How much is your child in charge in of picking curriculum?

[NavyWifeandMommy]

We are about done with our week 5 and my daughter really really loves HOD. Personally I am like too much reading but she does a bit on her own, even her math, MCP. She has looked at the little catalog and was excited by seeing a new guide which is this years new guide and she is like will I get to do it? It has Apologia Zoo3 and A Child's Geography 2 in it and in the past I have used these programs and it wansn't totally awsome or bad just wasn't in it for me personally. I am on the fence of saying yes or use something else and just get the readers the HOD recommends for their Ancient year. My daughter loves artsy stuff so Preparing is up her ally right now.

My younger two are like what ever and will like whatevel I am all excited about most of the time. I want her to enjoy her works and also be challenged. Right now she is zooming a bit more because so far it's easy for her. Even FLL4 feels like FLL3 again. She is now 'teaching me' because she knows it. She is interested in A Beka over Rod and Staff but it does cost more than RS.

 

It is early in the year but I am trying to clear out the closets before the move. Seriouly do I need to keep something unused in the past 3 1/2 years?

[Moni]

How much is your child in charge in of picking curriculum?

 

None. :lol:

 

:seeya:

[specialmama]

Um, your post confuses me a bit. The last question about keeping something unused? Well, if you don't anticipate using it in the next 2 or 3 years, I'd sell it or gift it. The first question you asked, in your subject heading, pertains to how much of a pull my child has on curriculum choices. I'll put it bluntly: none. I know what is best for her. I do take into account what she enjoys and try to work with that, but ultimately, I choose. So your dd is interested in Abeka over R&S, so are you saying that these (along with HOD) are your only choices? How old is she? Is budget the biggest factor? Have you pinned down her learning style? It seems if she likes hands-on activities, then she probably learns best that way, she may be a Wiggly Willie or Sociable Sue, using Cathy Duffy's learning style labels. Have you looked at her book, 100 Top Picks? It is always ideal to marry her learning style with other factors, such as goals, ease of use, your teaching style, budget, etc. I'd suggest getting that book if you haven't already. It could save you a mint, and huge amounts of tears. By the way, if she is a Wiggly Willie or Sociable Sue, Abeka will not likely be a good fit. R&S could be if you work alongside her for english. It sounds like she is not likely a textbook girl, so to use something like HOD, Tapestry of Grace or Winterpromise might fit the bill. Anything with lots of activities and great books.

Edited September 9, 2009 by specialmama

[FriedClams]

None. :lol:

 

:iagree:

[NavyWifeandMommy]

I have stuff that I say I am going to use but never do. She likesthis program so why stop kinds of thing. I used three math programs until we settled on MCP. English mostly FLL but there is no choice but to find something new next year. RS is cheaper but A Beka is colorful and she likes colorful. IF they like it, it makes my day a little easier.

[rafiki]

.

[Tidbits of Learning]

Well, I tried letting my dd9 help this year picking out some things and well...we tried HOD. She loved the catolog and books that were going to be read, but it was so easy. I just don't think it was challenging enough and I don't think she was retaining all that I was reading aloud. The history was pretty good, but the other options seemed light and she was breezing through it and the activities seemed geared to the young end of the guide. She also is artsy and loves to color, but after notebooking only with science for 3 months her notebooking looked worse and worse and her enthusiasm for the experiments lessened. She was totally slacking but had gotten used to the easy work and when I challenged her with another spelling program on her grade level she totally balked. That made the decision for me that we needed to change from HOD.

She loves the catalog for HOD and looking at the books, but I know it is not the program for her or me.

I decided to do a co-op once a week with a professional art teacher, language arts with classic books, music, and drama. So she is still getting her artsy, craftsy stuff in during the week.

So I would say get her input, but also weigh were you want her to be in the end. If you feel it doesn't challenge her and she could do more, then it is time for a change. My child liked HOD and balked at changing, but I knew that she wasn't being challenged and that she needed something else. I feel that I will be giving her the artsy part she needs at co-op.

I will say this she loves the homeschool curriculum catalogs period. Think about us Moms when we get the catalogs and how great it all seems and how we want to buy it all and then think back to when you were 10 and the big Sears Christmas catalog would come and you got a bad case of the giveme monster.

I will listen to my dd9's input, but unless I can see the books in person I am not going from her liking a catalog or from me liking a catalog ever again. I will see the curriculum in person from now on out.

R&S is good for Math. Abeka is expensive, but you can get their language arts and some history from CLP for cheaper b/c they give their own answer keys. We moved from R&S English to ABeka Language and love the change.

I wouldn't keep books that I could purchase again in a few years if I wasn't going to use them until then.

Edited September 9, 2009 by OpenMinded

[Tidbits of Learning]

I have stuff that I say I am going to use but never do. She likesthis program so why stop kinds of thing. I used three math programs until we settled on MCP. English mostly FLL but there is no choice but to find something new next year. RS is cheaper but A Beka is colorful and she likes colorful. IF they like it, it makes my day a little easier.

Try Christian Liberty Press. They sell Abeka Language with their own answer key and texts. It saves a lot of money. You just have to schedule it yourself.

[ChicoryChick]

We are about done with our week 5 and my daughter really really loves HOD. Personally I am like too much reading but she does a bit on her own, even her math, MCP. She has looked at the little catalog and was excited by seeing a new guide which is this years new guide and she is like will I get to do it? It has Apologia Zoo3 and A Child's Geography 2 in it and in the past I have used these programs and it wansn't totally awsome or bad just wasn't in it for me personally. I am on the fence of saying yes or use something else and just get the readers the HOD recommends for their Ancient year. My daughter loves artsy stuff so Preparing is up her ally right now.

My younger two are like what ever and will like whateverl I am all excited about most of the time. I want her to enjoy her works and also be challenged. Right now she is zooming a bit more because so far it's easy for her. Even FLL4 feels like FLL3 again. She is now 'teaching me' because she knows it. She is interested in A Beka over Rod and Staff but it does cost more than RS.

 

It is early in the year but I am trying to clear out the closets before the move. Seriouly do I need to keep something unused in the past 3 1/2 years?

 

When it comes to choosing curriculum I narrow down what I like between a couple of things then let my daughter have her say, but I still make the ultimate decision. Other than to much reading aloud, I am not sure I understand what you are not liking about HOD. If it is working for your daughter and she is learning, I would stick with it and maybe have her do more of the reading (like history) and just have her narrate back to you what she has read. This is what I did with my oldest daughter last year when we used Preparing. As far as next year, I can understand you not wanting to repeat the books you have already done, especially if you are not crazy about them, but if you are okay with the rest of the program I would just sub these books out for something else that you like better; however, if HOD is not compatible to your teaching style then I would take into consideration the things that your dd likes about the program and try to find something with those features that suits you better.

 

Which parts are she zooming through? Language Arts & Math can always be upped to her level. There are also extensions for the History and Science which can be added to beef it up those areas.

 

BWT ~ Yes it is okay to sell unused curriculum that has been sitting on your shelf for the past 3 1/2 years.

 

 

HTH

[Renee in NC]

My 11yo has some say - for example, he asked me to sign him up for the FL Virtual School science, so I did.

 

The final decision is mine, but I have no problem letting him put in his 2 (or 4) cents. The other dc are too young to care!:tongue_smilie:

[Crimson Wife]

I ask for my almost-7-y.o.'s feedback but I ultimately make the choice in curriculum. I will try out sample lessons from materials I'm considering using and then ask her what she thinks. If she seems excited about it, I'll usually go ahead and acquire it. If she doesn't like it, I'll often pick something else. There are so many good curricula out there that it's not a big deal to go with option A over option B.

 

I do retain the ultimate say over what material we use, however.

[EKS]

I observe their reactions to various resources but they are absolutely not in charge of anything in that department.

[Whereneverever]

None. I know what our goals are, what the budget is- and what they need to know 10 years from now. Maybe. :lol: So I make the choices.

[Laurel]

My automatic answer is none, but that's not really the case. I do definitely take their preferences into account when choosing curricula, and will adapt as necessary - for some things. But some things are not optional around here. I have chosen some things that I feel are the best suited to our goals and right now, there is no other alternative. But in subjects where there are (IMO) acceptable alternatives, I am open.

 

For example, I wanted to start Latin, and was planning on starting with Lively Latin, but also liked the looks of Minimus. I showed both to her, and she liked the looks of Minimus better, so we are starting with that (and the plan is to move into Lively Latin when we finish). If accomodations like that (choices between two acceptable programs) give her a more positive attitude, I think that's great for our schoolwork.

 

Similarly, we are doing Saxon and Singapore for math. Sometimes I would like to streamline, and only do Singapore. (Only doing Saxon is not an option for me.) But she likes Saxon and only tolerates Singapore (because it makes her think :tongue_smilie:), so I keep the Saxon. (I know it doesn't make much sense, but she has a better attitude doing more work if she likes some of it, than doing less that she doesn't like at all.)

 

I am much more flexible for content subjects (especially since we are in the grammar stage - this may change as we move on), because I think they should be enjoyed. So if a program or approach isn't working, I am more likely to change and accept input. But skill subjects need to be learned, and don't need to be fun. I will make them as fun and painless as possible, but at the end of the day, you still need to do your math and reading.

[Cindyg]

Well, he doesn't have any choice in picking it. But if it doesn't work for him, I'll know right away. I'm not interested in continuing down a path that isn't working. And, yes, if my son were really excited about trying something, I'd be very likely to give it a try -- unless I knew better for some reason.

[Carol in Cal.]

So, for instance, between Rod and Staff and Abeka, I would let her pick because those programs really cover pretty much the same ground. But I would be fairly insistent on sticking to one or the other of them.

 

Also, I try to make curricula work together and to reward initiative. So, for instance, last year when DD had a climate project to work on for her Lego robotics team, I let her study Weather and Climate as the Science Explorer book for that period. I figured that I would want her to learn it sooner or later anyway, and why not make both jobs easier? This paid off--she remembers the material better because she used it for this other project.

 

As for rewarding initiative, when DD started listening to SOTW 4 CD's and discussing the material with me on her own, making it clear that she was really assimilating it, I gave her additional topical books and some writing assignments but pretty much let her study this on her own for quite a while. She learned a lot that way, and I think that she learned this material more thoroughly because she was given some freedom. I had had it in mind to do something else for history that year, but this worked out so well that I'm glad that I let her go for it. Having said that, I already owned SOTW 4 and there was no question that we would use it sometime--I just didn't intend to use it in the particular way that we did.

 

Another example--she is in a toastmaster's class and has to prepare a persuasive speech. She decided to write about saving chimpanzees, motivated by Jane Goodall. Once I saw that she was studying this on her own, and very effectively--making notes from several books, putting together an outline, figuring out how to shorten the material to focus it and still meet the time limits--I decided to give her writing credit for this. It's very possible that I'll pull out a related science book about ecology and encourage her to make this into somewhat of a unit study as well. Her choice, my cooperation.

 

This doesn't mean that she doesn't have to finish the human biology and health book that she had been studying--just that the timing might be a little different.

 

Again, though, these are all resources that we have around anyway, and that I am glad she is studying.

[Osaubi]

I talk to my children a lot about school. How do they think it's going? What are their favorite materials and why? What would they like more of? What would they like to learn about? What would they change? That type of stuff, it helps me tweak what isn't going as smoothly as I'd like or add a different approach to their weaker areas. I use their feedback as a tool, but also look at my goals, what needs to be taught now to help them with the next stage, keep making sure we're working on their weaker areas, giving them fun stuff, a variety, etc.

 

:iagree:

 

This is what I do also. We tend to do this about every 6 months as we homeschool year around.

[AngelaNYC]

My kids don't necessarily PICK their curriculum, but they do have a lot of input. I think it's important to know what interests your children and what kinds of activities they enjoy and then pick a curriculum (or homeschooling method) that meshes well. We chose AmblesideOnline after I showed it to and discussed it with the kids. They loved it then and we're still loving it now. If one of them found a book or curriculum they would prefer to use, I may consider it after we look at it again together. I have found that kids (and adults) just respond better to anything if their needs, wants, and opinions, are taken into account.

[Tammyla]

:iagree: I've been doing this so many years now, my knowledge of what will be a hit or miss are pretty good. Planning, choosing, purchasing and insuring the lessons are done are my responsibility though. ;) My kids are big and are expected to make it work, but when they were little...daily tears could sway me to make a change.

 

I talk to my children a lot about school. How do they think it's going? What are their favorite materials and why? What would they like more of? What would they like to learn about? What would they change? That type of stuff, it helps me tweak what isn't going as smoothly as I'd like or add a different approach to their weaker areas. I use their feedback as a tool, but also look at my goals, what needs to be taught now to help them with the next stage, keep making sure we're working on their weaker areas, giving them fun stuff, a variety, etc.

[FlutterbyMommy]

My child is young, but she is involved only by her learning style and personality. I imagine that will be her only "input" as time goes by. I have to consider those things in making the purchase and hopefully that will make the choices a good fit and successful.

 

Now, if there were a particular interest she had, I would consider a curriculum that included that or a unit study to enjoy it.

[NavyWifeandMommy]

Thanks for the replies.