Has anyone ever taken a step back

[homeschoolmom4]

I am wondering if anyone has ever took a step back in your home schooling instead of moving forward. My children seem to be lacking is some areas and this year I have fought with myself on what to do. Isn't one of the reasons we homeschool is to help our children grow and mature at their own pace instead of a public school rush. I am just wanting to hear from parents who have decided that the best thing for their child(ren) is to step back and build a stronger foundation before moving up. If you have done this, did it truely help or put your child behind. My child is going into 7th.

I would love to hear from anyone.

[8filltheheart]

My entire teaching philosophy is to teach them where they are......it doesn't matter if that is behind or ahead. We stay where they are until mastery and incrementally increase level.

 

Moving forward without a strong foundation will only leave your child struggling even more later on.

 

Trust your instincts. It sounds like you know what you want to do for your child. FWIW.......slowing down or even backing up does not necessarily equate to long term "being behind." Sometimes there are huge bursts in comprehension from doing precisely that and they end up further ahead in the long run. :)

[Wyndie]

I had to back up this last year as my 1st grader was just not able to grasp reading. We switched from 100 Easy Lessons to Unschooling and she not only caught up, she's gone ahead. It's not all rainbows and kittens yet but backing up benefitted her greatly as we'd already struggled for 2 years with what wasn't working.

 

I think going back and getting the basics is very important. They will catch up once the peice their missing "clicks", IMO.

[Donna T.]

I sort of have that feeling at the present. In some ways, the path that we've chosen for this summer and the next school year seems like a step-backward though it may not really be so much that... it's more like a slowing down so that we don't go forward too fast!

 

I've set certain priorities for each of my children that prevent us from moving forward too quickly at this time. Neither are really behind and they are doing great overall, but each of them have needs that I think need to be addressed and to be our top priorities for now. For my oldest, that involves strengthening his writing skills and for my youngest, it involves developing more of a love for reading.

 

So, next year, my oldest son will be using a curriculum that includes quite a few books that he has either already read or had read to him. There will be some new content, but alot of it will be a review for him. He doesn't need a review of the content, but he does need to strengthen some skills, most particularly, his writing skills and I prefer to use familiar resources to do that along with the lesson plans in the curriculum that I've chosen because I think they are going to be an excellent fit for us and because he's not quite ready to take on the writing assignments in the next year of our chosen curriculum.

 

My youngest son will be using a curriculum that many use with children that are either a year or even two years younger than he is. But, it's an excellent fit for him because I want to give him a very successful "school" experience with material that he can really ingest and enjoy. My focus for him is to strengthen his knowledge in basic Bible literacy and for him to learn to enjoy reading more than he does now.

 

So, this is my short answer :001_smile:.

 

I do have a feeling of sort of going backwards but I have alot of confidence that it is the right thing for us to do right now. I want to really strengthen their basic skills before moving forward too fast, especially for my older son in his writing skills. I don't think he's quite ready for the LA as laid out in TWTM and that's what I've always had as my goal. He needs more work in that area.

[Pam Wilhelm]

I have!

 

When my two girls were doing 3rd/4th grade I realized that even though they could do the worksheets/tests for math.......... they couldn't answer a verbal question to save their lives. They did great on the tests for the math curriculum but couldn't take standardized tests and score well at all. They were okay in other areas, but just sucked in math. Put that with loss of job, moving to Minnesota and everything else.......... we moved them back. I took their math back to 1st grade and took Grammar back by about one year. They have quickly advanced without me having to push too hard and this fall they are starting 5th grade at grade level in Grammar and a year behind in Math.

 

I guess we just had too much life intruding in our lives and needed to step back and start over again ............ and relax. For the first time my girls don't just do well in math......... they actually "get it"!!!

 

For my son the hold up was Phonics......... he is now 8 and finally getting to the enthusiastic reading of signs, ads, etc.

 

Sometimes you just have to step back and forget about whether they are going to take certain courses in the right years of high school........ and just let them blossom on their own. It is amazing how quickly kids can catch up if they need to.......... and how mellow we can become when we get off the curriculum scheduling hamster wheel.

[Chris in VA]

I stopped Saxon math for about 4-5 weeks and tried just having some fun and going a little deeper, letting dd gain a little maturity. She lost a little confidence when faced with the advanced stuff Saxon (done a year ahead) was throwing at her. So, we played around a little and got her confidence back up, skipped a couple of lessons on things I knew she'd get later down the line, and then picked Saxon back up. Worked like a charm.

[mom4him]

I am wondering if anyone has ever took a step back in your home schooling instead of moving forward. My children seem to be lacking is some areas and this year I have fought with myself on what to do. Isn't one of the reasons we homeschool is to help our children grow and mature at their own pace instead of a public school rush. I am just wanting to hear from parents who have decided that the best thing for their child(ren) is to step back and build a stronger foundation before moving up. If you have done this, did it truely help or put your child behind. My child is going into 7th.

I would love to hear from anyone.

I did this very thing this spring. My ds was reading but didn't think he could read and it was a struggle. He will be considered a third grader. I pulled him out of what we were using and put him in the first grade R&S readers/phonics. His reading has improved 100%+ and he now WANTS to read to me.

I also did this with my dd this spring with reading. She is a good reader but would come to harder words and stumble through plus she was skipping words, inserting words that weren't there etc. I put her in the 2nd grade R&S. She also has improved greatly. Along with this they both were required to read out lout to me EVERY day. With her I knew I needed to reup some gramar also so we started in the 2nd grade R&S Eng. She is going into the 4th grade. We did it at 4 lessons a day orally, finished it and she will go into the 3rd grade at 2 lessons a day orally with the work sheets. She actually 'gets it' now.

With them it has taken a very short time to get them up or close to up to where they should be and well worth the time.

HTH

[Laura Corin]

I stepped back with Calvin and maths. We switched programmes in order to review an awful lot of stuff that I thought he knew but in fact he was shaky on.

 

Laura

[JenneinCA]

Yep. My fourth grader is going to do All About Spelling Level 1 (and then progress at his own rate) because he needs to get phonemes and he doesn't. I hope this will help his spelling. At least it won't make it worse.

[mazakaal]

I stepped back with Latin Prep this past year. Ds had started it last year, gotten to about chapter 5 and suddenly seemed to have forgotten everything. I went straight back to the beginning of the book and sat with him as he did every exercise. He's now finishing chapter 9, almost done with the book, and he's doing very well.

 

We're also taking a step back with grammar this summer. We're taking a very long (3 months) summer break and we're just going to work on grammar going all the way back to the basics, math drill with my 2nd ds, and some writing. I may do some Latin as well, so they don't forget everything they've learned.

 

I'm hoping that taking a step back and going back to basics for a few months will give us all a much needed break and reinforce some things that they knew and seem to have forgotten.

[Kari C in SC]

I did this last year with math. My dd was a 4/5th grader (fall birthday) and still having trouble with basic math facts. I bought Math U See and went all the way back to Alpha. We worked through it at a quicker pace than typical, but we still went back to the beginning. I am very glad we took the time to do this and would not hesitate to do it again. My only regret was not doing it the year before when I was first thinking about. I had too many people telling me how I would "lose" a year of math, etc. We plan on homeschooling till she graduates - so my take on it is we will work at the pace that teaches her what she needs to know. Good luck.

[EKS]

Oh my, yes.

 

When my son was halfway through Saxon 7/6 I realized that he had some serious gaps in his understanding of concepts, place value in particular. This kid scored at the 99th %ile on standarized tests but he kept forgetting things that shouldn't be forgotten if the concepts were in place.

 

I gave him the MUS placement test and he placed into Beta (that's for 2nd grade). So we did Beta-Zeta in one year and it really cemented things for him.

 

With this same child, I also started Algebra I over after going through half the book. That was also a good decision.

 

And also with this same child, after 4 years of Sequential Spelling and no progress after the 2nd year, we just recently started All About Spelling, beginning with the first level, and he just recently turned 13.

[homeschoolmom4]

This is so encouraging to know that I am not completely crazy. I had even talked to my daughter and she agreed that we needed to step back for her to get the help she needed. She is so willing and it helps that she also sees that this would benefit her.

Thanks for all of the sharing. I am going to look at this as a great learning experience for our family.

[Moni]

I am wondering if anyone has ever took a step back in your home schooling instead of moving forward.

 

Yes, Weekly, if not daily. ;)

 

We homeschool at student's pace.

 

:seeya:

[siloam]

IMO, much of the problems students have in PS is not an inability to learn the material, but they can't keep up with the pace. Slowing it down means you will have a child who masters a certain amount of the topic, but doesn't go as far, vs. a child who will always struggle, and probably hate a subject.

 

Heather

[KAR120C]

Generally, DS tends to plow on ahead in everything, but Latin has been a challenge for him... I gave him the option this summer of working in little bits throughout the year to keep it up or going back and starting from the beginning this fall, and he chose to re-start at the beginning. I think it's the right choice -- not that he couldn't keep up, but that having a second pass through is going to really solidify the bits that he struggles with and have a smoother ride through and proabably at a faster pace overall.

 

And really, as much as we do plow ahead in everything, I do make sure to circle back around every so often with review to be certain it's all "stuck". I'd rather spend the time to solidify the foundation than to try to patch it when it gets wobbly later!

[TracyR]

I will be taking a step back with my 2nd daughter. I am taking her out of cyberschool. By the time she was age 5 she was reading at a 2nd grade level. So we skipped the Calvert K, which she was way beyond that level) and started with Calvert 1. She did very well until this year. All of a sudden we don't know how to add, subtract or count money. So I need to really go back to the basics with her. Her reading level is great, she reads the same books as her oldest sister who is 11. But her comprehension needs work because reading for her is still a competition(its just in her nature to try to be one up with her big sister).

I don't feel bad. This is something that needs to be done so she can feel more confident with math.

[Mom-ninja.]

I've have not moved forward with reading as DS was not understanding. Just these past two months he has greatly improved. Finally! I'm so ready for him to start reading real literature, and move on from Nora Gaydos.

[NancyNellen]

We did this with Latin, as well. The concepts just didn't stick because we went too fast. So we stopped and completely started over again, focusing on memorizing and really understanding the concepts. It was definitely worth it! They have gone on and completed 2 more years of Latin and now have a very solid understanding.

[Barefoothomeschooler]

I was just reviewing my girls work in the spring and found out that what we are using for LA was not working. We started with FLL 1 and 2 but stopped and went on a more creative path that produced very little if any LA skills:confused:.

 

We have gone back to FLL3 and going on a quick trip through WWE. My girls are 10 and 11. They love that we went back and are getting the basics. I really think this is what gives them more confidence to become more independent.

 

I have them in a week summer program and they were tested in each subject. they actually tested 2 grade levels above in everything but math. So now I know we really need to work on this area too. Math Fact review is on our schedule for next week LOL.

 

I have to make myself forget about grades and just work through the curriculum at their pace. It is very hard though, especially when you have "grade lablers" on every corner.

[LUV2EDU]

This is so encouraging to know that I am not completely crazy. I had even talked to my daughter and she agreed that we needed to step back for her to get the help she needed. She is so willing and it helps that she also sees that this would benefit her.

Thanks for all of the sharing. I am going to look at this as a great learning experience for our family.

 

Children are more willing to "step back" in a homeschool environment, because they don't have the pressure they would have if they were attending a public or private school with their peers.

 

My son is doing CLE Language Arts. Since CLE grade levels are more advanced, we are going to do 600/700 for 8th grade. This works for us, because we do Language Arts year round. I also like that CLE is spiral and incremental.

[MerryAtHope]

I don't think it's a step backwards to make sure your kids understand something and can do it, whether we're talking reading, writing, spelling, math... I think it's a step towards progress. It doesn't help them if you just skip whatever they don't understand, you know? Don't be afraid to do what they need.

 

Merry :-)

[Luanne]

When I first brought my daughter home from public school. She had just finished 5th grade and received mostly Ds and Fs on her report card. They were going to pass her on to 6th grade anyway. I know she didn't learn hardly anything that year. Her teacher was very nice, but was much more concerned about befriending everyone in her class than actually teaching them. My plan was to buy her 5th grade level stuff and have her do it over. My husband at that time (he is no longer my husband do to many issues) said we should just go ahead and move her on to 6th grade since the public school was going to anyway (even though we had her home now). She has struggled ever since. :sad:

[johnandtinagilbert]

Whenever we need it, I'll step back. I did this past year for the youngest and reading and it was the best decision we made for him all year. Now, he loves to read where before we revisited tears, weeping, gnashing of teeth...do what they need, not what is the norm. in this abnormal world :)

Edited July 7, 2009 by johnandtinagilbert
i really can spell!

[woolybear]

" We switched from 100 Easy Lessons to Unschooling and she not only caught up, she's gone ahead. It's not all rainbows and kittens yet but backing up benefitted her greatly as we'd already struggled for 2 years with what wasn't working."

 

Would you mind telling me what you've been doing in this regard? Anything in particular or just letting it alone for awhile?

 

Thank you. Oh, and sorry all I need to learn how to use the quote thingy better. I'm sure I'm not doing it right.:001_smile:

 

Woolybear

[rafiki]

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