Curriculum for newbie teaching dd13

[funnygirl]

I decided to start a new post, so this is actually a bit of a response to my earlier introduction post.

 

I haven't decided if my dd is "2e" or not, but she is certainly VERY bright (yet tests horribly) so I have chosen material that I feel is challenging for her, but I have no expectations of how long it will take us to complete it. (In other words, if it takes a year and a half for us to finish pre-algebra, then fine.) Much of what I chose I just took a guess at based on her current curriculum. Also I'm fairly relaxed, so I'm comfortable using this stuff as a jumping-off point into either easier or harder material, based on her reaction to it. I'm also totally comfortable ditching something if it doesn't work.

 

So here's what I'm doing:

Math - ALEKS pre-algebra. DD tried it out and loved the online approach plus I think the "pie" is motivating. She worked on it for an hour yesterday!

 

History- SOTW, starting with ancient Greeks. (She covered ancients through Egypt last year, so this works out perfectly.) She is OBSESSED with greek mythology, so I am working that in everywhere I can. I'm also including geography with our studies. Using the Kingfisher History Encyc. as adjunct. Planning to do a timeline.

 

Literature - I have ordered Mosdos Gold but it hasn't arrived yet. Planning to use that as an adjunct to other books that go with our History. Need to supplement this with something for comprehension, as that is a weakness for her. Ideas??

 

English - I have broken our English down into sections, as this is probably her least favorite subject. She has started on Spelling Workout G, which she is flying through. This will likely be our last year at spelling, but I just needed final confirmation that she was up to speed. I am planning on doing Shurley Grammar; I expect to have to remediate grammar b/c I don't think she has ever really understood parts of speech, etc. I think the playfulness of Shurley will appeal to her. Currently waiting on that workbook to arrive. I also ordered Figuratively Speaking to assist in that regard. Using Wordsmith and the Creative Writer for writing. Haven't started either one. She is a very good creative writer, but absolutely detests writing formal papers, so the whole WTM concept of outlining, copywork, etc., will be uber-challenging for us. She does like to make lists, so perhaps I can work from there into outlining, etc. (I realize all of this English curr. seems like a lot, but the more options I can put in front of her, the better chance I have at getting something accomplished.)

 

Latin - rather than teaching the actual language, I plan on doing a "root of the week" from Vocab from Classical Roots.

 

Logic - Mindbenders b2 - she LOVES puzzles, so I think this will be a win for her.

 

Science - have not chosen a formal science text. I would love something secular - ideas??

 

Exec Function - we are working on reading a clock (non-digital) and understand what time "feels" like. HUGE deficit for her. Currently reading Late, Lost, and Unprepared for more ideas. I'm not sure how to approach actual curriculum with her; she doesn't want to admit that she has any deficits, so it's very difficult to work on it with her in a formal manner.

 

My approach so far has been to let her pick 3-4 subjects that she wants to work on and put them in order. I know that the more ownership she feels, the more involved she will be. Transitioning between subjects within the day has been difficult this week, but I know we just need more practice. I also need to help her understand how to take a break and then return to work; this tends to be hard for her. (Once she takes a break, she's done.)

 

Thanks for reading, and feel free to give me your two cents!

[JennW in SoCal]

Hi there, funnygirl! I'm not around these forums much anymore as my kids are older and I'm done homeschooling, but I like to pop in and give encouragement where I can.

 

Your dd reminds me of my oldest ds, especially the taking a break then not returning to work or transitioning between subjects. And the being bright but testing horribly. But, I got him through high school and into college, so it can be done!

 

Math: Your dd may love it and thrive with it, but I thought I should be honest. My boys HATED Aleks! There was an initial honeymoon period with the program, but what frustrated them to no end was that if you make a little mistake -- hit the wrong key, forget a positive or negative sign, you didn't just miss the problem, Aleks would give you 5 more problems, sometimes even take away a chunk of the pie. It was especially frustrating. The "wall of text" explanations in algebra were also a problem, so we dumped it.

 

So what to use instead of Aleks?? Don't hate me -- I never did find something wonderful for my oldest. He got through Algebra I and Geometry with a combination of text books, the "Keys to" series and books I found at B&N. He liked Geometry far better than Algebra.

 

History/Literature/Grammar/Writing: I combined them all, but did have grammar workbooks and other guides to help me come up with ideas. When my oldest was 12 and 13, I had him do narrations of SOTW. The stories are short making it easy to grasp the main points. I never had him outline, but writing those narrations helped him learn to winnow the main points out of a narrative. He transitioned easily into essays by 9th grade.

 

We did lots of Latin roots and grammar through games. We played lots of mad libs and I sometimes had them diagram a mad libs sentence. I had a game called Rummy Roots that was flash cards of Greek and Latin roots and we'd do concentration or go fish type games with those. We also did grammar work sheets BUT I found my boys would do the work sheets just fine and never transfer those lessons to their writing, so I stuck with the narrations. They'd learn their grammar and punctuation lessons by making corrections with re-writes.

 

Science was simply lots of fun exploration until high school. We always had stacks of science books from the library, we watched NOVA and Mythbusters and did lots of science kits. We participated in Project Feeder Watch through Cornell University, where you keep a count of the birds that visit your backyard feeders. We built rockets and played with chemistry sets, learned the constellations and dissected flowers. We attended lectures at the Natural History Museum, went on guided nature walks. I had the Usborne Science Encyclopedia which they'd use sometimes for copy work when I felt they needed something more formal. They both excelled in formal science in high school. The science titles from the Teaching Company (the DVDs of lectures) are really good and are secular.

 

Logic was a favorite here, too. The Orbiting with Logic series by Dandylion Press are terrific and a better bargain for the money. We also played SET and Rush Hour. Oh, and on the computer, if it is still available, The Logical Journey of the Zoombinies is fabulous!

 

About transitioning between subjects and into and out of school. Having a routine, using a checklist and reward chart were the best tools. I did the three R's first thing each day, and there was no break until this part was done. Math first, then some kind of writing or grammar. If the writing was a narration, then the reading was obviously included. Logic was always fun, so they'd do that each morning too. After lunch we'd watch a NOVA episode or do read alouds or listen to audio books, and they often had interests that took lots of their time. Science kits or projects often were a once a week event, taking up most of the afternoon. Oh, history timelines and geography would be part of read alouds or audio books, as I'd stop the story to point something out on a map or explain something from history.

 

Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings is a terrific resource for beginning to analyze literature as is the Well Educated Mind. I used the WEM as a resource for questions to ask while discussing a book, and Literary Lessons was simply a wonderful exploration of literature using fun books as your foundation.

 

Good grief this is long! I hope it helps. Don't abandon anything you've started simply because I didn't use it, but give yourself permission to use materials in ways that suit you, rather than in the way the publishers tell you to.

[funnygirl]

Thanks so much!

 

I actually only purchased one month of ALEKS just for that reason...waiting to see if she sticks with it. My biggest issue with math is that I don't want to teach it. She gets frustrated so easily, and I don't think she would be receptive to me as the teacher for that subject.

 

She LOVES Zoombini's; in fact, they've come out with a couple of new ones and she got one for Christmas.

 

Love the "roots" games idea - I'll have to look for those!

 

I think our first big literature study will be The Odyssey, and I think they have a "literary lessons" for that one. Should be an adventure (no pun intended! :)

 

Thanks again for all the wisdom!!

[Tokyomarie]

So here's what I'm doing:

Math - ALEKS pre-algebra. DD tried it out and loved the online approach plus I think the "pie" is motivating. She worked on it for an hour yesterday!

 

We used ALEKS for several years. Ultimately we switched out because my son does better with oral instruction to complement the written/visual instruction so we went to a program called TabletClass that has downloadable short lectures. A curriculum that many around here use that includes video lectures is Thinkwell. Thinkwell is available at discount several times a year through the Homeschool Buyers Co-op. A lot of families with students who need multimedia instruction also consider Teaching Textbooks. TabletClass & Teaching Textbooks tend to move a little slower than some folks at TWTM prefer, but they are good for building that pre-algebra/early algebra foundation.

 

One thing to be aware of about ALEKS, in addition to what Jenn mentioned is that every so often the system assigns an assessment. That typically happens somewhere around every 9% increase in the pie, but it didn't seem to be totally consistent as to when the assessment kicked in. After the assessment, the student may lose pieces of the pie & be reassigned sections to review if she didn't answer questions correctly on topics she had already done. That was a shock to my son at first to lose pie pieces, but once he settled into the rhythm of gaining and losing, but always moving higher overall as time went on, he was fine with it.

 

She is a very good creative writer, but absolutely detests writing formal papers, so the whole WTM concept of outlining, copywork, etc., will be uber-challenging for us. She does like to make lists, so perhaps I can work from there into outlining, etc. (I realize all of this English curr. seems like a lot, but the more options I can put in front of her, the better chance I have at getting something accomplished.)

 

Some software you might want to take a look at: Don Johnston's Draft Builder. We have not personally used it yet, but it has helps for organizing writing, including building outlines. I will probably be getting this for my son.

 

Science - have not chosen a formal science text. I would love something secular - ideas??

 

If your daughter likes the unit study approach at all, she might possibly enjoy units from The Jason Project. They are focused on environmental & physical science concepts. My son really enjoyed these units when he was middle school age. He did not enjoy the straight up textbook approach when we switched in 9th grade.

 

Exec Function - we are working on reading a clock (non-digital) and understand what time "feels" like. HUGE deficit for her. Currently reading Late, Lost, and Unprepared for more ideas. I'm not sure how to approach actual curriculum with her; she doesn't want to admit that she has any deficits, so it's very difficult to work on it with her in a formal manner.

 

One tool that can be employed to help with learning the "feel" of the passage of time is the Time Timer. There are several different styles, but the student gets visual feedback from the change in the amount of "red"color showing as the timer ticks away. I have used the Time Timer in the past but not recently. Last fall, I was at a seminar for professionals who work with special needs kids and the speaker demonstrated the use of the Time Timer by setting the amount of time until the next break. It was comforting for me to be able to look over to the timer and be able to "feel" how much time was left until I could get up and stretch without bothering anyone.

 

Late, Lost, and Unprepared is a great book. I also liked Chris Dendy's book, Teaching Teens with ADD, ADHD, and Executive Function Deficits . As for curriculum, others here have recommended the Executive Function curriculum from Linguisystems.

[funnygirl]

Thanks for letting me know about "losing pie pieces"...I think if I warn her about it she'll be okay. Might even be a motivator.

 

The Draftbuilder program looks great, but it's rather costly, isn't it. Hmm. :glare:

 

My girlfriend who is a special ed teacher has been trying to talk me into the timetimer. Need to get that ordered asap.

 

Thanks for all the input!!

[Tokyomarie]

The Draftbuilder program looks great, but it's rather costly, isn't it. Hmm. :glare:

 

The entire SOLO Suite is even more shocking! I may be having several pieces of software for different purposes demonstrated to my son before we decide what, if anything, to purchase. I think I can gulp down $139 if it will be helpful to him.

 

Oh Elizabeth has also had a recommendation for Scrivener, which was produced for professional writers to use. It is a lot less expensive- $40- but it doesn't have templates for the various kinds of essays, etc, that Draft Builder includes. I can see Scrivener possibly being a good longterm solution, but not at this point for my son.

[PeterPan]

So many good ideas!

 

Yes, our np recommended Draft Builder to us. I emailed the HBC people to see if they would put together a buy. They haven't, humbug. If there's actually significant interest, maybe people on the boards could contact the company and do a group purchase? The group purchase pricing was dramatically better. We just started our 2nd semester co-op classes, so we're just seeing how it goes. As Marie says, I'd definitely buy the DB software if that's what it takes. Actually though she got some real lightbulbs with the exercises in the EF books from Linguisystems. We had done some outlining before, but it never clicked the way it did this time. I think it's because before we were using WORDS. She needed to do it VISUALLY. ie. with graphic organizers. So now that it has clicked, I don't know if she'll *need* expensive software or not. She has it the demo for Scrivener and knows I'll buy her whatever she needs. So if she can get by (in her case) with a self-made graphic organizer and just a regular word processor program, then we're cool.

 

Uh, I think that was to say that of your list I would do the Linguisystems workbooks on EF and pull out a couple other things if necessary. I would do the exercises on outlining via graphic organizers from the Linguisystems stuff and THEN outline for your history, etc.

 

On that lit discussion, I think you have a whole bunch of problems there. You said it's a problem, and what I'm saying is you can't solve that problem till you know what it ACTUALLY IS. Just throwing curriculum at them won't solve it. If they aren't interested and don't "attend", then there will be no comprehension or retention or ability to discuss. No shock there. If they have processing speed problems, they can't process on the fly fast enough to answer the questions you throw at them. This means you have to give them the questions written out ahead of time, require them to read and answer the questions, THEN you discuss. This is an accommodation our np said she could request all through college in fact, because it's that seriously important. We've had SO many frustrations over the years with her feeling on the spot like that. It's such a small thing to remedy.

 

I think the other problem with lit discussion is that they actually have to have something they want to say. Given the discrepancy between their EF and their IQ and birth age, I'm not sure all these kids HAVE something to say at the precise time some curriculum says they ought to. And given that we mothers are all very diligent (and generally like to discuss and are for the most part ITCHING to have these profound discussions of literature), I don't think it's a crime to wait and know we can get to it later, when they're fully developmentally ready. This year has been the first year I've seen my dd want to TALK about something she's read. She has always read a ton and thought about it, acted it out, etc. But to TALK about it is different. Now she comes to me asking questions about what she has read and wanting to discuss.

 

My dd is crazy into LoTR btw. Like she started on a binge saying she was going to read nothing else until she had read it 8 times through. Told you she's nuts. And it does happen that some kids find that discussing their favs too much kills the joy. I've wanted to be sensitive to that, kwim? I've seen posts from people on both sides (kids love the books and the study or kids loved the book and hated the study). It's just something to watch. I mean to any of us remember lit discussions from school that actually furthered our understanding of the literature or joy in it? I'd make sure you have a reason.

 

That lit fig book (figuratively speaking) is fine, nothing astounding. Your lit program should cover the terms anyway. Don't take her least favorite thing and bog her down with 80,000 assignments for it, kwim? If LA is her weak point, pick two or three things and do them WELL. My dd liked Wordsmith Apprentice, as the creative side appealed to her. I have Wordsmith and Craftsman and ended up not using them this year because we got into a co-op writing class. Honestly, that is such a sincere pleasure for her and a RELIEF for me, I'd highly recommend it. Seriously. Don't buy more curriculum. Buy some peace by outsourcing something. Writing is the perfect thing to outsource. If you want to do Wordsmith, that's cool. Learn to do the graphic organizers first and stay ahead of her, figuring out what thought process she needs to be successful. But seriously, outsourcing writing is awesome. ;)

 

Mindbenders are good, great choice.

 

Oh, just to sidetrack. If you use Scrivener, you'd have to bridge that structure gap and help your dc make the necessary folders and notecards for the structure. As Marie said, it's not already in there as a template the way it is with DB. But Scrivener is way cheaper and way prettier. My little goat said she *wouldn't* use DB, which was the end of it. Can't afford to buy something she won't touch, kwim? So if you have a goat, I guess show it to them first. Mine was awfully picky and bucked.

 

Math. Yeah the joy... My dd is that way too, loving anything on the computer, anything she can be independent with. They WANT to be independent so badly! Math is kind of crunchy though, because they can't necessarily do it on their own. I haven't tried TT, and that comes pretty close. Now this is just us, but in our house the speed of the presentations of things is an issue. She liked Khan, but after a while she got swamped. And of course it doesn't have that personal touch to answer her questions. We've done some Lial, and it's so-so. I know people say they use it for tutoring, blah blah. It does have application, which is good. But my dd can't read through those lessons. I'm happy someone else's can; mine can't. So that meant *I* was having to fish through those stupid lessons. And the DVT have the same problem lots of other online stuff does: the people talk too fast. Where next? Well right now I have her doing the MM7 (math mammoth) worksheets which are pre-algebra. I'm in no rush with her, so we're on the let's hit it 40 ways till you get more hair under your arms, move to algebra 1 in the fall. Anyways, for algebra 1 I'm thinking we'll do Foerster with the Math Without Borders dvds. TT would be fine too. I *think* she'll like Foerster. I hate it. I'm not joking, the book drives me batty. But as I'm teaching *her* not me, I'm getting it again. (Yes, I sold it the first time.) David Chandler's dvd lessons for Foerster are short and he speaks SLOWLY. I have no clue, absolutely positive no clue, if it will work out for her. I have no imagination that it will be independent, even though that would be dreamy. Someone told me what she does with video lessons for math is teach the thing herself, then have the dc watch the video on top of that. Now THAT might be perfect for us. You might find you could handle algebra 1 and give that personal touch if you didn't have to teach it perfectly, kwim?

 

So anyways, that's my big criteria now for the online/dvd stuff: how fast they speak. With math, you really have to slow it down so the kids can process. I suppose they could hit pause, but do they? She just got overwhelmed with all the others I let her watch.

 

There's a printed version of the Kinetics math. The text series is by Streeter. It's inexpensive on amazon, has lots of white on the pages, and is simply laid out. I suppose that gets you no where if you don't want to teach. If she gets annoyed with the online format, it might be another option. I got them to look at them. Derek Owens mentioned Streeter on his site with his math and science class dvds. He talks fast, so I don't know if I can get it to work for dd. Sure would be dreamy to outsource science next year! (He says his physical science course is his fav, and it's inexpensive on dvd!)

 

So I think you're on track. Just remember not to bog her down with the LA. Streamline. Don't overload her. Given her EF equivalent age, you're looking at very short sessions. I like to take my list, estimate how much time each would take each day, see if it hits my overall goal for time or is over (generally 1-1 1/2 hours a day on LA, no more, which INCLUDES all the time spent writing stuff) and CHOP CHOP CHOP.

 

The EF work is going to pay big rewards. Well-chosen skill curricula that you implement well will pay big rewards. Content stuff, discussion stuff, that's less reward. Like that vocab. I wouldn't even bother when you're also doing spelling. Save it for another year. You'll get too much language arts. But I'm biased--my dd has this utter sieve of a head for vocab. I'd love to try some roots again (because boy do I have cool curricula for them!), but I figure they'll still better if I have an iPad to do some drill on them. Or have her a little older. Or have some miracle. Not gonna be able to do everything perfectly, so that may be one of her holes when she graduates, kwim? Pick a few holes and don't be afraid of them. That way you can do solidly what's really important.

Edited January 13, 2012 by OhElizabeth

[funnygirl]

Just wanted to clarify that by no means am I trying to cover all of the LA curriculum with her. I just know that if I have only one textbook that includes all of the LA subjects, she'll shut down. This way I can cover one or two "parts" of LA in a day. And I'm talking really small bite-size pieces. :-) The other advantage this has is that I'll really be able to discern her weaknesses within language arts. For instance, she is a very strong speller and LOVES words ( she's writing a dictionary, lol). On the other hand, I definitely think processing speed is an issue when it comes to reading comprehension. I like the idea of giving the questions first.

 

Lastly, I don't think I've mentioned that dd is hearing impaired. She has moderate-severe sensorineural hearing loss. She has hearing aids, but HATES them. For this reason, DVDs or other auditory means of learning aren't ideal for her. She much prefers to read than listen.

 

Thanks again!!

[Finnella]

One more thing to keep an eye on with Aleks - a kid who likes to guess can get pretty far with that program. We only started homeschooling last year, half way through 6th grade. My DS had lots of holes in his knowledge, especially in math and grammar. The few months we did Aleks were a waste. He loved it, but he did lots of guessing and learned very little. However, the pie charts on Aleks looked great.

[funnygirl]

Oh, just to sidetrack. If you use Scrivener, you'd have to bridge that structure gap and help your dc make the necessary folders and notecards for the structure. As Marie said, it's not already in there as a template the way it is with DB. But Scrivener is way cheaper and way prettier. My little goat said she *wouldn't* use DB, which was the end of it. Can't afford to buy something she won't touch, kwim? So if you have a goat, I guess show it to them first. Mine was awfully picky and bucked.

 

Re-reading all of your great advice and caught this. Oh, yes, I have a goat. :lol: