Suddenly I'm intimidated

[Snowfall]

DD is 6.5 and we're halfway through our second year of homeschooling. Last year we were pretty laid back, and actually this year I'd say we're on the laid back end of the spectrum, although we do Phonics Pathways and Rightstart at least 4 days per week each. We do other things as well, but she likes all of the other things, so I don't think those knock us out of the laid back category. lol But we're on lesson 60-something in RS and I'm not sure I can see her mentally adding 2 or more digit numbers with regrouping any time in the next couple of months. It's coming up, though - there are only about 40 more lessons in RS.

 

It seems like this is probably not something I should worry about, but I'm not sure, and now I'm suddenly feeling very intimidated. She's also not reading proficiently yet, which is very surprising to me, given that I read early and with little trouble. I just assumed she would pick it up easily. So suddenly I'm feeling very much like I'm not qualified to teach her or something. Like if I was a better teacher, she'd be ready for what RS wants her to do in a few weeks, or she'd be reading better. I just feel in over my head all of the sudden. I've never felt this way before. I've always felt like of course I could teach early elementary stuff.

 

I'm sure there are others of you who have been through this, so if anyone could just help me over the hump with your own experiences, that would be so kind. :001_unsure: My plan is just to hang out for a while in math - just go until it gets hard and then park for a while. We're about to review building larger numbers for a few days, then I don't know what. With reading I guess we just keep trucking along. Surely it will get easier for her eventually, right? She's not complaining about reading anymore, so that means something good, I think. I'm so unsure right now!

[Honey Bee]

DD is 6.5 and we're halfway through our second year of homeschooling. Last year we were pretty laid back, and actually this year I'd say we're on the laid back end of the spectrum, although we do Phonics Pathways and Rightstart at least 4 days per week each. We do other things as well, but she likes all of the other things, so I don't think those knock us out of the laid back category. lol But we're on lesson 60-something in RS and I'm not sure I can see her mentally adding 2 or more digit numbers with regrouping any time in the next couple of months. It's coming up, though - there are only about 40 more lessons in RS.

 

My son is turning 8 this month and he is only about 20 lessons past you guys in RS. RS B is very meaty. If you are worried, I would slow down to doing 1/2 lesson each day. You are not behind at all. I feel my son is just right for his development in RS B. You could do a short lesson in RS and add a Math Mammoth worksheet or a free MEP worksheet. I wouldn't do 2 full math curriculums, but maybe just give her something *fun.*

 

It seems like this is probably not something I should worry about, but I'm not sure, and now I'm suddenly feeling very intimidated. She's also not reading proficiently yet, which is very surprising to me, given that I read early and with little trouble. I just assumed she would pick it up easily. So suddenly I'm feeling very much like I'm not qualified to teach her or something. Like if I was a better teacher, she'd be ready for what RS wants her to do in a few weeks, or she'd be reading better. I just feel in over my head all of the sudden. I've never felt this way before. I've always felt like of course I could teach early elementary stuff.

 

I felt this way last year when my oldest was in 1st grade. He wasn't reading yet and RS was dragging along. I was really worried about his reading. I remember starting real books with him in January, getting him to read about 10-20 minutes per day aloud to me and his reading took off. He's reading Winnie the Pooh for literature one chapter a day right now. And I'm happy with that. Also, RS is tough when you get to the mental math, but you would be surprised what kids can do. If she is having trouble, I would also try posting in the RS forums on their website.

 

I'm sure there are others of you who have been through this, so if anyone could just help me over the hump with your own experiences, that would be so kind. :001_unsure: My plan is just to hang out for a while in math - just go until it gets hard and then park for a while. We're about to review building larger numbers for a few days, then I don't know what. With reading I guess we just keep trucking along. Surely it will get easier for her eventually, right? She's not complaining about reading anymore, so that means something good, I think. I'm so unsure right now!

 

I would definitely introduce real books, Sonlight has good ideas for readers. We started with something fun: "Cat in the Hat." I had intentionally never read this book to him, so he really enjoyed it. We just read a few pages a day.

 

Don't worry, you've got this! Your using solid tools to teach with, just keep going!

[Snowfall]

You know, you're right about reading real books. My husband just told me yesterday that when he was reading her bedtime stories to her the other night he had her read one page while he read the other. This was from a library book she'd never had read to her before, so she couldn't have memorized it, and he says she was able to read almost every word - and it's not an early reader or anything. Maybe she just needs to be reading real books. Thank you!!!

 

Thanks for sharing your RS story, also. I needed to hear that...again. <embarrassed>

[Leav97]

I've thought the same thing when flipping ahead in our reading program. I couldn't see her being able to read things that were only 20 lessons away. But, the 20 lessons in between laid the ground work and she was ready. Sometimes, it's hard to see where they will be in just a month.

 

And if she does need you to slow down you always have that option.

[boscopup]

At that stage of early reading, definitely go hit the library every single week and get a bunch of books she's never seen before. Let her pick some of them out and you pick out some that you know will be appropriate to her reading level (but also look interesting to her). My boys *always* love reading the shiny new library books as opposed to the books we've had here at the house all their lives. ;)

 

Also, it's perfectly ok if a first grader isn't ready for 2 digit addition at this point. I think in a lot of curricula, 2 digit addition is introduced later in first grade. I just looked at Math Mammoth 1B, and there are 8 chapters for all of first grade. 2 digit addition is in chapter 7 (1B starts with chapter 4). So it's towards the END of the year. The last chapter is money and is pretty short (like 5 sections). So I don't think you're really behind at this point. She'll likely get it soon, or she may know more than you think, as seems to be the case with reading (totally happened to me too! :D ). It's perfectly fine to camp out somewhere, throw in some reinforcement from other curricula (MEP, MM blue topic worksheets, free online math fact worksheets, etc.).

 

You can teach the early elementary years. It sounds like you've already been doing it pretty well! :D

[JessReplanted]

I've learned to take things one day, one lesson, at a time.

We are using Singapore Math, which has my 7 year old doing multiplication and division. When I saw that, I was ready to freak. But it hasn't been nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Don't get too far ahead of yourself!

[In the Rain]

My youngest dd is only a month older than yours. I've had many of the same thoughts.

 

Two months ago, she was slowly plugging her way through RME. Something clicked and now she is reading easy, short chapter books. It really can happen that fast, even though it doesn't seem possible or likely. I definitely agree with posters who mentioned letting her read real library books. My dd found them much more enticing.

 

My dd has hit a stopping point with addition. We set Singapore aside and are working on Miquon for a while. With my older dd, I noticed that sometimes kids get stuck, and then they suddenly "get it".

[Snowfall]

I was just pulling this back up to thank you all. I had my dd start reading Days Go By (the first of the Pathway Readers) and she's doing very, very well. For the first time in her life, she actually asked to read more. She's not having any trouble reading any of the words at all - mostly her issues are just with inflection, but since she doesn't have much practice reading books other than BOB Books and such, that's to be expected.

 

I'm also feeling much better about math, as I reflect on how quickly she picked up the adding with 9s lesson. I think it took her all of 90 seconds, and she said (imagine all this in a very, "DUH!" tone of voice), "I already know this, Mom. It's because 9 is 1 less than 10, so if you add a number to it, it's 1 less than if you added it to 10." lol That was before we'd ever talked about it at all, so I'm thinking she can do a lot more than i sometimes believe.

 

I'm feeling much better today! Thanks!!!:001_smile: