zarabellesmom Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 This year, for the first time I'll have two to homeschool (last year, my youngest went to a Montessori school). I spent the last half of my oldest's third grade year trying to make her more independent by giving her work she can tackle on her own. It seems that independent work equals worksheets at our house. Before that point, we did lots of things together and were a lot less dependent on workbooks. I'm not sure why this bothers me, it certainly doesn't seem to bother DD. It just seems so schooly and not at all what I imagined when I pictured us homeschooling. Fact vs. reality is really kicking my rear. I'm really trying to streamline things and not create busywork, but I still need her busy when I'm helping my first grader. How do you find a balance. This year my fourth grader will be using Beast Academy worksheets W&R Narrative 1 worksheets Nancy Larson Science which includes worksheets for review HWOT worksheets...I offered to cut this, but her handwriting isn't great and she wanted to keep it Language Mechanic more worksheets ARGH!!! also, non-worksheety Sequential Spelling SOTW we read and do a lapbook page and make a timeline MCT Poetry Bravewriter teas I hope and some projects with my youngest Tell me this is ok, or tell me how to make this better using the materials I already have. Teresa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Independent work for early/middle elementary can also mean writing a paragraph or sentence, drawing a picture or map, reading a book, that sort of thing. Honestly, at that age, if your older child can do some math problems, a bit of writing, and some reading without you right there, I think you're doing pretty well! I wouldn't expect the younger one to do anything on their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Do you really care if I think it is ok? lol The question is: If you dd is happy with it, what can you change so that you like it better, dd is still happy with it, and it still meets your need for her to work alone? Worksheets certainly require the least effort on your part. Are you willing to take the time to set up workstations or hands-on projects that accomplish the same thing as the worksheets? These are things to think about that will either bring you to terms with continuing to use the worksheets that your dd likes or will spur you on to spend time putting together something different. HTH- Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zarabellesmom Posted July 18, 2014 Author Share Posted July 18, 2014 I like the idea of workstations and hands on projects. :) In reality, I need things clearly spelled out for me with a list of materials and instructions. And I want things to not be messy. LOL This is a child who will NOT clean up after herself. She leaves a path of destruction in her wake. And she's not by nature independent. She's my challenging child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 I like the idea of workstations and hands on projects. :) In reality, I need things clearly spelled out for me with a list of materials and instructions. And I want things to not be messy. LOL This is a child who will NOT clean up after herself. She leaves a path of destruction in her wake. And she's not by nature independent. She's my challenging child.Well, you could start with eliminating or transforming just one of the workbooks. Is there one that you look at and think that it would translate well into a project or workstation?Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 In my world, independent work is anything she does without me holding her hand. So for my 7th grader, that can mean worksheets, but also writing papers, reading, projects, etc... Given her age, if you give it another year or two, your DD will be much more capable of non-worksheet independent work then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 For example, can you take Language Mechanic and set it up as a hands-on project. (I don't know anything about Language Mechanic.) Are there sentences that can be typed out as strips so that the parts of the sentence can be cut apart and analyzed on a cork board? Or in an ongoing journal type book where she can paste things? Or leave out a white board where she does the work there instead of a workbook? Is is set up in units where each unit could be assembled as a lapbook? Is any of this possible? Would it make it feel less workbook-y to you? Would your dd like it? HTH- Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zarabellesmom Posted July 18, 2014 Author Share Posted July 18, 2014 For example, can you take Language Mechanic and set it up as a hands-on project. (I don't know anything about Language Mechanic.) Are there sentences that can be typed out as strips so that the parts of the sentence can be cut apart and analyzed on a cork board? Or in an ongoing journal type book where she can paste things? Or leave out a white board where she does the work there instead of a workbook? Is is set up in units where each unit could be assembled as a lapbook? Is any of this possible? Would it make it feel less workbook-y to you? Would your dd like it? HTH- Mandy Oooh! Good idea. I don't think I could make that work with Language Mechanic as easily as I can with MCT sentence analysis. I'm totally going to do this with the whiteboard in the playroom! Any other great ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almondbutterandjelly Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 For science, could she do a lapbook or something similarly creative instead of the review worksheets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Art projects, listening to a book, puzzles, building a set or favorite scene from a book, writing a letter, making a snack (with directions to follow), computer game, matching games... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zarabellesmom Posted July 18, 2014 Author Share Posted July 18, 2014 For science, could she do a lapbook or something similarly creative instead of the review worksheets? I'm not even sure she needs the review worksheets. She seems to remember everything we do for science without the review sheets. I may just eliminate this entirely and keep to the hands on stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zarabellesmom Posted July 18, 2014 Author Share Posted July 18, 2014 Art projects, listening to a book, puzzles, building a set or favorite scene from a book, writing a letter, making a snack (with directions to follow), computer game, matching games... She does a lot of this on her own time without direction. Well, maybe not writing a letter, but that's a great idea. She likes sending mail to Grandma, and Grandma usually sends mail back, so that's great fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofgmd Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Sounds like she's doing great! When my kids were that little, they actually enjoyed the worksheets. I like the suggestions above for working more hands on time in her day. Even having her illustrate her science. Draw a picture of what you learned today and give it a title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zarabellesmom Posted July 18, 2014 Author Share Posted July 18, 2014 Sounds like she's doing great! When my kids were that little, they actually enjoyed the worksheets. I like the suggestions above for working more hands on time in her day. Even having her illustrate her science. Draw a picture of what you learned today and give it a title. Good idea. She really likes drawing. She'll like this idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 These are things my third grader did on his own last year: Workbook pages from Singapore math Reading for literature and history Note taking for history, as simple as writing two facts he learned from the reading A couple of History Pockets, through he didn't love them, so we didn't do more. Maps for history HWOT pages, followed by copywork Worksheets from Mr. Q, including short answer questions Reading and studying dictations from WWE3 before repeating them back to MER and then writing them on paper. Typing Music program on the computer Mango language on the computer Geography and math drill games on the computer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 There are worksheets and then there are worksheets. (I include workbooks in both of those.) By that I mean there are busywork worksheets and stupidwork worksheets, and then there are some really well done, quality worksheets/books. Just because you can write on the same page as the teaching material and/or questions (rather than a textbook where you write separately, or a teacher book with separate manipulatives or other hands on work), doesn't mean it's busywork. My MIL gave me 4 boxes of books from her teaching days and I got rid of/sold/gave away 3 of them--busy/stupid work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 The Robinson curriculum is ALL about independence and doesn't use any worksheets or workbooks. http://users.gobigwest.com/rosegate/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Not at all. Independent work could include: Art projects puzzles playing with manipulatives doing science experiments watching a video nature journaling in the back yard copying a picture from a science book reading taking something apart to see how it works exploring/investigating items of interest computers listening to music or books on tape Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 I don't think most nine year olds are ready to be independent learners. I am also not a fan of worksheets, but perhaps that is because my son had a natural aversion to them! Other than math, the first workbook/worksheets my son did was when he did Analytical Grammar in middle school. We used rubber stamps for spelling, science kits, card games for grammar, all kinds of things. As he got into his later elementary years, he had some assignments he worked on independently, with that gradually increasing over the years. We still do literature together - it's a bit hard to discuss a literary work all by yourself! Have you looked for ways to combine your kids so that you can work with both of them at the same time? At their ages, it should still be relatively easy to combine history and science, at least as far as discussion goes. They could easily do different follow up assignments, although if they are both using SOTW and you use the accompanying activity books, the suggestions are all there for you. Can you turn the grammar work (is that what Language Mechanic is?) into some folder games or folder activities? Evan-Moor and Scholastic have great folder games. You can easily change up the contents. I like Evan-Moor better because many of their books contain everything you need - you just cut the pieces apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zarabellesmom Posted July 20, 2014 Author Share Posted July 20, 2014 I don't think most nine year olds are ready to be independent learners. I am also not a fan of worksheets, but perhaps that is because my son had a natural aversion to them! Other than math, the first workbook/worksheets my son did was when he did Analytical Grammar in middle school. We used rubber stamps for spelling, science kits, card games for grammar, all kinds of things. As he got into his later elementary years, he had some assignments he worked on independently, with that gradually increasing over the years. We still do literature together - it's a bit hard to discuss a literary work all by yourself! Have you looked for ways to combine your kids so that you can work with both of them at the same time? At their ages, it should still be relatively easy to combine history and science, at least as far as discussion goes. They could easily do different follow up assignments, although if they are both using SOTW and you use the accompanying activity books, the suggestions are all there for you. Can you turn the grammar work (is that what Language Mechanic is?) into some folder games or folder activities? Evan-Moor and Scholastic have great folder games. You can easily change up the contents. I like Evan-Moor better because many of their books contain everything you need - you just cut the pieces apart. We are definitely combining science. History, well.... My oldest loves SOTW, but my youngest detests it with a passion usually reserved for Brussel sprouts and dental work. I'm thinking the youngest might join us for some of the additional reading, but I don't want to push, because I want her to come to enjoy history. So far, I've subbed out some worksheets with some great ideas from all of you, and you've really got me thinking creatively about how I can use what I have in different ways to accomplish the same goals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Copywork Reading Writing (journal, free write, editing, etc) Outlining Anything with a DVD instructor (Atelier, IEW, Sequential Spelling on DVD, etc) Also memorization work (math facts, etc) - can also be done on computer/tablet Documentaries and other videos Audiobooks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zarabellesmom Posted July 20, 2014 Author Share Posted July 20, 2014 Copywork Reading Writing (journal, free write, editing, etc) Outlining Anything with a DVD instructor (Atelier, IEW, Sequential Spelling on DVD, etc) Also memorization work (math facts, etc) - can also be done on computer/tablet Documentaries and other videos Audiobooks We are going to add a free write to Fridays. She is somewhat behind in language arts, so I really want to emphasize that this year, but also leave lots of time for exploring her favorites--math, science and history. We do use a tablet to practice math facts and things like stack the states and the human body app (which is very well done btw). She really enjoys mark kistler's online drawing lessons. I really like self correcting work, montessori style. I'm trying to figure out how I can make that work for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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