"The subject that intimidates me the most" - poll

[Wee Pip]

What subject scares you the most to teach your children? Wait for the poll.

 

If you want to add more: Why does it intimidate you? Have you overcome a fear for a subject - if so, how? What do you think would change your fear-factor for that subject? Thanks!

Edited December 9, 2011 by Wee Pip
wanted to add

[Haiku]

I voted for science and foreign language.

 

I chose science because it was a struggle to find a curriculum we all liked + I'm concerned about lab science when the kids are in high school.

 

I chose foreign language because settling on a Latin curriculum was torturous, and, although we are very happy with Getting Started with Spanish, there is no good follow-up curriculum until the kids get older. Plus, I don't know Latin or Spanish, so I am will be of limited assistance as a resource as we get into more complex studies.

 

Tara

[Kathryn]

Foreign language because of my lack of experience in the languages I'd like them to learn. I took French, Russian, and Italian. I'd like them to learn Latin, Greek, and Spanish (at least, maybe Mandarin as well). All the other subjects we'll cover, I am at least somewhat familiar with.

[Alice]

Right now, there isn't a particular subject that scares me. There are areas where I am weak, but I've been able to find good resources to help me self-educate first. I'm sure that will change as my kids get older, but I feel like there are still a lot of good resources and I can imagine for some areas my role will change more to tutor/facilitator than primary teacher.

 

I would have voted foreign language except that I am fine teaching Latin. I have no ear for languages though so would have a really hard time teaching a modern language where pronunciation was important. I also would have a really hard time teaching music and wouldn't even try.

[Snickerdoodle]

Writing. I always felt in school that writing was so subjective as to make it completely mysterious.

[Aurelia]

I said writing because I struggle with knowing what's age appropriate so I neither push too hard nor expect too little. It's a very subjective subject, and since things like math and grammar are concrete, it's easier for me to gauge progress in those areas.

 

I'm fairly comfortable teaching Latin and Spanish, but if Ariel decides she wants to learn French or Japanese or something, I'm in trouble.

[foxbridgeacademy]

Math used to worry me the most. I have never been a "mathy" person. What has helped is that as my DS learns so do I. Also I'm located in a good sized city so when his needs outstrip my understanding he can take classes. Writing on the other hand is something I have always felt is a talent and I am unsure of how to teach. I haven't found a curriculum that I like or feel will fit my needs.

[TrixieB]

Writing. I always felt in school that writing was so subjective as to make it completely mysterious.

Same here. Unlike math, writing had no "correct answer" and I was never sure what the teacher wanted. And writing was not taught (no specific instruction).

[DragonFaerie]

Science has always been my nemesis, even from the time I was in school. I have to rely on finding a good curriculum or I would be totally at a loss.

[regentrude]

I would not say "intimidate" as much as "give me trouble". I chose foreign language.

I know that it is impossible to teach a foreign language I do not speak fluently myself because I will not be able to get my students beyond dabbling in the basic beginnings.

[Farrar]

I speak some French. I speak some Mandarin. I don't feel like I'm fluent enough to teach the kids, but lessons are so much! It's a quandary. We used to do cheapie Chinese lessons but then they changed instructors to someone who was terrible with kids, so we're in a holding pattern now and have been for quite awhile. Alas.

 

ETA: The other answer that occurred to me is music. I appreciate music only. I have no experience with it beyond that but I suspect my kids are more musical than me and that choir at church isn't enough for them, so I'm also in a holding pattern trying to figure that out because music lessons are also crazy expensive.

[momma aimee]

math did not make lmy list now -- he is only 6 -- but it is going to be #1 on the list in about 2 years -- LOL......

 

I am doing good at reading, but it is scarey since it is the foundation of EVERYTHING

[elise1mds]

Science and art. I worry about science because I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep up with DS. I worry about art because I'm just flat not good at it and have never been able to do well, so I worry about my ability to teach.

 

My favorite subject to teach is writing! Then again, that's my forte, so I love breaking it down into all its little parts and watching them come back together again as a cohesive whole. We have a lot of fun with writing around here. I'm going to be blogging about this week's poetry unit here in a few minutes. :)

[luvnlattes]

I voted math because for some reason that is the one I have the most trouble teaching. I understand math and actually enjoy it, but for some reason I can't express the information to my kids clearly. I either give too much explanation or too many different examples or something goes wrong. They give me that "deer in the headlights" look, I panic and talk more, and it all goes downhill from there.

[nukeswife]

Writing. I always felt in school that writing was so subjective as to make it completely mysterious.

 

:iagree:

I always hated writing, especially when I got to AP english lit and composition in high school. I'd never gotten anything less than a B and on my first paper which was to be an opinion paper on MacBeth, I got a D. Why? The only mark on my paper other than that horrible D was "I don't care for your opinion" Well wasn't that the assignment? I fought for a better grade because I thought the teacher was unfair to assign a paper that asked for only our opinions, but those of us that had a differing one than him got Ds and those that agreed with his got As.

 

So now I'm worried about teaching writing because of it's subjective nature and not being comfortable doing it myself. That goodness for the WWS book or I'd be up a creek with my oldest.

[canadianmomtofour]

I voted other. Right now I am trying to teach government/politics. I hate it. I'm not good at it, and I really wish I could pawn it off on dh. :glare:

[Testimony]

of writing. I feel like I have to get this right or my children will fail in life.

 

Blessings,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[MinivanMom]

Foreign language is the one subject that I find really intimidating. I studied Spanish for years and could speak it conversationally, but I never achieved true fluency. Now I have kids who want to study French! I feel underqualified (rightly so) to teach a language I don't speak fluently myself. I think I've accepted that foreign language (like instrument instruction) is an area that will require outsourcing and $$$. I'm learning along with dd7 and ds6 right now, but we will be adding a French tutor in the near future.

 

I feel very comfortable with all other subjects. I think I may be intimidated to teach Calculus and certain advanced sciences once we reach high school, but that is where dh's strengths and college degrees should come in handy. Either dh will take on some instruction/tutoring in AP math and science or we will outsource at that point.

[TheApprentice]

Slightly annoying with having to get all the materials and it turns out to be only moderately successful or a major fail. I am more intimidated if my oldest homeschools high school.:001_unsure:

[Myeightkiddies]

In comparison to the other subjects, Math is probably the one that causes me to pause and think. I'm not necessarily weaker in Math; I'm just stronger in the other subjects. When it comes to high school (or college-level) Math, anything that causes me to stumble can easily be handled by "rocket scientist" dad.

[WTMCassandra]

Math. Because I completely, utterly STINK at it. Always have.

 

I compensate by making sure the program I use is written to the student so there is no "teaching" from me. I only enforce them working on it daily. My mathy husband meets with each child once per week to check the specifics.

 

When they were younger, I used Professor B, which is scripted, and I just read what was written. If they didn't understand, we waited until Dad got home.

[Dmmetler]

Foreign language. I'm not at all gifted in it, and DD appears to pick it up almost without trying and LOVES it-the only thing that's letting me check her work in Greek and Latin is that I buy the answer keys, because she's FAR better with the conjugations and multiple endings and matching the endings than I am.

[mytwomonkeys]

writing and spelling are the 2 subjects that have stressed me out the most, hands down! what was stressful? my daughter literally would freeze in her ability to write very simple & basic things, and it was transferring into social time at girl scouts and church. i felt so bad for her, and completely felt like i was failing her. plus, her spelling was terrible. no matter what i used & no matter how many times i listened to SWB's lecture, i was stressed to max. i felt like my daughter wasn't showing any signs of progress. anyway. we switched to a more "school at home" approach with BJU and the teacher dvd's last year, and finally my daughter is soaring in spelling & writing. other than those two subjects, i've always felt really confident in being able to help my kids succeed.

[Socalimom]

I'm terrible at high school science particularly chemistry and physics. I even get the heebie-jeebies just thinking about my high school science experience. I already know that I'm going to have to pay someone to teach these subjects to my dc when the time comes and my oldest is only 5!

[bluemongoose]

Writing...hands down.

 

I was not given good math or writing instruction in school. I do not fear math because there are programs that do it all for you, and I have a DH who strength is math to help them through tough spots. I see writing as more...um... ambiguous...less concrete. I am afraid I will blow it!

[Punks in Ontario]

Writing. I've decided that alot of the writing learning takes time to mark, revise and recheck. Ugghh.

[Ester Maria]

Science, hands down. I never learnt it well enough to be able to simplify things without banalizing them, so I would typically end up in one of the extremes, either "too easy" one, either "too hard" one.

 

That is what the daddy is for, though. :tongue_smilie: Thankfully, between his expertise and one of the kids' personal drive, we somehow manage. I think science is an incredibly complex subject to teach well and I admit that I was never as good as my goals were in this area.

 

I have the easiest time with language-related areas and general humanities.

[kandty]

It changes about every 6 months. :lol: Actually teaching high school intimidates me the most!!!! Bring on the fear!!!!!! I don't even want to think about it!!!!

 

Right now it is history. I have struggled with this the most over the years. Foreign language is right there too. When it is time to teach high school I will have to check all the boxes!

[MissKNG]

Math is going to worry me down the road. Fortunately I have EPGY as a backup when she gets to a point where I can't work on math with her anymore.

[Farrar]

See, this is interesting to me. Writing frustrates me, but it doesn't intimidate me at all. And math, while I'm not always great at it, I feel like there are so many great support materials, especially in elementary school.

[Amy Jo]

It changes about every 6 months. :lol: Actually teaching high school intimidates me the most!!!! Bring on the fear!!!!!! I don't even want to think about it!!!!

 

Me too. I'm just trying to stay ahead of the kids in some subjects (history - never learned that well, foreign languages - which I love, math - which I am learning to understand instead of to plug in numbers).

 

I checked "Science" and "Other". Science because I just don't think scientifically. I remember getting an A in college CHEM 101. And I don't think I deserved an A. I earned it ONLY because I was good at math. I think an A student should understand science, and think like a scientist. Not just follow directions and plug in formulas. I couldn't experiment my way out of a paper bag.

 

Other is reading. My 7yo practically taught himself. But my 9yo has struggled (he is improving, just every step has been a struggle). I'm terrified my 5yo will be the same way (we are just playing with sounds and magnet letters now). So yeah, I am completely intimidated at this point by reading. And if I'd had only kids like DS7, I'd think teaching reading was easy.

 

A lot of subjects I am confident because I've improved my education (or found a great program I understand). Perhaps I"ll take another science class or three at the college sometime before my eldest hits high-school.

[mytwomonkeys]

See, this is interesting to me. Writing frustrates me, but it doesn't intimidate me at all.

 

honestly, i didn't realize writing would be intimidating until i had a child that just wasn't getting it (and no older children to ease my mind that she would eventually come into it). she was not a natural writer in any form or fashion, and finding what would work for her really proved to be very stressful for me. with my son, it is not stressful at all - so glad!:) but in all fairness, my experience with my daughter has prepared me nicely for helping him.

[freeindeed]

Math...by far! I dread the high school years in this subject.:tongue_smilie:

[Tracy]

I voted "Other," because my most feared subject is literature. Metaphors, similes, rhythm, meter, Shakespeare, etc. make me feel :scared:. I was a straight "A" student except for those C's in American Lit., English Lit. and Spanish Lit.

[FairyMom]

Writing (composition, essays, creative, etc.)

 

This... :svengo:

[Zoo Keeper]

Upper level math scares the be-jabbers out of me. Geometry made sense to me (proofs), but anything else was a jumble of letters, numbers, signs and symbols that had no apparent logic to me.

 

I hope to learn as we go along. If not, praise God for Kahn Academy and YouTube. ;)

 

 

I'm also very science-challenged, but that doesn't frighten me so much. I'm picking up lots by watching Fringe faithfully. :)

[freesia]

Music. I am not musical and can't even understand music curriculum despite having years of music classes in schools, singing in choirs, etc.

[kristinannie]

Grammar terrifies me. I never had formal grammar in school. I feel pretty comfortable with everything else.

[SorrelZG]

.

[laughing lioness]

Upper level math. Solution- hire a irl tutor.