My poor son. My little five year old. Hates me. Hates school. BOOO HOOO HOOOOO!!!! I'm trying so hard to make it fun for him and it's just not! BOO HOOOOOO!!!! Talking to hubby tonight about SERIOUSLY changing his curriculum. He does not like workbooks, Sam I am. He's doing AWESOME at reading. He reads everything he gets his hands on and am debating just scrapping the rest of the year of that curriculum and just have him read to me every day, and do ONE handwriting worksheet. Math is his nemesis. He HATES it. I try playing games with him, etc. He just doesn't seem to get it. He does OK....but we're still on addition and I'm absolutely TERRIFIED to broach subtraction with him. I just don't think he's going to get it at all. BOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Today was a BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD day that ended in tears for both of us. Why o why???
Awwww, Krista, I'm sorry your day went that way! Yes, those days do rear their ugly heads sometimes! :evil: This is my 9th year of homeschooling, and I still have those days when I wonder why I homeschool, and what my kids have even learned at all if they are acting THIS way!!! However, in the long-run there IS an amazing difference! Honestly, I like your idea of only having him read to you for the rest of the year! He's only 5! He's got a bazillion years of school coming up! He'll still learn---lots! They just seem like sponges at that age. Plus, you can throw in verbal math skills by asking questions like: "Oh look, there's some birds in the back yard. How many do YOU see? Ooops, 2 of them just flew away, I wonder how many there are now?" Just something like that, where you're both excited about something, and it just seems almost natural to ask questions like that! I'm afraid that if you push him to do stuff (not that you are, just IF you might), he'll get a bad attitude about school and it'll be harder! They used to not send kids to school until they were older anyway. A lot of his play will be learning situations!
Krista, I agree with Deena... 5 is still young to worry about this! Does he know his shapes and colors, and can he count to 100? That's the basics of lots of K math curriculum! I'd follow his love of reading for now. He can learn so much just from reading!
I think both you and he need a break! I agree with the others about knowing the basics and not worrying about this right now. It just may be too much for him now. Continue to let him read, of course, but don't push anything else right now. Maybe you could do some fun science stuff...but don't call it science..lol. At least he will be having fun and learning. I am so sorry you had a bad day!!!! I see you live in Pa...maybe he is stir crazy and needs get out an play in Spring weather. I lived in Pa for a bit and it is much like Ohio's weather. If that is the case, he may just have cabin fever. Take a break and relax!
Someone in another forum had given me some wonderful advice when I was going through this same thing with dd. We had just pulled her from ps and she was such a grouch. HATED doing anything. I didn't take school off because she's the type of child that would see that and think "oh this is nice! Mom and dad pull me out of school and I don't have to do anything they want me to!" Anyhow, we did a LOT of read alouds- she's been able to rid since she was 4 but once school started this past fall had grown to hate it- why? because they read the same boring little booklets over and over at school. So we did read alouds- Boxcar Children, Ramona Quimby, Amelia Bedelia- she reads Amelia on her own now. Never had a problem with math because that is her favorite. But may I suggest Miquon- it's cheaper than Math U See but has some very fun creative ways for teaching math- as does Singapore. The Miquon actually starts in 1st grade, but I am using it now with Singapore as a supplement. I ended up ordering both from Sonlight along with the Base 10 set that came with and awsome activity book. We probably spend a good 40 minutes on math every day just using manipulatives, math games, ect. He is only 5 though and I agree it's too young to worry about all this. I was doing exactly the same thing, worrying about it, stressing because she hated it and was fighting me. It wasn't until I let up quite a bit. She does one small section of handwriting a day but we are using "A Reason for Handwriting" and the daily lessons are very short. I also implement writing elsewhere- copying her memory verse, address, full name, ect. We do a lot of work on the whiteboard instead of on paper and I let her write things on the board. For kindergarten I'd say we have a pretty rigorous academic schedule, compared to some, but we don't push it if we're not in the mood if ya know what i mean. I trully belief they aren't going to retain it if they aren't happy. If she's fighting me on something we put it away and move on to something else before she "boils over"
THANKS everybody for listening to me whine. Hubby and I talked a little bit last night. He ordered some videos on Addition and Subtraction for him. He got the Multiplication and Division for my daughter. I'd never heard of them before, but they were inexpensive. Thought we'd give that a try. I'm going to look into Math U See for next year. A friend of mine leant me her teacher's manuals for me to look over. It MIGHT be the way to go for him since it is so visual. Sigh. I think sh'ell let me use the books, but I'd have to order it anyway to get the DVD's and such. I also need to find some blocks, CHEAP. LOL . My eldest is a peach. We talked about curriculum last night and she said she loves the books she's got, so we'll keep going for her on the Lifepacs. Also, thinking we'll add in some Spanish and Art...we think. I'd love to anyway and A/O just started selling an elementary Spanish set up like the lifepacs. So.... Going to go easy on my son for a while and see if we can regain a fire in him. Reading to me, playing on the computer, math games, etc. ALSO, does anyone one know of GOOD really GOOD educational video games? Hubby's looking into getting a Wii, but it looks like it's just sports type games...I was thinking that Vtech had something, or do they not anymore? THANKS! Hopefully today will go better. I'm going to have him pick out a book and read it to me, then we'll play "Fishin' for Addition". (math game I made up with fishy shapes that have simple addition problems on it. He fishes them, and if he can answer it correctly, he gets to keep the fish in his basket). I will have him do one handwriting page, though. So he will have to sit for a few minutes. Anyway....off to type up his handwriting sheet.
Truthfully, I don't think so. In PA there is no requirement for ANYTHING until the school year they turn 8 years old (actually, the law is the school year they are 8 on 9/1). So, I don't really have to do anything with him. Yes, he knows shapes, colors, counting forward and backward from 100, can read - not major books mind you but picture books with at least 10 to 20 words a page. He can't cut very well...actually doesn't like art stuff at all, doesn't like coloring (unless it's on the board or with sidewalk chalk). He does like making things with his hand - like playdough, cooking, mud, etc. He's a good, smart, bright kid and I just don't want to be the one who ruins him. Might be too late (LOL).
I hope things improve for you. I think we have all had those days. I recently had a bad mommy weekend. I was feeling underappreciated, neglected, and just plain sad all weekend. I was going to suggest computer games or if you have something like a Leapster or any Leap Frog games. Kids loves that stuff and they are playing and learning at the same time. Maybe that will take the stress off for right now. Whatever your decide, Keep Moving Forward!
I really like the LeapFrog dvds. I would not suggest the Leapster though...not enough games for the cost of the thing...unless you already have it...there is a good baseball math game. LeapPads are nice also but they also have a tendency to drive ya nuts and not last long...but maybe my kids are hard on them...lol. Try eBay for the blocks for Math U See....however, I honestly think they go for about the same as new ones. Have you tried Miquon? I have not but Missinseatle (oops...sp?) gave me a link to the get samples and I thought it was great. I am thinking of getting it for my kids. It is cheaper than Math U See. However, once you get the blocks...you will use them for years and for both kids...so it may be worth it for you. I will say those blocks rock! I saw the demo and wished they taught me like that when I was in school.
sorry you are feeling bad about this. I know how you feel, altough my kids are older. I hope the video's will help. But I agree with the others that said...give him time, he is still pretty young. Let us kow if you decided on Math-U-See...I have thought about that for my dd, too!
I got my linking cubes from Rainbow Resource for about $8. But really you can use any small items that you can count...buttons, counting bears (usually about $5), etc.
Sometimes there is BURN OUT when a concept doesn't click. If you have been on addition for a while and he doesn't get it. Throw some subtraction at him (not worksheet) but..by eating candy. Mini M&M's are awesome for this game. You start with a bunch in mom's control. So...you lay out 4 and you say "Johnny, how many m&m's would we have if you ate 2 of them?" If he knows the correct answer you say ok...let's check our work. He then eats two and then counts the two that are left. Vola! THEN you can go back to addition and say well let's see Mom has 2 m&m's and you have 2 m&m's how many do we have together? If he answers correctly then he gets to eat one for getting the right answer. Ok...now if he is allergic to chocolate...find something similar that he isn't allergic to. lol HTH
as far as educational games, dd has a Vsmile and LOVES it. We limit the time and use it as a reward, but all the games are educational.
I would ditch the curriculum for now, and use hands on approaches instead for a while. We only did the first half of our math cur during our K year last year. I just started with the second book for first grade and we are just fininishing the first half of first grade. We should complete the second one over summer. At 5 yrs old, if your student can count and a few other things they are doing fine.
Hi, I thought I would toss my two cents in the ring, I have 5 children and I firmly believe children should be children. At five my twin boys were playing in the dirt...building roads with their tonka trucks....we did some educational activities, learned our abc's and our colors, colored, that kind of thing, but nothing formal. They are now 8 years old, (March 6), both are 3 grade lifepac's, abeka 3rd grade science , and Saxon math 54. The only problem I have is one of them has awful handwriting! They can read almost anything...follow directions, (when they choose too!) but most of all, they are happy! We don't spend our entire day doing school work at home, we do an all year school, take off days when we feel like it, and work a couple of hours a day. So I guess I would tell you not to worry about your little one, let him be a child! Children learn through play.
Krista, did you try using his toys to teach addition? If he has little cars, you could make up little stories for them based on the equations in his book. I did this with Jeannie and her Littlest Pets, when she was 5. When I needed her to show me that she knew quantities I would say something like 'There needs to be eight Littlest Pets to be able to have a pet show. Count me out eight Littlest Pets.' When she first did addition I made up stories for that, too. 'The Littlest Puppy has one toy. His friend, Littlest Turtle, gave him two balls for his birthday. How many toys does he have now? Jeannie ate this up. Some days she'd do this instead of pages in her book. She also liked teaching me, creating stories for me to solve. When we do review on the hundreds chart I have her run a little plastic animal from number to number. We took turns with that yesterday, and she had me run this little dinosaur from the top of the chart to the bottom, depending on the number she called out. I made it pant and 'scream like a girl', as though she was tiring it out. She really liked it. Today we used big dominoes and a simple gameboard to practice subtracting from 4 and 5. Four or five pips on the top, then 1,2,3,4,5, and 0 pips on the bottom of each set. The point is to get from one end of the gameboard to the other without missing any equations.
Another thing I thought of- because this is what I have to do, is switch it up. Math isn't ALL about addition and subtraction. There are soooooooo many other elements to it. Measuring- have him measure things with a hand span, a ruler, ect. Measure different things around the house, how many foot steps around the yard ect. Measure liquids weigh things- see how many paper clips a certain item ways, or whatever he wants to compared. telling time counting money- start with pennies, you can use for addition also. counting by 5's, 10's, and 2's patterns- with shapes, numbers, objects around the house There is so much more than just addition. We're working on addition right now but we're not just doing the facts. We used manipulatives for a while, now we use cuisenaire rods and base 10 units, and I just started using flash cards this week.
For the counting blocks, I would use money. My ds 3 LOVES money (not that he understands the concept of it) He loves nothing better than to sit and count it. Try finding something that he has around the house that he loves to play with.
