I am having a very difficult time finding handwriting for each child. I have seen all the books, all the worksheets, all the things about it, but I don't like any of them. I did find one halfway decent book for the 12yo, but the things for the 7yo, they all want to push cursive.
I don't have a problem with cursive. In fact, I think it is needed and important to teach. It can become part of a person's handwriting as they get older and more practiced.
But I think 7yo or 2nd grade is a little early to push it.
Particularly when the 12yo can hardly write in manuscript well. I can hardly read his writing some days! (a skill to be used in his notebooks this year)
So why should I be so "encouraged" to teach cursive when the children are hardly taught to write in the first place? I need to get back to basics, and just have them write, write, and write, until I can read it.
Maybe I should make my own pages. I have a list of quotes from people that I could have them copy. I am considering adding in a vocab section for each of them, and that could be part of handwriting too.
On the other hand, and don't tell the kids this, but I am considering just scrapping the whole idea and focus on other parts of their education. After all, they will be using computers most of the time, right?
In that case, they better start with their typing again at typing.com.
Monday, July 20, 2020
Social Studies/History
History is my favorite subject, so I am so excited to share this with both of my kids. Early American history is my favorite part, but I also really enjoy studying medieval Europe, how Christianity spread through the world, and learning about languages develop. This is such a love of mine that I majored in it in college. I knew there wasn't much to do with it (I really always wanted to work in a museum, but no chance of that near us), but I still love sharing this joy of mine.
However, it is so disappointing to me what the history books are like! Some completely leave out important pieces of information that later turn out to be huge and pivotal, or worse even change the sequence or consequence of events! So I will be pulling in info from all over the place as I find it, and I will try to fit it into what we are doing in social studies/history.
With both children, I will be using the 180 Days of Social Studies for their age level (6th grade for the 12yo, but he should have gotten it last year!). My first glance was "this was exactly what I was looking for! Little tidbits and questions I can expand on!" But as I really started to look through it...
It's awful. The pages themselves individually are fine. The matter is good, and I can't wait to spring off it and go! But the way they laid it out is just terrible. There are 4 different "categories", which alternate weeks, so week 1 is history, week 2 is civics, week 3 is geography, week 4 is economics, and week 5 goes back to history. Sounds fine.
Except every page is separate. Other than those categories, there is almost nothing else that ties the week together! I love that it covers geography and mapping and all that, but when it is sandwiched between civics and economics, it looses all its... I don't know, specialness? importance? usefulness?
So now my job is going through and piecing out each and every category, to try to make it a cohesive book that flows well. The 7yo's book for 2nd grade is easy enough, because going by week won't make much difference to her. She only needs a broad overview of most of this stuff.
The 12yo's book, though, is a disaster of epic proportions. I have gone through, separating by category, just to find that category isn't enough! There isn't flow of timeline, of importance, of ANYTHING! It is simply one category per week, with no connection between almost any of it.
Then, in a moment of sheer brilliance on my part, I lost the paper that was going to be my guide through his book. So off we go to plan it all out again. Hopefully for the last time before we use it.
However, it is so disappointing to me what the history books are like! Some completely leave out important pieces of information that later turn out to be huge and pivotal, or worse even change the sequence or consequence of events! So I will be pulling in info from all over the place as I find it, and I will try to fit it into what we are doing in social studies/history.
With both children, I will be using the 180 Days of Social Studies for their age level (6th grade for the 12yo, but he should have gotten it last year!). My first glance was "this was exactly what I was looking for! Little tidbits and questions I can expand on!" But as I really started to look through it...
It's awful. The pages themselves individually are fine. The matter is good, and I can't wait to spring off it and go! But the way they laid it out is just terrible. There are 4 different "categories", which alternate weeks, so week 1 is history, week 2 is civics, week 3 is geography, week 4 is economics, and week 5 goes back to history. Sounds fine.
Except every page is separate. Other than those categories, there is almost nothing else that ties the week together! I love that it covers geography and mapping and all that, but when it is sandwiched between civics and economics, it looses all its... I don't know, specialness? importance? usefulness?
So now my job is going through and piecing out each and every category, to try to make it a cohesive book that flows well. The 7yo's book for 2nd grade is easy enough, because going by week won't make much difference to her. She only needs a broad overview of most of this stuff.
The 12yo's book, though, is a disaster of epic proportions. I have gone through, separating by category, just to find that category isn't enough! There isn't flow of timeline, of importance, of ANYTHING! It is simply one category per week, with no connection between almost any of it.
Then, in a moment of sheer brilliance on my part, I lost the paper that was going to be my guide through his book. So off we go to plan it all out again. Hopefully for the last time before we use it.
"And then there were none" assignments
So I started to read this one, but didn't finish it. In just the first chapter, it sounded interesting and intriguing, and since it was school-recommended, I thought it couldn't be too bad. I will figure out more later when I can actually read it completely, but I will be assigning it anyway.
Right now, my only assignment will probably be https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/591f4aa3f11dba1100065d60/and-then-there-were-none . There are 70 questions to be answered so that should take him a week, even with the book.
For his book report, I will want him to give me a summary of the book. I want to know about the characters, the plot, and the conclusion. This is fine for me, even if I read it later, because I don't mind spoilers. It should be 5 paragraphs, and he can either do a 1st, 2nd, 3rd phase of the story/plot, or tell me different parts of the story (intro, characters, plot, problem/resolution, conclusion). He should be able to make this one page, although more is fine as well.
Right now, my only assignment will probably be https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/591f4aa3f11dba1100065d60/and-then-there-were-none . There are 70 questions to be answered so that should take him a week, even with the book.
For his book report, I will want him to give me a summary of the book. I want to know about the characters, the plot, and the conclusion. This is fine for me, even if I read it later, because I don't mind spoilers. It should be 5 paragraphs, and he can either do a 1st, 2nd, 3rd phase of the story/plot, or tell me different parts of the story (intro, characters, plot, problem/resolution, conclusion). He should be able to make this one page, although more is fine as well.
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