With my first child, I noticed that she would master something, only to move on and completely forget it the next week. I'm talking serious forgetting...like after two years of knowing 1 + 1 = 2, and suddenly having no idea how to arrive at that answer. I started wondering what I was doing wrong. Did she have a learning disorder? What's up with that?
And then I taught my second child the concept of column addition (i.e., adding tens and ones, such as 55 + 23, as mentioned in the post before this one). Suddenly she forgot simple things like 1 + 1 = 2. She had a severe "duh" moment, that didn't seem to resolve despite all of my talking her through it. She also started to do goofy things like take 55 + 23 and try adding across (5 + 5, and 2 + 3). The concept of HOW to add and basic place value concepts were completely lost!
So you know what? Instead of packing up for the day, or blaming it all on a lousy math program and switching to another one like I did with my first child, I very calmly kept moving forward. I calmly explained HOW to add 1 + 1, I calmly showed her tens and ones, and we kept up with learning this more difficult addition. We cut our lessons in half, and I treated each new problem as if she were seeing it for the first time. The amazing thing was that after 2 weeks, she didn't need me so much anymore. She sometimes still needed little reminders ("don't forget to add the ones, first. where are the ones? right here are the ones!") but she tackled it quite well. The concept started to stick and the addition "duh" moments were becoming less and less.
Now, if we'd spent a month on this topic and the "duh" moments were not lessening, then we'd probably give it a rest. But I've learned that when you teach something brand new, sometimes all the old easy stuff gets completely tossed out the window. It's not the fault of a bad program, a learning disabled child, or a terrible teacher...it's just something that is going to happen. It's all a part of the learning process.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
I'm back!
I finished my novel today for the NaNoWriMo Novel Writing Contest, and met my goal of 50,000 words. There is more to write and much to be fixed, but it's a start and I'm proud to be a 2008 winner! I'm still on a writer's high today. This will be followed by a writer's low, when I discover that I miss my characters, and wish I could sneak back into their imaginary realm.
My children have been educated during the month of November. But I must confess that laundry did not get washed, and kids had many nights of oven bake pizza for dinner, followed by many days of video games. At least they kept up with the 3Rs. We've taken somewhat of a break with science, history, and art - but 1 month off never killed anyone (right? Right?) Please do not leave horror stories in my comments about children that actually died from not learning science, history, or art.
The newly 6yr did some amazing things in Math this month!! And I learned a valuable lesson about Teaching, which will be posted in another post. The 6yo learned how to add tens and ones (ex: 55 + 23), she was introduced to 4 days of renaming (56 + 36, which involves carrying the one), and subtraction of tens and ones (55 - 23). She handled this remarkably well, but again, I learned some valuable things about Teaching (hint, hint - read my next post!)
The newly 8yo finished her dreadfully long chapter on Subtraction with Renaming (hundreds, tens, and ones). She understood the concept, but it dragged on, and on, and on...I ended up dividing a full lesson into half a lesson, and spreading a full lesson out over 2 days. But she knows the concept (she just doesn't like it, and truthfully, I didn't like it either).
The 8yo is making good progress in doubling up the 2nd grade reading lessons. We'll probably start 3rd grade Reading, Spelling, & Handwriting sometime in Dec or Jan. Guess I'll need to order books soon!
The 6yo is making good progress with her reading, and I'm amazed at what she is able to understand with word endings. She learned a weird story about Mrs. Short (short vowels), Mr. Short (the consonant after the short vowel), and bringing in Uncle Short (a second consonant), before adding Bad Cats (-ing and -ed) LOL. Yeah, weird story, but she knows she needs to bring in Uncle Short before adding a Bad Cat to a word. I wish I'd known this story when I taught word endings the first time around!!
We had a nice Thanksgiving. The kids' grandpa and uncle came over for dinner. I felt guilty that I didn't give the kids those typical Thanksgiving crafts to make (we didn't even make a handprint turkey - does that make me a terrible mom?) But they implemented their own craft by pulling out colored paper and making Thanksgiving cards for their grandpa and uncle. Come to think of it, I didn't even do my typical Thanksgiving explanation of where it comes from historically. What kind of homeschool mom am I, anyway? Well, now that the noveling month has drawn to an end, hopefully I can be a little more fun, a little more interesting, and a little more responsible.
My children have been educated during the month of November. But I must confess that laundry did not get washed, and kids had many nights of oven bake pizza for dinner, followed by many days of video games. At least they kept up with the 3Rs. We've taken somewhat of a break with science, history, and art - but 1 month off never killed anyone (right? Right?) Please do not leave horror stories in my comments about children that actually died from not learning science, history, or art.
The newly 6yr did some amazing things in Math this month!! And I learned a valuable lesson about Teaching, which will be posted in another post. The 6yo learned how to add tens and ones (ex: 55 + 23), she was introduced to 4 days of renaming (56 + 36, which involves carrying the one), and subtraction of tens and ones (55 - 23). She handled this remarkably well, but again, I learned some valuable things about Teaching (hint, hint - read my next post!)
The newly 8yo finished her dreadfully long chapter on Subtraction with Renaming (hundreds, tens, and ones). She understood the concept, but it dragged on, and on, and on...I ended up dividing a full lesson into half a lesson, and spreading a full lesson out over 2 days. But she knows the concept (she just doesn't like it, and truthfully, I didn't like it either).
The 8yo is making good progress in doubling up the 2nd grade reading lessons. We'll probably start 3rd grade Reading, Spelling, & Handwriting sometime in Dec or Jan. Guess I'll need to order books soon!
The 6yo is making good progress with her reading, and I'm amazed at what she is able to understand with word endings. She learned a weird story about Mrs. Short (short vowels), Mr. Short (the consonant after the short vowel), and bringing in Uncle Short (a second consonant), before adding Bad Cats (-ing and -ed) LOL. Yeah, weird story, but she knows she needs to bring in Uncle Short before adding a Bad Cat to a word. I wish I'd known this story when I taught word endings the first time around!!
We had a nice Thanksgiving. The kids' grandpa and uncle came over for dinner. I felt guilty that I didn't give the kids those typical Thanksgiving crafts to make (we didn't even make a handprint turkey - does that make me a terrible mom?) But they implemented their own craft by pulling out colored paper and making Thanksgiving cards for their grandpa and uncle. Come to think of it, I didn't even do my typical Thanksgiving explanation of where it comes from historically. What kind of homeschool mom am I, anyway? Well, now that the noveling month has drawn to an end, hopefully I can be a little more fun, a little more interesting, and a little more responsible.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Homeschool funnies for the day
A few things made me smile today...
The 5yo had to read 3 words:
father
mother
brother
She had to look at the picture and figure out which word matched.
It was a picture of a slightly robust woman with short hair.
The 5yo circled "father".
I had to laugh because it wouldn't seem very clear to a little girl.
When I asked her about it, she was sure that the person was a "father" and not "mother".
Later, I sent the 5yo to get some Halloween candy so I could work alone with the 8yo. She comes back with this gross looking gummy body part. She asks - "is this a nose?"
I turned it in all sorts of directions, but we all finally came to the conclusion that it was, indeed, a nose with a green booger in it. The 5yo says, "why did that do that? That's really unappropriate." She sounded just like her mom.
The 5yo had to read 3 words:
father
mother
brother
She had to look at the picture and figure out which word matched.
It was a picture of a slightly robust woman with short hair.
The 5yo circled "father".
I had to laugh because it wouldn't seem very clear to a little girl.
When I asked her about it, she was sure that the person was a "father" and not "mother".
Later, I sent the 5yo to get some Halloween candy so I could work alone with the 8yo. She comes back with this gross looking gummy body part. She asks - "is this a nose?"
I turned it in all sorts of directions, but we all finally came to the conclusion that it was, indeed, a nose with a green booger in it. The 5yo says, "why did that do that? That's really unappropriate." She sounded just like her mom.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Weekly Review
Saturday: Started NanoWriMo (writing a novel in a month. Must reach 50,000 words by midnight, Nov 30).
Friday: Trick or Treating. We went to Grandpa's house beforehand. Little Z stepped in some really bad dog poop upon exiting our car. She dragged it all through the house and somehow smeared it all down the back of her costume and down her pant leg and sock. We scrambled to get her clothes clean and dry before G'pa took the girls trick or treating. I handed out candy to one trick or treater (not even the Mormons showed up, and I was a bit disappointed. I rather enjoyed our conversation from the previous year, and loved seeing their faces light up when I gave them handfuls of candy). A was a rainbow magic fairy, and Z was a blue pixie.
The rest of the week...
We took care of Great-G'ma for 2 days/2 nights.
On Thurs, we followed some "rabbit trails". Z decided she really likes bunnies, and insisted I print her off a bunny to color. The bunny picture had writing lines, so then she decided to write a poem. And then she wrote/colored another. She had many questions about bunny colors, so we looked it up online. There are a ton of rabbit colors! Z now likes blue bunnies. In science, we read about Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) and I found a neat movie on YouTube that shows how the sun causes the beautiful ring around the north.
History - we read about the Moslem faith and how that started. We read stories of Sinbad.
Math - the 8yo learned multiplication concepts. The 5yo is learning addition of tens and ones. I've realized that she knows place value just fine, but really struggles with teen numbers. She also reverses numbers. I hope to reinforce numbers 11-19, and place value next week.
Reading - both girls said that reading was their favorite subject. I've never been able to get that from them before, but was thankful to finally hear something (even though the 8yo likes lunch best of all). Both girls are doing well. 8yo should be finished with 2nd gr reading before Christmas, if all goes well.
Spelling - the 5yo learned some more word families and is doing well with sentence dictation.
English - the 8yo is learning dictionary skills.
Friday: Trick or Treating. We went to Grandpa's house beforehand. Little Z stepped in some really bad dog poop upon exiting our car. She dragged it all through the house and somehow smeared it all down the back of her costume and down her pant leg and sock. We scrambled to get her clothes clean and dry before G'pa took the girls trick or treating. I handed out candy to one trick or treater (not even the Mormons showed up, and I was a bit disappointed. I rather enjoyed our conversation from the previous year, and loved seeing their faces light up when I gave them handfuls of candy). A was a rainbow magic fairy, and Z was a blue pixie.
The rest of the week...
We took care of Great-G'ma for 2 days/2 nights.
On Thurs, we followed some "rabbit trails". Z decided she really likes bunnies, and insisted I print her off a bunny to color. The bunny picture had writing lines, so then she decided to write a poem. And then she wrote/colored another. She had many questions about bunny colors, so we looked it up online. There are a ton of rabbit colors! Z now likes blue bunnies. In science, we read about Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) and I found a neat movie on YouTube that shows how the sun causes the beautiful ring around the north.
History - we read about the Moslem faith and how that started. We read stories of Sinbad.
Math - the 8yo learned multiplication concepts. The 5yo is learning addition of tens and ones. I've realized that she knows place value just fine, but really struggles with teen numbers. She also reverses numbers. I hope to reinforce numbers 11-19, and place value next week.
Reading - both girls said that reading was their favorite subject. I've never been able to get that from them before, but was thankful to finally hear something (even though the 8yo likes lunch best of all). Both girls are doing well. 8yo should be finished with 2nd gr reading before Christmas, if all goes well.
Spelling - the 5yo learned some more word families and is doing well with sentence dictation.
English - the 8yo is learning dictionary skills.
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