From time to time the media report a decline in standards, or state that exams are getting easier etc, and there are some who agree and others who refute this every time. I can't comment on that, but I am finding that the modern maths curriculum for keystage 3 is different from what I experienced in my school days.
For a start I don't recall needing a scientific calculator as early as year 7. I'm pretty sure we still had to use primarily mental calculation at that stage. Also I'm sure I did not cover some of the topics the boys are now working on through Conquer Maths, for example statistics. In today's lesson the "sigma" symbol came up (I don't know how to keyboard that!). I don't remember that symbol at all, or other terms used in this topic. I can remember mean and mode, but that's about it! I don't think its just my memory failing, even if I can't remember much about something the keywords will usually jog some distant memory. I think statistics wasn't on the curriculum I followed.
I'm not too worried however! The wonderful ConquerMaths explains it all excellently, so the boys don't often need my less than helpful input on this subject! They work independently through the lessons, alhamdulillah, but if I'm called upon for back up I just watch the lesson myself and take it from there. Sometimes the methods differ from what I learnt at school. I'm pretty clear when it comes to working with percentages for example, but I found my methods were not the same as those on the programme, although I was still getting the same answers (phew).
One thing I'm glad about though is that I followed a maths curriculum through the primary years and built up the boys basic skills and maths knowledge, at a stage when it was all familiar and easy for me too! I think that it is because they have that behind them, alhamdulillah, that they are ready to take on the Conquer Maths independently. The programme does take for granted that you know the basics.
The way I see it the primary maths curriculum is a direct preparation for secondary maths, in a way which does not hold true with most other subjects.
With maths in the primary years I was always (and still am with the girls) plodding and methodical, sometimes repetitive, as the curriculum was just a bit like that. At the time the boys did not like maths too much, but now it has paid off in my opinion, as they enjoy it much more now. Maybe its a bit like learning a foreign language. When you plod through lots of vocab lists and basic sentences it can feel quite dull, but once you can actually speak the language and find yourself really using it, it is so much more enjoyable.
For me having the boys ready to take on unfamiliar maths topics independently through Conquer Maths, means that secondary maths is "doable" at home, even for me as a non-maths person and with a very different looking curriculum. Alhamdulillah.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Still here!
Long time no post!
Well, we are still here, still home educating alhamdulillah. We are in the winter work mode, so ploughing on with the basics while outdoor opportunities are scarce.
It has been kind of "no frills" around here lately, but, inshAllah lots of learning still goes on and no one is complaining, maashAllah.
Well, we are still here, still home educating alhamdulillah. We are in the winter work mode, so ploughing on with the basics while outdoor opportunities are scarce.
It has been kind of "no frills" around here lately, but, inshAllah lots of learning still goes on and no one is complaining, maashAllah.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Curriculum choices
Umm Ahmad requested that I describe my curriculum choices, so I'll post a little about that today, inshAllah.
I don't follow any particular methodology or approach. In fact, I'd say I'm pretty conventional about the way I home ed, but I don't stick to any ideology. I don't think it is necessary to stick to any one curriculum until you are actually preparing an exam syllabus. I use the National Curriculum as a reference spine for some subjects, but not at all for others. I do not attempt to apply the whole National Curriculum. No way. Avoiding the limitations of the National Curriculum is an advantage of home education.
With my daughters, while they are under 7/year 3 I have focussed mainly on English and maths, with other subjects done on a topic basis. This means that I don't teach separate science or geography, for example, but these things are covered through projects or practical learning. Of course there is Islamic studies too, but again I cover this in a topic/project way. Only from year 3 do I start to make separate sessions for the different subject areas and think more carefully about what is covered under each subject heading.
So, with that in mind I'll run through some of the resources I'm using with my girls this year.
First the 5 year old. For English we are using Literacy Now age 5-6 (Andrew Brodie). I like this worbook, it has just enough to do, but its range is quite spread, from easy at the beginning to quite a bit harder at the end. For this reason I don't use it continuously, I use each double page unit as I feel that U becomes ready for it. So I might use this book several times in one week, then not again for a month.
We've also finished off Schofield and Sims First Phonics4, which deals with blends in a clear straightforward way. Then there is Bond No Nonsense 5-6 years. This again I use a sprinkling of, not too often, in this case because it is so boring. I see the virtue of this book, but it has the National Curriculum drill them to death mentality about it. As it says on the back it is for children who want to do better. Better in National Tests I presume, through endless repetitive practice.
I also have the Letts Literacy Activity Books for Year 1, which I intend to start using sometime during the next couple of months, inshAllah. I also hope to get on to some story book lapbooks, as I did these with Ia when she was in year 1. U is a springtime baby,and so a little younger for her year group. At this stage I think the months still count, so I'm delaying these things until she maybe more ready for them, inshAllah.
She also does some handwriting practice, and reads from the Peter and Jane series
For maths I'm using some Collins Primary Maths workbooks, and the very old SPMG workbooks which I'm not sure can be purchased any more. she also has accounts on Mathletics and Education City.
Everything else is topic based and chosen randomly. Plus there is reading library books and practical things like art and baking done here and there, but not in a sheduled way. I don't use any other specific resources, just whatever is helpful for a particular topic. U is also now going for Quran lessons with a teacher, alhamdulillah.
With the 7 year old I use Collins Primary Maths (the version has just gone out of print), plus Mathletics and Education city. Maths is the one area that I stick with a curriculum carefully. I think that it helps to keep to one style with maths, as soon as you find the right one, as different systems teach different approaches. I found Collins suitable for us up to year 5, so I'm sticking with it, inshAllah.
For English I'm using Collins Focus on Literacy, (can't locate on Amazon just now) along with Nelson Thornes spelling and handwriting and Spellodrome, which comes with Mathletics. I continue to read aloud to the girls, as this is part of their language learning too, in my opinion.
For science I'm using year 3 National Curriculum topics, together with the CGP topic workbooks on those topics. For the two topics we've covered so far I tried to make it more interesting with a lapbook or practical activities. I'm not worried about covering everything, it is more important I think to cover a selection of topics in an enjoyable way, inshAllah.
For geography we have started working on the Trail Guide to World Geography. There is really no rush here. We'll go at a nice, comfortable pace, inshAllah, and do as many or as few notebookpages at each desination as we feel like.
For Islamic Studies I'm using Iqra workbooks on the life of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) and also doing notebook style work on the other Prophets (as), in order. We are still on Hud (as)! I may do a lapbook approach for some history of the Prophets. With the boys I varied the approach with each Prophet's story, and the whole thing took up to year 5.
Ia also has Quran lessons and does a bit of art most weeks, plus reading of course. Sometimes she does a little French on the computer.
I wonder if I've missed anything? If not, then that's about it, inshAllah.
So, I suppose in general I just try to find resources which seem to suit for each subject are, then I just work with them until I'm no longer satisfied, then I'll look for something else.
I don't follow any particular methodology or approach. In fact, I'd say I'm pretty conventional about the way I home ed, but I don't stick to any ideology. I don't think it is necessary to stick to any one curriculum until you are actually preparing an exam syllabus. I use the National Curriculum as a reference spine for some subjects, but not at all for others. I do not attempt to apply the whole National Curriculum. No way. Avoiding the limitations of the National Curriculum is an advantage of home education.
With my daughters, while they are under 7/year 3 I have focussed mainly on English and maths, with other subjects done on a topic basis. This means that I don't teach separate science or geography, for example, but these things are covered through projects or practical learning. Of course there is Islamic studies too, but again I cover this in a topic/project way. Only from year 3 do I start to make separate sessions for the different subject areas and think more carefully about what is covered under each subject heading.
So, with that in mind I'll run through some of the resources I'm using with my girls this year.
First the 5 year old. For English we are using Literacy Now age 5-6 (Andrew Brodie). I like this worbook, it has just enough to do, but its range is quite spread, from easy at the beginning to quite a bit harder at the end. For this reason I don't use it continuously, I use each double page unit as I feel that U becomes ready for it. So I might use this book several times in one week, then not again for a month.
We've also finished off Schofield and Sims First Phonics4, which deals with blends in a clear straightforward way. Then there is Bond No Nonsense 5-6 years. This again I use a sprinkling of, not too often, in this case because it is so boring. I see the virtue of this book, but it has the National Curriculum drill them to death mentality about it. As it says on the back it is for children who want to do better. Better in National Tests I presume, through endless repetitive practice.
I also have the Letts Literacy Activity Books for Year 1, which I intend to start using sometime during the next couple of months, inshAllah. I also hope to get on to some story book lapbooks, as I did these with Ia when she was in year 1. U is a springtime baby,and so a little younger for her year group. At this stage I think the months still count, so I'm delaying these things until she maybe more ready for them, inshAllah.
She also does some handwriting practice, and reads from the Peter and Jane series
For maths I'm using some Collins Primary Maths workbooks, and the very old SPMG workbooks which I'm not sure can be purchased any more. she also has accounts on Mathletics and Education City.
Everything else is topic based and chosen randomly. Plus there is reading library books and practical things like art and baking done here and there, but not in a sheduled way. I don't use any other specific resources, just whatever is helpful for a particular topic. U is also now going for Quran lessons with a teacher, alhamdulillah.
With the 7 year old I use Collins Primary Maths (the version has just gone out of print), plus Mathletics and Education city. Maths is the one area that I stick with a curriculum carefully. I think that it helps to keep to one style with maths, as soon as you find the right one, as different systems teach different approaches. I found Collins suitable for us up to year 5, so I'm sticking with it, inshAllah.
For English I'm using Collins Focus on Literacy, (can't locate on Amazon just now) along with Nelson Thornes spelling and handwriting and Spellodrome, which comes with Mathletics. I continue to read aloud to the girls, as this is part of their language learning too, in my opinion.
For science I'm using year 3 National Curriculum topics, together with the CGP topic workbooks on those topics. For the two topics we've covered so far I tried to make it more interesting with a lapbook or practical activities. I'm not worried about covering everything, it is more important I think to cover a selection of topics in an enjoyable way, inshAllah.
For geography we have started working on the Trail Guide to World Geography. There is really no rush here. We'll go at a nice, comfortable pace, inshAllah, and do as many or as few notebookpages at each desination as we feel like.
For Islamic Studies I'm using Iqra workbooks on the life of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) and also doing notebook style work on the other Prophets (as), in order. We are still on Hud (as)! I may do a lapbook approach for some history of the Prophets. With the boys I varied the approach with each Prophet's story, and the whole thing took up to year 5.
Ia also has Quran lessons and does a bit of art most weeks, plus reading of course. Sometimes she does a little French on the computer.
I wonder if I've missed anything? If not, then that's about it, inshAllah.
So, I suppose in general I just try to find resources which seem to suit for each subject are, then I just work with them until I'm no longer satisfied, then I'll look for something else.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
These days
These days as we plod along with our usual book work, the children have been coming up with other things they are interested in doing too. R made some chocolate bread with a receipe he found in one of my baking books. it is basically a white bread dough enriched with a little butter,a spoonful of sugar and some cocoa powder. Finally a chopped up chocolate bar is kneaded in just before it does into the tin to rise. I've been training R in ordinary breadmaking, so he could knead this one successfully himself, maashAllah. It turned out well, alhamdulillah. It looks like cake, but does not taste like cake, it is much less sweet and has that slight sourness of yeast. It was lovelywith some poured cream, maashAllah.U has suddenly taken an interest in art,maashAllah and has been selecting projects from one of our "make and do" books. She has also added "rt" (art) to her task list, as well as "bak", which means "I must make jam tarts now". This did not happen yesterday as the girls went swimming instead. You can't get everything in a day!
However the art has been going on for the last couple of mornings. Some results below.
Friday, November 05, 2010
Hajj Project
I'm currently working on a little Hajj project with Ia (and sort of also with U). I had lots of thoughts about this and kept changing my mind about what to do. First Iconsidered some kind of wall display, then a lapbook, until finally I ended up with a notebook!
I still have some copies of Islamic theme colouring sheets I got from a sister some years ago which I have used from time to time in lapbooks. I don't know exactly where they came from originally, so I can't link you in their direction.
There are quite a few sheets related to Hajj and I wanted to utilise them this year. When teaching about Hajj I'm not too concerned about the child remembering all the sequence of what happens on which day and the route the pilgrims take. I think this is a lot to remember, and it is more important at this stage that the child knows something about what is done on Hajj in general and the background to it in order to get a feel for its importance, inshAllah.
So I'm taking one colouring sheet scene at a time, talking about what is depicted, looking into whatever background I can then writing a sentence or more on thebottom or back of the sheet.
For example, when we did the sheet on the Talbiyah I found a YouTube audio for us to listen to and after that Ia wrote out its translation. When doing the sheet on the sa'y (running between the hills of Safa and Marwa) I read the story of Hajar, the wife of Ibrahim (as) from the Quran Stories for Kids book and then asked Ia to write about those events in her own words.
There are also lots of opportunities to look at pictures online of the various significant locations visited on Hajj. If I did not have these colouring sheets I would probably print off some of those pictures and use them for visuals. I might also encourage Ia to draw her own pictures, maybe using some basic notebooking pages.
We still have plenty of sheets to go through in this project, inshAllah, including,
drinking Zamzam water,
the Day of Sacrifice
throwing the stones,
standing at Arafat, and others.
I am actually trying to use them in the order in which events occur but I like the way the sheets have caused me to focus on one element at a time and have kept me away from trying to fit the whole thing around a sequence or order of events as I think it would have been less interesting for Ia that way.
I still have some copies of Islamic theme colouring sheets I got from a sister some years ago which I have used from time to time in lapbooks. I don't know exactly where they came from originally, so I can't link you in their direction.
There are quite a few sheets related to Hajj and I wanted to utilise them this year. When teaching about Hajj I'm not too concerned about the child remembering all the sequence of what happens on which day and the route the pilgrims take. I think this is a lot to remember, and it is more important at this stage that the child knows something about what is done on Hajj in general and the background to it in order to get a feel for its importance, inshAllah.
So I'm taking one colouring sheet scene at a time, talking about what is depicted, looking into whatever background I can then writing a sentence or more on thebottom or back of the sheet.
For example, when we did the sheet on the Talbiyah I found a YouTube audio for us to listen to and after that Ia wrote out its translation. When doing the sheet on the sa'y (running between the hills of Safa and Marwa) I read the story of Hajar, the wife of Ibrahim (as) from the Quran Stories for Kids book and then asked Ia to write about those events in her own words.
There are also lots of opportunities to look at pictures online of the various significant locations visited on Hajj. If I did not have these colouring sheets I would probably print off some of those pictures and use them for visuals. I might also encourage Ia to draw her own pictures, maybe using some basic notebooking pages.
We still have plenty of sheets to go through in this project, inshAllah, including,
drinking Zamzam water,
the Day of Sacrifice
throwing the stones,
standing at Arafat, and others.
I am actually trying to use them in the order in which events occur but I like the way the sheets have caused me to focus on one element at a time and have kept me away from trying to fit the whole thing around a sequence or order of events as I think it would have been less interesting for Ia that way.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
How the textbook helps
Not all children are going to enjoy textbook learning, but the textbook doesn't have to be just for the children!
Recently I bought a geography textbook to use with the boys. The first topic that we are covering is a chapter on volcanoes, earthquakes and tropical storms. Part of the chapter addresses the impact of these events on human populations, how people prepare for and manage their response when events like this happen.When I heard about the supertyphoon Megi hitting the Phillipines I got the boys to go onto news websites and read the reports.
As I read the page myself I realised how the description of the Phillipino disater management effort was such a good illustration of the issues the textbook had described. As a result of looking through the textbook I was able to start a discussion with the boys and get them to understand the difference between advance preparedness in case of disaster, and emergency response at the time through the examples given in one short news report.
I have to admit that without having read that textbook through previously I would not have thought to analyse the event in this way. I would have mainly focussed on the physical geography, the phenomenon of the storm itself and the material damage it may have caused.
So, that was how the textbook helped.
Recently I bought a geography textbook to use with the boys. The first topic that we are covering is a chapter on volcanoes, earthquakes and tropical storms. Part of the chapter addresses the impact of these events on human populations, how people prepare for and manage their response when events like this happen.When I heard about the supertyphoon Megi hitting the Phillipines I got the boys to go onto news websites and read the reports.
As I read the page myself I realised how the description of the Phillipino disater management effort was such a good illustration of the issues the textbook had described. As a result of looking through the textbook I was able to start a discussion with the boys and get them to understand the difference between advance preparedness in case of disaster, and emergency response at the time through the examples given in one short news report.
I have to admit that without having read that textbook through previously I would not have thought to analyse the event in this way. I would have mainly focussed on the physical geography, the phenomenon of the storm itself and the material damage it may have caused.
So, that was how the textbook helped.
Friday, October 15, 2010
More...
These are U's cinnamon cookies. Of course she needed lots of help, but she feels like she made these all by herself, maashAllah.
In response to Umm Ahmad's request for the receipe for Ia's shortbreads:
Make a batch of plain shortbread dough, and a batch of chocolate shortbread dough.
Plain:
125g butter
50g sugar
175g plain flour
3 tablespoonsmilk.
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in the milk and form the dough into a firm ball using your hands.
To make the chocolate dough, follow the same procedure substituting 15g cocoa powder for 15g of the flour.
Cut each dough ball into three equal pieces.
To make the spiral shapes roll out a chocolate doughball into a square, then roll out a plain dough ball to the same shape. Place one on top of the other and roll them up together into a sausage shape. Then cut the roll into slices.
To make the squares shapes make dough into cuboids, two of each colour. Lay them side by side and on top of each other to make a block. Slice.
A third shape can be made with a sausage of plain dough wrapped up with a chocolate piece, like wrapping a gift. Then slice.
Bake for 15-25mins at 350F/180C/Gas4
Anyone who doesn't like baking will have surely left this blog by now!!!
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