Guest jenmac18 Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Hi, This is my first post here! I have been using classical education with my kids for a long time and have slowly gone with this Well Trained Mind method. This year, I have a 5th grader who loves SOTW and I am using level 3. But my question is this: what is recommended in WTM and in the front of SOTW are different for this age. I want to be sure I am doing enough with him but don't want him to end up hating a subject he loves now. What do you suggest? Also, for science I am doing what is suggested in WTM, with all the hands on projects. However, I don't think he's ready to write 2-3 paragraphs on each of the experiments. Again, I think he will end up hating it. Any suggestions? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Welcome! I don't have an answer for you, but fwiw I would do what is best for him. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Agree with JMcElrath, do what is best for your child. If you are worried about not doing the writing, then if nothing else, you can always have discussions and then write down his responses and have him read those back to you then have him correct or add to anything he feels should be fleshed out more....that way you are introducing more writing without it being overwhelming or killing his love of the subject. Love of learning is hugely important, IMHO. If they love a subject that is half the battle. And there are MANY ways to beef up material without making it drudgery. You know, you might look at Dragon Naturally Speaking. He could dictate his responses and it types them out for him, then he could go back and add to it after he read it over. Pair that with Inspiration software to help him organize his thoughts and he might enjoy the writing process quite a bit. There is a bit of a learning curve with both programs but they are both really solid pieces of software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jenmac18 Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Thank you both for your suggestions! I guess what worries me is that he won't be prepared for high school if I don't push him. But, I think that if they love to learn, they will naturally learn more.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Thank you both for your suggestions! I guess what worries me is that he won't be prepared for high school if I don't push him. But, I think that if they love to learn, they will naturally learn more.. You could always do the writing the following year. If you follow the WTM, then I think he'll have plenty of writing. I agree with OneStepahead too. The love of learning. :) Fwiw, my son who is almost 6 is doing WWE1 (we started when he was 5). We don't do much copy work. But he can do the passages. Have fun! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Oh I'm sorry for misspelling your name OneStepAtATime! I think there's a store called one step ahead. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 Does he talk to you about the experiments? We started with a whole lot of talking and have just added in the writing. If he can talk about the subjects now, he can definitely write about them in the next three years. There are HUGE leaps between 6th and 8th grade. It is just wonderful, terrifying, and a bit annoying all at the same time to watch kids become so very strongly themselves in middle school. If your son was in 7th grade and still not writing anything down, then high school worries might be a bit stronger worries. You have a few years to start really expanding into some uncomfortable places. You don't need to do it everywhere all at once. Pick one place and push a bit. If your son flips out, back off a bit and pick somewhere else. He'll get there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jenmac18 Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Thank you! This is good advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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