Resources written to the student. Looking for a list of rich self-teaching materials.

[Chrysalis Academy]

We work very similarly over here, the main difference being I have less to do than you because 1) I have only 2 kids, and 2) the group work (history) is done by my dh at night.  So you have my sympathies!

 

What I have found I need to do is decide for each boy, which subjects (or parts of subjects) he can do independently and which need to be done with me.  So for my younger, he can do these subjects

 

independently:

latin,

mandarin (listening, cards, writing),

Composition (copying over his reports, Some report drafting)

math practice,

nonfiction reading,

literature reading,

spelling study

 

And needs help with these:

mandarin (speaking, obviously need to speak *to* someone

Composition (outlining, editing)

math teaching

Violin practice

grammar

spelling quizzing

 

This was NOT the same list for my older boy when he was 10.  For example, older's best independent subject was grammar, and younger just cannot get it on his own no matter the curricula I try.  It is just a no go.

 

It is actually not the curricula that make the difference for my boy.  Just some things he can do independently, and some he just can't.

 

So I simply make a list for each day with 2 columns for each subject, called 'independent' and 'with mom'. And write (really briefly) how his work is split between each column.  He does not need me every day for each subject, because some days he is just copying over his report, and other days he is drafting. etc.  A week of daily lists takes me 20 minutes to write.  Everything I use is open and go, so there is no intensive planning. When he is done with the work, he takes a yellow highlighter and highlights what he has finished. He knows exactly what he has to do when I am with my older.

 

This seems to be a clear cut way to keep his independent work independent, and let him know what I will help him with.

 

Ruth in NZ

 

This is exactly what I've stumbled on - instead of trying to schedule blocks of time for each child, I now give my older her list in the morning broken down into three columns - do independent, do with me, do all together.  And I have to do this daily, because every single subject switches categories on a regular basis - in fact one of the things I try to balance is not having every subject be do together on the same day!  Everybody does math first thing, then takes a break.  Then, depending on whether Morgan is engaged with some other activity or not, I'll either work with Shannon for awhile, or work with Morgan and send Shannon to do her indie work. I can be flexible and work with Morgan based on her mood, stamina, engagement level, but still have an efficient day, because I can always say to Shannon - go do something on you list.

 

So Shannon's list will have some (but not all on the same day) of the following elements on it:

 

Math (sometimes this is independent, sometimes it's together, sometimes its independent with help.  Sometimes I know this in advance, sometimes I don't!)

 

Together work:

go over writing assignment/revisions/edits (usually once or twice a week)

vocab (half the time it's indie, half the time it's together)

spelling (once a week)

history -prelections/summaries, discussions, and the few things I read aloud

lit/reading discussion

science - projects or activities, discussions, Coursera class

logic/crticial thinking read aloud & discussion

spanish - oral practice

 

 

independent work:

writing assignment

grammar (right now this is Killgallon, independent.  previously w/ MCT it was together)

history - reading and taking notes, writing project

assigned reading

science - reading & taking notes

spanish - online practice

typing

 

 

All together:

Lit read aloud

any documentaries

bedtime read aloud (this isn't actually on the written list, but on my mental list)

[Pen]

As far as documentaries go, anything appropriate for DS11 is OK for DD because he tends toward anxious and she tends toward mature, so they meet in the middle. We sometimes restrict younger DS based on content, but that stuff is removed from the school day, to make it easier to manage. DH is a huge documentary lover, so anything questionable is easily left for nights and/or weekends. (We do some history as a family this way, in the evenings.) Read-alouds are not a big challenge because younger DS is an "advanced listener." It is his gift. A very convenient gift. LOL Mature reading content is made independent or done as read-alouds at night with the target kid(s).

 

Hmmm. Duh. Maybe it is time to move all documentaries to nights and weekends. We all love them anyway and might as well preserve our school hours.

 

They all have the same bedtime, but youngest DS goes to sleep after about 15-30 minutes of reading and my older two stay up more like 1-1.5 hours.

 

 

:lol: This is what we have been doing and where I was going to save time by undoing!

 

I was thinking more interaction between the children on the skills subjects...but leaving you more free to do what you need to do on your own...  I know it is easier with just one, but a lot of the time, I am doing something else (like writing this note) while available to answer questions that come up during independent work. You could listen so that if a child wrongly answered a question, you could help, but 

 

We do watch most documentaries in the evenings, or sometimes when tired and needing a rest, or while eating lunch, but it does not get to take up prime school time.  I've also started getting things that go documentary followed by fiction... for example, documentaries on WW1 followed by a fiction film on that with an attempt at a fiction film to arrive around once a week and non-fiction documentaries the rest of the time. It used to be we had films once a week, but now it has become almost nightly--especially in winter weather and darkness part of year.

 

Today I got a note that said not to remind ds about schoolwork, that he will do it on his own. 

[Pen]

adding... the drift off after "but" was as I was answering questions and then listening to a piece of writing being read out loud, and I lost my track here. I think I meant to say that they might learn from trying to help solve each others confusions, even the younger ones might be able to help the older in some cases.

[Alte Veste Academy]

We work very similarly over here, the main difference being I have less to do than you because 1) I have only 2 kids, and 2) the group work (history) is done by my dh at night.  So you have my sympathies!

 

What I have found I need to do is decide for each boy, which subjects (or parts of subjects) he can do independently and which need to be done with me.  So for my younger, he can do these subjects

 

independently:

latin,

mandarin (listening, cards, writing),

Composition (copying over his reports, Some report drafting)

math practice,

nonfiction reading,

literature reading,

spelling study

 

And needs help with these:

mandarin (speaking, obviously need to speak *to* someone

Composition (outlining, editing)

math teaching

Violin practice

grammar

spelling quizzing

 

This was NOT the same list for my older boy when he was 10.  For example, older's best independent subject was grammar, and younger just cannot get it on his own no matter the curricula I try.  It is just a no go.

 

It is actually not the curricula that make the difference for my boy.  Just some things he can do independently, and some he just can't.

 

So I simply make a list for each day with 2 columns for each subject, called 'independent' and 'with mom'. And write (really briefly) how his work is split between each column.  He does not need me every day for each subject, because some days he is just copying over his report, and other days he is drafting. etc.  A week of daily lists takes me 20 minutes to write.  Everything I use is open and go, so there is no intensive planning. When he is done with the work, he takes a yellow highlighter and highlights what he has finished. He knows exactly what he has to do when I am with my older.

 

This seems to be a clear cut way to keep his independent work independent, and let him know what I will help him with.

 

Ruth in NZ

 

Thanks Ruth. I am now working on coming up with new lists for each kid (and for myself). What I bolded is my personal stumbling block, something I'm seriously evaluating right now. As I look forward, unfamiliar with a lot of what's out there for grades 7/8 through high school, I think part of my cure will be to familiarize myself with my range of options.

[lewelma]

in fact one of the things I try to balance is not having every subject be do together on the same day!

Me too. Plus, when old ds is doing his block writing assignment days where he needs a lot of help, I try to make sure that I find more independent work than normal for younger. So drop grammar, and increase math drill, or whatever.

[Alte Veste Academy]

This is exactly what I've stumbled on - instead of trying to schedule blocks of time for each child, I now give my older her list in the morning broken down into three columns - do independent, do with me, do all together.  And I have to do this daily, because every single subject switches categories on a regular basis - in fact one of the things I try to balance is not having every subject be do together on the same day!  Everybody does math first thing, then takes a break.  Then, depending on whether Morgan is engaged with some other activity or not, I'll either work with Shannon for awhile, or work with Morgan and send Shannon to do her indie work. I can be flexible and work with Morgan based on her mood, stamina, engagement level, but still have an efficient day, because I can always say to Shannon - go do something on you list.

 

 

Maybe my kids are especially needy...or perhaps feral... If I handed everyone a checklist in the morning and tried to be flexible, it would be an unmitigated disaster. They would all "NEED YOU, MOM!!!!!!" at exactly the same time, without a doubt. I need a routine/schedule, for sure. Before our current schedule, I tried to keep them doing basically the same subjects at the same time. It was crazy making. :willy_nilly:

 

Your lists are helpful though! I especially like how slim your "all together" list is since this is probably the biggest area I need to cut...or move. More stealth schooling in the evenings?  :sleep:

[lewelma]

Thanks Ruth. I am now working on coming up with new lists for each kid (and for myself). What I bolded is my personal stumbling block, something I'm seriously evaluating right now. As I look forward, unfamiliar with a lot of what's out there for grades 7/8 through high school, I think part of my cure will be to familiarize myself with my range of options.

Well, I am pretty lucky that my older is very motivated and independent. Plus, he has 2 tutors who set work for Mandarin and violin.

 

Here is what we did for open and go in 7th and 8th:

 

Math: AoPS - written to student, he has worked at his own pace, so no planning at all on my part.

 

Science: physics, we are using Regentrude's schedule, so I spent a few hours adapting it to a high school speed, and now we both just keep to the schedule. As you know, I dedicate 8 weeks to science fairs, which is pretty intense, but dump the rest of their work. There is no planning because I just do the next thing in the process depending on what goes wrong each day. Last year we used IGCSE chemistry. My goal was to teach him how to study for a memory oriented subject, so we tried a bunch of different things. Once again, no planning, just try this and try that each week.

 

English: Last year it was WWS2 and I preread the material over the weekend (about an hour), then worked with him for 1 hour every monday to make sure he really knew what was going on. This year I am going it alone. No planning, because I want him to actually see how to find info on the internet. So he picks a short story, we read, analyse, and write about it. Together, we go on the internet to find additional material about the book, or to find similarly written essays to get a feel for how you write about symbolism etc. Over the summer, I did spend a good 2 weeks trying to decide how I would do this. I found that the easiest and best thing was to just go with the flow. So again, no planning. Each day we discuss what he needs right then. Today, it was passive tense and topic sentences. I have also found quite a few essay compilations, so after lit analysis we will do non-fiction analysis.

 

History/literature: I spend a good 3 days over the summer picking and planning out the boys history books (we using living books and 'trade' nonfiction. And then link them to literature. But after those 3 days, it is just open and go. If we get behind, we get behind and dump a books or I have them read it independently.

 

Mandarin: Have a tutor who gives assignments

 

Violin: have a tutor who gives assignments.

 

So for me, almost everything is open and go after about a few weeks of summer planning. The main thing I spend my time on is actually learning the material so that we can work together. I am currently learning Mandarin, Latin, and algebra-based physics, and I am also writing lit analysis papers that my older can then critique. His 7th grade year was diabolical because I also learned AoPS geometry, number theory, combinatorics, and proof writing/investigation techniques; this in addition to researching appropriately-leveled competition maths materials. But this would not be something you would do, I assume.

 

Point is, as the kids get older, I have found more and more of the materials are open and go, because there are more textbooks to use or non-fiction/living books are longer so not so many have to be scheduled. I do spend a lot of time teaching, just not much time planning except making a general annual plan over the summer. Younger kids schedules and curricula are just so much more fiddly. More subjects for shorter time periods, with a little bit of this and a little bit of that. It is just getting easier to plan as they get older, just more difficult to teach.

 

Ruth in NZ

[lewelma]

Maybe my kids are especially needy...or perhaps feral... If I handed everyone a checklist in the morning and tried to be flexible, it would be an unmitigated disaster. They would all "NEED YOU, MOM!!!!!!" at exactly the same time, without a doubt. I need a routine/schedule, for sure. Before our current schedule, I tried to keep them doing basically the same subjects at the same time. It was crazy making. :willy_nilly:

Me too. I definitely schedule my time into 3 blocks during the day. Typically: 1.5 hours for younger, 1.5 hours for older, back to 1.5 hours for younger. Don't interrupt me when I am with your brother, just pick something else to work on.

 

During block writing with older (3 days every 3 weeks). it is 1.5 hours with younger and 3 hours with older.

[EndOfOrdinary]

I found that spending a good month easing my son into independence was necessary. When I tried to jump into the checklist it would either not get done or every twenty seconds he would need me for some other really tiny issue. When he didn't need me, I would later stumble upon the fact he completely screwed up and we would have to go back and reteach. It was so aggravating for both of us.

 

So I started out chunking up his resources. The first day he just had to read the Latin lesson and give me a five minute summary of the important parts (corrections were caught here, not later after work had been done). Then he just had to do three sets of exercises (our book has about five problems per exercise and often they are quick translations) per day till he got to the reading comprehension passage. Every Friday he reads me the passage, translates, and he answers the questions. This was very doable for him and no longer overwhelming. When the list said Latin, he now could self tend very well. I am fairly sure he will branch into doing his own chunking of the resources sometime in the next year or so. For now, though, that step was essential to success.

 

Over a month we went through each subject. Reading/literature was split between his book discussion book which he just reads and the critical analysis literature we actually study. The critical analysis stuff is done together, but the other is independent.

 

He likes it much more. Something about being independent means he is more willing to push himself.

[Alte Veste Academy]

DS11 works rather well independently, and he loves his checklist. My issue is not so much with his readiness as it is with my need to balance the different types of work we do with the needs and abilities of 3 kids. Right now, I could give DS11 an A-Z checklist of what to do by the end of the day or week and it would get done, even well done (especially now that I have developed more insight about tailoring independent assignments to his strengths). But, ultimately, I do not want him to be as independent as he could be. There are things on his checklist that require me or all of us as a group, so I just have to figure out how to make it all flow. I am working on it...planning, scheduling, thinking...even rearranging furniture! :lol:

 

To be clear, because I know it seems like I am kind of talking in circles, I am interested in increasing DS11's independence to some degree, because he does work well independently. To that end, I am still investigating programs that decrease my planning and increase his (and DD's) independence. But I do not want to go "all the way" independent, and I still have to balance all of our needs with my ultimate vision for our homeschool.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Makes perfect sense.  (I know I keep saying that!) The more you crystallize your description, the more it sounds just like where dd11 is - she can do all of her work independently, but I don't want her to, because that doesn't accomplish all the goals/vision I have for her education and our homeschool.   On days when I give her a checklist, it all gets done, and done well (hurrah! this took awhile).  But there is definitely something . . . missing.  Something huge.  

 

I'll be so interested to hear what you come up with! I'm spending time right now clearing clutter, rearranging bookshelves, taking stock of what I have and what I need to get rid of for what I want . . . .it's head-clearing.  I hope!

[quark]

But, ultimately, I do not want him to be as independent as he could be. There are things on his checklist that require me or all of us as a group, so I just have to figure out how to make it all flow. I am working on it...planning, scheduling, thinking...even rearranging furniture! :lol:

 

I am not able to contribute much because I think we are both in similar situations with our firstborns...and I don't have the issue of also teaching a second and third child...but had to agree with the bolded. Something about rearranging furniture is so helpful for the schedule/ curriculum/ teaching style/flow-perplexed mind. :D

 

Good luck with finding your flow! Things are stable here for now (after some ups and downs in Feb) but will go back to being crazy when he starts another class next month.

 

I might have finally realized that our flow basically equals managing the flux (sigh).

[Alte Veste Academy]

Makes perfect sense.  (I know I keep saying that!) The more you crystallize your description, the more it sounds just like where dd11 is - she can do all of her work independently, but I don't want her to, because that doesn't accomplish all the goals/vision I have for her education and our homeschool.   On days when I give her a checklist, it all gets done, and done well (hurrah! this took awhile).  But there is definitely something . . . missing.  Something huge.  

 

I'll be so interested to hear what you come up with! I'm spending time right now clearing clutter, rearranging bookshelves, taking stock of what I have and what I need to get rid of for what I want . . . .it's head-clearing.  I hope!

 

I declared Spring Break this week (started Monday) because DD's best friends' spring break is this week, something I usually pay attention to, but it slipped my mind this year. Plus, I was sick over the weekend and have been slow to gain strength.

 

I am not able to contribute much because I think we are both in similar situations with our firstborns...and I don't have the issue of also teaching a second and third child...but had to agree with the bolded. Something about rearranging furniture is so helpful for the schedule/ curriculum/ teaching style/flow-perplexed mind. :D

 

Good luck with finding your flow! Things are stable here for now (after some ups and downs in Feb) but will go back to being crazy when he starts another class next month.

 

I might have finally realized that our flow basically equals managing the flux (sigh).

 

Yes! The bolded is exactly right. I have to think of things in terms of evolving and adjusting.