Discouraged on Day 4

[littlebylittle]

I've finished Day 4 of my very first week of teaching K to my 5 year old. I'm very discouraged and looking for encouragement. My very bright son seems to struggle with actually hearing what I'm saying. We talk about today's date (from Saxon) - January 26, 2012 - and after talking about the month, the date, the year, he can't remember that it is January. He looks up at me and says, "August?" Now, I think you may be wondering if he is being ornery but he really looks confused :001_huh:... which has me pretty baffled. It's like he hears what I'm saying and says it back with me, then it gets bounced around in his head and comes out competely 'other' than what we just discussed. We talk about how the year is 2012 and he says 2011. We talk about it being the twenty-sixth and he says "fourteenth?" I have made it upbeat and fun at times thinking maybe he's feeling overwhelmed. Then I try to have us say the month 10 times holding up 10 fingers, trying to keep this light and fun, "This month is January... This month is January... This month is January...". After the 10th time I'll say, "What month are we in right now?" And he says, "August?" Then he'll pause and say, "No, 2011??" I'm like....huh??? :glare: I wonder what I am doing wrong... if he is too young (though he's ready on all the 'readiness signs').... If he is seriously not understanding my words ... if there is some kind of learning issue he has... if he's just feeling pressure some how. He is kind of a perfectionist to a degree; very bright, sweet, stubborn, sensitive.

I know it's week 1 and I just need to chill, probably, and keep plugging away. But still. Hm. Bleh. Thoughts?

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I've finished Day 4 of my very first week of teaching K to my 5 year old. I'm very discouraged and looking for encouragement. My very bright son seems to struggle with actually hearing what I'm saying. We talk about today's date (from Saxon) - January 26, 2012 - and after talking about the month, the date, the year, he can't remember that it is January. He looks up at me and says, "August?" Now, I think you may be wondering if he is being ornery but he really looks confused :001_huh:... which has me pretty baffled. It's like he hears what I'm saying and says it back with me, then it gets bounced around in his head and comes out competely 'other' than what we just discussed. We talk about how the year is 2012 and he says 2011. We talk about it being the twenty-sixth and he says "fourteenth?" I have made it upbeat and fun at times thinking maybe he's feeling overwhelmed. Then I try to have us say the month 10 times holding up 10 fingers, trying to keep this light and fun, "This month is January... This month is January... This month is January...". After the 10th time I'll say, "What month are we in right now?" And he says, "August?" Then he'll pause and say, "No, 2011??" I'm like....huh??? :glare: I wonder what I am doing wrong... if he is too young (though he's ready on all the 'readiness signs').... If he is seriously not understanding my words ... if there is some kind of learning issue he has... if he's just feeling pressure some how. He is kind of a perfectionist to a degree; very bright, sweet, stubborn, sensitive.

I know it's week 1 and I just need to chill, probably, and keep plugging away. But still. Hm. Bleh. Thoughts?

 

I would relax a little bit. Kids are leaky sieves.

 

If you are doing the calendar in the meeting book, fill out the date. Then when you ask him the date, let him look at the calendar.

 

At the age of 5, months and years are pretty arbitrary. (I had one kid ask me around that age why weeks didn't have names. Indeed. Why days and months but not weeks?)

 

But you are not only teaching him that months have names and days of the months get counted, but where on a calendar to find this info. So it's ok for him to refer to the calendar.

 

Daily consistency and knowledge and wisdom aggregated over time. It will come.

[In the Rain]

The things you described are very abstract. Does your son have trouble with more concrete concepts? If he understands concrete concepts, but not abstract ones, I wouldn't worry at this point.

 

Seasons would be easier to understand than months or years. 2011 vs. 2012 is just a term to be memorized. Snowy winter vs. hot and sunny summer would make more sense to a young child than the names of months. KWIM?

[littlebylittle]

Hilarious!

Yes, we look at the calendar every time. I point at the month and say January. I point to the date and say twenty-sixth. He's visual so I know referring to the calendar is huge for him. Then when I ask him the month again I say, "What month is it? It is January." (pointing at the month). then I say, "What month is it?" (pointing at the month) and he will say, "2011? August?" I sometimes get frustrated and think, "We JUST said January.... Where are you getting August from??"

[MeghanL]

Saxon is an incremental approach to math...so the expectation is not on "knowing the right answer". The expectation is exposure. You say "What month is it?" Child says "August" you say "August is a month, but the month we are currently in is January. Let's spell January." Just keep going over the correct answers, and they will eventually get it. Same with the days of the week. You ask, you let them give an answer, you feed them the correct answer and then eventually they get it. The same approach will later be needed for long division. You teach the child, they act like they've never heard the English language before, you show them the steps and walk them through it and eventually they get it. Just stay patient and everything will be fine. If the kids already knew all the answers, they wouldn't need to be taught :)

[littlebylittle]

Good point Meghan. I should try that. I have tried so many techniques and am just left baffled with him saying something so utterly different than what was just said. I'm thinking, "I said January, where did he hear August??" I will try the approach you mentioned and maybe he will get it before too long. {Patience is definitely something God will be growing in my heart!}

[Hwin]

Mine is the same way. It's SO frustrating. I'm sure it's normal (as everyone else has stated) but it sure does make me wonder if he is messing with my head.

 

... "So, if 2+3 is 5, then 22+3 is...??"

"25?"

"yes! OK, write it down on your paper."

"Write what down?"

"The answer to 22+3."

"What is the answer?"

"Well, what is 22+3?"

"Is it 26?"

"No."

"27?

"No. Remember, we said, if 2+3 is 5 then - "

"It's 25!"

"Right! Now, write that down on your paper."

"Write what down?"

 

:tongue_smilie:

[Mom22ns]

I would make sure you have a calendar in front of you when you discuss all of it. I would point to the word January. I would sound out the word January. Then I would count all the days until you reach 26. When I asked what month it is, I would point to the answer. When I ask what day it is, I would point to the date.

 

He may not get it the first week, but if you do this every day, it won't be long before he is all over it!

[KrissiK]

He's very young. What we do now, even, and my kids are older is they know the months and the days (we have songs) and they each have a calendar print-out. We look at the calendar, look for the number, put an X on it, say the full date together and that's it. Sometimes I'll say things like, "J, how many Mondays are in January?" and he'll count them and tell me. Time is very vague for kids, esp. small children. For me, the important thing at that ages was know the days of the week and the months of the year by memory. They don't really need to understand what that means. It'll come.

 

And hang in there. Day 4 is pretty early to get discouraged. Seems like your expectations are high. I always have to tell myself the photos of the eager little learners in the curriculum catalogs are staged or I'd really get depressed.

[curlylocks]

I would make sure you have a calendar in front of you when you discuss all of it. I would point to the word January. I would sound out the word January. Then I would count all the days until you reach 26. When I asked what month it is, I would point to the answer. When I ask what day it is, I would point to the date.

 

He may not get it the first week, but if you do this every day, it won't be long before he is all over it!

 

:iagree: -- I bought a handy pocket calendar chart to hang on the wall.

 

Like this: http://www.amazon.com/Smethport-Calendar-Pocket-English-Spanish/dp/B002A2U8OO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327605720&sr=8-1

[littlebylittle]

Yup, I'm pointing to the calendar the whole time when I ask the questions. :001_smile: I say January, point at January, etc, etc, etc. Yes, I think my expectations are high and probably misguided in this sense. It's my very first time doing this and since he pick up on many concepts, ideas, has such random and amazing memory, I thought he'd understand especially when we say, point, talk about, etc. Sounds like I need to relax and keep a steady pace and not expect too muh.

[*********]

The same approach will later be needed for long division. You teach the child, they act like they've never heard the English language before, you show them the steps and walk them through it and eventually they get it.

 

Meghan, don't freak her out more! :D JK. (But I SOOOO hear you on the long division. Sometimes I'm shouting in my head 'Am I speaking a foreign language to you! We've only done this nine bazillion times! What do you mean you can't remember the next step! Bring down the number! BRING.DOWN.THE.NUMBER!!!' Ahem. That's on the inside. Of course, on the outside, I'm patiently explaining the steps to him for the millionth time that week. :tongue_smilie: He IS getting it now.)

 

OP, here's a

on youtube. There's a days of the week one, too. They helped my boys learn the months in order in like a day. No joke.

 

I'm also wondering; you keep saying he's thinking it's August instead of January. Is his birthday in August, maybe? I just think lots of kids maybe learn the name of the month that their birthday is in before learning any of the other months. So maybe August is his favorite month for some reason? Just thought I'd throw that out there.

[Meriwether]

My 5yo is doing Saxon now. He heard his older brother do Saxon meeting times for two years. He can write the date. He can do all the work. 8+3? No problem. He still gets confused when I ask him the date or day of the week sometimes.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Sometimes I'm shouting in my head 'Am I speaking a foreign language to you! We've only done this nine bazillion times! What do you mean you can't remember the next step! Bring down the number! BRING.DOWN.THE.NUMBER!!!' Ahem. That's on the inside. Of course, on the outside, I'm patiently explaining the steps to him for the millionth time that week. :tongue_smilie:

 

Uh, yeah . . . I hate to tell you, but most of my days homeschooling boys is about getting them to repeat something I've told them about 800 times already. Good luck! :lol:

[Haiku]

He's five. He won't learn the date in a week. Don't worry about it, and don't make it the thing that makes you question your ability to homeschool him. Go over the date every day. Don't question him on it. Just point it out. He'll get it.

 

Don't expect your son to learn something the first time it's presented to him. Or the second. Or the fifth. Real learning takes time.

 

Tara

[sewingmama]

He sounds pretty normal for a 5yo. My own 5yo has no clue about the date yet. She can't even remember her own birth month. She often asks me "What day is it" and I tell her and then a few minutes later she will ask again :glare:

 

Concepts such as the date are pretty abstract at that age - especially if they are still trying to understand yesterday, today and tomorrow.

 

If your DS can't read there is little value in pointing to the word on the calender expecting him to recognise it.

 

I wouldn't push it -I would just go over the calender once a day in the morning -it will come.

[ladydusk]

:iagree: -- I bought a handy pocket calendar chart to hang on the wall.

 

Like this: http://www.amazon.com/Smethport-Calendar-Pocket-English-Spanish/dp/B002A2U8OO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327605720&sr=8-1

 

 

We've done a calendar like this (we have this one) almost every day at breakfast for years before I expected my kids to tell me the date, the four year old still has little clue. The others are pretty good at it, though.

 

I agree with Margaret in CO, too. "Give it time. Do hands-on things. Read books. Do real work. Plant a garden. Paint pictures. Take walks. Give him time to grow." We did calendar as part of our "real life" by doing it every day at breakfast, just like you would pull the page off or put an x through a paper calendar.

[NASDAQ]

One of the mistakes I made early on with Saxon was thinking that when I introduced something, the child should know the answer.

 

Saxon relies on repetition over many lessons. Often the first time something is introduced, it's just . . . introduced. And the child won't internalise it. It will look marginally more familiar the next time the child comes across it. And with the early levels of Saxon, the child will come across it a lot.

[Night Elf]

Yup, I'm pointing to the calendar the whole time when I ask the questions. :001_smile: I say January, point at January, etc, etc, etc. Yes, I think my expectations are high and probably misguided in this sense. It's my very first time doing this and since he pick up on many concepts, ideas, has such random and amazing memory, I thought he'd understand especially when we say, point, talk about, etc. Sounds like I need to relax and keep a steady pace and not expect too muh.

 

I pulled my son out of Kindergarten to homeschool. He was academically ahead of his peers. I did way too much way too fast and ended up regretting it big time. The BEST lesson I learned was this: Just because he can, doesn't mean he should. I hope that helps a little. Just starting out is very scary indeed. He's young and you guys will do great.

[MomatHWTK]

My much older children are still learning the months and years. Right now we are using a magnetic calendar that they can mark the day on daily. In the past we have used themed coloring pages, done special projects for each month or (for my oldest) read a short reading comprehension piece about the month. Another helpful way to remember the months is to associate them with holidays and family events. January is "New Year" month and we also have two birthdays, February is Valentine's Day, etc.

 

If you are just getting started you are going to want to slow down and get a feel for your child's learning style. Don't expect your child to learn anything, but give him the opportunity to learn everything. You will be surprised at the directions your homeschooling journey will take.

[ktgrok]

How old is he? And it could be a bit of working memory issue, but I'd give it time. Work on just the month for a few days, then the day, etc. All three at once is too much. And way too abstract.

[littlebylittle]

Wow gals! Thanks for all your tips and encouragement! The running theme I'm reading is I basically need to ease off on my own {personal} expectations, to relax and to continue bit by bit. This HS'ing thing is brand new to me and I know I have a lot to learn and experience. It's not just choosing curriculum but all the other stuff about HS'ing that you pick up along the way, eh? Thanks for helping!