Posts Tagged homeschool
Use Achievement Test Results as Teaching Tools
Posted by Diane in Personalized Homeschool Curriculum on July 23rd, 2010
Teaching tools are scattered all over the internet: spelling word lists, math squares, and even blank book report templates. Search for an item, print it off, and hand it to your home school child to complete, right? Well…right and wrong. “Right” because sometimes you need a “ready-made” teaching tool to accomplish a task. “Wrong” because before you can decide on what tasks your child needs to tackle, you need to assess his skills. Remember that an authentic classical education involves teaching three skills to mastery: language, thought, and communication. Don’t put the cart before the horse. First decide what skills need work, and then decide what tasks (like solving math square puzzles) will help your home school child master the skill. Standardized achievement tests provide a snapshot in time of your child’s progress and needs by:
- demonstrating knowledge
- tracking progress
- highlighting strengths and weaknesses
- clarifying curriculum choices
Standardized tests like the IOWA and Stanford brands typically include questions in the areas of language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and reference sources. In developing the test by grade level, professional educators have identified certain basic knowledge or “content standards.” When your homeschool child takes one of these standardized achievement tests, his responses are compared to the correct answers. The resulting report shows (1) the total number of questions in each category, (2) the number of questions your child attempted to answer, (3) the percentage of questions your child answered correctly, and (4) the percentage of questions that all other children answered correctly nationwide.
Handy bar charts and statistics quickly tell the parent what areas need attention. For example, math computation for the 9th grade IOWA test includes line items called integers, decimals/percents, fractions, and algebraic manipulations. Each line item includes a detailed analysis so that the parent can quickly see that the homeschool student has completely mastered fractions but still needs work with decimals. Does the test say that your child scores in the college grade equivalent for a certain category or with a national percentile rank of 95% or higher? If so, this could be one indicator that your child has mastered spelling; you can drop the spelling work and move on to mastering another skill. As a teaching tool, the achievement test results can guide you in planning the tasks that your child needs to tackle in order to master the three skills of the classical trivium.
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Have you completed my parent workshop called “Classical Education 101” yet? This free parent course will give you another teaching tool to help you determine your own child’s skill mastery and come up with a strategic semester plan for teaching the three skills of the classical trivium.
A Last Home School Hurrah
Posted by Diane in Various Essays for Homeschool Parents on May 25th, 2010
For all of you wonderful moms who are so busy with the daily rigors of homeschooling, here’s a little peek at the future that is sure to encourage you. Written by my good friend, Pennie Gelwicks, who just graduated from The King’s College in Manhattan…(you might want to go get the kleenex now)…enjoy!
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A bright, hot New York City summer is commencing without me, and it’s okay. I’ll be there soon enough. I graduated from college in New York a little over two weeks ago. Right now, I’m in the Midwest for a few weeks, jumping in on a myriad of family events and celebrations, and enjoying the AC while I can (we have none in my apartment). Last week, it was a wedding in Cleveland with my boyfriend, this week, my brother graduated from high school, and next week is the Indy 500. The next week, my sister returns from doing medical work in Togo, then we’re going to Virginia Beach for my brother to compete in nationals for speech and debate. I’ll take a bus up the coast back to NYC in time for my internship to start.
Yesterday was my brother Roger’s open house graduation party. The most conservative estimate is that there were about 150 people there. We still have fruit, corn chips, and three Cost-co size bags of pita chips left over. Celebrating milestones and witnessing ceremony are two of my favorite pastimes, also, pita chips and hummus are generally what I live on. It’s been a good three weekends.
It was a bittersweet time for my family because Roger is our youngest, so we all feel like we’re graduating from the world of homeschooling- and believe me, it is a whole world. As much as I like to poke fun sometimes at the quirks and hang-ups of the homeschooling subculture, I willingly affirm that after this week, I’m so proud to have been homeschooled.
Roger’s open house wasn’t just the typical collection of relatives in the house and cluster of peers in attendance, though both were there. It was a parade of entire families who are friends with my entire family, adults who have invested enormously in Roger either through our homeschooling cooperative, church, AWANA, or 4-H. Most of them also invested in me in the same ways- several commented that they’d been to all three open houses for us kids. One family we are close to volunteered to do set-up and keep abreast of all the food through the whole party so we could focus on mingling with everyone.
Earlier this week, I went to a homeschool production of “Fiddler on the Roof,” which, I must say, was just as high-quality as any high school play I’ve ever seen. I caught up with three old friends there watching the play- one has started her own photography business, another is doing ministry in Colorado, one is in pre-med at Vanderbilt. The audience was teeming with small children, and every last one was quiet and attentive through the entire performance.
Also this week, I went to a homeschool graduation ceremony for a homeschool co-op with 5 graduates. I made it for the tail end, just in time to hear one of the dads talk about his twin sons from the stage as he handed them their diplomas. He spoke of how both boys were interested first and foremost in being servants of Christ, in being men who love the Bible and live a life of faith. He spoke about his sons’ strong character and maturity. I remembered these twins from when Roger played in a basketball league with them years ago. Another graduate was from our 4-H club. Another had been a friend from AWANA.
The cooperative was called Iron Sharpens Iron, drawing from Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” An appropriate name, for in my homeschooling experience, such sharpening is allowed to happen over the long haul and through many different avenues. I don’t agree with everyone about everything, to be sure, and some think I’m a little crazy for living in New York City. We all agree that being countercultural is hard, and I can only pray that one day my children could have a community this vibrant and enriching as they pursue an uncommon life of faith no matter where we live.
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So don’t give up, Mom! Look what awaits you at the end of the homeschooling journey. If you are interested in The King’s College, Pennie highly recommends it, and I understand that about 1/3 of the student population is former homeschool students.
Classic Storybook Appeals to Mom and Child
Posted by Diane in Recommended Homeschool Books on April 6th, 2010
Rare children’s books like those wonderful elementary “primers” your grandmother used to read to you when you were a little girl are often difficult to find; however, homeschool mom, Barbara Frank, has recently published a beautiful new vintage book of short stories for reading aloud to young children called Kindergarten Stories and Morning Talks. Isn’t that cover illustration scrumptious?
With over 125 vintage illustrations to supplement this 1894 text and an emphasis on virtues such as truth and gratitude, Kindergarten Stories and Morning Talks is sure to please your young homeschooler as you snuggle and read about animals, nature, fairy tales, fables, and even how old-timey household objects were made and chores were performed like how to churn butter. Here’s an excerpt from the “Milk, Butter, and Cheese” chapter:
Alice was greatly interested, when after this the milk to grow thick and form curds. She watched Aunt Lizzie chop the curds and press them till all the thin liquid whey was squeezed out of them, and they were salted and pressed in a round, solid form like those in the dairy, each cheese being put into a large hoop of wood, until it became of the right shape.
“See! this is a cheese, Alice”; and then kind Aunt Lizzie let Alice press and salt a tiny cheese with her own hands. How pleased and proud was the little girl when it was placed on the supper table, and mamma, papa, and even Aunt Lizzie each ate a small piece of Alice’s own cheese.
Especially interesting to me are all the references to what we now call “homesteading” and the lost art of homemaking from scratch with whatever resources you have on hand at the time. My mother-in-law would love this classic storybook, and I’m sure that she would stop every now and then and tell stories from her own childhood. In fact, this would be a great gift to purchase for read aloud time at granny’s house.
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Are you looking for classic storybooks for your young homeschool children? Check out my favorite selections in Best Homeschool Books for Preschoolers. There you’ll find my picks for predictable plot lines that are sure to please both parent and child during read aloud time. And if you know of a rare, vintage children’s book to share with us, tell me about it in the comments section below.
Story Prediction Engages the Homeschool Child
Posted by Diane in How to Teach Homeschool Skill 1: READING on November 28th, 2009
“Are we there yet?’ When Meredith and Connor were much younger, we regularly heard this plaintive cry from the back seat of the van on long drives to Chattanooga. This innocent question reveals an amazing fact about the human mind: children think in terms of linear progression. There follows here. Future follows present. Last follows first.
Likewise, you can capitalize on this rule of thought by incorporating prediction when reading aloud to your homeschool children. Predicting content is as simple as asking what is going to happen next. After you’ve read a colorful two-page spread in a picture book, stop before turning the page and ask your child to predict the subsequent content:
“What do you think is going to happen next in the story?”
Demonstrate how to predict content by showing your child how to do it, and watch him imitate your example. Use the illustrations and keywords as clues to how the author plans to develop or unfold the plot line. Ask questions about what has happened previously in the story. If a child expects you to stop periodically and ask him to predict content , he will anticipate your questions by paying closer attention to the reading. The satisfaction of getting the right answer will motivate your homeschool child to really concentrate. If he occasionally messes up, go back and point out the clues that he missed.
To prepare the young child for predicting content in the preteen and teen years of homeschool high school, look at the front cover, back cover, art, title, and any other clues everytime you pick up a book for read aloud time. After a cursory glance, ask your child to think about the total message of the story book. This broad or universal exterior prediction serves to supplement the interior predictions that you request while reading the narrative.
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Are you looking for the best homeschool books for your preschool child? Once your young child passes the toddler stage, look for books with sequencing and ordering like the timeless children’s classic, Caps for Sale, about a peddler and some rambunctious monkeys.
Homeschool Narration by Drawing and Writing
Posted by Diane in How to Teach Homeschool Skill 1: READING, How to Teach Homeschool Skill 3: SPEAKING on November 23rd, 2009
Oral narration is not the only way to improve comprehension and long term retention in your older home school child. For the eight to eleven year old kid and even the high school teen, written narration can be the catalyst for deepening knowledge, intelligent interpretation, and regular note taking. Here are two examples for effectively using oral and written narration in your classical home school.
Eight to Eleven Year Olds
Most kids and preteens working at the late elementary school level can handle written narration without much parental guidance. First start by asking your child to tell you what he has just learned. If he’s reading a book, ask for an oral narration after each chapter. If he’s watching a video documentary, stop the video and ask him to give an oral narration after each segment or module. Once he has spoken his thoughts, it’s time to get them down on paper. For the younger child, this may mean that you have to take dictation as he talks; he can then copy what you have written. If he’s older, have him write his own thoughts in a complete one-idea paragraph.
When my kids were young, I created a narration template for them to use. I took a blank piece of 8.5 x 11 inch copy paper and visually divided it into thirds. I left the top 2 thirds blank so that they could draw a picture from the reading or video. I used a ruler to draw horizontal lines on the bottom third of the page; this is where they either copied my dictation or wrote their own narration of the main ideas of the story. Download your own copy of my homeschool narration template. Drawing for understanding is also extremely helpful, and when you combine the picture with the narrated text, you’ve got a recipe for thinking success.
High School Preteens and Teens
Who says narration is only for little kids? Written and oral narration are perfect tools for improving understanding for homeschool preteens and teens, too; however, you have to reverse the process for those kids doing high school level work. For the older homeschooler, written narration usually comes before oral narration. As the highschooler is reading a text or watching a video lecture, have him take comprehensive notes. Personally, my favorite note-taking method is called branching, but you could capture the main points of the reading or video using a formal roman numeral outline or a mind map. Drawing diagrams to help reinforce understanding of complex concepts like parts of a muscle or a fictional plot line provides an even better layer of learning.
Once your homeschool high school teen has completed his notes, he is now ready to reconstruct his thoughts by writing an abstract or summary of his interpretation. In my experience with my own kids, a typical high school abstract from a 30 minute lecture will run 2-3 paragraphs which is about a page to a page and a half of handwritten text. After the written narration is complete, it is time to share what has been learned with a parent or sibling through oral narration. Explaining his understanding to another person will help with knowledge retention and clarify any areas that he doesn’t fully understand so that he can go back and reread the text or watch that portion of the video. Just imagine how valuable this written narration inventory will be if you have your homeschool high school teen take notes, write a summary, and give an oral narration of his understanding for every chapter or lecture!
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In addition to the new envelope icon below my signature for sending emails to your friends, I’ve just added another feature for my homeschool articles: “print this post.” Now if you want a written copy of the post, you can click on this link, and print the formatted article. Why don’t you start your own ‘Strategies for Homeschooling Excellence’ binder today?
