over the weekend I printed out placement tests from Maths no problem for both offspring. Small is acquiring maths concepts in the same way he acquires all knowledge (ie I have no idea, just suddenly he knows something) but Big has had her mathematical confidence dented over the last couple of years by osmosis, and I’ve been trying to work out what to do about it.
I don’t like the books that we’ve found in the Smiths and so on, and while I do like Montessori it requires rather too much one to one with me, which when it’s something she doesn’t like, is to be avoided or it just becomes a flash point. I thought that the Singapore maths might be right up her street, and I’d printed off 1B for Small and 2A for her.
Turned out I was pretty much spot on for him – he managed most of it with some pointers, while I was miles out with her. Her confidence is none existent and her abstract skills are lacking. So I printed out another copy of 1A which she sailed through with a couple of mistakes, giving me an idea of where to place her.
So I ordered from Maths no problem then later on realised that they have new editions arriving within the next few weeks. I mailed them to ask if they could hold and upgrade my order, and they are doing precisely that. Lovely helpful ppl. I’ll review the books once I’ve got them too 🙂
So that took up most of our morning one way or another. Later on Big and I chatted about her diary some more – seems that she wasn’t writing a diary, she was trying to write a My Story about her life, and hadn’t realised that in a fictional account, things get switched around. So now the pressure is off and she’s going to write a special occasions book instead. Good.
Small did some more science from his book, cutting out a snake to do an experiment to show heat rising. Of course the heating is only on for brief periods to heat our water up atm, so he hasn’t managed to use it yet, but we’ll get there.
Then in the evening it was Beavers. He is having a fab time there, although apparently they are having to support him in the games a little. And when I dropped him off, he didn’t line up with the other children, he just waited with Brown Beaver. They are being very good about making adjustments for him, and in return he has been behaving impeccably. Now if I could just arrange for a Beaver or two to come over he’d be over the moon.
I took my OU work with me and sat in the car with it, revising differentiation. It did not all come flooding back 🙁 Maybe my brain really is rusty.