Going back to homeschooling just one child - 6th grade

[parias1126]

Hi all! I homeschooled for thirteen years and even graduated my oldest who is now 21. A couple years ago, I put my three little ones in the public school so that I could spend time working on me. Well, I now work from homes and am extremely busy, but I need to bring my 12 yr old daughter home again due to a redistricting of the public school system. There is no way I will allow her to go to the school we were redistricted to.

 

Anyway, being that I'm working now, I need a to go with a curriculum that is going to be something she can do the majority of it on her own. I need something that talks to the child. Shel oves to read and would do wonderful with a literature based curriculum, but most of them seem as though they are very hands-on for the parent as well.

 

I'm looking at Teaching Textbooks for math since it doesn't require a lot of monitoring from me. As far as the other subjects, I'm really not sure what to look at. I am thinking about Easy Grammar or Growing with Grammar (we used this previously, but I'm not so sure I want to go back to it). She is a pretty good speller and so I'm not sure she needs an actual curriculum instead of spelling being combined along with another subject.

 

I'm totally lost for History and Science as everything I've looked at would require a lot of guidance from me. I'm looking at History Odyssey as well as Pandia Press Science. I am thinking these wouldn't work (this is what we used previously as well).

 

I would love any suggestions you may have. I'm really not sure I want her in a bunch of outside classes that would require me driving all over town and having to be somewhere at certain times as I don't know how many clients I will have and my schedule is crazy.

 

Everyone here has always been so helpful and so I know I've come to the right place. I've homeschooled for so long, but have always had the time to be very hands-on. If that was the case, I know exactly what curriculum I'd be using. Considering the circumstances, I'm totally lost this time around.

 

She also loves art so I'll be needing an art curriculum that is pretty much child led.

 

Thank you!! :)

[jenslp]

I work per diem so some days I'm gone all day and some days I'm home all day.  What we have done is use as much as we can that he can do independently on the days I work, then we still have to do some topics in the evening when I'm home.  I haven't been able to find anything that he can do entirely without me so I'm probably not much help to you.  He can do both LOF and TT on his own, as well as parts of his science since we use CK12 as part of it.  With CK12 he does the assignment and it has an online quiz that it grades automatically.  We just plan the experiment and lab report days for days that I don't work.  Then with history he does the reading from the Kingfisher Encyclopedia as his spine and makes his list of facts without me.  He also can do his mapwork without me using the Map Trek maps.  He still needs my help with additional reading in history and the summaries or outlines.  He can do his Analytical Grammar on his own usually with me checking it later.  He can do his logic on his own  using several books from Critical Thinking Co.  He uses Typing Tutor online for free for typing and does that totally on his own.  He is behind in cursive and still doing handwriting from HWT and he does that on his own.  He needs me for the First Form Latin but that isn't daily so we just schedule it for when I'm home.  He can do most of his reading/lit on his own and then narrate to me what he read when I get home.  Sometimes we have study guides to go with the literature and some he can do alone and some with me.  I think what helps us the most on the days I work is that we have a pretty set schedule of what he does in each curriculum in what order so he knows exactly what to do when I'm not there and what he is allowed to wait for me to help him with.  We have everything planned out with a schedule for him to follow.  So he knows that one day he has to read his history, label his map, and write his list of facts for example.  For writing we started Classical Writing and he can do about half of it on his own since it's pretty well planned out in the student guide for him. 

[8filltheheart]

Welcome back! 

 

What about a pre-planned packaged program like Oak Meadow?   http://www.oakmeadow.com/curriculum/k-8.php  

[Guest]

Heart of Dakota can be very independent for a 12 year old depending on where your child places on the placement chart, and is very literature rich.  My 11 year old is doing RTR this year, and she has a lot of independent boxes that are all wrote directly to her.  We come together for a few things like art appreciation, math, etc., but history/science/bible/etc. she is all able to do on her own.  I absolutely love HOD and how well balanced all the subjects are, and how it has the student start working independently.

 

I see CLE math in your signature, and it can be used independently by some children.  I find with CLE the explanations are so short and clear that it does not require a lot of teaching from me like some other math programs.  I don't recommend Teaching Textbooks for a hands off math approach.  My kids did it a few years ago, and they were going along not understanding the lectures even though they were somehow getting good grades.  I thought they were doing great because of their grades, but I didn't find out until later they were really struggling.  There was very little retention, and when we switched we had to back up and reteach concepts :/.  I use and LOVE CLE now.  Rod and Staff math would be another option because it has clear written lessons the student can read on their own before they do the assignment.  Math is just a subject that I would be really careful being too hands off with.  It is not fun finding that the child was really struggling, and then trying to make up lost time.

[happypamama]

My 9 and 12 yo kids use History Odyssey mostly on their own. I go through it before the year starts and mark what I expect to be a day's worth of work, and they do it and turn it in. They ask questions if needed. I would like to do more discussion with my oldest, but at least I know she's getting a solid history program. Fwiw, she didn't like Story of Mankind, so I got her Human Odyssey instead; it took me a bit to match up its chapters with what TSOM said, but she likes it.

 

For art, Artistic Pursuits can be child-led.