I got quite the surprise on Saturday Morning. Normally, I work on Saturdays and my daughter is with her father. This week however, She was home and I didn't have to work. So, My thought is sleep in a little bit! I get up at 4 am normally so sleeping in to me is 7 am at the latest. My kiddo usually sleeps late if I don't have anywhere to go. I normally have to wake here up.. I wasn't too worried, I slept until my body was refreshed and got dressed to go downstairs.
I have two living rooms, one at the bottom of the stairs and then another in the main part of the house. I got to the bottom of the stairs and the Television was on and my daughter wasnt in there. So I thought much be she is in the bathroom.. Well, I start heading towards the coffee pot and go around the corner and there she is sitting at the desk and doing Math!! WOW!! I asked her, "What are you doing?" which of course she said she was doing some Math homework! I was shocked!! I didnt tell her to, she just decided to do some lessons!
I was like cooool! and walked away and let her do her lessons! :) I was so proud!
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Week One Came to a Close with out much of a Hitch!
I should have written this at the beginning of the week but I have been busy trying to rework some things.
Week One went well except for one minor thing. Organization was Lacking. Both Andrea's and mine! I thought I had this area secured however, my little Munchkin decided to show me differently! Such as Life!!
We got our Math Books on Monday so on Tuesday we started with our lessons. We were doing great! She was doing 4 units of Math a day since they are pretty easy at this point. We started in a book that would have been a year behind where she placed in on the assessment tests. She took the Assessment tests for the Saxon Math Systems. If you want to see it, click HERE for a downloadable assessment test for your munchkin.
She placed in her grade level with the Saxon Math 76. which is for 6th and 7th graders. I got the book and started reading through it a little bit and found some math in it that would be a challenge if you did not know the basics to begin with. So, I decided to take a step back just to build and/or firm up the foundation that is necessary to move forward. I picked up the Saxon Math 65 for her. She is flying through this pretty quickly. I had given her 2 lessons a day, they have about 30 problems. She kept going and did 4 on the first day.
So Thursday, I was sitting down after everyone was in bed and started playing with my Home Schooling Tracker. I got all the books in there, the school years in, my students name and all that fun stuff. I then grabbed her Back pack and opened it to get her math book out and her notebook. Well.. she wasn't using a spiral bound notebook for her math homework. She was using loose leaf paper, which would have been fine if they were in a 3 prong folder or a binder.. But they weren't. There must have been 20 papers in there that she had written on and I couldn't make heads nor tails of anything! Oh boy! Do I have my work cut out for me!!! LOL!!!
Lesson Learned!! Invest in Spiral Bound Notebooks!
Week One went well except for one minor thing. Organization was Lacking. Both Andrea's and mine! I thought I had this area secured however, my little Munchkin decided to show me differently! Such as Life!!
We got our Math Books on Monday so on Tuesday we started with our lessons. We were doing great! She was doing 4 units of Math a day since they are pretty easy at this point. We started in a book that would have been a year behind where she placed in on the assessment tests. She took the Assessment tests for the Saxon Math Systems. If you want to see it, click HERE for a downloadable assessment test for your munchkin.
She placed in her grade level with the Saxon Math 76. which is for 6th and 7th graders. I got the book and started reading through it a little bit and found some math in it that would be a challenge if you did not know the basics to begin with. So, I decided to take a step back just to build and/or firm up the foundation that is necessary to move forward. I picked up the Saxon Math 65 for her. She is flying through this pretty quickly. I had given her 2 lessons a day, they have about 30 problems. She kept going and did 4 on the first day.
So Thursday, I was sitting down after everyone was in bed and started playing with my Home Schooling Tracker. I got all the books in there, the school years in, my students name and all that fun stuff. I then grabbed her Back pack and opened it to get her math book out and her notebook. Well.. she wasn't using a spiral bound notebook for her math homework. She was using loose leaf paper, which would have been fine if they were in a 3 prong folder or a binder.. But they weren't. There must have been 20 papers in there that she had written on and I couldn't make heads nor tails of anything! Oh boy! Do I have my work cut out for me!!! LOL!!!
So, I am trying my very best to go through these papers. I removed the spelling ones from the stack, then started trying put together the lessons. She didn't mark the pages very well if at all. So there were ones that I didn't know what unit they went to. She was up to unit 10 and I couldn't find what went with what. So I told her the next day to stop doing more units and rewrite the ones that she has already done in a notebook so that I can grade them. So, Friday night I tried again. Well, its not much better.. she did then on loose paper again. So I took all the loose paper away from her and gave her the Spiral notebook and told her to put them in there.... She started with lesson 17. Oh boy!! This is a lesson in patients! I told her to not do anymore lessons. I need all of the math rewritten in the spiral bound notebook and until that is done, we can not go forward!
Lesson Learned!! Invest in Spiral Bound Notebooks!
.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Another day of planning and organizing!
We went shopping the other day to get some more school supplies. We got some more paper, pencil box, erasers and some little things that we needed. I have my computer set up. I have received just about all of the items that I ordered so we are just about ready to go.
I had one snag. Our Math book did not arrive nor did our planner. They both say delivered when I track them but The were not delivered to me. So.. I reordered the math book so that we can get started while I figure out what happened to the other one. I have spoken to the seller and will be stopping at the post office on Monday to see if it is there. I dont believe that it is since I have a PO Box and I have gotten everything else there. We shall see. Worse case scenario, I have two and I sell one and buy something else.
I have been playing with an planner that I heard about on one of the groups that I found when I was looking to network. I cant tell you which one since, I don't remember which it was. It is called Homeschool Tracker basic addition and you can get it free here. There is a free version and a paid version. I was thinking that I would try the free one first and then if I loved it, then maybe I would consider purchasing the other one.
This tracker keeps track of assignments, attendance, reading logs, field trips, grades, and more. You can print a bunch of different reports... like assignments on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. The free version is not a trial and has no expiration date but wont be updated at all. This tracker also offers an upgrade to the Plus version with more features. It also has a cloud option for use of it anywhere.
I dont know if that will work. It looks great because it has attendance. It has reports for days and hours of attendance, Which are required in New York State. It can be used for multiple children. It also is specific for each school years. So, you can create a new active year and give it a specific name. I like these things but I'm visual. I like seeing things in print. So.. we shall see. I was thinking I could teach my daughter to use it to "sign in" each day.
I had one snag. Our Math book did not arrive nor did our planner. They both say delivered when I track them but The were not delivered to me. So.. I reordered the math book so that we can get started while I figure out what happened to the other one. I have spoken to the seller and will be stopping at the post office on Monday to see if it is there. I dont believe that it is since I have a PO Box and I have gotten everything else there. We shall see. Worse case scenario, I have two and I sell one and buy something else.
I have been playing with an planner that I heard about on one of the groups that I found when I was looking to network. I cant tell you which one since, I don't remember which it was. It is called Homeschool Tracker basic addition and you can get it free here. There is a free version and a paid version. I was thinking that I would try the free one first and then if I loved it, then maybe I would consider purchasing the other one.
This tracker keeps track of assignments, attendance, reading logs, field trips, grades, and more. You can print a bunch of different reports... like assignments on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. The free version is not a trial and has no expiration date but wont be updated at all. This tracker also offers an upgrade to the Plus version with more features. It also has a cloud option for use of it anywhere.
I dont know if that will work. It looks great because it has attendance. It has reports for days and hours of attendance, Which are required in New York State. It can be used for multiple children. It also is specific for each school years. So, you can create a new active year and give it a specific name. I like these things but I'm visual. I like seeing things in print. So.. we shall see. I was thinking I could teach my daughter to use it to "sign in" each day.
Chart Jungle!
Here is a site that I found that is called Chart Jungle.
It has a lot of links for printable home School items.
It has a lot of links for printable home School items.
- Charts
- Calendars
- Schedules
- daily
- weekly
- monthly
- yearly
- Flash Cards
- Attendance lists
- Reading Charts
- Blank Word lists
- Graphing sheets
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Preparations are Underway!
I have made great stride in my preparations. I had a long list of things to do and many things on the list were dependent on something else being done first. Ill list the things here then put the status next to it.
There are still some in progress since I have to get some little things. Like the threshold strips need new nails, So, after work tomorrow, I will pick some up from the hardware store. I could have sworn that I had some nails somewhere. I just cant seem to find the right ones anywhere.. They are in a good safe place, Im sure of that.. I hate when I do that!
- Move the desk
- Pull up Rug in dining room ~Done
- Clean that floor. ~Done
- Move the desk ~Done
- Set up the Computer and Printer
- Clean and organize the desk. ~Done
- Move routers, Cables and other equipment for computer center ~Done
- Fix the threshold strips between rooms for the remaining rugs ~In Progress
- Organize desk with Supplies
- Inventory current supplies ~Done
- Purchase needed items ~In Progress
- Get Books Organized
- Obtain all Books and Needed Materials ~In Progress / Ordered
- Obtain Robinson Curriculum Materials ~In Progress / Ordered
There are still some in progress since I have to get some little things. Like the threshold strips need new nails, So, after work tomorrow, I will pick some up from the hardware store. I could have sworn that I had some nails somewhere. I just cant seem to find the right ones anywhere.. They are in a good safe place, Im sure of that.. I hate when I do that!
SAMPLE IHIP - 6TH GRADE
NAME OF CHILD: ________________________
NY Student ID: (optional)
ADDRESS: ________________________
DOB: _____________________
GRADE LEVEL:
TODAY'S DATE:_______________
SCHOOL YEAR: _______________
DATES FOR SUBMISSION OF QUARTERLY REPORTS:
11/15/__, 1/30/__, 4/15/__, 6/30/__
_______will be using various methods/tools for 6th-grade instruction in all the subjects specified in Section 100.10 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education. The corresponding subtopics may include and are not limited to:
Mathematics:
* Exponents * Operation of powers * Set of the integers * Factoring * Fundamental operations with fractions, and decimals * Fundamental operations with compound denominate numbers
* Multiplying and dividing common fractions and mixed numbers * Relationship between common and decimal fractions* Problems in percent * Properties, identification, and construction of geometric figures
* Identification and measurement of angles * Concepts of similarity, congruence, and symmetry * Scale drawings * Customary and metric measurement * Problem analysis * Interpreting graphs * Concepts of averaging and sampling * Use of calculators and computers
The English Language
(Reading, Writing, Spelling) Silent and oral reading, Choral reading, Listening skills, Telephone skills, Making and accepting simple social introductions, Summarizing simple information, Listening to literature, Critical reading, Short stories, chapter books, poetry, plays, Spelling, Increasing dictionary skills, Cursive handwriting, Simple outlining, Writing letters and informal notes, Written and oral book reports, Creative writing, Developing skills in locating information, Increasing indexing skills, Developing encyclopedia skills, Utilizing parts of a newspaper
Social Studies
(U.S. History, Geography) Types of community life, History and development of the local state, Relation of the state to its region, nation, and the world, World cultures, Reasons for our laws, Regions of the world, Continents, Time zones, Earth's resources, Climatic regions of the world, Map skills: longitude, latitude, scale, Using a globe
Science
Environment of the local region, Biological organization, Classification systems, The insect world, The reptilian world, Plants and animals of the past, Structure of plants, Seeds, Ecosystems, Balance of nature, Human body, Weather's influences, Weather instruments, Climate, Cause of seasons, Earth and its history, Oceans and the hydrosphere, Air and water pollution, Magnets and electricity, Light and color, Solar system and the universe, Living in space, Scientific method and scientific inquiry
Health/Safety
Personal and mental hygiene, Dental health, The body and its functions, Skeletal and muscular systems, Care and proper use of the body, Principles of digestion, Basic food groups, Good nutrition habits, Diseases, Safety, Substance abuse
Music/Visual Arts/Phys. Ed.
Wide exposure to all forms of music, Piano keyboard, Arts and crafts, Structured group dance lessons (tap, jazz, lyrical) 3+ hrs. per week, Free play indoors and outdoors
Instruction methods/tools may include and shall not be limited to: reference materials (atlas, dictionaries, globe, maps, encyclopedias, non-fiction books, videos, the internet), workbooks, worksheets, hands-on activities, experiments, projects, newspapers, magazines, frequent field trips, group activities, classic/contemporary literature, research, journal/narrative/essay/poetry writing, games, creative thinking, predicting/forecasting, gathering facts, written peer correspondence (pen pals), music CDs, CD ROMs, piano keyboard, abundant art supplies (clay, paint, crayons, pencils, sketchpads, felt, chalk, etc.), structured group dance classes and competitions, free play, conversations, and real life.
Primary instruction to ________ will be provided by _____________ and _______________, her parents. Supplemental instruction will be provided by others, as necessary.
____________________________
Parent’s Signature
Sample Quarterly Report
SAMPLE QUARTERLY REPORT
QUARTERLY REPORT #
HOMESCHOOLING STUDENT: ____________________
STUDENT I.D. # : (optional)
GRADE LEVEL: ___
THIS QUARTER COVERS: November 16, 20__ to January 30, 20__
DATE SUBMITTED: _____________
_______ is progressing at a satisfactory level or above in all subject matter.
We have had instruction in all the following areas, as per Section 100.10 of the Regulations of the New York State Commissioner of Education and ________’s Individualized Home Instruction Plan (IHIP): Reading, Writing, Spelling, Language Arts, Arithmetic, U.S. History, Geography, Science, Health, Physical Education, Music, and Visual Arts.
We have covered at least 80% of the planned material for this quarter.
________ had no absences from instruction this quarter, and has exceeded the required hours of instruction (225).
_______________________________
Parent’s Signature
-----------------------------------------------------------
** If you are in a particularly difficult district, they may ask for more info. You can also list your individual subjects and give a letter grade for each (ABCD or EGSN) and/or a very brief description as to what was covered over the quarter. This sample quarterly was created by D. Bennink.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Planning for 6th Grade!
Here are the required courses for 6th Grade as I found on the New York State Website:
(i) For grades one through six: arithmetic, reading, spelling, writing, the English language, geography, United States history, science, health education, music, visual arts, physical education, bilingual education and/or English as a second Language where the need is indicated.
(iii) The following courses shall be taught at least once during the first eight grades: United States history, New York State history, and the Constitutions of the United States and New York State
I have been doing so much research and I'm so excited about getting started. I just cant contain it.. I have started Ordering books. Here is what I was thinking about for 6th grade:
We will be using the Robinson Curriculum which is almost all inclusive.. it does not contain Math books so I did go with that.
Math: Saxon 7/6
Spelling: Sequential Spelling 1
Grammar: Spectrum Word Study and Phonics
Writing: Wordsmith Apprentice
I have heard a lot of great things about this book.
Literature: GA Henty Books:
THE GOLDEN CANYON, AMONG MALAY PIRATES
BEARS AND DACOITS , A TALE OF THE GHAUTS
THE PATERNOSTERS, A PIPE OF MYSTERY
WHITE FACED DICK: A STORY OF PINE TREE GULCH
A BRUSH WITH THE CHINESE, AT ABOUKIR AND ACRE
AT AGINCOURT, AT THE POINT OF THE BAYONET
BERIC THE BRITON, BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE
BOTH SIDES THE BORDER, THE BOY KNIGHT
THE BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE, BY SHEER PLUCK
CONDEMNED AS A NIHILIST, COLONEL THORNDYKE'S SECRET
A CHAPTER OF ADVENTURES, THE DRAGON AND THE RAVEN
I also got a bunch more of these books for free for my Kindle on Amazon and was planning on using them for reading as well as a learning tool for History.
Science:
This is a hard one, I am still looking. I have a scientific mind and an engineering background so I have a problem with the teaching of "Creationism" and Just about everything I have found uses a "religious" view on Science. I dont want that!
Art:
We will use a variety of sources as well as tools that are used in creating art. Including but not limited to crayons, markers, pencils, paints, paper, many types of medium as a canvas,
Health and Safety:
We will just start working through these topics as time goes by. I will be taking an EMT Course soon, I was thinking of having her study some of that with me. for the Safety and First aid part.
These topics are suggestions from the World Book suggested curriculum for 6th grade.
*Personal appearance *Dental health *Health maintenance *Our food supply
*Exercise and fitness *Cure and prevention of common diseases
*The heart Accident prevention *Safety and first aid * The health professions
*Understanding emotions *Coping with stress and anxiety *Preparing for puberty
*Human reproduction *Substance abuse
*Exercise and fitness *Cure and prevention of common diseases
*The heart Accident prevention *Safety and first aid * The health professions
*Understanding emotions *Coping with stress and anxiety *Preparing for puberty
*Human reproduction *Substance abuse
This is a beginning list... a work in progress. I am hoping that I am not throwing too much at her because I dont want her to be discouraged either but I know she needs extra ELA work and I am kind of focusing more on that then anything else. The assessment test that we did for ELA showed that she was at Grade 4 and 9months. So we have a little bit to go to get caught up.
We did do a Math Assessment test and found that she placed in the Saxon Math 7/6 which is her grade level, which I was pleasantly surprised.
I think that this will be a great year!!!
THE BEGINNING of OUR ODYSSEY!!
I believe that this is a great title for this new adventure. An ODYSSEY.. An extended adventurous voyage or trip. An intellectual or spiritual quest: an odyssey of discovery.
That is what this is.. An Intellectual Quest of Discovery!
I have decided to pull my Youngest Daughter, Andrea, out of Public School and Home School her. This has not been a light decision. I have struggled with the idea or a while and after recently getting her grades for the 5th grade and another letter saying she needed immunizations in order to return to school in September, I decided to just take the leap! So, here is a chronicle of my ramblings and the information that have gathered in my research, my quest if you will, to give my daughter a fighting chance at a great education.
My daughter is 11 years old and despite my best efforts, she will be entering the 6th grade when school resumes. I have fought with the schools and teachers about my daughters education. She has struggled through out the years and despite me pleading and trying to reason with teachers and anyone else who would listen, to hold her back they would not. I got excuses from teachers, the principle and the social workers, psychologists.. Not one person would help, hence my journey to home school!
I got all sorts of reasons, she would have emotional issues. She is bigger the the kids already, If we hold her back, she will be much bigger then the other kids and get picked on. She is past the point where it would do any good..??? Really.. Since when is it NOT beneficial for a child to learn the things that she was supposed to learn even if that means staying back a year?? Moreover, wont the picking and ridicule be worse as a teenager who cant read and write properly??? Seems to me they are all wrong!!!!
She has been pushed through despite not learning the material that was necessary for her to learn which would create the foundation of her future studies. She moved forward to the next grade each year and gotten "Extra Help" thru AIS classes.Which has not helped at all!! Got to love "No Child left behind" They are kept with their age group but the are behind in their learning. Which I think is way more important!
My daughter currently has a final average of 77% in 5th grade. If it weren't for that 90 she got in PE, she would be have failed. She has a 67 in ELA-Writing as well as a 69 in ELA-Reading. Here state/local test scores were 52 in each. She ended up with a 70 in Math but her local test score was also a 52. These are unacceptable scores in my mind and yet the school passed her on to the 6th grade. Passing in New York State is 65. That is unacceptable!!!
She doesn't read well, She doesn't write well, She doesn't comprehend what she reads. Its hard to read her writing and understand what she wrote. I see her doing things that I did when I was in school. Things I still do on occasion still as an adult. She has been tested in the Schools and they have not found her to have any issues. She is great at memorizing things. She can memorize the combination of letters that form words long enough to get them on the paper for her spelling tests. But she does not know what the word is or how to read it.
A little family background... I also have 2 older children, Korey-Mikel who is 21 and Whitney who is 18. My Son is smart! He barely had to study. My girls on the other hand, have both struggled in school. In my family, On my mothers side, All of the women have dyslexia. Now, I know it comes in varying forms and some people have it worse then others, I dont have it as badly as my sister does. But we do have it. I was "diagnosed" with it in the 4th grade when I had a great teacher who helped me a lot! She was able to teach me a different way of learning, Different ways to study. I ended up being a great student and graduated from College with a 3.6 GPA. I know that it is possible for her to be a great student.
Andrea and I have a lot of things to work on. I have been doing a lot of research and found a ton of information and My mind is spinning. However, I am sifting through all of the information and coming up with a curriculum that will work great with my daughter. I plan on putting stuff here so that I have it all in one place. Stuff that I work on while on 3 different computers. This will be the string that ties them together.
That is what this is.. An Intellectual Quest of Discovery!
I have decided to pull my Youngest Daughter, Andrea, out of Public School and Home School her. This has not been a light decision. I have struggled with the idea or a while and after recently getting her grades for the 5th grade and another letter saying she needed immunizations in order to return to school in September, I decided to just take the leap! So, here is a chronicle of my ramblings and the information that have gathered in my research, my quest if you will, to give my daughter a fighting chance at a great education.
My daughter is 11 years old and despite my best efforts, she will be entering the 6th grade when school resumes. I have fought with the schools and teachers about my daughters education. She has struggled through out the years and despite me pleading and trying to reason with teachers and anyone else who would listen, to hold her back they would not. I got excuses from teachers, the principle and the social workers, psychologists.. Not one person would help, hence my journey to home school!
I got all sorts of reasons, she would have emotional issues. She is bigger the the kids already, If we hold her back, she will be much bigger then the other kids and get picked on. She is past the point where it would do any good..??? Really.. Since when is it NOT beneficial for a child to learn the things that she was supposed to learn even if that means staying back a year?? Moreover, wont the picking and ridicule be worse as a teenager who cant read and write properly??? Seems to me they are all wrong!!!!
She has been pushed through despite not learning the material that was necessary for her to learn which would create the foundation of her future studies. She moved forward to the next grade each year and gotten "Extra Help" thru AIS classes.Which has not helped at all!! Got to love "No Child left behind" They are kept with their age group but the are behind in their learning. Which I think is way more important!
My daughter currently has a final average of 77% in 5th grade. If it weren't for that 90 she got in PE, she would be have failed. She has a 67 in ELA-Writing as well as a 69 in ELA-Reading. Here state/local test scores were 52 in each. She ended up with a 70 in Math but her local test score was also a 52. These are unacceptable scores in my mind and yet the school passed her on to the 6th grade. Passing in New York State is 65. That is unacceptable!!!
She doesn't read well, She doesn't write well, She doesn't comprehend what she reads. Its hard to read her writing and understand what she wrote. I see her doing things that I did when I was in school. Things I still do on occasion still as an adult. She has been tested in the Schools and they have not found her to have any issues. She is great at memorizing things. She can memorize the combination of letters that form words long enough to get them on the paper for her spelling tests. But she does not know what the word is or how to read it.
A little family background... I also have 2 older children, Korey-Mikel who is 21 and Whitney who is 18. My Son is smart! He barely had to study. My girls on the other hand, have both struggled in school. In my family, On my mothers side, All of the women have dyslexia. Now, I know it comes in varying forms and some people have it worse then others, I dont have it as badly as my sister does. But we do have it. I was "diagnosed" with it in the 4th grade when I had a great teacher who helped me a lot! She was able to teach me a different way of learning, Different ways to study. I ended up being a great student and graduated from College with a 3.6 GPA. I know that it is possible for her to be a great student.
Andrea and I have a lot of things to work on. I have been doing a lot of research and found a ton of information and My mind is spinning. However, I am sifting through all of the information and coming up with a curriculum that will work great with my daughter. I plan on putting stuff here so that I have it all in one place. Stuff that I work on while on 3 different computers. This will be the string that ties them together.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)