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How do you decide what areas to include and exclude from afterschoooling? Do you choose one or two subjects in which your kids' school is deficient so that you can bolster them or do you try to go for greater depth in multiple areas? I actually think the school does a fine job in teaching but I really want DD to have a deep understanding of numbers so I spend a lot of time on math. But maybe I should instead be spending time on history, which isn't really covered until later in elementary. Realistically, we will only be able to afterschool 20-30 min a day, and even if we had more time, I wouldn't want to do more.

 

My eyes are getting very big as I read about more and more curricula. I really want to try AAS, but I have to draw the line somewhere!

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I went for what my neighborhood schools were weak at. For K-3, the schools are strong in LA and weak in math and science. So we focus on math and science is interest led in my home. For 4-8th grade, LA is strong and Science (by science teacher) is okay. Again math is generally weaker unless the assigned math teacher happen to be good. Locally, a lot of the k-5 teachers are strong in LA and weak in Math.

 

My kids read and watch a lot of documentaries for history for their free time so we didn't do any afterschooling for history.

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I after school for the purpose of acceleration. I spend most of my efforts on acceleration in my child's strong areas as the school does not do justice to his strengths. We add in the extras for fun - latin, greek, poetry, science experiments etc when we can, but that is not our main focus.

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Most of my paper-and-pencil afterschooling time is spent providing additional instruction / practice so that my challenged daughter does not fall behind in school.  Math is pretty much every day, because she needs a lot of time to "get" math.  We also do supplemental work on reading comprehension and vocabulary and grammar.  We go over science and social studies before tests.  I go over anything she misses on her homework due to not understanding.  If we have time after all that, I read aloud and/or she reads aloud.

 

I provide enrichment stuff for my advanced daughter, but for the most part, she prioritizes what she's going to study at home.  Thankfully she truly loves independent / self-directed learning.

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I try to do maths (his strongest subject) and writing (his weakest subject).

 

And I try and chuck in some history because unless there has been a major change history is not taught here except a few random bits if the teacher is interested. Science is also quite random but he will get some at high school.

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I afterschooled in the areas where the school was deficient.  This took on two forms.  The first was for subjects that the school did not teach at all, so in our case that was history and grammar.  The second was for subjects that the school supposedly taught but did not teach well, or only taught by giving assignments, which in our case was math and writing.  For these, I piggybacked my instruction onto whatever the school assigned.

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I have to prioritize since time is limited. Thank goodness his school is great compared to most schools. I focus on shoring up the 3 R's when there is time. I do most of the supplementing during the summer due to lack of time during the school year. I also choose which R to focus on y looking at what is covered in the weakest fashion and that would be writing. However, we also spend a lot of time on math even though the school uses Saxon math since he is accelerated in math at school and I want to ensure there are no holes in his math education.

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How do you decide what areas to include and exclude from afterschoooling? Do you choose one or two subjects in which your kids' school is deficient so that you can bolster them or do you try to go for greater depth in multiple areas? I actually think the school does a fine job in teaching but I really want DD to have a deep understanding of numbers so I spend a lot of time on math. But maybe I should instead be spending time on history, which isn't really covered until later in elementary. Realistically, we will only be able to afterschool 20-30 min a day, and even if we had more time, I wouldn't want to do more.

 

My eyes are getting very big as I read about more and more curricula. I really want to try AAS, but I have to draw the line somewhere!

 

I entered this board to ask this very same question, so thanks! It's so tough to choose... I want to do it all!!! ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Benny

I'm only really concerned with math and la with my boys. We usually work on both and which one we focus on more depends on us. I can tell if it will be a better math day or la day once I see them, lol

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We afterschooled for remediation, which happened to be the subjects the school teaches poorly. We hope to afterschool for strengths this year, as well as interest and school weaknesses again. I just learned they only teach spelling one year so we'll probably have to do that too.

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  • 3 weeks later...

My younger was behind in reading and math before I put her in school last year. I let her spend the year learning to love her school. Over the summer, I found she hadn't progressed far from where she started the school year -at least in reading and math. I have spent the summer working hard with her on those subjects.

 

My older has been ahead in every subject forever. I work hard to find challenging things to enrich her schooling and challenge her. Last year we made the mistake of letting her get ahead in Latin. That was a terrible idea. It made class more boring. This year we're adding to science by covering topics she won't. I've also added Spanish. Next year I hope to find a resource for another language. We're going to add some graphic design, psychology and game programming.

 

So, I choose by what they need. One needs remediation and the other needs challenge. .

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Guest annebluejay

For my kids that are afterschooling, I go by what the school either doesn't cover or what they show a weakness in when I'm looking at their homework.

 

My highschooler gets help with language arts and studying his spanish.

 

my elementary girls are doing SOTW together in the four year cycle (I do this whether they are homeschooling or chooing the public school so it doesn't matter.)

 

Each child individually, I check for weaknesses and guide from there.

 

All kids get nature study because that's my area of study and it's just part of our everyday lives. We also as a family pick a subject to do together and study that for a month. It usually culminates on a museum visit or local event that's within a reasonable drive.

 

I am thinking about adding a country study too but haven't figured it out yet. The high schooler was homeschooled K-8 with one year in public school, so it's been an adjustment for both of us!

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