My mom and I had a lovely time picking out curricula for this upcoming school year. We first checked on the brand new, revised All About Spelling curriculum that just came out and were pleased to find that it is a lot like the All About Reading curriculum that worked so well for Kitty. We had bought the first three levels of the old version of All About Spelling which unfortunately lack the games and pictures and interactive aspects and had gone over with Kitty about as well as a lead balloon. Kitty got to perhaps the middle of the first level but it was dry and difficult and annoying, and I have no idea if she actually absorbed any of it whatsoever. We've been teaching stealth spelling for a year or so now with mixed success. The new curriculum looks awesome and I hope that it will remind her of the fun that we had with All About Reading and perhaps with the fun characters and stickers and activities some learning will actually happen and some of her resistance will melt away. Fingers crossed.
Next we looked at the books for math. Kitty has already started on the third level of Beast Academy math online, and we decided to buy the bundle again so we will have the books as well as access to the online version until February 2026, even though at this juncture I have no idea whether Jack is going to insist Kitty live with him full time during the school year. (I was lucky to get him to agree to a summer schedule. I think my request for a set schedule has backfired horrifically and he is determined to make sure that he won't agree to anything ever so he can leave me dangling as long as possible. Still, I figure we shall just have to plan for two lives: the one if she stays here and the one if she leaves. It looks pretty bleak if she's gone but I tell myself I can use the time to write.) Meanwhile, though, I need the math books. While having just the access to the online is okay, it is really hard for me to look ahead and get some understanding of what to expect when I don't have an actual lesson in front of me and even though the books and the online are not exactly the same, I can get a much better handle on things if I can read ahead in the books the night before a lesson so that I'm prepared for the difficulties and surprises that arise the next day when Kitty is pitting herself against the math on the computer. Also I can often help her dip her toe in the water with one or two problems on the board or some extra explanation before we tackle the lesson on the computer, which has been wonderful for levels 1 and 2, and might be invaluable for level 3.
I worry about the third level of Beast Academy. I read an article about how much more schools expect of kids in third grade and the authors were not kidding!! I'm astounded by the core standards that kids are expected to meet. I'm not sure that Kitty can manage it. I'm not sure I could manage it! So I'm planning to spend lots of time off of the computer building foundational understanding of fractions in the kitchen using measures and recipes as well as time working with play money translating it into written decimals back and forth to give Kitty some hands-on experiences and practice. Food is important to Kitty and she understands that food must be bought, so handling money in conjunction with that may appeal to her.
In addition, I have ordered some manipulatives for practicing math facts and put together a list of activities and games to practice and reinforce them. My hope is that Kitty can learn her math facts by heart, even though I wasn't ever able to do so. So far we've had mixed success. If she can't memorize her math facts, at least I know from my own experience that, although some teachers insist that this is the end of the world as we know it, it turns out that life goes on and you find ways to deal with it.
As we were looking for the third level math books on the Beast Academy website, I happened to notice that they have put out a brand new science course for third graders so my mom and I took a look at that. Wow! So cool. We read all of the samples and we were really impressed. We decided to go ahead and purchase it because it has all kinds of cool stuff in a format which I know will appeal to Kitty and we need a science curriculum.
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