aelgraham Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 Hi folks, I am trying to plan for DS, 8th grade, and realizing that this could very well be my last year homeschooling him. He has expressed a strong interest in heading off to school for High School, and while I am willing and able to continue hs'ing, this year could be it. So... I am wondering, what would you do for that last final year? He is taking an intense outside lit/writing class and I want to focus on doing history (modern) in a "fun" way that won't involve too much extra reading and writing. I am thinking about focusing on particular topics, like slavery, war, biographies and heroes, political philosophy... and taking kind of a "big issue" perspective on each and discussing. Like with slavery-- what does the Bible say about it? What were the debates going on during the Civil War? What is the legacy now? With war-- what is 'just war' theory? What is pacifism? What are the dynamics and issues that lead us into war? I'm realizing all the things over the years that I haven't really taught: Origins, serious latin, serious logic. I am trying to avoid looking at the past years with regret-- my son has been a challenging student and I've done my best and worked very hard. I had also looked forward to teaching him High School, so I'm letting go of that as well. I think all the emotions are getting tied up with my planning, but I also have a good sense of freedom in this "hey, if it's the last year let's have lots of fun with it all!" kind of way. Okay, rambling now, but I am sure this will resonate with someone out there! Thanks! I am Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 Off the top of my head, without time to think, in this order, this would be MY panic list before sending a child to PS High School character organization skills handwriting spelling comprehension strategies notetaking syntax and punctuation Math panic level would depend on many different things, so I can't even start to generalize. Definitely AFTER character though. And *I* would cancel the outside class, if it cut into my last year too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 And read alouds. Yup, I definitely cancel the class. I'm not saying YOU should do that. It's just what *I* would do. Last year. My rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 Yes, cancel the class, and follow your heart! I would do the Modern history thing, and tie in EVERYTHING else (lit-find things you're both interested in and do lit in a loose way, character/moral/spiritual-what does Scripture say?, writing as desired, organizational/notetaking, vocab/spelling, even some art history) study, with that (except math.) Read aloud together and discuss, discuss, discuss the "big themes", like you said. I think that sounds amazing! I would let grammar go (unless he has had none, then I would do a solid grammar program for a year, like Analytical Grammar). Forgive yourself about the Latin, etc. Just add math and call it good, and enjoy each other this year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 (edited) That is with the exception that dd will be going to a private school for high school rather than ps. For this last year at home together I am planning to spend time on U.S. history up to modern day rather than continuing on with the in-depth world history that we've done with TOG for the past few years. My intention in this is so we can focus more on literature, writing and math. We'll also work on improving dd's handwriting and organizational skills. Along with this, we are dropping science for 8th grade and will be doing logic instead, as I think it will really help her as she faces rhetoric level challenges. And in our case, we're going to revisit Latin because I believe that it will help her have a better command of the English language and any other languages she will study in high school and beyond. My siggy has our 8th grade plan, but our priorities will be the 3 R's. Everything else will be supplemental. Blessings, Lucinda Edited June 11, 2012 by HSMom2One Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maisy Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Our oldest headed to school this past year (and it's been a great experience for all of us!). The best thing we did to prepare was to find out what she would be doing in the next grade. We filled in the gaps based on that (e.g., ramp up the math, cut back on the history, or change your history study to lead up to what he will be doing in class next year, etc). The transition went really smoothly because we all felt prepared. I wish you the best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Our oldest headed to school this past year (and it's been a great experience for all of us!). The best thing we did to prepare was to find out what she would be doing in the next grade. We filled in the gaps based on that (e.g., ramp up the math, cut back on the history, or change your history study to lead up to what he will be doing in class next year, etc). The transition went really smoothly because we all felt prepared. I wish you the best! I meant to mention this too. We are having dd assessed at the school tomorrow so we can see where she is compared to what they require for finishing 7th grade. I have a good idea and am already planning to work on those priority subjects as mentioned, but it's based on where she'll need to be as a freshman the following year. This is also why we're doing U.S. History for 8th grade. Students at the school have a year of U.S. History that year, then they begin the four year cycle again for high school. Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Off the top of my head, without time to think, in this order, this would be MY panic list before sending a child to PS High School character organization skills handwriting spelling comprehension strategies notetaking syntax and punctuation Math panic level would depend on many different things, so I can't even start to generalize. Definitely AFTER character though. And *I* would cancel the outside class, if it cut into my last year too much. :iagree: And I would add, I would attempt to bring him up to speed on anything he is potentially a big bit behind in. Check with the school now and learn what they will do in terms of enrolling in him classes with prereqs next fall. Make sure you can jump through any hoops and document everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmoe Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 Organizational skills was a biggie for mine when making the adjustment to high school. Teach your child how to play the game. Let him figure out how to handle grades and deadlines in eighth grade where it won't really count. In our homeschool I consider every assignment important and equal. If I had planned to study the styles of clothes in the 1920s for one day, but my dd wanted to spend a week or two on it we did so. That isn't the case in school. It took my dd quite a while to catch on to the fact that the 10 point assignment might hold her interest more than the 100 point assignment, but she shouldn't spend 3 hours on it when she still needs to get to the 100 point assignment. Also my poor ds took a while to figure out that 100% honesty isn't needed to get 100% on assignments. He doesn't really have to have an opinion or passion about the topic assigned to complete the assignment. or to answer a test prompt. The topic is just a tool to assess skills. Also something that had to be learned. I also really worked on writing with my kids in that year before high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelBee Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Taking notes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 First of all I'd look at what the school he is intending to attend requires. Calvin ended up skipping a year when he entered school, so we had a bit of accelerated work to do in a couple of subjects. Apart from that, we made sure we spent good family time and worked on organisational skills. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trez Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Could you provide some methods that would you use to improve organization skills? I have a son who will be heading back to public high school as well and I definitely agree that this area needs work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Could you provide some methods that would you use to improve organization skills? I have a son who will be heading back to public high school as well and I definitely agree that this area needs work. By the end, he had a list of work to accomplish over the week and came to me when he needed. One of his lists is in my siggy. He organised the timing (with my input so it fitted with my timetable) and was responsible for getting everything done. I also encouraged him to be independent of me outside the home. He happened to have two activities following each other and would buy himself a sandwich and walk from one to the other, so he was away from me and independent for about four hours in all. He was also involved in scouts, which helped with him independence and organisation, especially during camping trips. Best wishes Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Could you provide some methods that would you use to improve organization skills? I have a son who will be heading back to public high school as well and I definitely agree that this area needs work. You may wish to read That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week: Helping Disorganized and Distracted Boys Succeed in School and Life by Ana Homayoun. This thread has some other suggestions. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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