Name: Spreading the Feast Gathering
Start: 2025-07-11T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-07-12T23:59:59-05:00
Location: LaGrange, KY

This topic has 7 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 8 months ago by lgeurink.

Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

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October 10, 2011 at 9:10 pm
MamaWebb
Participant
Alllllrrriiighttty, ladies. i am back again for some help. My daughter, the middle child, is almost 7 (nov 2). she is technically in first grade. she’s working on some math copywork to memorize facts along with MUS alpha. she’s reading REALLY REALLY well. We made it almost all the way through Alpha Phonics. She’s reading all kinds of things now, and does a great job figuring out words in context. We’re doing Days Go By from pathway, and Christian Liberty Nature Reader 1. She loves to write little notes and label pictures. I have her doing Language Lessons for LIttle ones 3,and all of this reading work is either easy or right on par. Also, to keep her looking at phonics, I have to doing Queen’s Leanring Spelling through Copywork book A.
I have noticed thatbshe acquires new info really well – no struggle there – nut she really struggles to maintain and recall it. i’ve noticed this in all subjects. It seems to reoccur, no matter what we try. Also, she is very sensitive, and she is easily frustrated. She takes almost all correction as personal attack and she dissolves into a heap of angry tears if she’s asked to correct, redo, or revisit any work. She often lashes out and stomps away when told to do schoolwork that she doesn’t want to. Sometimes she just quietly refuses. Her attitude is terrible. Here is a common scenerio. Today, she was having a terrible attitude because I wanted to help her study her spelling list for the week. She was having a hard time remembering the vowel blends (long vowels ai, ao, ea, – she reads these easily), and refused to try. I tried a couple of fun techniques to help her, but she just kept refusing. So i told her quietly that i could not teach her if she was going to be negative and defiant, and to please go to her room until she was ready to be positive. she refused to go after several requests. So i told her she needed a spanking, which i administered calmly, – and she fought thru. Then she stormed screaming crying to her room. she emerged several times, saying she would only do it this way or that way, and I calmly continued to tell her that i was her teacher and authority and she needed to try to do the work i asked for in the WAY I ASK for it to be done. I feel like she’s always been a bit emotionally “young” if you KWIM.
We have the same scenario if you catch her in a sin – no matter how gently she’s reproved or if I try to call her to the side and diffuse her, she freaks out (seems a very prideful rebellion thing) and can’t just say, “oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. Can you forgive me?” No matter how often it is modeled for her.
she has a really shy streak, and seems to be very self conscious. I haven’t let her get away with this behavior, we’ve always tried to stay of top of this type of thing. I have two before her and two more after her, so it’s not even like she’s the baby of the family.
Do you think i am expecting too much of a first grader? She struggles with narration, as expected for her age. I try to keep all her lessons really short. I ask her to listen in to History and Bible. She does a Queens nature study science a few times a week with her older brother. but i try to keep everything short and on her level.
I am very concerned about the click over from reading words to being able to spell them. Should I be concerned – her phonetical spelling is crazy bad. Almost unintelligable.
I don’t know what to do. Thoughts?

October 10, 2011 at 10:18 pm
my3boys
Participant
I have no advice, but I feel your pain. My middle child has practically no recall of most of our subjects covered daily. He does give me some attitude (I think it stems from embarrassment of not being able to recall, but not sure) but not all the time. I will say that his behavior can escalate (crying, pouting, reluctance) if/when I become frustrated. I don’t mean to but it can be frustrating to go over the same thing time and time again. (I must make the Lord crazy!)
We just did a short study on Christopher Columbus and I’m so disappointed (don’t know at who most, me or the kids). My oldest’s spelling is just not improving (we’ll begin All About Spelling soon), not sure why. His written narrations really need to improve and my middle boy has such difficulty with recall. I can read a little or alot and it doesn’t seem to help. Ugh.
Sorry to hijack your post and not offer any advice….I’m going to focus on the positive for the rest of the day and not let it get me down. God is good, all the time.
October 11, 2011 at 2:19 am
simple home
Member
I could be under the wrong impression, but isn’t first grade too young to expect a lot in narration and especially spelling? I would think these are the years for gaining observation skills, learning to read, and lots of good read alouds while maintaining their attention and enjoyment in learning.
Let’s see what other moms have to say and discuss it…
October 11, 2011 at 5:15 am
my3boys
Participant
I agree, simple mom. My son is 9 1/2 so I may have more reason for frustration. When my son was 9, we had different struggles, mostly me learning what it meant to homeschool, etc. and I just began learning about CM. Now that I have one younger than my 9 1/2 I have decided to do only CM with him and I don’t feel the frustrations I have with my oldests ones.
Once again, sorry to jump into this thread with my own woes. I know for myself that most of our struggles are from my impatience and allowing societies pressures (aka: comparisons) to cloud my mind. *sigh*
mamaweb, I hope others chime in too and offer some helpful advice/encouragement.
October 11, 2011 at 5:35 pm
MamaWebb
Participant
ooo. sorry about all the typos in my first post! as to what’s too much, that’s what i’m not sure about. I only ask her to chime in with narration with what she can remember. or i’ll have her narrate a small bit of one of her readers or something. as to spelling. i’m just not sure. how to do we help them connect with the sounds they know and the words they can read – so that they can spell them too? it’s like my DD just guesses at most of the answers when i ask her a review question on anything…even stuff she knows? i am wondering if it comes from a fear of going out on a limb? fear of failure type thing, maybe? because she is so self-conscious. i just don’t know.
sigh.
amy
October 11, 2011 at 6:57 pm
simple home
Member
Hi Amy,
I personally feel that learning to write our language takes time. Sometimes children can read really well, like my dd 8, but writing is another thing. I think too much correction for young ones is frustrating, so just take it one step at a time. Over here, I have my dd read and narrate, and she does copywork. I have a sheet of common words ( I choose about 5 or so a day), that she looks at and I “test” her on for spelling. I don’t make a big deal out of it and I even give her a small treat like a jellybean for getting them all correct. Lately she is being more thoughtful of her spelling when she writes something of her own initiative, which I believe is great. She will ask, “Mom, how do I spell ____?” Whereas before she would just guess and awkwardly sound it out and write something wrong. She now wants to get it right. We want our kids to be thoughtful and care about their work, and not be hounded into spelling correctly only by us.
I hope this helps you some. 🙂

October 11, 2011 at 7:05 pm
my3boys
Participant
Ugh. What I meant to say was, “When my son was 6” not 9. Sorry.
As to your question…..I’ll have to think about what I did/am doing with a child that fears being wrong, doesn’t really accept correction well, likes to say that he already knows “such and such” and not in a disrepectful way, but still. When he won’t accept help, then it’s hard to move forward with someone that thinks they already know it all, but gets most of the answers wrong.
October 11, 2011 at 11:46 pm
lgeurink
Member
Without knowing your daughter or your family, I would say 7 is too young for spelling if you follow SCM’s guide. We are waiting till next year when my dd9 will be 10 and in 4th grade. All our current narration is oral and whatever I do ask her to write out I either write on the white board or spell aloud to her. I am mostly concerned with her reading fluency, attentiveness, and confidence. If she gets turned off by spelling now before she is at a cognative level to accomplish what you are asking her to do, you may be setting her up for a life time battle with spelling. As for her behavior, I think you sound patient and calm. Awesome, I have been much less gracious in similar situations! My dd9 has had those same streaks from time to time and I have felt they are mostly do to a desire to do things right and not wanting to try something that is too hard. She feels defeated before she even tries so why try? My dd6 also can get that way, though usually not with school, more like with chores. Her issue (I think) is just a more dramatic personality. It sounds like you are handling the character training very appropriately and that with time the behavior can improve. Is it possible you are asking her to do something her older siblings were able to do at her age and she is simply not able to do those things yet? Not being critical, just trying to exam all possibilities. Don’t know how much child development education you have had, but books for you related to cognition or learning styles may prove helpful. The Way They Learn by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias is great. I pray you have a calmer day tomorrow!