Hello! How is everyone's year progressing? Did your plans pan out? Did things go better or worse than expected? I am happy with the progress of my children, but am eating a little bit of humble pie, with regards to R&S Math. š¤£š¬. I'm also thankful for this forum overall and the advice of Catherine Saylor who wisely advised me to take a leap into FFL (First Form Latin) in 2020 with my oldest, despite her having not completed LC (Latina Christina). My daughter's struggles were more along the lines of deep comprehension, but other areas she was making great progress.
DD1 (6th grade) -
We had to finish Unit 5 of FFL. (this was probably more "me" than her having trouble with it) She actually completed most of it on her own, with little from me. (she did do flashcards very well nearly every day and I drilled some forms every now and then). I had taken the adult FFL class over the summer prior but she really seemed to be doing well on her own. After taking the SFL (Second Form Latin) summer class I was a little worried I didn't drill enough, but I had her do some of the drills I learned in class and she passed them with flying colors. She's so fast that I have to have the forms in front me to confirm she is right! I think she'll finish the same as last year (leaving the last unit, Passive voice) for "next year". I plan to take two year to do Third Form and this seems like it will work out well, glancing at the Table of Contents in TFL. She did Famous Men of Rome and Christian Studies 2, and R&S Math 6. She's a little behind on Geo 1. My mother ( a former Catholic School middle school English teacher) has taken on teaching middle school English and Literature. The grammar is a bit overkill with the Latin my daughter is doing, but after some initial struggle to learn how to teach just one, she (and my daughter) have found a nice rhythm. My daughter is so good at the grammar that she is on to the 7th grade book and may finish the 8th grade book by the end of 7th grade. Literature was a little slower, my mom and daughter worked through Heidi and Twenty One Balloons only, but also finished the Poetry for Grammar and are now working on the Poetry and Short Stories book. My daughter has made great strides in her comprehension, even on those deeper questions, thanks to my mom! My daughter works really well independently (although, it wasn't SO easy at the beginning of the year - it took some refocus and organizational training between my mom and me to "set her up"). She absolutely loves to read and has read (and re-read) almost everything on our shelf. She's reading Redwall now, and has Watership Down on her list next. I have to ask her to stop reading sometimes to do other things. She started a homeschool volleyball club and seems to be enjoying that. Piano seems to be fizzing out. She's been apart of church choir since the 3rd grade and I think we may need to depart from that next year. We are very involved in our newly founded American Heritage Girls troop and she's really shined. She designed a game for a younger unit (Escape room-= think more table top puzzles). It involved her creating the puzzles, sorting them in the correct order, and playing the game to make sure it made sense. I was really quite impressed at how well she worked and was able to organize it all with little help from me. (I mean, I almost can't believe what she did!!). However, we are deeply struggling in other areas. She's a perfectionist and if she's wrong, she throws a fit. (not really exaggerating here). It's really hard to walk her through, or step her back to find where she has made an error. She's thrown things, slammed the book down, told me "I" was wrong (I have the teacher's manual and have even worked the problem on the calculator to make sure the book wasn't wrong) but she's so smart (and fast) that sometimes she skips a step and doesn't realize it. She'll blame me and say I "made her do it wrong"...and it goes on and on. It escalates rather quickly. I've tried to also just sit back and say nothing and that backfires as well. I'd love any advice on how to deal with an explosive child. She's also rather bossy and will interrupt me teaching a sibling to basically say I'm wrong (although she hasn't heard the whole conversation and doesn't know exactly what we were talking about). It's borderline Oppositional Defiant Behavior.....I found a note one day that she had written at a retreat and it said "Dear God, I am struggling, Help me". š„. I have signed her up for an MPOA math class to see if that will help, grandma will still teach English and Literature. That will leave Latin and the "social studies" to me. We seem to do pretty well with these subjects and she is now able to read and write the answers and then discuss with me. If she's wrong, she might protest a little but I can guide her to the book. I'm having some reservations about High School....
Then there is my sweet anxious son. He has the cutest little face and is very affectionate. He mostly did a modified SC 7&8. My plans for him didn't quite work out like I planned. We finished SC 7 literature and I would say that we made progress there. One day, I was busy and his choice was to re-read a chapter or simply try and answer (in writing!) the comprehension questions. I was pretty sure he would choose re-read, but he chose to answer the questions and he did! (so, now I know he can!). This year we switched from shared reading to him reading the whole thing and while he wasn't happy about it, he did manage it all year. The slow pace of only 2 novels I thought was insanely slow, but it really worked and he has made such great progress! He's asked to read Cricket in Times Square, Homer Price and Lassie next year. We'll see how that goes! (HE did not want to read Narnia because he's been read it many times and knows the movies (which he said has ruined the book!!) so he wanted to read new things. I think I can respect that and hope to see how he does with a slightly quicker pace. If he only reads Cricket and Times Square and Homer Price, I'm ok with that. My son had been doing CLE math. He could do it independently and was moving along swiftly. Until we hit CLE4. (I've read some reviews that CLE4's spiral approach and quickness make it a challenge). He literally could not figure out how to division problems 54/4 for example. Even on graph paper, it took several weeks to get him to understand/remember all the steps. I had to pull out the R&S 4 book, and go back to lesson 40. That is where I am eating some humble pie. I'll never do another math program again. He was able to move through other of the R&S4 lessons quickly, but he needed the step by step approach to division problems. I think he will still be able to begin R&S5 next year. He was so excited after he "got" the division problems that he asked to do MORE problems that day!!! "Look mom, I think I've got this now, can I do a few more problems?" (??? what? umm...yes.....). He's on his third year of LC and is just about to finish it. It isn't perfect but I think he is well place to begin FFL, but I do plan to take the 2 years for him. He just isn't as quick as his sister. I have the 9/10 plans to work through with him. Next year, ultimately, he'll be doing a modified SC 7&8. (The R&S4 grammar did not go so well, we had to stop and go back to EGR1 review). He'll do SC 9/10 for Math and Latin and SC 8 for Literature, with SC 7/8 for Geo, Grammar, Classical/Christian/Cursive/Enrichment. I'm hoping maybe he'll move to MP6 the following year, but we'll see. My biggest struggles with him are impatience that I think stem from anxiety. He also doesn't take no and pretty much "argues" over any task given to him. "Son, do x number of problems" "Can I just do x"? I'd love suggestions for navigating that. It doesn't matter how many times I've said "I told you to do x..go do x...he'll still stand there and "negotiate". He'll also follow me around the house and try and convince me if I've given him an answer he doesn't like.
Then there is the youngest. She seems the calmest of the three, but she has her own issues. She is finished with SC4 and I plan to have her do SC 5&6 next year. She's moving right along, but she should be a 4th grader. She's also too smart for her own good, but I suspect "something" is going on with her. Despite all the tools and knowledge I had in teaching to read, she was the hardest! I had to use every.single.thing I owned to get her reading well. (at least it was worth buying it and I knew how to use it, so it wasn't overwhelming!). She has a hard time with "time" something neither of the other two needed to be "taught". However, her comprehension is amazing and can often answer questions better than her older brother. (They are doing CS 1 and Greek Myths together). She's the only 1 of the 3 that when asked a high level question can simplify the answer and make it age appropriate. The other two will basically, verbatim, quote the text. She finishes her work quickly and crafts night and day....but often doesn't clean up.......š³. I do suspect some form of anxiety in her but I can't quite put my finger on it.
Well, that's our summary. Thanks for reading if you got this far!
DD1 (6th grade) -
We had to finish Unit 5 of FFL. (this was probably more "me" than her having trouble with it) She actually completed most of it on her own, with little from me. (she did do flashcards very well nearly every day and I drilled some forms every now and then). I had taken the adult FFL class over the summer prior but she really seemed to be doing well on her own. After taking the SFL (Second Form Latin) summer class I was a little worried I didn't drill enough, but I had her do some of the drills I learned in class and she passed them with flying colors. She's so fast that I have to have the forms in front me to confirm she is right! I think she'll finish the same as last year (leaving the last unit, Passive voice) for "next year". I plan to take two year to do Third Form and this seems like it will work out well, glancing at the Table of Contents in TFL. She did Famous Men of Rome and Christian Studies 2, and R&S Math 6. She's a little behind on Geo 1. My mother ( a former Catholic School middle school English teacher) has taken on teaching middle school English and Literature. The grammar is a bit overkill with the Latin my daughter is doing, but after some initial struggle to learn how to teach just one, she (and my daughter) have found a nice rhythm. My daughter is so good at the grammar that she is on to the 7th grade book and may finish the 8th grade book by the end of 7th grade. Literature was a little slower, my mom and daughter worked through Heidi and Twenty One Balloons only, but also finished the Poetry for Grammar and are now working on the Poetry and Short Stories book. My daughter has made great strides in her comprehension, even on those deeper questions, thanks to my mom! My daughter works really well independently (although, it wasn't SO easy at the beginning of the year - it took some refocus and organizational training between my mom and me to "set her up"). She absolutely loves to read and has read (and re-read) almost everything on our shelf. She's reading Redwall now, and has Watership Down on her list next. I have to ask her to stop reading sometimes to do other things. She started a homeschool volleyball club and seems to be enjoying that. Piano seems to be fizzing out. She's been apart of church choir since the 3rd grade and I think we may need to depart from that next year. We are very involved in our newly founded American Heritage Girls troop and she's really shined. She designed a game for a younger unit (Escape room-= think more table top puzzles). It involved her creating the puzzles, sorting them in the correct order, and playing the game to make sure it made sense. I was really quite impressed at how well she worked and was able to organize it all with little help from me. (I mean, I almost can't believe what she did!!). However, we are deeply struggling in other areas. She's a perfectionist and if she's wrong, she throws a fit. (not really exaggerating here). It's really hard to walk her through, or step her back to find where she has made an error. She's thrown things, slammed the book down, told me "I" was wrong (I have the teacher's manual and have even worked the problem on the calculator to make sure the book wasn't wrong) but she's so smart (and fast) that sometimes she skips a step and doesn't realize it. She'll blame me and say I "made her do it wrong"...and it goes on and on. It escalates rather quickly. I've tried to also just sit back and say nothing and that backfires as well. I'd love any advice on how to deal with an explosive child. She's also rather bossy and will interrupt me teaching a sibling to basically say I'm wrong (although she hasn't heard the whole conversation and doesn't know exactly what we were talking about). It's borderline Oppositional Defiant Behavior.....I found a note one day that she had written at a retreat and it said "Dear God, I am struggling, Help me". š„. I have signed her up for an MPOA math class to see if that will help, grandma will still teach English and Literature. That will leave Latin and the "social studies" to me. We seem to do pretty well with these subjects and she is now able to read and write the answers and then discuss with me. If she's wrong, she might protest a little but I can guide her to the book. I'm having some reservations about High School....
Then there is my sweet anxious son. He has the cutest little face and is very affectionate. He mostly did a modified SC 7&8. My plans for him didn't quite work out like I planned. We finished SC 7 literature and I would say that we made progress there. One day, I was busy and his choice was to re-read a chapter or simply try and answer (in writing!) the comprehension questions. I was pretty sure he would choose re-read, but he chose to answer the questions and he did! (so, now I know he can!). This year we switched from shared reading to him reading the whole thing and while he wasn't happy about it, he did manage it all year. The slow pace of only 2 novels I thought was insanely slow, but it really worked and he has made such great progress! He's asked to read Cricket in Times Square, Homer Price and Lassie next year. We'll see how that goes! (HE did not want to read Narnia because he's been read it many times and knows the movies (which he said has ruined the book!!) so he wanted to read new things. I think I can respect that and hope to see how he does with a slightly quicker pace. If he only reads Cricket and Times Square and Homer Price, I'm ok with that. My son had been doing CLE math. He could do it independently and was moving along swiftly. Until we hit CLE4. (I've read some reviews that CLE4's spiral approach and quickness make it a challenge). He literally could not figure out how to division problems 54/4 for example. Even on graph paper, it took several weeks to get him to understand/remember all the steps. I had to pull out the R&S 4 book, and go back to lesson 40. That is where I am eating some humble pie. I'll never do another math program again. He was able to move through other of the R&S4 lessons quickly, but he needed the step by step approach to division problems. I think he will still be able to begin R&S5 next year. He was so excited after he "got" the division problems that he asked to do MORE problems that day!!! "Look mom, I think I've got this now, can I do a few more problems?" (??? what? umm...yes.....). He's on his third year of LC and is just about to finish it. It isn't perfect but I think he is well place to begin FFL, but I do plan to take the 2 years for him. He just isn't as quick as his sister. I have the 9/10 plans to work through with him. Next year, ultimately, he'll be doing a modified SC 7&8. (The R&S4 grammar did not go so well, we had to stop and go back to EGR1 review). He'll do SC 9/10 for Math and Latin and SC 8 for Literature, with SC 7/8 for Geo, Grammar, Classical/Christian/Cursive/Enrichment. I'm hoping maybe he'll move to MP6 the following year, but we'll see. My biggest struggles with him are impatience that I think stem from anxiety. He also doesn't take no and pretty much "argues" over any task given to him. "Son, do x number of problems" "Can I just do x"? I'd love suggestions for navigating that. It doesn't matter how many times I've said "I told you to do x..go do x...he'll still stand there and "negotiate". He'll also follow me around the house and try and convince me if I've given him an answer he doesn't like.
Then there is the youngest. She seems the calmest of the three, but she has her own issues. She is finished with SC4 and I plan to have her do SC 5&6 next year. She's moving right along, but she should be a 4th grader. She's also too smart for her own good, but I suspect "something" is going on with her. Despite all the tools and knowledge I had in teaching to read, she was the hardest! I had to use every.single.thing I owned to get her reading well. (at least it was worth buying it and I knew how to use it, so it wasn't overwhelming!). She has a hard time with "time" something neither of the other two needed to be "taught". However, her comprehension is amazing and can often answer questions better than her older brother. (They are doing CS 1 and Greek Myths together). She's the only 1 of the 3 that when asked a high level question can simplify the answer and make it age appropriate. The other two will basically, verbatim, quote the text. She finishes her work quickly and crafts night and day....but often doesn't clean up.......š³. I do suspect some form of anxiety in her but I can't quite put my finger on it.
Well, that's our summary. Thanks for reading if you got this far!
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