JeanM
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Posts posted by JeanM
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I also have a 7 yo boy who reads well, but doesn't often like to read long, dense chapter books. It is funny because Harry Potter is one of the books he does enjoy reading. He also recently read Artemis Fowl, but mostly prefers comic books/graphic novels, or picture books.
I don't push my ds too much, but I do insist that he read books - they can be picture books - that aren't comics/graphic novels.
Does your ds like the books if you read out loud?
Jean
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I'm so sorry that you are going through this. We put our 11 year old dog to sleep last June, and it was very, very hard. My 7 yo (6 yo then), chose to be with him at the end. He sobbed over the dog's body, but overall didn't suffer too badly. My 9 yo (then 8 yo), chose to stay out of the room (good choice for him I think). I wish that I could have done more for him, or helped him more. He cried on and off for days, and was still crying every night a month later. He still cries once in a while.
Things that I think helped: being realistic about what was happening, letting them have time with the dog up until the end, saving some hair from the dog.
Best wishes,
Jean
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I liked "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons". We didn't do any of the writing stuff, just the reading. I'm so bad at remembering, but I think my 2nd son started the book when he was 3. I think he finished it when he was 4. Both of my boys thought the little stories were funny.
We also took breaks from it for a week or a month, if things were getting to be too much.
Have fun with whatever you choose,
Jean
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I'm not an expert, but this is what I have done with my kids. Try to keep the work short and challenging. If she is good at spelling, don't give her a workbook program with lots and lots of pages with words she already knows how to spell. If she really understands the math, skip ahead and don't make her do every problem on every page.
Honestly, at that age, I would spend lots of time letting her write stories if she wants to write. Read lots and lots of books out loud. Play games and explore her interests.
My kids have always hated anything to do with a pencil and have been behind their grade on handwriting, so my experiences have been a little different.
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Thanks for the heads-up, Carolyn. I definitely don't want to be discussing abortion constantly with my 10 yo. I'll have to look for some of those logic workbooks. He tried Mindbenders, I think. Or something like that. Anyway he HATED it. I'm not sure why, but generally he likes logic, logic and strategy games, etc.
The "Philosophy for Kids" sounds interesting too. I was able to find that through inter-library loan, so I'm waiting to see what it is like.
Any other ideas?
Has anyone tried formal logic with a rather young, but very precocious, child? I took a formal logic class in college and loved it, but I was a lot older than ds is now. I also honestly don't remember how much math was needed for that.
Thanks for the ideas!
Jean
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I'm using "Art of the Argument" reluctantly with my almost 10 yo ds. He LOVES it. I'm not wild about it. He is begging for more, and he saw the "Argument Builder" at the website for "Art of the Argument".
Part of my reluctance is that the arguments are quite skewed, and there is material in there that is not very appropriate (in my opinion) for a very sensitive 9 yo.
Any reviews on the "Fallacy Detective?" Is it any better? What about more formal logic books? Any ideas?
He does not want to wait until he is older (which would be my preference), so I'm trying to accomodate him. However, I'm trying to find the best route.
Thanks,
Jean
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You are describing both my myself and my oldest son. He's 9 now (almost 10), and really gets things instinctively. I spent most of my school years fighting teachers because I hated writing things out. I do make my ds write some things out, but he understands why he needs to do that. I don't make him write things repetitively until he hates math.
FWIW, I didn't run into trouble in math myself. I took math through 3rd semester calculus. My DH is an engineer and very good at math, but he marvels at the way that ds and I just "get it".
Hope this helps,
Jean
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Personally I would put Dr. Doe, too, but I think it is a little strange that she addresses you by your first name, but signs it with full title. Maybe she isn't typing her signature, but filling it in automatically?
I have a PhD, and if I sent someone a "friendly" email using their first name, I would expect them to respond with my first name. However, many people are touchy on the subject of titles, therefore I personally tend to be formal unless totally certain.
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It has been a long time since I've glued keys, but way back when, I used to be a piano technician. If you do glue it yourself, make sure that the wood is clean before you glue on the plastic. You also really, really need to make sure that you don't drip any glue into the piano.
The advantage of a professional doing it is that they would (at least I would) actually remove the key from the piano, put glue on, clamp it, and then put it back after it was dry. Removing the keys is not possible though, unless you remove a good bit of other stuff from the piano.
Whether you want to pay for a professional depends on the value of the piano, and whether you have the money for the job.
Hope this helps,
Jean
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I love AAS. It's a great incremental program with built-in review. I love that it teaches rules but recognizes the exceptions. (You get to throw those in "jail," something ds loves!)
Level 2 does begin with review of the rules taught in Level 1. Whether or not to skip Level 1 really depends on the skills your child already has. If nothing else, you can order Level 1 to look at. If you feel it's not the right thing, it's fully returnable.
We did Level 1 just to make sure ds had all the rules. We buzzed through it in a couple of months but it was well worth the time and effort. Now we're in the middle of Level 2 and moving much slower, doing a lesson a week. I'm very pleased with the results I'm seeing, not just with spelling but also with reading.
I totally agree - I did the same thing with my ds. :iagree:
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The ds I'm using AAS wants rules and had no idea how to spell words before. He was struggling hugely with spelling. My other ds (actually 2 years younger) doesn't have any trouble with spelling. I'm using spelling power with him, and he breezes through the lists without much trouble.
In all honesty, I'm a pretty good speller, but I always spell the way my second ds does, by sight. I can tell if it looks wrong, but I never knew the rules. I'm now learning the rules along with my older ds, through AAS. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to have younger ds go through AAS next year.
Jean
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The family members are the only survivors of their shipwreck - which could be traumatic. Also, there is an awful lot of hunting and killing of animals in the book. I don't know if that would bother your child.
Jean
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A few more favorites:
Mr. Popper's Penguins
A Cricket in Times Square
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My oldest ds is almost 10 now, and isn't as sensitive as he used to be. He still doesn't like books that have deaths in them though. I've avoided Black Beauty because I will admit that I remember crying over it. He loves animals though and stories with animals, so I imagine at some point he'll read Black Beauty.
Some of his past favorites are:
Freddy Goes to Florida (and all others in the series) by Walter Brooks
Wind in the Willows (there is some fighting in this, but I don't think anyone actually dies)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (but Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator gave him nightmares).
The Trumpet of the Swan (but he found Charlotte's Web upsetting and refused to listen to me read Stuart Little)
He also read (and continues to read) a good bit of non-fiction.
I hope this helps,
Jean
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Sorry about your DH's layoff.
I just wanted to add my plug for AAS. My ds is almost 10, and has really struggled with spelling even though he is a terrific reader. I bought SWR a few years ago, but couldn't stick with it. We've bounced around with a few other programs that didn't seem to help his spelling at all. We switched to AAS this past fall and it has made a huge difference. My ds is doing much better with spelling, and he feels so much more confident. I can't say that he loves spelling or excels at it, but he is making progress.
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Can you set up a similar problem for her with easier numbers? So instead of the sums being 429, 430, 431, you would make them something like 9, 10 and 11. I'd have to see the problem to understand exactly how it works.
Just a thought...
Jean
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We did major de-cluttering when we listed our home for sale. Unfortunately an awful lot of stuff my dh refused to get rid of and is in boxes. I love how much more space we have though, and I'm hoping that we can get rid of the stuff in the boxes that we obviously aren't using.
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I just started listing my books at PBS, and this thread is really helpful!
Off to list at bookmooch...
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My DH, my siblings and I all have Ph.D.'s, so I think my boys can't really imagine not going to college. They both talk about what they will get their doctorates in. I hate to pressure them, because I know I felt pressured myself.
Jean
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My kids loved the Magic Schoolbus and the National Geographic's "Really Wild Animals" DVDs. My older ds would watch almost any nature DVD as long as it wasn't too violent. Oh and they also liked the "Popular Mechanics for Kids" DVDs.
Hope this helps,
Jean
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One of my ds learned to read music very easily, almost effortlessly. The other ds still struggles with note names. The ds that learned to read music easily struggled with reading words and the other ds found words easy. Strange.
Some resources I've used:
Flashcards (not exciting, but they do seem to help)
We have a geo-safari and I wrote some cards for that to practice notes.
Websites:
http://www.happynote.com/treble-clef-bass-clef.html
http://www.gmajormusictheory.org/Fundamentals/workbooks.html
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My ds listened to it as a book on CD and really loved it. I think he actually had it out twice from the library and listened to the whole thing both times. He must have been 8 or so when he had it out the first time. I think he was 9 the second time.
Jean
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We're using the U.S. edition, and either I'm missing something or this series never covers long division with decimals. My ds is in 5b now, and they have division by 10's, 100's, and 1000's. I've looked at the contents for 6a and 6b and they don't seem to cover division either.
Am I missing something? Is it there somewhere? Why wouldn't they cover it?
We're actually also using Life of Fred (decimals & percents), so he'll get exposed to it there. I'm just puzzled.
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He's 9 yo and is probably going to finish LOF decimals in January, or maybe February. We took a long break from Singapore, but I've recently added it back in. He's complaining less about it and I think it is helping his math skills to be more solid. He's finishing Singapore 5b.
He's heard me complaining so much about my tutoring students not having solid math skills before algebra that he really wants to make sure that he is ready before starting algebra.
My plan is to spend the rest of the year:
finishing LOF decimals/percents
finishing Singapore 5b and hopefully 6a
doing other "fun" stuff like challenge math, etc.
I've also been toying with the idea of supplementing with some probability, but haven't figured out yet what to use.
And then next year (starting fall 2009), he'll either be starting algebra or finishing up Singapore first and then starting algebra.
Jean
Speaking of Johns Hopkins - has anyone used Descartes' Cove math CDS?
in Accelerated Learner Board
Posted
I thought this looked really cool, but we just don't have the $$ right now. If for some reason the 1/2 off code doesn't work, it is available at the homeschool buyer's coop for 1/3 off.
https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/index.php?option=com_epp_offer&Itemid=689
Jean