[Desperately Need Your Help/Advice]

@Danae Yes, that’s the plan, to use AoPS pre-algebra textbook. Have you used AoPS pre-algebra textbook before? I’m just wondering how teacher intensive it is. I just want to know so I can prepare for it.

Thanks!

[Desperately Need Your Help/Advice]

@ClemsonDana Wow! Kudos to your homeschool group for winning your state’s Science Olympiad championships. My daughter is very much interested in science as well, but she’s more into animals. She remembers different kinds of facts of almost all the animals she’s read about. If only there’s a quiz bee just about animals. ?

I will check all the curriculum that you mentioned, especially K-12 Human Odyssey. I’ve read about K-12 Human Odyssey in the forum before. Btw, is a dissection class necessary for middle school?

Thank you for all of your pieces of advice and for sharing your experiences. 

God bless!

[Desperately Need Your Help/Advice]

8 hours ago, J-rap said:

I'd say you can easily continue homeschooling through middle school.  In middle school, you are basically setting them up to take high school courses.  ?  You can do that at home, and those grades don't count toward college applications.

For Biology then, we used Miller and Levine.  For Chemistry, we used Conceptual Chemistry.  Both of those had lots of on-line activities available too, which was nice. 

I'd say take it one step at a time and don't worry about high school yet.  You can see how the middle school years go and take it from there.

Our kids were involved with a homeschool group (not a co-op) so met other kids that way.  They also took part in community ed activities:  courses, sports, theater.  And 4H.  In high school, they were allowed to participate in our local high school's sports, music, and theater groups.  I don't know if that's an option for you.  

@J-rap Thank you for your reply. I am thankful that I don’t have to grade middle subjects except Algebra (so far, that’s the only subject I know that will appear on transcript).

You mentioned Biology and Chemistry. These are only taken during HS, right? DD loves animals so we’ll do some unit studies on the matter that’s appropriate for her level.

Thanks. Will do it one step at a time. But I’d like to be prepared as well so I can see the big picture and not panic next time.

I will ask our local middle school if they allow homeschoolers to join their orchestra. I haven’t heard of 4H so will look into that.

Thanks again!

[Desperately Need Your Help/Advice]

13 hours ago, Kiara.I said:

I think your DH may need to be involved in the curriculum discussion. Let him look at the state standards and at the curriculum, and see what he considers to be rigorous enough.

@Kiara.I Thanks for this idea. I’ll definitely do this. He’s warming up to the idea of me homeschooling DD this year but still needs a bit more of convincing.

11 hours ago, PeachyDoodle said:

If dd wants to go to school for high school, I'm open to that. Right now, she does not. I'm happy with that too.

My dd studied pre-algebra in 6th grade and algebra in 7th. I was a little apprehensive letting her jump forward. But if your dd passed the placement test, she's most likely prepared for it. I would start there and see how it goes. You can always back up if she is struggling.

We also use Writing with Skill and have found it to be an excellent preparation for high school writing (even for my natural writer). 

Some people also like to start working on logic/critical thinking at this stage (puzzles, informal, or even formal logic). 

I would suggest reading through the Logic Stage section of WTM to get a good overview of what a classical education looks like at this stage. A classically educated student should have no trouble getting into college. But really, no college is going to be that interested in what your dd did in the 6th grade. So I would try to dial back the pressure on that front for now. Right now you need to concentrate on preparing her for HIGH SCHOOL -- whether that's a public/private b&m school, or whether you continue to teach at home. If nothing else, just remember that you aren't locked into homeschooling forever, even if you do it for this year. If you decide it's not working, you always have the option of enrolling your dd in school.

Best of luck!

@PeachyDoodle I don’t know how to quote excerpts so I kept the ones that I wanted to comment and thank you for. 

One of our friends will be moving to our area and they have an incoming 6th grader as well. In fact, the mother wants to live nearby us so her daughter and DD can meet as often as they want. She knows I’m homeschooling but she’s hoping that DD will attend ps so her DD will have a friend at school. But DD just assured me that she really wants to be homeschooled. I guess my prayer was answered through DD and I’m happy with that. ?

We’ll do what you did in math. She really loves math and excited to do pre-algebra (she’s even watched some basic algebra videos). She’s not a math whiz but she is willing to take on challenges. 

WWS has been mentioned twice so I will start reading my copy. I also have IEW’s SWI but haven’t had the time to check that one either. Thanks also for the logic/critical thinking suggestion. 

Thanks for your encouragement! I will do this homeschooling journey one year at a time. ? 

7 hours ago, thefircone said:

We tightened our belts and paid out of pocket for an extra visit a week with a private therapist that specialized in helping older children, and it made all of the difference in the world.

I would be careful about sending a speech-challenged child of your son's age to public school or any other public venue without caring supervision.  Elementary age kids can be extremely cruel to kids with speech issues. 

If your daughter has a strong interest in a certain area, find out if there's a class or club with like-minded kids.  

@thefircone I’m sorry I don’t know how to quote excerpts so the quote looks like that. Anyway, thank you so much for writing about your experience. We haven’t really gone to a private therapist yet but I think we should. I want to make sure that DS8 doesn’t have an undiagnosed speech problem. The speech therapist at our local public school said that she didn’t see any problem that needs more attention. Anyway, I’ll be contacting some private therapists that specialize with older children. Hopefully our insurance will cover it.

Thanks for all of your advice.

[Desperately Need Your Help/Advice]

12 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

5. I do not grade until high school or middle school subjects that will be on a transcript (like algebra).  There is no point to grading unless it is going to be on a transcript, in my opinion.  I grade essays using a rubric. 

 

Are there any other middle school subjects other than Algebra that needs to be on a transcript?

[Desperately Need Your Help/Advice]

Hi. I’ve been a member of this forum since November of 2017 but I just always lurk and search for things that I need help with. But I think this time lurking and just using the search feature are not enough. I really need some advice and help and anything you guys can impart is greatly appreciated.

 

I have 3 kids: DD11, DS9 (turning 10 soon), and DS8. We started homeschooling last August and we’ll be finishing our school year at the end of this month. My plan is to homeschool during elementary years only and send them to public school in middle school. My DD, who’ll be in 6th grade, has recently told me that she’d like to continue homeschooling.

 

I’m sort of in a panic mode right now because I did not expect DD to say that. I am still on the fence but I am leaning towards homeschooling...it’s just that I have my fears. Also, DH wants her to go to public school because he thinks that’s the only way for her to go to very good universities, especially the UC system; he thinks that homeschooling during the middle and high school years is not a good idea. I told him that based on what I’ve read in this forum, homeschooled students can get into prominent universities even. He’s still skeptical and thinks only the gifted kids can do that.

 

Here are the things I need help/advice: 

 

1) If any of you had homeschooled before and decided to send your kids back to public school, what are the main reasons why you had to make that decision? Or what are the reasons why you pulled them back again?

I am going to evaluate our first year of homeschooling and figure out what to do next. 

 

2) English is not my mother tongue and I’m afraid that any errors on my part would rub off on my children. Do you think my kids’ learning of ELA be affected because of this? I try to talk to them in a different language (other than Japanese) when we’re not schooling since DD really wants to learn my mother tongue but makes me more worried that DC will limit their English. Also, my DS8 has some speech problem but he attends speech therapy once a week at our neighborhood ps. Now I am thinking that he might be better off if he goes back to public school so he’ll pick up from other kids the “normal” way to speak (he tends to talk in a babyish manner). If you have anything to share regarding this, that’d be great. 

 

3) We are Christians and I incorporate Bible lessons in our curriculum; however, DH is adamant that science should be separated from religion. What science books do you use that present accurate scientific information that can be modified to fit our Christian beliefs? 

 

4) What would you recommend to teach my daughter during 6th grade? Any curriculum that’s rigorous enough to appease DH and make him see that homeschooling can also get a student to good colleges? I haven’t completely read TWTM (but read Rethinking Schools). Besides, it was in July of last year that I decided to homeschool so just bought the curriculum that I thought was okay and didn’t have enough time to really research about curriculum. So right now, we’re doing:

Latin (Latin for Children Primer A) 

Japanese 

Primary Math Standards Edition (For math, I’m still debating whether to let DD take pre-algebra or not. She passed AoPS’ “Are You Ready for Pre-algebra 1” assessment test but DH is reluctant to let her skip 6th grade math because he’s afraid DD might still need to learn or review other concepts (and he’s not sure if the 26-questions assessment is good enough to gauge her knowledge. Any thoughts on this?)

LOF as math supplement 

MCT Island (for DS8 and DS9) and MCT Town (for DD)

The Good and the Beautiful LA  and Daily Grams as supplement

MFW’s ECC and its accompanying science curriculum (almost done)

Just started SOTW Vol. 1

Typing

Music

Lego Education 

All 3 kids are taking piano lessons and DD is taking violin lessons

Any other extracurricular activities you can recommend?

 

5) How do you guys do the grading? Just thinking about grading essays make me want her to go to ps as well. ?

 

6) Last but not the least, how do you deal with socialization? DD is shy and lately she seems to get lonely easily (we moved to a new state a year ago so she misses her old friends). This is the other reason why DH wants her to go to public school. ? 

 

I apologize it got this long. If you’ve managed to read everything, thank you so much for your time!

[Hello!]

It’s my first year of homeschooling my 3 kids ages 10,9, and 7. To be honest, I am nervous that I might mess it up and afraid that I won’t be a good teacher since English is not my native tongue. Anyway, I hope I will find more useful things in the forums, and that I may also be a contributor here.