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babysparkler

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Posts posted by babysparkler

    Chess Curriculum Recommendations?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I'd call several of your local (or not local) chess clubs and ask them, take an average of their replies. ;)

     

    Coakley, Jeff Winning Chess Strategy for kids

    Woolum, Al The Chess Tacktics Workbook

     

    Are kind of "lesson" like, not sure what rating is intended audiene.

    Seirawan, Yasser Winnin Chess Tactics is in chapters, not really like assignments with answers in the back.

     

    :seeya:

     

    Thanks! I'll check those out!

    Chess Curriculum Recommendations?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Congrats! That's a great rating!

     

    Ummm... this is not a lesson format, but our dc are using a program called Chessimo. It has problems: tactics, strategy, end games, and openings (I think). Another one we are thinking about trying, but don't about yet is Think Like a King. Our older two also play games on ICC and I think some people offer lessons through ICC. In the past they took a few lessons online, but we haven't done that recently. Chessmaster (10th edition) is probably more useful in the beginning, but our oldest likes to watch games between grandmasters and listen to Josh analyze it. As a family we play tournments on chessmaster for fun.

     

    Chessimo would probably be my first recommendation. I think we downloaded it - you could probably google for it.

     

    Yes, his rating is still in the "unofficial" section b/c he hasn't played enough tournament games to make it official... but that is where it looks like he will end up. DH & I can't keep up with him :)

     

    Thanks for the ideas. DS loves the Josh analysis too :) I will check out Chessimo!

    Why does giftedness or accelerated learning seem to bother some folks so much?

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    Many children now are placed into "TAG" programs who never would have qualified to enter when I was a child (I entered kindergarten in 1960). It appears a "feel good", "everybody is gifted, if you just peer long and hard enough" mentality.

     

     

    So true... When I inquired of our ds's elementary school years ago why they were doing away with the Gifted Pull-out program, I was told "Every class will now be a gifted class. Our goal is to make all of the **** Elementary students gifted by the time the move to the intermediate school." WHAT?!:eek:

     

    They also took the Gifted "GT" page out of the yearbook because they didn't want anyone to feel bad.

    Anyone do a shortened school year?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted · Edited by babysparkler

    We do 30 weeks of instruction plus 2 weeks of testing days. We also do 4 day weeks with day 5 being co-op art/p.e. type classes and field trips.

     

    We work our school year around bi-monthly grandparent visits and take summers off. We accomplish the equivalent of a full school year because we are very disciplined and the kids love learning. We don't have many "down" days since we have week long breaks every 6-8 weeks to refresh us. It is a nice schedule for all of us.

     

    DS will be starting 4th grade, but is on 6-8th grade level materials... I don't worry about "grade level" so much as teaching them material that is appropriate for their educational levels.

    If you are opposed to abortion, what do you do for the unborn?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    I've been thinking about these abortion threads while stripping wallpaper in my bathroom.

     

    I think one of the barriers to adoption is that not everyone who is pregnant with an unwanted pregnancy is an unmarried teenager or young adult. I think society in general frowns on a married mother, for example, giving up a baby for adoption, even though she may legitimately be at the end of her rope, so to speak, with handling her current kids. I think in cases like that, women often feel trapped and desperate, and an abortion is a way to deal with the issue in a far less public way than carrying the child to term and then placing it for adoption. It's not like a grown woman with young children and/or a job can go live with an aunt for 9 months. Adoption in those circumstances is hard to explain, to family, to friends, to existing children, to the adoptive child in 25 years when they track you down.

     

    I'm not saying it's right. But I can see why the very public-ness of adoption in that situation would make the privacy of abortion attractive for women who feel they just can't handle another child.

     

    Thanks for the explanation... I never considered that. Though I disagree, I can certainly see how that would pose a difficult situation.

    If you are opposed to abortion, what do you do for the unborn?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    I don't see the question as a red herring at all. 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.

     

     

     

    I guess I don't understand why putting a baby up for adoption many times isn't an option for people considering abortion... Adoption is so much more a better option than killing an unwanted baby. Abortion is the most selfish act I can think of... and I just can't understand the pro-choice mentality. The baby didn't do anything wrong - especially nothing that would deserve death.

     

    I, personally, would adopt in a heartbeat, no matter what the sacrifice, so that a baby could live.

    If you are opposed to abortion, what do you do for the unborn?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Most pro-life people that I know are involved one way or another in helping. Many would take a baby to adopt in a New York minute' date=' or donate much time and/or money to CPCs. Now that I have made the appropriate disclaimer, I would like to ask a different question.

     

    If I am against stealing, do I have to personally make restitution to every convenience store that is robbed by a disadvantaged teenager in order to not be considered a hypocrite? If an action is immoral, I may be against it whether I do anything about it or not. I think this is a red herring question designed to get those folks who believe abortion is immoral to be on the defensive. One does not have to be willing to personally raise every victim of child abuse to be against child abuse.[/quote']

     

    :hurray:

    Skipping levels in Saxon

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted · Edited by babysparkler

    This is how we handle the start of the year (and its actually suggested by Saxon if you go year-round): We only take the assessment tests until the grades fall below 80%. We can usually get past most of the first third of the book that way! I would do this even if we didn't go year-round.

     

    Hope that helps!

     

    I did similar to this. We did a TON of skipping in 76. We bypassed most of the beginning chapters and then at the end of the book for the last 40 or so chapters I gave him the assessments tests. He scored 90 and above for all of them, so I just did mini-lessons on the concepts that he missed on the tests. For a gifted math student, Saxon has way too much review and the steps in the spiral are way too small IMO.

    Getting the Ex on Board - Objection: Socialization

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    We are together, but I thought I would share how my DH and I team-teach... My dh "teaches electives" an hour each morning before he leaves for work. We decide together which "electives" he will teach at the beginning of the year (usually music theory, chess, number theory, etc.) and then he is on his own and "submits his grades" following his final class. I sometimes help him choose curriculum if he needs it. It works great for us and no real communication is needed throughout the year regarding curriculum.

    Favorite Bible curriculum

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted · Edited by babysparkler

    I recently picked up Unit 1 of Bible Study For All Ages ... I can't really recommend it yet since we haven't started it... but you might look into it. :)

     

    I like that you do one bible lesson, and the kids all have student pages for that lesson geared towards their own levels... and that it is bible-study based, not bible-story based.

    Back to school supplies..what are you stocking up on?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I need to stock up on notebook paper, index cards, and glue this year.

     

    I just purchased 35 packs of 8 pencils at Staples for a penny each. I usually stock up on whatever they run for a penny (since I have a Teacher Rewards card, the limit at my local staples is 35 of each penny item instead of 2).

     

    Our limit was 25... what a great deal! I'm set on pencils for a long time!

    How many hours of math?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted · Edited by babysparkler

    My rising 4th grader's attention span for math ranges in the 60-90 minute range (he loves math), so that is what we do (4 days per week). He will be entering Algebra this coming year as a 9 year old, so I plan to follow his pace but we will have 1 1/4 hour available in the schedule if he wants to use it. We will be in no rush to "finish" algebra this year because he is so young, so I figure that if frustration sets in we can do a few tangents along the way to keep it fun.

     

    ETA: I just read your other post... I didn't realize how similar in situation we are :) Are you planning to do Algebra this year or stall with other things? I debated on that for a while with my dh and we finally decided to just go for it and start Algebra since he really is ready and would enjoy it. We are doing Jacob's Algebra this coming year and may do a second year of algebra with a different text if we feel he needs it after this one. We are just playing it by ear. Having the Algebra foundation under his belt will give us many more choices for "fun math" along the way in Middle School before we tackle the higher math topics (we are looking at The Art of Problem Solving books http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Books/AoPS_B_Texts_FAQ.php).

    Do you use pre-testing to find what your kids can skip?

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    I do a lot of "skipping" when I know the material has already been mastered.

     

    My ds was so bored of Saxon 7/6 this past year that in March I ended up giving him the unit tests instead of doing lessons and sure enough - he aced them all, one after another. He loves taking tests, so I gave them to him daily until the book was finished (it took a week or two). I did find two concepts that he didn't know based on the tests, so we did a couple of lessons on those after we retired the book. The spiral curriculum thing backfired on us since he generally digs deeper than the book typically goes, which means that he then knows the next concepts before they are even taught... making the end of the year dreadfully boring. We will be switching curriculums next year, needless to say!

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