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anyone making changes already?


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So glad to know I'm not alone in this! We are switching from Easy Grammar Plus to GWG 7 and I ordered WWW 5 for my 5th grade DD. She wants to continue working through "Jump In!," but I think she needs a more foundational approach with more "basic instruction" - we'll decide for sure once it arrives.

 

I could not *believe* I was ordering curriculum 6 weeks into the school year!! OTOH, I'm relieved since I felt uneasy about these subjects from the beginning!

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Week 4. We've dropped MCT Paragraph Town. While DS enjoyed the storyline, the actual work seemed to duplicate what we were doing in R&S 5 (and not in a good way; more in a want-to-bore-a-hole-in-my-head way). :banghead:

 

Maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance. But I'm soooo relieved not to feel like we're doubling up every day.

 

Keeping Caesar's English, though. It's been a success so far.

 

Lisa

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Dropped our Narnia study so we could read other classics!

 

Switched dd9 from MCP Plaid Phonics back to Explode the Code, and might switch her from MCP Math back to Math Mammoth. I just feel that MM teaches kids more of the why behind math than MCP does. And I own all the Blue series already!

 

Adding in history 1x weekly... we're vacillating between Greek history and American. [we also read Landmark, etc. books of the kids' choice during the rest of the week]

 

Dropped logic/philosophy with ds11 for now, but added in science reading time with him one-on-one. Reading Breakthroughs in Science (Asimov) currently.

 

Ds11 also added in Getting Started with Latin here and there.

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Dropping the blackline masters for History of US. They were just life sucking and felt like busy work. We're switching to Modern History Portfolio instead with some notebooking pages I adapted from notebookingpages.com and going back towards a WTM approach for history.

 

Also dropping VfCR. This is the second child I've used this with and I guess it just wasn't meant to be. We'll go back to Wordly Wise, because well, honestly, it gets done and ds likes it better. I'll also be doing root studies with English from the Roots Up.

 

I'm dropping Latin altogether- we just don't have time for it.

 

All of the above products were fine, just not fine for us.

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We are almost 6 weeks into the school year and everything has gone great, but... we dropped Caveman Chemistry this week. It was supplemental and supposed to be fun and didn't work out that way. I have never been a fan of Apologia and have always thought it is way to light. I still feel that way, but ds is enjoying Chemistry and understanding it. He isn't planning a science major so I think he'll survive.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, this has been the worst year ever, and I have been at this a long time. The first week of our school year all of the kids revolted against TT and asked to switch to Horizons. The oldest had used it for two years and wanted to go back to a workbook. The younger two thought the idea of "computer math" was appealing when they saw big brother using it, and had been at it for one year. They, too, wanted workbooks. They all hated the voice, as well. I wouldn't have caved on this one, but I find merit in doing math on paper, so we switched.

 

We started the year using TruthQuest history, and while I love the idea of it, the implementation is not going well. My oldest wants independent history, and is switching to a combo of Notgrass America the Beautiful and Beautiful Feet Early American and World, with some SL books thrown in. We will spread this out over two years. The younger two are switching to a combo of BF Early Am. and Geography with SL readers. Again, we will work through it at our pace. This switch was my idea, and I consider it a learning experience. We have combined history with MFW the past two years, and combing was just not working anymore. My attempt at doing that with TQ just didn't work for ME.

 

After a few weeks of Rainbow Science, my oldest came to me to plead his case. He hates labs, and Rainbow is lab-based. I should have known better since this is my kid that hates details and getting his hands dirty (cried at a baby), but all of those supplies and hands-on items just seemed to scream BOY! Well, I needed to think about THIS boy. He is like me and prefers to read about it rather than DO it. I grabbed AIG's God's Design off the shelf and said, "Here, is this better?" He grabbed it up and used it for a week with no complaints, but no comment other than, "It's okay." I didn't feel that it is developing the study skills I want for this subject for a 7th grader, so we searched for something else. He chose Apologia General and we compromised that he only has to do some of the experiments while reading them all.

 

We also changed writing before school even started. I had planned to use WriteShop with oldest and EIW All Things Fun and Fascinating with the younger two. I saw Essentials in Writing and ordered it for all the week before we started. I am really enjoying this!

 

Most of our changes were because all of my kids are moving into new stages. We are just trying to figure out what works for this era.

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Well, this has been the worst year ever, and I have been at this a long time...

Most of our changes were because all of my kids are moving into new stages. We are just trying to figure out what works for this era.

 

I just had to laugh, even though I KNOW it's not a laughing matter. This is SO what we've lived for years! Not those exact things but more the opposite. But yes, you get a stage figured out and then their needs change and mature and you're left scrambling. You fix something (need for more independence) and it throws off something else you had never even considered that was working about something you were using previously. What a mess!

 

VP pointed out in an email newsletter a couple years ago that one of the hardest things about homeschooling is we don't get to take advantage of learning curve. Every year (at least for our oldest) it's NEW and we're starting over. It's not like we get to teach the same thing over 10 years and just tweak and perfect it. No, every year it's all new! I was consoling myself with that last night, as I was wondering why I constantly feel like I'm caught in a tornado or toilet swirly with homeschooling. :lol:

 

At least you're seeing his needs and sorting them out. Like you're saying, it takes time to figure out how the things you know (likes workbooks, hates hands-on, needs independent, etc.) all total up. I don't think it was crazy to think that one parameter might give a little bit to make the others work. Sometimes it works out that way. My dd isn't a textbook lover, but actually this year we're getting a lot of peace by using some textbooks (but using them in a really flexible way!). So it wasn't crazy. You tried, you learned something. It will all pan out. You'll figure it out. :grouphug:

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I just had to laugh, even though I KNOW it's not a laughing matter. This is SO what we've lived for years! Not those exact things but more the opposite. But yes, you get a stage figured out and then their needs change and mature and you're left scrambling. You fix something (need for more independence) and it throws off something else you had never even considered that was working about something you were using previously. What a mess!

 

VP pointed out in an email newsletter a couple years ago that one of the hardest things about homeschooling is we don't get to take advantage of learning curve. Every year (at least for our oldest) it's NEW and we're starting over. It's not like we get to teach the same thing over 10 years and just tweak and perfect it. No, every year it's all new! I was consoling myself with that last night, as I was wondering why I constantly feel like I'm caught in a tornado or toilet swirly with homeschooling. :lol:

 

At least you're seeing his needs and sorting them out. Like you're saying, it takes time to figure out how the things you know (likes workbooks, hates hands-on, needs independent, etc.) all total up. I don't think it was crazy to think that one parameter might give a little bit to make the others work. Sometimes it works out that way. My dd isn't a textbook lover, but actually this year we're getting a lot of peace by using some textbooks (but using them in a really flexible way!). So it wasn't crazy. You tried, you learned something. It will all pan out. You'll figure it out. :grouphug:

Yep, all of this; especially the "tornado and toilet swirly" part. :001_smile:

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I switched from Saxon Grammar and Writing to CHC Language of God. The thirty grammar questions a day, plus practice questions made me want to drink. Even doing it three days a week was just too much. I may drop WW vocab this week and just go with the CHC for all of LA. I added CHC spelling and reading too.

 

I just ordered Kolbe's Middle junior high Lit too. We will see how much we get through.

Edited by ChiMomNP
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I'm still making changes!!!

 

My 8th grader is zooming through Horizon Pre-Algebra and I plan to switch over to Lial's Intro to Algebra probably around the semester break for the holidays.

 

My oldest, 11th grade, is switching from Saxon Adv. Math to Lial's PreCalculus

 

I sure do hope there are no more changes. I'm making additions to history reading lists which I didn't plan, but I'm not changing those spines/curriculums, just adding to them.

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Switched writing program from Diana Hanbury King to IEW SWI to now using both. DHK was too free form for me but DS insists, so we alternate.

 

Switched out of Derek Owens Phuscial science class into Ellen McHenry's Carbon Chemistry as DS wants more handson learning. Derek Owens was very hands off for me, so there goes my break, sob.

 

Although I schedule 4 subjects a day, we've never really achieved that :tongue_smilie:. DS needs a lot of time per subject, and I see he learns better this way. Will start to do different subjects on alternate days soon ...

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I think I already commented on this. Oh well. We've made MORE changes.

 

We switched out Human Odyssey for Oak Meadow... and now we're back to Human Odyssey. OM made my daughter want to cry.

 

We weren't sure whether we were sticking with CLE or moving to Calvert for math. We decided on Math Mammoth and I'm happy with that decision.

 

We were using TOPS physics/chemistry units with living books and LOF Physics. I'm an idiot. My book-phobic daughter rebelled and normally loves science; also, she's always hated Life of Fred even though I enjoy the books, lol. Now we have Behold and See 6, TOPS units, The Way Things Work, and Horrible Sciences.

 

We were doing Galore Park's English I. We are now doing Hake Grammar and Writing 6. Going well and I like it. So far.

 

We did stick with Caesar's English I. I love that book!

 

We outsourced Latin :D.

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