Due to my extreme curriculum compacting and our steady pace for the last several months, we have approximately 8 Calvert lessons remaining. Because I do not want to be 'done' with school at the end of April, I made a list of the things I'd like to do with those 3 or 4 weeks until the end of May.
Life of Fred
JT has started working his way through the Life of Fred Fractions book. So far, he loves reading the stories and is challenged by the math. I'm wondering if it might not be a little too challenging. The parent introduction in the book suggests that the parent does not need to assist the child, that all the lessons are self paced. I am finding that I need to sit with JT when he gets to the questions at the end of a lesson to be sure he understands what he is being asked to do. We will continue working through this book to the end of the school and possibly sporatically through the summer. We are also still practicing the multiplication tables daily. They just don't want to stick in his head!
Geography
We have been using a geography text book (I believe 5th or 6th grade) off and on throughout the last couple months. Right now we are working on learning states and capitals by region.
Spanish
Our language studies have been on the back burner for a while now. I really want to spend some time working on conversation skills. I've been checking popular children's books written in Spanish from our library to read aloud with JT. I want him to hear the language more than be able to read it at this point.
Power Point
I am not that talented when it comes to using Power Point and other similar applications. I would like to allow JT to spend some time just playing around with it and see what he can come up with for fun. Maybe I will learn a little in the process.
Arts Alive
This is the fine arts program provided by PA Cyber. The child watches a short video online and then logs that they have watched it. We are a little behind in these, so I see a marathon day of internet viewing....
Composition
Our weakest subject needs some real attention as we come to the end of the year. I have to admit, I avoid it like the plague. Not because I dislike it, but because JT does and lets me know it! I am hoping to have him spend more time learning to organize his thoughts and working on his sentence structure. I will be having him keep a journal through the summer. We can't afford to lose ground on this one.
Getting out of the house!
We are going to spend at least one day a week on mini adventures in May. We have a trip to a local museum planned and one to a state park. I'm not sure what the other days will involve, I just know we've spent enough time in the house and deserve a little fun.
It's hard to believe the year is nearly over. I'm hoping the next several weeks will be the best of the year. I know I am looking forward to a little more variety!
Showing posts with label Life of Fred. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life of Fred. Show all posts
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Something New
This week brought about a small revelation. I am yelling too much! I'll tell you how I found out:
Wednesday night I was about 24 hours into a cold. I was starting to feel like Thursday would not be a very productive day. So I went to JT and said, "If I write up a list of things I need you to finish for school tomorrow, would you be able to be disciplined enough to do the work on your own?" He says, "Oh yeah, no problem. I'd probably get done faster." When I asked why he said, "Because I wouldn't get yelled at as much."
I realized I may be micromanaging a bit. Obviously, since he's only 8, I felt the need to keep him on task. But maybe a little less could be more. This morning, even though I felt reasonably well, I wrote up the list and after some warm up work together, sent him on his way.
I kept a close eye on him from the next room. He would go good for awhile and then sputter out. I would go in, make sure he understood the instructions and leave again. After he finished a couple assignments, I spent some instruction time with him. Then we had a fun activity and lunch.
In the afternoon, he tried to work a little faster because every Thursday we play our spelling review game to prepare for his test on Friday. This involves him drawing elaborate space battle scenes on the board and getting an 'action' every time he gets one right. I NEVER win this game. We did some geography work together and then played the game. It was a good day!
Tonight he told me he liked the new method and hopes it keeps working. He also noted that I "didn't yell at all today."
Some of the inspiration for this came from another blog I read, Learn at Every Turn A recent post titled, Projects Overview, made me rethink my usual ways of trudging through the day.
Two other things I wanted to cover in this post.
1. JT has an AWFUL time with alphabetizing. I knew he had some trouble with it, but recent workbook activities have shown he really is struggling. I thought he just couldn't handle the fact that he needed to look at the 3rd letter in most words in these assignments. Then I realized he has no idea of the relationship of letters in the alphabet. Of course he knows A comes before Z, but if I ask him which is first, K or M, he really has to think. Today we started playing a game with alphabet flashcards. I hold up 2 and he has to tell me which comes first. It was much more enjoyable for him than the usual worksheets. Hopefully it will help him to visualize the relationships better.
2. I bought the most wonderful math books this week! Life of Fred If you have never seen this series you HAVE to check it out. JT did the first lesson in the Fractions book today. I was in the other room and he called to me to ask if he could PLEASE do the next lesson too. JT is good at math, but it's never been something he was thrilled about. I'm hoping this is a good sign. If you have a child who is strong in language, but not necessarily math, I highly recommend looking into this series. Here's a link that has some raves by parents. Happy People
Between the new math and new routine we should have an exciting week!
Wednesday night I was about 24 hours into a cold. I was starting to feel like Thursday would not be a very productive day. So I went to JT and said, "If I write up a list of things I need you to finish for school tomorrow, would you be able to be disciplined enough to do the work on your own?" He says, "Oh yeah, no problem. I'd probably get done faster." When I asked why he said, "Because I wouldn't get yelled at as much."
I realized I may be micromanaging a bit. Obviously, since he's only 8, I felt the need to keep him on task. But maybe a little less could be more. This morning, even though I felt reasonably well, I wrote up the list and after some warm up work together, sent him on his way.
I kept a close eye on him from the next room. He would go good for awhile and then sputter out. I would go in, make sure he understood the instructions and leave again. After he finished a couple assignments, I spent some instruction time with him. Then we had a fun activity and lunch.
In the afternoon, he tried to work a little faster because every Thursday we play our spelling review game to prepare for his test on Friday. This involves him drawing elaborate space battle scenes on the board and getting an 'action' every time he gets one right. I NEVER win this game. We did some geography work together and then played the game. It was a good day!
Tonight he told me he liked the new method and hopes it keeps working. He also noted that I "didn't yell at all today."
Some of the inspiration for this came from another blog I read, Learn at Every Turn A recent post titled, Projects Overview, made me rethink my usual ways of trudging through the day.
Two other things I wanted to cover in this post.
1. JT has an AWFUL time with alphabetizing. I knew he had some trouble with it, but recent workbook activities have shown he really is struggling. I thought he just couldn't handle the fact that he needed to look at the 3rd letter in most words in these assignments. Then I realized he has no idea of the relationship of letters in the alphabet. Of course he knows A comes before Z, but if I ask him which is first, K or M, he really has to think. Today we started playing a game with alphabet flashcards. I hold up 2 and he has to tell me which comes first. It was much more enjoyable for him than the usual worksheets. Hopefully it will help him to visualize the relationships better.
2. I bought the most wonderful math books this week! Life of Fred If you have never seen this series you HAVE to check it out. JT did the first lesson in the Fractions book today. I was in the other room and he called to me to ask if he could PLEASE do the next lesson too. JT is good at math, but it's never been something he was thrilled about. I'm hoping this is a good sign. If you have a child who is strong in language, but not necessarily math, I highly recommend looking into this series. Here's a link that has some raves by parents. Happy People
Between the new math and new routine we should have an exciting week!
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