Just looking for some guidance -kind of long and desperate!

[happyhomemaker25]

My oldest daughter is 15. She has attachment issues (that she seems to be recovering from at the moment) and was in 5 different schools from K-2 grade. She failed K and was going to fail 2nd grade when I pulled her.

We've had struggles, but she is so bright and she is ready to move forward. I think she is ready to move into the Logic stage and am preparing to begin inching forward in January.

I'm devouring this board and rereading the Logic stage in TWTM.

She does want to go to college and it will be at the CC level. She also knows it might take her an extra year, maybe two to be ready.

I'm really just looking for some guidance on where to start? I'm looking at the transition year from VP

She also wants to start Pre-Algebra and we are finishing up CLE Math 6. I think we will use Saxon 1/2 for Pre-Algebra.

I'm looking at Hake Grammar when we finish CLE LA 6. Is there anything else that might be better? I think we would skip or modify the writing since I want to stick with WWS which we will also start next year. She is finishing up WWE.

I'm kind of stuck on history and science. I really want her to do Landry Science the pre-sciences if we can afford it. Any suggestions for something else if I can't? I'm loving all the science threads here. Right now she just has the basic elementary style science. I know this sounds awful, but I'm not sure how much time I can put into creating a good logic stage science. (See the signature)

I'm not sure about history though. She needs structure and I want her to be a bit more independent. Up until now I've kept her with us using SOTW, but I want her to venture out a bit next year. I want to do history TWTM way, but I'm worried that A) I won't have time to follow through and B) it won't be structured enough for her. We are starting the American History cycle in January. Should I keep her in SOTW and just start outlining and note taking? Is there somewhere I can learn how to teach outlining and note taking? I was never really good at that in school.

What about adding in more literature? Discussion? Can you give me ideas about how to go about discussing what she's reading. I think I can keep up with her, but I've always only had to discuss reading selection on a very basic level. I would like to be able to challenge her a bit more. She loves to read. She reads quickly, though I'm not sure her comprehension is all there, she can tell you about a book (with way too many details. :) )

Do you think I'm taking on too much? Pushing her to much? Like I said I really want to just ease into this in January. I have to go a little slower with her or she will push back and shut down. Just one of the many joys of attachment issues. Right now she is gung ho and really wants to move forward. She has goals and we are working together to meet them.

I've always wanted to be a "rigorous" homeschooler, but my three older girls learning difficulties have kind of killed that dream for now. ;) Lots of slowing down, backing up, and going back to basics.

I'm excited that she's excited and I want to harness that excitement and give her a great experience. She can handle tough. She just can't handle a lot of tough if that makes any sense?

If you made it this far, I thank you. If anything was not clear, please ask. She is my guinea pig child and I hope in another year my 2nd oldest will be ready for the Logic stage. I don't know if my 3rd child will ever be there, but then I thought that about this child. LOL

Thank you to everyone who posts on this board. I've learned a lot in the past couple of days, but I am also so overwhelmed and a bit discouraged. I know that I had to "wait for her" and that she is unique, but I really wish we could have hit this stage a few years ago. I am excited about it.

[Pen]

My oldest daughter is 15. She has attachment issues (that she seems to be recovering from at the moment) and was in 5 different schools from K-2 grade. She failed K and was going to fail 2nd grade when I pulled her.

We've had struggles, but she is so bright and she is ready to move forward. I think she is ready to move into the Logic stage and am preparing to begin inching forward in January.

I'm devouring this board and rereading the Logic stage in TWTM.

She does want to go to college and it will be at the CC level. She also knows it might take her an extra year, maybe two to be ready.

I'm really just looking for some guidance on where to start? I'm looking at the transition year from VP

She also wants to start Pre-Algebra and we are finishing up CLE Math 6. I think we will use Saxon 1/2 for Pre-Algebra.

I'm looking at Hake Grammar when we finish CLE LA 6. Is there anything else that might be better? I think we would skip or modify the writing since I want to stick with WWS which we will also start next year. She is finishing up WWE.

I'm kind of stuck on history and science. I really want her to do Landry Science the pre-sciences if we can afford it. Any suggestions for something else if I can't? I'm loving all the science threads here. Right now she just has the basic elementary style science. I know this sounds awful, but I'm not sure how much time I can put into creating a good logic stage science. (See the signature)

I'm not sure about history though. She needs structure and I want her to be a bit more independent. Up until now I've kept her with us using SOTW, but I want her to venture out a bit next year. I want to do history TWTM way, but I'm worried that A) I won't have time to follow through and B) it won't be structured enough for her. We are starting the American History cycle in January. Should I keep her in SOTW and just start outlining and note taking? Is there somewhere I can learn how to teach outlining and note taking? I was never really good at that in school.

What about adding in more literature? Discussion? Can you give me ideas about how to go about discussing what she's reading. I think I can keep up with her, but I've always only had to discuss reading selection on a very basic level. I would like to be able to challenge her a bit more. She loves to read. She reads quickly, though I'm not sure her comprehension is all there, she can tell you about a book (with way too many details. :) )

Do you think I'm taking on too much? Pushing her to much? Like I said I really want to just ease into this in January. I have to go a little slower with her or she will push back and shut down. Just one of the many joys of attachment issues. Right now she is gung ho and really wants to move forward. She has goals and we are working together to meet them.

I've always wanted to be a "rigorous" homeschooler, but my three older girls learning difficulties have kind of killed that dream for now. ;) Lots of slowing down, backing up, and going back to basics.

I'm excited that she's excited and I want to harness that excitement and give her a great experience. She can handle tough. She just can't handle a lot of tough if that makes any sense?

If you made it this far, I thank you. If anything was not clear, please ask. She is my guinea pig child and I hope in another year my 2nd oldest will be ready for the Logic stage. I don't know if my 3rd child will ever be there, but then I thought that about this child. LOL

Thank you to everyone who posts on this board. I've learned a lot in the past couple of days, but I am also so overwhelmed and a bit discouraged. I know that I had to "wait for her" and that she is unique, but I really wish we could have hit this stage a few years ago. I am excited about it.

 

 

Learning to Learn by Gloria Frender is helpful on various study skills you ask about.

 

Also good is How to Become a Superstar Student by Great Courses, but only if you can get in at a good sale price or find it at your local library. It's full price is ridiculous IMO.

 

 

 

If you have her read aloud to you, you will know if she is reading fluently, and also whether what she tells you about the book is accurate. It can help you to be able to discuss it without having to read it yourself.

 

I just started giving my ds lots of possible points (as stars in pen) for schoolwork. It allows me to show that much work is good, even if there are some mistakes.

 

You might also want to post on Special Needs.

Edited November 1, 2012 by Pen

[QuirkyKidAcademy]

I just wanted to say congrats to you and dd! I hope it all comes together for her and she makes her dreams come true!

[kiana]

For grammar I would strongly consider something which is meant to be a one- or two-year course, like Jensen's grammar and punctuation books or Analytical Grammar. I wouldn't use a graded resource. Those books also have the advantage that they're designed primarily as grammar books, so it'd be easier for you to continue your chosen writing program.

 

The pre-sciences might be an altogether reasonable choice for her. However, if she starts to struggle, I would drop down to enjoyable books at her reading level for science and history; it is far more important, for her eventual success at the community college, that she catch up in mathematics and english.

 

Since you mentioned landry academy I presume Christian-based science is your desire, so you might consider having her read some of John Hudson Tiner's books. Here's a link to the rainbowresource page: http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?subject=11&category=8429

 

I have not used them myself, but I have heard good reviews from others who have used them - they would be a good and inexpensive way to get her some exposure to science (and history) topics while not overwhelming her with academics. At the risk of repeating myself, for science and history I would really try just for exposure at her stage of education.

[Pen]

PS: While she is fired up, maybe you could work out some of her own goals in writing (and a tentative plan for getting there)--that way pushing her would be a reminder of her own goals.

[PeterPan]

You might also look at the Walch Power Basics stuff. It's typical high school content, but with a lower reading level and shorter tasks. I've got the World History, and I like it quite a bit. We're not using it, because we went a different direction, but it's really good. There's a separate text and accompanying workbook. The workbook brings in quite a bit of synthesis (appropriate to her budding logic level thinking). I think there are Power Basics books for science too.

 

There's another company that does the same type of thing, but the name slips my mind. It gets mentioned here on the boards occasionally. Don't forget to try the SN board.

[PollyOR]

There is a thread on the high school board with a link to free study skills lectures.

 

I have a 14yo who has found academics a bit of a struggle. She really likes K12's The Human Odyssey for history. We read it and discuss it together. IEW's SWI-B has been a great fit for writing. SWI-C might have been a better level but I already owned B.

 

Good luck!

[MIch elle]

Since she is 15yo, I would recommend Teaching Textbooks for math. Have her take the TT pre-algebra and algebra placement tests. If she mastered CLE math 6 then she may place in TT algebra 1. If she places in TT alg.1, start with that. I would not recommend Saxon although excellent, it is more demanding than TT. TT is gentler and gets the job done.

 

Again because she's 15yo, I would skip grammar and do only literature and writing. Lightning Literature and Composition 8 is an excellent program. If you must do grammar, I suggest Easy Grammar.

 

For history, I would continue with SOTW and do the outlining. IEW Am.

History Based Writing Lessons are excellent for that period. HippoCampus FREE online videos are excellent for history.

 

BJU Physical Science is excellent. If you can afford BJU online, that's what I would recommend.

 

I wish you the best. :001_smile:

[happyhomemaker25]

Thank you so much everyone! I will look into everything you mentioned. We did TT for two years. She aced everything. She made it all the way to the7th grade level. I could not afford the next year so I started her in 7th grade CLE Math. She was struggling so I thought maybe she needed to back up a year. Still struggling. When I did a placement test she tested at 4th grade math. I thought Thank you for the suggestion, but it just did not work for our family. It was the same thing with my 2nd daughter who has a totally different learning style.

We are going to start with Saxon and if it's too much we will probably look at MUS. It was too much for her a few years ago when we started book 5/4 and that's when I switched to TT. I'm hoping having the DIVE c.d. and either her dad or I sitting with her and helping out she will do better.

I'm really excited as I think she will enjoy the challenge ahead of her for the most part.

[Pen]

Maybe consider a Basic College Math (such as Aufmann) to make sure everything is solid? I don't know if it would be enough for her to then be able to transition to regular Algebra, but Steck Vaughn has a basic Prealgebra workbook that is not very expensive (around $10 on Amazon), and their products seem reasonably user friendly.

[PollyOR]

About math... we use Rod & Staff. Even though I think it is a solid math program my dd struggles with retention. I started using Math Minutes this past year to help my youngest daughter prepare for standardized testing. I liked it so much I now have both my younger girls use it as a daily math review. We use the e-books.

[CyndiLJ]

I am in your boat somewhat, with 3 older adoptees (no attachment issues,thank goodness!) who are in catch up mode and will be graduating with a standard diploma and curriculum at 20/21 years old. I too gave up a little on "rigorous"and realized I needed to focus on our own kind of rigorous!!

 

I second the vote for Power Basics, it is solid. We have not used it as I found something else I like better, but I have two samples at home and it is very well done. What I didn't care for was the lack of color...it is black and white only (Oh yea, and purple!). We needed the lower reading level, but the little bit more challenging work. You might check out the Pearson/Globe Fearon products (Pearson bought them out), as they are 6-12 grade level for history and science, but are written at a little lower level. They are not quite as low as Power Basics, so it fit where we are at a little better, and they are full color standard textbooks. I really, really like the well thought out structure of the texts...not overly busy, very well summarized, key points clearly stated.

 

For science, I have too suggestions but both are not cheap. Nancy Larson Science 4 was just released, and it is GOOD. These are NOT grade levels, this is closer to 6th/7th grade science, but presented in a very clear style, scripted text for the teacher, and everything is in the box that you need for the entire year.

 

Another science program that I would consider a step up from that is Rainbow Science...2 page or so for each lessons, not overly heavy on writing tasks, experiment heavy with everything supplied. Love both Nancy Larson and Rainbow science for our needs!

 

Teaching several ages myself, many with learning challenges or behind the traditional schedule due to learning English, I found that one easy way for me to keep track of what is being read and to be able to ask intelligent questions about comprehension was to use an anthology with a teachers edition that briefly summarizes the story without me having to read it all myself, and then provides me with many in depth questions to ask. Some are terrible...anthologies are not really my favorite because I find typical public school ones to be quite lacking in decent content. However, I am 100% sold on both Mosdos Press for 4-8th, and TextWord for 9-12. Both companies (their products are VERY similar...enough so that you'd think it was the same publisher, but it is not) put together a truly wonderful anthology with worthwhile content that has introduced all my kids to the best authors. Also, they feel very moved by the character based stories (these are secular in nature, by Jewish publishers who put character/morals first in story selection). You might find these helpful.

 

Cindy