munashe Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I am just wondering how much responsibility they have over their daily study. Once you have chosen the curriculum, do you sit with them and see what they are doing? I just want to get an idea of how much involved you are with their day to day work. How do they study? I have a 14 year old daughter and I am just trying to gauge how much responsibility should be on her shoulder. I do find suitable curriculum and resources. It is beyond that I am wondering how much involved you or they are daily. For subject like math, science or literature or even languages, do you just leave them with a book? Do they mark their own work? or do you perhaps show them what needs to be done. What if your child is getting to a point where you aren't very comfortable teaching or showing them? I need to arrange and find a more effective way of managing our daily lives. As we are in UK, she has exams to sit next January but I don't think we have hit the right study spot yet. Any suggestion and ideas welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cottonwood Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I really think this depends on the child, and almost ..depends on the day. My DD13 (7th grade) is exceptionally responsible in most all ways at her age. But she is still a 13 yr old ..so depending on the day, she can be scattered and all over the place without my eagle eye. There are days we sit together a large part of the school day and days we don't see much of each other. Most of the time I've previewed her work to make sure I think she should be left alone for that portion. There are many times where I look ahead and feel more of a need to guide. She likes to be completely alone in her math, but we come together if she struggles with it. Lately though, I may change to actively teaching her math, daily as she is having some problems..not sure yet. I do ask her to check her math work and re-work the problems she got wrong. Then check again, but do NOT change or re-work a second time. With other subjects, she fully gets what to do so I leave her to it but I do make sure I insert myself into her space/activity several times here and there because when I am completely hands off, she acts like, well, a 13 yr old LOL She decides for herself to skip stuff or write down one word answers or skims. I also insist on certain things (neat work, complete sentences, complete all steps, instead of only the ones she chooses, etc) or she is to go back, taking twice or three times as long, and redo. Mostly I know I have to prepare for the week myself, do a lesson plan for the week and continue to check up, some days completely being with her. Sometimes not. I check her work daily so not much is left to 'slide'. I guess I"m saying it's probably going to depend on the kid and the day. I think during the middle yrs it can go either way, but with every year, I do turn a little more over to her and in high school, I will certainly expect more independence with out the shenanigans. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3girls Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Dd12 does her work independently, only coming down to ask a question here and there. However, I do plan the assignments for the week, and remind her of what comes next, once she is done with the current assignment. If given an assignment, she does it, but she tends to wander off into lala land once she's done instead of moving on to the next thing. I grade weekly and return to her to file. While she is filing, she is expected to look through the marks and notes I've made and ask me questions if she doesn't understand. If I see a trend, we have a sit down and work through it. If I see sloppy work or work that needs improvement, it's returned to her for a redo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 For subject like math, science or literature or even languages, do you just leave them with a book? Do they mark their own work? or do you perhaps show them what needs to be done. What if your child is getting to a point where you aren't very comfortable teaching or showing them? I need to arrange and find a more effective way of managing our daily lives. As we are in UK, she has exams to sit next January but I don't think we have hit the right study spot yet. Any suggestion and ideas welcome. I have a 7th grader who is 13. He takes science and Latin at a co op class and is completely independent on those subjects. He is independent with grammar and is 90% independent with his writing curriculum. We do math, history and literature together 100%. With math, I need to be present to instruct and then to immediately correct any errors. We do informal logic, art and poetry as a small "class" with all dc present in a discussion format. We are not yet to the point at which I cannot help with any subject except Latin, which is why it is outsourced. There are many ways to structure a middle schooler's day. How you do so depends on curriculum used, philosophy, parental leanings and the abilities of the student, both academically and in maturity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 My ds soon to be 14 has to be kept on track all. Day. He can do the individual assignments independently but he often wanders off to a game or Legos or minecraft. And I have to reel him back in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I think this will vary from student to student. My 14 year old son is very independent and hardly needs me at all. My 14 year old daughter, on the other hand, craves my input and sometimes needs me to keep her on track during the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicheleinMN Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I am on my fifth 14 year old, and it truly varies by child/student. My eldest son needed daily checking and help with math but did not need me every hour. My eldest daughter needed me for discussion once a week and for math/science corrections but was able to manage her schedule and work load with very little input from me. My now 17 year old son still needs me for most subjects and to keep him on task throughout the day. (Definite ADHD and dyslexic tendencies with him.) My now 15 year old son needs me for corrections in math and science and composition but is better than his older brother about staying on task during the day. My just turned 14 year old daughter is able to keep up with her schedule most of the time. She does need me for corrections and discussions, but I do not have to keep her on task like I do her 17 year old or 12 year old brothers. (Both of those boys also struggle with dyslexia, so I wonder how much that plays into their diligence.) I write out schedules/lesson plans for my children each week. It is a general list of what I expect them to get done each day/week. I don't usually dictate when they are to do each subject but do expect them to understand that there are 4 of them and only one of me, so I can't be available to all of them at the same time. I do not allow my children to correct their own math/science work, and I do try to schedule a day and time for corrections if it's not on the schedule daily. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgehog Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Moominmamma does most of her work independently, and some she marks herself. It has to be said, that working independently is definitely something that is developed over time. As for choosing curriculum, I still do quite a lot of that, but increasingly she has had an input. My aim is for all the kids to gain ownership of their own learning, in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffybunny Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 My 13 year old boy (ADHD and mild ASD) does Math with tutor, extra math work independently, Composition semi-independently, grammar independently. I do science and Omnibus with him: ie I read the text aloud and we interact about the ideas. I really enjoy this part and he engages really well. We do the questions verbally. He does the Apologia science workbook independently. Latin we do together as I'm learning as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munashe Posted February 14, 2014 Author Share Posted February 14, 2014 Thank you all for your replies. My daughter is becoming much more independent however I do feel that perhaps we still should be doing more together. She has some high school students who she works with and help her in Maths and Science. She thinks she doesn't need much of my help. I let her get on with it, she sits with me on the table doing her own work and I don't interfere. I just feel like I don't know much now as I haven't or can't keep up with all her work. I panic a bit and do wonder is she in on track for her exams as I am longer involved as I was. Maybe I should look at it as a positive thing and just accept she is growing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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