found a website for the nearest city's Irish Society, emailed a person who was on the site and they provided a name. She teaches harp and fiddle. We have been with her for 9 months and she is wonderful with my daughter even though she has never taught a child as young. I pay $20 for 1/2 hour fiddle lesson.

Shoes over telephone lines mark drug territory.

We do geography with our SOTW/other history work plus they do a separate Geography lesson(more specific about maps and reading maps, etc...) as another subject. They history twice a week and geography once a week. The beauty of homeschooling is that you can do whatever works best for your family.

:001_smile:

Here are some options that we have done to go deeper than the text... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My boys are 10 and 12 now but we have done these things during their various rotations in history and science (we are now on the 2nd rotation of medieval and earth science). History: -Read literature of the period -Had meals from the period- developed menu, shopped for food (discussing the differences between how we get our food and they would have gotten theirs. -made costumes and discussed dress of various types of people -diaramas of villages or castles -discussed weaponry, made clay models of weapons, deeper into wars and fighting (they're boys and this was their favorite). -watched Discovery or History channel specials (through Netflix it's easy to get them) -visited museums and living museums, amazingly King Tut just happened to be in town last year and it worked out well -attended war reenactments Science: -dissected various animals and discussed how systems become more and more complex -grew plants and subjected them to various experiments (lack/too much water, fertilizer or not, acid rain, lack of sunlight, etc...) -raised a garden -dissected plants and flowers -subjected their bodies to various conditions/levels of exercise then looked at breathing rate, respiratory rate, heart rate...compared to normal activity and discussed optimal conditions for calorie burning, etc... -dissected a cow heart to compare to human -chemistry kit experiments, built molecule models...I love the small book called Elements from Rainbow Resources that looks at the Periodic Table like a kitchen cupboard...great activities -physics experiments built simple machines and discussed work -magnet experiments -collected rocks (and bought some rock collections) to discuss classification and properties -looked at various things through telescope, learned some stars and identified in the night sky -built a volcano -I have also gotten activity books for different topics with crossword puzzles, word searches, experiments, etc...just to give them more variety than just the text Hopefully you can get some ideas from some of that. My kids learn so much more when it is hands-on plus it is more fun!!! Good Luck!

Congratulations to both of you. :hurray:

I got Mr. Knightly.

My 10yo is very bright and is very math accelerated. He hates to read and pretty much hates anything to do with schooling. I have been racking my brain to find a way to make school more interesting and find his passion for learning. He is very much into working with his hands on household projects, creating his own inventions, etc... Our neighbor this week gave him a small saw that shapes small wood pieces and he has been out cutting out jigsaw puzzles and little wooden figures for the last two days. I purchased him "The Art of Construction" and he has been going through it everyday and doing projects and experiments. He has finally found something he is loving to read. He is doing his math and other required work in the evenings without giving me a problems to leave his days free to work on his projects. He has built different types of bridges and is using higher level math skills and physics to plan and achieve the results he wants. I don't know that more scheduling is necessarily the answer. I think you need to help her find her passion...find what makes her want to learn or the time of day that she works best. I always tried to make my ds do his school in the mornings and it has taken me 6 years of schooling him to figure out the evenings are just a better time for him to do the required work.

I started leaving my boys home alone for a few minutes at a time at 11yo and 9yo. Now they are 12yo and 10yo and I can leave them together for most of the day. I wouldn't leave my 10yo home alone but would the 12yo and I wouldn't leave any of them home at alone at night. I don't leave my 5yo home alone with them for more than an errand like to the store a couple blocks away. We have elderly neighbors who are always home and they keep an eye out for the kids and the neighbors on our other side are also usually home. They are not allowed outside when I am not at home and must keep the doors locked and only answer the phone for me or their dad. They are also not allowed to cook with the stove or oven when we are not there.

unfortunately my budget does not allow for it so we make do with more affordable options.

exactly what I planned to cover with my then 4yo starting K. Well, that was 8 years ago and I no longer bother to set specific yearly goals. Now I set general goals like in history we will cover the medieval period and in science we will cover earth and space science. In math, I expect the kids to at east finish one grade level though they always finish at least 1.5/year. I do set weekly/monthly goals depending on the kid and what subject and how they are advancing. Shorter term goals are easier to manage and I keep in mind where we are headed by having thorough knowledge of what is expected year by year in their learning. That first year, I found all my hard work to be an utter waste of time because he had met the goals within the first few months. I wasn't going to call it a year because he had completed a years worth of school and met all my goals in 4-5 months.

with 5yo dd and she loves it. Much to her dismay, I had them turn off the typing portion of the program because her hands were too little to hit the tildas and accents but otherwise she is loving the program. She does a little everyday.

personal experience. I could never go completely unschooling with him but I like the idea of giving him choices within certain guidelines. I will try following his lead for the summer months and see how it goes. I will check out the website as well and see if I can implement some of those suggestions as well.

I am wondering if anyone out there has decided to use a more unschooling type approach with a child who is not intrinsically motivated to learn and if it has helped them find their inner drive. I currently use a more unschooling approach (I keep lots of options available and let her decide which ones we use on any given day so not a radical unschooler by any means) with my 5yo who is a very highly motivated learner and it is working out beautifully but am a little hesitant to try it with the older one. I have been using the WTM approach with my older boys 10yo and 12yo. I use Saxon math and follow the rotations for history and science. We do a lot of hands on learning as well. My 10yo is just not a self motivated kid and I am wondering if switching to a more unschooling approach...giving him more input into what he learns would help or whether it would just make matters worse and he wouldn't learn anything. I am thinking about trying it for the summer since we school year-round. He is an accelerated learner but it is basically because I spend most of my time encouraging him and being frustrated with him. Any suggestions?

I know my kids need to move ahead or skip when I teach them something and they ask questions or show that they understand more than what I have taught. For example...my then 4yo was to learn the concept of 1/2 and 1/4 but during the lesson she started drawing her own shapes and dividing them and coloring them to show 5ths and 8ths, etc... or earlier this year at 5yo I showed her double digit addition then accidently gave her one that needed carrying and she did it effortlessly without being shown how. I work with Saxon because I like the way it keeps everything fresh by spiralling. I like the order and my kids like the way it looks. I have tried Singapore but found it too unorganized and my dd thought it was "baby work" because of the cartoons. I accelerate Saxon by skipping lessons when she knows the concepts...she learned to count all the coins in Saxon 1 so when it came up again in 2 and 3 she did the problems but skipped those lessons. I only have her do one side of the page because she "gets it" instantly. Her brothers have done the upper Saxon grades and I skip the first few "review lessons" at the beginning of each book because we school year round plus pick and choose among the problem set problems about 10-12 each lesson.

I do not know what type of testing you had done but for most standardized tests, the results indicate how a child of a certain age would perform on that 2nd grade test. So if you child scored 4th grade in spelling it would indicate that the average 4th grader would have achieved the same score on that 2nd grade test. It does not indicate that the child is ready or competent in 4th grade work...if that makes any sense. Giving your child a standardized test for a higher grade level in which he scores in the 50% percentile will tell you where he is achievement-wise. That being said, you have a very bright child and if he is not being challenged in the work he is doing, then your job will be to find a level that challenges him appropriately.

Teach him where he is now. If he needs 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade material...go for it. Or better yet, follow his lead without a text and give him whatever information he asks for. Playing with math in a fun, unstructured way will make math fun. An unschooling approach works wonders with a very young, determined, motivated child. My dd (5yo) was not much into formal math at 2-3yo. Sure, she could count high enough to bore herself, add, subtract, understand fractions, etc...but all of that was learned without curriculum, using manipulatives when she decided they looked fun and with no pressure from me. When we started a more formal math program a little before her 5th birthday...she quickly became ablaze and breezed through Singapore 1A, Miquon Orange, Saxon 1, Saxon 2, and is now halfway through Saxon 3. Along the way and through her own experimentation and play, she taught herself to multiply, divide, add and subtract fractions with common denominators, count money, and add/subtract numbers with any number of digits (including carrying and borrowing). She has also been having fun working through Primary Grade Challenge Math by Edward Zaccaro. As for later...there are so many possibilities for math you could never run out. He may be doing high school Algebra at 9 or 10 like my sons and many others in this group. He may race through Geometry then Alg then Calculus but after that there are always on-line math courses at the college level.

My middle son went throught a similar stage at 8yo. I believe you need to be firm about the disrespectful behavior and consistent about the consequences. I can't say what those should be for your own family/child because every child/family is different but you and your husband need to come to an agreement on appropriate consequences prior to unacceptable behavior. One thing that worked very well for my son was to reward good behavior. He truly wanted to please us and rewarding things he did well helped him to move more in that direction. It didn't need to be a large reward for my son...just some extra time helping me cook dinner or helping dad around the house or getting to chose what snack we baked, etc...just something that made him feel special. Chores are a good thing. I have 3 children and we dole out the chores but I do allow some choice in the matter. I make a list of what needs to be done and everyone picks 2-3 they would like to do. Giving them a choice in the matter helps them to be cooperative about doing the chores. My dd did do chores at 3yo as well...put her laundry in drawers she could reach, feed the dog, dust low-lying surfaces, pick up her own toys, etc... Is your son involved in any sports or musical instruments? Local areas generally have team sports that are relatively inexpensive. Martial arts provide wonderful guidance for learning respect and discipline as well as tiring the body and providing learning for the mind. My boys both have black belts in taekwondo and now take judo as well. You could teach him to play the recorder or another musical instrument he finds interesting. Other ideas may be art projects or learning skills or studying in an area of interest outside his normal school routine. Is the school work he is doing challenging him intellectually? Is he having difficulty with providing output at the same level as material he is capable of learning? Is it too much busy type work rather than intellectually challenging work? Would he do better with less writing expected but being given more or higher level input? Just some things to think about.

My boys are 10 and 12 now but we have done these things during their various rotations in history and science (we are now on the 2nd rotation of medieval and earth science). History: -Read literature of the period -Had meals from the period- developed menu, shopped for food (discussing the differences between how we get our food and they would have gotten theirs. -made costumes and discussed dress of various types of people -diaramas of villages or castles -discussed weaponry, made clay models of weapons, deeper into wars and fighting (they're boys and this was their favorite). -watched Discovery or History channel specials (through Netflix it's easy to get them) -visited museums and living museums, amazingly King Tut just happened to be in town last year and it worked out well -attended war reenactments Science: -dissected various animals and discussed how systems become more and more complex -grew plants and subjected them to various experiments (lack/too much water, fertilizer or not, acid rain, lack of sunlight, etc...) -raised a garden -dissected plants and flowers -subjected their bodies to various conditions/levels of exercise then looked at breathing rate, respiratory rate, heart rate...compared to normal activity and discussed optimal conditions for calorie burning, etc... -dissected a cow heart to compare to human -chemistry kit experiments, built molecule models...I love the small book called Elements from Rainbow Resources that looks at the Periodic Table like a kitchen cupboard...great activities -physics experiments built simple machines and discussed work -magnet experiments -collected rocks (and bought some rock collections) to discuss classification and properties -looked at various things through telescope, learned some stars and identified in the night sky -built a volcano -I have also gotten activity books for different topics with crossword puzzles, word searches, experiments, etc...just to give them more variety than just the text Hopefully you can get some ideas from some of that. My kids learn so much more when it is hands-on plus it is more fun!!! Good Luck!

with all my kids (ages 12,10, and 5yo). I have used it since the oldest was 7yo.

As a homeschooler, why can't you give him credit for high school level work in 8th grade? You can go deeper into subjects or allow him to take more subjects because he has an "extra year" in high school, unless you plan to send him to college early. I would think it would be more "unfair" to hold a child back rather than teaching them where they are. My oldest son is 12yo and has taken high school Algebra and is nearly finished a high school level Geometry. He reads and does literature review on works that would be considered highschool level, studies history from a highschool level text, and has done high school level biology with dissection. Anything less would bore him to tears and kill his love of learning. Because we don't have to rush to finish certain subjects for highschool credit, he can take as much time as he wants on certain topics, go off on tangents, or explore topics I hadn't planned to cover and has more than a year to do it if he pleases. He doesn't need credit for his work on any official transcript or anything because we homeschool. Next year he will take college algebra at community college...but he wants to actually go to high school for sports reasons so it won't really matter overall except that they will allow him to continue with the college level classes once in high school. The knowledge and study habits he has gained will be with him through his life. He will be able to follow his interests once he does go to school and will have plenty of credits there to graduate.

We do nature journalling 2 times a week and a regular journal 3 times a week. I generally allow the kids to choose their topics but also have lists of idea joggers for times when they can't think of anything to write. The boys keep their journals in a notebook and dd keeps hers in a bought journal. I do not read their journal but once a week ask to see that they have competed the right number of entries. Nature journals are kept in spiral drawing books.

starting one or two subjects then adding others as she becomes more focused. I follow the WTM loosely (use their curriculum suggestions) but do it with what I call an unschooling flair. We do school and the subjects she is interested in. I keep everything out where she can easily reach it with lots of options like computer games (Music Ace and Rosetta Stone), manipulatives, art supplies, books, etc... I am also readily available to answer questions and read to her whenever she wants. My dd 5yo did what we call her 1st grade year this past year. Her school included Saxon math (she went through Saxon 1, 2,and half of 3 since August, lessons in Spelling Power, Rosetta Stone for Spanish, and lots of reading. We did not formally do history or science though she learned a lot by being involved with her brother's school when she was interested and reading nonfiction. I plan to start SOTW with her in August (didn't want to start too young because didn't want her learning so much about war so young). She also takes violin and fiddle lessons for which she practices about 2 hours a day, give or take, depending on her interest.

I go to bed around 10:30-11pm and am up by 7am (except the days I work which is twice a week and I have to be up at 5:45am). I do tend to wake a lot at night for no good reason except that I am a very light sleeper and often have difficulty falling back to sleep. I try to exercise during the day and it helps if I do.

but always end up back with Saxon. It is a good, solid program and I appreciate the spiral approach. That being said, my children are all advanced in math and math oriented so I have made major modifications for each child. I do not use the scripted lessons at all and we do not do every problem in each chapter. I also homeschool year round so skip the first 20-30 lessons with each new book with assumes the child has had a summer off for brain rot ( except with middle ds who always likes the ego boost of knowing how to do the first few chapters in a new book--the other two would become bored instantaneously though). I tried Singapore with my oldest (did Singapore 6 for about 2 months) because I heard all the raving about it but found it to be lacking in explanations and I had a hard time following it. Ds did fine with it but preferred Saxon so we switched back. I tried Singapore with my youngest who knows math intuitively (she is also very musical so I see the math/music connection with her). She did 1A for about a month then told me she wanted to do "big kid" math like her brothers...ie. no cartoons on her pages and a more grown up look to the worksheets. So, we brought out the old Saxon program and she has been happy ever since with a lot of hop-skipping through.