Re: Anti Procrastination Thursday
Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 4:05 pm
Stopping to pray for Dee DS-A and all those who are battling fires and weather. I can't imagine how hard it must be.
DGS21 called and asked if I had extra food available for lunch. He woke up late this morning and didn't make his lunch. I always have extra food or something that I can quickly fix so I told DGS21 to come to join me for lunch today. I pulled several things out of the refrigerator and had way more than the 3 of us could eat. The amount of food available could have feed 3-4 more people without a problem.
Homeschool went well this morning. We had one time when DS10 had an attitude toward me, but that was quickly addressed and solved.
SKIPPABLE.....I'm just thinking out loud while I'm resting a moment in the glow of a job well done. I'm not a teacher and am constantly doubting my ability to teach DS10. So when I have a success I am surprised as well as being thrilled.
DS10 has achieved 2 Math goals. I am silently jumping up and down with glee. I can't discuss this with anyone IRL because I don't want friends/family talking about it and DS10 confidence shaken.
One of the Math goals achieved was the ability to repeatedly do subtraction problems in less than 3 seconds each with 100% accuracy. In the past we focused just on learning the math facts but not on speed. We used 6 seconds per problem which gave him time to use his fingers and other aids. Once he achieved the 6 seconds with accuracy then we switched to 3 seconds. True it is only a 3 second change but it is huge in that it requires instant response. Yesterday DS10 did over 100 problems. This Math test is a challenge because it requires not only the knowledge but the ability to stay focused. There can not be any hesitation on giving any of the answers. To achieve this goal it cannot take 4 seconds to do a problem because that stops the test. This is a big challenge for an ADHD kid that is also doing tics (eyes squeezing shut over & over plus his neck tic jerks head backward over & over) which affect the ability to actually SEE the problems. Yesterday I was watching DS10 take the test and was marveling at his mental success with these very real physical challenges. He totally rocked it!!!
The second Math goal he achieved took him-him 10 months to complete. Last year about this time I realized that DS10 wasn't retaining important Math information. I tried several different methods & curriculum to teach Math but DS10 understanding & knowledge just wasn't there. He was becoming frustrated and disappointed in his struggle to do Math. So I made the radical (to me) decision to start again at the point that DS10 knew the Math material well. I didn't want DS10 to know that he was doing lower grade work than his friends so I also keep going (at a very slow pace) the same grade as his friends are doing. This meant we were doing 3 grades of multiple curricula at the same time.
I am soooo very pleased how well that has worked. I kept detail records so I could keep the multiple assignments in multiple curriculums organized. Yesterday I was looking back at my documentation of his work and became excited at seeing the results in hard facts. I started 3rd grade Math (again) with DS10 on 3/20/2018. The goal was a complete understanding so we went at his pace. He finished the 3rd grade math curriculum on 8/15/2018. That meant in 5 months he did a complete year of Math and was totally confident in his knowledge. Then we started 4th grade Math (again) on 8/16/2018 and he finished it yesterday (1/30/2019). So 4th grade took him 5 months and he finished it with total confidence and has retained the knowledge. Now we are 100% doing 5th grade Math just like his friends are doing. His knowledge is firm & his confidence in his ability to do Math has soared. It hasn't been an easy 10 months of double/tripling up on curriculum but the outcome has been a very successful effort. EEEK! I'm so very excited that this worked!!
DGS21 called and asked if I had extra food available for lunch. He woke up late this morning and didn't make his lunch. I always have extra food or something that I can quickly fix so I told DGS21 to come to join me for lunch today. I pulled several things out of the refrigerator and had way more than the 3 of us could eat. The amount of food available could have feed 3-4 more people without a problem.
Homeschool went well this morning. We had one time when DS10 had an attitude toward me, but that was quickly addressed and solved.
SKIPPABLE.....I'm just thinking out loud while I'm resting a moment in the glow of a job well done. I'm not a teacher and am constantly doubting my ability to teach DS10. So when I have a success I am surprised as well as being thrilled.
DS10 has achieved 2 Math goals. I am silently jumping up and down with glee. I can't discuss this with anyone IRL because I don't want friends/family talking about it and DS10 confidence shaken.
One of the Math goals achieved was the ability to repeatedly do subtraction problems in less than 3 seconds each with 100% accuracy. In the past we focused just on learning the math facts but not on speed. We used 6 seconds per problem which gave him time to use his fingers and other aids. Once he achieved the 6 seconds with accuracy then we switched to 3 seconds. True it is only a 3 second change but it is huge in that it requires instant response. Yesterday DS10 did over 100 problems. This Math test is a challenge because it requires not only the knowledge but the ability to stay focused. There can not be any hesitation on giving any of the answers. To achieve this goal it cannot take 4 seconds to do a problem because that stops the test. This is a big challenge for an ADHD kid that is also doing tics (eyes squeezing shut over & over plus his neck tic jerks head backward over & over) which affect the ability to actually SEE the problems. Yesterday I was watching DS10 take the test and was marveling at his mental success with these very real physical challenges. He totally rocked it!!!
The second Math goal he achieved took him-him 10 months to complete. Last year about this time I realized that DS10 wasn't retaining important Math information. I tried several different methods & curriculum to teach Math but DS10 understanding & knowledge just wasn't there. He was becoming frustrated and disappointed in his struggle to do Math. So I made the radical (to me) decision to start again at the point that DS10 knew the Math material well. I didn't want DS10 to know that he was doing lower grade work than his friends so I also keep going (at a very slow pace) the same grade as his friends are doing. This meant we were doing 3 grades of multiple curricula at the same time.
I am soooo very pleased how well that has worked. I kept detail records so I could keep the multiple assignments in multiple curriculums organized. Yesterday I was looking back at my documentation of his work and became excited at seeing the results in hard facts. I started 3rd grade Math (again) with DS10 on 3/20/2018. The goal was a complete understanding so we went at his pace. He finished the 3rd grade math curriculum on 8/15/2018. That meant in 5 months he did a complete year of Math and was totally confident in his knowledge. Then we started 4th grade Math (again) on 8/16/2018 and he finished it yesterday (1/30/2019). So 4th grade took him 5 months and he finished it with total confidence and has retained the knowledge. Now we are 100% doing 5th grade Math just like his friends are doing. His knowledge is firm & his confidence in his ability to do Math has soared. It hasn't been an easy 10 months of double/tripling up on curriculum but the outcome has been a very successful effort. EEEK! I'm so very excited that this worked!!