Output for content subjects

[KeriJ]

I'm thinking primarily of middle school.  If I have a wonderful library of "living" science, history, geography and literature, and I don't want to follow a specific method (WTM or CM etc.) what would be a good way for a middle schooler to work through those books independently?  For instance: read a set amount of pages or time each day and then......Day 1: oral narration, Day 2: sketch, Day 3: outline, Day 4: written narration, Day 5: research further...

 

I'd love to have a book list for the year, and then assignments that follow a set pattern and can be used with any book.  I'm not looking for totally relaxed school, but I don't want random busywork either.

 

Does this make sense? 

 

ETA: I found this thread.  Off to read through it first. :)

[Lori D.]

Living books are all SO very different in content, style, layout, etc., AND, your student is changing, growing and mastering skills and needing new challenges for output, that I think it would be extremely hard to come up with a "one size fits all" day-to-day or weekly formal schedule that would have enough flexibility for all those differences and changes, AND would still work as a "plug and play"...

 

For figuring out how to schedule your living books (amount of pages or time, useful "output" activities, etc.), it can be helpful to take a look at the table of contents, scope and sequence, and schedules of homeschool curriculum providers. Most can be seen on line. Good ones to look at will be venders who use a lot of living books in their programs. Examples: Sonlight and My Father's World. Also check out those same things for science program. Example: R.E.A.L. Science and Real Science 4 Kids.

 

You can do a google search and find a class syllabus for the history or science at the grade level you are planning for, which can give you a feel for how many books, how many pages a day, how much output, ideas for output, etc.

 

I'd be careful about pre-packaged schedules and assigned readings and output. Your students are unique, with their own interests, needs, and reading / learning / absorption rates. A day by day schedule can be easy to get off-track -- and then end up frustrating you, because you feel like you are constantly trying to "get back on schedule". Life circumstances, student develops an unexpected interest/passion you want to encourage, bunny trailing, student wants to do more or less work on a given day than what is scheduled, student's needs change, unexpected opportunity pops up, etc. -- there are a ton of things that will sidetrack a day-by-day schedule, or that you'll want to take advantage of.

 

 

For helping a middle schooler move towards independent working, you might start with a weekly checklist instead. That allows for much more personal ownership and responsibility on the student's part -- they get to decide how much of the week's work they want to tackle each day. For making a checklist, at the middle school level, I'd probably more think in terms of overall TIME -- so, list enough things that would take YOUR specific student, say, 2 to 2.5 hours to complete over the course of a week, which is about 30-40 min/ day 4x/week. That's a good amount for a young middle schooler. For an older middle schooler who is working towards high school prep then you might want to slowly up the rigor (whatever YOUR specific student can handle) to about 45-60 min/day 4x/week, so about 3-4 hours of work per week total.

 

Why I'm suggesting planning for 4 days/week is to leave yourself wiggle room for all the unexpected derailments or opportunities, and to leave room for the extracurriculars that your student starts accumulating in middle/high school. If you find that is too lite for your student, then add a few more books, papers, projects, documentaries, etc. Have them on a go-to list so you can plug them in as needed into your schedule, or skip if you find yourself crunched for time.

 

Based on your example of a day-to-day checklist, a weekly checklist might look more like this:

 

History:

_____ book XYZ: read 4 pages (assign what YOUR student can handle)

_____ book XYZ: 1 paragraph written narration

 

_____ book ABC: read 2 chapters (assign what YOUR student can handle)

_____ book ABC: 1 oral narration

 

_____ research: pick from books JKL, or RST and read …... or do …...

 

_____ hands-on: mapping (be more specific/detailed about what is expected)

_____ hands-on: sketch  (or other ideas for variety: watch a documentary, do a craft, salt-dough map, make a food, play a game or listen to music of the time/place... )

 

 

 

Now, for my whacking long aside about the idea of output ;):

Output that is meant to help reach a specific goal, or that is meaningful is always the best at synthesizing learning, and is NOT busywork.

 

For goal-based output:
Think first in terms of what learning goals do you have for your student, and then think about what types of output will best help your student achieve that learning goal. You then schedule time for the output do the amount that is needed and appropriate for the individual student. I wouldn't do it just because it's a habit or because it was listed on the schedule or written down as part of a suggested homeschooling routine. If the student has learned the skill, move on, set new goals, and match the output as practice and work towards meeting the new goal.

 

Examples of goal-based output:

 

- Are you wanting to train narration or writing skills?

Then assigning narration, outlining, or an expository paragraph or short research paper is not only output, but is meaningful in reaching goals.

 

- Are you wanting to practice science method?

Then careful observations, graphing results, and writing up a lab report are output and synthesis of learning.

 

 

For meaning-based output:
Think in terms of what is naturally of interest to the student, and what the student is already doing, and count the work, projects, artwork, creations, writing, etc. that the student is already doing on his/her own as output. Schedule time in the week to allow for the student to work on interests, which will naturally result in output.

 

Examples of meaning-based output:

- Student enjoys science; enter a science fair and there will naturally be "output" needed for the event.

- Student joins a speech & debate club/team; there will naturally be "output" required in the form of the research, papers, and outlines needed for public speaking or debate.

- Family joins a history recreation group; making period clothing and objects is fun, and also is "output" for learning about the time/period.

- Entering the county fair with projects of personal interest or hobbies helps encourage the interest and produces "output" naturally and meaningfully: quilting, electronics, art/sculpture, cooking/baked goods, etc.

 

 

BEST of luck as you plan! Warmest regards, Lori D.