Some New Approaches

So we are still waiting on the final report from the learning assistant for Theo, but she has already made some excellent recommendations for us that have improved our productivity and the relative peace of our home school days.

The first is that we switched Theo to Saxon Math level 5/4. So far the lessons are mostly review of simple concepts he learned in the past, but the lessons are much more instructive and comprehensive. Horizon Math was simply a set of practice exercises, almost all of which were so easy he didn't even have to think to do them. By contrast, the addition and subtraction drills were laboursome and frustrating because he hadn't had enough facts practice with single digits to have memorized them. Saxon is much better. It starts with a timed warm up in which he does 100 addition facts from memory, followed by a few mental math exercises, and then a pattern recognition or problem solving question. The idea here is to warm up his math brain and refresh his memory before introducing anything new. Then the new concept is introduced-- it's fairly easy stuff and mostly review at this point, but the literal explanation of what addition is and how to recognize the pattern in word problems seems much more interesting to him than a simple set of questions to answer in a work book. Of course he knows all about addition and what it means etc, but something about the literal explanation of concepts he had already sussed out for himself is interesting to him. After the lesson practice, there is a mixed set of practice questions in which he reviews previous lesson concepts and practices the newer ones as well. He only does half of them and it's plenty. None of it gives him any trouble, but he is enjoying the variety and challenge all the same and his facts memorization is already speeding up.

Georgie also finally has a real Math curriculum. We got her Math U See, which consists of an instructive DVD, a teaching manual, a student consumable workbook, and a set of manipulative blocks. So far it's just watching the DVD lesson, discussing it, and practicing counting and number recognition. It's too easy for Georgie yet, but she is enjoying it and we can skip exercises she understands and can't be bothered with. She likes that it belongs to her too, and it will get more challenging as we progress. I am happy at least to have some sense of direction for what to do with her. In addition to her new Math curriculum, we are sort of learning some French and I am trying to get her to practice printing her letters and recognizing the sounds they make. It is an uphill battle. She hates to trace anything and can't stand it when we talk about letter sounds. We are going to work on teaching her to write her own name, but so far she can't stand anything to do with reading or writing. Mostly I let her play and look at books when she is done her Math and remind myself that her dad didn't read until he was 9-- and he is exceptionally brilliant.

Theo continues to write and read every minute he can get the chance, but one thing the learning assistant noted was that he was capable of much more sophisticated writing if only his physical ability to print wasn't slowing him down. His physical printing and cursive technique is about grade level, but what he wants to write and is mentally capable of conceiving is more than he can manage when his hands are so slow. So for now the tactic is to keep him doing his printing and cursive practice in the hopes that he will get quick enough to keep up with his own brain. Luckily the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum is also instructive in other aspects of language, like writing composition, grammar, and Latin and Greek roots. So we are working along on that and trying to fit some First Language Lessons in as well. I am surprised how much he has retained of that since last year.

One thing I am having to work with him on is a couple of his habits of verbal communication which may or may not be related to his probable giftedness. The first is his tendency to use expressions and figures of speech he doesn't completely understand or have any understanding of at all. The other is his habit of telling people about something he read or watched and enjoyed, but skipping most of the narrative introduction and simply repeating it verbatim--whether he understands all of it or not--and giving no context for what it's about. At this point I can't tell if he is doing this is because of the disparity between what's going on in his head and what he is capable of socially in conversation at the age of 7, or because he genuinely doesn't realize that his listeners don't have the same thoughts that he does and therefore need more context in order to share his conversation properly. Or perhaps, he just wants to relive his favourite parts out loud-- I seem to recall my sister and I doing that. But it sneaks into his conversations with other as well. Redirecting him and asking him questions to help him express himself better seems to improve his narrative ability--which has improved quite a bit in the last year anyway. He understands what a figure of speech is and can use several properly, but he doesn't seem to mind using ones he doesn't understand either and I'm guessing this is a consequence of his being able to read at a much higher level and trying out phrases he thinks he understands in situations that seem to relate from his point of view but actually don't.

We had a fascinating conversation about forgiveness and why Jesus told us we have to do it whether the person who hurt us is sorry or not as well. I was actually surprised how much he could express regarding his thoughts on what is a really tough concept really-- even for grownups. And I was pleased to see that the conversation wasn't boring to him at all. He asked several insightful and difficult questions--like how to make Satan go away if he talks to you in REAL life. It can be hard to tell sometimes what he is picking up in Sunday School and just from living in a Christian household.

I have even hit upon an easier way to get work done with Eustace about. We skipped schoolwork on Thursday morning and went to the library first, with the intention of doing some work there while Eustace played and after a brisk walk to energize us. Theo forgot his backpack however, and I decided to put him in charge of Eustace while I taught Georgie her Math. Of course I was there supervising them, but Theo spent an hour entertaining Eustace or at least making sure that he didn't bolt for the door while I sat with Georgie and we did counting and number printing. She even read a book! She has very few letter sounds yet-- partly because I think she's too lazy to take the time to remember them-- she'd rather just guess and wishes she just knew how to read already instead of having to look at each letter and remember the sound. But her teacher sent her home with a reader that was just easy enough for her to manage and she read the whole thing! When we got home, I helped Theo get through his work for the day while Georgie played with Eustace outside. Within an hour and a bit Theo had done his Math lesson, his French lesson, his Language Lesson, and his printing practice. It took us all day to do school essentially, but that was combined with an outing to the library and a trip from groceries too so really it worked well. By the time Daddy got home both of them had done a substantial amount of school work. So I think we will be trying this on home days more often. After all, watching the younger children is something all kids in big families need to learn, and personally I think it sets them at an advantage over their peers in smaller families when it comes to learning to being responsible and independent.

In any case we are all doing much better than when we first started out this year, which is a relief because in about a month, things are going to get really complicated with a brand new baby in the house, and I suspect that sleep will be a more pressing matter than school. Yes indeed, we certainly don't take life slowly around here.