Additional home study materials for kids?

Question

My daughter is in grade 4 public school. What additional study materials can i get to upgrade her standard to be in par with kids of her age in private schools? I was told Abeka books are the best. Any others? Mothers pls share with me yr experience of guiding yr child to be a A student.

Answer 1

I'd say a good atlas, online or regular encylopedia, same math set she takes to school with her , have a home set. Lots of creative materials ,crayons, markers, paints, construction paper, stuff for paper mache.

Have lots of books and magazines and newspapers around the house , make sure she sees you reading as well. Talk to her about the issues of the day, like 9/11 tomorrow.

Have a quiet place for her to study where there is good lighting, a sturdy desk or table , and that doesn't mean the dining room table , someplace away from distractions like music, tv, radios, phones.  Enforce the no telephone call rule UNLESS it's homework related on weeknights. Set a good routine  homework before dinner  or homework after.

Under NO circumstances do you DO her homework and that includes projects, for her . You already passed fourth grade, give her guidance where to get the information( don't use Wikipedia as a primary source it's flawed and wrong alot of the time).  Don't pressure her so much to get good grades and be the perfect student that she'll get to hate learning and going to school. Limit the amount of outside activities , don't overschedule her to death with lessons and sports.  Allow her some down time to be a kid and play and be creative.  Check how much tv she watches or how much music she listens to and the type of music. Some of those lyrics are pretty risque for kids in grade 4. And don't give into the But MOM, EVERYBODY's doing it or getting it yada yada yada.  As my mum used to say to me I'm not responsible for everybody else , I'm responsible for you until you're out of school, then you can get and do whatever you want in your own house.

Consistency and self-discipline, good learning habits are the keys. There are no "right" books or better books , just right attitudes about studying.

Answer 2

As a homeschooling parent, I don't focus on grades. My kids don't receive grades. I do not know if they would be an "A" student or what as my desire is for them to learn how to learn and to master well what they are learning. We have the time to do it. Grades are about comparison--how well a student has mastered a set curriculum. I don't have a set curriculum in place to be finished within a set timeframe.

Adding an additional curriculum onto a child's existing school curriculum is not going to turn the child into an A student. If you have A Beka history books, what does that have to do with the history she's learning in school? She needs to learn how to study, how to learn. If you pay for a math program that may not even match up with what she's doing in school, you may be giving her extra practice you could have easily given her by simply printing worksheets off of a website.

If her reading is a problem, get a simple phonics-based program like Phonics Pathways and work through it plus set aside at least 30 minutes a day at home for silent reading. Also have time set aside where the two of you read together (either at the same time or alternating lines/paragraphs/pages).

If her spelling is a problem, you'll find that the more she reads, the better she will spell. If her school does not have a formal spelling program, then you might look into purchasing something. A Beka does have a spelling program, but that may or may not be helpful to your daughter. Depends on the root of the possible spelling problems.

If math is a problem, focus on the math tables (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) until she knows them inside and out. This is usually THE root of math problems for grades 4 and above. You can't easily learn the larger multplication and division unless you know those tables. After that, it's practice, practice, practice.

You probably don't need any special resource. Make sure the reading and math practice is in place and then work on teaching her how to study, making sure she thinks about what she is reading so she understands, have her review things often so she knows it fairly well when it comes to doing tests. It's the how to learn that needs to be learned more than the what.