Cloud study: My mom school for the day!
We went outside and did the activity the first video recommends. Then we got out blue pieces of paper and made our own charts of clouds, complete with cotton ball artistry to go with it if they wanted to.
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After a summer of work projects, my 8 year old has been begging me to schedule some time where they can all sit around the table with their workbooks (customized to child for the subject and grade they wanted to improve their "crust" skills). They all helped select workbooks off of Amazon right after our grade end of year testing.
After years of not testing, I think I am sold on testing every year. The kids think it is fun to push themselves and test themselves. We have had numerous discussions about how stupid some of the questions on the test are, some of them purely subjective without a clear "right or wrong," as well as the follow-up discussion that I don't feel that it is a reflection on their value as a person.
I have seen the kids, after assimilating this information and perspective, see these tests as a challenge and a spring board to want to learn more.
So,following my daughter's request, we sat around for 2-3 hours on Monday and today and I just answered questions and helped past tough places in math, science, geography and language arts in their workbooks.* Sometimes I was not available right away and it was neat to see the other kids reach over and help their younger siblings through tough places.
My philosophy on workbooks is that they can be a fun tool to teach crust skills but don't have a lot of intrinsic sense of accomplishment to motivate kids to push through the hard parts. I use rewards in this very isolated scenario: when the intrinsic value of an activity cannot be felt immediately or effectively or philosophically (depending upon the age), but I feel the value is worth dangling a carrot in front of them to get them past the harder parts. They will get an ice cream cone or their own half gallon of ice cream depending upon the size of the work book. Other non-food rewards would probably be better, but that is where we are at right now :D.
The repetition of work books also generally can build confidence in skills that they fear they are lacking when they compare themselves to public school kids. I continually assure them that it is not a race but it is natural to wonder if you are learning enough. Addressing these skills as "crust" skills is also important to help the kids not place "self-worth" value upon completing or succeeding in these, although "determination," "overcoming," and "persistence" are valuable side values that are worth commenting on.
To know "latitude" and "longitude" does not come up often as a necessary skill. To be familiar with it is helpful in being part of the worldly vernacular yet doesn't need to be drummed into a child with weeks of classes and worksheets. A simple workbook can expose them to this without all the whistles and bells and if they are more interested in it, you can probably find online exposure the subjects they care for.
I feel to use a work book is worth the expense if you know they will use it as my kids do...especially if the work book is not overly busy or filled with superfluous exercises. For instance, don't get a science book that requires a lot of writing unless the child enjoys writing or writing is a skill the child is also working on. Science should be fun and engaging, full of questions and wonder. If your child loves experiments, get one with experiments. Generally the previews on Amazon are sufficient to get a gage of the type of book it is.
Feel free to get shorter workbooks as well: more is not always better.
*REALITY CHECK: I did puzzles with my 4 year old while trying to help people and tried unsuccessfully to appease my 2 year old until I finally resigned myself to mess patrol and set him up by the kitchen sink surrounded by towels. And without his shirt.
****************************
After a summer of work projects, my 8 year old has been begging me to schedule some time where they can all sit around the table with their workbooks (customized to child for the subject and grade they wanted to improve their "crust" skills). They all helped select workbooks off of Amazon right after our grade end of year testing.
After years of not testing, I think I am sold on testing every year. The kids think it is fun to push themselves and test themselves. We have had numerous discussions about how stupid some of the questions on the test are, some of them purely subjective without a clear "right or wrong," as well as the follow-up discussion that I don't feel that it is a reflection on their value as a person.
I have seen the kids, after assimilating this information and perspective, see these tests as a challenge and a spring board to want to learn more.
So,following my daughter's request, we sat around for 2-3 hours on Monday and today and I just answered questions and helped past tough places in math, science, geography and language arts in their workbooks.* Sometimes I was not available right away and it was neat to see the other kids reach over and help their younger siblings through tough places.
My philosophy on workbooks is that they can be a fun tool to teach crust skills but don't have a lot of intrinsic sense of accomplishment to motivate kids to push through the hard parts. I use rewards in this very isolated scenario: when the intrinsic value of an activity cannot be felt immediately or effectively or philosophically (depending upon the age), but I feel the value is worth dangling a carrot in front of them to get them past the harder parts. They will get an ice cream cone or their own half gallon of ice cream depending upon the size of the work book. Other non-food rewards would probably be better, but that is where we are at right now :D.
The repetition of work books also generally can build confidence in skills that they fear they are lacking when they compare themselves to public school kids. I continually assure them that it is not a race but it is natural to wonder if you are learning enough. Addressing these skills as "crust" skills is also important to help the kids not place "self-worth" value upon completing or succeeding in these, although "determination," "overcoming," and "persistence" are valuable side values that are worth commenting on.
To know "latitude" and "longitude" does not come up often as a necessary skill. To be familiar with it is helpful in being part of the worldly vernacular yet doesn't need to be drummed into a child with weeks of classes and worksheets. A simple workbook can expose them to this without all the whistles and bells and if they are more interested in it, you can probably find online exposure the subjects they care for.
I feel to use a work book is worth the expense if you know they will use it as my kids do...especially if the work book is not overly busy or filled with superfluous exercises. For instance, don't get a science book that requires a lot of writing unless the child enjoys writing or writing is a skill the child is also working on. Science should be fun and engaging, full of questions and wonder. If your child loves experiments, get one with experiments. Generally the previews on Amazon are sufficient to get a gage of the type of book it is.
Feel free to get shorter workbooks as well: more is not always better.
*REALITY CHECK: I did puzzles with my 4 year old while trying to help people and tried unsuccessfully to appease my 2 year old until I finally resigned myself to mess patrol and set him up by the kitchen sink surrounded by towels. And without his shirt.
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