Would it be too much to do Notgrass ATB & VP Self Paced for an 8th grader?

[Mommy7]

I like VP self paced a lot. But, he learned how to work the system and I'm not sure how much he retained from it. It may be getting a little young for him? Also, he may need to visually *see* the text. I'm noticing that he is very visual. (the audio spelling program did not work well for him, for example)

 

So, I could either have him do Notgrass America the Beautiful by itself or combine the two. Would that be overkill?

 

Thanks!

[PeterPan]

He'd be doing one level of the VP history or two? Yes it's getting young for him. My dd did 2 levels of the VP in 7th, and that seemed really young by the end of the year. If your gut is saying move on, move on. Might be a good year for SL 100 (Hakim) or the BJU 8 American Republic. Notgrass ATB didn't call to dd but it certainly is interesting. If you look at the samples and think he'll like it, might work. The one bummer is half is repeating what he already did. There tends to be this big SLIGHTING of modern american history in a full year american study, so it may spend 2/3 of the year covering what he just didn't with VP. Compare the topic lists.

 

How are you liking MFW for your oldest? Maybe get their modern year of the lower (non-high school) level?

[Mommy7]

He would only be doing one level of VP. He did Expl-1815 last year. He would be doing 1815-Present this year. I just realized that at times he was hitting enter over and over until it went through rather than *thinking*. He read lots of great lit. with it, so all was not lost. And of course, there are times in the program when you can't get away with pushing through the system. But, I wondered if Notgrass would force him to think through the concepts and prepare him a little more for high school. He's just not a super motivated type student, so it makes it hard to figure out what is best for him. I'm figuring out that he may have some health issues going on also. Getting that tested this week. So, there may be a very valid reason for his fatigue, but *not* for clicking the enter button until it goes through!!!

 

I really wanted to do Omnibus self paced, but the reading looks so scholarly that it scared me away. I think he would hate that. He already feels in the not so smart category...I don't want to set him up for failure.

 

I am considering doing Easy Classical's Geography with History and Writing with History along with the VP class. That would involve more thinking about the topic and may help. And he would be reading lots of great lit on his own also. OR I could do Notgrass alone OR I could do Notgrass & VP Online. I'll be adding Easy Classical for 3-4 others anyway. So, he could be a part of that or not.

 

Any more thoughts?

[PeterPan]

I'm not sure I could have sat through the self-paced lessons from VP. Nuts, I've never actually sat through them, which just about confirms it, hehe. Some people just aren't meant to learn that way. I like a book, something I can wrap my brain around. If you do it again, require him to make written notes that you initial after each session. That way he's staying more engaged. He can write, draw, whatever, so long as he's making notes, maybe writing a summary sentence at the end. Will be good prep for high school.

 

I haven't used Easy Classical, but it certainly seems reasonable.