Jennay Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 by sharing if you have bought an expensive curriculum to "fix what wasn't broken" and then realized it really wasn't needed. My sons were using Singapore and Life of Fred and I got really behind in correcting/checking their work. I also was having a hard time balancing working with them with all their subjects and still having time for my K'er and Preschooler. So I had them take the placement tests for Teaching Textbooks and one is now working through TT5 and the older son is working through TT Pre-Alg. I do like that they can go do math independently and the automatic grading.......BUT, now I never get around to discussing the concepts WITH them and I cannot diagnose conceptual misunderstandings as clearly as I could before. Using Singapore forced me to interact with them on the material, which I now think was a good thing. I'm not really sure what I was thinking..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarkd Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Oh yes. I have more dusty curriculum sitting in storage than I care to think about....Shurley Grammar (hated it),wwe teachers edition when we already had wkbks so we don't use the tm, Singapore Math, MCP Plaid, and a million early readers that no one ever had interest in....ugh. I bought a bunch of old Cuisinaire math books off ebay because we loved Miquon...overkill! We just keep moving on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 I've done this, too. At least TT has a very high resale value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2TheTeam Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 We are only in 1st. So far, I haven't bought anything I haven't really used except a ton of consumable workbooks from Target and the like for my youngers to use. I also do buy the deluxe version of MFW, but we don't get to many of the deluxe items. So, that is probably a waste, but I still like knowing it is there *if* I ever get around to using it. However, I really appreciate you posting this. It really gave me a perspective I didn't even know I needed. ;) I have 6 kids and often think it would be nice to have them independent as much as possible. But, this is a very good reason not to. I can see myself doing something like this and then not being able to help them because I haven't learned it with them. So, thank you for posting this. I'm sorry you are rethinking though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess4879 Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Umm...yes...we bought SIng Spell Read and Write and really, it worked, but I could have made something much cheaper work too. I also bought Rightstart Math and then decided it wasn't a good fit and now the majority of the components are just taking up shelf space. *sigh* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claluck Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Yes not too expensive though. So far the pricey things I invested in have worked. But I wanted to post what I do to help me keep up with my grading of my kids work. For math anyways. I am the same way I get behind and bogged down at checking the problems. Mine do Math mammoth and fred. For fred they have half sheets of paper they use to do their work on then they check it themselves. Then they circle the ones they got wrong and bring them to me. For MM i check them myself but I do not make them do every problem. Which is nicer for me and them. If I really wanted I could hand them the answers when they are done and let them check it but I don't. Anyways what I make them do is circle any problems they get wrong and try to fix them. Then they hand me their fred or their other work. If they can tell me why they got the circled ones wrong we move on. If they hum and haw over it or aren't sure I work through it with them. This frees me from having to check every problem but being there to help them when they get stuck as well. Occasionally i check their work all the way through on my own and they never know when so it is worthwhile for them to be thorough in the way they check it to avoid the mom lecture. Christina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 I had my youngest son drop American School correspondence school, which had been such an amazing success with his older brother. I let people convince me that he "deserved better". That AS wasn't "fair" to him, and would ruin all his chances of fulfilling his special potential. I attempted a bunch of "better" things which we were not able to complete, being first generation homeschoolers. As he grew up, we fell into a co-dependent relationship where he was very passive-aggressive with me, and the more I tried to help, the lazier he got. I ended out having him take the GED and dumped him in the junior college. I wasted a lot of time, money and tears, for him only to end out in the same place he would have anyway, but he entered a year later with a GED instead of a diploma, and without the opportunity to have interacted directly with high-school teachers other than me. BUT...even our mistakes have their benefits. He did study some interesting things that he wouldn't have, if we had stuck with our original streamlined plan. No matter what, both good and bad things happen for all our choices. Not all is gained or lost. Don't look back other than to advise others about to fall in the same hole. Move forward the best you know how. You will make more mistakes; I promise. Each time, just keep moving forward. If you are first generation, be extra easy on yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 by sharing if you have bought an expensive curriculum to "fix what wasn't broken" and then realized it really wasn't needed. My sons were using Singapore and Life of Fred and I got really behind in correcting/checking their work. I also was having a hard time balancing working with them with all their subjects and still having time for my K'er and Preschooler. So I had them take the placement tests for Teaching Textbooks and one is now working through TT5 and the older son is working through TT Pre-Alg. I do like that they can go do math independently and the automatic grading.......BUT, now I never get around to discussing the concepts WITH them and I cannot diagnose conceptual misunderstandings as clearly as I could before. Using Singapore forced me to interact with them on the material, which I now think was a good thing. I'm not really sure what I was thinking..... Our first year. Not so much one expensive program, but just tons of little things that overlapped and way more than we could do in a year. I've done this, too. At least TT has a very high resale value. This was the other thing I was going to say. One of the things that helped me to bite the bullet and dive into TT was it's great resale value. I am still waiting to see if dd will do TT before I see, but it does seem to go quickly when people sell it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 This might help: The 'What's the worst educational item you ever bought?' thread has been going since 2010 and has 487 replies. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/218008-what-is-the-worst-educationalhs-item-youve-ever-bought/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennay Posted March 16, 2013 Author Share Posted March 16, 2013 Oh yes. I have more dusty curriculum sitting in storage than I care to think about....Shurley Grammar (hated it),wwe teachers edition when we already had wkbks so we don't use the tm, Singapore Math, MCP Plaid, and a million early readers that no one ever had interest in....ugh. I bought a bunch of old Cuisinaire math books off ebay because we loved Miquon...overkill! We just keep moving on. When do you get rid of that dusty curricula? My kids are 10, 9, 5, and 3. There's plenty I didn't use with my older two that I want to get rid of but then I think, "What if it will be the perfect fit for the younger ones?" I hate making those decisions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennay Posted March 16, 2013 Author Share Posted March 16, 2013 I've done this, too. At least TT has a very high resale value. Very true :) I have bought other things that no one is going to want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennay Posted March 16, 2013 Author Share Posted March 16, 2013 I've done this, too. At least TT has a very high resale value. Very true :) I have bought other things that no one is going to want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennay Posted March 17, 2013 Author Share Posted March 17, 2013 We are only in 1st. So far, I haven't bought anything I haven't really used except a ton of consumable workbooks from Target and the like for my youngers to use. I also do buy the deluxe version of MFW, but we don't get to many of the deluxe items. So, that is probably a waste, but I still like knowing it is there *if* I ever get around to using it. However, I really appreciate you posting this. It really gave me a perspective I didn't even know I needed. ;) I have 6 kids and often think it would be nice to have them independent as much as possible. But, this is a very good reason not to. I can see myself doing something like this and then not being able to help them because I haven't learned it with them. So, thank you for posting this. I'm sorry you are rethinking though. I am finding it hard to get the right balance between independent/still work with me time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennay Posted March 17, 2013 Author Share Posted March 17, 2013 Umm...yes...we bought SIng Spell Read and Write and really, it worked, but I could have made something much cheaper work too. I also bought Rightstart Math and then decided it wasn't a good fit and now the majority of the components are just taking up shelf space. *sigh* Thanks for the company :huh: Yes not too expensive though. So far the pricey things I invested in have worked. But I wanted to post what I do to help me keep up with my grading of my kids work. For math anyways. I am the same way I get behind and bogged down at checking the problems. Mine do Math mammoth and fred. For fred they have half sheets of paper they use to do their work on then they check it themselves. Then they circle the ones they got wrong and bring them to me. For MM i check them myself but I do not make them do every problem. Which is nicer for me and them. If I really wanted I could hand them the answers when they are done and let them check it but I don't. Anyways what I make them do is circle any problems they get wrong and try to fix them. Then they hand me their fred or their other work. If they can tell me why they got the circled ones wrong we move on. If they hum and haw over it or aren't sure I work through it with them. This frees me from having to check every problem but being there to help them when they get stuck as well. Occasionally i check their work all the way through on my own and they never know when so it is worthwhile for them to be thorough in the way they check it to avoid the mom lecture. Christina I have done that with LOF - not sure why I didn't also apply that concept to Singapore and MM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennay Posted March 17, 2013 Author Share Posted March 17, 2013 I had my youngest son drop American School correspondence school, which had been such an amazing success with his older brother. I let people convince me that he "deserved better". That AS wasn't "fair" to him, and would ruin all his chances of fulfilling his special potential. I attempted a bunch of "better" things which we were not able to complete, being first generation homeschoolers. As he grew up, we fell into a co-dependent relationship where he was very passive-aggressive with me, and the more I tried to help, the lazier he got. I ended out having him take the GED and dumped him in the junior college. I wasted a lot of time, money and tears, for him only to end out in the same place he would have anyway, but he entered a year later with a GED instead of a diploma, and without the opportunity to have interacted directly with high-school teachers other than me. BUT...even our mistakes have their benefits. He did study some interesting things that he wouldn't have, if we had stuck with our original streamlined plan. No matter what, both good and bad things happen for all our choices. Not all is gained or lost. Don't look back other than to advise others about to fall in the same hole. Move forward the best you know how. You will make more mistakes; I promise. Each time, just keep moving forward. If you are first generation, be extra easy on yourself. Thank you. And yes, sometimes simpler and less complicated is better. I probably should just have given myself permission to take a break from school to catch up instead of getting something new! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennay Posted March 17, 2013 Author Share Posted March 17, 2013 This might help: The 'What's the worst educational item you ever bought?' thread has been going since 2010 and has 487 replies. http://forums.welltr...ve-ever-bought/ LOL - that will definitely make me feel better :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Yes, but it is happening less as I get more experienced. I would say you got to learn a lot about your own preferences and needs as a home schooling parent, so it is not a total loss even aside from resale. Also you might discover that you can blend some TT time with some more parent intensive Singapore time. It is also possible to think something is fine, and then discover it really can be much better than it is, so I have had it go both ways when I have tried something new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.