joannqn Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Ok, my 7 year old's prealgebra book just arrived. Looking through it, I see that I need to relearned quite a bit, and I suspect it will be a bit more involved than relearning fractions. I have approximately 4 weeks before he'll be ready to start it; however, he may be motivated to finish his current math quicker now that it has arrived. I can't see algebra and above being any easier. Then there's my daughter's language arts. We're using MCT...finishing up the town level which we started last year. The grammar is beyond anything I learned in school and the vocabulary is beyond mine, as well. When she asks for help on a sentence she's analyzing, I often have to look up the answer because I can't figure it out on my own. I'm trying to add in literary analysis using Teaching the Classics but don't feel equipped to do it well, especially since I haven't read so many of the books we're reading (thus no memories of what was taught to draw on). Are there cliff's notes for elementary books? However, I also have a preschooler, an infant, and housework/bills/errands to attend to. It's hard to find the time to keep up with my kids. I feel I need to in order to answer questions but more often than not, I find myself sending them off to work independently and looking up the answers in the teacher's manual when they have a question. The thing is, I really want to learn this stuff too. I dropped out of calculus in high school. I was capable of doing it but family problems got in the way of me learning trig and precalc well enough. When I hit calculus, I was lost. I've always wanted to go back, redo math, and conquer calculus. With a math kid in the family, it seems like a good time relearn math; he'll need a teacher and I want to learn it anyway. Same with English; while I was always good at English, my education was lacking and my ability to think seems to have been reduced with each new child. I'd like to regain my ability to form a coherent sentence and add some vocabulary while I'm at it. I want to stop feeling like I used to be smart. But how do I find the time, especially with kids who are moving so fast? This is more a talking out loud to people I hope will understand than seeking advise. Though, if you know how to double the number of hours in a day and double my energy level, I'd love to know how too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 For the math ALEKS is good. I did their Algebra I course in 40 hours over the course of a week and their Geometry course in 20 hours. It was really helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Your kids are still young. If you just participate in the math lesson along with your son and the English lesson along with your dd, then you will learn as they do. Surely that won't take too long and you will still have time for the other responsibilities. Good luck! I can imagine that it is daunting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedfamily Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Wow. I can't believe how much we have in common, then. I need to relearn to keep ahead of dd, but don't know how I'll find the time. I only have the 2 kids, but that's still really hard to juggle when one is a 2 year old. The only thing I've figured out for sure is that I want to relearn this, because it feels great, so I will do it. I just love the re-education I'm getting. If she gets to college level math and/or science, I may have to get outside help. Right now I intend to go as high as I can with her. I just need more prep time, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritsumei Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 I recommend memorizing something. Yeah, I know, it sounds like just one more thing to add to an already impossible pile. Please don't throw rotten fruit at me! ;) Here's the thing: it makes the memory work better all the time, and not just with the thing that you're memorizing. I like the Scripture Boxes from Simply Charlotte Mason: cheap to make and easy to use. You could poetry or something in them if you don't do scripture verses. But when I use mine I know that all sorts of learning go in and stay in easier, and it only takes a couple of minutes a day to do it. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 When my oldest was little, I loved doing his history alongside him because I learned so much I had missed myself. But then I got pregnant and was so sick, I finally had to let him go ahead on his own because otherwise we would only get to it a couple times of month when I felt well enough to sit up. He hasn't looked back since. Sure I would love to work with him but frankly he process at a faster pace then I can and does better without me working with him. There's a few things where he gets stuck, but every single time he has figured it out on his own before I get back to him and have finished puzzling my way through the material. I've decided I've got more kids, I don't have to fill in all my holes with the first kid. Right now it's about your kids learning what they need and want to. If you can't keep up now that's okay. You will have time later to learn for yourself if that is your desire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reya Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 I still present new lessons as if I'm a classroom teacher. That's all I'll need for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 We are using Holt Mathematics Course 2 and will follow with Course 3. My DD also does EPGY online as a review. I chose the Holt because their TE was inexpensive and they have the online version that has Thinkwell examples for the different topics as well an interactive practice for each lesson and multiple additional worksheets you can print (with all the answers in the TE). That way I can sit down and go through the lessons and the online examples/explinations before I teach my DD. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenneinCA Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 I don't know how I am going to do it. I took the easy way out this year and got my oldest the most student directed materials I could find. She is doing the One Year Adventure Novel, History Odyssey, Vidoetext Algebra, Artist Pursuits and the Marine Biology Coloring Book. I don't know what I will do next year. I will have to find something else for English and Science for sure. And she needs to do a foreign language. She wants to do Spanish, fine with me, but how? The others I may be able to just use the next level, but I should probably work with her more directly on those too. And that is before I start trying to add in my younger kids. They also need Mom's attention and there just isn't enough time in my day to do it all. Learn with them sounds great until you need to teach more than one child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted October 24, 2009 Author Share Posted October 24, 2009 For now, I'm just trying to keep up the best I can. I feel that I have to keep up with math, for sure. I've worked through 4 lessons in my son's prealgebra (MUS) by reading the teacher's manual, doing worksheet A, and working through the honor's pages. If I do two lessons a week, I'll be done in 15 days. That will get me done before he starts. I guess another option I have is to try to work ahead over the summer since we take those off. But that will only work if I can afford to buy the curriculum ahead of time rather than waiting until funds are available through our virtual academy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 If it helps, you really don't need to worry about literary analysis at this point, even if your kids are advanced readers/thinkers. Avid discussions are excellent, but they can be off the cuff, with no special guidance or prep work needed. When I'm not ready for whatever's 'next,' I point my kids to the big pile of resources that we own: books, games, manipulatives, etc. You're not holding them back; you're fostering their independent learning ;). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted October 30, 2009 Author Share Posted October 30, 2009 I added Teaching the Classics to address an issue that came up with their annual testing. Their reading comprehension was their lowest scores even though they read well and understand what they are reading. If you ask them to tell you about what they read, they can do a great job telling you all about it. I have no doubt that they understand what they read. However, if you ask about things that aren't directly stated, things that require making inferences or deducing meaning from the context, they have a harder time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 You need to move here. Then, we could take turns sending kids to each other and 'getting our learn on' while they're gone :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 I added Teaching the Classics to address an issue that came up with their annual testing. Their reading comprehension was their lowest scores even though they read well and understand what they are reading. If you ask them to tell you about what they read, they can do a great job telling you all about it. I have no doubt that they understand what they read. However, if you ask about things that aren't directly stated, things that require making inferences or deducing meaning from the context, they have a harder time. I found the same with my dd last year. She could retell that things she read almost word for word but was having difficulty with deducing and inferences. I started her with Reading Detective which requires her to find the passages in the reading that assist her in higher level thinking skills. It has helped a lot in those areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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