By Michelle Tucker
©2010 Michelle Tucker
It's ironic, but the more parents get away from public education, the more flexibility and say you have in your child's education. If you don't know you have a choice or what your choices are, read on.
The local public school has been the least responsive to students' needs and parents' wishes, for the most part. When I taught, administrators told me, we're (the school educators) here to do the job parents won't do. So, we will make the decisions. It's shocking that the schools view their role as decision makers instead of the parents.
There are charter schools, which are free. Often there are a few requirements as to a uniform/dress code. Parents are very involved at charter schools, from opting to educate their own children at home about maturation to serving on the board which hires and fires the principal.
On-line education could be either public or private. If it is public, the government is making the decisions as to what your child is required to learn. If it is an on-line educational program, you have some voice in it and choice as to courses, and you are paying for it out of pocket.
The are, of course, private schools in which parents can become involved and have a voice, of course your money is directly paying for it.
There are various Coops. Of course there are preschool coops for the younger children. But, children through 12th grade may be in a Coop. If certain parents are not familiar with a subject, say Algebra, they can pay the tuition for the local Coop course for their child. These later kind of Coops are usually held at churches.
Homeschooling can be very flexible and varied. No two families homeschool the same way. Homeschooling can be done in conjunction with a Coop for certain courses the parents want their children to take with experts. Homeschooling puts the decisions and control over their children's education in their hands.
Which ever is best for your child, know that you can make this choice at any time. Do not let the public school tell you anything else. Although charter schools have lottery systems, most have told me that they take students all year long who are new. One principal was trying to get me to enroll my child the day after our tour. Another charter school told me not to worry about the deadline, that they take students everyday. It's easy there to get in, I was told. After collecting information and researching schools, we prayed about it. It's one of the most important decisions that you will make. My best to you!
Friday, September 9, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
What are Your Children Being Taught in Reading?
By Michelle Tucker
©2010 Michelle Tucker
"The People's basic needs must be met in a country. Needs for housing, education, transportation, and health care overseen by our government system." This mandate is being tacked on to the end of the Preamble to the US Constitution. Many of our schools in America are requiring students to chant it repeatedly. Are our children being indoctrinated with socialism through this? This is being called by our public schools, "The Promise of America." It is in their "Building Fluency through Practice and Performance."
This is what the Preamble to the US Constitution really says:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Our children need to be learning the basics in school. Education should be for the general welfare, not propaganda to indoctrinate our children. Ask your childrens' school, if they are doing this.
©2010 Michelle Tucker
"The People's basic needs must be met in a country. Needs for housing, education, transportation, and health care overseen by our government system." This mandate is being tacked on to the end of the Preamble to the US Constitution. Many of our schools in America are requiring students to chant it repeatedly. Are our children being indoctrinated with socialism through this? This is being called by our public schools, "The Promise of America." It is in their "Building Fluency through Practice and Performance."
This is what the Preamble to the US Constitution really says:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Our children need to be learning the basics in school. Education should be for the general welfare, not propaganda to indoctrinate our children. Ask your childrens' school, if they are doing this.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
7th Grade Science Fair Project Requirements
By Michelle Tucker
©2010 Michelle Tucker
Depending on the age level and educational placement (homeschooling, private or public), Science Fair Requirements vary.
Here are 7th Grade Science Fair Project Requirements:
The following items need to be on the science fair board:
1. Title
2. Question
3. Hypothesis
4. Variables, controls, constants
5. Materials
6. Procedure
7. Data (they must have one graph and one table)
8. Results
9. Conclusion
10. Abstract------THIS IS NOT ATTACHED TO THE BOARD
For websites to help with these areas, refer to my blog post, Part 3.
©2010 Michelle Tucker
Depending on the age level and educational placement (homeschooling, private or public), Science Fair Requirements vary.
Here are 7th Grade Science Fair Project Requirements:
The following items need to be on the science fair board:
1. Title
2. Question
3. Hypothesis
4. Variables, controls, constants
5. Materials
6. Procedure
7. Data (they must have one graph and one table)
8. Results
9. Conclusion
10. Abstract------THIS IS NOT ATTACHED TO THE BOARD
For websites to help with these areas, refer to my blog post, Part 3.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Help with the Dreaded Science Fair Project, Part 3
By Michelle Tucker
©2010 Michelle Tucker
©2010 Michelle Tucker
b. What do I as the parent check? Your child needs to follow his or her plan. Your child needs to conduct the study/experiment or observations and record the data. Here are the items that need to be on your child's Science Fair Presentation Board:
1) Title
2) Hypothesis
3) Purpose
4) Procedure
5) Results
6) Conclusion
6) Conclusion
7) Materials
Here are some helpful websites about the science fair project, that I recommend for you and/or your child:
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Help with the Dreaded Science Fair Project, Part 2 of 3
By Michelle Tucker
©2010 Michelle Tucker
2. Know that your job as the parent is just to provide materials and to check your child's work.
a. What materials are needed? Most Science Fair projects are displayed on a tri-fold poster board, found at most craft stores in a few colors and white.
b. What do I as the parent check? More in Part 3
©2010 Michelle Tucker
2. Know that your job as the parent is just to provide materials and to check your child's work.
a. What materials are needed? Most Science Fair projects are displayed on a tri-fold poster board, found at most craft stores in a few colors and white.
b. What do I as the parent check? More in Part 3
Help with the Dreaded Science Fair Project, Part 1
By Michelle Tucker
©2010 Michelle Tucker
Yikes, my child has to do a Science Fair Project! We parents are thinking, that spells, WORK, WORK, WORK. The work responsibility should be on the child. After all, we parents want our children to have learning experiences.
Here is my step by step advice to make this a successful and happy endeavor for you and your child:
1. First, tell your child in advance, that you want to see his/her idea before committing to it with her teacher. Parents, if your child is planning a science fair topic or experiment that is impossible, inappropriate or will cause undo stress on you and your child, say no. You will have to look at it and see what can be done that is reasonable.
For example, my daughter picked, "How attitude affects your performance (athlete's performance). After discussing how difficult getting athletes would be, we talked about other kinds of performance and settled on reading performance. My daughter realized that she had a lot more access to children, than athletes. Furthermore, she realized that she can easily do the data collection without her parents being involved. Yes!
More to come in Part 2.
©2010 Michelle Tucker
Yikes, my child has to do a Science Fair Project! We parents are thinking, that spells, WORK, WORK, WORK. The work responsibility should be on the child. After all, we parents want our children to have learning experiences.
Here is my step by step advice to make this a successful and happy endeavor for you and your child:
1. First, tell your child in advance, that you want to see his/her idea before committing to it with her teacher. Parents, if your child is planning a science fair topic or experiment that is impossible, inappropriate or will cause undo stress on you and your child, say no. You will have to look at it and see what can be done that is reasonable.
For example, my daughter picked, "How attitude affects your performance (athlete's performance). After discussing how difficult getting athletes would be, we talked about other kinds of performance and settled on reading performance. My daughter realized that she had a lot more access to children, than athletes. Furthermore, she realized that she can easily do the data collection without her parents being involved. Yes!
More to come in Part 2.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Worth Their Weight in Gold
By Michelle Tucker ©2010 Michelle Tucker
Flash cards, flash cards, flash cards- worth their weight in gold! Is you child or student not doing well on tests? Does he have trouble memorizing facts? Has she struggled with key concepts? You and/or your child can custom make your own flash cards.
How do I make custom flash cards for my child's need?
To make flash cards yourself, here are suggested steps:
1) Identify the key concepts for the skill or subject. For example, if your child has World History - Early Civilizations, you can look through her current work to find concepts that are repeated and/or appear in the headings. Looking through her binder/journal or homework, you find: Sumer, The Sumarians, Cuneiform, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Mesopotamia, Tigris River, Euphrates River and the Fertile Crescent. Great detective work!
2) Write these key concepts on one side of the cards. The easiest way is to use 3x5 Index Cards. Or, your child can cut some out of paper.
3) On the back of the card, you or your child (depending on the age of the child), will write the facts/definition. For example, my daughter make a card for The Sumarians and wrote on the back:
These people lived in the first civilization named Mesopotamia.
They had settled in one place and grew crops. They used
technology - the wheel.
2300 BC
Here is a Math example:
Front - Perimeter
Back - The length around the polygon.
2L + 2 W = Perimeter
(Here would be a picture of a 12 foot by 10 foot rectangular room
labeled and the perimeter drawn in purple line, purple because it
and Perimeter both start with P. For Area, I have
the students use red and say Apple red color to shade the area).
Here is a Science example:
Front - Igneous
Back - A type of rock in the earth's crust that formed by cooling from and
original hot, melted condition. In the Latin the word ignis
means "fire."
Examples: Obsidian and Basalt
(Here would be a two pictures that your child would draw, one of
the igneous rock examples and one of lava or a volcano, to jog the
memory).
Your get the idea.
4) Is there any thing specific the child needs on that card to help with memorization? Such as: drawing a picture, using color on the card, or highlighting?
5) Is there anything that will be on a test or is key to the concept? Such as: a date, a formula, or a rule?
Is your child a visual learner? You'll want her to draw a picture on each flash card. Is he a kinestetic learner? He needs to move, so make it a "concentration" type game, where he has to turn over two cards. You can put the concept cards on the table face down and the definition/fact cards upside down on the floor. To a kinestetic learner, this arrangement gives him greater space in which to move. Auditory-verbal learners will learn alright with the traditional method of reading aloud the concept side of a flash card and the back side with the fact/definition again and again until ready. When ready, the child can look at the concept side and from memory recite the back side. An idea for a spacial learner could be to write the concept on one card and its fact/definition on a separate card. While memorizing, the spacial learner needs to see the right match lined up. Then, when ready, the spacial learner can mix them up, and try to match them in the right order on the table.
Once your child learns to make his/her own flash cards, the possibilities are endless of the information that could be learned on them. It's a good investment. Your child will find need to make flash cards in college. I needed flashcards to study for the GRE test when applying to graduate school. For studying almost any concept, flash cards are your child's best friend.
If you want to get ready made flash cards, here are some resources:
Check your local stores, or a teacher supply store. You can also buy on-line.
Flash cards, flash cards, flash cards- worth their weight in gold! Is you child or student not doing well on tests? Does he have trouble memorizing facts? Has she struggled with key concepts? You and/or your child can custom make your own flash cards.
How do I make custom flash cards for my child's need?
To make flash cards yourself, here are suggested steps:
1) Identify the key concepts for the skill or subject. For example, if your child has World History - Early Civilizations, you can look through her current work to find concepts that are repeated and/or appear in the headings. Looking through her binder/journal or homework, you find: Sumer, The Sumarians, Cuneiform, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Mesopotamia, Tigris River, Euphrates River and the Fertile Crescent. Great detective work!
2) Write these key concepts on one side of the cards. The easiest way is to use 3x5 Index Cards. Or, your child can cut some out of paper.
3) On the back of the card, you or your child (depending on the age of the child), will write the facts/definition. For example, my daughter make a card for The Sumarians and wrote on the back:
These people lived in the first civilization named Mesopotamia.
They had settled in one place and grew crops. They used
technology - the wheel.
2300 BC
Here is a Math example:
Front - Perimeter
Back - The length around the polygon.
2L + 2 W = Perimeter
(Here would be a picture of a 12 foot by 10 foot rectangular room
labeled and the perimeter drawn in purple line, purple because it
and Perimeter both start with P. For Area, I have
the students use red and say Apple red color to shade the area).
Here is a Science example:
Front - Igneous
Back - A type of rock in the earth's crust that formed by cooling from and
original hot, melted condition. In the Latin the word ignis
means "fire."
Examples: Obsidian and Basalt
(Here would be a two pictures that your child would draw, one of
the igneous rock examples and one of lava or a volcano, to jog the
memory).
Your get the idea.
4) Is there any thing specific the child needs on that card to help with memorization? Such as: drawing a picture, using color on the card, or highlighting?
5) Is there anything that will be on a test or is key to the concept? Such as: a date, a formula, or a rule?
Is your child a visual learner? You'll want her to draw a picture on each flash card. Is he a kinestetic learner? He needs to move, so make it a "concentration" type game, where he has to turn over two cards. You can put the concept cards on the table face down and the definition/fact cards upside down on the floor. To a kinestetic learner, this arrangement gives him greater space in which to move. Auditory-verbal learners will learn alright with the traditional method of reading aloud the concept side of a flash card and the back side with the fact/definition again and again until ready. When ready, the child can look at the concept side and from memory recite the back side. An idea for a spacial learner could be to write the concept on one card and its fact/definition on a separate card. While memorizing, the spacial learner needs to see the right match lined up. Then, when ready, the spacial learner can mix them up, and try to match them in the right order on the table.
Once your child learns to make his/her own flash cards, the possibilities are endless of the information that could be learned on them. It's a good investment. Your child will find need to make flash cards in college. I needed flashcards to study for the GRE test when applying to graduate school. For studying almost any concept, flash cards are your child's best friend.
If you want to get ready made flash cards, here are some resources:
Check your local stores, or a teacher supply store. You can also buy on-line.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Delayed Gratification and New Goals
By Michelle Tucker ©2010 Michelle Tucker
If only our children and students understood the value of waiting for something good. Delayed gratification doesn't happen overnight though. Children need to be exposed at increasing doses of delayed gratification. Eventually, they will start thinking in terms of goals, that they have.
When a child is still young and immature, you need to train him in concrete ways. "No, you cannot have the cookie until you eat the dinner on your plate." Next, have her wait to do, what she wants to do. "When you finish your chore of sweeping the floor, you may go out and play."
As they get older, you add chores and tasks and you start helping them to set goals. "What do you want to do with your earned free time today?" "Oh, play the Wii. Then, 20 minutes of practicing the trumpet, and you will have earned 20 minutes on the Wii." "What do you want to accomplish on your day off today?" He says that he wants to finish a superhero book. "Okay, you want to finish a superhero book, first you need to unload the dishwasher, then you may." When you ask them what they would like to do, they start taking ownership of the goal. Then, when you next ask them what they want to accomplish, the goals start becoming more constructive.
When your child or student is ready, ask him to think of academic goals. "What is your goal(s) as a student this quarter?" (I've had students in Middle School who were still writing goals of get a passing grade in so and so subject.) Eventually, you want them to set goals in each area, each subject and activity. You need to help them at first with the process of delayed gratification. Let's take playing the trumpet. "Sharon, what is your goal in playing the trumpet?" She responds. "You want to make it on the Jazz Band, okay. What do you need to improve in playing the trumpet?" She tells you or you can guide her in identifying her strengths and weaknesses in playing the trumpet now. "Let's pick two of those weaknesses. If you practice your scales to hit the high G, and you do breathing exercises to hold notes longer, do you think you will have a better chance at your try out for Jazz Band?" "Okay, so let's write these goals down." Then, have her look at her goal that she wrote down every so often. She needs to be reminded of her goal for the motivation to practice when the practice gets tough.
Children who are trained and expected to show delayed gratification, are more successful students and later adults. Think about your goals for your child or student. What can you do today to recognize where he or she is at with delayed gratification and to set him or her up for success?
If only our children and students understood the value of waiting for something good. Delayed gratification doesn't happen overnight though. Children need to be exposed at increasing doses of delayed gratification. Eventually, they will start thinking in terms of goals, that they have.
When a child is still young and immature, you need to train him in concrete ways. "No, you cannot have the cookie until you eat the dinner on your plate." Next, have her wait to do, what she wants to do. "When you finish your chore of sweeping the floor, you may go out and play."
As they get older, you add chores and tasks and you start helping them to set goals. "What do you want to do with your earned free time today?" "Oh, play the Wii. Then, 20 minutes of practicing the trumpet, and you will have earned 20 minutes on the Wii." "What do you want to accomplish on your day off today?" He says that he wants to finish a superhero book. "Okay, you want to finish a superhero book, first you need to unload the dishwasher, then you may." When you ask them what they would like to do, they start taking ownership of the goal. Then, when you next ask them what they want to accomplish, the goals start becoming more constructive.
When your child or student is ready, ask him to think of academic goals. "What is your goal(s) as a student this quarter?" (I've had students in Middle School who were still writing goals of get a passing grade in so and so subject.) Eventually, you want them to set goals in each area, each subject and activity. You need to help them at first with the process of delayed gratification. Let's take playing the trumpet. "Sharon, what is your goal in playing the trumpet?" She responds. "You want to make it on the Jazz Band, okay. What do you need to improve in playing the trumpet?" She tells you or you can guide her in identifying her strengths and weaknesses in playing the trumpet now. "Let's pick two of those weaknesses. If you practice your scales to hit the high G, and you do breathing exercises to hold notes longer, do you think you will have a better chance at your try out for Jazz Band?" "Okay, so let's write these goals down." Then, have her look at her goal that she wrote down every so often. She needs to be reminded of her goal for the motivation to practice when the practice gets tough.
Children who are trained and expected to show delayed gratification, are more successful students and later adults. Think about your goals for your child or student. What can you do today to recognize where he or she is at with delayed gratification and to set him or her up for success?
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