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Doubting . . .


ByGrace3
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I think I just need some input/advice about when you doubt. The 'ol, are we doing enough?

 

A little background-- I desire my children to have a truly academic experience, and I expect it to start early. I believe in early academics. We did get to a point last year that my dd was "hating" too many aspects of school and I really regrouped and changed strategies.

 

So, I have achieved my new goal of relaxing some and bringing the enjoyment of learning to our experience. Things are so much better! Good right?

 

But then I doubt! If I were to send them to school we would send them to a private Christian school and our goal has always been to keep our kids at that level or beyond so if we did want them to transition at some point (no plans to stop homeschooling, just in the back of our minds as a what if) they would be able to.

 

Can someone assure me that we are ok? ;) or maybe...we aren't? I can hear that too! ;)

 

Dd is 7, finishing 2nd grade

Finishing MM 3A

Currently reading Henry and Ribsy

Writing-- taking a laid back approach after dropping WWE, we are narrating from reading (goal is at least 2x week) and doing copywork 1x week and dictation 2x week

FLL 2

AAS 4

History and science are fine...she loves them and we are enjoying the journey there.

We do Spanish here and there. Not consistently but they have learned some.

 

I know we are fine. But why do I doubt?!? Especially in writing because we "dropped" the curriculum. I am panicking about being relaxed. How ridiculous is that! :) next year for third grade writing, I plan to continue narration WWE style and do dictation/copywork ala BW the Arrow, adding in some BW Jot it Down fun projects. Is this enough? I look at MP and see the writing, latin, the lit guides, and I think, sheesh, that would be a lot! So are we slacking? I guess I just think, I have smart kids and I don't want to short change them. I want them challenged but not doing busywork...

 

I think I have decided I want a SL experience with a MP outcome.... And I am struggling to make that work!

 

Can someone help or just tell me I am crazy! ;)

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I think it's probably normal to doubt at that point. It sounds like your DD is getting a great education. Sometimes it's hard to remember that when they're early elementary, they're LITTLE. We expect them to be doing middle school and high school things because that's what WE remember doing. They're not there yet!

 

I looked at MP some today, and I think a lot of the guides looked the same and would probably get really boring after a while. :tongue_smilie: I'm using SL this year and next, while adding in Latin and strong grammar and writing. I feel comfortable with how his curriculum would compare to the private school he came from. He's doing less creative writing and no journaling, but he's writing an appropriate amount for his age and learning to write a solid paragraph.

 

Early academics doesn't have to mean killing them with middle school amounts of work. You want to build a strong foundation, and it looks like you're doing that. Less is more at this age. ;)

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I will give you my two cents. Please forgive me if this is overboard, but I think I have similar goals and outlook as you. For us homeschooling is best for now, and we plan to continue through middle school. However, I want my kids to be ready to go back to school if the necessity arises, and definitely to be ready to go to high school since that seems like the plan right now.

 

I think it is not tremendously difficult to keep up with what the local schools are doing as well as pursuing your own homeschooling goals. If you want to try to ensure your kids are keeping abreast with public/private schools, here is what I suggest.

 

First, use a reliable scope and sequence list(s) in order to make sure you are covering standard content. The Core Knowledge K-8 Sequence is excellent in terms of content goals, and is a free download from their website. Concerning skills, take a look at the Common Core or California’s version of the Common Core standards and make sure you are covering those by grade level. If your local school or state has a scope and sequence, then that is also very good to look at to help you plan.

 

Second, have your kids do a standardized test every year. I recommend this to everyone since I believe it is important for kids to learn how to take these sorts of tests and become comfortable and confident with them. Also, a standardized test will tell you where your child measures up compared to the average. Every year after getting the results back, I find a couple of areas where my kids need extra work. I am happy that I do the tests because then I am able to try to close any major gaps.

 

Third, you may want to augment your writing program. I am not familiar with some of the programs you mentioned, so perhaps you are already planning for that. I mainly use a combination of IEW (SWI-A and then SICC-A) plus Winning with Wriitng. IEW teaches stylistic techniques better than anything else I have seen, and Winning with Writing teaches solid paragraphs and all or most of the standard public school writing assignments which children are expected to learn according to grade level. I use WWE sometimes to help with summarizing practice and listening comprehension. Of course there are many other quality writing programs out there which could probably fit the bill.

 

Fourth, other areas which you may be covering but didn’t list are of secondary importance compared to the 3R’s, but still of some degree of importance. These are geography (both map skills and general geography knowledge), civics/government/basic economics, state history/knowledge, basic music appreciation, and basic art/drawing skills. If the 3R’s are not solid, then I would just concentrate on the 3R’s. However, if the core curriculum is going well, it is good to add general content knowledge in these secondary areas. This is beneficial for life and well as for other important skills including reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.

 

Fifth, read these books:

--The Knowledge Deficit (Hirsch)

--Why Don't Students Like School: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom (Willingham)

These are the very best education books I have read. They based on solid data and research, and they are the most useful and highest quaility resources for homeschooling I have found so far.

 

Finally, don’t panic. However, it is always good to be a little bit scared in order to stay on your toes and try to avoid big gaps. Sorry if this is far more than you asked, but I have been thinking quite a bit about this lately and decided to write it all down.

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I think it's probably normal to doubt at that point. It sounds like your DD is getting a great education. Sometimes it's hard to remember that when they're early elementary, they're LITTLE. We expect them to be doing middle school and high school things because that's what WE remember doing. They're not there yet!

 

I looked at MP some today, and I think a lot of the guides looked the same and would probably get really boring after a while. :tongue_smilie: I'm using SL this year and next, while adding in Latin and strong grammar and writing. I feel comfortable with how his curriculum would compare to the private school he came from. He's doing less creative writing and no journaling, but he's writing an appropriate amount for his age and learning to write a solid paragraph.

 

Early academics doesn't have to mean killing them with middle school amounts of work. You want to build a strong foundation, and it looks like you're doing that. Less is more at this age. ;)

 

 

Thanks. So true. I don't want to overwhelm her by asking too much...but at the same time I want to be sure we are doing more than "enough". Crazy balance in my head! ;)

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I will give you my two cents. Please forgive me if this is overboard, but I think I have similar goals and outlook as you. For us homeschooling is best for now, and we plan to continue through middle school. However, I want my kids to be ready to go back to school if the necessity arises, and definitely to be ready to go to high school since that seems like the plan right now.

 

I think it is not tremendously difficult to keep up with what the local schools are doing as well as pursuing your own homeschooling goals. If you want to try to ensure your kids are keeping abreast with public/private schools, here is what I suggest.

 

First, use a reliable scope and sequence list(s) in order to make sure you are covering standard content. The Core Knowledge K-8 Sequence is excellent in terms of content goals, and is a free download from their website. Concerning skills, take a look at the Common Core or California’s version of the Common Core standards and make sure you are covering those by grade level. If your local school or state has a scope and sequence, then that is also very good to look at to help you plan.

 

Second, have your kids do a standardized test every year. I recommend this to everyone since I believe it is important for kids to learn how to take these sorts of tests and become comfortable and confident with them. Also, a standardized test will tell you where your child measures up compared to the average. Every year after getting the results back, I find a couple of areas where my kids need extra work. I am happy that I do the tests because then I am able to try to close any major gaps.

 

Third, you may want to augment your writing program. I am not familiar with some of the programs you mentioned, so perhaps you are already planning for that. I mainly use a combination of IEW (SWI-A and then SICC-A) plus Winning with Wriitng. IEW teaches stylistic techniques better than anything else I have seen, and Winning with Writing teaches solid paragraphs and all or most of the standard public school writing assignments which children are expected to learn according to grade level. I use WWE sometimes to help with summarizing practice and listening comprehension. Of course there are many other quality writing programs out there which could probably fit the bill.

 

Fourth, other areas which you may be covering but didn’t list are of secondary importance compared to the 3R’s, but still of some degree of importance. These are geography (both map skills and general geography knowledge), civics/government/basic economics, state history/knowledge, basic music appreciation, and basic art/drawing skills. If the 3R’s are not solid, then I would just concentrate on the 3R’s. However, if the core curriculum is going well, it is good to add general content knowledge in these secondary areas. This is beneficial for life and well as for other important skills including reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.

 

Fifth, read these books:

--The Knowledge Deficit (Hirsch)

--Why Don't Students Like School: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom (Willingham)

These are the very best education books I have read. They based on solid data and research, and they are the most useful and highest quaility resources for homeschooling I have found so far.

 

Finally, don’t panic. However, it is always good to be a little bit scared in order to stay on your toes and try to avoid big gaps. Sorry if this is far more than you asked, but I have been thinking quite a bit about this lately and decided to write it all down.

 

Thanks! I really don't desire to match public schools...I want to be way above at least where our local schools are. (That will vary for region I am sure!) I want way more for my kids than what they would get in public school...

 

I have thought about standardized tests and while I may eventually..I don't want to cloud up a great classical sequence with the feeling of needing to teach to the test.

 

A for "extra" subjects..she takes piano, does "draw write now" occasionally, and I am looking at more for art, maybe online drawing classes, we do geography within history studies, and she is a competitive gymnast so spends a lot of time in the gym :)

 

I am looking forward to using BW for writing next year ...I just think I will be perpetually questioning myself especially in writing because I am not following a "laid out" curriculum...but I think my kids will thrive and I need to get over it! :lol:

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  • 4 months later...

Thanks! I really don't desire to match public schools...I want to be way above at least where our local schools are. (That will vary for region I am sure!) I want way more for my kids than what they would get in public school...

 

...

 

I just wanted to add to this thread (which is a couple of months old -- I'm still catching up on the board after a crazy spring/summer!) that Mrs. Twain's outline above is not really designed to match public school standards, but to ensure that the child is working to those standards as a minimum.  It is common to hear comments on this board that children educated a la WTM methods are not writing at the level of their peers, in terms of paragraphs &c.  So if you want the children writing to the level of their peers in the best public schools, as a minimum, the plan of IEW + WWW will get you there. 

 

I do know that many children in public schools are "meeting standards" but actually writing poorly.  However, at the end of first grade we noticed that A. was writing at a significantly lower level than the children of DH's coworkers.  So we have adapted our curriculum.  Lots of folks are not concerned with this; but people who want to keep the child able to move into a B&M school might want to hold it in mind. 

 

ETA -- just wanted to note that I'm not suggesting IEW & WWW are the only (or the best -- we're trying to replace IEW at the moment) way to these goals, writing-wise.  And I agree with everything farrarwilliams says below.  Though my children lack the arts education of hers!!!  At our house we are not trying to have our children be the "best" or the "smartest", but I do want these particular children working at at the least the level of their peers (neurotypical children of other scientists) academically.  We never compare them to specific other children, and we are teaching them to celebrate the accomplishments of other children, esp. when those accomplishments seem to surpass their own (which is sometimes the hardest time to celebrate them!)  We view excellence as worthy of celebration and as an opportunity to improve our own work with the goal of continually growing & learning, not of matching another person's accomplishments or achievements. 

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Okay, this is just my two cents, but I see it a little differently...

 

I want to do a better job than the public schools, absolutely.  However, comparing my kids on every subject and every skill at every level is like running the same race.  I don't want to run the same race.  For some subjects, we're on such a different path, that it's comparing apples to oranges.  Don't get me wrong, I'm hoping my apples are fresh Honeycrisp to their funky off-season juice oranges, but if I judged each skill and piece of information that a public school kid might know by the stuff we've done, then I would make myself crazy.  Inevitably there will be things ps kids learn that my kids don't learn until later.  And inevitably there will be kids in ps who are smarter than my kids and excel and thinking about those kids will really make me crazy.  Because that's just how the world works.  Someone's always smarter than you, no matter who you are, you know?

 

My kids have done world history up to 1900 - I wouldn't expect them to know whatever random stuff the ps kids know, especially if it's 20th century history or culture (that's this year...).  My kids can do a paragraph of dictation, which most ps kids would be lost on, but they found the "correct the error" multiple choice of the standardized test we took to be completely baffling.  My kids can discuss art and identify artists.  They have a lot of time in nature and can identify things.  They have had a lot of time to play around with programming and electronics.  They've made their own movies.  They still have their imaginations.  They know how to go to the store on their own.  They can read and discuss what they're reading.  They draw their own comics.  Basically, I'm happy with where they are.

 

And, most importantly, at the end of the path, when everyone "finishes" their schooling, I'm confident that my kids will be in a good place and will be ahead of most kids in their experiences, their exposure to ideas, their basic math, geography, writing, etc.  And I'm confident that they won't hate learning and that they'll have taken the scenic route and mostly enjoyed themselves and been challenged along the way.  But it's that endpoint that I have in mind.  And if I'm constantly comparing and measuring and worrying, then I'll never get there.

 

Okay, I thought of a quicker way to say it...  Keep your eyes on your own paper!

 

ETA: D'oh.  Old thread.  How did I not see that!

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I have two dc finishing up grade 1 and I go through the exact same thing. One day I am overwhelming them with too much school work and the next I am trying to have a more relaxed approach to homeschooling. It seems the more I try to implement more things and start throwing in  all kinds of extras and supplements my dc really began to dread hs and so do I. When I take a more relaxed approach we all enjoy it more and they seem to  learn more this way. Then I start keeping myself up at night worrying if it is enough and so the cycle begins again. I found that less is more when homeschooling as long as the child is progressing my goals are met. After looking at your line up it looks like more than enough  to me.It seems we all go through it and we just need to hear every now and then that we are doing enough. You are not crazy, just a good mother. Trust me  most people I know who have their kids in private or public school can't even tell you what their kids are learning.

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