Is it laziness or am I assigning too much?

[MommyThrice]

I am STILL struggling to get my 15yo/9th grade boy through his daily work. His is frequently not finished by dinner time, which seems rediculous to me. I think he needs some time to goof-off or pursue another interest. Many times we would like to go somewhere as a family, but we can't b/c he has homework. I'm tired of being a slave to his school work.

 

We don't have outside activities right now - we're taking this off from speech & debate to focus on his school & work ethic. He will do mock trial and moot court later in this year.

 

Is this a reasonable amount of work?

 

Algebra I (this is a repeat) I sit with him to teach new lesson, so he usually takes more than an hour to finish. He hates math.

 

Jacobs Geometry - dad teaches him, this is only 3 afternoons per week.

 

Astronomy class online - Class meets one evening/week, work takes another 3-4 hours/week

 

Writing - online class and working through Kane's Oxford text at home. He spends about 1 hour/day writing. Class time is an additional 3 hours/week. I'll cut the Kane text if online class picks up.

 

Traditional Logic I (Memoria Press) - I've scheduled 30 min/day

Economics I - about 2 hours per week (this is a one-semester course, and he hopes to take Constitutional Law in the spring)

 

Great Books - we all read/discuss together after lunch about 1.5 hours. Right now we're reading & listening to audio of the Odyssey along with Teaching Co. lectures. We're covering it in 4 weeks. We include vocabulary, lit. terms and history in this time.

 

He wants to be an attorney, so math and science are not his focus. I know many of you have brilliant over-achieving kids. Other than debate, I feel like this work-load is just average. I don't think this should be taking until dinner time (and beyond) most days. What am I doing wrong? Is this too much work? How do you motivate a teenage boy that only wants to debate and play guitar?

[NineChoirs]

That seems like a very light course load to me, especially for High School. One thing that stands out to me is you say he hates math but it seems like his schedule is geared towards a math/science kid. High School is a time for setting up and following a path that will lead to your future career choices. Math is important for college admission, but you should focus more on the subjects he loves.

 

You didn't say what you were using for Algebra, but you might have to switch texts. Or just do Geometry since you say he has already done Algebra 1. Life of Fred is a great series for non mathy kids, it is very complete and it has a student loving and doing college level math very early on in the series. I do recommend starting from the beginning with fractions then decimals & percents. LoF focuses on the hows and whys of math, most other programs don't. I found Saxon didn't properly prepare a student for LoF Algebra. My daughter was able to finish the first 2 LoF books in only a few weeks and she loved it. Those two books taught her more math than her years with Saxon did, so I am convinced it is a complete program (the other books get alot longer but a student can still move through them pretty quickly till caught up). It is great for non mathy kids because, it reaches out to them in a way no other math book does. My daughter is a non mathy kid and she is doing great with it.

 

Astronomy is an elective science, you didn't say if your son like Astronomy, but non mathy kids also tend to be non-science oriented. If that is the case you should just get the necessary biology, chemistry and physical science out of the way and avoid the elective sciences all together. This will allow you to stretch out 3 years of required sciences over 4 years.

 

The rest seems to be pretty good, 1.5 hours is perhaps a bit long for discussion during school hours, maybe have these discussions in the evening at the dinner table & during clean-up? That way it becomes quality family time and isn't eating into his daytime work.

 

Most of his class work looks pretty structured, what subjects in particular is he not getting finished? Traditional Logic is a tough one, my older son took it and complained it took too long to do the assignments. He did get through it (as well as the second book), but it took him an hour a day easily, and he is a brilliant overachiever (and a math - science kid, seriously, if numbers were a language he would speak it fluently).

 

As much as I am a fan of formal logic programs, I think in your son's case I would drop it. If he isn't into math and science then logic is going to be like torture for him. What I suggest is swapping in an American Government course. If he wants to be an attorney, then that will be much more helpful in the long run. The other thing I would suggest is a theater class. If he likes speaking and music then that would be very exciting for him. And actually those skills would really help him with his desire to become an attorney.

 

I would stick with the Economics and Law courses, those seem like really good choices. I would also look into seeing if he would be interested in a psychology and/or sociology course.

 

Also since he is college bound you should start researching colleges now. That way you know he is getting the proper credits required. Also be and sure to keep transcripts & a portfolio, there is amazing info on that which can be found in this thread: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=220179

 

I think once your son sees that his studies are preparing him to reach his future goals he will get excited about schoolwork again. With teenagers there are always going to be bouts of laziness that you have to combat, but their overall attitude about their education should be positive, especially if they want to go to college! Motivate your son by providing him courses and subjects he feels will help him achieve his dreams. Get him through the tougher subjects by showing him the colleges he wants to go to, and what they require for admission. At this point he needs to be actively involved and excited about planning for his future.

 

Good luck!

[Sunshine State Sue]

This doesn't look like too much to me. It is English and Math heavy, but there is no history (it's actually folded into English) or foreign language.

 

There are days where my ds is basically done by lunch time and other days that he is still working after dinner. Part of that is due to outside activities, part of it is due to how thoroughly he completes his work.

 

I have no idea how to motivate a teenage boy. :sneaky2:

[Storm Bay]

I agree with doing only one math at a time if he hates it so much.

 

As for laziness, I have a 15 yo like this who is transferring to ps mid semester because she won't write essays for me or the tutor we had hired. She, otoh, likes math and works at that, but not at most of her oter subjects. She's currently working hard with Biology because it's DNA and she likes that, but otherwise doesn't like Biology.

 

It takes a lot of hard work to become a lawyer, in part because it's highly competitive. I roomed with one of my high school friends one semester who is now a lawyer when we were doing our undergrad degrees, and she worked very hard to get the grades she needed to get into law school. She's the only one I ever saw first hand, but the others I know who became lawyers were the same way.

[MommyThrice]

He's taking the astronomy because he's behind in math. He took biology last year (long story - it started out as 9th grade, but we decided to add a year) He doesn't really have enough math to move on to chemistry, and Texas colleges are requiring four lab sciences. He had the option of advanced biology/AP test or astronomy & he chose astronomy. He likes it and enjoyed biology, too.

 

He hates the algebra and just needs to get through it. I know he understands it, he just makes careless mistakes and doesn't pay attention to detail.

 

Geometry and logic are fun for him. Difficult, but fun. They are so closely related. I know they seem mathy, but he likes that logic - build the argument (destroy the other guy's argument) kind of thing.

 

If I move geometry to 10th grade, that means he'll have algebra II in 11th and then only one semi-advanced math. Is that enough?

[Storm Bay]

He's taking the astronomy because he's behind in math. He took biology last year (long story - it started out as 9th grade, but we decided to add a year) He doesn't really have enough math to move on to chemistry, and Texas colleges are requiring four lab sciences. He had the option of advanced biology/AP test or astronomy & he chose astronomy. He likes it and enjoyed biology, too.

 

He hates the algebra and just needs to get through it. I know he understands it, he just makes careless mistakes and doesn't pay attention to detail.

 

Geometry and logic are fun for him. Difficult, but fun. They are so closely related. I know they seem mathy, but he likes that logic - build the argument (destroy the other guy's argument) kind of thing.

 

If I move geometry to 10th grade, that means he'll have algebra II in 11th and then only one semi-advanced math. Is that enough?

 

Check with the colleges you're interested in. As far as I know, you don't need Calculus if you're going into the arts in most schools, but I haven't checked most schools, obviously:).

[Jane Elliot]

I've had five freshman boys so far and we've had laziness struggles with all but one of them. (Our one exception is unusually academic by nature. His laziness showed up more in household chores, which isn't nearly as distressing for me as academic laziness.) Two things have worked here for us.

 

1. Time - Really, I think it's the age. They do mature. That doesn't mean you let it slide. It just means you have to be more on top of holding them accountable on a daily basis. Dads are good for this. All our ds had recovered from the laziness syndrome by the time they were 16yo.

 

2. Guiding them toward owning their own future - When we've started looking at specific colleges they'd like to attend and discussed future career goals, and they've been able to get excited about a potential direction for their future, things have improved dramatically. Boys need help visualizing something worth striving for. Giving them more immediate goals with rewards is helpful, too. For example, when we showed our boys that their top-choice college gives credit for CLEP and AP exams, they were happy to work hard toward that. They need to be able to see reasons for their workload, otherwise they start to think of it as just a list of things my mom thinks I need to do.

 

FWIW, it doesn't look to me like you're assigning too much.

 

I know what you mean about debate. The year we did it, it swallowed up all our other academic pursuits. We're sticking to extemperaneous and other speech events now.

[NineChoirs]

He's taking the astronomy because he's behind in math. He took biology last year (long story - it started out as 9th grade, but we decided to add a year) He doesn't really have enough math to move on to chemistry, and Texas colleges are requiring four lab sciences. He had the option of advanced biology/AP test or astronomy & he chose astronomy. He likes it and enjoyed biology, too.

 

He hates the algebra and just needs to get through it. I know he understands it, he just makes careless mistakes and doesn't pay attention to detail.

 

Geometry and logic are fun for him. Difficult, but fun. They are so closely related. I know they seem mathy, but he likes that logic - build the argument (destroy the other guy's argument) kind of thing.

 

If I move geometry to 10th grade, that means he'll have algebra II in 11th and then only one semi-advanced math. Is that enough?

 

So if he likes all of his subjects, where is all the trouble coming from? Which subject is taking him so long to complete? Usually if you look closely you can find the culprit.

 

After doing Geometry next year he could do a book like: Foerster Algebra and Trigonometry - This counts as Algebra II, Advanced Algebra, Tri and Pre-Calculus and can be done in two years.

[MommyThrice]

Oh, history is in the great books time. History has been the center of our studies all along - lacking a bit in literature, so we're spending this year concentrating on great books. He studied US history last year (Notgrass) and we just returned from a 6-week "field trip" of DC, Philadelphia, Boston, etc..

 

No foreign language. He's taken some latin (hated it) but I'm hoping it will help him with dual-credit Spanish when he's a junior.

 

It's not any subject in particular that he isn't finishing, it just seems that everything takes forever. He zones out, so I've started have all the kids switch subjects every hour. That has helped, but if I don't stay on top of him it won't get done. He's drawing, painting white-out on his calculator, playing with sticky notes, etc... mostly during math. He seems too old for this.

 

I'll take some of the blame. I make him re-do work that is sloppy or lazy. I was hoping that he would learn to do it right the first time (ie. write legibly, show all work in math, take complete notes, etc...) Maybe I shouldn't do this, but that was part of the reason we took the year off from debate. He's going through the Teaching Co. video "How to be a Super Star Student" and hearing the same things there.

 

Thanks for the replies!

[NineChoirs]

I've had five freshman boys so far and we've had laziness struggles with all but one of them. (Our one exception is unusually academic by nature. His laziness showed up more in household chores, which isn't nearly as distressing for me as academic laziness.) Two things have worked here for us.

 

1. Time - Really, I think it's the age. They do mature. That doesn't mean you let it slide. It just means you have to be more on top of holding them accountable on a daily basis. Dads are good for this. All our ds had recovered from the laziness syndrome by the time they were 16yo.

 

2. Guiding them toward owning their own future - When we've started looking at specific colleges they'd like to attend and discussed future career goals, and they've been able to get excited about a potential direction for their future, things have improved dramatically. Boys need help visualizing something worth striving for. Giving them more immediate goals with rewards is helpful, too. For example, when we showed our boys that their top-choice college gives credit for CLEP and AP exams, they were happy to work hard toward that. They need to be able to see reasons for their workload, otherwise they start to think of it as just a list of things my mom thinks I need to do.

 

FWIW, it doesn't look to me like you're assigning too much.

 

I know what you mean about debate. The year we did it, it swallowed up all our other academic pursuits. We're sticking to extemperaneous and other speech events now.

 

 

This is such great advice, when you talk with kids about their futures, they tend to become very excited and motivated. This is especially true with boys. Your academic minded son sounds like mine. I tell my husband it's a good thing God made him smart cause goodness knows he could never hold a job that required manual labor.

[Storm Bay]

It's not any subject in particular that he isn't finishing, it just seems that everything takes forever. He zones out, so I've started have all the kids switch subjects every hour. That has helped, but if I don't stay on top of him it won't get done. He's drawing, painting white-out on his calculator, playing with sticky notes, etc... mostly during math. He seems too old for this.

 

 

My dd zones out, draws, fools around, sneaks books and she's 15, and mostly during non-math subjects. The problem is that I have to be on top of 3 dc who can't work in the same room. This morning we're not doing much because ds is ill, my 12 is exhausted (crazy week and not enough sleep), etc

[Nan in Mass]

Adding up the hours:

 

Algebra: 1 1/2 hr x 5 = 7 1/2

Geometry 1 hr x 3 = 3

Astronomy: 1 class + 4 hr = 5

Writing: 1 hr x 5 + 3 hr = 8

Logic: 1/2 hr x 5 = 2 1/2

Economics: 2 hr = 2

Great Books: 1 1/2 hr x 5 = 7 1/2

=================

35 1/2 hours

 

35 1/2 hours per week divided by 5 days per week = about 7 hours per day.

 

So thinking out loud here: When are you getting started? 8am? Between 8 and noon, he probably will get 3 1/2 hours of work done, given that he is likely to take awhile to switch subjects. Then half an hour for lunch. Start working again at 1:30. By 4:30 he should have another 3 1/2 hours of work done. That means that if he starts at 8, he should be finished by 4:30, provided that he switches subjects relatively quickly and only takes half an hour for lunch.

 

If by supper he isn't finished, then I would look at when he gets started and how many breaks he is taking. In order to be done by supper, he has to keep moving. If it seems like he is doing that, then I would reassess how long it is really taking him to do the work. What usually happens in our house is a combination. I usually have underestimated how long things will take, we get off to a latish start, and things interrupt us during the day. It usually isn't all that on any given day, but one is enough to push us past when we would like to be ending, and usually at least one of those things happens every day.

 

And I am absolutely sure that if my sons stopped doing the one activity that they really loved in order to do a good job at an activity that was rather boring on a day-to-day basis, no matter how much they wanted the end goal, they would wind up working less than efficiently. They would generally feel overwhelmed by the hopeless misery of it all, in exagerated teen-age fashion, and that would make them unable to concentrate. They would feel unmotivated to keep trudging through because the journey would seem so very long that hurrying now wouldn't seem to make any appreciable difference. Maybe your son is better at this than mine would be?

 

-Nan

Edited October 29, 2010 by Nan in Mass

[at the beach]

I am STILL struggling to get my 15yo/9th grade boy through his daily work. His is frequently not finished by dinner time, which seems rediculous to me. I think he needs some time to goof-off or pursue another interest. Many times we would like to go somewhere as a family, but we can't b/c he has homework. I'm tired of being a slave to his school work.

 

We don't have outside activities right now - we're taking this off from speech & debate to focus on his school & work ethic. He will do mock trial and moot court later in this year.

 

Is this a reasonable amount of work?

 

Algebra I (this is a repeat) I sit with him to teach new lesson, so he usually takes more than an hour to finish. He hates math.

 

Jacobs Geometry - dad teaches him, this is only 3 afternoons per week.

 

Astronomy class online - Class meets one evening/week, work takes another 3-4 hours/week

 

Writing - online class and working through Kane's Oxford text at home. He spends about 1 hour/day writing. Class time is an additional 3 hours/week. I'll cut the Kane text if online class picks up.

 

Traditional Logic I (Memoria Press) - I've scheduled 30 min/day

Economics I - about 2 hours per week (this is a one-semester course, and he hopes to take Constitutional Law in the spring)

 

Great Books - we all read/discuss together after lunch about 1.5 hours. Right now we're reading & listening to audio of the Odyssey along with Teaching Co. lectures. We're covering it in 4 weeks. We include vocabulary, lit. terms and history in this time.

 

He wants to be an attorney, so math and science are not his focus. I know many of you have brilliant over-achieving kids. Other than debate, I feel like this work-load is just average. I don't think this should be taking until dinner time (and beyond) most days. What am I doing wrong? Is this too much work? How do you motivate a teenage boy that only wants to debate and play guitar?

 

I'm only right now dealing with an 8th grader but her classes are high school level right now, so I will share my thoughts. I guess I am going to be a dissenting voice. It really doesn't look light to me for a 9th grader. I totally understand your statement that you are tired of being a slave to school work. You've got foreign language covered with dual credit for 11th and 12th, so that's fine. You have two maths (and fwiw) I do think you'd be fine to let him do one math now and just have either pre-calc or stats for 12th. Just my opinion. It looks like you are pushing around 7 hours a day, so yes, IMO, it will take all day when you take into account breaks, disruptions, life.

 

First, about Algebra. I'd have him just get through that this year but I'd try to figure out what it is about it that is making him hate it. Maybe you can add in something like Key to Algebra??? Or a program like Math U See that uses manipulatives? I don't know, just some thoughts there. And frankly, I would try to get his math to an hour a day. Again, YMMV.

 

You've got science covered for now with an elective science. Looks like it's taking the right amount of time at about an hour a day.

 

He is spending a lot of time on English when you add up the writing and great books. Honestly? I would keep it at an hour a day for this subject in totality or count it as two credits, making the writing class an elective course worth a whole credit. He is certainly spending enough time on it. You have something like three plus hours a day here for all English. That's certainly not average in my book. I would trim it if I was sick of being controlled by school work.

 

Traditional Logic looks to be an elective.

 

Social Science is covered with Economics plus, you will have additional social science from con law.

 

I try to remember that in regular schools, kids also get credit for things like gym, band, home ec, etc.

 

Just thought I would share another perspective. HTH.

 

ETA: Logic is on the LSAT. So, I, personally, would keep working with him to develop those logic skills since he is interested in law school.

Edited October 29, 2010 by Violet

[MommyThrice]

And I am absolutely sure that if my sons stopped doing the one activity that they really loved in order to do a good job at an activity that was rather boring on a day-to-day basis, no matter how much they wanted the end goal, they would wind up working less than efficiently. They would generally feel overwhelmed by the hopeless misery of it all, in exagerated teen-age fashion, and that would make them unable to concentrate. They would feel unmotivated to keep trudging through because the journey would seem so very long that hurrying now wouldn't seem to make any appreciable difference. Maybe your son is better at this than mine would be?

 

-Nan

I'm not following you. So, are you saying it would be better to not interrupt him when he's working on a subject he enjoys?

 

Thank you so much for helping me think this through:

We start school at 7:00 but take about 45 min for breakfast/chores, so we get a good four hours in before lunch. And we really do start on time every day - my husband makes sure of that. So, 4 hours before lunch, start back at 1:00, he should be finished by 4:00. (Actually by 3:00. We save geometry until dad gets home and astronomy is Wednesday night)

 

I think he just isn't working diligently and is getting distracted. So am I. I have 2 younger children that need me, but 9th grade doesn't require that much of me. I guess I'm not including the logic and economics discussions (which sometimes turn into rabbit trails) and the occasional discovery that he has spent a significant amount of time writing an essay from a lousy outline and needs completely reworked.

 

Algebra and writing. Those are the two that could drag on for hours without the proper focus.

[Chris in VA]

If he's making stupid mistakes but understands the algebra already, I'd drop it and let him just do the geometry. I take it the geometry is work everyday, but new material when he meets with his dad? I'd have him do homework on the off days, and then work with his dad the 3 other days.

 

I would have him review the algebra in algebra 2 next year. Algebra, geom, alg 2 and trig/precal are all you need for most colleges. Use some time late junior year to begin to study for the SAT math--if you can get in 3 hours a week from, say, March to October of the Sr year, you can cover a lot of ground and hopefully get an excellent score. Do this alongside whatever math you are on.

 

I'd drop the extra English writing book, and incorporate some writing into the GB study you are doing (if you are, indeed, doing just discussion with this). Don't know what online you are using, but we used Write@Home, and I had ds choose topics from his GB study for the essays he needed to do. Make it serve double duty, if ykwim. He has lots of time before college, so you can ease up a bit.

 

I might just drop logic, also--but you say he likes it, so maybe you could do 4 days a week?

 

If he's going to do mock trial next semester, I'd take away logic for that semester, as he's going to get lots of "logical" experience. Plus he's getting mathematical logic in geo, too.

 

And I agree with the PP who said not to interrupt him. Maybe he could do more of a block schedule--modified--by doing different subjects heavily one day, lightly the next (like 30 minutes of geo homework when not with dad, heavier when with dad).

 

Good luck!

[MommyThrice]

Just asked him what he likes most about school: Writing, logic and geometry

 

Likes least: algebra

 

Time drains:

1) algebra takes too long. We correct yesterday's math, go over teaching part of new lesson together, then he works lesson on his own. We dumped Saxon & recently switched to Lial. He is doing a half lesson (about 20 problems) daily.

2)not being as focused as he could

 

Want to do with life: attorney & Supreme Court justice (ah, 15!)

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think we're going to spend some time this weekend looking at colleges, law schools, and getting him to take some ownership of his education.

 

He's talked me into letting him take chapter tests at the beginning of each algebra chapter. If he scores 90 or above he can skip the chapter. Lial teaches in a different sequence from Saxon, so it's possible that he has already mastered some of the material.

 

Still contemplating holding geometry until next year. Haven't discussed this with him yet. All he sees is that big, black cloud of algebra II out there waiting for him!

[Storm Bay]

Just asked him what he likes most about school: Writing, logic and geometry

 

Likes least: algebra

 

Time drains:

1) algebra takes too long. We correct yesterday's math, go over teaching part of new lesson together, then he works lesson on his own. We dumped Saxon & recently switched to Lial. He is doing a half lesson (about 20 problems) daily.

2)not being as focused as he could

 

Want to do with life: attorney & Supreme Court justice (ah, 15!)

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think we're going to spend some time this weekend looking at colleges, law schools, and getting him to take some ownership of his education.

 

He's talked me into letting him take chapter tests at the beginning of each algebra chapter. If he scores 90 or above he can skip the chapter. Lial teaches in a different sequence from Saxon, so it's possible that he has already mastered some of the material.

 

Still contemplating holding geometry until next year. Haven't discussed this with him yet. All he sees is that big, black cloud of algebra II out there waiting for him!

 

That's a great compromise on the Algebra, particularly since you have switchd books.

[regentrude]

J

Likes least: algebra

 

Time drains:

1) algebra takes too long. We correct yesterday's math, go over teaching part of new lesson together, then he works lesson on his own

 

 

Can you try correcting the previous day's math right after it is done?

I could imagine a student finds it less than exciting (and sometimes maybe downright depression) having to go over yesterday's mistakes first - when concentration is best - and only later getting to new material.

 

I suggest trying to wrap up the day's math, including check and correction on the very same day, so that the next day's math can start with a clean slate.

It has the added advantage that being sloppy and careless has immediate consequences right that day - instead of not until the next.

[Tiramisu]

The problem is that I have to be on top of 3 dc who can't work in the same room.

 

This sounds like our house, except I have 4 dc to watch over. :grouphug:

[Teachin'Mine]

I know you mentioned that he had tried Latin - it's a great language if he's going into law. I agree with what's been said that it's not at all too much work. Maybe he could volunteer, shadow, or work at a law office? He needs to be highly motivated to do the level of reading and work required for admittance into a law school. Is he a fast reader? If not, a speed reading course would be really helpful. Since he likes geometry and logic, I'd leave those subjects as is. Would be great if he could join a debate club as it sounds up his alley. :)

[Nan in Mass]

I'm not following you. So, are you saying it would be better to not interrupt him when he's working on a subject he enjoys?

 

No, I was thinking about this part of your original post:

 

We don't have outside activities right now - we're taking this off from speech & debate to focus on his school & work ethic. ... How do you motivate a teenage boy that only wants to debate and play guitar?

 

 

As for:

Algebra and writing. Those are the two that could drag on for hours without the proper focus.

 

With mine, there seemed to be a writing hump that they had to get over. While writing was difficult for them, it took them forever to do a paper, which meant they didn't get enough practice to get better at writing papers, which meant that writing remained difficult and slow. Algebra takes forever in our household, too. Is he doing just the odds?

 

I so very much sympathize. Everything seems to take us forever, too.

 

-Nan

[Guest Barb B]

I've had five freshman boys so far and we've had laziness struggles with all but one of them. (Our one exception is unusually academic by nature. His laziness showed up more in household chores, which isn't nearly as distressing for me as academic laziness.) Two things have worked here for us.

 

1. Time - Really, I think it's the age. They do mature. That doesn't mean you let it slide. It just means you have to be more on top of holding them accountable on a daily basis. Dads are good for this. All our ds had recovered from the laziness syndrome by the time they were 16yo.

 

2. Guiding them toward owning their own future - When we've started looking at specific colleges they'd like to attend and discussed future career goals, and they've been able to get excited about a potential direction for their future, things have improved dramatically. Boys need help visualizing something worth striving for. Giving them more immediate goals with rewards is helpful, too. For example, when we showed our boys that their top-choice college gives credit for CLEP and AP exams, they were happy to work hard toward that. They need to be able to see reasons for their workload, otherwise they start to think of it as just a list of things my mom thinks I need to do.

 

FWIW, it doesn't look to me like you're assigning too much.

 

I know what you mean about debate. The year we did it, it swallowed up all our other academic pursuits. We're sticking to extemperaneous and other speech events now.

 

Agreed! There is something about 9th grade boys (I haven't had a 9th grade girl yet, so don't know about girls). Mine went through this fog. Lack of motivation, putting a magazine on top of his text book to make it look like he was actually reading the text (do they really think we moms are that dumb0. This was the year dh though ds should have a computer in his room. I took that out pretty quick! I didn't even like him in his room for work that year (again dh idea of his desk in ds room!) let alone a computer! The computer - I took out! Anyway - this doesn't excuse them - means you have guiding to do!

 

Barb

[Storm Bay]

Agreed! There is something about 9th grade boys (I haven't had a 9th grade girl yet, so don't know about girls). Mine went through this fog. Lack of motivation, putting a magazine on top of his text book to make it look like he was actually reading the text (do they really think we moms are that dumb0. This was the year dh though ds should have a computer in his room. I took that out pretty quick! I didn't even like him in his room for work that year (again dh idea of his desk in ds room!) let alone a computer! The computer - I took out! Anyway - this doesn't excuse them - means you have guiding to do!

 

Barb

 

Mine hide their extracurricular reading material under their books:glare:.

[Guest]

Mine hide their extracurricular reading material under their books:glare:.

 

I read other books under my desk all through high school.

[ktgrok]

Does he really need to do 20 problems to get the material? That's a ton of writing and such for only half a lesson's worth of learning. Maybe, if he is understanding it well, he could do 20 problems for a whole lesson? And that way move faster? Or do half a lesson a day but only do 10 problems?

 

Katie

 

 

Just asked him what he likes most about school: Writing, logic and geometry

 

Likes least: algebra

 

Time drains:

1) algebra takes too long. We correct yesterday's math, go over teaching part of new lesson together, then he works lesson on his own. We dumped Saxon & recently switched to Lial. He is doing a half lesson (about 20 problems) daily.

2)not being as focused as he could

 

Want to do with life: attorney & Supreme Court justice (ah, 15!)

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think we're going to spend some time this weekend looking at colleges, law schools, and getting him to take some ownership of his education.

 

He's talked me into letting him take chapter tests at the beginning of each algebra chapter. If he scores 90 or above he can skip the chapter. Lial teaches in a different sequence from Saxon, so it's possible that he has already mastered some of the material.

 

Still contemplating holding geometry until next year. Haven't discussed this with him yet. All he sees is that big, black cloud of algebra II out there waiting for him!