X-Post: If your DC (fifth) felt this way - what would you do/change?

[GreenIsGood2]

So, I feel like I have made a mess out of my DD (10-fifth) curriculum this year. I have been working all week trying to figure out what direction to go. I have just decided I am going to ask all of you because being only my second year I am really afraid of making more mistakes. In a nutshell, she is just kind of unhappy with some of it. Bored maybe? Or, maybe she just doesn't like too much homework and I should stick to my guns more? Ugh!

 

Here's an overview: My DD is actively trying to work with me to figure out works best. Over the summer through the help of some nice ladies here I have discovered that she is possibly gifted and very VSL. She is CRAZY creative and I have to keep her on task because she has so many projects going. She excels in ballet, theatre and gymnastics. She is horrible at spelling when she writes stories, but gets a perfect on her spelling tests. Loves math, science and technology.

 

So far this year:

Tried MCT (Town): She thinks it's "babyish" - wanted to drop it right away.

CLE math 5 - likes it - but wishes she had some "hard stuff" she says? However, she complains of too many problems to do for homework??

R&S English 5 - Likes the lesson - says too much homework to do because she knows it already. So far, great retention. A's on tests. Boring for her.

IEW Intensive - LOVES IT - wants to keep - finds him hysterical

LOF Fractions - loved it but she says it's too much to do with CLE.

Science - She can't get enough. She likes it, but I think it might be too easy. She does her own experiments with her microscope along with CP Science.

History- likes it now that I have added our own "scrapbook" type art activity to go along with it. We make it out of all the key points she learns in Story of the USA.

NaNoRiMo - FAVORITE LOVES IT.

 

Typing, piano, GSWS, GSWL, States & Capitals we are all good with.

 

Here are the other things: Added Mark Kistler Drawing videos online. She has done 4-5 a day. Loves it so much. Also added BrainPop App, Brainquest App, Stack the States APP as a "fun" option, and of course she likes them.

 

Her other complaints: She wishes it was all in one spot and that she could do it all alone. She is very independent. For example, I showed her Laurel Springs, because she thought she wanted something online, and she loved it. Kinda pricey, and I am not sure if it will actually fit her needs because of all the artsy? I've also considered Oak Meadow?

 

I see her light up when she draws, does NaNoRiMo, etc. Can it all be like that? Or, am I dreaming? I am afraid to cut anything like R&S and CLE because of how good everyone says they are? Any advice?

[Crimson Wife]

For the math, I'm of the opinion that it is far more worthwhile to do 10 challenging problems than 50 easy-peasy ones. So if CLE is too easy for her, then I'd go with a more challenging program like Singapore with the Intensive Practice book or MEP even if they have fewer practice problems. Art of Problem Solving Pre-Algebra might also be a good option if your DD likes a "discovery" approach (mine doesn't, which is why we are using Singapore).

[regentrude]

I answered you on K-8, but copy my reply here as well:

 

What she says about math makes perfect sense to me. Many problems of the same, easy, not challenging drill that is just busywork for a smart student can kill the love of math - and don't really teach much. I would take this very seriously and try out a more challenging math curriculum.

I do not know CLE and what level 5 is. A great program for kids who love math and want to be challenged is AoPS which starts with prealgebra. Look at the website and have her try the pretest.

(My DS used Intro to Algebra in 6th grade; the prealgebra did not exist).

 

ETA: I just see that you are doing TWO math programs. Why??? I would choose ONE, more rigorous program. Quality over quantity!

[GreenIsGood2]

We actually stopped LOF because she said it was too much. BUT, that's actually the one she likes. I am just too chicken in thinking that LOF doesn't cover enough and doesn't seem complete. I have looked at MEP. I actually have Singapore 5a/5b on the shelf (us edition) but figured I would start with CLE only because she seems to struggle remembering her facts sometimes. Only sometimes though! The rest of the time she is doing story problems in her head with no work! So confusing. She says she knows them, but just forgets sometimes??? We play "war" with numbered cards 2-13. She knows them inside out. See what I mean? Confusing. I put a problem on the board, and she always says "make it harder!" Oh dear.

[kiana]

We actually stopped LOF because she said it was too much. BUT, that's actually the one she likes. I am just too chicken in thinking that LOF doesn't cover enough and doesn't seem complete. I have looked at MEP. I actually have Singapore 5a/5b on the shelf (us edition) but figured I would start with CLE only because she seems to struggle remembering her facts sometimes. Only sometimes though! The rest of the time she is doing story problems in her head with no work! So confusing. She says she knows them, but just forgets sometimes??? We play "war" with numbered cards 2-13. She knows them inside out. See what I mean? Confusing. I put a problem on the board, and she always says "make it harder!" Oh dear.

 

In this case I would second the recommendation for fewer but more challenging problems. Honestly, dumping more problems on someone who's begging for less and harder work is likely to increase the number of careless errors due to the student feeling that she only needs to engage a minute percentage of her brain to work.

[Crimson Wife]

We actually stopped LOF because she said it was too much. BUT, that's actually the one she likes. I am just too chicken in thinking that LOF doesn't cover enough and doesn't seem complete. I have looked at MEP. I actually have Singapore 5a/5b on the shelf (us edition) but figured I would start with CLE only because she seems to struggle remembering her facts sometimes. Only sometimes though! The rest of the time she is doing story problems in her head with no work! So confusing. She says she knows them, but just forgets sometimes??? We play "war" with numbered cards 2-13. She knows them inside out. See what I mean? Confusing. I put a problem on the board, and she always says "make it harder!" Oh dear.

 

If you have Singapore, then I wouldn't let an occasional snag in recalling facts keep you from using it. For a really long time, my DS knew his addition & subtraction facts if I wrote a "part-whole circle" (what Singapore calls "number bonds") but if I just asked him the same thing orally, he'd be all :confused::confused::confused: He knew the facts inside and out but for whatever reason he had difficulty retrieving what he knew unless it was visually presented. I kept on drilling them separately from his main Singapore lesson, and eventually he was able to answer them orally.

 

He's now working on memorizing his times tables and again he's much better at answering the questions if he can see them than if I just ask him them orally.

 

I don't understand why the format makes a difference, but that may just be the way my brain works vs. how DS' does.

[quark]

Some thoughts:

 

So, I feel like I have made a mess out of my DD (10-fifth) curriculum this year. I have been working all week trying to figure out what direction to go.

 

:grouphug:! I've been there!

 

She excels in ballet, theatre and gymnastics. She is horrible at spelling when she writes stories, but gets a perfect on her spelling tests. Loves math, science and technology.

 

What a wonderful, happy problem! She is both artsy and STEM-ish it looks like? :001_smile:

 

If I were in this situation:

Tried MCT (Town): She thinks it's "babyish" - wanted to drop it right away. I would drop MCT

CLE math 5 - likes it - but wishes she had some "hard stuff" she says? However, she complains of too many problems to do for homework?? Either drop CLE or assign just the best 3-5 problems and have her focus on LOF which she likes, or alternate LOF and SM/AOPS/ any other program you choose

R&S English 5 - Likes the lesson - says too much homework to do because she knows it already. So far, great retention. A's on tests. Boring for her. If you must use it, halve the homework?

IEW Intensive - LOVES IT - wants to keep - finds him hysterical KEEP!

LOF Fractions - loved it but she says it's too much to do with CLE.

Science - She can't get enough. She likes it, but I think it might be too easy. She does her own experiments with her microscope along with CP Science. I'm trying to remember what CP Science is...do you mean CPO? If she does her own experiments, I'd say you're doing a good thing there...it's lovely when kids take charge like that

History- likes it now that I have added our own "scrapbook" type art activity to go along with it. We make it out of all the key points she learns in Story of the USA. Keep

NaNoRiMo - FAVORITE LOVES IT. Definitely keep

 

We love Mark Kistler too. :001_smile: Too few hours in the day though.

 

She wishes it was all in one spot and that she could do it all alone. She is very independent.

I didn't want to spend the $$ on Laurel Springs or OM so what I did to give my son the independence and choice and basically a virtual menu of "learning possibilities" was to create a free website using Weebly.com and put all the links to his various favorite programs in there. I used a menu-like format (it's one of those drag and drop style website building templates, very easy to use) so that he can pick and choose what to work on...very ala carte style. Will something like this work? There are many free website providers available, e.g. Google, Blogger, Webs, Weebly etc., for this purpose. Perhaps she could create it herself since she is so arty and also interested in technology?

 

Good luck!

[GreenIsGood2]

I never even thought about setting up a website! That is an excellent idea. Thank you so much. A big thanks to everyone! I think I have an idea of what to adjust.

 

Quark - as for the Science, I went with this: http://education.cambridge.org/subject/science/cambridge-checkpoint-science/cambridge-checkpoint-science-coursebook-7 (you can see the inside sample from that page)

 

She needs things very colorful and I thought it might work. She seems to be bored though. I looked at CPO and was scared off by how hard it was possibly going to be to do the experiments. So, I gave her this: http://www.learn-and-do.com/microscope_adventure.htm

Now she does more experiments because, of course, she likes it better! :001_smile:

 

I seriously considered Science Fusion, but not sure on that either. Any good options for Science? Or, keep moving ahead with experiments?

 

Thanks!

[quark]

LOL, I chose this for literature this year (and love the poetry selections). And bought the same microscope adventure unit study too! Birds of a feather! :001_smile:

 

I hear you about the colorful materials. I need color more than kiddo does but he loves anything British, more so from the Cambridge folks, so it wasn't hard to convince him to try that book for lit.

 

I seriously think she is doing great by working on science so independently. But I understand how you might feel that it might not be enough. How about rounding it off with library books on microscopic life, cell biology etc? Or challenging her to try a science fair project? Ruth has noted some great ideas about scientific inquiry in this thread!

 

Book suggestions:

A World in a Drop of Water and Life in a Bucket of Soil by Alvin Silverstein

Usborne Complete Book of the Microscope

More ideas here (from the Customers Who Bought This Also Bought...selections)

The Language of Cells by Nadler

[2smartones]

I love LoF. If she gets it, she gets it. Why spend problem after problem in another curriculum practicing something you know how to do? If she likes Fred, let her continue with it. Don't kill the desire for math unless you see that she's honest-to-goodness missing something of major importance. LoF is complete for kids who "get" math.

 

R&S English is great, but again... stop with the drill & kill. There is no reason to do all the questions in the book. Just have her read the lessons and then do the worksheets & tests. If she's getting A's & B's, she knows the material. With R&S, 5th-6th is where they really start to beef up the curriculum. There are some good writing challenges in the book, but for the plain old grammar stuff, use the worksheets and save her hours of writing all the stuff from the book by hand.

 

Can't really comment on sci/hist. I'm not sure what you're using. Sounds like she needs a lot of things she can see and touch, though - no matter what the subject.

[serendipitous journey]

micro-reply: I love science reading & DVDs to boost content. Have you looked at Magic of Reality for the iPad (if that's your app platform), or just the book maybe? the app seems a charmer for somebody who loves science + gorgeous things.

 

for math facts -- and I am seconding/thirding everybody who says go ahead with the challenging math & give the facts time to sink in -- you might like Singapore's Math Sprints; the year 4 would be plenty challenging I'd think. They are fun and varied and draw the least resistance of any drill-ish thing I've tried here; it takes about 4-5 minutes, incl. correcting errors. She could do these independently if she has a timer.

Edited September 26, 2012 by serendipitous journey