Jump to content

Menu

MDL

Members
  • Posts

    179
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by MDL

  1. My youngest is heading into 5th next year. Things have been going along at a rather solid pace for him, but I feel like we need to up the character training and add back in some fun. another recent thread here inspired me to dig out Konos volume 1, so I intend to try and implement that...but it makes me a bit dizzy, with all the planning and projects. We stopped with it because my boys weren’t actually doing the projects. More like watching mom do the projects! If there is a better way to implement virtue training, shout it out! my son wants to use Bookshark love 5, and is excited to switch things up. I’m oscillating back and fourth. 2020-21 will be year 8 (!!!) for me, so I definitely don’t *need* a box, but I am burned out and don’t want to plan. I also have ALL (well, basically🤣) the curriculum, so it’s kind of hard to justify the Bookshark expense. As you can tell, I’m a mess! we will continue Beast Academy 5 on some sort of typing.
  2. Happy New Year, hive 🎉 my rising 5th grader really wants to do bookshark next year and I think I am ok with that. We have been using WOL in 3 & 4th grade and while he doesn’t love it, it gets done. I find it to be almost gruesomely slow and tedious, but I hesitate to change when something is working. My older son received grammar via CC and Lukeion, but this child is not so into Latin. In the past we have been rather eclectic with VP self paced history, beast academy online, Apologia zoology, WOL, Wordsmith Apprentice and AAS as our core with sprinkles of art, music, poetry, etc. I hate planning, but love buying curriculum 😂 and offering a feast of options. As my children (eldest now in private high school) mature, I see myself as more of a moderator than a teacher, offering help and encouragement. my questions are thus: 1. Is Bookshark’s grammar enough? 2. Will I go nuts with a boxed plan? 3. Since he is very mathy and loves BA, I want to continue that and plan to purchase the preaching with history” and science package from Bookshark. I’m trying to decide about the grammar. tia!
  3. HomeAgain, thank you. Yes, I am tired, burned out and hormonal. And staring down summer where my boys dont want to do anything (day camp, wise). Hopefully it will be better when the freshman is out of the house during the week. I cried for weeks about the high school, but now I’ve accepted it and am looking forward to getting out and about with my youngest more. I could be just done with homeschooling, too though. But this boy (4th) has a major surgery in fifth grade, so I’d like to keep him home through that at least.
  4. We have been doing the online class “The Writers Jungle” and my rising 4th grader has been enjoying it, and rather happily (for the most part) doing the work. I tried it out six years ago (TWJ book and The Arrow) with my oldest, and it went fine for a year, but then we went to CC and switched to IEW, which was great for all involved. But, this boy is a little more creative and free spirited, and my gut feeling is BW is right for him. My biggest problem is that there is just so much material for me to consume and pass on to him. It makes me feel completely overwhelmed and like I’m doing it wrong, or not enough. As my eldest is leaving for private day school in the fall, I feel I’m more in the phase out mom work mode, and want to put him (4th grader) in an online class that all I need to do is pay and make sure he attends and completes the assignments. Am I crazy or do others feel this way too? What should I do? Suck it up and suffer through it, look for something else, or go back to IEW, which I know and understand how to teach (see that? Who/which clause right there!)
  5. I haven’t personally used it, but have you looked at Elemental Science? They have an earth science that could round out the Apologia swimming, creeping and flying creatures nicely. Did you ask her what she wants to study?
  6. My youngest guy is now 9 and we have thoroughly enjoyed: Mr Poppers Penguins Carry on Mr. Bodwitch (not on audible, most we stream from the library) From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil..... hmmm, seems I have a thing for Mr and Mrs!
  7. Thanks! mlk, I’ll go back to watching the lesson with him. I like the idea of self grading. Despite his history of cheating, I think I’ll have him grade/correct his own homework lessons. And if he is dishonest about that it will show on the quiz. I like the idea of scheduling as such: watch video and read work text with mom, homework, correct homework > 80% quiz a, if quiz is < 80%, quiz b the next morning before video lesson. That should give him a little more confidence, and less paperwork for me. I’m vexed by so many clicks on the video text platform. I wish it would just pick up where we left off (and track progress for crying out loud!) instead of having to recall what was last. Not a problem for the boy, but I’m 50😂
  8. We switched from AoPS earlier in the semester as ds was becoming frustrated. We have had mostly good results, but he cheated a few times and I am becoming increasingly frustrated with correcting his math proofs. He is a typical, bright 13 year old with a high level of resistance to school, chores and authority in general. Typically, he will do one lesson a day, and I ask for the homework by 2pm. He often misses the deadline for no particular reason, and I get stuck trying to go over his work at the witching hour. He tends to meltdown when he has mistakes, so it’s a walking on eggshells situation. His work is sloppy and very difficult to read, despite many hours sitting with him trying to explain what is necessary and what will be necessary in “real” school next year, as he is heading to a brick and mortar school next fall for high school. (He is lonely and has basically zero respect for me as his teacher. He will likely go to a private school, and I am debating putting him in the public middle school to get him out of my hair for the rest of the year. That sounds awful, but I shed many tears daily) When I purchased VideoText, I thought it was fairly independent, and I am burdened by the amount of time correcting and enforcing his workflow. He watches the lessons and attempts the homework on his own (even numbers). If he scores less than 80%, he has to go back and do the odd # problems as well. My gut tells me to just let it go, he will get it in high school. Daddy, however, is very focused on math, as ds tests extremely high in verbal and reading (95%ile) but generally average in math. We used math-u-see, followed by AoPS for pre-Algebra and now VideoText. Sorry for the long vent. Any advice on making it easier on the teacher?
  9. They are designed more as reinforcement/additional work for kids in school. So, the typical student has a full math load, plus this class and extra homework. I was thinking of heading into algebra with my guy next month, but I think the load will be too heavy. If your child loves math, and wants extra, this is it! But I don’t see it as a stand alone class teaching all they need to know. The pace seems quite accelerated as well.
  10. I’ll note that we do recognize Lukeion and AoPS as challenging, so I geared the other subjects as light/fun/interest based. While the G3 class is listed as high school, the load is only a couple of hours a week reading, watching some videos and participating in class and online discussions. He is loving it and wants all school to be as such! The LToW class is very gentle. And i misunderstood BYL 8 to be mostly reading and watching documentaries. I never intended to implement all the LA, and have made it optional for him. So, he has 4 core subjects, of which two are challenging. Plus typing practice and things we do at the table together (music history, logic, etc) while they eat a lovely meal and I scarf mouthfuls between sentences! @ByGrace3 how are you liking Scholé academy for AoA?
  11. You with hybrid options are so lucky. I feel like that would be perfect; band, gym and lunch at school. The rest at home/Online. None of the local schools are open to part time students. If I thought the privates would be significantly better than public, I would dig into his college fund for it. But I still believe school + boy < optimal. (Privates here are good, but the high tuition is not worth it)
  12. Well, we have had many heartfelt talks. I have encouraged him to talk to friends in school (private and public) about the realities, but he always forgets, which makes me wonder if he is not just trying to engage me in a power battle. I have tempted him with the likes of clcr good books classes, more g3, and freedom to homeschool. He started karate. I sit with him for the full period of math. We are touring the high school on Thursday. I showed him the social chat forums at g3. He is no longer miserable. Its not so much that he doesn’t want to homeschool, I think we need a coop, or something else, but it’s late in the school year this semester and we will be away most of next semester. ?
  13. I had a detailed reply typed up, lost it and then dinner happened. I guess I thought that BYL was lighter, with lots of reading. Maybe it’s just too much. How important is it to do physical mapwork and/or timelines? I feel like they miss out on some essential brain synapse connections. 8fillTheHeart, do you think it would be light to manageable if I dropped BYL 8? I know Lukeion is a big one that is neither light nor easy. But it’s the one place this guy has done the hard work and reaped the rewards (A in Latin 1, great score on the NLE and he passed with high honors into CTY in language, not that we have any time to use their program this semester, though)
  14. Beautiful Feet has a lit based program http://www.bfbooks.com/California-History-Jumbo-Pack
  15. I’m pulling out my hair with all the little things to do in BYL for my boys. I’ve eliminated copywork and narration as we do other LA things. So, I’m really just trying to get through the readings, questions timeline and mapwork. We briefly discuss the vocabulary lists over a meal. Others have thought my 8th graders schedule was not light (intended for a light year for him): Lukeion Latin 2, LToW 1 Online class, Physics for 21st cent citizens (he loves all these classes, and wants to continue) self paced AoPS pre-algebra (finish and work into algebra 1. He loved this last year, but is having difficulty getting back into the swing after summer) BYL 8. Hoping to add a group logical fallacy discussion. For my 3rd grader the line up looks like this: wOL 1, writing & rhetoric fable, BYL 2, aas 3-4, beast academy online and VP self paced medieval. BYL 2 is just to reinforce the medieval history, so we are doing light version. He is into Harry Potter at the moment, so we are also doing the BYL Harry Potter unit study. He swings from extremely easy and willing to work to utter refusals, but those are rare. We also do history of classical music and other small things like fallacy detective, etc, at the kitchen table over meals We are into week 2 and I am struggling to keep up. What do you think is overkill here, if anything? I’m very worried about squashing the little guys love of learning. And I’ve posted last week that my older boy might want to go to ps next year, which has me in a lather. To thwart that, I’m trying to make this year as great as possible, but I’m a bit like a chicken running around with her head cut off. Sports, you want those? Ok! More play dates? Ok! Library day? Ok! A group class? Ok! My kids are far enough apart in age, that it’s difficult to combine much anymore, and I cannot be two places at once. Eldest is annoyed and distracted by youngest, so he is left at the kitchen computer to work AoPS, latin, etc, while I tend to third grade in the school room. The school year is just getting started and it feels like February. Give me advice, please?
  16. Yes, my husband was supposed to do the challenge math problems with ds, but hubs wants all answers shown in great detail and orderliness (sounds like a good thing). DS, not so much. His brain is quick and it takes too much time for him to write things orderly, so he resists and puts up great fights. Husbands job is very demanding and he doesn’t have a lot of energy left, and certainly doesn’t want to spend his time fighting with ds. Our sons are bilingual and dad is going to be teaching them their other native tongue this year (not sure how that is going to happen, but I’m leaving it up to husband)
  17. Yes, we spent considerable time last year choosing. He cannot recall agreeing to BYL history of science, but I’m sure he did. Regardless, I can let that one be light, I think. The Online G3 class seems pretty light, 2-3 hours a week, and he is enthusiastic about it. He also likes the reward of hard work with Lukeion, but it’s not without grumbles and prodding. We have had a long discussion this morning, and he doesn’t want so much to go to school, but wants more peer interaction. He is lonely. We did three years of Classical Conversations, because he was so excited to be in a group situation. (I hated the whole thing, but did it for him) He now realizes that the CC “friends” were only other bodies he interacted with due to proximity, for the most part. No true friendships developed there. maybe I need to try and find a group to do Art of Argument with locally, in my home and led by me, perhaps. And, he is asking for a more structured math class. So, I’m now looking to scrap together an AoPS cLass at the last minute. Anyone have any recommendations? WTM doesn’t seem to have pre-algebra available this year, and I think the classes at AoPS are more for afterschooling. thank you to everyone who has replied here—it helps so much to have some others who can relate and listen while I figure out the real cause of our troubles.
  18. This was actually quite helpful, thank you. My original reasons for homeschooling were for character development—I wanted to be the one to decide how he grows, not the school. Obviously, I’m not doing a great job, and maybe I could focus on that more if academics were outsourced. i think I will get a PTA tour of the public school, maybe the mom can get us in touch with a freshman for a proper visiting day.
  19. I think it is more than 50% puberty (add menopause on my end too). He struts around like he knows everything, hates everything except his phone and being free, says things that are complete bs, etc. I guess I’m just feeling like being the homeschool mom is making it too diffuse to just be the mom. Does that make any sense? The long term struggles are mostly character troubles (lying, cheating, unhelpful, lack of diligence). It seems to me this will get worse if he goes out to high school. he thinks homeschool makes him weird, and wants to go to “regular”school to be normal.
  20. I am really struggling with my 13 year old son. The struggle has been going on for a few years now, with ups (periods of ok-ness) and downs (that are heartbreaking). We are just getting rolling with 8th grade. He has the most cheerful, willing and happy little brother who just started 3rd (homeschooled from the beginning and I have almost no trouble with him). I tried to keep this year rather light so we could enjoy 8th grade in case it’s our last. His schedule looks like this: lukeion Latin 2 BYL 8 LTOW 1 with Jessica Shao (starts next week, expecting it to be relatively light) AOPS at his own pace finishing pre-algebra and into algebra physics for 21st Century Citizens “Morning basket” stuff includes Beautiful Feet History of Classical Music, Classical Roots Vocab. I also have him doing 20 mins of typing, music practice and other small things that come up. I would like him to work through Super Star Student (which he is) and Art of Argument. He is Head Choister in a church choir. This seems light enough to me, yet he complains and resists everything, sending hateful daggers to me whenever I ask something of him. He is sloppy, lazy and disrespectful. I don’t trust him at all, as he sneaks phone, computer, candy and lies by default. I don’t know what to do. I’m so sad ? to think we might be done. But it’s not about me, it’s about what is best for him and I cannot say for certain if homeschooling is best for him any longer. Our family migrates to warmer climes in February and March, So sending him to a brick and mortar school will severely impact our lifestyle. He wants to go to high school. His local options are the public school, which has 2,600 students, is great for independent high achievers, or those with learning struggles. He is neither of those and I know he will coast through by gaming the system with minimal effort and learn very little, as he is very much like me. He could also go to a private school, which would be more open to our travel itineraries, but it is all boys, with focus on athletics. Drugs are rampant in both, and the cost of private is $50k+ per year! He has his sights on OxBridge...and public school won’t get him there, unless he changes his tune tout suite boarding school seems drastic, but could be an option I want him to spend a year abroad (he was born in Europe) in his home country, and I also have a semester in the Bahamas lined up for 10th has anyone else been at this breaking point? What did you do? I want him to visit the options for a day to get an idea of what it’s like to sit in class all day, and have hours of homework. The public school will only let him visit if a friend requests it, but he doesn’t have any 9th grade friends. (Wtf, my taxes pay for that school!) ugh
  21. We are using BYL 8 too! (This is our first year with BYL, and I’m thinking of inflicting Level 2 on my 3rd grader, as he is doing medieval self paced with Veritas. We should have a weekly thread) While I am generally not a fan of Dawkins, i think I’m ok with this one after the massive theology in Veritas Omnibus my guy had in 7th. Faith is important to us, so we will play it by ear and try to converse (not so easy with 13 year old boy!) my big question is what is everyone using for a science kit? The recommendation is $355 on amazon, which would be ok if it is a stellar kit. However, I am suspecting the price is high due to limited supply. Buying a kit will give us a much higher probability of doing experiments!
  22. Since you’re planning to use Story of Scince, have you seen Build Your Library Level 8? I haven’t used it yet, but it’s lined up for 8th this fall.
  23. Like others have said, a lot depends on the student. My eldest (just finished 7th) started pre-a in 7th, But is only about 1/2 way through. The first part was quite a challenge, but I didn’t push him too much (more nudging) and it’s now his favorite subject. I think that is a win! We will just continue on at his pace and hopefully that will get us through pre-calc. It looks like the second part of pre-a is going to be a bit faster for him.
  24. Hi everyone! My my son recently took the SCAT for CTY. He scored 480 (80th percentile—I think this would be advanced?) in verbal and 464 (36th percentile—I think this would be average?) in math. So, I think this means he can take some humanities courses there? Has your child had a Course they loved and you felt advanced them in their studies? His 8th grade schedule is pretty full for the fall semester, but we can possibly squeeze something into the spring schedule. I’m trying to decide between a CTY class and The Art of Argument (either online, at the breakfast table, or with a peer in person or via FaceTime ). Thanks for any input! ps, I hope this is the right forum; I debated between here, general and middle school/logic.
×
×
  • Create New...