Dolphin Posted September 9, 2010 Share Posted September 9, 2010 I am starting home school on Monday and I am starting to panic. I really did not want to just sit my child down in front of a computer or with workbooks, (and just to clarify, I am fine if other people use that method, it just is not what I think will work best for my ds).However, I think I might have gone too far the other way. Things that I am pretty sure that I do not want to change. Story of the world All about Spelling Singapore Math (and MM when needed) Subject that I would consider changing if there is a really good, independent way for ds to do. WWE FLL Adventures in Atoms and Molecules I think I am actively teaching everything but Latin and Spanish. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you. Nicole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verity Posted September 9, 2010 Share Posted September 9, 2010 It looks like we are using a good bit of the same curriculums for our third graders. The only thing my 8 year old is doing even a little bit independently is we started Phonetic Zoo this week. Otherwise we are still in the side by side, one on one stage. I'll follow this thread with interest, but honestly I don't think my third grader would get much accomplished without my active participation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in KS Posted September 9, 2010 Share Posted September 9, 2010 How about switching your language arts? You could cover that material with CLE Language Arts (which can be done very independently -- or not-- depending on the child). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted September 9, 2010 Share Posted September 9, 2010 We used Shurley for grammar and I found it both thorough and easily done independently. It may not be everybody's cuppa, but it worked great for us and allowed me the time I needed to work with my other dc. IEW can be very independent, at least that was my experience with it. I guess it would depend on your child, but I found Apologia to be very independent, although they don't currently have a chemistry program. Mine was able to work through the Apologia texts on her own even before grade 3. History Odyssey is also another program that is fairly independent and it does use SOTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted September 9, 2010 Author Share Posted September 9, 2010 Thank you for the quick responses. I will look at those (after I check the abbreviation page to find out what some are:lol:. What about MCT grammar? I see a lot about that. Is it independent or is that another that has a lot of teaching with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldilocks Posted September 9, 2010 Share Posted September 9, 2010 Last year, the only independent subject my ds was able to do was Adventures in Atoms and Molecules. He could do the experiment and write up the lab report. He could not look up the definitions on his own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted September 9, 2010 Share Posted September 9, 2010 Thank you for the quick responses. I will look at those (after I check the abbreviation page to find out what some are:lol:. What about MCT grammar? I see a lot about that. Is it independent or is that another that has a lot of teaching with it? My experience with it is that it's very one-on-one. Grab the book, a blanket, and snuggle on the couch and discuss language. Fantastic program, but not if you're wanting something independent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted September 9, 2010 Share Posted September 9, 2010 (edited) JMO: First, don't start second guessing yourself until you've had a chance to "test drive" your curriculum and schedule for a few months, and have given yourself a chance to make the transition to homeschooling. :) And second, What you've listed doesn't sound like it's going to be too overwhelming to do together. Remember, grammar only needs to be done 3x/week, and you can alternate days with science and history, so each is only 2x/week. Even math can be done just 4x/week, leaving one day a week for fun games and enrichment -- or just getting out of the house entirely for a family field trip, nature hike, picnic, "socialization time" with other homeschoolers, etc. Perhaps plan on interspersing your together teaching time with some enrichment activities that can be done solo by DS: - a "book basket" of fun and interesting books and magazines at (or a little below) her reading level, that he picks from for some free reading time during the day - fun critical thinking or logic puzzle (mazes, Sudoku, easy word searches or very simple crosswords, hidden picture puzzles, etc., printed from online sources; Dandylion: Logic Countdown; Puzzlemania (best of Highlights magazine variety of puzzles collections; "Critical Thinking Puzzles in Logic, Patterns & Images" (gr. K-3) by Dale Seymour; etc.) -- up through 3rd grade, I gave each DS 2-3 "fun pages" (see above) each day as something they could do solo while I worked with the sibling - 30 minutes a few times a week of a math or language arts or other educational software (Math Blasters; Cluefinder series; Mighty Math series; Operation Neptune (logic puzzle solving; Oregon Trail; etc.) -- or free online game/activity (Grammar Gorillas; Math Cats; Geography Games at Sheppard Softward; composers/music at Classics for Kids; etc.) -- another nice way to sneak in 1-on-1 time with the sibling while brother got educational computer time - 1-2x/week, let her enjoy solo an educational video/DVD from the library (Magic School Bus; Bill Nye the Science Guy; Eyewitness series; Schlessinger Media history or science videos; Schoolhouse Rock; etc.) - box of art supplies, and you rotate what's in it, and let him just enjoy himself -- Dover sticker books; Dover stained glass coloring books; clay; bucket of lots of colors of sidewalk chalk; pipe cleaners, craft sticks, pom-poms, wiggly eyes, etc. plus glue (and if you feel very brave, glitter or a glitter-glue stick); watercolor paints and nice paper; paint-by-number kit; suncatcher with little beads and you bake it; Shrinky-Dinks; etc. ENJOY your homeschooling adventures! Warmest regards, Lori D. Edited September 9, 2010 by Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted September 9, 2010 Share Posted September 9, 2010 My 3rd grader does R&S cursive and Spelling workbooks independently. I do give her a spelling test at the end of the week. She also does copywork and memorization independently each morning. She copies 2 lines of the latest poem she is working on, then practices it herself in the mirror 5 times, then comes to recite it as I work w/my 6 old. We do R&S for English and Math. The math is teacher intensive, but the English only takes a few min. to go over the lesson, then she sits down to do the work herself. She also does reading of books and writing of book narration independently. I have to intersperse this independent work out throughout the day for her to do while I work w/my younger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkgumby Posted September 9, 2010 Share Posted September 9, 2010 How about getting the audio version of Story of the World to listen to? My 3rd grader does the following independently: - Math (unless he has a question or needs clarification) - handwriting - geography (Rand McNally Geography and Map Activities) - Art (Mark Kistler, or free drawing or sculpting or whatever) - Scriptures - Journal - Health (Abeka Health, Safety and Manners) - Reading We do the following together - but it actually all goes really quickly: - Sonlight Core 3 read-alouds - WWE 2 - FLL 3 - Rod and Staff Spelling 3 - Poetry - Logic - Science (unless I'm just having him read an interesting science book) The nice thing is that no one subject really takes very long at this level/age, even if you do have a lot of teacher-involved ones. Don't panic yet! You could wait and see how it goes for a while before tweaking if necessary. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted September 9, 2010 Share Posted September 9, 2010 (edited) Things that I am pretty sure that I do not want to change. Story of the world All about Spelling Singapore Math (and MM when needed) Subject that I would consider changing if there is a really good, independent way for ds to do. WWE FLL Adventures in Atoms and Molecules We do SM mostly independently. It depends on your dc, and how new the material is. Most days, I spend 5-10 min with my dd on the textbooks, and she does the workbooks by herself. ETA: You could use Growing with Grammar instead of FLL. It's a workbook approach and can be completely independent. If I were in you, I'd go ahead with what you have. If it's too teacher intensive after a month, then reevaluate what you want to change. Edited September 9, 2010 by bonniebeth4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted September 9, 2010 Author Share Posted September 9, 2010 Thank you everyone. I can see the sense in that. I will start with what I have and see how it goes. If I find it really overwhelming I will then look at changing. I was thinking that I had scheduled too much, but it sounds like maybe I haven't. I am lucky that this year DD is only 3 and won't be needing to be taught much. I think I am just in panic mode, everyone is heading back to school, so it is suddenly much more real that I am stepping off the main stream path. I will take some deep breaths and just start. Cheers, Nicole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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