic and asked to pick out the main ideas related to it. So yes, I would stick with one-level outlines for science.
We structured the SOTW4 outlines so that they would help students review and retain the information as well as practice outlining.
SWB
Thank you for clarifying this! I was confused as to what we should do when we start SOTW4 this year.
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p.s. by the way, WWS1 is the same as "The Complete Writer, Level 5"-- Writing With Ease is four levels, Writing With Skill is four...and far, far down the road, Writing With Style will be four.
I was trying to resist getting into this, but you did mention it :D
Will Writing With Style be as vital to rhetoric stage as Writing With Skill is to logic stage? Or is it more like an elective for students interested in creative writing or those needing more help?
And how are we going to avoid being confused with WWS and WWS? WWSk and WWSt? I guess WWSkill and WWStyle isn't too hard to type, but my fingers are lazy sometimes.
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OK, I just got back last night from a road trip that began when this thread was posted, and am now combing through it. I have a copy of the first 20 weeks of WWS, but haven't had a chance to really go through it yet. Am planning on seeing if my dd10 can do it this fall, or if I should remain in WWE 4 skills for awhile longer. But anyway, just wanted to say that this thread is EXTREMELY helpful to me. I'll need to come back to it later to let any questions bubble up (some occurred to me while reading, but I am in road-trip recovery mode - you know, laundry/groceries/unpacking/chilling/baking cookies). This also has me reconsidering what my ds13 might need. I haven't felt entirely comfortable this past year with how I have been teaching him.
Thanks again, SWB, for all you do for us!!!!!!
Hi, Colleen! I was wondering why I wasn't seeing you on this writing thread! I figured it was because your son is older and you didn't need WWS. I'd forgotten you have a daughter just the right age. I hope you had a great trip and recover quickly. :tongue_smilie:
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I'm wondering how to schedule this - I assume the idea is to cover 2-3 lessons per week, as with FLL, but it would be helpful to know for planning purposes.
I'm obviously not Susan, but I think I can answer that question. The sample shows Week 1, Lesson 1; Week 1, Lesson 2; and Week 1, Lesson 3. Then it goes on to Week 2 for Lessons 4-6. So I'd say the intent is for it to be used three times each week.
Also, and more to the point, this is from Susan's first post in this thread:
There are 3 lessons per week, 36 weeks of lessons.
s/o - Why is everyone unsatisfied with science?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
This thread is very helpful in giving me ideas for ways I can change our science curriculum to be sure we are learning and enjoying. I feel like I now have permission to skip experiments that are too complicated or don't seem valuable. We'll still do as many experiments as we can because they're fun, but I'm not going to stop doing science because I forgot to buy or couldn't find the supplies -- and I'll try not to feel guilty about it! I've also had too many experiments do nothing, or worse, do the opposite of what they should.
We actually did well with Elemental Science Chemistry for the Grammar Stage last year, and most of the experiments worked. But they weren't very exciting. My oldest son had been looking forward to chemistry for a long time because mixing chemicals is so exciting, he thought. Not with safe household ingredients. Baking soda and vinegar are the most explosive things we used, and that wasn't in the program but was just for fun. He didn't enjoy chemistry. But... my second son liked it well enough to request Elemental Science for physics this year. We haven't started yet, but I think the projects will interest my oldest son even if the weekly experiments don't. The projects offer a chance for creativity and trial and error, which my older son thrives on. My second son, though, will enjoy the planned experiments more because he isn't so confident in his own creativity. Either way, the success of all of this relies on me to get the materials. This is one of the hardest things for me to organize in our homeschool. Second only to having enough time to schedule all of my children's needs. That's my frustration with science -- I need an inexpensive kit with all of the common household materials (like 2-liter bottles and six-pack plastic rings -- we don't drink soda so I have to ask someone for these. Or deli trays -- do grocery stores really give these away for free like I once heard? Enough for 4 kids to have a few each?).
Also, it is true that science is one of my least-favorite subjects. I do understand it and did well with it in high school, but I've never enjoyed it much. I am actually enjoying it a lot more now with my children.
I will look into some of these other ideas. Thanks to all!