Disorganized

[ACooper]

WE were doing better until the field trip and the racoons No one has slept well this week.

That's what I'm talking about. Something came along and messed up the norm/the routine. When something comes in to shake up the routine (and it will happen sometimes) you work harder to get back on track.

Goodness, when Chris was sick at home for that week, THEN she was in the hospital a whole week, THEN she was on recovery for another 10 days (at the end of sept/beginning of Oct) that wrecked our whole routine BIG TIME.

Zac suffered immensely. We 'tried' to keep some sort of norm for him, but I was at the hospital every night, dad was in charge of bedtimes and work, and Zac ended up with SEVERAL missing assignments, some late, not only THAT, he lost his school reading book which cost us a pretty penny to replace..........*sigh*

Yes, a break in the routine is a terrible thing. All you can do is focus on getting back on track, try to keep the same schedule each day, have her things in a specific place, etc.

 

[CaliTerp07]

LOL, It's just daily practice in basic mathematic skills. Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing.........all the basics you would see on elementary flash cards.

They call it fluent computation, or computation fluency because they are striving to make the basics 'automatic' like you do with 'fluent' readers and the use of 'sight words' beginning in kindergarten It DOES sound scary or freaky to parents though, hahahaha

Oh good--I'm all for it then!

I was doing some student teaching hours in a middle school math class this week, and I wanted to cry at how many kids needed calculators for 15/3 or 12x4! In 6th grade!

 

[ACooper]

Ahhh! New math! I had to have a 3rd grade teacher show me the lattice method to multiply multi-digit numbers. Definitely not how I learned!

On the other hand, kids in South America or India learn to multiply/divide differently than kids here do...so long as you get the same answer, I'm not too concerned how you get there. Just don't expect me to teach it!

IMO *some* of the ways they are teaching things in elementary now are an improvement. NOT because it's faster, and NOT because you get the right answer every time. It's better because it PREPARES the kids for higher math later on. Certain concepts are explained and understood at a lower level now so they are more prepared for say Algebra when the time comes.

I am TERRIBLE with math in general, and I don't have a specific example for you at the moment, suffice it to say that helping my 10 year old son with some of his homework I get A HA moments because I understand WHY they are teaching it *this way* as opposed to *that way* so he will *get it* when they start harder areas.

Does that makes sense? LOL

I DO NOT like the De'nealian style hand writing they forced them to switch to. I understand it is *supposed* to help them move more gracefully into cursive, but it really hasn't worked out that way for Zac and many other kids I know personally.........I just don't care for it at all.

PLUS.......most kids I know (including mine) were already printing BEFORE kindergarten so this 'new' style was even harder for them IMO.

 

[CaliTerp07]

I learned to write with De'nealian when I was in elementary school! It's really funny how things come and go in fads...

And yeah, there's definitely merit to some of the new math methods. It just boggles me when I'm teaching at that higher level and kids are multiplying with lattices--I've never learned it, and they don't teach the upper grade teachers that stuff! They really need to get everyone on the same page.

 

[Taqroy]

What is De'nealian style? I googled it but I can't get to the one link that's explaining it cause my computer is blocking it. Argh.

 

[smkie]

I did find the census stuff in the car. One down. Now the census police won't come after me.

Thanks for making me feel less dumb about the math thing. i have already told her honestly i stink at it but I will find her tutors if she needs help. That much I can do. I can memorize music like nothing, i can draw and sculpt but I can't remember a great deal of what I learned in school in the math dept. I forgot it just as quickly as I could. I know i passed it or I woudlnt' have graduated. Past the basics, I wouldn't even know how to guess.

 

[CaliTerp07]

D'nealian, as far as I remember it, puts an emphasis on the connecting pieces needed for cursive. g's and y's get "monkey tails", and you start your letters at the point where they'd connect in cursive.

D'Nealian - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[bubbatd]

Math has always been a mental game with me ~~ like adding 72 and 85 , I think 7 plus 8 and 7 at the end .

 

[Baxter'smybaby]

smkie--there is sooooo much stuff that comes home from school, and has to go back to school--it is hard to keep track of! When my kids were younger--I set up In and Out baskets--so when they came home, they put any paperwork/school info into the in box. When it was ready to go back to school--it went in the out basket. This included their backpacks--so in theory,the out basket would be all set the night before--with all papers, etc. in the backpack ready to go the next day. Get it set the night before and you stand a better chance of it making it in to school!

Also--lists, and visuals are a great way to organize yourself. Put a dry erase board by the door--and write on it what you MUST remember to take with you when you go somewhere.

Or--I use post it notes. I even put a post it note ON the front door to remind me to give my daughter her epilepsy meds--since we forgot them on a few occasions. Seeing that note was enough to make me go back and make sure meds were done. Then I would move the note to the wall, until the next night--ready to remind me the next morning.

You don't have to be super binder woman--you can buy all the cute organizers you want, but if they aren't set in a place that makes sense for the task, then they wont' work either.

Good luck --it is hard trying to make sure everything gets taken care of!!

 

[Zoom]

Post-it notes, assigned places, more post-it notes, white boards and a planner I carry around with me everywhere. It's taken me almost 28 years to develop some sort of organizational system and it's still pretty scattered. But I'm getting better at putting things back where they go the second I'm done using them.

I agree with the in/out basket idea or something along those lines.

 

[MPP]

Math has always been a mental game with me ~~ like adding 72 and 85 , I think 7 plus 8 and 7 at the end .

And this makes it EASIER?!? :yikes:

Speaking as a totally disorganized person, I admire all those who can keep baskets, lists, notes, etc., up and running. Setting up the night before is a great idea which actually takes almost no time. I learned to do it as an adult because my day started at 5:30 A.M. and I didn't actually wake up until about 9. (Luckily, my car could run on autopilot.)

My one contribution to organization: I attached the clip from an old dog leash to my keys and a nice, sturdy split ring to my purse. The INSTANT I pull the keys out of the ignition, I clip them onto my purse. I think I "lost" my keys three times a week before I started this. I never lose them any more.*

On the printing/writing controversy: Teach printing as printing. Teach writing as a whole 'nother thing, which, actually, it is.

*Now I "lose" my purse...

 

[theresa92841]

My name is Theresa and I was a disorganized person. I use to hunt for house keys for 20 minutes and finally have to give up and leave it unlocked. I finally got fed up and realized that I wasted so much time looking for things or re-doing it because I couldn't find what I had done the first time. It was like anything . . . it started with a decision that I didn't want to live like that anymore and that I wasn't going to.

I figured out that if I made everything a "no-brainer" then I wouldn't have to remember anything. I decided where things would live. And that was it. Always. Not just when I felt like it. Not in a few minutes but I will just put it here temporarily. Always. When I finish with it, it goes back to its home. If that meant I made 3 trips to the same part of the house putting things away individually, so be it.

Maybe others don't have to do this. But I have found that I have to. I give myself no tolerance. That was over 20 years ago. And to this day, if I think for a second I can get by without doing that . . . oops, I spend 20 minutes looking for my keys. or my wallet. or the dog treat bag. So I am motivated to not slip up.

No magic formula. Just a decision and then strictly holding myself to it. People today think I am way organized. It isn't true. I am just not patient enough to spend that much time trying to find stuff.