How do I make writing/grammer more challanging?

[grantmeawish]

OR should I keep it the same? This is our first year HSing. My son is 7. I wouldn't consider him gifted but he is bright. He tells people school is too easy which = boring. He flies through math(singapore), so I am keeping pace with him on that, but I am unsure how to do that for writing and grammer. He hates to write (just slow and laborious for him). We currently use WWE and FLL2. I am ok with the pace because I want him to be solid in writing, but he finds it easy. Is there something I could use to supplement?

 

He loves history is there something that would be an interesting supplement to SOTW?

 

Thank You!

[Crimson Wife]

I would keep WWE but ditch FLL and instead use Michael Clay Thompson (MCT) "island" level. If MCT is too pricey, then maybe KISS Grammar.

[lewelma]

Welcome to the board!

 

Kiss Grammar is excellent and very very challenging. (plus it is free)

 

I would suggest IEW. I would get the TWSS as education for you, and then teach your ds using source material that is challenging. My 7 year old wrote a report on nuclear fusion in stars using IEW's approach.

 

As for Singapore Math, switch to the Intensive Practice books and the Challenging Word Problem books. They are much more difficult than the workbooks.

 

Ruth in NZ

[grantmeawish]

Thank you! I had never heard of those. I will definitely check them out.

[JeanM]

Do you have the SOTW activity guide? My dc loved the extra books we got each week to go along with the SOTW. We read the Usborne encyclopedia pages that were assigned in the activity guide too. They never did any coloring though and mostly avoided the crafts.

[JennW in SoCal]

OR should I keep it the same? This is our first year HSing. My son is 7. I wouldn't consider him gifted but he is bright. He tells people school is too easy which = boring. He flies through math(singapore), so I am keeping pace with him on that, but I am unsure how to do that for writing and grammer. He hates to write (just slow and laborious for him). We currently use WWE and FLL2. I am ok with the pace because I want him to be solid in writing, but he finds it easy. Is there something I could use to supplement?

 

He loves history is there something that would be an interesting supplement to SOTW?

 

Thank You!

 

Have you read the articles on the main Well Trained Mind web page? There are a few on writing and there are some excellent lectures available for download from Peace Hill Press. I mention these because back in dark ages when I started homeschooling my kids there wasn't WWE of FLL, but between the WTM book and the articles on writing I felt I had enough information for doing my own thing with writing. I've graduated 2 without using a writing program, and both are good writers.

 

7yo boys are notorious for being slow and reluctant writers. You can have him do copy work or dictations from the materials you are reading. It seems babyish, but it really is cementing handwriting skills while making spelling and punctuation rules come naturally with writing. My kids could do grammar worksheets perfectly, master spelling lists, but then not apply those lessons to their own writing. Copy work helped fix that, and copy work was interesting because they could choose what to copy. Sometimes it would be a page from a science encyclopedia or a favorite section of a story. They could draw something to go with their copy work, too.

 

You can act as a scribe for your ds if he is ready to do narrations. Your 7yo can also learn to type as some kids find they can type fast enough to keep up with all their thoughts.

 

There are some really fun grammar programs out there. I didn't discover MCT until my youngest was in high school, but I really liked it. We even did silly games like Mad Libs, even diagrammed nonsense sentences. It doesn't have to be a lot each day -- just keep at it little by little.

 

History always included lots of historical fiction, art projects and any videos we could find. Oh, and trips to museums, too. We loved series like Building Big because it incorporated science, geography and history all in one interesting show. Or the NOVA series "Secrets of Lost Empires". Most of what I found was at our library, and Netflix of course has all those DVDs.

[serendipitous journey]

Seconding CrimsonWife's idea RE keeping WWE but changing FLL2 out for KISS or MCT or something like that. If you are fond of the FLL memory work (I am, at the moment) you could just do the memorization bits as memory work explicitly. To immediately start growing his writing skills, try 8FilltheHeart's advice: posts 33 and 34 here.

 

For WWE: which level are you in? For WWE1, I think you can often do 2 days work at once -- AM and PM, maybe. Do that 5 days/week and you'll zoom through. WWE2 is a little more demanding, and perhaps just do it daily; but if he is good at copywork/narrating/dictation, you could compress that too by skipping some components (at least some of the time). It is my understanding that once you hit WWS (grade 5 level) things drop to a much slower pace.

 

Folks here love Bravewriter often, but it can be pricey. We don't have it.

 

If he loves writing, I can't recommend Wishes, Lies and Dreams strongly enough. It is an excellent guide to teaching poetry writing.

 

We have IEW but haven't begun yet, so I can't second Ruth with any conviction other than I like her advice! And if you want to add poetry memorization, you can find IEW's list for free; and of course they sell their program which includes a CD.

 

On the other hand, we despise the Singapore Challenging Word Problem books here -- though the Intensive Practice are great. One way to accelerate math is to give the tests, THEN teach any material they cover that the child hasn't mastered. For Singapore you could either buy the test books -- there are 2 tests/chapter, which I like for this method -- or give the practice & review pages instead. So you would skip through the lesson pages, have the child tackle the next practice page, and if he's okay keep going like that. Give maybe 1/2 the review problems. And as you go through the text, never do more than 1/2 the problems unless he is struggling. You could also just skip a year and teach what he missed, but that can be stressful. If you don't have the home instructor guides, consider these for the mental math work (unless you do MEP, which includes some).

 

A quick way to make math interesting -- and free -- is to use MEP. Start in Year 1 or Year 2 and adjust as necessary. Teach this instead of or in addition to Singapore.

 

For supplementing SOTW: do you have the Usborne Encyclopedia of World History? Doing corresponding pages there is nice, and often the child gets distracted and ends up reading the encyclopedia for a while. Then you can add literature easily using the Classical House of Learning Literature schedules for upper grammar (or lower if that's better). CHOLL, like KISS and MEP, is good and free too.

 

To quickly make his history more challenging generally, try Ambleside Online's schedule -- I'd start with Year 1, The Viking Tales & An Island Story &c, because they really set things up nicely even if they don't correspond to your SOTW cycle. But you could start year 2. I guarantee "Little Duke" will not be easy for the child.

 

Science-wise, regarding Ambleside, the Burgess Bird and Animal books go over surprisingly well here, though I really throw myself into animating my readings. I didn't understand the charm until I had Button read me some of them -- they are wonderful to hear read aloud! We do these in short-ish chunks, less than a chapter. They have done amazing things to Button's observations of animals and understanding of their habits.

 

 

:) HTH!

Edited October 13, 2012 by serendipitous journey