Ideas on less teacher intensive curriculum?

[soonermomma]

I have been homeschooling for the last year and a half. My kids are 9 (3rd grade), 6 (2nd grade), and 3 year old twins. Things are have been really stressful for the past 6 months or so, mostly because it is extremely had to do school with the older two, because the younger two aren't cooperative, and they aren't taking a naps very often anymore. Them not taking naps came as a surprise, because my older girls napped until they were 4-5. Anyway, I had filled out the enrollment forms to send them back to public school, because I felt like I was going to lose my mind and I was worried they weren't getting the time they deserve to work on their education. After I filled out the forms, I just couldn't bring myself to turn them in, so something has to change. The twins won't always be in the terrible threes, so I just need to remember it's a season, and we will get through it.

 

Here is what we were using.

 

Math-Saxon

English-Rod and Staff

Reading-Many different things

Spelling-All About Spelling

Handwriting-A Reason for Handwriting

Science-Rod and Staff

Social Studies-Rod and Staff

 

Science and Social Studies haven't been touched since the first nine weeks of school, and Spelling stopped not long after. We have been trying to make sure the most important things get done, but even that is a challange. All of these require me to be right there with the girls. A fellow homeschool mom recommended to me that I look for less teacher intensive programs for them to use, so that at least some of their learning can be done on their own with me helping as needed. I really like Teaching Textbooks for math. Any other suggestions you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Kristi

[Walking-Iris]

I have a 9 year old and a 4 year old and a nearly 2. Advice: do something with your 3 year old twins first and then again in the afternoon. Fill up their cup with your attention. Games, reading aloud a stack of good picture books. My 4 year old and toddler have their own workbox drawers. Puzzles, lacing cards, bead stringing, poker chips, bear counters, flash card sets, magnifying glasses, nature collections, Leappad, Montessori inspired spindle box and number counting strips, attribute blocks, pattern blocks with pattern cards, Cusinaire rods. All those things are in there as well as some workbooks for them to practice writing letters and numbers. The building blocks, legos, playdoh, play kitchen and baskets of toys are nearby as well.

 

I find that if I take the time to do an activity with them the day goes somewhat smoother. My older ds can play too, or read, or get started on something that is more independent.

 

I also let my younger do what my older is doing. I just adapt it for them. Even my nearly 2 year old gets the SOTW coloring page. The three year olds can play with some of the AAS letters or a different magnetic set. Just talk to them every few minutes. "Let's make your name." Then go back to your older two. While you are reading to the older two pull out the playdoh or a box of arts crafts and don't worry about the mess. Put on an educational dvd while you work more closely with the older two kids math studies.

 

Have them all practice their handwriting together. See if all your kids can do the science and social studies. My 4 year old has no interest in listening to SOTW but he's done all the activities with us. My nearly 2 year old has done all of my 9 year olds chem experiments. My 9 year old helps me set up and play learning activities with my 1 year old and 4 year old.

 

It's sometimes pretty hard, but if you can let go of the mindset that the kids are in separate grades and need separate things and let them all work together, it has really helped me keep somewhat sane. I also alternate. My older kid will have some free time while I do something with my 4 year old.

 

I also have a little card table---tot sized--that I pull out so the two littles can sit by me and my ds and joyfully interrupt with their play doh and construction paper creations.

 

Just remember that you homeschool to bring the family together and learn together---not separately. ;)

[3andme]

For Social Studies, there are a few options where you could combine your 2nd and 3rd grader

 

- Veritas Press Self Paced Online History

- K12 History as an independent - similiar to SOTW but more of an online component and

all scheduled out

- History at Our House (HAOH) - daily history classes either live or recorded.

- BJU Heritage Studies online

 

For Science, likewise I would try to combine where possible.

 

- Nancy Larson - completely scripted, all inclusive package

- K12 Science as an independent

- BJU science online

 

Another possibility is Time4Learning, while they do provide a full online curriculum, you could elect just to use it for science and social studies lessons as it's relatively inexpensive.

 

Teaching Textbooks is a good suggestion for math. I can also recommend CLE for Math as well as Reading or Lang. Arts. These are not online products but they are written to the student and can be done largely independently with minimal parental instruction.

[Ellie]

Well, R&S's English texts aren't supposed to be teacher-intensive at all. Everything the children need to know is right in their textbooks. The oral work in the TM is completely optional. However, I probably wouldn't do it with the younger dc.

 

You could do Spelling by Sound and Structure instead of AAS.

 

The Saxon levels below Saxon 5/4 are more time-consuming than 5/4 and up. R&S's arithmetic, OTOH, should require about 10-15 minutes of your time, after which the dc would do their seatwork while you do something else.

[amyx4]

I've almost always had a little so I've had to get creative. I usually play with the littles while everyone else does cursive. Then I have a big play with the littles and I work with another big. I always have a big with a toddler and at the same time I have somebody else at the kitchen table doing schoolwork. It makes for a longer day but this way I know the basics get covered. None of my littles have napped beyond 2 years, so I do understand your stress.

Do you have a yard? Can you send the littles out to play a bit and school near the back door/window?

[Hunter]

I have tried something new the past 2 days for science. I pulled out God's Design for Science again and used it like I use Bedell. I just required the student to answer the easiest questions, and then just read the harder parts as a read aloud. And I skipped all the extras. We got through about 6 lessons in the past couple days.

 

With both Bedell and God's Design, I expect to just keep cycling through them, so there is no need to cover it all. It's better to complete a full cycle that to get bogged down. I believe in spiral science and social studies; rather than a linear progression, from the most important facts, to more and more trivial facts.

 

I'm really struggling with some big changes here too. My seizures got worse again and my speech and organization is affected. Mostly some things are really falling into place. Reading/literature is making me run in circles.

 

Handwriting is the thing I am staying the most on top of, hanging right over the student, and just hating the idea of using workbooks with sloppy formatting that will encourage messy habits.

 

I don't know about you, but the things I avoid the most, are the things I don't want to only half do. That has to stop. Most of the time, 1/2 done is better than not done at all. Except I think the handwriting :-0

 

Sometimes I need new curricula, but sometimes I just need to USE what I have DIFFERENTLY. We don't need to use the comp questions or the tests. We can just read the text like a living book.

[my2boysteacher]

How about getting your older girls to take turns 'teaching' the twins while you work with the other one. School doesn't have to be done all at one time in the morning. You could break it up into a couple shorter sessions throughout the day, or evening when your DH is home to help. It is your school, you can do whatever works best for you.

[Hunter]

I just saw you are using R&S for science and SS. I have been using R&S grade 4 geography as purely a read aloud for a few weeks now. I'm not even sure where the manual is. We've just been doing pages from Draw Write Now that correspond to what we are reading.

 

This is all we did for lesson 4, The Frigid Zones.

 

Edited April 29, 2012 by Hunter

[m0mmaBuck]

Here is what we were using.

 

Math-Saxon --No experience with Saxon but I can tell you that the mastery workbook-style of CLE requires very little teacher interaction after the 2nd grade. I spend 5-10 minutes going over the new material and the kids do the rest of their assignments (100 and 400 grades) on their own

English-Rod and Staff --R&S was very teacher intensive for us. I switched DS10 to LLATL and he does the assignments almost entirely on his own and actually retains information better. DD6 is finishing up CLE LTR (teacher intensive) but I may start her in LLATL Red in the fall.

Reading-Many different things --For DS10 I assign x-number of pages from his lit selection each day as well as either science or history reading. I require a verbal summary of what he has read each day and a book report with illustration at the end of each lit selection. Very little work from me there. For DD6, I still have her read 1-3 books outloud to me but she reads on her own as well.

Spelling-All About Spelling --AAS is teacher-intensive by design. Spelling has been an epic fail around here so I have no "good" advice. I am trying Sequential Spelling this fall.

Handwriting-A Reason for Handwriting --We are using Pentime for penmanship and the rest of our writing is tied in with history, science, lit, or LLATL. I am considering WWW but have no experience with it as of yet.

Science-Rod and Staff --We are using the Young Scientist's Club experiments and supplementing with library books and notebooks. Science is teacher intensive but it's my favorite subject so I don't mine.

Social Studies-Rod and Staff --I used CLE SS and R&S SS primarily as reading comprehension for my kids. They would read the text independently and answer the questions either orally or in writing. Doing it that way doesn't require much time from the teacher.

 

Thanks,

Kristi

 

Well, R&S's English texts aren't supposed to be teacher-intensive at all. Everything the children need to know is right in their textbooks. The oral work in the TM is completely optional. However, I probably wouldn't do it with the younger dc.

 

QUOTE]

 

R&S English was VERY teacher intensive for us. Very. Very draining. We ended up switching to LLATL when DH took over 2 days of teaching because it was just too much. Maybe if your kids are grammatically inclined it is fairly independent, but that was not the case for us.

[SunnyDays]

I was also going to recommend CLE as a switch from Saxon. It's spiral like Saxon is (although I've heard not quite as much), and you only need sit with each child for a few minutes to go over the new material and walk them through the first couple problems.

 

Just another option if you end up not wanting to do Teaching Textbooks... it's about half the price, too!!

[Joyofsixreboot]

We use CLE LA and math. They are written to the student. Could you consider SOTW audio while they color or something? We spent some months just watching Magic Schoolbus, Bill Nye, documentaries and reading library books for science. Next year when you've got 4 yo's it will be easier.

[sleeplessnights]

Things can get a little crazy around our house too. What works best for us is to have one of the older children assigned to play with the three-year old, and then rotate. For example, my two oldest will do math while my dd plays with the little one. Then my second son plays with him while I do LA with my oldest and handwriting with my dd. Then my oldest plays with him while I work with my middle two. The kids all get staggered breaks and the youngest gets some attention.

 

Best of luck!

[TracyR]

For less teacher intensive curriculums, you may want to look at these:

 

Christian Light

Ace School of Tomorrow

Alpha Omega ( we use Horizons and Switched on Schoolhouse right now)

 

They have been my saving grace this year. I found I just didn't have the time this year to devote to time intensive curriculum. I also got Writing Strands for my daughter for writing as well. Though its not totally independent , she can do most of it herself, it I notice a problem then I sit with her and teach the concept.

 

I've kept All About Spelling. I just can't give that one up. But I've been using a combo of all three and things are so much better in our home now and I'm just going to stay with it. They are learning and doing just as well as if I were using a teacher intensive program.

[janie_ranae]

R&S Worksheets have been great. Not every lesson has a worksheet, but it is nice to have a change and pull out the workbook on some days. If the lesson has a worksheet we skip most of the oral work and do the lesson written. Either the st or tchr can check the work with the answer key. The worksheets are about $3 for the year. :) here's a link

[Farrar]

Math Mammoth would be less teacher intensive (and not too expensive).

 

Likewise, all the Growing with Grammar products are not very teacher intensive and could cover grammar, spelling and writing.

[HiddenJewel]

Here is what we were using.

 

Math-Saxon

English-Rod and Staff

Reading-Many different things

Spelling-All About Spelling

Handwriting-A Reason for Handwriting

Science-Rod and Staff

Social Studies-Rod and Staff

 

Science and Social Studies haven't been touched since the first nine weeks of school, and Spelling stopped not long after. We have been trying to make sure the most important things get done, but even that is a challange. All of these require me to be right there with the girls. A fellow homeschool mom recommended to me that I look for less teacher intensive programs for them to use, so that at least some of their learning can be done on their own with me helping as needed. I really like Teaching Textbooks for math. Any other suggestions you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Kristi

 

Is it correct that your 6-year old is advanced since you have him/her in 2nd grade?

 

What is making the subjects very hands on for you? The only subjects I see on that list that may be teacher intensive are AAS, possibly the Saxon math (I've never seen the lower levels), and the handwriting (but that is a small time frame subject). If the R&S is teacher intensive I am thinking that you may be using too high of a level as it can easily be done alone by the student as long as he/she is reading well.

Edited April 30, 2012 by HiddenJewel

[2_girls_mommy]

I think you will find that the R&S gets less teacher intensive as they get older and get to be better readers. I do have to sit with my 2nd grader for English right now, but with my older it is a subject that she can open and do on her own several days a week (for her the grammar lessons come easy. I spend more time with her on the composition lessons.) On the days I have time I go over the lesson and oral review in about 5 minutes, then she spends 15-20 min. doing the written work completely on her own. When she is doing the oral work out loud each day, I can be doing other things.

 

I would also look at R&S spelling. It is a workbook format and you can spend as little or as much time with them on it as you need. My odd does it completely independently. I work with my younger at the first of the week on the new list and rules. The rest of the week she does the workbook on her own and the days that there are no workbook pages I assign her to write the words in alphabetical order or I dictate sentences to her using them.

 

I have been keeping a 3 yr old one day a week, and we get less done that one day. Right now we are making that day's work up on the weekends to finish the year. But we go along we are learning tricks and they are getting more and more done. This past week I had the girls take turns playing with her while I worked with the other one. And I set up messy 3 yr old activities at other times like a big bowl of water and a box of toy animals to take swimming on my kitchen floor. I needed to mop anyway :tongue_smilie: I am working on getting her preschool activities set up but she can move between puzzles, lacing cards, blocks, and the toy kitchen right now. I am also spending the morning doing a fun activity first with her while the girls do an independent subject. For mine that was geography workbook for my 9 yr old and spelling workbooks for both, and a handwriting sheet for my 2nd grader. Then after that hour they all got to do the water play. Then they took turns working with her while they worked on some of their other work. I hope that we can eventually get a whole day's work into the schedule the day she is here.

[Lucy]

Hi! I almost quit homeschooling just due to math alone. It was taking forever and induced tears for all of us. We switched to Math U See and it saved homeschooling for us. Soooo less teacher intesive. My kids watch the video with me, pause it every now and again to practice or explain something in more detail and off they go for the week. Takes about 10 minutes - and then they practice that concept for the rest of the week and just come to me if they have questions. I once talked about switching to TT, and my three oldest girls begged me not to! They love MUS.

 

Bob Jones English is pretty quick too. It has a week of grammar and then a week of writing. Lots of hand holding. For the teacher, you sit down and walk them through the front side of the sheet, and then they do the back side independantly. Takes less than 5 min. of instruction time. You don't need the Teachers Manual. It's very gradual and gentle, but thorough. In the upper elementary I swith them to Writing Strands, Writing with Skill, and Easy Grammar - all of which are low teacher intensity but very very good.

 

History we do SOTW with the activity book. I spend about two days before the year starts making all the copies of the maps, coloring pages, and crafts and make a binder for each kid so it is open and go. I don't like reading aloud so we get the audio CDs and listen together, pausing to answer the review questions. We google things online to see photos of what we are studying and then the second day we do the activity and watch a movie if I have one. If we happen to go to the library taht week, we'll check out some books to look at at reading time.

 

I stock our bookshelf with awesome books and give them time to read everyday. As they finish one, I hand them another. We also listen to books on tape in the car- they love that and it starts great conversations. If they hit a book they are really loving, I may assign some kind of literature study or project about 3 times a year.

 

Spanish Rosetta Stone, Computer typing game, Vocab games. Science with a co-op group.

 

Everyone finds things that work for them. I started out using all the most reccomended curriculums and just about worked myself to death and totally ignored my youngest. Now I use what works well with my kiddos, and what won't drive me into exhaustion. I have four kids from 11 down to 4 and have another one coming within the year. Less-teacher intensive is necissary for us! Hope you find what you are looking for! :)

Rondi

[Ellie]

R&S English was VERY teacher intensive for us. Very. Very draining. We ended up switching to LLATL when DH took over 2 days of teaching because it was just too much. Maybe if your kids are grammatically inclined it is fairly independent, but that was not the case for us.

:001_huh:

 

Perhaps you started your ds at a higher level than might have been good for them?

 

R&S isn't for everyone. If y'all love LLATL, then clearly that's the best for you. :)

[diaperjoys]

Veritas Self-Paced History is a huge blessing for us. The ONLY thing I have to do is occasionally help my 7yo log in correctly, or call in to Veritas if the program freezes. The program self-grades, is perfectly engaging, and the kids love it!

 

R&S English is teacher-intensive for us, too.... we'll be doing something else next year...

[HiddenJewel]

R&S English is teacher-intensive for us, too.... we'll be doing something else next year...

 

How are you using R&S English that is making it teacher intensive?