shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Jul 8, 2015 12:51:21 GMT -5
My first thought on reading the OP was that I was so glad MY mom is much more supportive in our summer learning for Pop Tart. However, reading on, I do have some sympathy. DIL has basically come up with some busy work academic work and is expecting grandma to create a lesson plan, and help the kid with it. The problem being that grandma know, no matter how well the kid does the assignment, it somehow won't be "good enough" until the end of summer. At that point, the kid will earn a single reward. And grandma gets nothing. I get the needing to come up with something to keep a kid busy, but in this case, it sounds like grandma already has plenty of things that will keep the kid busy, and he reads and keeps up with stuff on his own.
My situation is very different. Pop Tart has been on an IEP. We're actually hoping to have her off of it this coming school year. But that means keeping up with review/school work over the summer so that she doesn't start a brand new school (in a much better school district, so the work may be harder to start with) feeling even MORE anxious (child only recently stopped meeting the criteria for an anxiety disorder) because she's behind in work. Knowing what she's struggling with, we have summer learning goals. My mom takes her for 3.5 weeks over the summer. We can't let those weeks just go. At the same time, what we ask Grandma (and Uncle - my brother lives with my mom) to encourage is reading, writing in her journal every night (also recommended by her therapist), and learning Spanish via Duolingo (which Pop Tart actually enjoys). We're not asking that the things we struggle more around - logic puzzles and work books - get done while with Grandma and Uncle. And, we're not asking them to be enforcers. We can look and see if she wrote in her journal. We can see how many points she earned/lessons completed on Duolingo, and she gets points for finishing books, not for generic reading time, so if she doesn't finish her book, she simply doesn't finish. (She gets more points for books above grade level than she does grade level books.) But my mom also knows what our goals are, and asked me in our conversation last night what we wanted Pop Tart to do, academics wise, while she was there. I also know that there are other things she'll learn. She goes to the store my mom works at with her sometimes and loves to help out - including at the register (so math). She really likes building things and so does my brother. Last year they made a robot. I assume they'll do something similar this year.
We also do a reward system, with one big reward, but also little rewards along the way. She earns little pieces of candy for doing work each day. She is also earning points toward getting her own cell phone. She has been told how many points she needs to get it, and has also been told that if she earns more points, that means more minutes.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Jul 8, 2015 13:03:58 GMT -5
She does this to keep him busy. He earns some sort of reward (video game usually) when the project is done to her satisfaction. She makes certain that the project isn't done to her satisfaction until summer is over. He rewrote that book report four or five times.
Wow that's a great way to make a kid hate learning. What's the point if no matter how many times you do it it's wrong?
I am all for education during the summer but this isn't education, IMO. It's your DIL creating busy work and patting herself on the back b/c she can claim he's learning.
If she wants to keep him engaged and busy I can think of numerous ways that don't involve having to re-write a book report five times.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2015 13:20:34 GMT -5
I wouldn't want to do it either. It sounds like work, and I don't want to do much work with my grandkids. I want to play. They're very young, so they're still learning simple things and it's easy to make those things fun.
If there's a real need for that kind of structured learning during my grandchild's time with me, I'd do it. Otherwise, I'd prefer to just do things we enjoy.
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Jul 8, 2015 18:24:34 GMT -5
It sounds like too much work to me too.
You say he has an opposition disorder ... yet he agreed to rewrite that book report X million times last summer?! That really surprises me.
I'd be very tempted to spend one or two days of the summer to surprise her with something poetry-related that you and your GS would both enjoy doing. Perhaps something around one of Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes or one of his Revolting Recipes (are those in verse? maybe not, I don't know them.) Or even taking a day trip to a poetry-related venue and having him send her a post card about it.
Or else, since your GS is gifted, perhaps he could impress his mom by deconstructing one of Allen Ginsberg's Howl poems?
I'd probably introduce him to ee cummings or William Carlos Williams though. I imagine it would be SO satisfying for you, the English teacher, to explain to your DIL that you spent the summer teaching her son / your GS that in fact, punctuation doesn't (always) matter. :-)
But I'm evil that way LOL.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2015 19:38:17 GMT -5
It sounds like too much work to me too. You say he has an opposition disorder ... yet he agreed to rewrite that book report X million times last summer?! That really surprises me. I'd be very tempted to spend one or two days of the summer to surprise her with something poetry-related that you and your GS would both enjoy doing. Perhaps something around one of Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes or one of his Revolting Recipes (are those in verse? maybe not, I don't know them.) Or even taking a day trip to a poetry-related venue and having him send her a post card about it. Or else, since your GS is gifted, perhaps he could impress his mom by deconstructing one of Allen Ginsberg's Howl poems? I'd probably introduce him to ee cummings or William Carlos Williams though. I imagine it would be SO satisfying for you, the English teacher, to explain to your DIL that you spent the summer teaching her son / your GS that in fact, punctuation doesn't (always) matter. :-) But I'm evil that way LOL. Ok, I should also probably clarify that I am a twelfth grade English teacher. i teach Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Blake. Maybe Dryden and Pope when I have time. Some Shakespeare, Milton, and Donne. None of this is the least bit interesting when you are 11-years-old. So it IS a lot of work for me. And I don't wanna!!! Besides, she waited too late to get me interested in a summer project. My school starts back in about three weeks. I'm teaching a new course and have to prep it. His starts back in about four. She also said he was busy the next two weeks. I have no idea what she was smoking, but my "Let's not do this" worked. DH's KISS method worked again!
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Jul 8, 2015 19:48:39 GMT -5
I'm a great advocate of of KISS!
I HATE that my school tells us to tell the students that KISS means "keep it simple students". I ALWAYS tell mine exactly what it means. I explain that it is an expression, and there is no offense intended, and that I am NOT calling them stupid. LOL.
ETA: Don't you do ANY modern poetry in HS?!
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Malarky
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Post by Malarky on Jul 8, 2015 19:53:32 GMT -5
I thought of this thread when I saw this on Facebook earlier. It looks like an adequate summer homework list for any age.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2015 21:27:27 GMT -5
I'm a great advocate of of KISS! I HATE that my school tells us to tell the students that KISS means "keep it simple students". I ALWAYS tell mine exactly what it means. I explain that it is an expression, and there is no offense intended, and that I am NOT calling them stupid. LOL. ETA: Don't you do ANY modern poetry in HS?! Not really. I'm doing a survey of Brit Lit. So I hit Shakespeare at the beginning of second semester. That still leaves the Romantics (not only poetry but Frankenstein) and then something 18th century and maybe Victorian. My modern is Pygmalion, which is drama. I know some middle school poetry from library school, but not much. I see no real reason for me to learn what's out there, to be honest. Like I said, it sounds like work for me, which I honestly don't want to do.
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Peace Of Mind
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Post by Peace Of Mind on Jul 8, 2015 22:27:25 GMT -5
I have had the grandkids for two weeks and ooops, we have not done anything learning. Unless you count learning grandma's swear-words for tailgaters. Having a big problem with people NOT driving 25mph on the back roads & being very aggressive about those that are following the speed limit. Oh, and flipping off someone that was trying to run me out of my lane on a merge. Ummm, had all the kids flip them off with me. I really should not drive with the kids . . . That's the parent/grandparent I'd be had I had kids.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Jul 9, 2015 7:43:24 GMT -5
My kids used to go to my Mom and Dads house for 2-4 weeks every summer. My parents live in Miami.
My parents always made a project of taking them plenty of fun places and I am sure there was a lot of learning going on. Since my kids grew up in a small city there was always lots to do in the big city.
One year my parents took them on a 4 week trip in their motor home to the western U.S. Other times they went on shorter trips around FL.
Those were great experiences for them.
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Jul 9, 2015 15:55:11 GMT -5
I'd probably introduce him to ee cummings or William Carlos Williams though. I imagine it would be SO satisfying for you, the English teacher, to explain to your DIL that you spent the summer teaching her son / your GS that in fact, punctuation doesn't (always) matter. :-) But I'm evil that way LOL. And doubly evil coming from an English teacher, LOL you !
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jul 9, 2015 16:33:58 GMT -5
I taught in the classroom before going into PE. If I have grandchildren my instruction to them is going to be things I enjoy like travel, museums, and bedtime stories. No way am I going to be the bad guy. I want to be the fun grandma.
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vonna
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Post by vonna on Jul 9, 2015 16:40:24 GMT -5
Well, I was raised by an Engineer dad and a Librarian mom, have a MS in Education, was a really ridiculously conscientious student, have a home that breeds love of reading and learning, but as a parent I HATE the new fangled summer homework.
To me, it has taken away our fun summer.
Before summer homework, we used to pick a topic ( okay, my kid would pick the topic) and we would learn about it -- I would try to maximize the learning through books. museums, art, poetry etc. . .
Now, the summer homework assigned is via the computer, and through their are certain topics assigned every week. Makes it seem that school never ends.
I tell myself this is necessary because of families who do not "learn" as a norm. But it really sucks for us. It has definitely been a drag on my kids in the learning department.
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Chocolate Lover
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Post by Chocolate Lover on Jul 10, 2015 14:00:30 GMT -5
Are the kids going to suffer any consequences for not doing the summer homework? Last encounter with summer homework I had was the oldest's AP English list and no one in that class did a bit of it. Teacher didn't make them suffer over it, life just went on. I think it's ridiculous to expect kids to have to work during the summer if they don't have learning issues and need to stay up to speed.
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toomuchreality
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Post by toomuchreality on Jul 15, 2015 5:36:29 GMT -5
Wait. Aren't you supposed to be on summer vacation? JUST SAY NO (I tried to add an image here, but they're not working for me tonight) It sounds to me like you have a few ideas of your own, on how to spend your time with him. So I would apologize, then say no (in the nicest way, of course). →Unless you want to do this kind of thing (what she wants) all the time. The more you do what she wants, the more she'll expect you to do what she wants, IMO. Maybe you should print out a bunch of "just say no" circles, and put them around your house, as a reminder that it's okay for you to say no. Good luck, what ever you decide to do!
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toomuchreality
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Post by toomuchreality on Jul 15, 2015 5:43:06 GMT -5
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jul 15, 2015 10:07:50 GMT -5
My kids had summer reading lists. They liked them. The one I resented were the projects assigned over a break. One time I just sent a note in saying we left right after school on Friday and got home Sunday night so no time for a project. Never heard a peep.
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toomuchreality
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Post by toomuchreality on Jul 15, 2015 20:51:15 GMT -5
Not saying you aren't a fabulous teacher, or that he doesn't like English... But y'all were posting about teaching kids things like accounting etc.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2015 23:33:01 GMT -5
Are the kids going to suffer any consequences for not doing the summer homework? Last encounter with summer homework I had was the oldest's AP English list and no one in that class did a bit of it. Teacher didn't make them suffer over it, life just went on. I think it's ridiculous to expect kids to have to work during the summer if they don't have learning issues and need to stay up to speed. Were they able to pass the AP exam without having done the summer readings? My DD's AP class, the teacher didn't care if they did the work or not, because it was being run like a college class & whether they got the credit would be based on how they did on the exam. The AP exam score credits were more valuable than anything else she did because the college applied them against their GURs, so actual classes she did not have to take & didn't have to test out of. Win!!!
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Chocolate Lover
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Post by Chocolate Lover on Jul 17, 2015 9:46:12 GMT -5
Are the kids going to suffer any consequences for not doing the summer homework? Last encounter with summer homework I had was the oldest's AP English list and no one in that class did a bit of it. Teacher didn't make them suffer over it, life just went on. I think it's ridiculous to expect kids to have to work during the summer if they don't have learning issues and need to stay up to speed. Were they able to pass the AP exam without having done the summer readings? My DD's AP class, the teacher didn't care if they did the work or not, because it was being run like a college class & whether they got the credit would be based on how they did on the exam. The AP exam score credits were more valuable than anything else she did because the college applied them against their GURs, so actual classes she did not have to take & didn't have to test out of. Win!!! Not entirely sure honestly. I can't even recall if DS took the actual AP exam. He passed the class. Best I can tell, that teacher never actually had control of her classroom.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2015 19:57:36 GMT -5
Were they able to pass the AP exam without having done the summer readings? My DD's AP class, the teacher didn't care if they did the work or not, because it was being run like a college class & whether they got the credit would be based on how they did on the exam. The AP exam score credits were more valuable than anything else she did because the college applied them against their GURs, so actual classes she did not have to take & didn't have to test out of. Win!!! Interesting approach to running a class. I can't see how the teacher pulled it off, to be honest. I've never seen a high school class, AP or otherwise, where there weren't distinct grading periods for which the parents received grades. The AP exam is given in early May with grades being sent out in summer.
Didn't the kids actually graduate before receiving their AP grades?
No, they received AP exam grades prior to end of term. The tests were done at one of those computerized centers, not at the school and you just had to select the date range that was required by the class.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2015 20:16:54 GMT -5
Billy Collins! You don't teach Billy Collins? How about Langston Hughes? Or Dylan Thomas?...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2015 20:17:29 GMT -5
Oh, and as for the summer learning program. Agreed. Not doing that. Yuck.
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