ChristyH
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Posts posted by ChristyH
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Well, I just walked away from the curriculum I was using for the last few years. I just can't keep up any more and I need my now 9th grade sons to do more on their own. Plus I need them to understand the material more. Maybe I was living in fantasy land thinking I could continue in my home school utopia. I can't pre-read all of the books for better discussion any more and some were just boring. Still it hurts my heart to leave but I am hopeful more will be retained. You are probably wondering what I left....I left Ambleside Online and bought MFW AHL. Hubby wanted something more structured too. After agonizing about the decision I just ordered it this morning. The more I think about it the more I am feeling relief.
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I just graduated my daughter the weekend before last and it got me to thinking. Would I have done things differently? I definately know I would have. For those who are nearing the end or have finished are there things you would have done differently?
I wouldn't have curriculum hopped so much if I could do it over...especially math. :huh:
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This has helped MY attitude!! I think my boys need to be more independent from my authority. Someone else to be accountable to also. Over the course of my daughter's high school years I think I have been too flexible. It always seemed like homeschool was on the short end of everything.
This process has been the letting go of MY vision. So many things God has called me out for on letting things go HIS way.
Does anyone remember Andrea Yates? She drowned her kids in the bathtub because she didn't want them to go to hell. SHE had to "save" them. I read an article that basically said that it isn't always up to us to "work out" our kids. God has plans for them and they may not fit MY plans or the CULTURE's plans. Just letting go of our expectations has been hard.
My daughter is getting married next summer at 18 years old. I pretty happy about it NOW, but letting go of what our culture and extended family expect was hard. BUT God's plan is different for everyone and it may not be what we expect. The whole "letting go" of my expectations has been a huge journey for me.
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I had these fantastic visions of all the books we would read and the discussions we would have about them. While some of that has happened, life happened even harder.
My daughter is graduating next summer and her high school was a total mix of everything....not the best. Thank goodness she never wanted to go to college, but I am still disheartened that she really has never liked reading or anything academic. She loves serving people and little kids.
My relatives are very needy, an aunt on chemo, my mom is not driving much and has delicate health, and my 88 year old grandmother. I am the only child and relative of these women, so I have no siblings to help me. That is a huge chunk of life, plus church activities.
I need something more independent for my sons. My sons will be entering 9th grade next year and I think we need to be more serious. I just won't be able to be available to help them. It looks like MFW the high school years, with :ohmy: textbooks and little boxes to check is going to be the plan. The Charlotte Mason/AO in me is just wilting, but I can't keep up with reading anymore and I can't be around for all of the oral narrations. Even my husband wanted something more independent. I think my heart is even warming up to the freedom from guilt about not being there so much. I am even thawing to the more practical bible application. I still be a little depressed knowing that won't be reading SUPER awesome books.....said a little sarcastically.
Anyone else have to give up their homeschool utopia?
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My boys, twins, are in "8th" grade. Our main math is Teaching Textbooks and they are in Algebra 1. They general get 80% or better. They are within the first 60 lessons of it. Just for giggles I had them take the Saxon Math placement test. For that they both scored on into 8/7. One might have been able to do Algebra 1/2. No where near starting algebra for either of them.
Is TT that easy? Is Saxon that hard? Do they really know math? What should I take away from this? How might this effect their math future as in ACT/SAT?
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I like AO but sometimes it is sooooo daunting. I waffle so much. I am not sure I am self disciplined enough, nor smart enough to do it.
I think I might have ruined my daughter by curriculum hopping. I am hoping to do better and be more consistent with my boys. They just finished 7th grade. One son is quite good at Ao year 7 and even Churchill. :001_smile: My boys are twins but they sort of cheat off of each other if they use the same books at the same time. I don't want to reinvent the wheel and I don't want every minute scripted. I think my head might explode. :banghead:
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Has anyone successfully used Ambleside Online to do high school with good results?
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I would try to find out why my child wanted the choice they choose. My boys would want to go for social reasons. My daughter, who will be a senior next year, turned down an offer to attend school. She likes to run her own schedule. If my boys said they wanted more competition academically then I might consider it.
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I figured this would be the reply. I am leaning toward that route myself.
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Which program have you used that you felt gave your high schooler the most success in college or just life in general?
My brain is just exhausted trying to figure this out.
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I am so tired of thinking and praying about this. My dd turns 14 in June and maybe should start 9 th grade next year.
My original plan was to do MFW AHL, but I am not sure she is up to it. We are just finishing Saxon 7/6 this week and she has scored between 50%-70% on the test within Apologia's General Science. I am helping her and she has not learning disabilities, she just isn't math and science oriented. Would she drowned in MFW AHL? She wants to go to college for piano and writing. She is very loving and loves the Lord. She is very good with children. (not at all like me :glare:)
I am beginning to lean toward a less rigorous high school and thinking maybe Community College and focus on early childhood ed.
It really isn't even her "smarts", she doesn't seem motivated to put in the work. You know what I mean, some kid wants to be in the NFL but but plays second string and doesn't seem driven to practice.
I would rather she understand all of the information or at least most of it, than study hard stuff and only get 50%.
Any thoughts and anyone else have a child like this?
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The mom who loses track of all of this because she is on the WTM message board? LOL, well, I need some help with habits too.
:w00t::lol:
That would never happen to any of us. :tongue_smilie:
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I was just wondering if anyone has had success with Charlotte Mason's writing methods. :bigear:
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Why I left AO...
My kids were young when we did it level 1 and 3. My daughter in level three was just clueless with some of the books and didn't have the attention span required for some of the longer readings. I had to read everything, my throat was so sore and I even lost my voice for about 2 weeks. As time went by I was beginning to feel that I was wasting my time because she was just tuning out after awhile and the book were just too much above her reading level.
I was beginning to get scared they weren't learning everything. Some of the older books were to long winded. I loved Parables from Nature but even I had a tough time understanding some of them, so what about 9 year old day dreaming girl.
Over time I came to realize that CM wouldn't want us to use exactly what she used. She picked books that were well written no matter when they were written. Also we live in an age of immense graphic media. It is hard to hide from it and we don't. We watch tv on the weekends and do have video games during the weekend also. How can a book with pages describing the ocean compete with watching, say a Blue Planet DVD?
My daughter didn't really start reading on her own until she was about 11 and my voice couldn't have taken reading aloud everything to her for school and then doing it again for my boys. Over the past few years I have realized that I have only one child who is a scholar and the others are just as wonderful but have different talents.
I think AO is a very scholarly program, but not for us. My boys for a little while never cared if they could narrate or not and just choose to tune me out so I needed something with more accountability for them. I need something in between for us and personally I need some with accountability too... and structure.
(psst I am too lazy to proofread :tongue_smilie:)
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I will tell why but I my school the kiddos now.
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I don't know how to quote, but I agree with Donna, on having the regrets for being so relaxed in the younger years.
I, too, started with Andreola's book and was very relaxed, but I also felt directionless and without structure when refering to it. Reading CM related stuff from AO's website really changed my thinking. :001_smile: But it made me swing too far in the other direction.
Not a happy mix.
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I should admit that I have read every single work listed here except, the Foss book and the original series. I gave away each book, because after using AO and killing my children's love learning with it and dreading waking up each day to do it, I was done with her. I felt very let down by CM and her methods.
A few years have past and I am now again on speaking terms with her. :D I am older and wiser and can see the wisdom of trying some of her methods again. I think I will try the Levinson books again. :tongue_smilie:
I couldn't get rid of the Andreola book because I had written notes in it and highlighted it. Plus it started my "romance" with CM ideas.
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What is your best Charlotte Mason book? Don't list her original series because my brain weak :D and I don't have time to "study" it. ;)
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MFW is nice as is. My kids are four grades apart, but they like doing school together. I am usually done working with them by 12-1 in the afternoon and that includes doing math. My daughter who is 13 has "homework" because she is in 8th grade and just has more to do. The bible portion is outstanding and generally ties in with everything else. The word "doable" comes to mind when I think of MFW and I like their motto, "Teaching kids to see the world through God's eye and acting on it."
I will admit though I am not fond of running to the library, the writing portion or the science. With recent changes, library runs are now more difficult and I can't get videos and multi media stuff and a huge library system opped out of my ability to inter library loan. I have tried to like Writing Strands but I just can't. I wish there was more writing across the curriculum. I get tried of the sameness with using SOTW activity outlining in 1850 to Modern Times. On the upside, tweaking is easy to fit in. The science is just weak and my boys would like more. We did Sonlight science last year and that was their favorite part of school. Again that is easy to tweak.
Next year I will only have my boys as my dd will be doing MFW ancients for 9th grade and that is independent.
Since we already have done CTG and I am not sure if I can muster up enthusaism to do it again I am on the fence with doing MFW CTG or HOD CTC. I am leaning toward staying with MFW because tweaking would be easy, not so easy with HOD.
Overall MFW has been the easiest program I have ever used. I have used ECC, CTG, RTR and 1850 to modern time. Less information over load has allowed more time to think about things. I just with there was a little more interaction with the material in terms of writing.:001_smile:
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It isn't test taking or the amount of problems.
I think maybe the issue is me not being consistent enough and her daydreaming and just being a general silly heart. I have been a lot more consistent within the last year and I have seen progress but maybe I am expecting more. Maybe this is average. I don't know and everyone says don't compare, but if I don't compare then how do I know if you are up to par. When I do compare I feel lacking, so which way do I look? Many thoughts buzzing in my head.
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I have beening thinking that maybe I was too "easy" on the academics in my oldest younger years and we are now reaping that. She is struggling in most subjects, except writing. Most of my homeschool friends in real life have counselled me to be relaxed.
My dd who is 13 and will be 14 in June, is still in Saxon 7/6, almost done after 1.5 years in it, and isn't fairing well in Apologia General Science either. She is on module 5 and taking a test today and I am really hoping for improvement as I went over some study skills with her again.
Maybe it is my fault as we have curriculum hopped, although I have stayed with Saxon math for a long time and don't plan on changing that. Currently we are using MFW 1850-modern and things are going pretty well. We have used it before and really enjoy the world view and Biblical emphasis. Maybe the hopping is what has decreased her retention.
We also have twin boys, age 10, and I don't want them to struggle so much as they advance academically. I am wondering if I should beef up stuff or maybe my dd just isn't a "scholar" by nature.
I am looking back and wondering if I should have done things differently. Should I do something different for my boys? :001_huh: Has anyone felt this way? I am having a hard time articulating my thoughts right now, sorry.
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I am sooo frustrated with my children. I have twin boys age 10 and daughter age 13. I am feeling angry all of the time with them.
My daughter has averaged c-d level work on her first four modules in General Science. I told her she might want to study for the quarterly test. We went through some study skills and she basically blew me off. She recieved a 65%. I am trying not to nag, but unless it is something social she will dawdle her way through it. She wants to go to college but I am beginning to think it won't happen. I feel like a failure.
My boys are constantly like the three stooges. Everything is a joke and nothing is respected or serious to them. They seem to only respond when I show anger and I have really been keeping it under control. No one wants to work or put forth any effort. I feel like we have let them have too much fun. We are actually pretty firm. No tv or video games generally during the week and their behavior loses them video games often. They complain about everything. I make them eat cold leftovers if they haven't cleaned their plates. Money is tight and I can't afford to waste food, but to have them turn up their noses at is just so disrespectful of my husband work to provide it and mine to cook it.
Is this a stage? I feel clueless and I have prayed and submitted this to the Lord. My husband worries about their behavior as well. I can't type more because I am going to cry. ADvice please. :mad:
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:bigear: I am all ears.:D
Walked away.....
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
Thank you everyone! I am feeling more relief and excitement now. Not so much weight on my shoulders to keep everything on track.