Abigail's Homeschool (Poverty Style)

[Cora Persephona]

Does sound like preference regarding English versus US English. I just wish both were correct for kids to use as literature spans both cultures.

For what it's worth, when I was studying for an ESL exam that was going to be graded in the UK the teacher said we could use whichever version of spelling/pronunciation we preferred as long as we were being consistent and not switched between the two.

[Cora Persephona]

Also, I think even kids that learn English as a second language can spell fire (and much, much more, although maybe not axe since it's not really a word you use very often) by age 9. I remember learning about ladybugs in 3rd grade.

[snarkykitty]

"I love hearing Alex theorize that the "red ball" will go faster in our gravity experiment because "red is the fastest color."

:shock:

[Cran]

That boy is three. Right. RIGHT. RIGHT???

[France Nolan]

No, Alex is the nine year old. By nine I had a basic understanding of the scientific method thanks to my ebil public school teachers. We did simple experiments, charted results, etc. If I hypothesized that the red ball would fall fastest because "red is the fastest color" there would've been some raised eyebrows. That kind of thinking is more appropriate for young children. I'd expect that from a kindergartner, not nine year old.

I'm not suggesting that he should have a sophisticated hypothesis, but there should be some logic. "I think the red ball will fall fastest because it's the heaviest" or something of that nature would be much more appropriate. These poor kids are getting ridiculously substandard educations.

I had no idea that the age cut offs for kindergarten were so early in some states/districts. My home district's cut off is December 1 and some others are as late as December 15.

[Sobeknofret]

My daughter will turn 9 about 2 weeks after starting 3rd grade, due to when she started Kindergarten. She missed the cutoff (age 5 by Aug 1) in IN by 23 days so she'll always be one of the oldest in her class. When I see an age I tend to give the benefit of the doubt. Most kids will turn 9 while in the 3rd grade. Not that ax (I also prefer axe) and fire are anywhere near appropriate spelling words for a child in 3rd or 4th grade. Yikes.

Mine will be 10 in November, but we held him back a year when he was in school, and then had to reteach first and second grade last year. I managed to get part of the way into third grade in everything but language arts/spelling, so we're working some this summer to try and have him at 4th in most things by Christmas break. People also forget that kids aren't always completely consistent across the board academically. So while my kid's working at about a mid-third grade level in math, fourth grade in social studies and science, he's at an upper second in language arts and spelling. We're not neglecting the stuff he's working at a lower level in at all, but we're not super stressed that he's not at a consistent "grade level" across the board.

[ILoveJellybeans]

The kid who said that is 9? I was hoping they were a toddler, because nine year olds should have more logic.

[keen23]

I had no idea that the age cut offs for kindergarten were so early in some states/districts. My home district's cut off is December 1 and some others are as late as December 15.

Many districts require that the child be 5 BEFORE the school year starts. Like if the school year starts the first Monday in August, the cut-off date would be an August 1st birthday (turning 5 on that birthday).

[France Nolan]

Many districts require that the child be 5 BEFORE the school year starts. Like if the school year starts the first Monday in August, the cut-off date would be an August 1st birthday (turning 5 on that birthday).

Understandable. Because of the cut off dates in December there's always a decent sized group of kids who start kindergarten prior to their fifth birthdays. Some of the Catholic schools here extend the deadline to December 31 so the kids who miss the early December cut off sometimes go to Catholic school kindergarten and start public school in first grade.

[Jana814]

Understandable. Because of the cut off dates in December there's always a decent sized group of kids who start kindergarten prior to their fifth birthdays. Some of the Catholic schools here extend the deadline to December 31 so the kids who miss the early December cut off sometimes go to Catholic school kindergarten and start public school in first grade.

I have an old High School classmate who is doing this to her daughter. She won't be 5 till December 2nd.

[dilannsmom]

|

[Dysfundamental]

Judging from her blog posts, 3rd grade spelling may be a bit beyond her.

She misspells Mother Seton's name consistently in her blargh about how the Seton curriculum isn't challenging enough or whatever.

[link=http://www.setonhome.org/pdf/3%20Phonics.pdf]Here's a third grade spelling lesson plan sample[/link] from Seton. I doubt her son is equally well prepared. Poor kid; he deserves better teaching (and parenting).

[argypargy]

Understandable. Because of the cut off dates in December there's always a decent sized group of kids who start kindergarten prior to their fifth birthdays. Some of the Catholic schools here extend the deadline to December 31 so the kids who miss the early December cut off sometimes go to Catholic school kindergarten and start public school in first grade.

My son's bday is September 10th. Our district's cutoff is November 1. We will evaluate his readiness when we get closer. I would like to start him early, but my husband is not convinced.

[Mudball]

Not to White Knight Abigail or make her my pet fundie (because honestly I can not stand her at all, she's detestable), but my always homeschooled 9 year old has strengths and weaknesses too. I'd be heartsick to think someone saw her struggling with division and assumed she was so far behind and I sucked at educating her bc in other areas she's far ahead of her peers. I hope that is the case for her kids, too.

The red ball is faster thing is funny. Maybe a bit off putting but I find 9 to be a weird age. There are things my daughter SHOULD know better but then this really uncharacteristic child-like comment like that will come out. My dd took a standardized test this year and tested far above her grade level in science and I can still picture her saying something silly like that.

But, like I said, lest I be seen as white-knighting, I will stop now. :lol: I guess more than anything I am white knighting homeschooling, not Abigail, and HOPING for the best. :pray: :lol:

And that Seton spelling lesson? Jesus, what a freakin' drag. It makes me hope she does stick to "boy words" from Roblox, maybe just step them up in intensity. That really sucked.

[JenXer]

She misspells Mother Seton's name consistently in her blargh about how the Seton curriculum isn't challenging enough or whatever.

Seton isn't challenging enough?? That's the first time I've heard that and I know many college grad parents who use it. My dear friends are a couple where the mother is a doctor and the dad is an engineer. If they find it challenging enough then I'm certain this woman would.

Seton isn't challenging enough so she pulls lessons out of her head?. Yeah, right.

P.S. I dig that spelling lesson from Seton. But we've never gone with them because they have too much busy work.

[Markie]

France Nolan wrote:keen23 wrote:France Nolan wrote:I had no idea that the age cut offs for kindergarten were so early in some states/districts. My home district's cut off is December 1 and some others are as late as December 15.

Many districts require that the child be 5 BEFORE the school year starts. Like if the school year starts the first Monday in August, the cut-off date would be an August 1st birthday (turning 5 on that birthday).

Understandable. Because of the cut off dates in December there's always a decent sized group of kids who start kindergarten prior to their fifth birthdays. Some of the Catholic schools here extend the deadline to December 31 so the kids who miss the early December cut off sometimes go to Catholic school kindergarten and start public school in first grade.

My son's bday is September 10th. Our district's cutoff is November 1. We will evaluate his readiness when we get closer. I would like to start him early, but my husband is not convinced.

Our province's (Ontario) age cut-off is December 31st. My nephew's birthday is December 27, so he was 3 years old for almost half of Junior Kindergarten. We have both JK and SK here.

[dawbs]

I spell it either way, depending on the letters I have while playing Bananagrams!

And the kindergarten cut-off date is interesting, but what I find even more interesting is the new wave of parents who are "red shirting" their of age kindergartener. That way the student will be a year bigger, stronger, faster when it is time for high school athletics.

**Seriously, why can't I ever get the quotes to work?

To be fair, I think this is a place that parents just *can't* win. My daughter has a September birthday (1 day after the cut off for my town), and IF she progresses on absolutely everything from now (almost 3) until she's almost 5 (which isn't going to happen, I know, just bear w/ the example)...I'd red-shirt her. Not because she wouldn't be academically ready (I expect she will be) or for sports (although she *is* small for her age and being a bit closer in size to the other kids would be kinda nice), but because she's a bit socially and emotionally behind for her age.

You start the kid early and people imply it's for the free childcare (yes, the cost of an extra year of preschool is a factor) and that you're 'pushing' and cite studies that look at dropout rates. You start the kid late and you're accused of trying to have them be the biggest/most academically mature kids in the grade.

(and regardless, the teachers can't win, because every exception means they're now teaching an 18/24/whatever month spread of ages instead of a 12 month spread of ages.)

[and as far as quotes, I think you did the start one wrong--it shouldn't have the / in it. If you remove the *'s, this is what your 'code' for the quote should look like

[*quote]

[Syd+Marky]

For what it's worth, when I was studying for an ESL exam that was going to be graded in the UK the teacher said we could use whichever version of spelling/pronunciation we preferred as long as we were being consistent and not switched between the two.

Since both spellings are used, then both should be acceptable.I think consistency is the important thing when using a word that has more than one acceptable spelling.I'll stick with a-x-e, myself.:-)

[Carla Bruni]

Also, I think even kids that learn English as a second language can spell fire (and much, much more, although maybe not axe since it's not really a word you use very often) by age 9. I remember learning about ladybugs in 3rd grade.

English is my second language, and I won the school spelling bee at 9 (in 4th grade). My final word was "narcotic". Slightly hysterical "VEE MAST REYZ BREELEEYANT CHILD" parents MAY have contributed, because my mom thought I should learn all the state spelling bee words in addition to the school ones :P

That said, I recently watched our local DC spelling bee, and there were fourth-graders there spelling words I didn't even understand. And I have a fancy MA in the social sciences :(

ETA: I totally agree that the key to spelling is reading as much as possible. Using words in sentences is great for vocab expansion, but it won't help much with spelling. My written French skyrocketed when I switched from doing stupid workbook exercises to actually reading age-appropriate material (glossy teen mags from Borders ;)).

[SquirrelySquirrel]

To be fair, I think this is a place that parents just *can't* win. My daughter has a September birthday (1 day after the cut off for my town), and IF she progresses on absolutely everything from now (almost 3) until she's almost 5 (which isn't going to happen, I know, just bear w/ the example)...I'd red-shirt her. Not because she wouldn't be academically ready (I expect she will be) or for sports (although she *is* small for her age and being a bit closer in size to the other kids would be kinda nice), but because she's a bit socially and emotionally behind for her age.

You win by doing what's best for your kid/s and telling everyone else to get bent. :lol: But seriously, my daughter was also very emotionally/socially immature for her age. We could have had her tested and likely would have been allowed to let her start even though she was a little past that Aug 1 cutoff date, but the extra year did her a world of good. Everyone except for my schoolteacher mom was pushing us to get her tested, but we don't regret our decision one bit.

It honestly boggles my mind that kids start Kindergarten at age 4 in some states/districts. That just seems too young to me, especially with all-day Kindergarten.

And a spelling rant that I forgot to include earlier: I rarely studied my spelling words because it was my strongest subject, and aside from the one year when my teacher gave us individualized lists, I wasn't challenged. I got the word omelette marked wrong on a test because we were supposed to spell it omelet. It burned me up. I tried discussing with it my teacher and she wouldn't budge. It still kind of burns me up. I get that it was like that on the list and I should have looked at it, but jeez! I spelled the word correctly. I can't stand the look of omelet. It seems lazy or something.

[Cora Persephona]

English is my second language, and I won the school spelling bee at 9 (in 4th grade). My final word was "narcotic". Slightly hysterical "VEE MAST REYZ BREELEEYANT CHILD" parents MAY have contributed, because my mom thought I should learn all the state spelling bee words in addition to the school ones :P

That said, I recently watched our local DC spelling bee, and there were fourth-graders there spelling words I didn't even understand. And I have a fancy MA in the social sciences :(

ETA: I totally agree that the key to spelling is reading as much as possible. Using words in sentences is great for vocab expansion, but it won't help much with spelling. My written French skyrocketed when I switched from doing stupid workbook exercises to actually reading age-appropriate material (glossy teen mags from Borders ;)).

Oh yes, I am a big fan of reading a lot in the foreign languages you want to learn (and in your native one too, but I guess mine is fairly straight-forward where spelling is concerned) and in those that you already know in order to get/keep a sense of the language.

[Vex]

I really hope Abigail's kids somehow pick up a passion for reading. It's clear Abigail is hopelessly inept as an educator so the only way those kids will ever be able to learn is to teach themselves through books.

That being said, I can't imagine her providing age-appropriate books for her kids, let alone educational ones that open them up to the evils of subjects like world history, geography or science.

[OkToBeTakei]

You win by doing what's best for your kid/s and telling everyone else to get bent. :lol: But seriously, my daughter was also very emotionally/socially immature for her age. We could have had her tested and likely would have been allowed to let her start even though she was a little past that Aug 1 cutoff date, but the extra year did her a world of good. Everyone except for my schoolteacher mom was pushing us to get her tested, but we don't regret our decision one bit.

It honestly boggles my mind that kids start Kindergarten at age 4 in some states/districts. That just seems too young to me, especially with all-day Kindergarten.

And a spelling rant that I forgot to include earlier: I rarely studied my spelling words because it was my strongest subject, and aside from the one year when my teacher gave us individualized lists, I wasn't challenged. I got the word omelette marked wrong on a test because we were supposed to spell it omelet. It burned me up. I tried discussing with it my teacher and she wouldn't budge. It still kind of burns me up. I get that it was like that on the list and I should have looked at it, but jeez! I spelled the word correctly. I can't stand the look of omelet. It seems lazy or something.

OH boy. I would have been in a rage at that one. I have never seen it written as omelet either :( Poor younger you.

[luv2run]

She misspells Mother Seton's name consistently in her blargh about how the Seton curriculum isn't challenging enough or whatever.

[link=http://www.setonhome.org/pdf/3%20Phonics.pdf]Here's a third grade spelling lesson plan sample[/link] from Seton. I doubt her son is equally well prepared. Poor kid; he deserves better teaching (and parenting).

I've been using Seton for years. It's been a fantastic experience. Their spelling helped a ton for my kids, and their writing program is rigorous. More than most home school folks want. But my ten year old has now written eight book reports and can write his own sentences and paragraphs.

I take a lot of the busy work out. As long as they know the material and pass the tests. I use a different Math curriculum, and also didn't use their phonics for my struggling nine year old (she has issues with phonemic awareness, but after two years of tutoring is doing so, so well). I used All About Spelling, which the tutor recommended.

I'm not using all Seton materials for her for third grade, but will for some. Like English and Religion.

[Scone]

Does sound like preference regarding English versus US English. I just wish both were correct for kids to use as literature spans both cultures.

In New Zealand, British English is the officially correct version but we are generally allowed to use American English as long as we're consistent. Unfortunately, I don't always know which spelling belongs to which country, having grown up with about equal input from each country's literature. Generally the longer version of the word is the British one, but what about grey and gray? I have no idea. (Spell check is correcting gray, so I guess that's the American one?)

I'm really glad other people commented on ax vs axe. I saw "ax" in the op and thought "Well, she's got that wrong already!", and then no one seemed to notice for over a page and I was getting worried that I might be crazy and there never was any 'e' after all :shrug: