Math, in a nutshell

Just received some really awesome math advice from someone who knows her subject! Somewhat depressed that my favorite program is so far behind (Saxon 5/4 is basically 3rd grade Singapore), but super excited to get something more rigorous into my kids heads. And in a format that I like, too (on the computer).

For scope and sequence, these three are similar, with Singapore being in the lead as far as rigor:

Singapore (workbooks & textbook)
Math Mammoth (e-books, ie, a PDF you print out)
A+ Math Software (online lessons, but with an optional PDF for pen and paper work)

The above three are ahead of the California Standards.

Then there is the Core Standards (below California Standards)

Then there is Saxon. A full year behind Singapore.

Duh.

But if you want Singapore's Scope and Sequence and Saxon's opportunity for repetition, you can use Calculadders (printable worksheets) or Quartermile (an computer math "game") to supplement.

Singapore, Math Mammoth, and A+ are all ABOVE California Standards. As explained to me, Core Standards is not even up to California Standards. I do not know for sure when the California Standards were revised, but I believe I read that it was 1989?

It isn't that Saxon is "bad," but just not as rigorous as the others. For example, Saxon 5/4 is for struggling 5th graders, average 4th graders, or advanced 3rd graders (compared to Singapore). I am under the opinion that you teach to the level of your students. It is better that they learn one level WELL before moving on.

The person I was speaking with said that home school publishers have always been far above the Core Standards. Basically, a lot of programs are "aligning" to the Core as a marketing tool (schools cannot buy books that don't say "Core Standards") and in order to offer a "revised" edition, they must revise a minimum of 20% of their book. But if a textbook introduces long division in 4th grade and Core standards doesn't introduce it until 6th grade, they don't have to delay in introducing it, they have simply "met and exceeded the standard".

Now, in an article I read on science (not a Core Standard, it was another one specifically FOR science) they did give specific instruction as to what NOT to cover. That standard
does limit what a student can be taught. http://truthinamericaneducation.com/next-generation-science-standards/problems-with-next-generation-science-standards/

But as far as it was explained to me (because I was stressing that Singapore, Math Mammoth, and Saxon are all getting ready to revise, or have already revised, their curriculum to meet the Core Standard), there is no upper limit. So far, this does not seem to be the case?

"Under Common Core, as the American Principles Project and Pioneer Institute point out, algebra I instruction is pushed to 9th grade, instead of 8th grade, as commonly taught. Division is postponed from 5th to 6th grade. Prime factorization, common denominators, conversions of fractions and decimals, and algebraic manipulation are de-emphasized or eschewed. Traditional Euclidean geometry is replaced with an experimental approach that had not been previously pilot-tested in the U.S."

http://michellemalkin.com/2013/01/23/rotten-to-the-core-obamas-war-on-academic-standards-part-1/

And another old, but good article on Math.
date.
http://educationnext.org/anamazeingapproachtomath/


-Jen

Routine

I know that there are different temperaments and some mothers cannot function without periods out of the house, but I am a homebody. I hate to shop, run errands, etc.

I have also learned that errands derail schooling & interfere with parenting because I get stressed & I'm not at my best. As a homeschooling Mama, I work best and my home runs more peacefully if I not only make home & schooling my primary focus, but also eliminate all unnecessary distractions.

My informal solution is to save regular errands (commissary, filling up the car, etc) for the end of the week. That way I can get in four good days of intensive schooling and also keep the home running smoothly. It also gives me an opportunity to spend one-on-one time with each of my children. Every morning, because we are home, I rotate through one-on-one time with each child while the others play with siblings, practice piano, or execute chores.

Additionally, I save bigger or irregular errands (Sam's run, Target, dentist, vet, doctor's office) for the last week of the month. This way, I reduce trips and save money.

To facilitate this, I keep various lists going so that I can get everything I need in one trip, plan ahead, and not run out of something important mid-month. I also try to plan ahead to anticipate needs, purchasing enough to get through to the next errand cycle.

A few well organized lists & a little forethought are a sanity (time & money, too) saver to this busy mom. If you find yourself harried & your house falling apart, consider cutting back & organizing your trips out of the house to be less frequent & more efficient.

-Jen

Parenting is a labor of love.

Authority is that aspect of love which parents present to their children; parents know it is love, because to them it means continual self-denial, self-repression, self-sacrifice: children recognise is as love, because to them it means quiet rest and gaiety of heart. Perhaps the best aid to the maintenance of authority in the home is for those in authority to ask themselves daily that question which was presumptuously put to your Lord - "Who gave Thee this authority?"
- Charlotte Mason


-Jen

I'm doing some of MY schooling!!!

About to read this:




These five books are on MK's syllabus this spring for "us" to read & discuss:

http://barnesandnoble.com/History-of-the-American-People/Paul-M-Johnson/e/9780060930349/?itm=8&USRI=paul+johnson

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Revenge-of-Geography/Robert-D-Kaplan/e/9781400069835/?itm=1&USRI=robert+kaplan

http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?store=BOOK&WRD=winston+s+churchill&ugrp=2

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/How-to-Read-a-Book/Mortimer-J-Adler/e/9781439144831/?itm=9&USRI=mortimer+adler

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Much-Ado-about-Nothing/William-Shakespeare/e/9781605015835/?itm=3&USRI=much+ado+about+nothing


"I'm gittin' me an edjamucation," as my Dad likes to say.
-Jen

More creatures at the preserve!

I looked out the window this morning, stopped in mid-sentence, and bolted for the backdoor!

Look what was in my backyard at 9am!




-Jen

Raising up children

Some days I feel like an utter failure as a mother. It's not enough to educate our children well or to teach them good manners & how to perform basic life chores, if we fail to teach them charity, we have failed completely.

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely, is not puffed up.
1 Corinthians 13:1-4

This morning, after being buffeted by complaining, bickering, tattling, talking back, and overall unpleasantness from my children, I went back to my bedroom & had a good cry. Then I sat on my bed & thought about how short my temper has been lately, how quick I have been to criticize, and how much I have been raising my voice at my kids. I knew that they were, in fact, good students. They were learning my poor example. So I came out committed to teaching my children the right example!

Teach your children that they meditate on them, when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest on the way, and when thou liest down and risest up.
Deuteronomy 11:19



-Jen

Four-by-four

In public school parlance, four-by-four means four full year classes in the fall & four full year classes in the spring. But for our homeschooling family, four-by-four means that each morning we have four "stations," or activities, that need to be accomplished, and four children to rotate through. This started because I have four children in piano lessons & that means two hours of practice a day. I have to keep the keys hot to get through everyone's practice before lunch & nap-time. I also have two sweet toddlers who get bored playing by themselves all day. I had to come up with a solution to the morning frustrations.

My solution was to come up with a rotation whereby every half hour, for two hours, we rotate through piano, playing or teaching the littles, chores, and one-on-one time with me academically. During piano, each child has a period of warm-up & certain pieces on which they are working. For chores, each child has certain chores assigned just to them. MK does all the laundry (sort, wash, fold), JH vacuums a third of our house, ML cleans two of our four bathrooms, and EA empties & reloads the dishwasher and washes down the counters; each child, each morning.

I also came up with a list of things to do with the littles that develop gross and fine motor skills: from play dough to bikes, from reading to them to playing superheroes. I have index cards with directed play & undirected play. In essence, the bigs & littles get some one on two time, work on their relationships, and help me get the littles ready for school.

Lastly, the station I enjoy the most is one-on-one time. During that time, I might talk to one about a book they are reading or help another write a chronology. This is academic time, not chat time or (for my eldest) time to talk about her volunteer activities. I have always found that with a lot of children and a busy morning required organization to be successful, but this current set-up really works well with the various ages & needs of this season.

-Jen

Oh, he gets it!

“Love isn't a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.”
― Fred Rogers, The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember


-Jen

Another Eureka moment!

While making breakfast this morning, EA asked me a question: "What is your favorite reading?"

Now, this was out of the blue. I was still in my jammies scrambling some eggs from our backyard hens. I hadn't had a cup of coffee yet. Usually, I'm a tea drinker, but every once in a while, I need the extra jolt that coffee provides, and this was one of those mornings.

Me (grasping at straws): "Readings? From the Bible?"

EA (quietly, this was obviously a serious conversation): "From night prayer; I like Tuesday & Wednesday, I like the "prowling lion" and the "sun shall not go down on your wrath."

If you knew what a three ring circus night prayer sometimes is, you'd understand my joy! I love, love, love how God rewards perseverance!


-Jen

On birthday presents...

You know you have a winner when your child voluntarily gets up an hour early & bundles up to go out on the coldest morning of the winter so far to practice shooting his new bow & arrow set.

Classical music

Though I like Pandora, I love, love, love:

www.WCPE.org

They have a much better selection of classical music AND I can have it playing in multiple rooms!

And you can listen to it around the world!!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Fruits of our labor

A salad with MK's garden fresh lettuce!

So why a new blog?

Why, you might wonder, start a new blog when you hardly write in your other? Truth be told, after I had created my other one, I found it a bit pretentious. It was supposed to be my mental filing cabinet...but it started to feel hollow & preachy.

So I'm trying again.

This is where I hope to post funny stories of the kids, mental notes, home maintenance or homeschooling tip, or share a blessing or struggle.

I will either refer to my kids by bigs, middles, and littles (as I have six, conveniently clumped); or by their initials.

And please, dear friends, tell me if my tone gets saccharine.

It all starts here...

I wanted a new venue to write about the kids and life outside Facebook.