suppleasthewind Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 My head is spinning right now. I can't decide if I am doing a good job or not, if I am slacking off, etc. I'm looking at curricula right now on Rainbow Resource and trying to decide where to take things. When I began homeschooling, I decided that I needed to focus on improving behavior, helping the boys to figure out how to entertain themselves, and figuring out what will interest the boys in learning. One twin's behavior has improved greatly, one twin (the easy twin) is becoming slightly moody. Both boys are getting very good at finding things to do. They even tell me what they want to learn about and suggest projects. All in all, I think I have done well in meeting the first two goals. Homelife has improved greatly, and eveyone is getting along better. This brings me to the third goal. I figured out that they hate textbooks (I don't like them either, boring), they don't care too much for workbooks but the workbooks do keep them focused on what they need to learn. They love, love, LOVE to listen to books on tape, or me reading aloud. They really resist writing, projects that involve coloring, spending too much time on one topic. So I worry I am not teaching them enough. I really want to get a curriculum and follow it through. I have skipped around a lot to keep them enterested. I will read aloud from SOTW and REAl science Odyssey, and they love it, but won't want to do any of the projects. I will try again in the fall. Should I be stricter? Should I let them learn how they want? Happy medium? Are my kids the only kids in the world who don't like to use crayons? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suppleasthewind Posted May 31, 2011 Author Share Posted May 31, 2011 bump. Any ideas? Help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 There are lots of projects that don't involve coloring (my kids didn't like coloring either). I think you do need a balance between what they want to do and what you require them to do. There are some things that just aren't as fun to learn (like handwriting) but are still very necessary. I would tell them that you will have a mix of fun stuff and necessary stuff. I would try to alternate the fun and the not so fun stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 Do they see you learning and curious and trying things? I think that that is one of the advantages of homeschooling--we can share our own curiosity with kids, and it tends to be contagious. Personally wrt homeschooling I'm in the 'whatever works' camp. I do think that it is important to teach skills even if they are resisted. That means that learning to read, learning to write, and learning arithmetic are not really negotiable. But how to do that best rests in your own knowledge of your own family, and it varies from person to person. Ex. my DH has never studied advanced math, but when he got interested in some lighthouse in Hawaii in 1986, he taught himself the math needed to understand the optical physics of Fresnel lenses. (I helped.) And he taught himself the optical physics, too, pretty much. (I helped). He started to build a scale model of it, and went all crazy and learned this other stuff. When I was in 5th grade I studied Peru for a country report that went all crazy. The teacher wanted at least 3 written pages and a total of at least 10 including TOC, Bibl. and illustrations. My report had 50 total. I learned so much and read such adult books that I probably jumped my history, geography, and anthropology understanding by about 10 years. My report was thing of beauty, with handdrawn maps and traced illustrations. I learned significant research skills. Each of us did this on our own. However, DD is not like that. She wants to ask a librarian for information. She loves stories, so she loves history and literature and psychology. But where those loves would have driven DH or me to learning skills, she feels that sullying them with skills learning ruins everything. So for her I had to teach skills individually and never linked to her interests, in the hope that she would apply them to her interests eventually. Herself. On her OWN. Doggone it. That meant that she did relatively few history writing assignments early on, for instance. So what are your boys like? They do need to write. You can assign copywork and using WWE. Or you can tie their writing assignments to your history and/or science teaching. Your call. They do need to learn math. So teach it as efficiently as possible, and tie it into their science if that helps. They do need to learn to read, so teach reading acquisition a little bit each day. You will still have plenty of time for the fun history and science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 It's great that you are evaluating your hs time so far. You're seeing what works and what doesn't work with you AND them. Using a single publisher's curriculum will not allow you to pick and choose what suits your family best. At that age, we do workbooks for Math, and Unit Studies (read-alouds with narration or SHORT note-taking) for history/science. Boys are slower at learning to write, so it helps to do what you can orally (with you transcribing what they say). This is all detailed in the WTM book, authored by this forum's sponsor. Your boys are still young and growing, and you're doing a great job of training them to develop good habits! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meggie Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 No, my son doesn't really like to color either. I'm pushing him to do a little, because people on this board recommended it as a way to strengthen his hand muscles and help his writing abilities. So we do his HWT workbook and then I make him color the pictures. He is getting better, both in coloring inside the lines and with his handwriting. It doesn't take long, only a minute or two and I don't push it beyond that. He probably won't ever like it, but he knows it doesn't take too long. He does like drawing his own pictures, you might see if your boys would like to do that. Also, if they really like reading, I wouldn't see the harm in getting more books out from the library and letting them read those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 My two boys wouldn't want to do coloring, either. We use Sonilight for history, readers and literature readalouds, which is chock full of readalouds and no projects, which seems to work for all of us. It is Christian, though it is used secularly if that is what you are looking for. Check it out - it might fit the bill of what you are looking for. It sounds to me like you are doing just fine and maybe haven't quite found a groove with some of the curriculum. It takes time. I floundered with some areas for about a year and a half until I figured out what my kids needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cat Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 No worries...... one piece of advise I received is that when I have behavior that needs work that I should stop everything and work on that first. Sounds like you are doing great in that area. The rest will come. If they do not like to color, try some water colors or markers...... if that is just not them, try taking some clay (ceramic) classes where they can make some creations and then paint and have them fired. I would not focus so much on coloring, it's not for everyone. Maybe they just like to draw with a pencil and paper. We used Draw, Write, Now...... my kids love that! I am anti workbook.... as that isn't their speed.... but after 3 years of HS we have returned to doing some workbooks and it's going great..... so I'd suggest putting it on the back burner for now..... we watch LOTS of documentaries! And they learn so much from hands on and field trips. Learning takes place from all around you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapbookbuzz Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 You're kids are young. RELAX. The sheer fact that you're giving them individual attention is HUGE. You are doing fine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 Have you tried notebooking or lapbooking? http://www.handsofachild.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suppleasthewind Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share Posted June 1, 2011 Thanks everybody! I feel better now. I keep reminding myself that they are young. The schools today seem so intent on pushing so much content, that I wonder if maybe I am wrong. I keep telling reminding myself of the leisurely pace that my elementary school went at when I was there (30 years ago!). But yes, we do lots of field trips and some easy science stuff around the house. We had butterflies and are waiting for the praying mantisis to hatch. We love documentaries too. I'm off to research notebooking now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I think one of the difficult things with homeschooling is being able to evaluate progress without necessarily have al ot of physical evidence for it. My son didnt like hands on, projects, art, colouring, and he really hated writing. So, he did a certain amount of copywork/narration/dictation each day, and that was it apart from his own play, in terms of "production". The rest was oral, reading, discussions etc. There wasn't a lot to show for it- but there was progress, slow as it was. Production, projects etc make you feel you are doing a good job because you can look around and there is the evidence- but if you have to pull teeth to get it, especially if its supposed to be fun! (and would be to a different kid,including many girls), I am not sure it's worth it. Working through a curriculum feels good because you can tick boxes and feel you are getting somewhere- and its ok to homeschool like that too- but I am a bit of a skipper- if I felt it was busywork, we skipped it. If it was a creative project and he didn't want to do it- we skipped it. I didn't skip our foundational work each day, but if all we did with SOTW was read and discuss, at least we enjoyed it thoroughly (and we did do other things over the years but not every time.) The whole productivity thing is a bit of a trap- its great to show grandparents that you are actually doing something, but its not necessary to have boxes of art pieces and projects. Learn to trust yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suppleasthewind Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share Posted June 1, 2011 Yes, exactly! Sometimes we do activities that don't leave evidence (nature walks) and then I think, oh no, we some documentation. So I pull out some workbooks. I keep a journal of everything we do. That makes me feel better. Even shucking corn counts for something! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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