Where is your child doing well? Where does he/she need work?

[Halcyon]

I thought it would be interesting, if only for self-analysis, for people to post a bit about where there kids are at, academically. What are your child's weaknesses? Where are their strengths? What are you trying to focus on? Do you see improvement in that area, or are you frustrated? What areas do you feel you're neglecting and need to refocus on?

 

I thought it might be motivating to hear how others are faring.

 

For our part, here's where we stand:

4th grader: His areas of strength right now are grammar, math and Latin. He enjoys science, but even though we spend 2-4 hours a week on it, it's still not enough-we want to dig deeper, and I've been working on rejiggering our schedule to make that happen. Same with history-we spend about 2-4 hours a week, but of course, the more we learn, the more there IS to learn :tongue_smilie: I've decided to drop vocabulary and focus on Latin as the way to learn new words. I'm not sure how it's going, and I think I need to focus on this a little more. He also needs to work on his "stick-to-itiveness" when it comes to challenging problems, particularly math. WWS is challenging, but he _is_ willing to stick to it, so I think it's particular to math. He is a diligent, careful worker but he can get anxious, so I need to be sure I don't push him too hard.

 

1st grader: I have to work on accepting that he will not follow directly in his older brother's footsteps in terms of curricula and style. For some reason I thought he would just use most if not all of the curricula we already have (sorta like he wears his brother's old shirts and shorts :tongue_smilie:) but I have to remember to focus on his unique needs and approach. We're still fine-tuning our way when it comes to learning math facts....writing is going well, although we need to continue to work on capitalization (and this is a child who can properly punctuate a complicated dialogue); he says he "doesn't like capital letters". Hmmmmm. With Latin we need to make it more fun--I bought Minimus and he likes that, and I think we might even do a Latin puppet show (nauta, pirata, agricola) or something of that sort---tap into his enjoyment of the creative process as a way to learn new material. He hates drill, gets bored easily, and likes to switch things up---and I am a very linear person who is worried about "gaps" so I don't particularly like switching around!

 

How about everyone else? Anything you've learned so far this year? Anything you're neglecting and want to refocus on?

[Dmmetler]

DD7-Her biggest strength is absorbing concepts quickly and being able to apply them and generalize them. Her biggest weakness is that she HATES memorizing and obvious practice, so will end up working conceptually and struggling for a long period of time until she finally has done something enough times to have it memorized. She's best with whole-part curricula, especially if I can reinforce it with games, songs, and other stealth practice.

[DaffodilDreams]

Strengths = science, math, history, geography, critical thinking, problem solving, spelling, grammar, storytelling, art, theatre, nature study

 

Not as strong = reading and writing - I think she does okay with reading but she lacks confidence and desire; writing physically and mentally drains her : (

 

her loves = art, theatre, nature study

Edited February 18, 2012 by kimmie38017

[Halcyon]

DD7-Her biggest strength is absorbing concepts quickly and being able to apply them and generalize them. Her biggest weakness is that she HATES memorizing and obvious practice, so will end up working conceptually and struggling for a long period of time until she finally has done something enough times to have it memorized. She's best with whole-part curricula, especially if I can reinforce it with games, songs, and other stealth practice.

 

My younger is like this too. Hates memorizing, does much better with songs and games. It is so different from my older; I'm finding I have to reorient myself and really take a hard look at the choices I'm making.

[bluemongoose]

DD7: She is doing well in math and reading. She loves doing her history reading independently. That was her new accomplishment in the last month.

 

We are still needing to work a lot on handwriting/fine motor skills in general. This has always been her weaker area. We also need to start doing a writing program. I have held off until now because of her handwriting ability, but it is time!

 

 

DS5: He is making great strides in reading. I just need to make an effort to balance school time better so that he doesnt get skipped over when I get overwhelmed. It is easy to do when he is not motivated at all to do school and would rather just play with DS 3. Plus, I just added another new little DS to the mix, so I am really just trying to figure out how this is all going to work!

 

Other than me working on actually spending time doing school with him, the other major area that needs help is his fine motor skills. (must run in the family..?) He still is learning how to use scissors and hold a pencil correctly. I also am trying to figure out how to meet his needs which are so different than his sisters. I am switching out a ton of things for him.

[Embassy]

4th grader:

Strengths - Diligence, reading, writing, science, logic, independence, typing

Weaknesses - grammar, handwriting, needing to be perfect

These subjects are getting more time this year: handwriting, science, and foreign language. I do see more progress in handwriting and foreign language this year due to the increased time. We are doing a dual science track this year. I switched to R&S Grammar at a level where it should be easy to help build up his skills in a slow sequential manner. We don't devote as much time to reading as others and would like that to change.

 

2nd grader (VSL):

Strengths - creativity, reading, writing, art, computer, mental math

Weaknesses - distractability, spelling, phonics, handwriting, math facts, logic

These subjects are getting more time this year: handwriting, spelling and phonics, science, and foreign language. I'm seeing huge gains in handwriting this year. He is starting to use a correct grip outside of handwriting time and is printing most of his letters with the correct formation now. Spelling is improving as well. He would probably test at grade level, but he still occasionally makes unusual errors indicating a weak understanding of phonics. We are working directly on his logic/problem solving skills this year and it is helping him make wiser choices. I'm currently needing to figure out how to help him handle distractions better.

 

Preschooler:

Strengths - Insatiability, strong will, early reading skills, drawing, coloring, independence on the computer

Weaknesses - Insatiability, strong will, needing to be perfect :tongue_smilie:

Focus: Getting through our school day with the preschooler content.

Edited February 18, 2012 by Wehomeschool

[Jean in Newcastle]

Dd10 - Loves to read. Has struggled in math but is starting to see some progress slowly. Hates Latin but is doing well in it. Loves science and history and is doing well in those too. Does very well in handwriting. Is starting to improve in her speech with speech therapy but is "lazy" in conversation. Is starting to get excited about her piano now that she's playing "real" songs with both hands.

 

Ds14 - Loves to read. Loves math and science and we are finally seeing some good progress there now that I've hired a good math/science tutor. Does ok in Latin but not stellar. His handwriting is a problem. I posted another thread asking for help with that but have not gotten any advice yet (hint, hint!) Logic is fine. History is good, though we are in holding pattern while he studies for the upcoming Medusa Mythology Exam.

[elegantlion]

Ds has done almost a complete switch in the strength/weakness department.

 

He's always done well in comprehension and abstract thinking. He was born logical, and did extremely well in formal logic this year. He's also does well in literature, although he's not a big reader.

 

Math is a struggle this year, which is odd because he used to be excited about math. Grammar is also a struggle, which is odd because it's like it slipped out of memory. Science is hit or miss, if he's interested he gets it, if not he lacks focus. We delved into Einstein and relativity this year, without a thorough knowledge of physics, and he loved it and understood it.

 

He's also developed an interest in linguistics, but hates English. We're using LL LotR this year and I think that is influencing him. I've seen a heightened interest in stories and myths, also language development, and world cultures. We're kind of living and breathing Middle Earth this year, it's a neat adventure.

 

At his age I see skills developing, not necessarily subjects. He has to understand the WHY behind doing something before he'll fully engage. He's more of a right-brained learner and he's keeping me on my toes. I teach most subjects in a non-typical manner.

 

Writing with skill is the only subject we are using totally as-is, and previously writing was his biggest challenge.

 

This has been an odd year, perhaps a changing or maturing. I'm enjoying every minute (except a few during math perhaps).

[eternalknot]

My son's strength is that he sees the bigger picture. This helps in many subjects because when the going gets tough or the details are dragging him down, ... he knows (and trusts) that if he puts his mind to it, his work now will pay off in the end. Eventually. We've gotten over some serious math, diagramming, and Latin humps relatively painlessly because he could see the light in the distance.

 

His weakness is that he doesn't manage his time well. He'll save his least favorite subjects for last, then rush through them and make careless errors. This irritates me because I feel it's a waste of my time to review work that he hasn't even reviewed himself prior to turning in. It's a character issue, IMO, and that bugs me.

 

My daughter's strength is her eagerness. She just loves school, and even plays school with her friends (using her actual schoolwork LOL). She takes initiative to do her work, and does it cheerfully. Of course, she's only six so I'm taking full advantage of this lest it be a short phase!

 

Her weakness is distraction. Her math papers will have "fancy" written numbers, rather than regular numbers. Her penmanship papers will have doodles in the white spaces. She has to have a different outfit for each subject, which involves costume changes before she can 'focus' and work. The big problem here is that she'll do the front page of math, switch to penmanship, then go back to the back page of math -- changing costumes each time, from the day's math outfit to the penmanship costume, etc.

[myfunnybunch]

5th grader:

Strong in math, strong in grammar, strong in reading. Needs to work on writing and critical thinking. He can have great enthusiasm for what he's learning and is getting very independent.

 

Third grader:

This guy is just all-around solid in everything. Not a standout, not struggling. he just progresses very smoothly. I would love to work with him on loving what he's learning.

 

First grader:

Fine motor skills are a challenge. He's a different, more methodical learner than his brothers. He needs more review and is more at typical first grade level than his brothers were at his age. He's also a pleasure to teach because he's so eager to please, but he doesn't learn quite as quickly as the others. Slow and steady.

 

Cat

[kalanamak]

This month I died and went to heaven because fractions suddenly made complete sense to kiddo, his diagramming went from trying to lead a cat to a bathtub of water to so-fast-I-can't-keep-up, AND we discovered Spelling Power, which has not only taught him words, but a great attack method for him, AND has led to him being far more willing to write without an assignment!

 

I am reminded of a story (when am I not): years ago, after I did well on the MCATs, my not-big-on-sharing-emotions mother said, "Your father has been whistling all week." I knew what she meant, and now I know how he felt.

 

Our weak area is Latin. It always seems to get done last, and kiddo is not good at memorizing.

[J'etudie]

My younger is like this too. Hates memorizing, does much better with songs and games. It is so different from my older; I'm finding I have to reorient myself and really take a hard look at the choices I'm making.

 

At first glance I read this as "reinvent" myself. And after pondering it a bit, I thinking it might be more accurate. :D

[....]

I'm teaching 4 kids, so this might seem long...

 

10 yro:

 

very strong in science, math and writing

weak in history...loathes grammar (I mean *loathes* :glare:)

weak in anything that involves group work/group projects (all I can say is, "Ugh.")

 

9 yro:

 

was weak in math, but made HUGE strides this semester (I keep saying to him, "WHO ARE YOU????" when he works out some problems ;) - he laughs) Suddenly, the deer in headlights look is gone during math.

very strong in science, writing and spelling

his ultimate weakness = handwriting (shaking head). It's pretty bad. It looks like he writes while riding a horse. :tongue_smilie:

 

7 yro:

 

probably 2 grade levels ahead in math

weak in reading. hates to read. Reading is torture.

 

4 yro:

 

doing a great job learning her letter sounds :001_tt2:

the other day, read "mat", "Sam" and "bat" Woohoo!

[Missouri Okie]

7 YO:

Strengths: Mental math, Suzuki violin, handwriting

Weaknesses: Rarely picks up a book to read voluntarily.

 

 

5 YO:

Strengths: She WANTS to learn; practices drawing everyday because she wants to be an artist

Weaknesses: She has a 'woe-is-me' personality

 

I'd like to incorporate more music and art appreciation into our week. Science is not happening.

 

I want to get both kids more involved in household chores.

[Ester Maria]

I only homeschool one at the moment.

 

Her greatest strengths are mathematical and scientific reasoning - she is very advanced in the subjects that are centered around it, has had a very intense interest in (bio)chemistry for several years and now she has discovered economics, which she currently binges on.

Another pecular skill she is very good at is drawing, especially of a more precise, technical kind, which ties wonderfully with her interest in architecture and art history. She also has a very firm hand and one of her hobbies on and off has been coloring miniscule statues - a few people have commented that she is an excellent potential surgeon when they saw how good and how precise and firm she is with it. Interestingly, however, she has never had a particular interest in expressing herself via art, she is more into the technical side of it.

 

Her weaknesses are more in the character realm than in the academic realm - I doubt there is anything this child would not be able to master provided a desire to do so and she eats up any academic challenges she is interested in, BUT, at the same time, she is her own worst enemy. She is prone to distractions and needs to exercise a greater level of active self-restraint than most people to be able to work in a less than perfect environment. Perfectionism (hard to overcome, but she has come a long way). School-wise, one of the effects of puberty was holding Greek in particular contempt. :lol: However, I would not say she was bad at it... Just not her cup of tea. She is also quite scattered in history.

[jennynd]

DS7 is pretty good on every subject. What he needs to improve is "ATTITUDE"

 

DD4 ... to young to say. Bt it is obvious her strength is her curiosity and her "never taking no for answer" and her weakness is that "she never take no for answer"

[chepyl]

DS6, first grade:

 

Strengths - math concepts (he gets them immediately and needs little practice to master a concept), reading skills and comprehension (very strong read aloud skills for his age, has good understanding), he loves history and science and easily retains what he hears or reads, video games ;)

 

Weaknesses: computation (he knows his facts, but rushes because concepts come easily and messes up on basic computations, we are working on slowing down and checking our work), handwriting - it used to be so good....now just sloppy sloppy sloppy! Reading- he reads well, but does not enjoy it, we have not found a book that really draws him in yet.

 

DD....4 in 4 days!!

 

Strengths - focus and determination and creativity!

 

Weaknesses - stubbornness! I don't know what she knows because she will NOT answer questions. She Is not a performing monkey (not really a bad thing), but I only know she can count to 5 because she did it when she thought I was not looking! If i try to count with her, she just stops. I have over a year before we start kindergarten....we shall see what happenes i. that time!

[FaithManor]

Well, the homeschool graduate, is practically perfect! :D

 

As for the males that surround me:

 

DH has been homeschooling for 23+ years in the fine art of husbandry...I despair that he will ever learn to do laundry without destroying my clothes or feed the children a healthy meal in my absence, much less regularly rub my feet and massage my bad ankle. Still, he continues to maintain high marks in other areas and maintains a 4.0 despite these small skill deficiencies. :biggrinjester:

 

Ds #1 - just turned 15 (9th grade)...it may be a lethal age. He is not confident with his algebra skills, however, he is really catching on and his grades are excellent. I'd like to see him gain confidence in this area but I'm beginning to wonder if this is a personality thing and he will always "feel" weak in math even when he is doing well. In writing, his content and form is excellent, I do however want to work on style. I think he sounds "young" for his age though I could be clouded in my judgment as I think back to his sister's high school years. She was the kind of child that was born 21 and by 6th grade sounded like a well-educated 20 something in speech and on paper. So, I'm struggling to figure out exactly how much of what bothers me is indeed a problem, and what is in fact my inappropriate comparison to his sister. His strongest areas are Latin and History; his insights in Art History really impress me. He's fine in science and though not a forte, it is not hard. His art skills are top notch. This child is also the king of drama, and martyrdom which stretches my patience rather thin some days.

 

Ds#2 age 13 (8th/9th) - well, he's just easy to educate this year. His lowest grade in anything accept English is 95%. He is flying through algebra, self-teaching himself science, Latin, you name it...he is very focused and he's got his entire academic future laid out as well as a "long list" of colleges and uni's with his program of choice, and a "short-list" that's he desperate to visit. I think we will make sure we visit every single one on that list. However, I despair of grammar and penmanship. If I gave a grade for penmanship, it would be an F! His English grade hovers around 77%. I have spent another entire week on direct objects, indirect objects, and object complements. I don't know how many times I can explain to him that he must diagram the entire verb phrase and not just the main verb. Plus object complements are beyond him. :banghead: That's me...you'll know me when you see me by the very obvious flat spot I have on my forehead from all of the banging I do!

 

OH, and this boy can't shut a door behind him. Today, his father made him stand at the back door and open and shut it about 30 times for practice. (Of course, we are having a mini-hurricane of snow blowing so guess who ended up cleaning up a LOT of snow that the males never noticed was melting on the hardwood floors. :glare:)

 

Ds#3 - 11. He is the age of a 6th grader and that's about all I will say except that he challenges dh and I to keep up with him and I have absolutely no one IRL with whom I can talk about this. His emotional maturity does not match his academic precociousness and if the other doesn't catch up, we are going to have problems ahead.

 

As for my new chem students/college and career prep juniors and seniors, well, I have a list....a very long list of weaknesses. Their private school has not done any better than the local public school except in two areas: character development and reading comprehension. These kids are amazing readers and this is a HUGE plus for me because we can cover a lot of ground and quickly since part of this school's elementary education philosophy was memory work. Therefore they have the reading skill, the comprehension, and memory accuity to go with it.

 

Additionally, they are lovely kids. I can't say enough good things about their compassion for one another, their willingness to work hard, and their thoughtfulness. Because of these attributes, we are making up for lost time. I just wish so much of their math, logical thinking skills, and science hadn't been allowed to flounder so badly to this point. I'm only paid for 12 hrs. per week, 1 hr. chem per day, 1 hr. of school guidance counselor/college/career/ACT prep, and I'm volunteering more than that because I've fallen in love with these children and since I can't adopt them and bring them home, I am unable to let myself NOT do more than I'm paid to do. Unfortunately, I do have one that is going to be hard pressed (with only this semester left to get her up to speed) to successfully major in biology. But, I'm coaching her and have impressed upon her that with earnest effort, study groups, tutoring at the college learning center, and this summer spent continuing to work on her math skills, she will make it. However, the private school she wanted to attend is out of the question. She did not have the package necessary to even begin to compete for merit aid. Thankfully, she got into MSU and because of her parents' low income, she'll be able to go on FASFA aid and small college loans plus a campus job. MSU is a good school...tier 1. I think she'll be okay though under the circumstances, a smaller school would have been a better fit. Thankfully, she's a go-getter.

 

So I'm homeschooling 3 and guiding/teaching/mentoring 13 others.

 

Faith

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

Dd 8th

Strengths- Science, History, Reading, Math. She eats and drinks all things science and history. She LOVES it. This year has been a year of confidence building in math. In 7th grade I made the mistake of putting her in a curriculum that was WAY over her head. I based her placement on the TOC since I couldn't find a placement test and well, it was a complete bomb. I killed her confidence completely :sad: BCM has completely built her confidence. We have supplemented with a few other things and she is ready for Algebra 1 now! I decided to go with with TT Algebra 1, BJU Algebra 1 and Humongous Book of Algebra Problems. I have TT to teach her the concepts, BJU to build and expand in depth and Humongous Book of Algebra Problems so she can work through them with the solutions right there so she can see every single step laid out on problems she gets stuck on ;) I should be covered :001_smile: All that being said- She is VERY good at business math/personal finance. We have done a few related business math/personal finance curricula and I am VERY happy with her knowledge! I wish I had that even when I got married.

 

Weaknesses-

Grammar and Writing. I think she grew up speaking Greek :glare: I just ordered WWS to try to help get her writing skills up before she starts high school. We just started R&S 5 to see how that goes.

 

 

Dd4th-

Strengths- math, science, grammar, writing- I just switched her to FLL and WWE. I decided to switch her to FLL and WWE after getting it for ds1st. I started her in 3 as that was what everybody recommended for a child just starting these. She is way past it so far. We will go through it in its entirety because I bought it but we will be going through this VERY fast unless she gets to some areas that are not as easy for her.

 

Weaknesses- handwriting (simply because she is a VERY sloppy writer.) I don't know what else to do to get her to write neat and spelling. She can spell anything correctly on her tests but in her writing constantly makes mistakes. I just started the rec on SWB writing lectures of having her write misspelled words she knows 20 times. Well see how that goes ;)

 

DS 1st

This is my special needs kiddo. He really shook my confidence at homeschooling for quite a while. I was really questioning if I could do this with him. Then we got him tested :001_huh: He struggles. With everything. BUT- with that being said- he has made HUGE HUGE HUGE strides this year so I am very happy with where he is!!!

 

Phonics- He is only in ETC 1 and we are about 3/4 the way through that, and are now started ETC 1 1/2 in with 1 for review. He is doing beginning OR ending blends in Phonics Pathways and working on I and a. For some reason he can not wrap his head around those. I know practice will help that.

Math- he is doing great in math!!! He is only about 1/3 the way through Horizons 1st grade book 1 but he is retaining it very well. He struggles to remember 12. He forever calls it 20. He is really good at place value though so anytime he does that I have him look at how many 10's and 1's in each number and that always helps him to figure it out. Math is by far his strongest subject!!

Grammar- We JUST started FLL 1 (on lesson 6) but he is doing great! This is perfect for him.

Writing- Handwriting is hard for him. He has low tone and it hurts him but it is getting better. He does forget how to form letters and numbers out of the blue. That is frustrating but we deal with it. He started WWE 1 at the same time as FLL 1 and he is doing fairly ok with this. He struggles but that appears to be normal. He does do well with narrations after I ask him questions. I have to forever remind him to use complete sentences and have to start them for him but we are really early into the book so I am not at all worried.

We did not start science or history. There is no way he would have been ready. None at all. He is just now to the point I would consider it. He will start with Biology and Ancients next year with his brother. (his brother would have been ready this year if ds 1st would have been)

 

 

DS K

After the struggles with ds 1st, my kindergartner seems to pick everything up so easily! I am sure he is fairly average but after struggling SO MUCH with his older brother he seems advanced to me :001_smile:. I am so glad, I was dreading starting with him after ds 1st. There were many times I almost gave up after ds 1st. I feel so bad now, because now I know its not his fault (or mine :001_huh:)

He is almost ready to start Horizons K book 2 in math (ds 1st never did it. It was to much for him at the time)

He just started ETC and loves it. He is a 5 year old boy so his handwriting skills are almost non existent so we do ETC with foam letters.

He is plugging along just fine in his K handwriting book but not near the level ETC expects of him.

Edited February 18, 2012 by wy_kid_wrangler04

[Virg]

DS11 #1:

Strengths- math!, diagramming, spelling final tests, logic, following directions,

Weaknesses-speech (seriously speaks German better than English lol even after 9 years of speech therapy), reading, writing (really anything involving language processing), spelling pre-tests, perfectionism, easily frustrated

 

DS11#2

Strengths- Bible (very insightful), creativity, writing, spelling, reading, science

Weaknesses-paying attention and sitting still, some math concepts

[Addicted2Coffee]

DD13:

Strengths- History, Math, Reading, Writing and Science

Weaknesses- Grammar we're going over the basics, again. Also, she gets very frustrated when she doesn't get something *right* away. And being 13 ;)

 

DD9:

Strengths- She's average in almost every subject. Except writing.

Weaknesses- Attitude big time. She complains about everything.

 

DD7:

She's above average in everything, but her weaknesses are math and science. (she's only average in them) but its been a breeze homeschooling her compared to DD9

 

DS5:

His favorite thing is science experiments :D We're getting are way through most of the curricula very slowly but that's okay!

 

Right now our focus is figuring out how this is all going to work when I go back to work next Monday!

[Rivka]

She has to have a different outfit for each subject, which involves costume changes before she can 'focus' and work. The big problem here is that she'll do the front page of math, switch to penmanship, then go back to the back page of math -- changing costumes each time, from the day's math outfit to the penmanship costume, etc.

 

:lol::lol: I'm sure this is incredibly frustrating, but it's also so darn adorable!

[Halcyon]

:lol::lol: I'm sure this is incredibly frustrating, but it's also so darn adorable!

 

I was coming back here to say the same thing. :D

[....]

She has to have a different outfit for each subject, which involves costume changes before she can 'focus' and work. The big problem here is that she'll do the front page of math, switch to penmanship, then go back to the back page of math -- changing costumes each time, from the day's math outfit to the penmanship costume, etc.

 

Oh, no! You're in good company! :D My 1st grader has a penguin hand-puppet that she "brings to class". It reads, taps its beak with the answer to the math problems, and it even holds a dry erase marker. Boy, is it special. :glare:

 

:svengo:

[amo_mea_filiis.]

Dd10. Strengths- Reading! She can read very well, almost anything given to her.

 

Weaknesses- Just about anything that requires her brain to be in the ON position! Writing, math, science.

 

She loves to draw and I'm going to try to have her school revolve around drawing.

 

Ds7. Strengths- Seem to be math. Although when he gets distracted, he has a really hard time figuring out what to do.

 

Weaknesses- Reading. This is the only subject he flat out refuses to do.

 

He loves being outside.