Hawai'ian Dreaming

I feel for your daughter and her multiplication ta...

2009-11-09T13:45:50.844-08:00

I feel for your daughter and her multiplication tables. In public school everyone in the class had to pass a drill test on the tables. Those who didn't pass it the first time, had to take it again the next week, and so on. I don't remember how many times I took it, but I know I was one of the last 4 in the class to pass it.

Here's my suggestion for your frustrated daughter - give her a drill test with no 8's. Do some manipulation work on 8's. Next time, add in the 8's you know she knows and do manipulation work on 8's. Take as much time as she needs without the pressure of drills. It's OK if you don't "move on" for a few weeks or months.

BTW, I graduated from college with a BA in Mathematics.

We tried subject blocks last year when I had my ol...

2009-11-07T15:16:47.958-08:00

We tried subject blocks last year when I had my oldest at home (he's in college now). It works really great especially teaching multiples. Looks like you had a great week!

I can't wait to hear how it goes. Way back when I...

2009-11-07T09:19:10.062-08:00

I can't wait to hear how it goes. Way back when I was first considering homeschooling, this is pretty much how I wanted to do it.

Sounds like a great plan. We did that a few years...

2009-11-06T14:04:44.207-08:00

Sounds like a great plan. We did that a few years ago when things like science and art just weren't getting done. I switched to a more unit study approach for it and it was a huge hit. Best Wishes on your new endeavor!

Sounds like fun! I imagine your children will enj...

2009-11-06T13:39:25.426-08:00

Sounds like fun! I imagine your children will enjoy the variety.

A week off sounds divine right now. I hope you enjoyed it. ;-)

I was going to say something similar to Christie i...

2009-11-05T19:02:08.751-08:00

I was going to say something similar to Christie in that you could do the schedule by the week and let each child decide what to do each day, but they have to finish a certain number of lessons for the day...it could be all the science for the week one day. You don't have to have that many boxes, just if they finish the math box one day for instance and they want to do another math box, they bring it back to you to fill up. It's a little more work on your part because you have to think a week ahead, but my guess is...you already do! Or you could do 2 days at a time and just let them determine the order.

Yes, my boys would prefer to play computer and vid...

2009-11-05T08:37:25.106-08:00

Yes, my boys would prefer to play computer and video games rather than learn!

You're not alone.

We use the workbox system with hanging folders. F...

2009-11-04T20:25:08.306-08:00

We use the workbox system with hanging folders. For my oldest (who will be 12 soon), I have him set up his workbox for the week instead of each day. He keeps track of his own work with the majority of it just doing the *next lesson* every day. I don't hound him about his work. He knows when he has moved all 12 numbers from the folders to the grid that he is done...and he knows no play time until then. He does have breaks but the real fun doesn't come until after he finishes his work for the day. When he comes to English, math, or a problem, he brings his work to me and we work together. If I'm busy with another child, he sets it aside and moves on until I'm ready for him. It keeps him pretty independent and on track without me hovering over him all day long.

Sounds like you need a hug! I'm sorry you had a r...

2009-10-31T14:21:16.412-07:00

Sounds like you need a hug! I'm sorry you had a rough week. I understand a bit about having one child who'd rather be playing.

And I totally understand the math thing. We are finishing up Singapore 3B and will head into 4A shortly. I changed curriculums so I hope my DD remembers enough of her mutliplication/divison facts to handle it.

Well, next week can only be better, right, right? LOL. Here's to hoping.

It sounds like you are going to have so much fun. ...

2009-10-23T17:11:08.370-07:00

It sounds like you are going to have so much fun. I love looking at lapbooks. I'm just not so great at doing them. :-) We use Singapore Math also.

I haven't ever really looked in Time Traveler History. It sounds so interesting.

We usually just keep plodding along through Nov./Dec. We hit the doldrums in Jan. That will be in I take a break.

The lapbook sounds great. My youngest likes making...

2009-10-23T11:12:59.973-07:00

The lapbook sounds great. My youngest likes making lapbooks and dioramas.
She is also the one who questions why she has to learn certain things,like Roman numerals. :)
Sounds like you had a great week!

We use workboxes, as well, and I found your site b...

2009-10-20T18:59:09.341-07:00

We use workboxes, as well, and I found your site by googling "Waldorf workboxes." One of my children thrives with more of a Waldorf approach, and I'm struggling a bit to figure out how to put things in boxes for her (8 y.o. DD). I like your idea of putting what you need for each subject per week in the boxes instead of filling them up each day with individual tasks. Will have to ponder some more on that. Please let me know if you have any other insights for me!

I used The Reading Lesson with my son when he was ...

2009-10-17T08:56:15.654-07:00

I used The Reading Lesson with my son when he was 4, and he caught on instantly.

I don't remember why I didn't use it with my daughter, but it was obvious to me that she wasn't going to be an early reader. She both didn't want to learn and just didn't catch on when I tried to teach her. Even learning the letter sounds was a huge struggle. So I stopped struggling for a while, hoping she just needed to mature. July '08 when she was seven years old I purchased Sing Spell Read and Write, Kindergarten and First Grade Levels. It worked! We're near the end of first grade, and she's reading well. She started slowly, and now she's working very quickly through the program. By her eighth birthday she could slowly read very easy beginner books. Now she does really well reading all kinds of books. We ended up dropping the spelling part of the program, but it works fine to just do the reading and writing aprt. I don't know if it's the program or waiting until she was ready, but it worked for us. Best wishes.

Julia
www.greensummervillian.wordpress.com

I thought the movie was really good, but definitel...

2009-10-17T08:24:07.208-07:00

I thought the movie was really good, but definitely not a fun family flick. I watched it with my kids when it first came out last Christmas. My daughter was heartbroken.

My situation is a little different than yours, bec...

2009-10-16T15:49:51.151-07:00

My situation is a little different than yours, because my son "said" he wanted to learn to read and I think he really did, but he liked me reading to him better.

I found some good printable phonics readers at progressivephonics.com (some of them are free to try) that were a mix of adult reading and child reading, even in the same sentence (distinguished by font size and color). Also, sometimes we would just alternate pages in a reader.

Now that he's a more independent reader, I start story time earlier and he has to read some to me before I read to him as his reward.

This may not be your child's concern at all, but there may be some underlying reason besides laziness. Good luck.

My daughter has loved this as well.

2009-10-15T14:04:42.644-07:00

My daughter has loved this as well.

My son goes to school 3 days a week (T/W/Th). Tho...

2009-10-14T15:51:43.590-07:00

My son goes to school 3 days a week (T/W/Th). Those days he does not see his Dad at all. Mondays and Fridays are for home and school "work", errands, library, playdates, appointments (dentist, hair, etc). Our church has Saturday and Sunday services...we usually choose Sat. We typically have one day on the weekend that is our stay at home family day. We sleep in, eat donuts or cinnnamon rolls for breakfast, watch movies, play games, do crafts. The other day is the day we have church and other outside activities depending on the weather and what is going on around town that's fun to do. We have to do it this way. Because of Dad's work schedule, we don't see him much during the week. I'll be honest, a lot of the housework doesn't get done very often.

Even though it was a so-so week, it seemed to be a...

2009-10-11T06:11:38.970-07:00

Even though it was a so-so week, it seemed to be a very productive one.
((hugs)))))

We all have those weeks don't we. Thanks for stop...

2009-10-09T11:45:30.826-07:00

We all have those weeks don't we. Thanks for stopping by.

We had a difficult math week as well, even though ...

2009-10-09T07:00:30.222-07:00

We had a difficult math week as well, even though my 4th grader is *usually* math strong. Here's hoping for a better week next week for both of us!

Thanks so much for the suggestions of interesting ...

2009-09-27T21:34:56.633-07:00

Thanks so much for the suggestions of interesting activities to go with Primary Math 4 which we will be diving into this week. Great resources you linked!

Great post and you provided links to some wonderfu...

2009-09-26T17:32:56.626-07:00

Great post and you provided links to some wonderful resources. Even though we are doing fourth grade, we have to back up a bit for math and get the basics down pat. My kiddo just wasn't getting it.

Interesting! Thanks for sharing.

2009-09-26T09:47:14.487-07:00

Interesting! Thanks for sharing.

Ahh, I just read more of your blog and I see you'r...

2009-09-26T09:13:07.390-07:00

Ahh, I just read more of your blog and I see you're doing workboxes. I briefly considered doing that, but decided not to because our house is quite small and I think they might take up a lot of space. Also, it seemed like a lot of prep work. Still, I like the idea.

Julia
www.greensummervillian.wordpress.com

I've never timed myself. At the beginning of the ...

2009-09-26T09:07:28.442-07:00

I've never timed myself. At the beginning of the year I spent many hours finding literature selections that go along with SOTW, and came up with a schedule. So I spend time making library lists and going to the library each week. For most everything else we do it's either open and go or I look over what's next a few minutes before we do it.

Julia
www.greensummervillian.wordpress.com