This is getting a little frustrating.

[mommy4ever]

I do know we are on a learning curve, and it takes time. But I'm getting frustrated with dd11.

 

With dd6, I simply started over, period. It is going great! She is reading, we are cruising through some areas where she had learned something at the school, and I'm simply re-inforcing. We did spelling dictation and she is writing short phrases! Considering she didn't even know her letter sounds overly well, she is an early reader after only 4 weeks. Her math is slower, but coming. Her comprehension is fantastic, her narrations are accurate.

 

But dd11. I can't pinpoint what she HAS learned. I know her grammar knowledge is next to nothing. I got Easy Grammar 5, and we did the pretest, and she only completed 1/2 of it, and some of that was incorrect. We did the first couple pages to day, and she is resisting, but she will learn.

 

In science, she wants all the answers to everything spoon fed(insert lazy here).

 

Math, which is her 'strongest' subject on her report card, I've had to go down to 4th grade, and even some of that wasn't covered. Caveat here, I'm told that our school system here is 1 year behind the US, but that means she should have covered most of this already, at least 1/2 :( But we are able to progress with it, slower than anticipated, but moving forward.

 

History is all new..lol. So that is ok. She is interested, so that is good.

 

But her basics in writing, grammar, spelling and math... truthfully, it sucks. And I don't know where to start. I get something that 'should' be remedial, and it's all new. She doesn't seem to have any building blocks. And I'm at loss how to help her, where to go.

 

And our province brags at having top notch schooling here :confused:

[rose_king]

I do know we are on a learning curve, and it takes time. But I'm getting frustrated with dd11.

With dd6, I simply started over, period. It is going great! She is reading, we are cruising through some areas where she had learned something at the school, and I'm simply re-inforcing. We did spelling dictation and she is writing short phrases! Considering she didn't even know her letter sounds overly well, she is an early reader after only 4 weeks. Her math is slower, but coming. Her comprehension is fantastic, her narrations are accurate.

That's great! Just keep moving forward with her.

But dd11. I can't pinpoint what she HAS learned. I know her grammar knowledge is next to nothing. I got Easy Grammar 5, and we did the pretest, and she only completed 1/2 of it, and some of that was incorrect. We did the first couple pages to day, and she is resisting, but she will learn.

I know it was really tough when I took my kids out of school. My kids that

had always done well, were now struggling. My now 9th grader is still trying to catch up with grammar she should have learned in 6, 7, and 8th grades. Someone on this forum pointed me toward Analytical Grammar. I have not used it long at all, but I like what I have done with them so far. There is an AG book for 4th and 5th graders.(I think 4,5) You might look them up and do a little research in that area. Not sure if it would help or not. My aunt is an education specialist, and I had her help me research AG and MUS. She loved them, so I bought them, and I have been rather happy with my purchases.

In science, she wants all the answers to everything spoon fed(insert lazy here).

Not sure how to handle this one. Maybe their will be more advice forthcoming from somewhere else.

Math, which is her 'strongest' subject on her report card, I've had to go down to 4th grade, and even some of that wasn't covered. Caveat here, I'm told that our school system here is 1 year behind the US, but that means she should have covered most of this already, at least 1/2 :( But we are able to progress with it, slower than anticipated, but moving forward.

We were using Saxon. It did not suit us at all. My DD was a little behind in math when we came out of PS. MUS has made a big difference for her. She really likes it.

History is all new..lol. So that is ok. She is interested, so that is good.

 

But her basics in writing, grammar, spelling and math... truthfully, it sucks. And I don't know where to start. I get something that 'should' be remedial, and it's all new. She doesn't seem to have any building blocks. And I'm at loss how to help her, where to go.

Start over. Spelling Power has been good for us. I know it sounds hard, but you can start over in a way that they do not even realize you have. They catch on quick, move faster, and are very proud of themselves. Not sure if this has helped any. Don't give up. It takes a while, but once you get going you love it. (Most Days :glare:) It's not perfect all the time, but it's worth it.

[Jen+4dc]

stop everything and let both of you decompress! I know, I know, believe me, I do. When I pulled my oldest out of ps I left the other 2 school age kids in because I thought hsing would be a temporary thing to get dd to where she needed to be so we could put her back in. Three years later (and all of them home now!) this is what I've learned:

 

1- Kids need to be kids! That doesn't excuse laziness, it means sometimes they just don't have the maturity to make their little brains function anymore. At that point anything else academic we accomplish comes at the expense of our relationship. It's just not worth it. I will not give in to fit-pitching, but I have dropped a subject for a few weeks to just let it settle. (For example, ds7 just complained through spelling for weeks and couldn't ever get it right, even when I spoon fed him the answer. One lesson he was finally literally in tears and refusing to do anymore and pitching a total fit. I made him finish that lesson (because we do NOT give in to fit-pitching) but we dropped spelling for 2 weeks and picked it up again with a totally different program. It's soooooo much better now!)

 

2- Both kids and mom need decompression time from ps! I wish, wish, wish I could go back and let my dd decompress from the horrific experience ps was for her. By pushing her forward trying to "catch her up" I damaged an already non-existent relationship. (When I brought her home our relationship was basically me getting her up and out the door for school and then get the homework done (which took 3 supervised hours in 4th grade!) and then baths, dinner and bed. It was not good.) It has taken a LOT of time and effort on my part (and hers) to build a relationship again. It's not perfect by any means, and she's 13:tongue_smilie:. But, we have a positive relationship now. Hsing gave us that. Don't let outside forces push you into pushing her too hard or too fast and damage what could be a great relationship at a time when a dd really needs her mom!

 

3- Teach them where they are! Just because they "should" be in X grade doesn't mean they are capable of X grade work. Forcing them to go faster or do work that is too hard just kills any possible joy. Meet them where they are and make lessons long enough to stick and short enough to be manageable and just keep plugging away.

 

It's May!! Almost summer! FWIW, I would assign a certain amount of time everyday that dd11 has to do schoolwork. Then, play a lot of math games (do an archive search here or google, there are TONS of ideas out there!). Go to the library and fill a laundry basket with good books: fiction and non-fiction. Bring it home and set a certain amount of time the dc have to read from it each day. Let them decide which books to read. Then, at the end of scheduled time have her write down 2 things she learned from her reading. There, school is over for the day.

 

By August/September you'll both be ready to pick things back up a little more formally.:)

 

Now, you may totally disagree with me, that's okay!:D All families are different. Good luck finding what works for you. I hope something I've said may help in some way.

 

By the way, welcome to hsing and welcome to these boards! Hsing is a great way of life and these boards are a lifeline!:001_smile:

[Suzannah]

We are taking advantage of Aleks.com's free one-month trial for homeschoolers (plus an extra month free for recommending two others.) Math is not DS' favorite subject but until last year he managed to stay on top of things. Then when he started to tank we switched from Saxon to Teaching Textbooks/Life of Fred. Since we're not planning to continue with TT7 (it served its purpose, but we need to move on) I had him take some placement tests for other math programs but that yielded completely un-readable results. He could do some very complex things, but just blew it on some fairly simple stuff.

 

Somewhere in the frustration of last year and the switch to a different math program, I just have the sneaking suspicion that we might have a few gaps to fill in before beginning pre-algebra. So in an effort to make sure all our bases are covered before moving up, we're using Aleks.

 

It's an online assessment assessment test which will pinpoint areas of weakness and will show the student each time he logs on what he should be working on. But there is some flexibility, allowing him to choose specifically which skill to give his attention to. It's available at all levels.

 

http://www.aleks.com

[ABQmom]

You're getting great advice from those who've been there and done that. I just wanted to add to that. I have several friends who have pulled kids out of public school and found their dc are behind. I know they've had success by taking their kids through FLL 1 and 2 for grammar. And these kids are older, so in that case, you would just skip lessons that seem to young. FLL 1 and 2 provide a great foundation in grammar and can be gone through quickly with older kids. Just a thought.