Vintage81
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Posts posted by Vintage81
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No, we don't drill.
Knowing math facts is important. But for some learners drilling is not effective. I love what it says in the RughtStart teacher book about the only people who like flash cards are the ones who don't need them.
We teach conceptual math and lots of mental strategies. We then get facility with the facts by using them in meaningful problem solving. We also play games. My kids get a multiplication chart to use at their discretion. They eventually have looked things up and used the facts so much the just stop using the chart.
I know that strategy isn't for everyone, and drill is actually better for some. I just wanted to testify that there's more than one way to get the job done.
Different children have needed different strategies here. I've used....
-a simple flashcard app for the iPad - addition, subtraction, multiplication, division
-skip counting and filling out blank multiplication tables
-using Ray's Intellectual Arithmetic for oral drills
-giving more practice with word problems that reinforce facts
-playing games such as Maria Miller's "last math card game you'll ever need" and yahtzee
I agree with Targhee that it can be important to figure out how a particular student needs to learn. You can waste a lot of time on flashcard styles, and cause a lot of needless frustration, if that's just not how their mind works. On the other hand, if that is what they need, then you need to make the time for the drills.
I definitely plan on taking some time over our summer break to figure out what might work best for each of them. I agree that what might work for one may not work for the other, so there's probably going to be some trial and error.
I'm not too concerned about my kindergartner yet, since she's only just starting basic addition and subtraction. With my 2nd grader, I never even thought about doing drills or any additional math facts practice beyond the math curriculum we're using (Math in Focus 2A/2B). Her biggest struggle is with word problems, so I'm hoping by implementing one (or more) of these ideas will help with that.
Thanks again for all of your thoughts and ideas!
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Thank you for all of the replies! You've given me a lot of food for thought.
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I'm going to be using AAR for my 1st grader, and then eventually AAS. We'll also be doing IEW PALS Writing. It includes handwriting practice, introductory grammar, and writing. The package also includes AAS 1, but I'm pretty sure you can order it without that if you already have.
http://iew.com/shop/products/primary-arts-language-writing-complete-package
IEW also has Fix It Grammar available. I'll be using that for my soon-to-be 3rd grader.
http://iew.com/shop/products/fix-it-grammar-complete-package-6-teacher’s-manuals
I haven't used Fix It yet, but I've read good things about it. Plus, the lessons are pretty quick, 10-15 minutes, which was appealing.
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I've been looking for a program like this FOR.EV.ER. Thank you soon much! I'll gladly pay the 100 bucks for a year's subscription, LOL. We never do Science because I can't seem to get my act together for it. Thank you so much!
You're welcome! I actually found out about Mystery Sxience through past posts on this forum. After I checked it out, I'm so excited to mention it whenever I can. 😊
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We've been using Math in Focus (a Singapore style program) for the past two years and while I like it, I'm switching to Math Mammoth next year. My girls are kinder and 2nd grade right now.
My 2nd grader does not like math, but she does really well with it. Her biggest struggle is word problems and I mainly think she struggles because she doesn't want to take the time to think about it. She'd rather be drawing or talking about Science, not thinking about how to solve word problems. It's also hard for me because I love math....I have a math degree, so to hear her say she hates it creates a bit of a battle between us. My kindergartner loves math so far, but we'll see what happens when she starts doing multiplication and the dreaded long division!!
I'm sticking with a mastery approach because I prefer it. I'm switching to Math Mammoth for a few reasons...price and because it's a worktext format. No more teacher manuals and textbooks. I'm sort of thinking that at this point I can't make my daughter love math the way I do, but seeing her enthusiasm when she finally gets a concept still gives me hope. I'm just not ready to abandon the mastery style yet.
Math Mammoth has a section on their website comparing it to other curriculums. While it's obviously geared to make you like Math Mammoth, I think it still provides some good info. Here you go:
http://www.mathmammoth.com/comparisons.php
P.S. Based on what you wrote, I don't think you made any mistakes. This will not be the first time you question the curriculum you're using! :)
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Have you done IEW before? My 2nd grader is working through Bible Heroes (IEW theme-based book for 2nd grade) right now. My daughter has always enjoyed writing her own things, but when it came time to write during our school time, we struggled. I've seen a lot of progress since we started using this program, so I'm planning on continuing with IEW. I'm also not a writer myself, so I've found that this curriculum has helped me teach her more effectively.
For 3rd grade we'll finish Bible Heroes, then move into SWI-A. For 4th grade we'll either do SICC-A or a theme-based book. As of right now, I'm leaning towards a theme-based book and then SICC-A for 5th grade, but I've not decided on that yet. If you haven't done any IEW before, then they recommend SWI-A anytime from 3rd-5th grade. As I understand it, SWI-A or a Level A Theme based book is where to start. They have this pathway on their website:
http://iew.com/node/3/shopping-resources/pathway
It's a little confusing at first, but once you get going it makes more sense. If you're unsure about IEW and which path to take, their customer service is awesome, so I'm sure they could answer all of your questions.
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My daughters are currently in Kindergarten and 2nd grade. They both do well in math, although it's definitely not my 2nd graders favorite. I'm still trying to plan out next year's curriculum and I was wondering if I should include some sort of math drills.
I was leaning towards Calculadders, but that's not set in stone. I'd really like something for iPad, but I honestly haven't searched too much for apps.
Are math drills worth doing? If so, what would you recommend? I'd like to stay away from worksheets with a million problems on them because I know I'd be met with resistance.
Thanks!
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I'm planning on doing SOTW Volume 1 next year with my soon-to-be 1st and 3rd graders. I'm like you in that I prefer everything planned out for me, so I went searching around (Pinterest mostly), and there are lots of resources available for SOTW. Here's a lesson plan that someone has put together:
https://onlypassionatecuriosity.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/story-of-the-world-lesson-plans.docx
I haven't used it yet, so I can't speak to how great it is, but I know there are many more of these out there. I'm not sure if you're interested in lapbooking, but those are available too. Something like this:
http://brendajohnston.blogspot.com/2013/01/story-of-world-volume-2-lapbook.html
I've heard good stuff about Sonlight History, although I've only used their Science, but I just wanted to let you know there are lessons plans out there for SOTW.
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Mystery Science - free trial available right now
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For now, this is what I'm thinking:
Math: Math Mammoth 3
Reading: AAR 3, plus additional readers of her choice (or maybe Sonlight Grade 3 readers)
Writing: Finish IEW Bible Heroes then move on to SWI-A
Grammar: Fix It Grammar
Vocabulary: Wordly Wise 3000 Grade 3
Spelling: AAS 1, 2, 3. (I'm hoping to do level 1 during the summer, then levels 2&3 during our school year)
Handwriting: Printing and Cursive Workbooks
History: SOTW 1 (with activity book)
Geography: The Complete Book of Maps and Geography (not sure if we'll need this or if SOTW is enough)
Science: Mystery Science
If we have time: Some sort of introductory Spanish (not sure what), art projects from Deep Space Sparkle, and Logic Countdown (or Building Thinking Skills)
We also participate in a weekly co-op.
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We're currently in the middle of Bible Heroes for my 2nd grade daughter. We started it really late in our school year, but the curriculum we were using was not working at all. My daughter does not like to write, and writing is not really my forte, so I started researching other options.
The nice folks at IEW informed me that I didn't need to purchase the TWSS in order to do Bible Heroes, so I decided to give it a try. We just finished lesson 10, doing one lesson per week, and things are going really well. We've been working through each lesson together and she doesn't complain anymore! She enjoys the games and is learning a lot.
Next year, I'm switching to AAR (probably level 3) and we'll finish Bible Heroes then move on to the SWI-A.
I also have a kindergartener. For 1st grade, again I'm switching her to AAR and we'll do IEW PALS Writing. Of what I've read, PALS Reading is really teacher-intensive, so that didn't appeal to me. The Writing portion comes with AAS 1, but it's recommended not to start that until AAR 1 is completed. I'm actually going to use the AAS 1 for my 2nd grader in the meantime, then work our way up through the levels.
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I was signed up for the free trial through June. I just got an email that said I can get it now through 4/30 for $89, 5/1 through 5/30 for $99, or in June for $129. At least, that's the way I understood it. I'm currently debating whether or not to purchase.
I signed up for the free trial too. Thru April 30th it's showing a renewal price for $89.
We did one of the mysteries and my daughters really liked it. They are going to be in 1st and 3rd grade next year, so I'm going to try it out. The video we watched was really fun and the experiment wasn't complicated, but still informative. Both girls seemed to grasp the concepts. Everything is there, so it's easy for me and they liked it, so win win!
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I haven't looked too much into this yet, but I'll be exploring it more with my art-loving daughters in the next few months: http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/product-category/video-lessons/
The link is just for video lessons, but there seems to be lots of options available on the website.
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I'm switching from an all-in-one curriculum, so this is my first time in 4 years of homeschooling to pick and choose what we're going to do. My daughter will turn 6 in June and we'll probably start 1st grade work in August:
Math: Math Mammoth 1
I've been using Math in Focus, but it's expensive (over $250 per year) for what you get. After doing lots of looking around, I decided to switch both my girls (my older daughter will be going into 3rd grade) to Math Mammoth. It's still a mastery approach and I'm excited about it being a worktext!
Reading: AAR 1
Vocabulary: Vocabulary Connections Level A
Writing, Grammar, and Handwriting: IEW PALS Writing
Spelling: AAS 1 (This is a maybe for this year. Depends on how fast we get thru AAR1.)
History: SOTW 1 (with activity book)
Geography: DK Workbooks 1st grade Geography (not sure if we'll need this or if SOTW is enough)
Science: Mystery Science
I'm excited about this science program. It's a different approach, rather than typical textbook/worksheets. I signed up for the free trial and my girls loved it. They were engaged, the experiment was simple yet informative, and I think there's lots of opportunity for expanding on each topic. I'm not sure there's enough content to last longer than this year, but we'll enjoy it for now.
If we have time: I'd like to do Lollipop Logic, Draw Write Now, and maybe some sort of introductory Spanish.
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Hello All,
I am new to the forum, so just saying hello. I am in my 4th year of homeschooling my two daughters who are currently in Kindergarten and 2nd grade. I still have lots to learn, so I'm looking forward to being a part of the forums. Thanks!
Stick with MFW, switch to HOD, or other?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
One thing I found that REALLY helped me was changing how I planned our school stuff. I used to sit down every Sunday evening and plan out each day for the week. I rarely would get everything done in a day that I wanted to, and by the end of the week we hadn't done any History or Science and seemed to barely scrape by with Math and Language Arts stuff. Not to mention those weekends where we were really busy and I didn't even have time to sit down and plan anything out.
So, what I did, for the last half of our school year, was plan everything out by the week (not by each day) for the rest of the school year. There's lots of stuff on Pinterest about planning out entire homeschool years, so I took some of those ideas and made them work for us. For each child, they have a folder for each week. In the folder is a checklist, by subject, of what needs to be done that week, along with any applicable worksheets or activities. The folders are stored in hanging files in a crate.
It took me a while to get all of this organized, but it has been well worth it! I have found that we are completing our week's worth of work in about 3 days, only doing school in the morning. Each day, we look over the checklist and pick and choose what we want to work on. If something doesn't get completed that week, I just move the old checklist (along with the applicable worksheet) to the next week's folder.
I realize this may not work for everyone, but I thrive on being organized, so this really helped me.