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School/Homework/Study Help

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: 2005 Dec. ~ 2006 Feb.: Parenting Place: School/Homework/Study Help users admin

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Archive through August 26, 2005Mamie31625 08-26-05  1:34 pm
Archive through August 30, 2005Teachmichigan25 08-30-05  6:41 pm
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Happymom
Member

01-20-2003

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 - 10:52 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Happymom a private message Print Post    
I talked to my youngest about having more computer time if she was playing learning games, she lit up! One thing I have let her do on the computer without it being part of her computer time is to add to/work on her wish list. She's had it going for over a year. It is about 75-100 items long! (She knows she'll never get most of the stuff. Her bday is in Sept, she is actually choosing an experience type gift instead of stuff.) She likes to do it, I like that she is getting typing skills at an early age.

Yesterday wasn't a great math day for us. Maybe today will be better. She's a smart kid, I don't understand why she fights this so much, the sooner she knows them quickly, the sooner she can stop practicing them so much! She came home on Monday, the first day of school, one of the things she said was "We didn't do any math today." Kind of meaning "See mom, I don't have to do all this math" type attitude. LOL!

Reader234
Member

08-13-2000

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 - 11:02 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Reader234 a private message Print Post    
Happy Mom, I reccommend the Reader Rabbit computer 'game'... check with the school and see what they use (sometimes the library has cd's the school uses - that way you wont double up what the school is doing/using!! Math Munchers is very enjoyable too!!

Teachmichigan
Member

07-22-2001

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 - 6:21 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Teachmichigan a private message Print Post    
My DS, who usually enjoys math, came home yesterday whining, "We did TWO HOURS of math review for the MEAP today!" (Michigan's standardized test). He's a 5th grader, has gone through the MEAP once already, and was not thrilled w/ such intensive review. We tried to help him understand how frustrating those two hours could be for students who weren't strong math students, and it helped him put things in perspective. They went on to "rocks and minerals" later in the day, and when they got to "taste" a crystal (salt), everything perked up. :-)

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 - 11:26 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
2 hours of anything is a lot for kids! I'm begining to really hate all the standardized tests. They stress kids out way too much!

Dakota will be having speech therapy 1/2 an hour every week. Mostly will be working at home. After talking to the speech therapist yesterday she suggested that be a Dakota/dad thing, LOL. I'm definitely not the one to be teaching her how to pronounce an "R!"

Today I spent the morning in Kota's class testing the kids in reading comprehension and fluency. It was an eye opening experience. Compared to most the kids I tested (I got through 12 out of 20 of them this morning and will finish the other 8 tomorrow) Dakota's not struggling as hard as a lot of them were. She definitely needs to work on it but she's doing well.

The most amazing thing has happened! This year I can read both my children's writing! Since Caleb was in kinder he has always had to practice writing in class and at home with little improvement. Dakota's was looking as sloppy, but her teachers hadn't started pushing it yet. Until this year. Kids both ended up with no nonsense teachers....if the writing isn't legible and neat they have to redo their work. It took Caleb three days to start slowing down and printing neater...Dakota, one assignment, lol. She did not like having to redo her spelling homework.

Teach, our 4th graders are doing minerals and rocks this year for science. Their field trip later this year is to the Borax mines, something he is so excited about he can't stand it. It's the fourth grade theme. The last day of school they have gold miners day for the 4th graders. Big bbq that the whole family is invited to and they get to hunt for gold nuggets that are hidden throughout the grassy areas at school. At the end of the day, they get to "buy" stuff with their gold nuggets in an auction.

Teachmichigan
Member

07-22-2001

Thursday, September 01, 2005 - 2:57 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Teachmichigan a private message Print Post    
What a fun activity, War! Bet the kids will love it. :-)

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Saturday, September 17, 2005 - 11:19 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
Does anyone know how good the Hooked on Phonics sets are? My six year old niece has really been struggling with learning to read. Sis works with her everyday, they have a tutor come 1-2 times a week to work with her and she's still really having problems with it.

I saw Hooked on Phonics at Costco for $140. When Dakota was in kinder and 1st grade, they used phonics books and workbooks and they seemed great. I also remember a lot of it was stuff like: a + t = at, say the letter, say the sound, put them together. And then adding letters to the begining of each of those words, so at becomes bat, fat, Pat, rat, mat, etc.

So what I really want to know, is the Hooked on Phonics set really worth paying $140 or is this stuff I could print out for my niece? Darren and I talked about it earlier and decided that if it really was worth it and would help her with learning to read, it'd be a good Christmas present for her, but we're just not sure what we can buy in a store would be up to the same standards as what schools get.

Anyone have any experience or opinions on Hooked on Phonics?

Texannie
Member

07-16-2001

Sunday, September 18, 2005 - 3:45 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Texannie a private message Print Post    
I don't know anything about Hooked on Phonics, but does her school offer the Reading Recovery program? It's a free intensive reading program. My dd was in it, and it is wonderful.

Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Sunday, September 18, 2005 - 7:05 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Julieboo a private message Print Post    
Is she in first grade? Cuz most of the 1st graders in Ryan's class do not know how to read yet. Maybe she just needs a little more time... But if she is in second grade, that is a different story.

Does your library have HOP? What does her teacher say?

Reader234
Member

08-13-2000

Sunday, September 18, 2005 - 7:42 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Reader234 a private message Print Post    
HOP is a language based program, you need to stay involved, it is an auditory based - if you spend the time, you will see results, but you can get results too with working with the programs the school should have. It takes work, make flashcards, read to them, and have them read... I like some of the Reading Computer games that are interactive, that reinforce those "sight" words (common words that they just have to "memorize")

Good luck, often there is no one way to get the end result!! Communicate with the teacher - and be active in learning!!

Halfunit
Moderator

09-02-2001

Sunday, September 18, 2005 - 10:05 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Halfunit a private message Print Post    
(pssst War.... Ebay has what you're looking for at a fraction of what that store wants)

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Sunday, September 18, 2005 - 9:01 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
She's first grade. Out here, kids are reading by the end of kinder, niece was one of the few who wasn't. Granted last year was a terrible year for the family and half way through the school year they discovered her eyesight was terrible and needed glasses, but they also got very little help from the school and when they asked for it they were told their tutors and programs were for older kids struggling, not the younger kids and that they should keep her back this year. They said no thanks and got her a tutor and worked at home with her.

Like I said (I think) I remember some of the phonics Dakota did and could make up some flash cards to help. I know too we could buy some, and I could probably beg a couple copies off of previous teachers from our school.

Are there any particular computer games that are better than others? One of the nice things is that since she's here a lot, we take a two pronged approach, lol. Sis and bil do a lot of work with her at home, and then she comes here and doesn't realize she's really learning. Caleb and Kota read to and with her and go through flash cards and it's just fun for her.

Jmm
Moderator

08-16-2002

Sunday, September 18, 2005 - 9:21 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jmm a private message Print Post    
War, I would recommend trying the "Reader Rabbit" series with her. Have you check the cd's we sent you? I know we had it at one time but can't find it now. It teaches phonics based reading plus some sight recognition and it runs about $30.00.

Reader Rabbit

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Sunday, September 18, 2005 - 9:50 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
You can't find it because I have it! It (and a couple others) are in a box of books and cd's Dakota's outgrown but Brit hasn't grown into yet. I'll have to go through it and see what else is there. Thanks for reminding me Jmm!

Prisonerno6
Member

08-31-2002

Monday, September 19, 2005 - 5:04 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Prisonerno6 a private message Print Post    

quote:

does her school offer the Reading Recovery program?




Tee-hee! This gave me a much needed laugh. When I took the Psychology of Reading in grad school, I missed getting a perfect score on the first exam because I failed to mention the Reading Recovery program (I ended up with a 395 out of 400points). I joked with the professor about it, who said no one in his class gets a perfect paper. I got him back the next class though, when he talked more about Reading Recovery. I pointed out that some of its published success is due to a statistical anomaly (regression towards the mean). :-)

Anyway, Reading Recovery is good because ti focuses on low readers. The challenge with programs like Hooked on Phonics is they focus on word recognition, and not higher order comprehension skills, or metacognitive skills like recognizing signal words, advanced organizers, and context the activate the correct meaning of a word (the audience rose vs. the rose smelled sweet). Now, granted, you can't comprehend what you can't recognize, but they don't go far enough. Skilled readers use whole word recognition, more phonic recognition.

When people read to your niece, suggest that they ask questions about what comes next. Then, if she comes up with the right answer, have them ask her if she can find the word(s) that say that. If she can't,they can break it down-- what letter does it start with? Can you find a word that starts with that letter? If you wrote about this picture, what would you say? And she needs to watch the book while they read, and the reader should use his or her finger to follow the words they are reading.

Ladytex
Member

09-27-2001

Monday, September 19, 2005 - 6:41 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ladytex a private message Print Post    
Hooked on Phonics works for some kids, but did NOT work for mine. The tapes focus on constant repetition and some kids don't handle it well. My son would listen to them do it the first time, then repeat it, but after that pffftttt. He would say I did it already, I'm not doing it again. I know other kids, on the other hand, that totally got it with the repetition and loved the tapes and would sing them around the house, so ... like I said it depends on the child.

Like Jmm, I would recommend Reader Rabbit, and also Stickybear Reading for computer programs.

Texannie
Member

07-16-2001

Monday, September 19, 2005 - 11:10 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Texannie a private message Print Post    
Prisoner, that's what I loved about RR, it made sure that my dd was not only recognizing words but comprehending what she read!!

Tess
Member

04-13-2001

Monday, September 19, 2005 - 1:25 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Tess a private message Print Post    
War, we started Miss Sarah on Reader Rabbit as a toddler and she was reading well by age 4 (with poor eyesight) so I would highly recommend the Reader Rabbit CDs.

Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Monday, September 19, 2005 - 1:34 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Julieboo a private message Print Post    
Whoa age 4! Wow Ryan is apparently waaaay behind!

Tess
Member

04-13-2001

Monday, September 19, 2005 - 10:43 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Tess a private message Print Post    
Ryan is most likely right where he should be, Julie. Sarah's not the norm for her age. We got very, very lucky as the doctors in Korea expected her to be mentally disabled in addition to having physical problems. They were wrong. The only apparent problem in that area so far appears to be that she is very easily distracted and can't focus if things are noisy or disorganized. In fact, she's terrified of loud noises of any type.

In any case, Reader Rabbit was a fabulous program for her and she had a lot of fun with it well into first grade.

Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 5:36 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Julieboo a private message Print Post    
Yeah, he probably is "normal" and not abnormally bright like Sarah! :-) What was wrong with those Korean doctors???!!!!

Unfortunately he also has a hard time focusing and controlling his impulses (like waiting to be called on. He thinks just cuz his hand is up that he has carte blanche on talking...) For a kid who didn't even say "mama" til he was 28 months old (anyone remember when I was all concerned about his apraxia?) he sure is making up for lost time talking! The kid never shuts up! :-) But he cracks me up all day long.

Happymom
Member

01-20-2003

Wednesday, September 28, 2005 - 9:46 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Happymom a private message Print Post    
Reader, Thanks for the Reader Rabbit suggestion for math. We do have it and she likes it. That is the only education based computer game she has consistently played over the years. I think the next step up may be Cluefinders. She's been playing with that for a couple of years too.

She's still fighting learning the multiplication/division facts in any way, shape, or form! But...since we've been doing the variety of games etc., she isn't fighting so hard because she actually knows a lot of them much faster now!

My kids liked the Reader Rabbit reading cd roms too. I've heard great things about HOP but we never used them.

Reader234
Member

08-13-2000

Wednesday, October 26, 2005 - 8:50 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Reader234 a private message Print Post    
I have to find that website that has math games, and does give them a "timed" math facts area... it will either count up, or count down (2 min to answer xx amount of questions, or how many minutes to finish same amount...) Happymom's post just reminded me!!!

Skootz
Member

07-23-2003

Wednesday, October 26, 2005 - 9:00 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Skootz a private message Print Post    
I am not sure what is all on this site here or this site here but you can check them out and see if they can help you at all.


Reader234
Member

08-13-2000

Wednesday, October 26, 2005 - 9:01 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Reader234 a private message Print Post    
Report Card Rant... or communication difficulties!!

I am so holding back my feelings and problems I have with dd math (3rd grade) teacher... she is not DD classroom teacher, but her "advanced" math and reading teacher... I did email her 3 weeks ago, got no response, so I emailed the principal (brand new btw) with 3 "bullet" items. The math teacher called me right after that!!

Math teacher was condesending - throwing in my face dd missed "so much class time" (due to Disney" my response "How dare you? I cant believe you are actually going down this road. I will remind you she missed TWO days, not columbus day, not "fall day" not Rosh Hashana, 2 class days, in which I understand you were also ABSENT!!" so that was a BIG mistake now teacher is on the defensive!!

My problem is dd is given word problem of the week worth 10 points and each week she is given what seems to be a random number right - from 5 - 6 pts... so I want a specific "rubric" to aid dd - (and btw I've not only taught from this, but I've graded it, which may explain my confusion!!) So she tells me dd has it. "I"m glad dd has it, can *I* get a copy? THen I explain on the test... I get interrupted, "I dont even know why you are upset, your dd has gotten 96% on BOTH tests" "My question is in the POW, the last page of the test you didnt count in the score, I noted that she missed each question, even though she wrote WORD FOR WORD What is on your 'rubic"

She kept dd in for recess.

Now I got the report card for math... DD gets 44% (out of 100%) for "basic add facts" and "basic subt. Facts"

She gets 96% for all other areas, including adding and subtracting with 3 and 4 digits, with borrowing, carrying etc...



The "teacher" or "high and mighty" me wants to complain that perhaps she needs to reword this "report card" or ask the principal if the principal knows what is being sent home. I get the impression the 44% is on her "time test score" and not indicative of her "basic add and sub. knowledge"

However, this school is "supposed" to be teaching on a special philosphy - called "Choice Theory" and there is a book, and classes, I've read the book, I've taken the classes (that all teachers took) Timed tests are not a part of the philosphy... so why are they "grading" this?

(see what I mean? I really am angry!! and "right"!!) Deep breath... in... deep breath out... let it go...

or not!!

Happymom
Member

01-20-2003

Monday, October 31, 2005 - 9:26 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Happymom a private message Print Post    
Skootz, thanks for the great links!

Oh, timed math facts tests...I have a bit of a pet peeve with those. I understand they need to know their facts quickly, like their name. When my oldest was in 3rd grade, I went through some with the teacher about this. My daughter was very high in math concepts and everything but didn't do really well on the timed tests ( add. and substract.) even though she'd known these facts since early K or pre K. She sure was bored with this since she'd been doing worksheet type work all those years with the basic facts. That wasn't all she did in math, but she was very sick of the timed tests and practice worksheets on those math facts. She finally just told me that she (daughter) just has to do them. I do not beleive it ever affected her grade either. (Our district does not give letter or % grades to K-3.)

Reader, I hope things get better. I am worried that her teacher is the vindictive type. Why did she keep her in at recess?

Skootz
Member

07-23-2003

Tuesday, December 13, 2005 - 6:31 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Skootz a private message Print Post    
Help....my dd has to design and build a moving propeller. I cannot seem to find anything, sites to get instructions to build one or pictures of a simple one. Any help would be appreciated (she is in grade 3 thanks)

Mocha
Member

08-12-2001

Tuesday, December 13, 2005 - 6:59 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mocha a private message Print Post    
Try link

Or this