NavyWifeandMommy Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 What does your day look like with just one child who is in 6th grade? My child is a quick learning and loves to be sooner than later so she can go off to read her latest book or crafty project. There will be no siblings around during they day since they are in school now. I just see us being done in four hours and then all day to do what? I cannot just go and there because I have to pick up the siblings from their school. School took all day because I spent half of it arguing with the siblings. Now it's just her and me. I would hate to double up her work but it may be an option. She dont care for all the projects that go with SOTW OR Apologia so I can easily see her finishing up those books before January. ' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 I have always allowed time for ds to pursue his interests after school. In 6th grade school took us less than four hours, so he'd have his own time afterward. I am a big believer in allowing creative free time. It's one thing if they are complaining about boredom, sitting around watching TV or just playing video games. If she has projects, is spending her time wisely, then I wouldn't be so concerned. We also start school later than some, mainly because we are not morning people. This also might be a good time to pick up a subject of her choosing. 6th grade is also a good time to start thinking about skills to build with an eye toward high school.I would make sure those skills are being covered adequately. We also made time to do nature study, go walking, explore the neighborhood, go out to lunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Are you asking what happens when she's done with her schoolwork? She gets to do her own thing! When my 6th grader is done with school, she enjoys doing a great variety of things. Sometimes she goes outside with her little brother. Sometimes she likes to read, draw, do arts and crafts, work on a short story, write emails or write letters to family and friends, write in a journal. Sometimes she likes to practice knitting or asks to cook/bake something or plays a board game with her little brother. Sometimes she likes to watch TV, play video games, or play alone in her room. Sometimes she does chores, sometimes we do extra reading together for fun, or explore interactive websites. It varies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 I have a 6th grade only. I wouldn't double up on her assignments just to have her doing schoolwork all day. There's no need for it and it will likely lead to her slowing down on what she's doing because there's no incentive to finish quickly---it just nets her more work. We have really revamped the way we do school this year. I spend our time in the morning doing the things we have to do together (going over lesson materials, etc), then assign all that I can as homework to be done on her own time. If possible, I will give her an assignment (like literature reading) with a deadline later in the week. The reason is to give her more responsibility and independence with her work, hopefully learning time management. We also have outside classes/activities that we do in the afternoon, so she has to allow time for those in her plans. The incentive for her is that she is in control of when she does the work, so if she dawdles, it's on her time, not mine. I lay out the week's worth of work on Monday, including outside commitments. If my daughter wanted to work ahead, we would do something fun or just have a day off on Friday. If you think she will finish up the books too quickly to actually get the benefit from the material, swap out the projects suggested for other craft projects, videos, historical fiction, etc. Ask her for suggestions on things she might like to do to help her learn more. What are you doing with SOTW with her? Which level? We used that in elementary along with the activity guides. I can see that it wouldn't last long for an older child and that many of the activities might not appeal. Sonlight schedules two books a year of SOTW for middle school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyWifeandMommy Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 I started with SOTW 1 because I was teaching my younger two. She did the extra work like the outlining. She also helped the younger two with the crafts. I wanted to complete SOTW 1 by January but I have having a difficult time with my younger two. We were only doing a chapter a week. One day read and one day craft. Today we did the chatper, workbooks sheets and craft. We are saving one of the crafts to do with the younges when they get home since it deals with painting and everyone likes to paint. With just her we can do SOTW daily and hopefully now be done by January. We are on Chapter 10. The same with Apologia, I we were doing Zoo 2 as a family and tried to finish it with by January as well and we are only on Lesson 4. Now with just her I see us being done by January. My goal is for her to finish SOTW 2 and Apologia Human Anatomny by June of 2012. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 I started with SOTW 1 because I was teaching my younger two. She did the extra work like the outlining. She also helped the younger two with the crafts. I wanted to complete SOTW 1 by January but I have having a difficult time with my younger two. We were only doing a chapter a week. One day read and one day craft. Today we did the chatper, workbooks sheets and craft. We are saving one of the crafts to do with the younges when they get home since it deals with painting and everyone likes to paint. With just her we can do SOTW daily and hopefully now be done by January. We are on Chapter 10.The same with Apologia, I we were doing Zoo 2 as a family and tried to finish it with by January as well and we are only on Lesson 4. Now with just her I see us being done by January. My goal is for her to finish SOTW 2 and Apologia Human Anatomny by June of 2012. I'm not familiar with the Apologia books, but have a suggestion regarding history. You might look at how Sonlight uses these two books (SOTW 1 and 2) in Core G. http://www.sonlight.com/homeschool-curriculum.html?grade=6&tab=c will at least give you an idea of the historical fiction and other books they use alongside the SOTW volumes to flesh it out for an older student. I would strongly consider adding in some of those works (I had the older versions of the activity guide and can't remember if there were reading selections for logic stage or just grammar stage). Those might be better suited to her level or a better use of her time than some of the crafts in the activity guide. I would also add in a timeline. I'm using some of the Homeschool in the Woods figures copied at 85% to go in the Sonlight timeline book. BTW, as you see from my sig, we don't use Sonlight directly, but I often go to their lists for reading selections. If you don't like reading aloud (or, like me, have a voice that tires fairly easily), you can often find the recommended books as audiobooks from the library. We listen to audiobooks in the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyWifeandMommy Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 I have books from Sonlight. I almost bought their history that combined 1 and 2 but went with a few chosen books from the list. We have the timeline as well. She enjoyed coloring the page when I read so it's no biggie. She and her friends still love to color. I am thinking of adding a forgein langauge. I am toying with the idea of ordering Rosetta Stone Spanish but it can be used with everyone one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 I have books from Sonlight. I almost bought their history that combined 1 and 2 but went with a few chosen books from the list. We have the timeline as well. She enjoyed coloring the page when I read so it's no biggie. She and her friends still love to color. I am thinking of adding a forgein langauge. I am toying with the idea of ordering Rosetta Stone Spanish but it can be used with everyone one. Check out the prices for Rosetta Stone at Homeschool Buyer's Co-op (http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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