Please, can anyone help me with a very bright 12 yo's curricula?

[jeri]

I have always hsed my oldest child who is now a 7th grader. Things have gone well in the past but I am feeling the need to sort of up my expectations of her. Not only do I think that she is capable of a bit more, but I need her to do more work independently since I am homeschooling 3 youngers as well.

 

For the past week most of my kids have been sick which means little schoolwork has been accomplished on anyone's part. In addition, the public schools have had a number of days off in Nov (I also have 2 in ps), so I'm feeling a bit like Nov has been a bit of a loss.

 

DH suggested that I write down very clear expectations of eldest dd, then hold her accountable. I'm pretty clear with what I listed for her below, but now that I write it down, it does not look like enough. Since we sort of work off the ps school calendar, there are about 120 days left in the school year. So, I will start with what she is doing:

 

1. During the year, finish CW Diogenes. (She is only on week 6 of 26--too late to put poetry in there but if she works diligently, she will finish the book by June.)

 

2. Finish LoF Algebra and AoPS's Counting/Probability book (52 lessons for the former, 57 lessons in the latter which means that she can finish both books if she does a lesson every other day in each.)

 

3. Do one Latin lesson (LP2) every other day (52 lessons left).

 

4. Do one German lesson (online through OK State--we are living in Germany now) every other day.

 

5. Complete the Singapor Science book (Investigating Science?) by end of the year.

 

We are also doing history using SOTW 4 as a family, and an occasional art lesson.

 

But what I look at now makes it seem really light! We were doing French in the States, but I can't find a French tutor here for her to continue.

 

We were doing MCT Word Within the Word (vocab) informally earlier this year, but haven't gotten to it lately.

 

I've also thought about assigning a book a month for her to read and then discuss--does anyone know of a good great books type discussion guide? She reads all the time, but I was thinking along the great books line.

 

Also, do any of you assign essays on a regular basis? If so, how do you go about doing this?

 

I've dabbled with the Logic idea but not sure how time-consuming it is and how much parent involvement would be involved.

 

So, what are others of you doing with your middle schoolers?

 

Thanks for any and all ideas!

 

Jeri

[StephanieZ]

I have had a lot of success with accountability for my 7th grader (and recently added in my 5th grader). I make WEEKLY milestones mandatory. . . so if I expect 1 math exercise a day and at the start of week 1 she is on exercise 10, then on the next Monday at 8 AM, I expect exercises through 14 to be completed. . .etc etc. Kid(s) grounded until caught up if gets behind. . . I have the schedule worked out for several months. The kids really like that they can "get ahead" and if they are ahead, then no pressure to do more. . . I love that they ARE getting their stuff done with no negotiations and hassles. Working VERY well for me!

[StephanieZ]

Oh and so far as curricula used. . .I don't know how much time what she's doing requires, but I expect about 7 hours of (at home, not including outofhome lessons or special cooperative classes, etc.) work daily from my 7th grader. Spread out over about 8 or 9 hours to allow for lunch and breaks. . . (8 AM - 3 PM daily, plus 30-60 min of homework a few days a week)

 

The subjects my 7th grader studies routinely this semester include. . .

 

Math - Thinkwell Intermediate Algebra (1+ lesson, 60 min daily)

Rod & Staff English 6 (1-2 lessons a day, 15 min)

Spelling Work Out (5 min/ day)

IEW Writing (90 min/ week)

Sonlight Core 6 History & Reading (45 min/ day)

Sonlight 4 Science (20 min/ day)

Story of Science (90 min/ week)

So You Really Want to Learn Spanish (1 ex/day, 15 min/day)

Harp (60 min/day)

Violin (60 min/day)

[forty-two]

My initial impression is that your dd's schedule is very LCC-ish: you have strong composition, math, and Latin programs, and they, along with German and science, seem to be your priority. Since you said she reads voraciously, on the whole it seems pretty solid for 7th. Middle school is theoretical for me right now :tongue_smilie:, but that (with the addition of Greek, Hebrew, and logic, and without German and formal science) is pretty much what my LCC/unschoolish self has planned.

 

Adding a book a month to read, discuss, and maybe write essays about - apply those CW analysis and writing skills ;) - would be a good way to beef things up. Also, with regard to logic, I'm pretty sure CW assumes outside logic study at some point (Trad. Logic by Cothran, from Memoria Press is their rec, I believe), so if you plan to continue with CW you'll probably want to add logic sometime soon-ish. But I bet she is learning more than you might think just by all that reading.

 

HTH

[LindaOz]

Also, do any of you assign essays on a regular basis? If so, how do you go about doing this?

 

 

 

I require my 7th and 8th graders to write two 'compostions' a week. My only stipulation is that they use at least five vocab words in each one. This works well and expands vocabulary usage, as well as creativity. It is also in addition to history writing, own stories (which they always have on the go), writing from their LA, and any other SL writing assignment that I may throw their way.

 

HTH

[jeri]

You are right about having to start holding her accountable. But it will be so hard for me since she is a great kid and easy to homeschool, just a bit distractable. I do need to start making her finish on time or revert to the dreaded homework!

 

jeri

[jeri]

Thanks for noting that our approach is sort of LCC-ish. I actually hadn't noticed, but having read the book several years ago, I now agree with you! That being said, I could go even more LCC and add in some classical readings/discussions/etc., something we've never done before.

 

jeri

[jeri]

I like your cmposition ideas since I really did like doing Word within the Word with my dd and I think that this would beef up that program. Vocab is a huge thing around here!

 

jeri

[Laura Corin]

 

Also, do any of you assign essays on a regular basis? If so, how do you go about doing this?

 

Jeri

 

Calvin has a book to read each week (sometimes one book spread over a fortnight, if it's long). We do a few books each year in more depth. We are just finishing The Merchant of Venice and I'm working on choosing a novel. He does a couple of compositions a week - usually one creative and one more analytical.

 

Laura

[StephanieZ]

You are right about having to start holding her accountable. But it will be so hard for me since she is a great kid and easy to homeschool, just a bit distractable. I do need to start making her finish on time or revert to the dreaded homework!

 

jeri

 

My dd12 is just that way, a total sweetie, very bright, and a parent-pleaser at heart! That was why I didn't realize for about a year that she'd started slowing down in her progress in several key areas -- math, grammar, spanish, etc. . . She just is such a *good* girl and very bright and had always advanced rapidly. . . but when she hit about 11 1/2 yo, her mind started to wander. . . and she could easily spend hours a day rereading her favorite books. . . or cuddling the cats. . . all well and good, BUT, she took 12 mos to cover 1/2 of a grammar book! When I started making her keep logs of what/when she completed things for various subjects, I started realizing she could go a week just doing grammar once. . . or a month just doing it twice! No wonder she wasn't getting through the book, lol!!

 

Honestly, it has been a great thing for ALL of us to have a schedule and to be accountable to it. Keeps us ALL honest. Forces us all to prioritize and squeeze that math exercise in before bed, etc. It has *relieved* a great deal of stress b/c I know the stuff is getting done and the kids know they are succeeding and pleasing me. I think I got dd on this schedule about 4 months ago and within a couple months I also started scheduling ds10 in a similar manner b/c it was just such a huge burden lifted from our homeschool to have the schedule just THERE for us all to know. . .

 

The grounding thing is hard, esp with such a GOOD kid, but I have forced myself to stay out of it and NOT negotiate it, as that would just open up that whole can of worms that I wanted out of by having a set schedule. I do NOT want to negotiate every day, every assignment, etc. I had to hold firm a few times early on, but now they have accepted the immutable schedule and they just get on with the work. I pitch in and sit by dd's side coaching her if there is a tricky spot in math she needs to crank through. . . that puts her and me on the same team -- us against the clock -- instead of on opposite sides.

 

One tip is to just give them 4 - 6 weeks of the master schedule at a time until you are sure of the timing/pacing of the courses. That way you can tweak it if you find you've scheduled too fast or too slow. . .