Matroyshka, did your dc start the summer reading program yet?

[SoCal Sandra]

Mine did and the teacher moved dss up to the high school class--Fellowship of the Rings--so dss are just loving it. It seems like a solid program so far and dss have already doubled their reading speed, as promised. I thought I'd let you know just in case your dc haven't started yet and are still undecided.

[Matryoshka]

Mine did and the teacher moved dss up to the high school class--Fellowship of the Rings--so dss are just loving it. It seems like a solid program so far and dss have already doubled their reading speed, as promised. I thought I'd let you know just in case your dc haven't started yet and are still undecided.

 

Sigh. Yes, they have, but their response is not as glowing. They're already in the high school class (good thing I moved them up myself!) and they are loving the book - but they read much faster than everyone else in the class already (I really signed them up for the study skills aspect and figured any increased reading speed would be a bonus). They hate the "method" as they claim their hand can't go as fast as they read without getting tired and it hurts their middle finger to bend it to be even, and that their comprehension goes down when they read that way. :glare: They are also very frustrated that they're not supposed to read past a certain point because they love the book so much that they want to keep going. My faster-reading dd of the two has been finishing the weeks homework and even going past before the end of class (which annoys even her sister). They say the comprehension questions are very obvious. I've been doing some of the discussion questions from LLfLOTR with them alongisde and they say they are much more interesting (I guess that's a good thing...?) At least it looks like doing LLfLOTR this year will be a big hit....

 

They had their second class this week. This week they did do some note-taking, which is good - that's one of the main things I wanted reinforced. They said the text book they're using is more obvious with the main idea than ours are - they claimed a whole sentence is highlighted :confused: and you just write it down (and add a couple supporting points). They said it's a Prentice Hall book, so I'm having a hard time believing that - I've seen lots of PH books and I've only ever seen words bolded, not whole sentences. At any rate, any practice is good - this is an area they've had a bit of difficulty with in texts we've used at home. Since they claim it's so easy, they shouldn't have any cause for moaning when I tell them they have to take notes on their Physics text this year. :sneaky2:

 

They say the teacher still hasn't used the vocab book, but I'm not particularly concerned about that, as we do plenty of vocab with Latin roots/stems at home. Do wonder why they give it to them if they're not going to use it.

 

I do have to say that I think this has given them some confidence as they see that they're ahead of all the other kids who are older (I'm thinking they just happened to get a bunch of kids who are taking this for more remedial reasons, not that they're necessarily ahead of most high schoolers). They are very likely going to the ps for high school, and I told them they'd better improve their writing enough to be let into the honors class... if this motivates them to do that, I guess that's worth some of the money right there...

 

Were your kids reading quickly already? Do you know what speed they increased from/to? Hearing your story makes me think maybe I should tell them to quit their whining and bend their darn finger already. Confidence is good but cocky is bad. I could always get them to read another book for practice if LOTR is too awesome to try to read as fast as they possibly can. :tongue_smilie:

[SoCal Sandra]

I don't know if dss were already reading fast. In the pretest given at the first class, one timed at 340 words per minute and the other was just under 300. I don't know if the teacher moved them up to the High School class based on speed alone, as they tested at the high school level in speed, comprehension and vocabulary, which were the three categories. She said their speed would be in the middle range of the high school class, but since I don't know if the high school students are remedial or not, that doesn't tell me much.

 

At the last class the faster son tested over 700 words per minute and the slower one just over 600. The teacher has now intentionally slowed them down, which is something she told the class she might do to ensure that comprehension does not diminish as speed builds.

 

Dss are not crazy about the curled hand method, so I allow them to use just their index finger. The curled hand method is supposed to do two things: block out distracting words in the sentences below and pull the eye like a ball and chain. I figure the index finger can pull the eye, and if the words below the reading line become a distraction, we can try modifying the curled hand approach in some way.

 

I understand your comments about using the method with the Lord of the Rings. Dss sometimes tell me they just want to savor the story. For that reason I push the method more heavily when they are reading other things. A relative recently introduced them to the "Fablehaven" and "Ranger's Apprentice" books, which are very easy reading for them. I tell them that the speed method is especially good for these type of books. I do have to remind them a lot though because they need to reach a point where the method a habit--used automatically, except when they intentionally slow down to savor a good story or comprehend difficult text.

 

As for the vocabulary book, they start that after the third class. Dss have only done the first chapter, but it looks like it will provide good review as well as some new roots.

 

Regarding outlining, dss said that the method is not as specific as the WTM method because they don't use Roman numerals and they use bullet marks for the detail level of the outline. Nonetheless, any practice is good, as you said.

 

Did you have a hard time moving your dc up to the high school class? After dss were moved up and attended the first high school class, I got a call from the company telling me dss would not be allowed to stay in the high school class because they were only going into sixth grade and the company doesn't allow skipping more than one grade. I asked to speak to a supervisor and appealed the decision. I asked that they speak to the teacher who moved dss up because her input might be valuable. They did and then called back and said dss could stay in the class. I was impressed that they were willing to listen to reason and be flexible with their policy.

 

If your dc are going to go to ps, I think the class may prove valuable as a comfortable introduction to a public classroom setting. I'm assuming the classes are on a college campus (ours are) and being in that setting is a nice way to acclimate them to the idea of college long before they go. That's another thing I like about the class.