Roxy Roller
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Posts posted by Roxy Roller
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Maybe I'm negative or over protective or something, but I would be careful about waiting too long to talk about rape/sexual assault type things. I know they're not a fun subject, but I think the high school age is definitely a time where teenagers can easily be put into situations like that and I wouldn't want my daughter (or son) to not know what to do.
I agree, which is why I feel like I need to have some of these conversations now, even though I am not sure that she is mature enough for them. She is a very pretty girl, even though she would disagree.
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When you talk to her about these issues, talk with her at your side. Do not talk face to face about these issues. This may help her.
Thank you for the tip! Talking in the car seems like it would be a perfect time.
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Is she anxious? With anxious kids, it is important to present information along with a lot of reassurance. Go slowly and present a little at a time, starting with the least disturbing topic. Don't feel that she needs all if the information right now. It is unlikely that she will be personally faced with these issues anytime soon and a little time to mature would not be a bad thing.
Yes, I would say that she is a little anxious. Maybe I will give her a little more time to mature and do some praying in the meantime. Thank you for your insight.
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I, too, use the car to trap my teens. But I have found that TV shows and literature are the easiest way to start talking about heavy topics. It also helps to circle around the issues. One short discussion every few days make it more normal and natural than one long deep talk that never happens again.
I agree that we need to naturally talk about these things so that it becomes normal, and not one deep talk.
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I reviewed several documentaries from Netflix then watched them with my daughter.
I wouldn't know where to start. Do you have a list of documentaries that you felt were beneficial?
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We subscribed to World Magazine for several years. Between the magazine and watching news on tv together there were plenty of opportunities to discuss tough issues.
We don't have TV, so we don't watch the news, but subscribing to a magazine would be a good idea. Do you mean God's World News or is World Magazine something different?
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Roxanne,
I wouldn't stress too much about these topics yet. These conversations will come as you do life together over the next few years. My youngest now is 15 1/2 and has matured so much since turning 15.
The most important thing is to keep an open relationship with your daughter. Work out any conflicts as quickly as possible. You talk when she is open to talk, even if that means dropping what you're doing to give her attention at odd times. I have had children that love to talk early in the morning and one that opens up after 11 PM only - yawn!
Keep praying that you will be ready for the teachable moments as they happen. I am so often in awe of how the Lord works in these things.
Blessings!
Thank you for your response, Cathy. I really am not sure if she is ready to talk about these things, and it is encouraging to me to know that it is okay if she needs to wait. My DD always wants to talk in the evening (when I want to go to bed), but I have been making an effort to chat with her and do some of her bible reading for AWANA with her at that time.
Thank you for the reminder to pray for teachable moments and to pray that I will be ready for them.
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Ha! This is definitely not an area for the faint of heart! Mostly, I used car time to bring up these subjects. When I was driving them to practice or an event, I would start talking about some of these hard topics and the kid was unable to escape. I think it helps because the kiddo doesn't feel like they are in the spotlight (after all, Mom IS driving!).
I found myself doing this yesterday when DD12 and I were driving somewhere and they mentioned Deborah on the Christian radio station.
My DD and I drive to her riding lessons each Wednesday and we don't have the boys with us, so I will try to use these times as discussion times. Thanks for the tip!
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Dr. Dobson from Focus on the Family has some good CDs to listen to together. Preparing for Adolescence I think they're called. They don't really dive into the hardest issues such as rape and abortion, but they do provide a very gentle starting point for conversations and help your child to know that it's OK (and even desirable) to talk about these kind of things with you. It might be a good introduction for your daughter if she's hesitant to talk about these types of things ... and may end up being a good "jumping off" point that would lead to other conversations. Hope that helps!
Thank you for reminding me about this. I have the books for Preparing for Adolescence, and when I looked at them last year, they seemed like too much for her, but they might be just right now. I will look at them again.
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My DD is a very 'young' 14 year old. She has hit puberty, but does not want to grow up. We have had our battles this year and I don't see them letting up any time soon.
We have had the basic 'birds and the bees' conversations, and I feel like we need to have some heavy conversations about things like rape, abortion, etc., but I do not know how to approach these issues. She seems to not want too much information, and seems to close down if I bring up some of these subjects, like she doesn't want to know about the 'bad' things in the world. They come up in our Bible reading, and she is aware of the basic definition of these issues, but not much else. Is there a resource out there that I don't know about that helps parents talk to their children about these things? My husband and I feel totally inadequate in this area, as she is our oldest child.
:bigear:
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If you'd like to do any brainstorming in this regard, just let me know. You could email or chat on the MFWHighSchool yahoo group, if you don't want to hash those details out here.
I don't consider Notgrass a major part of MFW's AHL, and I'm not sure if that's where you wanted to start. I know you're talking 10th grade, but 10th graders can do AHL, too. It just depends on what credits you need/want in there. Doing Notgrass over 2 years would mean doing Ancients, correct? That's where I think skipping Notgrass for Ancients would make more sense than skipping everything else that year. Then using mostly just Notgrass for World history (starting with the Rome chapters) would work with MFW plans/goals/credits.
Julie
I was planning on starting at Ancients and doing AHL in 10th and WHL in 11th. Thank you for the offer to chat. I may take you up on that as I get closer to making a decision.
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Nothing wrong with knowing your and your child's limits regarding what's reasonable. :) Your daughter sounds like she has a very busy schedule, so IMO it's better to find something manageable than to attempt to cut back on something that has more than you need. In addition to the great suggestions you've gotten, I'll add one more: You could use TTC courses (buy these on sale) or education-portal.com courses (just saw these mentioned in another thread--they are free and look great) and add in reading/discussion. For writing, have you considered a Write at Home year-long course or doing some workshops? You could cover all her writing with Write at Home if that would be feasible for you. We have found their courses to be excellent and well worth it. They are very manageable. If you combined WaH with courses from education-portal.com or TTC, it would be a solid and (I think) efficient way to go. Best wishes. :)
Thank you for reminding me of the TTC courses.
I have not looked at WaH, but I do like the idea of outsourcing writing.
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Here are a few ideas that you might consider:
Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum - independent w/input needed on the writing assignments
World History, World Geography
English
Biblioplan - independent
Ancient, Medieval, Early Modern w/American History, Modern w/American History
The Cool History worksheets do include short writing assignments, but you will need a separate writing curriculum.
Bravewriter "Help for High School" - independent w/input needed on the writing assignments
H4HS is written to the student, and it teaches expository essays with documentation. It has unique exercises for generating insight into topics. H4HS can be completed in one semester or less and then practiced for the rest of the year with other topics.
The Classical Historian - needs more teaching
History and composition are combined.
I will look into each of these. Thank you for the ideas.
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We have learners who struggle, some mightily, some only in a single subject, some learning English and way behind, just all over the map.
One thing I have constantly reminded myself of, was that reading, writing and math came first. Period. Anything else is icing on the cake and can be our "lighter" subjects, but if our kids can read and write really well by the time they graduate, they can always make up for lost time down the road by taking more history and science. Is it my desire? No, of course not! I want them to rock in ALL subjects! Hahaha! BUT...BUT...BUT, if we find that more time must be devoted to have strong readers and writers, that's where I want to make sure we focus.
Also, we try and combine where we can, covering a writing project for history, or reading with science and adding additional materials. The more crossover I do, the less I worry about not covering everything exactly as I might wish.
We moms do the very best we can, and sometimes our best will just look different than another family's best. It sounds as if you have a good game plan!
Thank you for reminding me that Reading, Writing and Math need to come first. It is really easy to lose sight of that when high school and college are looming. I need to spend more time crossing my reading and writing over into our sciences and the things that my DD is interested in.
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I think Alpha-Omega has 1/2 credit courses for American and British Literature. I think they are stand-alone courses and not integrated into their main curriculum.
I will look into the AO Lit courses. Thank you for reminding me of them.
I'm trying to evaluate the Stobaugh texts as a possible resource for light high-school lit/history. Open and go, and doing the writing as assigned will NOT work. If I read way ahead, and know this curriculum like the back of my hand, and spoon feed it, and make up my own writing assignments, and skip a lot--maybe. The writing assignments on the tests are much easier than those in the text.
The Kindle versions are cheap enough. And from what I have read of the samples and of the American books, the presentation seems to be organized and focus on the topics and texts I most want to cover. I think I might like this as a teacher resource. It's entirely unusable to me as an open-and-go self-study text for anything other than the most gifted and hardworking students, who have been brought up in an evangelical and reformed church, though.
I will look at the Stobaugh text, but I am leaning towards the Notgrass one.
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Have you looked at ACE Paces? These are light but cover the needed topics. These are not a combo of history/lit though. But What about Lightning Lit and then the history Paces. Another option would be Beautiful Feet curriculum. The assignments could be as hard or as light as you the parent wants them to be or you can pick and choose from the weeks worth of work.
Did you look at Sonlight? I would not purchase a whole package but pick and choose several books you think she can handle and the IG to give you writing work.
Remember, any writing curriculum you get can be pared down. You will be the one reading her work and grading. You can set the bar how high or low you want the assignment to be.
I will look at ACE Paces. Is it a similar format to the Light Units from CLE? We have tried those in the past and they didn't work for my DD. She found them pretty dry, but maybe the high school levels would be different.
I cannot believe I forgot to mention the curriculum my son is using, Mystery of History. I have used this for both his History and Writing plus added in some Literature to go with the time period. This is a great option because they give three levels of work. My son loves this curriculum, saying it is the only History curriculum that has not put him to sleep.
If you want to add some literary type writing, I would add a few progeny press books, maybe for a book from the time period studied. However, the writing they do in MOH can be more then enough if you choose those types of assignments from the choices they give.
We have already gone through the MoH books. I don't think she would want to do them again.
Thanks for your insight, and the reminder that any writing curriculum can be what I want it to be!
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My inclination would be to go ahead with the quality program and literature you want to use, but just tailor it to fit your student's specific needs:
- slow reader? -- listen to some books as books on tape; or do them aloud together - I am planning to do this with both audiobooks and doing what I call 'buddy' reading.
- slow worker? -- take the summer to finish a credit or two - My DD will be doing math over the summers, as well as volunteering at a children's camp, so I am not sure how much history and English I can fit in to the summer.
- plan to take more time -- spread 1 credit over 1.5 years, or 3 credits over 4 years - I am considering this.
- adjust expectations: go for quality not quantity; make every assignment and book really *count* - Thank you for the quality over quantity reminder.
Do enough tests, papers and books to challenge your student, but cut some of the excess (for your student) out; one well-written paper that takes 2-4 weeks to produce, with you mentoring your student and holding your student accountable for all the steps in the process will do more to teach your student how to write a paper, than trying to churn out 6 papers in the same time period. - Is one paper a month acceptable?
I'd also be very cautious about planning "lite" for the next 3 years. I'd recommend finishing this year and then reassess where your DD is and what her needs and abilities are -- who your student is today and how much she can accomplish at 14yo is going to be VERY different than when she's 16, 17yo. Those late-bloomers have a way of really coming on strong and moving into being able to handle workloads we wouldn't have guessed at back when they were in 9th grade/14yo! :) Thank you for this! We have had a rough summer, which I think has a lot to do with hormones and attitude. I really want to come out of homeschooling high school with our relationship intact. There have been days where I am not sure that this goal is possible, and I feel like giving up.
My honest opinion: I think you will be fine with the workload and schedule of MFW. If you get into it and it feels like you are falling behind, then plan to extend into the summer, or drop the occasional book, test, or writing assignment. Our younger DS has mild LDs (stealth dyslexia, writing and spelling issues), and we still managed a hefty amount of history and literature without a problem -- MFW World History looks like it actually has a little bit less reading than what we managed without pain or fuss in a year. ;) Thank you! I think I will order MFW and spend this year(9th) looking over everything to be prepared to 'tweak' next year.
The writing will be a very important life-long skill, so whatever you go with, you'll want to make sure that DD is solid with that. Not personally familiar with MFW, but I recall hearing several others on this board talk about how their students came out of using MFW as solid writers and thinkers. We definitely need to work on writing.
And be sure to do quality science programs *with labs* in preparation for DD's entrance into a STEM field. Biology and Chemistry for sure -- if possible, see if you could work in at least one, if not two Advanced Science courses, or dual enroll in the senior year (if that is an option open to you) and take a science class at an intro science community college or university. Or, look into an internship at a large animal vet's office. As much as possible, leave the door open for fulfilling credits DD would need for admission to a university, in case she eventually wants to head for a 4-year degree in animal sciences, or even become a vet. I was planning on Apologia, but I am also considering BJU, because I think she needs the audio/video component. She is also hoping to work in a vet office during both her 11th and 12th grade years.
Enjoy watching your DD blossom over the next few years! :) BEST of luck, whatever you decide to go with. Warmly, Lori D.
Thank you for your comments, Lori!
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A little background...
My DD14 only started reading fluently in 5th grade and has always struggled with spelling. Math has also not been a smooth ride. I think we are settled with Teaching Textbooks, and she is working hard to be in Algebra 1 before 10th grade starts. School, in general, has not been easy(we have homeschooled from the beginning). She may have some slight LDs, but not enough to have me worried.
She would like to be an animal health technologist. Here in Alberta, that means she needs 12th grade English, Math, Biology and Chemistry. She is also working towards her Equine Green Certificate(http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/grc6643) in 10th, Sheep in 11th, and probably Cow/Calf in 12th. The green certificate involves a lot of time with mentors, as well as book work and tests.
I am looking for a 'light' history/lit/writing combination that will get the job done. I would like her to cover from Ancients to Modern Times in two years, and then in 12th grade, she will do Canadian history/government.
I was seriously considering MFW, but I am concerned that she will not be able to keep up. I thought maybe we could cut it down to just doing the Notgrass book and lit recommendations over two years according to the Notgrass schedule. Any other suggestions?
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Thanks all! We went ahead and did our second investigation today and my dd enjoyed it, so I'm glad I sucked it up and did it with her. I had her answer the questions orally after doing the activities, so that made it go very quickly. I haven't even considered skipping anything else in the program. I just hate hands on activities and often find them to be a waste of time. Not so, in this case.
My son enjoys the investigations. He looks forward to a break in the regular lessons.
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My son does all the questions in the lessons, investigations and tests. We only do the drills that are associated with the tests, so that I can keep an eye on his basic math facts.
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I totally get it!
I tried Saxon with my 4 oldest, and it has only been good for one of them, but he absolutely loves it. It has been a perfect fit for him, and he knows it. Math is never a struggle each day, because he understands the way the book teaches. I do have Art Reeds DVDs, but he rarely looks at them. Most of the time he can read and understand a lesson right away.
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I can't purchase things from Amazon.com, because I am in Canada, and our Amazon does not carry it. Can someone tell me what is in the book that makes it helpful?
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There is a lesson plan schedule for older students in the book "Starting a Spelling Notebook: a Nuts and Bolts Guide to The Writing Road to Reading."
HTH :-)
Where would I purchase this? I haven't been able to find it.
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Thank you! I have PM Ellie, but maybe I will have to ask her more specific questions.
Conservative Christian Parents - social issues ?
in High School and Self-Education Board
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Thank you. I will look into it.