Whatchadoin? #11, end of year review: Math

It is no secret that I love math!  When I discovered "Life of Fred" I was ecstatic!  Using the Fred books has worked well for us, at least mostly.

Merry was working her way through the elementary series quite quickly at the beginning of the year.  And while I liked her learning at her own pace I was concerned that the pace of the books might be a little too quick.  So when she finished book "Goldfish" I had her start back at "Apples" to review.

As she rereads the books she is still enjoying the story.  She is also making connections that she had missed the first time around.  I have more confidence that this time when she finished. "Goldfish" she will be more that ready to start "Honey" and to start memorizing her multiplication table.

Charry also started the year reviewing.  She had a bumpier year.  First she flew through "Fractions" only to struggle with the final quiz.  After a week of trying to find what she had missed I had her restart the book.  The second time around I made sure to work with her daily until I knew she understood the concepts.

Having to redo the book was a struggle for Charry.  She felt stupid for not understanding the first time, and I felt stupid for not realizing she was missing things.  So I started looking at other math curriculum for next year, something with a different approach.

Taking a placement test helped both of us to see we were overreacting.  Charry did great, easily scoring a level above where I had hoped to put her.  The boost in confidence did wonders and she is now working through "Decimals and Percentages" with determination.

Beside "Fred" we also have been working through "daily math practice."  The grade level workbooks help me to see where the girls are at and help them prepare for state testing.  I wanted to make sure they had been exposed to the style of questions and the vocabulary that will be used on tests.  When Charry takes her test next month we will see how well I did.

The true measure of a curriculum is whether you will use it again next year or not.  Yes I will!  Next year Merry will once again be on the Elementary Series, this time starting at "Honey" and multiplication.  Charry will be working on pre-algebra, looking at other choices made me feel even more sure of the one we had made.  Our goal will be to work slowly and review often!  We will also be using the daily practice books again. 

If you are interest in "Life of Fred" you should check out the authors website: http://www.stanleyschmidt.com/FredGauss/index2.html

This review is of course just my own opinion and I am not being paid or compisated in anyway for expressing it, although I wouldn't mind free stuff to review.

"Whatchadoin?" #10, States and Capitals

I have always thought that having a good basic understanding of geography was a good thing.  Knowing which states were where and how the climate was different in those areas is helpful for understanding how people are.

But teaching it has proven to be a struggle.  We have used "Knuffle Bunny" for the last few years.  Allowing us to imagine traveling all over but I'm finding very little has stuck.  They know climates are different in different places but they don't remember which places are where.

So this year I am taking a more direct, memorization approach.  I have a set of State facts flash cards and matching maps from the dollar section at Target.  Instead of introducing all 50 states at once, we add 2 new states a week.  Also instead of learning any one section, I make sure the states are spread out.

So far this approach is working well.  The girls are learning where states are as well as their capitals.  Once we have gone through all the states I'm thinking of adding states trees or birds.  

Using the map and flash cards makes reviewing information pretty easy.  I keep the flash cards with me and quiz them on capitals throughout the day.  The maps get used as a play mat for dolls and Legos to travel to the states they know.

We are only half way through the states but already I am seeing greater retention than last year. 

Whatchadoin? #8, math in action

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was math time.  My kids have a love/hate relationship with the subject.  This year there is more love which means more fun for me.

For the most part our math looks exactly like I had planned. "Life of Fred" is their favorite part of the day.  They love to curl up on their bed and read about Fred's adventures.  I didn't feel Merry was quite ready for multiplication so I had her start the series over.  She is enjoying the second time around just as much as the first.  Charry now has to pass a short test in order to advance through the books, this is teaching her patience.  She has to be careful to get things right the first time.

Their daily math is less enjoyable but gives opportunities to see what we haven't studied yet.  It also encourages the girls to try even if they are not sure.  Teaching them to infer how to do things they have not been specifically taught is a challenge.  They are willing to try because they want to color all the squares.

This year we have been stressing the math facts.  I carry flash cards with me all the time and quiz the girls often.  We also decided to work on money (coin recognition was one area daily math showed was lacking.)

Besides fact drills we are trying to use the flash cards in other ways too.  I have the girls work on fact families by matching the addition/multiplication fact with the correct subtraction/division facts.

With the money cards we work not only on remembering which coin is which but then I have them put the amounts in order.

Absent this year have been the wrap-ups.  We will probably bring them out after facts are mastered to stay fresh.

Wrapping up our math is an online site called "xtra-math."  I'm not sure if it is the novalty of using the lap top or trying to get all smiley faces but the girls enjoy the site.

Math is a bit fuller than I had intended, with flash cards and computer time but I've already noticed the improvements so it has been worth it.

Whatchadoin? #7, staying on track

So I have already shared my lesson planning but the real question is, "Am I actually using any of it?"

Well... Yes and No.

I absolutely love the planners I got for the girls, also using colored pencils to write out the assignments is fun for me.

Ideally each week should be a block of yellow, I use the yellow highlighter to mark off assignments that are finished.

Unfortunately there have been weeks with a lot of pink!  Pink means we didn't quite get things done.  Even worse (to me) is the line of pink meaning I skipped the subject.

When that happens I go back and rework my plans.  I try to keep on top of what works and what doesn't work.

One thing in particular I realized needed reworked was "extras."  I didn't want the girls to think of them as school subjects so I didn't originally put them in the planners.  After a few weeks of being forgotten I decided that we needed a bit more accountability so I stuck them in the planners so they could be checked off.

I'm hoping to share how we are doing and some other schooling changes in the weeks ahead.

"Whatchadoin?" #6, Kaya American History

I started the year with grand visions of fun and learning as we read through the American Girl books and explored history.  My older daughter had loved it when I used the same ideas for her.

Daughter number two is not the same as her sister and those differences made for poor planning in my part.  The majority of history time during the last six weeks looked like this:

Merry is not the advid reader her sister is.  Instead she waited for history time to pick up the books.  As a result we did not get to many of the activities I had planned.

We did color and cut out Indian paper dolls.  We talked about the different outfits and how there were many types of Native Americans and how they lived differently than one another.

We also did a few mini books for our files.   We didn't do all the ones I had printed because of time and a lack of enthusiasm.

At the end of the unit I did a little reflecting and made some changes to my plans.  With Felicity reading will be done on the weekends, we will also try to have one "artsy" project at the end of the week to encourage her to get the smaller written activities done.

Whatchadoin #5, our morning routine

Our day starts with calendar time.  Besides changing up the wall labels they also use calendar time notebooks that I put together using bit and pieces of other bloggers note books, including Homeschool Creations, Mama Jenn, and Confessions of a Homeschooler.

Calendar time also includes flash card practice.  It was a good place for us to put them where they wouldn't get forgotten.

Next comes our "Daily"s, daily math and daily handwriting.

Then we do Grammar/Writing, we are using a workbook I found online that has grammar one day then writing the next.

Finally Life of Fred.  This is by far the girls favorite part of the school day.  They love reading about Fred and his adventures.  It is surprising how often they will bring up something they read in everyday conversations.

At this point "regular" school is done.  We still have half a dozen other things we like to do and study but as long as we got the basics I consider the day well done.

"Whatchadoin?" #4~ extras

The subjects that are taking me the longest to plan are our extras.  They are the ones that don't have any real grade level requirements.  Different curricula take different approaches so it is up to you, the teacher, to decide which works for you.

During our first few years homeschooling science was a tricky subject for me.  I wasn't sure if I wanted something secular or Christian, general or specific.  After discovering the "Exploring Creation" series last year I knew I had found the right fit for us.  So we will be using the next book in the series.

This year we will be learning about the swimming creatures.  The curriculum offers many hands on activities that explore not just the animals but the world around them.  For example, when learning about artic fish we learn about how salt water has to be colder than fresh water before it will freeze.  I ended up choosing specific because my daughters really liked getting into all the details and Christian because I was so disappointed how many churches act like God had no part in science.

While science was an easy choice history was not.  This is the first year I will used an actual history book and I am a little nervous.  I ended up picking "All American History" for two reasons.

The first reason is the worksheets.  They have cutting, glueing, and tracing as well as fill in the blanks.  Since my oldest prefers lap booking to work booking this set up should be good.

The second reason is it is a two year program that starts with the early explorers.  That means we will spend more time learning about the different historical events and that the time line will line up with what my younger daughter is studying.

My youngest will be making American Girl lap books, spending an entire week on each book. (6 weeks for each unit.) Since I am putting together the units myself it is a bit time consuming.  On the plus side most resource websites have materials for each of the American Girls, like the American Girl website and homeschool share so as long as I bookmark the sites they will be easy to find for the next unit.

That brings me to my final extra subject, Latin.  I took Latin in high school and have been eagerly waiting for my daughters to be interested.  Last year we tried Minimus as a family and, while it was fun, we weren't able to stay consistent.  This year we are using a more intense program, "Latin for Children."

We will be working at a slow pace so my youngest can keep up.  I hope my excitement will wear off on the kids and we stick with it this year.

So those are the extras that will keep school interesting.  With just a few more weeks before we start I am excited to see how everything is coming together.

"Whatchadoin?" #3, English

English is kinda a funny subject if you ask me.  It contains a myriad of mini-subjects that are taught at different points in the schooling spectrum.  Reading, writing, grammar, spelling, phonics, handwriting, literature, and vocabulary all show up under "English."  To add to the complexity, many of these small components have thier own curriculums or are left out of all in one curricullums.

It can be a bit tricky trying to figure out which components you want to work on for the year.  After debating with myself and weighing the options here is what we've decided to try this year.

First spelling, as a student I was awful at spelling.  Every week I dreaded the pretest, then diligently wrote out the words over and over and over... only to still miss them all on the post-test.  It was terrible!  So as a teacher I put off teaching spelling as long as I could.  When I found out about All About Spelling I was so excited.

This is our third year using the program and I love it.    The combination of using tiles and phonographs with scripted lessons has made the program easy to use and easy to understand.  We will be making a few changes as we go this year.  I want my natural speller to be able to move a bit faster and my just like me speller not to get discouraged.

Next handwriting, cursive for my 5th grader and manuscript for my 2nd grader.  We will be using daily handwriting practice workbooks from Evan-Moor.

I bought the student books this year because, honestly, I got tired of making copies.  Besides with only two students paying more now for something I might not use again doesn't make sense.

For anyone who hasn't used the daily practice books I like the format.  Just a small bit of copy work with a common theme each week.  This will be something the girls can do by themselves while I'm cooking or cleaning.

Finally writing, I found a writing program online that I used last year also.  It has a good balance of writing and grammar.  The only down side is it has to be printed out.  I had a few weeks I forgot to buy ink  last year so we had to skip writing, oops.  This year I printed it all out ahead of time.

We will be taking a break in October and November for NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month). Last year Charry had a blast and wrote a fabulous story.  This year I am more prepared with my Young Writers Guides all printed out.

We will spend October doing activities and developing the story line with the guide.  Then in November they will be on their own creating a novel.

You may have noticed reading and literature are not on the list there are a few reasons for that.  Mostly I haven't found a curriculum I like.  So instead I'm making an effort to read the classics at bed time.  It helps that most classics are available for free on the Kindle. 

So there are the plans, I'm not sure how they will change through out the year but I look forward to finding out.

"Whatchadoin?" #2~ Mathematics

Now anyone who has known me for more than 10 minutes or so knows I LOVE math.  I watch math related videos, laugh at math jokes, read math books and dream of going back to school to study math.  So I, of corse, hoped my kids would share the love of all things mathematical.  To be honest, they don't.  Especially my oldest, math is her least favorite subject.  I will never forget the time I caught her cheating on her division workbook.

Because of that math was a tricky subject for me to plan.  I wanted to teach not just the math facts but the fun that came with them.  Luckily I discovered "Life of Fred."  I know I've mentioned these excellent books before but I can't help but want to go on and on and on about how much I love them and how happy my kids are using them!

Because my girl are eager to learn more about Fred and his adventures I don't worry about how fast they go through the books.  It makes lesson planning easy, I don't have a set amount of time for them to complete the books as long as they work on them every school day.

"Like of Fred" is not based on standardized  grade level achievement charts, i.e. They do not cover the concepts you will see on end of year tests during any given year.  Instead some "higher" concept are introduced early and some "lower" concepts are not introduced until later.  There is also a lack of stress given to test concepts.

If I lived in a non-testing state I would not worry about it, as long as the kids are prepared for the next book grade level specifics can be a bit arbitrary.  But this is a testing state so I want my girls prepared for testing.

Last year I bought simple grade level practice workbooks for them to complete at the end of the year.  Turns out a page of 50 multiplication problems was the equivalent of having to walk across hot coals for my older daughter.  There were tears, days of staring at the same page, fits and no fun for anyone.

So this year I decided to try something different, "Daily Math Practice."  Most teaching stores sell the teachers book, complete with class room copy right permission but since I was only planning to use them with one, maybe two kids I decided to order student books instead.   As a child I remember the teach handing out these short worksheets before class, I loved them!  Now I know they are part of "busy work," designed to keep kids quiet while the teacher changes subjects, then I only knew they were fun.  I'm hoping my girls will also find them fun.

Instead of the repetitive page of 50 problems, these have 5 slightly diverse problems and on Fridays just 1 harder problem.  The goal is for the girls to see and experience the types of problems they will be tested on while not overwhelming them.

When Charry first saw the workbook she defiantly groaned but when I showed her it was just a few problems a day she relaxed.  I think these will be a good compromise for us.