Number Lines

Yesterday, at a party, one of my favorite seven year olds explained she failed a test in subtraction.  Last night, I thought about this issue and remembered number lines.  I think we forget how abstract math can be for younger children. Teachers used to tape number lines on to desks.  You can use a ruler or yard stick to show kids how to add or subtract.  Once the child understands the concept she won’t need it.  But what a boost for a child struggling.

Science Help

My passion is teaching Chemistry.  My husband and I are teaching Chemistry for high school and Apologia’s Young Explorers’ Chemistry and Physics for the elementary siblings concurrently.  The blog is https://mrsstevenschemistryclasses.blogspot.com/. The Young Explorers series are all excellent.  The labs are easy to understand and replicate.  The lab notebook journal has the syllabus.  We just started the Young Explorers class.  Many families are intimidated by science instruction.  Check out the blog!

Open Court Phonics

Once upon a Time, schools used Open Court Phonics to teach kids how to read.  The program used Phonics Cue Cards and stories, such as Millie and the Cowboy, to teach vowels and constants.  This program’s resources are here.  If you want more background on Open Court basal readers, try Let’s Kill Dick and Jane.  I recommend using the older Open Court basal readers for primary students, such as The Headway Program.  (Scroll down through the testimonials for a list of titles in the series with tables of contents and titles.). These books contain a variety of fiction, fables, poems, etc.  Fabulous!  I’m old enough to remember reading all of the stories in my readers—probably when I should have been paying more attention to math!