Kids reading assignments / Common core

SixPapaCharlie

SixPapaCharlie

May the force be with you
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
Messages
16,415
Display Name
Display name:
Sixer
Man, I am not sure if it is a common core thing or what but my kids are bringing home some tough books.

I don't think I could even read at their ages but they are at 5&7 really bringing home some books that have big words, and a lot of tough subjects.

As a dad, it really melts my heart to hear them read to me and see how they are progressing but sometimes I feel it is too much too soon ya know?


I personally think they focus on reading too much and not enough math. Every adult I know can read but most suck at math. Oh well..


Either way, got to listen to my kids read two great stories to me tonight.



attachment.php




attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • book2.jpg
    book2.jpg
    49.8 KB · Views: 264
  • 20150217_173040.jpg
    20150217_173040.jpg
    57 KB · Views: 265
Holy crap. I am sooooo glad I finished my beer before clicking on this thread. My laptop would be covered in IPA. lol Golden!

-Brian
 
Serious question: Are they using phonics or whole language to teach your kids how to read?
 
PPC1052 said:
Serious question: Are they using phonics or whole language to teach your kids how to read?
Click to expand...

Not sure what they call it.
They start with sight words then just start them on a series of books that all have a level of difficulty that increases.

Once they matter books in level a category, they go on to b and so on.

I dreamt feel like they need more focus on math. I don't know anyone that can't read. Probably 80 percent of the people I know will claim they suck at math.

I think we need to focus on math a bit more. But then I'm not an educator
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Not sure what they call it.
They start with sight words then just start them on a series of books that all have a level of difficulty that increases.

Once they matter books in level a category, they go on to b and so on.

I dreamt feel like they need more focus on math. I don't know anyone that can't read. Probably 80 percent of the people I know will claim they suck at math.

I think we need to focus on math a bit more. But then I'm not an educator
Click to expand...

You're not wrong, some researchers have come up with a term for being bad at math, innumeracy.

Read a while ago that a survey of 10,000 U.S. adults showed that two-thirds of them were so bad at math that they wouldn't be able to take 2 items off a menu at a restaurant and calculate a tip.
 
PPC1052 said:
Serious question: Are they using phonics or whole language to teach your kids how to read?
Click to expand...

I just wonder how it is that so many adults stumble on lose/loose, as one example.

This makes a case for learning individual words. Phonics fails when you look at how "choose" is pronounced, for example.

But basic phonics goes a long way. I remember a police trainee writing that "the vehicle was found partially striped by the side of the road." However I learned to spell, the differences between lose/loose and striped/stripped are patently obvious.

I think I posted this before, but even Apple's autofill has issues!

15734292113_dfde177053_c.jpg
 
Last edited:
SixPapaCharlie said:
Not sure what they call it.
They start with sight words then just start them on a series of books that all have a level of difficulty that increases.
Click to expand...
Ack. Whole language.

I just spent some time investigating phonics home study materials because I no longer trust the schools to teach kids how to read. I am not in favor of homeschooling, but I won't just rely on the schools to get the job done.

I suspect the fact that they can't teach math is related to their inability to teach reading. I will probably spend a lot of time tutoring math skills, as well.
 
Fredbob711 said:
You're not wrong, some researchers have come up with a term for being bad at math, innumeracy.

Read a while ago that a survey of 10,000 U.S. adults showed that two-thirds of them were so bad at math that they wouldn't be able to take 2 items off a menu at a restaurant and calculate a tip.
Click to expand...

I have seen some materials where they prohibit the children from "stacking" the number in order to do basic arithmetic. Instead, they have to "make 10s". I understand the thought process behind "making 10s," and skilled mathematicians will do that as they are adding and subtracting several numbers in their head. But that should come well after they have mastered the basic arithmetic skills. The other thing that they screw up is that basic arithmetic is both knowledge based (meaning you need to comprehend what you are doing), and a skill that must be practiced (like landings) so that you can do it well without error. (I can understand how to land, but if I don't have a lot of practice, I am still going to bounce my landings.) Too many stop at just trying to teach the comprehension. That is why they have foregone drills and flash cards, and they let kids use calculators, and the kids' basic math skills have suffered, which really hurts them when they try to advance to higher levels of math.
 
Fredbob711 said:
You're not wrong, some researchers have come up with a term for being bad at math, innumeracy.
Click to expand...

Education systems have a built-in conflict of interest in most states with respect to stamping out innumeracy.

If you eliminate innumeracy, you dry up one of the education system's biggest funding streams: The Innumeracy Tax (more commonly knows as the "Lottery")
 
I like applied learning. When I was a kid we learned fractions by using money.
I like this lego method

lego_fractions1.jpg
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I like applied learning. When I was a kid we learned fractions by using money.
I like this lego method

lego_fractions1.jpg
Click to expand...

That's great. At least for teaching the concept. The kids still need to practice doing the math problems so they know how to calculate without carrying Lego bricks around all the time.
 
Last edited:
PPC1052 said:
That's great. At least for teaching the concept. The kids still need to practice doing the math problems so they know how to calculate without carrying Lego bricks around all the time.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. Mine are young enough that this is probably a good method.
But this will make more sense to them at their current age then trying to cut numbers apart out loud.
 
PPC1052 said:
That's great. At least for teaching the concept. The kids still need to practice doing the math problems so they know how to calculate without carrying Lego bricks around all the time.
Click to expand...

What's wrong with carrying Lego bricks around all the time?

JeffDG said:
Education systems have a built-in conflict of interest in most states with respect to stamping out innumeracy.

If you eliminate innumeracy, you dry up one of the education system's biggest funding streams: The Innumeracy Tax (more commonly knows as the "Lottery")
Click to expand...

There's lots of conflicts of interest between our governments (local, state, & federal) and education. A better educated populace would never stand for the kind of BS we put up with on a daily basis from all those entities.

I will admit, I do get a chuckle every time I hear a radio commercial for the Missouri Lottery saying how you support education every time you buy a ticket. I also got a good laugh when the state justified allowing casinos because they'd bring in so much revenue for the state's education budget.
 
Last edited:
SixPapaCharlie said:
Totally agree. Mine are young enough that this is probably a good method.
Click to expand...


Agreed. I really think it is excellent for teaching the concept, and I plan to steal it.

I am a little ahead of myself in thinking about all this, given my own kid's age. But this is what happens when you wait until later in life to have a kid. I will probably be twice the age of my kid's teachers when he starts school. I am very much looking forward to teaching him stuff as he gets older.
 
FWIW, I like to read too.
I am just wrapping up this gem and I recommend it to anyone probably 3rd grade or higher

book-lesbian-horse-stories.jpg
 
Wait, are the horses lesbians, or the women riding them lesbians? It could make a difference in whether I look for it or not.
 
I was going to post that this thread has really gone off the rails. But then I looked back at the original post and realized that, in fact, I am the one who went off the rails.

My apologies.
 
Math? We don't need no math. Find me a kid these days who can make change without looking at the cash register. They'd be lost without it. :yes:
 
ChrisK said:
41GV4gB8t3L._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
Click to expand...
My daughter used to have a t-shirt that said "Just Pooh".

Norman said:
Math? We don't need no math. Find me a kid these days who can make change without looking at the cash register. They'd be lost without it. :yes:
Click to expand...

I was actually impressed when somebody did that earlier this week...scary what impresses me anymore.:eek:
 
Norman said:
Math? We don't need no math.
Click to expand...

I agree with Einstein, don't worry 'bout yer math problems, mine are infinitely worse...

Arithmetic is mind numbing but necessary. If we could figure out how to generate interest in and teach mathematics, well, that would be something else entirely.
 
Your child's education is your responsibility. Not your local school district's. If you want them to learn math? Teach them math. Or reading. Or anything else you believe in strongly enough to participate in. My own kid was into chapter books before her first day of school.
 
PPC1052 said:
Ack. Whole language.

I just spent some time investigating phonics home study materials because I no longer trust the schools to teach kids how to read. I am not in favor of homeschooling, but I won't just rely on the schools to get the job done.

I suspect the fact that they can't teach math is related to their inability to teach reading. I will probably spend a lot of time tutoring math skills, as well.
Click to expand...

As far as I know, they've been futzing around with teaching reading for over 60 years. I was taught "sight reading" for most of my pre-University schooling. One day, I discovered that understanding prefixes and suffixes made reading words make more sense and "invented" phonics for myself. Of course, elementary schools had by then started teaching phonics. "Whole language" seems like a continuation of the process. My feeling is that all methods are valuable and should be encouraged. You never know what teaching method a child will need until you try the one that helps most.
 
Stewartb said:
Your child's education is your responsibility. Not your local school district's. If you want them to learn math? Teach them math. Or reading. Or anything else you believe in strongly enough to participate in. My own kid was into chapter books before her first day of school.
Click to expand...

Absolutely true. My mom taught me how to read, write, and do basic math before entering kindergarten. Public school is just there to make sure the kids all meet a minimum standard of competency. The real education happens elsewhere.

Although I can tell you from personal experience that it creates a lot of conflict when a student can get the right answers(especially in math) and have no idea how the teacher is trying to explain how to do it(pretty much the story of my life in public school).
 
PPC1052 said:
That's great. At least for teaching the concept. The kids still need to practice doing the math problems so they know how to calculate without carrying Lego bricks around all the time.
Click to expand...

How about one of these?

Abacus13.png
 
Norman said:
Math? We don't need no math. Find me a kid these days who can make change without looking at the cash register. They'd be lost without it. :yes:
Click to expand...

Throw some additional coins at them so that you don't end up with pennies, they'll commit suicide.
 
Abaca-Lego!

Do you have an app for that? else nobody under 35 will ever touch it.

You should see the looks I get from my fresh graduate coworkers with my HP calculator.
 
I have good news and bad news. First, your kids are going to be just fine because you're deeply involved in their learning and you'll find that, with your help, they'll progress properly, if not ahead of their peers.

The bad news is that Texas is not a Common Core state, so what you're seeing from school is the Texas attempt at being rigorous.

And, please, let's not get into a long discussion about the CCSS.
 
Yeah, so I really don't know what method they are teaching. Just read the first post and laugh and my work is done.
 
My sister who is an attorney wrote a scathing letter to the public schools because they deigned to tell her fourth grader that reading Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" didn't qualify for the schools reading program because it wasn't on the list of recommended reading which primarily consisted of things like "The Adventures of Captain Underpants." (a book I had not heard of before this fiasco).
 
Norman said:
Math? We don't need no math. Find me a kid these days who can make change without looking at the cash register. They'd be lost without it. :yes:
Click to expand...

There's a famous pretzel place in St. Louis, Gus' Pretzels. It's an age old family owned business.

During one stop last summer, they were training one of their younger family members to work the register and wait on customers...he was 12 or 13 maybe.

He was not allowed to use the register to add up the purchases or make change. He could only use a pencil and paper and his brain, that's all his (presumed) mom was allowing him to use. I was impressed. And he was doing quite well too.

But, to your point, Norm, I love giving kids (for example) $5.12 when the total is $3.87. They typically stare at the money like it's radioactive and then look up at me with a deer staring in headlights look.

"Punch it into the register...then you'll understand"

And, BTW, it's not just kids. There are plenty of 40...50...60 year-olds out there that'd be lost without their calculator also.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top