9th Grade - Floundering with current curric - need advice

[Tammi K]

I would love to hear some ideas from anyone who's willing. Here's our situation:

Currently I'm teaching my youngest two. Both are heavily involved in figure skating. They skate freestyle and my son (11) also skates pairs. That means 2 coaches and conflicting schedules. We live about 25 minutes from the rink which means that it makes little sense to return home if there is only an hour or two break between lessons- which happens frequently, but not on any kind of regular schedule. So, we frequently find ourselves killing time in the car, stores, or the library (limited hours - budget cuts, ya' know!) There isn't a single day of the week that someone isn't on the ice at least once/day.

 

So, here's the problem. DD(15) is 9th grade. She is perfectly capable but slow as death. She dawdles. It can take her three times as long as her brother to finish the same algebra assignment. I really need some suggestions for portable curriculum that can be done on the fly. (Not ideal, I know. But, life is what it is.) We've used SOS in the past but I'm not sure it would be a good fit for her. Is there anything out there that you know or have used that you could suggest. I really need 'school' that can move with us, at least for her so we can make use of otherwise unproductive hours.

 

Thanks.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

What academic goals do you have? Are you trying to balance challenging school with the skating? Is skating something that will fade away as college time nears or do you expect college to be part time or delayed?

 

I have a swimmer so I feel your pain. It's not just practice te but how tired he is afterward.

 

One thing that has helped us are audiobooks and Great Courses lectures on cd.

[PeterPan]

Sounds like you need something like TT that you can throw on a laptop. Also, as long as there's wifi, you could do the new VP online, self-paced Omnibus that is coming out. Or buy a couple Teaching Company courses to throw onto the laptop. She can watch them at the rink and read book lists you make. For science, well BJU, DIVE...

[Nscribe]

Ditto on the Teaching Company. I have also found some of the Thinkwell stuff works for Dd as part of what she does. For foreign languages, there are some workbooks supplements that can travel well (Ex: Practice Makes Perfect Spanish Verb Tenses). I really put a great deal of work into creating a package of learning, culling fluff. It costs a bit more and requires a lot of time on my part, but for us at this stage it works.

 

Dd is on the road/in the lobby/on hold in cafe between this and that seven days a week. We had a bit of the dawdles hit along the way and while I did take a hard look at ways to make accomodate her, ultimately she had to decide the work would not go away or become less by dragging heels.

[Starr]

She's going to have to make very good use of time on the subjects that don't transport as well. TT teaches in small increments. Sometimes they need videos to do the teaching, not just reading. I think you also need to sit down and talk with her about school work and skating. Is she fooling around or is she really distracted? If you cancel a lesson or two because her work isn't done will she buckle down and get it done? Do you have 1/2 days at home? Early morning school or no skating? Are head phones and a laptop possible? Can you make any kind of daily schedule? Just some things to think about. I wouldn't think she would get much done in an hour break, she's just regrouping in that much time.

[Lolly]

What makes something portable? Do you have laptops that can be taken with you? Do you have wifi available? (We've been known to hit McD's and get drinks and fries to use theirs.) I think pretty much everything we have used, minus labs, has been portable. Not much fun to carry everything, but a couple of subjects at a time=no problem.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I would love to hear some ideas from anyone who's willing. Here's our situation:

Currently I'm teaching my youngest two. Both are heavily involved in figure skating. They skate freestyle and my son (11) also skates pairs. That means 2 coaches and conflicting schedules. We live about 25 minutes from the rink which means that it makes little sense to return home if there is only an hour or two break between lessons- which happens frequently, but not on any kind of regular schedule. So, we frequently find ourselves killing time in the car, stores, or the library (limited hours - budget cuts, ya' know!) There isn't a single day of the week that someone isn't on the ice at least once/day.

 

So, here's the problem. DD(15) is 9th grade. She is perfectly capable but slow as death. She dawdles. It can take her three times as long as her brother to finish the same algebra assignment. I really need some suggestions for portable curriculum that can be done on the fly. (Not ideal, I know. But, life is what it is.) We've used SOS in the past but I'm not sure it would be a good fit for her. Is there anything out there that you know or have used that you could suggest. I really need 'school' that can move with us, at least for her so we can make use of otherwise unproductive hours.

 

Thanks.

 

A couple more thoughts.

 

How does she normally do with learning on the computer? With my eldest there is a point of diminishing return where he is watching a lesson but not really learning. I've restricted computer based lessons to just foreign language and his physics problem solving (his physics text is a book but his problem solving homework is done online).

 

For literature books are very portable. His copy of Jane Eyre was well annotated and more than a little water damaged from reading between events. We also use many "real" books for history and those travel well.

[Mom22ns]

What makes something portable? Do you have laptops that can be taken with you? Do you have wifi available?

 

This is the first thing I think you need to define. The next is what subjects are you specifically looking for?

 

If you have a laptop available, Apologia Science full course CDs are very portable. No laptop - bad choice.

 

The same is true of TT. I would actually call Lial's Math series more portable because all the teaching and the answer key are all in one reasonable sized book.

 

LA: Excellence in Lit is very portable with a laptop. Buy the downloadable PDF, and almost all the books are free in ebook format.

 

History: It seems like most things are portable, just grab a book.

 

So, what are you looking for and what are your parameters?

[Jen in NY]

One other thought... any hope of switching up your sleep schedule? For a while when my oldest was trying to dance 15hrs a week, work a part time job 10hrs, and do some serious school, she found that it was impossible to do anything in between or after dance. So she got up every day at ~5:30 and did 4 hours worth of work before my son's feet even hit the floor. She went to bed by 10 every night....and it worked really well for her. She doesn't dance anymore, but she's still my early riser, and is usually up and at her work by 7ish. I think she likes getting as much as she can out of the way before her "day" begins.

 

You would think the other two might take note and see how well it's working out.... alas they are sleeping at the time. :rolleyes:

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Sorry I got interrupted.

 

DS has to try to take advantage of little bits of time. 10 min with flash cards. 30 min with a book. He has to leave the house with something to fill those moments.

 

If you can get both kids on the same history topic then commuting time can be used for lectures.

 

The last thing is to get the coach on your side if possible. I had to talk with ds's coach about which practice to skip when he fell behind in school. Now coach is helping encourag ds on time management too.

[FaithManor]

Hmmm

 

A lot depends on the goal. We've never personally had an extra-curricular in which we had to figure out how to get it all in. Our kids are into geeky things, science fairs, competitive rocketry, etc. which makes it easy to work into our schedule. So take this for what it's worth because it doesn't stem from personal experience.

 

I think I would be inclined to extend my goals through a 5th year. A gap year that has both academics and final preparation for whatever the plan is post high school might be wise. Focus would be on core subjects always, but with the option of not adding electives until "11th grade" which would allow a third year of foreign language in the final year, or making up in the arts, or whatever. Essentially, the pace would slow, but the agenda would remain. I would definitely talk to my child about making good use of time, try to help her figure out what that means for her, and look for the tools that will help her succeed. However, I'd make sure she understands that to pursue an extra-curricular to such extent, requires one to step up to the plate and focus, focus, focus.

 

If planning a 5th year, I'd then consider allowing algebra 1 to extend an extra semester. Algebra is the core of all further mathematics. Bad algebra 1 skills = misery and struggle in future math. I do not believe in rushing. So, if she is already somewhat overwhelmed by the subject, I'd begin by going very slowly and methodically through the curriculum and not worry about whether or not it gets done this year - just so long as she understands it when it is finally completed. Also, many, many kids hit the wall in algebra because arithemetic skills and logical thinking as it pertains to math (understanding the cues of the language in story problems), failure to truly understand decimals and percents (many kids will memorize common fractions and their percentile equivalents which gets them by without ever truly understanding how to convert between them and WHY they work the way they do - this just smacks them hard when they hit algebra), etc. I would look at the possibility of using Lial's Basic College Mathematics book (10 chapters) which is an excellent review of all of the necessary skills that lead to algebra 1 (I've also heard good things about the "Key to ____" series, but I've never used it so you may want to ask around here), and then begin algebra 1 again. Let her be on a path to trig/pre-calc in that "gap" year. Since transcripts only require that you list the courses accomplished in the last four years of school, you need not list algebra 1 anyway because the assumption is that if she took algebra 2 and geometry, she obviously took algebra 1 before that.

 

I second that the Great Courses are great! They are not stand alone courses...you need to add to them with independent writing assignments, additional reading, make sure they are using the lectures as an opportunity to learn to take notes, etc. But, they could be watched in the car or while waiting for a sibling to finish a lesson, etc. and then the assignments accomplished at home. Extra reading can be done in the car if the student doesn't get car sick. If car sickness is an issue, possibly audiobooks would be another option.

 

I second the idea of approaching the coach. While I can't say much for the coaches at our local PS (they routinely pressure the teachers to inflate grades in order to keep their pet players eligible) it seems that for community sports and individual lessons, the coaches seem to have a more supportive attitude towards academics. He/she may have some wisdom to share and may be more than willing to help keep the kids focused. Sometimes a, "Hey, I told your mom that if you are getting behind in math, we need to reduce your practice time for a while because it's really important that you learn math!" is a real motivator.

 

Faith

[Corraleno]

One thing that has helped us are audiobooks and Great Courses lectures on cd.

:iagree:

 

My son fences 5-6 days/wk (about 20-24 hrs total per week) plus he travels for competitions. He has an iPod touch loaded with audiobooks, Teaching Company lectures for history and literature, Quizlet flashcards for Latin and Greek, and the audio exercises for his Turkish text. An hour in the car every day adds up to 5-6 hours/wk — over the course of a year, that's a whole "subject." He also keeps a couple of books in his locker at the club, so he can read if he has downtime.

 

My DD fences and does violin & orchestra, but she's only 10, so she has less schoolwork. She does have a Kindle, though, so she can read or listen to audiobooks in the car or while she waits for her brother.

 

There are a lot of textbooks available for Kindle and iPad now, plus you can load audio books, audio or video Teaching Co (or OCW) lectures, PDF books, etc.

 

Jackie

[Sebastian (a lady)]

 

:iagree:

 

My son fences 5-6 days/wk (about 20-24 hrs total per week) plus he travels for competitions. He has an iPod touch loaded with audiobooks, Teaching Company lectures for history and literature, Quizlet flashcards for Latin and Greek, and the audio exercises for his Turkish text. An hour in the car every day adds up to 5-6 hours/wk — over the course of a year, that's a whole "subject." He also keeps a couple of books in his locker at the club, so he can read if he has downtime.

 

My DD fences and does violin & orchestra, but she's only 10, so she has less schoolwork. She does have a Kindle, though, so she can read or listen to audiobooks in the car or while she waits for her brother.

 

There are a lot of textbooks available for Kindle and iPad now, plus you can load audio books, audio or video Teaching Co (or OCW) lectures, PDF books, etc.

 

Jackie

 

Oh I forgot about Quizlet. They have an iPod app now that quizzes through the flashcard deck that you put in.

[1Togo]

If their practice schedule isn't in the morning, then I would complete difficult/time consuming/research courses before leaving the house. In our house that would be math, composition, science and foreign language (Latin). Those classes require more concentration and/or materials, so we couldn't do them on the road. Then, you could use car time for reading and portable, backpack courses. We've used Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum, which has good courses for history, geography, and a few high school electives. PACES has a good government course. Smarr has reading guides that can be printed and popped into a 1/2 inch binder; add book and travel. Perhaps dividing the work into the courses that need to be done before leaving the house and the backpack portion of the day will help. The same ideas apply if their practice schedule is in the morning. Take the backpack courses and reserve the afternoon for a set of core courses.

Also, Math Relief has excellent Algebra I and II courses. The instructor is a gifted Algebra teacher, and MR has made math enjoyable in our house.

[Pam L in Mid Tenn]

Going the low tech route here:

 

Does she enjoy reading? How about a book list and oral narrations? Maybe listen to a classic in the car while commuting?

 

Time at home could be for math. A traditional textbook and notebook? Something computer based at home? Not everyone has a laptop, smartphone, or ipad.

 

My boys sometimes have days where they have to be in town "during school." We pack a backpack with things that do not require the computer.

Think through: what must be done at home?, what can you listen to while driving? what can be done easily at the rink? what can be done on saturday or a "different" time?

 

A "different time" idea... When my girls were younger, they would read the literature assignment at bedtime. They enjoyed reading in bed at night and it cleared up a whole time slot during our day.