Am I missing something with 2nd Grade?

[Gabrielsyme2]

My DD7 is starting second grade. We're working through MCT's Grammar Island, Story of the World 2, Singapore 2B, New American Cursive, McMillan Science a Closer Look and AAS 2. She also does some copy work and works in a workbook called Write Wacky Sentances. We used the Iowa test last spring and she scored on a 4th grade level in every subject. I know this should be reassuring but instead I'm convinced this will be the year I drop the ball! Specifically in math and writing which are key. My husband was homeschooled and his mother has an unbelievable ability to teach to mastery. She was relentless and they never moved on until things were rock solid. We tend to take a more spiraled approach (hence Singapore instead of Saxon) and move on and then circle back frequently. Worried this is going to started biting me in the butt in these subjects. Am I being paranoid? Should I trust the test?

[OneStepAtATime]

:grouphug:  :grouphug:  :grouphug: 

 

Do not fret.  Stressing yourself out won't help either of you.  It sounds like she is doing very well.  Honestly, I'm not sure what you are asking. (And I am a bit confused that you seem to be saying you are doing Singapore for spiral instruction instead of Saxon.  Singapore is not spiral.  It is mastery.)

 

If your child is doing well in her subjects and seems engaged in her learning, and she seems to be making progress I would not overly stress myself out.  I would want her to be learning at whatever pace works best for her to be successful and would hope to encourage a love of learning and allow for time to play and to explore new ideas and topics.  Are you doing these things?  If so, then you are doing fine and so is she.   Learning is not a race to the finish line.  It is more organic than that.  Learning is always and everywhere.  It is exponential.  

 

Hang in there.  :)

[Kiara.I]

LOL  I wouldn't even bother trusting the test--trust the process and the child.  She's 7.  Suppose you do drop the ball...so?  Next year she's 8.  Still plenty of time to pick up a ball again, should it get dropped.

[fralala]

First off, I think the point of the test should be for you to say, "Mm hmm, doing fine, moving on." I think I was reading SWB herself saying that sometimes as parents, we see how much our children are capable of and then we are prone to pushing them harder, doing more and more, and that is not necessarily a beneficial impulse for parent or child...

 

That said, I'd like to understand more what your concerns are about math. I'm teaching SM 2A right now. Do you feel that your daughter is taking a long time with her computation and you are not spending enough time memorizing facts? Or is it more just one of those feelings of Never Doing Enough Compared to One's MIL?

Edited August 30, 2016 by fralala

[Gabrielsyme2]

Interesting that others have pointed to Singapore as "mastery." I've seen it described both ways but I was taught using Saxon and find that Singapore incorporates far less repetition and review in its core. Maybe spiral is the wrong word but I feel like it's easy to move on in Singapore without mastering the previous topic. It doesn't necessarily have to be that way but it can happen. We sometimes supplement with Calculadder but it's hard for me to commit to as it feels very "drill and kill" to me. DH is of the opinion that she should know computation facts (ex: 12-7=) cold before moving on (rather than knowing them fairly well and understanding how to do them) which is what I mean by mastery. So not just know how to do the work but doing it quickly and easily every time. I tend to teach about 75 % of the way there and then move forward. I know a lot of homeschoolers are not huge fans of testing and I respect that, I really do as we all have different household cultures and goals. I've always found tests to be an accurate representation of what I knew and was capable of and feel similarly about my children so far. That could change. I think my question (typed quickly on my phone while the baby napped) is more along the lines of "are we doing as much as the average second grader?" My DD is one of the older kids in our social group and our CoOp is very laid back so it's hard for me to tell where we fall on that continuum as we don't have a lot of peers with similar approaches.

[Plagefille]

Your plan sounds great. You sound like you're doing an awesome job. In fact my 7DD is doing almost exactly the same curriculum as your DD.

[Kiara.I]

Are we talking average on this forum or average for homeschooling or average for your community?

 

Even for this forum I think you're doing rather more than the average 2nd grader. You're using a language arts program for gifted 8-10 year olds with a 7-year-old. You're using a math program that tends to run at least a year or two ahead of local standards in North America.

 

You can probably relax.

Oh, and I disagree with your husband about math. It rather gives the impression that he thinks math is a linear progression. It's a landscape. ;)

[tammylingle]

I don't think you should stress at all. Sounds like you're right on track (and beyond!) When I found myself in a similar situation I gave my DD fun educational books to read on Math that helped excel her even further while having fun and coming at a full-rounded approach. You should see if the Life of Fred books would be a good fit for yours too! Here's the best sale I found when I did my research at the beginning of summer.  http://www.educents.com/life-of-fred-sale Best of luck to you!