Learning Record: 3rd Week of May 2025
Memorandum of my child's learning for the week starting May 17, 2025
I am noting down the learning content and observations for the week starting 5/17.
1. Math
・Angles (2)
・Yamamoto Juku Calculation Drill
【Note📝】
・This week's cram school materials covered the second part of angles, specifically "Triangles and Angles," "Triangular Rulers and Angles," and "Clocks and Angles."
・With the school sports day coming up this weekend, there is PE almost every day at school. Perhaps because of the fatigue, they aren't able to focus on solving the more difficult math problems😥. I wonder if they will be able to shift gears⚙️ and do their best after the sports day is over.
2. Japanese
・"First Bamboo Shoot Digging"
・Thorough Repetition: Third Grade Kanji
・Ronri de Kokugo (Logic Japanese) Hop
・Kotoba no Gakko C-1
【Note📝】
・This week's cram school materials were difficult in a different way. It involved tasks like reading how the protagonist's inner feelings are expressed through "chilly air," or inferring feelings based on the characters' actions. For a child with limited experience in these types of problems, it was quite tough.
・We started "Ronri de Kokugo Hop" in mid-March, and nearly 80% is finished. Apparently, they will move on to "Ronri de Kokugo Step" next. They seem to have good chemistry with the teacher in charge and are enjoying the work.
3. Science
・The Wonders of Sound
【Note📝】
・Regarding the wonders of sound, we learned about the nature of sound (➡️vibration), what transmits sound (➡️air), sound volume and speed, and in relation to pitch, "the sounds various animals can hear and make."
Both the confirmation questions and the challenge entrance exam questions included experimental problems, which felt very much like science.
・For now, we are learning science while using the corresponding Yosyu Series (preparatory series) textbooks.
4. English
・Pattern and Sequence
【Note📝】
・This week was about patterns and sequences. It included things like "If it goes orange, lemon, plum, orange, what comes next?" or number sequences like "What comes after 2, 4, 6...?" or "What comes after 70, 80, 90...?" As a math-loving child, they participated in the lesson with a louder and more enthusiastic voice than anyone else😂.
5. Finally
On 5/17, class ended at 7:00 PM, and the test was at 9:00 AM the next day. I had planned to rush to the monthly seminar as soon as the test was over, but if we went, we wouldn't have time to do the cram school review and homework. So, I just picked up the materials while we were at English class and decided to do this month's portion at home.
(However, getting them to do it from scratch at home while in a blank state is quite exhausting... Since it's held on the same day as Kids BEE next month and the monthly seminar is first, I don't plan on going, but it's a dilemma.)
6. Future Policy
I planned to praise their hard work from the holiday morning, enjoy the milkshake they requested after the test, have them rest and play until the afternoon, and then work on cram school review and homework from the afternoon onwards.
However, in addition to the review and homework not being finished within the planned time, the pre-grading answer sheets were uploaded on the evening of the proficiency test day. Seeing that the math wasn't finished to the end and the Japanese descriptive questions were left blank, I went into lecture mode...
This is not good, and since there are still more "test weekends" to come, I need to improve my own behavior.
(Postscript)
The test results aren't out yet, but we held a family meeting🧑🧑🧒 and established a response policy, so I'm writing it down.
1️⃣ Focus for 30 minutes and time yourself when solving problems to get used to test conditions. Create time to focus on completing 7 major problems in 30 minutes.
2️⃣ Read Japanese passages quickly. Learn to quickly organize what the story was about and what was important. First, aim for 15 minutes.