New to Homeschooling

[Guest brandim96]

My son will be going into 10th grade next year, and we have decided to homeschool. He is slightly behind in most subjects, although when we did the standardized testing he came out as average on almost everything. I am looking for some suggestions on curriculum that would be considered on grade level (math, writing, etc.) without being too difficult or overwhelming. Just some things to work on catching him up in the main subject areas. He does excel in history and science but is very weak in English (especially writing) and Math.

 

Please, any suggestions would be helpful. I'm really very disappointed in the school system, as even basic writing is difficult for him (and he is scoring on his current grade level!)

 

Thanks!

[Hoggirl]

My son will be going into 10th grade next year, and we have decided to homeschool. He is slightly behind in most subjects, although when we did the standardized testing he came out as average on almost everything. I am looking for some suggestions on curriculum that would be considered on grade level (math, writing, etc.) without being too difficult or overwhelming. Just some things to work on catching him up in the main subject areas. He does excel in history and science but is very weak in English (especially writing) and Math.

 

Please, any suggestions would be helpful. I'm really very disappointed in the school system, as even basic writing is difficult for him (and he is scoring on his current grade level!)

 

Thanks!

 

Welcome! You will find this board to contain a wealth of information. As you can see from my signature line, we are no longer homeschooling, but I still have a thought or two. Would you say that your son is weak in writing because he is weak in his understanding of grammar? If that is the case, I would highly suggest Rod and Staff materials to review grammar. Their English books also contain writing assignments which are not overburdening. However, you will need to back up a few grades. I might suggest going back to the 6th grade book if he is really weak in grammar. Their materials are very thorough. I realize he might think this is "beneath" him, but you can do a lot of it orally and perhaps get through two books in one year. Or at least a book and a half. You can do many of the exercises orally together. I do suggest the workbooks and having him doing the sentence diagramming. Many people who have used Rod and Staff for grammar don't continue after the grade 8 book anyway - that's how advanced it is. The writing instruction is very straightforward as well. And, their materials are very affordable.

[Pegasus]

The important thing will be to meet your son where he is rather than where you think he should be and just work from there. There are SO MANY choices in curriculum and I'm sure you'll get lots of suggestions. I find it helpful to search the high school board for one subject at a time and just read several threads to glean ideas for what to use.

 

You may get some more targeted suggestions if you share a little more about what you are looking for:

 

Is secular materials preferred or Christian or either?

 

What level math does your son need to start at? Does he need a quick review of earlier levels first?

 

Unless you are very comfortable teaching math, a couple popular programs include Math U See (lessons are on DVD) or Teaching Textbooks (lessons are on computer). If you want to teach it yourself, Lial's textbooks are very solid and inexpensive for earlier editions.

 

For writing, I'd like to plug a program that I think is highly under-recognized. Writing Skills by EPS. It starts at the beginning and breaks down the writing process into very small steps. It is what finally broke through my DDs reluctance to write and we've had a LOT more success with writing since we used it.

 

Congrats on your decision to homeschool and good luck!

Pegasus

[Guest brandim96]

Thanks, Cynthia and Pegasus! I guess I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed at all the material out there. We are on a tight budget, and I'd hate to spend money on something that doesn't work for us! I think I will probably have to start him on a 6th grade grammar level, as suggested. I'm looking for a good Algebra curriculum. I think we will look into the DVDs, that sounds like something that he would like.

 

Thanks, again!

 

-Brandi

[momofsbandeg]

I would consider Teaching Textbooks for math. They have placement tests on their site.http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/v/vspfiles/tt/Placement.htm

 

The student does their work on the computer.It has a book that they can either copy the problems or do the work in their book and then input the answers on the computer. We do ours in the book itself. It is like a dvd teacher except done on the computer. It grades their work and gives you the option to reassign a lesson if needed. It guides them along and has several samples to get them going.

 

My dds (11 and 13) were hating math before I bought TT. One now loves it the other tolerates it but their grades are better and I'm not bouncing between 2 students trying to help them. It has helped us a lot.

 

 

Hope this helps.

[chirowife]

I'm not sure where you live but it is convention time of the year now. If there is one close to you you should go. They usually offer sessions on how to get started homeschooling, how to homeschool high school, etc and there are a wide variesty of curriculum vendors so you can see what is available...

[Brenda in MA]

For writing, I would highly recommend IEW.

 

http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/

 

You could get a Student Writing Intensive Course that comes with DVDs that will speak to the student. There are samples of each level on the website. You'd probably want either level B (middle school) or level C (high schol).

 

Another option would be to get the "Teaching Writing with Structure & Style" DVDs to teach yourself the method and then use one of the History-Based writing books.

 

We took the second option. I was able to save some money by borrowing the TWSS videos from someone in my hs group. I watched them over a week or two to learn the method and then returned them to her. My son then used several of the history-based writing books. For a high schooler, I'd suggest one of the American history-based books. If your son studies American history at the same time, he'll be writing about what he's learning about. My son loved that feature of IEW.

 

HTH and good for you for stepping in to help your son learn the skills he'll need to succeed in the future.

 

Brenda

[Kendall]

The first 10 weeks of Susan Wise Bauer's Writing With Style is available free. You could try that for awhile and see where he is at. Don't dismiss it because it says Grades 5-8. I think Susan herself is using it with an older child.

 

Are you able to do the Algebra with him? Video options are usually much more expensive than getting a good book with answer key or solutions manual and working through it with him. If you are interested in that option you cold start a new thread with Algebra I in the title.