Saturday, January 5, 2013

Fourth Grade Spring Changes, Mostly in Math


I started my daughter's fourth grade year with a gradual increase in work. She started with enthusiasm. Then, we hit a brick wall. Math was not happening. Not without hours of whining & glares & foot stomping. By the end of the day we were both exhausted and miserable. It bled into other subjects and she finally just would not do school work at all, not without a fight. My husband, an outside observer, made a suggestion based on sound logic: it's time for Winter Break and it should probably be at least a month. His logic? She started school in August, a month before public schools started, and she was probably tired and worn out. So was I. Here we are a month later, all of us much more relaxed and happy again. In this breathing space I have been trying to figure out what went wrong and how to adjust to prevent the same issues.
 
My daughter is very creative. She looks at the world in the wide view- she sees everything at once. Math requires step by step organization and order. A conversation with my daughter's specialist helped clarify that my daughter, very right-brained, has numerous indications that left-brain focusing is not her strong point. So how do I build on her strengths and let her strengths improve the areas she struggles?
 
When our homeschool adventure started, I used verbal and physical math as lessons- taking her scooter and riding out geometric shapes while verbally stating measurements and learning how to calculate perimeter, for example. Or playing games that require using math for scorekeeping or as part of game strategy. Or verbalizing our grocery budget and doing the math involved in shopping: telling the difference in cost between similar items, staying within the budget, and using actual money during transactions. She excelled at this, and still handles real life math wonderfully. But without written records, her dad and the county reviewers were less confident that she was actually learning math. So, I started a more intensive written math component for fourth grade. And it blew up in my face.
 
A cousin of mine reminded me that my grandfather did even high level mathematics in his head. This is a point in time I wish my dad was still alive. He was a mathematician and a very good teacher. He did not agree with the way math has become to be taught in lower education (he had a lot of concerns for how unprepared his students at the University were for real math, or any college level work, actually.) I had briefly done some research into old methods of teaching math. I am now delving into more detailed research as I need more ideas. I am going to try to figure out a tutor, but the cost is prohibitive at this point. I do feel she needs to approach math in a way that makes sense to her.
So, I am going to go back to focusing on creative math, but, for record-keeping sake, devote one day per week on some kind of written or otherwise provable math. Hopefully, that can keep her progressing while reducing the struggle that was impairing all her other lessons.
 
I have started my daughter on the Junior Ranger passport book. While we likely won't get a chance to visit most of the National Parks, she can do the research online and I can have her learn geography, history, and any other area that can be covered, like science or art or music or even math. Mini- unit studies per National Park!
 
This is what I love about homeschooling- really participating in my child's education, learning on the go myself, and the flexibility to really adjust with our family's needs.

2013 Week 1


We rang in the New Year with friends and a pizza party. That was my favorite New Year's Eve party ever! Calm, low key, pleasant company and conversation. My daughter was disappointed. She fell asleep and would not wake up, though I tried at 11 p.m., 11:45 p.m., and shortly past midnight. Then again, she had played long and hard with my friend's three girls and had her first ski lesson the day before- she had every excuse to be exhausted!


(I want to add a picture here, but for some reason
I cannot get the uploader to work. Perhaps later.)
 
Since we have been home, the rest of the week has had it's fair share of a different sort of excitement. The bug going around seemed to have finally hit my husband, who was laid low for a couple days. I had a doctor visit which was a bit stressful with a not unexpected result. And, I regret slowing down on keeping a small colony of crickets here at home as NONE of the pet stores have crickets this week and their selection of worms looked unhealthy. So, Leon the lizard is going a bit hungry and I hope I can find an alternative food this weekend. (Note: during the warmer months, we hunt for crickets in non-treated woody areas. I discovered Leon won't go for spiders but he likes moths and flies.)
 
On the fun side, we have been experimenting with GFCF meals and so far are quite enjoying the process. My daughter spontaneously started reading a version of Oliver Twist and LOVES it! There have also been numerous dartgun battles, during which Flynn the cat chases and tries to eat the foam darts.

(There has been a loooong delay in me posting due to a lot of chaos going on- the homeschool part I will be posting in a short while. Frankenstorm, family trips, and some medical issues I am dealing with have totally loaded up my days, leaving me little time for anything but the necessities. But, I'm back- I love to chat!)

Saturday, October 27, 2012

October

October has been busy! Nothing particularly exciting, just a busy daily grind. My daughter did, finally, have an Occupational Therapy evaluation for the pain she experiences when writing. She likes some of the games & exercises, but not others. It seems her fingers are "locking", so she was shown a massage that can help relax her finger joints, and I have found that helps if she periodically stops her writing to do this exercise. She giggles like crazy getting the monkeys into the barrel with a special instrument (she has to use her fingers properly to do so.) We learned a new tic tac toe version- we each get a word (not an x or o) and the word has to be written correctly. I found it interesting the OT noted the same thing my daughter's vocal coach keeps correcting- scrunched up shoulders. I have been taking advantage of the weather and my daughter has spent a lot of time outdoors. She plays football with some neighborhood boys- they don't seem to be soft on her at all because she's a girl, and I think she is thrilled with that. She did end up with a nasty bruised cheek/eye after a tackle earlier this month. I told her that was it for injuries this month, but she didn't listen. She got a friction "rip" on her palm while playing on the playground equipment (it's basically a large, sloughed blister.) After getting ver the initial stinging pain, she had a temporary joy thinking this would get her out of schoolwork- it was her right hand- but, no, she can still read, type, and give me oral answers!

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Field Trip: Hot Rods for Heroes

We are still recovering from a long and wonderful day with our pals from Hot Rods for Heroes.  Being a military family, we had an incredible chance to go behind the scenes at the NHRA qualifications this past weekend. While we were based at the Permatex/Follow A Dream team's pit, we also met Alexis DeJoria and Clay Millican and the Parts Plus team. My daughter was inspired by her experience watching the awsom Jay Blake (Follow A Dream) at work. She loved the slower cars, but the top fuel cars scared her a bit, so we sat at the pit after a few of those races. She said it wasn't so much the noise, but how much everything- from the ground to her teeth, shook when they go by. She saw science in action- from machinery, to chemistry, to physics, and the math involved in speed and racing. When the Permatex car brushed along the wall, she got to see the damage- the solid metal pipes were melted and fused. Talk about heat!

The damage:

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Marathon Kids

This year, my daughter has been entered into the Marathon Kids program. We recently celebrated at their Kick Off event, where we both did the first quarter mile. There were kids, teachers, and parents from all over the area- both traditional schools and homeschools. She had fun racing one of her homeschool friends during the lap, and ended up way ahead of me! When we looked at her tracking sheet, her only dissapointment was the box to check off she ate squash or zucchini- she dislikes both.

Marathon Kids is a national program that encourages physical activity and good nutrition. It is open to any elementary school child. Visit their website!

Monday, September 10, 2012

A really distracted day...

I know how important routine and predictablity are to my daughter, and today demonstrated what a mess things can become when our household routine, homeschool routine, and my general activity level tanks. I work at the nearby public school part time and it seems I catch every respiratory virus that comes around. Most of the time, I'm just a little sniffly- this month I caught a full-blown cold to sinus to asthma mess that has left me drained- still moving and getting through the days, but absolutely drained. I have tried to keep up with the homeschool lessons, and for the most part things have gone well. Not today- my daughter spent the day unable to focus on anything (I mean anything) for longer than a few minutes, kept needing my attention, and I was too tired to keep redirecting and trying to talk and stay focused on what I was supposed to be teaching. So, we gave up. Part of the work done, the rest will be added to tomorrow and we'll plug along as we can. Honestly, I pretty much knew the day was over when doing sentence contruction, I asked her "where do shooting stars shine?" and she said in a village... and she was serious. So, tonight I will continue to treat myself, boost my immune system, and hopefully get enough sleep to be ready to focus and keep her interest in the morning.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

End of the first month of Fourth Grade...

We have had a very busy August, so I have had barely any time to do everything I have needed to do. Overall, Fourth Grade has started well, with only one major snag- there was an initial (expected) tantrum-prone rebellion in the beginning of the month. She did NOT want to do school. She did NOT like math or grammar. She wanted TV and to go out to the playground or the pool and to go see her friends and to go shopping... She protested completing her work and discovered she was going nowhere. She could be on the couch, at the table, in her room, or anywhere else in the house. But she was not allowed to go to the playground, the pool, etc. Oh, there was also no TV or XBox. Or shopping. The day her rebellion turned to creative sentences in her grammar book, I knew she was getting the idea. So far, she has actually been getting her stuff done, and with a much happier attitude.

This is the grammar rebellion: