Starting 9th next fall...how much teaching do you do, how much prodding?

[cheryl h]

DD14 will be a freshman. I am curious to hear from seasoned high school homeschoolers about how much teaching you actually do. Do you hand dc a list of assignments for the week and expect to see them on Friday? Do you still meet everyday for lessons? Does it depend on the subject? How much do you help them study for tests, or should this be their responsibility? How much prodding should I have to do to remind dc of pending due dates on assignments? I don't want to hold her hand on things that should be her responsibility, but I also don't want to be completely hands off and not provide appropriate guidance. What does your student's academic accountability look like at your house? I am having a hard time wrapping my head around this in that my own parents were completely hands off, no guidance at all, and I wished they would have asked me at least once "Did you get your homework done?" At the same time, I think that helped me become very independant. I need to hear what it's supposed to look like to have a good balance between good guidance and learning self responsibility. KWIM?

[Sebastian (a lady)]

DD14 will be a freshman. I am curious to hear from seasoned high school homeschoolers about how much teaching you actually do. Do you hand dc a list of assignments for the week and expect to see them on Friday? Do you still meet everyday for lessons? Does it depend on the subject? How much do you help them study for tests, or should this be their responsibility? How much prodding should I have to do to remind dc of pending due dates on assignments? I don't want to hold her hand on things that should be her responsibility, but I also don't want to be completely hands off and not provide appropriate guidance. What does your student's academic accountability look like at your house? I am having a hard time wrapping my head around this in that my own parents were completely hands off, no guidance at all, and I wished they would have asked me at least once "Did you get your homework done?" At the same time, I think that helped me become very independant. I need to hear what it's supposed to look like to have a good balance between good guidance and learning self responsibility. KWIM?

 

I am actually planning to almost go back to the elbow for many of our courses, at least for the first few months. I've found this year that they don't innately understand how to do things like follow the syllabus for an online course (I keep finding that one son thinks he's done everything despite having blank worksheets. When I look, he has rarely used the syllabus as a checklist, so he's overlooked items.)

 

I was also pretty independent, especially senior year. But I have to remember that some of that independence was scaffolded by having TEACHERS who were collecting homework and assigning grades, even if my parents weren't on top of me every day.

 

I will be spending the summer creating syllabai for courses I'm teaching/mentoring. Then I'll help them create weekly lists of everything that has to be done (I include sports, scouts and volunteer committments on this list.)

 

I will ask them to show me their copy of the weekly list every couple of days. I look to see what they've gotten done and what they still need to do. I ask questions, make suggestions, give ultimatums based on what I see in these checkups.

 

I really like SWB's audio on teaching kids to work independently. The book That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week has also been interesting.

 

One of the skills that I know I have to work on is what I'll call "ok, what next?" What I mean is that my kids are quite able to do a math assignment without my help, do a German lesson, read a reading. But they aren't so hot at then doing the extension (making the flashcards, flagging a concept for later review, making notes on the readings to review) or at cleaning up one subject and getting started on the next one.

 

I'm also instituting stiffer deadlines. Or at least free time penalties for when work isn't done. I think they need to learn to put more priority on lessons and rely less on the innate flexibility of homeschooling and a loving mom.

[Jennifer in FL]

Just reading this makes me stressed!

[Trilliums]

I think it depends on the student. Older son is finishing 9th grade. We started the year with a weekly schedule. On Monday we would briefly go over expectations and reconvene on Friday to see if adjustments were needed. Within a couple of months he was pacing himself. He does math and corrects it himself. History and LA he had guides to keep him on track. He applied himself to his assignments so earnestly I had very little to do.

 

I do not expect it to be the same for younger DS. This guy likes to have much more interaction while doing his work. He likes to discuss what he is doing as he is doing it and he likes (needs?) more feedback. At this very moment he is doing Alg on khan academy and describing to me each step he is doing to solve the equations. He does not really need help but he does better work with me near. He seems to learn best while he is talking! I do expect this to decrease as he matures, but it is a noticeable difference and will probably continue to play a role in his learning.

[cheryl h]

This is all very good advise. Keep it coming!

[JennW in SoCal]

It depends on the student, the subject, and the materials. It is also something that evolves over the 4 years of high school as they mature.

 

For English, History, Logic and to a lesser extent Science, so much of high school was independent reading and writing. I wasn't needed much for that except to assign materials and set a due date, though I also made sure each week to discuss the reading, even if it was simply while I was working in the kitchen or while we were driving somewhere. I found I got more of a discussion, especially during the early years of high school when my teens were younger, if the discussions were informal. They'd shut down if it was an assigned time or if I had a list of specific questions. I always proof read an assignment and gave it back expecting edits. I usually read the same books or watched lectures with my kids, though not always.

 

We did science projects together, generally leaving an afternoon open for that. I never did tests for history or literature, but they'd do on-line tests for science. I didn't help them study, though I may have, especially with one of my boys, given them tips on how to study from a text book. Things which are obvious to me, such as the importance of bolded phrases in a text, were meaningless to him!

 

Math was a subject I did "at the elbow" (I loved Sebatian's phrase!!) with one son, but the other finally just wanted to do it and correct it on his own. This independent child never cheated as he really wanted to learn the math, to figure out where his mistakes were. He did end of chapter tests, so I had a sense of how he was doing.

 

There was a set time for school, and set due dates for projects. I did nag, but generally didn't have to micro-manage on a daily basis. Community college and outside co-op courses were terrific for taking me out of the equation as both boys really responded to the novelty of outside classes and different teachers. The youngest pretty much finished high school with all community college classes, which freed me up from planning, grading and nagging!

[beachnut]

It totally depends on the student and the subject. 9th grade was a tough year for us because I really thought DS would be so much more independent. I tried to give him lots of flexibility & freedom and what he ended up needing was lots of micro-managing and hand-holding. Took me months to realize this, with lots of frustration along the way. He is just walking around in a fog these days. I'm hoping things will be easier in 10th grade, but am not holding out hope just yet.

 

I give him and DS11 their weekly assignments, which they write down in their planner. However, they still struggle to remember to look at their planner throughout the day, even tho everything they need to do independently is there in black & white.

 

I still work w/ my 9th grader on some things, such as watching & discussing TTC lectures together, reading about history topics, doing mapwork related to history, reading & discussing ancient lit together, & teaching & discussing informal logic.

 

9th grader also takes 2 electives at our local p.s. (band & art) and I'm totally hands-off w/ those courses. At times, he's forgotten a few assignments & tests because he did not write them down in his planner, so he got very bad grades. But he hasn't really learned from these mistakes yet. Sigh.

 

It will happen. I hope.

[coffeegal]

My children are divided between the older bunch, 9-15, and my littles, 1 & 2. This quarter I am posting the TOG reading assignment and other assignments in the kitchen where the older 4 can access it to plan their week. When the youngest 2 are down for their naps, I hold 'class'. Today we did science; tomorrow we'll cover history and literature. Monday will be writing, and Tuesday will be math. Wednesday for everything else. It seems to be working better than trying to meet everyday with my highschooler. He made it clear I was in his way if I check with him daily, but weekly discussions seem to work well. My 9yo still needs the daily accountability. The middle two need something in between. :001_smile:

[kangato3]

With my high schoolers, we meet on a different subject each day for discussion time (e.g. Monday - English, Tuesday - History, etc).

At discussion time, we discuss what they've worked on over the past week, find out if they have any questions, and I collect their work. We then look at what's on the syllabus for the upcoming week (I create them all during the summer). I provide any explanation if needed on upcoming assignments, and then I guide them on planning out the work for the week. (my 11th grader does this fairly independently now) Usually, each subject's work is due on our discussion day.

[cheryl h]

Depends on the child...yep...get that loud and clear. This child is not stellar at time management and organization at this point in her life. I like the idea of meetings, but I can see having to do 2 a week to start. Probably once on Mondays to start the week and make sure expectations are clear, then on Thursday, before the week is over so I can do damage control. Friday she can tie up the loose ends. I have been trying to train her to use a planner this year, but it's a little hit or miss. I am thrilled that she will be doing Classical Conversations next year, so that takes some of the accountability load off my shoulders. It is so reassuring to hear your stories of struggles, progress, and success. Thanks so much.

[SailorMom]

My son is rather independent for the most part. Prefers to be assigned reading and assignments and be left alone :)

We do math together every morning, all science experiments, some literature, etc.

That said - I'm increasing the difficulty and workload significantly next year. I plan to actually try to replicate lecturing so that he gets better at taking notes. I can't imagine not increasing (significantly) the amount of instruction time I spend with him.... But - that's just him :) Doesn't mean much for anyone else!

[elegantlion]

My son is not independent. In some subjects that is a goal, some it is not. When we start 9th, I will be in the classroom most of the day, as I am now. I do not expect a giant leap in focus and maturity over the summer. :tongue_smilie:

 

He will be more accountable to a printed schedule, he will be studying more on his own. I plan to have him read Study is Hard Work this year and apply some of those techniques, but he's not the type to automatically be working diligently.

 

I consider it a process and hope it evolves over the year(s).