Solidifying Foundations in Middle School? Please evaluate our schedule.

[Cakes]

On another thread, that I did not want to hijack, Lori D said the following "One of the best things I heard about planning for high school was from Mary Schofield, who spoke at a homeschool conference I attended years back, about how middle school is crucial for making sure you have all the foundations solid, and only IF there is an area your student is advanced in and ready for it, do you move forward and do just that area at high school level in middle school."

 

We are in our 3rd month of homeschooling. I am feeling a bit uncertain about our progress in the most crucial areas. It is all feeling a bit too easy. She typically will have something lingering on the weekend to finish, not a lot, but I am allowing her to budget her time. School stops at about 2:30 daily to prepare for ballet.

 

Math- 1 Thinkwell lesson daily

Lightning Lit and Comp- (right now just reading Tom Sawyer, per the curric.)

Vocab- 10 words (classic lit) and definitions per week, test on Fridays

Reading- one classic for Lit (Tom S.), one book of choice, 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens (first two, 1 chap per day ea. , 7 Habits 1 chap per week)

Commonplace Notebook- (one quote per week),

Human Odyssey- 1 unit per week,

Elemental Science- 1 unit and one experiment per week, Cosmos show 1-2 per week.

PE- ballet

 

So my question is what are we missing or not focusing enough on? I do not necessarily want to add more, I just want to make sure that we focus enough time and energy on the important foundational things and not busy work. We simply do not have time for busy work, due to ballet commitments...which is what brought us to HSing in the firs place. She is an extremely bright girl, was in advanced/seminar classes and I do not want to short change her!  I would love some feedback!

[Penguin]

What grade is she?

 

I agree that I would not add more just to add more, but how about adding a foreign language? Or dabbling in some foreign languages so she can think about choosing one for high school and acquainted with foreign language study?

[Cakes]

7th grade. She is leaning towards French but I wanted us to really get settled before adding that in!

 

 

[Clear Creek]

What about creative stuff, like art or music? Would something like that interest her? They can be challenging, but in a different way.

[Cakes]

So my primary questions really are;

 

1) what are the foundational skills that one needs to focus on in middle school?

 

and

 

2) are we missing something in that regard?

[MEmama]

My primary goal for the middle school years is to provide the required readiness for higher rigor at the high school level.

 

Depending on her ability, she might want be through Algebra 1,2 and geometry by the end of middle school, or be comfortably along that track at any rate.

 

Writing needs to be solid. Mastery of several forms--essay, persuasive, etc--should be introduced.

 

Depth of analysis. I think now is the time to concentrate on deeper level critical thinking skills.

 

For me, knowing that DS has a solid grasp of classical history and science cycles is essential. At the high school level, I want him to be prepared well enough that he can choose whatever path he desires. That will be his time to dig deeply into his areas of passion because his foundation will be solid. (of course he chases his passions now as well, but a solid foundation is my goal).

 

HTH

[Chrysalis Academy]

For me, it's less about the materials/content and more about what you do with them.  I think this is the time to work on the basic skills of writing with a thesis, learning to read and learn from textbooks, learning to outline and write from outlines, learning to take notes from lectures, and learning about how to learn effectively - both how learning works in general and good study strategies, and figuring out how to manage herself and her own learning.

 

It's also a time to stay focused on strong math skills, and to develop basic skills and content knowledge in science.

[Pen]

I've not used any of the exact programs you chose, but in terms of covering all the basic areas, it sounds like you've got them covered.

 

Does the level seem right for her, neither too hard nor too easy? Does she seem to be learning and retaining well? Is she getting enough writing?  If so, it sounds fine!

[Pen]

Postscript--I googled Lightning Lit out of curiosity and looked at a pdf that was for Tom Sawyer. Parts seemed good to me, like the quick bio of Twain, and the explanation of plots. But the comprehension questions were at a level that seemed very low to me, and the actual writing being called for did not seem to be at a level where a student who was in advanced and seminar groups when in brick and mortar school would be challenged by it. (Also, btw, a few of the vocabulary definitions seemed odd to me, but I don't have a copy of Tom Sawyer at hand to see if they make sense in context. E.g. "straitened" means would mean having financial troubles, but whether it is "embarrassing" or not is not part of the meaning to me normally, though maybe in Twain's context it was embarrassing.)

 

I am wondering if maybe some of the materials at the level you got them ARE sort of busy work for her, rather than deep learning with some challenge to it?  The Lightning Lit preface says the 7th grade level might fit advanced 6th graders.