Looking for the impossible... a fun, engaging possibly-online curriculum for a 6th grade boy who is struggling.

[mazakaal]

We've been through a lot the last few years (cancer diagnosis for dh, treatment for dh's cancer, death of dh, moved from UK - where ds was born and grew up - to Florida, moved back to UK in October but a different location than where ds grew up), hence me not being on the boards here a whole lot. But I'm hoping that someone will have some ideas for me.

 

My 6th grade, almost 12yo ds is having a terrible time with his schoolwork, which I'm sure is partly a reaction to all the difficulty and changes. He feels like he can't do it, that it's too difficult.

 

I've tried to simplify schoolwork because I needed to free up my time to work part-time, and an international move takes some time as well. For this school year, I had him doing CLE math and language arts, From Adam to Us for history, Christian Kids Explore Chemistry and Physics, and Lively Latin. I showed him all the curriculum before ordering, and he helped to choose it, but now that he's doing it, he hates it. He gets a lot wrong because either he's not really paying attention or he's just forgetting everything that he learned the previous day.

 

Last year, after his father died, I gave him and all the kids the option of taking the year off from schoolwork, just having field trips, reading, etc. None of them took the opportunity because it would put them a year behind, but I presented the option to the youngest last month, and he said that he did want to take the rest of this year off. But now that I'm working part-time (from home so there's flexibility), I can't spend all my time taking him around on field trips. And I have the 17yo and 13yo doing schoolwork, too. 

 

The condition for him taking the rest of the year off his regular curriculum was that he had to do a half-hour of math practice (either Xtra math or Khan Academy online or any of the math games we have here at the house) and two 45-minute sessions of reading (his own choice - pretty much anything other than comic books) each day. And he doesn't have any electronics until 4pm, because I don't want him just spending the rest of the day watching stupid youtube videos. Since we've just moved to a new city, I'm still trying to find activities and friends for him. So far I have him in bouldering one day a week and we're trying out parkour tomorrow. Other than that, he doesn't have much to do.

 

Unfortunately, plan B isn't working either. He doesn't want to even do the reading and math - says it's boring. He says that he wants to do an online school. I just want to find him something that will be engaging and enjoyable for him, that he won't fight with me about doing, that will keep him interested and occupy him for a few hours a day so I can work, and that he'll learn something from. Any suggestions?

 

eta: I've been reading some past threads and saw Time4Learning mentioned. It might be something ds would like. I'd love opinions from anyone who's used it.

Edited December 16, 2015 by mazakaal

[barnwife]

I have no ideas on curriculum (clicking this thread was accidental...our oldest is only 5), but I couldn't read through that and not say that I am sorry for your loss.

You (and your children) have a lot on your plates. I hope you find a solution that works for you. Again, I am sorry for your loss.

[HomeAgain]

Try Intellego for science or history, and offer Codecademy as an optional computer science.

 

We had success with Moving Beyond The Page's lit guides at that age.  I picked the outdoorsy boyish book guides from Rainbow Resource and strung them together to make a year long literature/language arts course.  The projects were pretty long at times, giving him something to work on, but they were interesting, too.

[ElizabethB]

:grouphug:

 

What is his reading grade level? If it is below 8th grade level, I would have him watch through my phonics lessons, it makes everything else easier when you can read well. The quick screen test is a fast way to determine reading grade level.

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/readinggradeleve.html

[mazakaal]

Thanks, Barnwife. :-)

 

Thanks for the suggestions, Home Again. I think those look a bit too academic. He really needs something that he's going to think is fun.

 

Thanks, ElizabethB. He reads well, but I don't know what his reading level is. I'll run that test on him tomorrow.

[rebcoola]

Homeschool with minecraft we haven't done it yet but it has a variety of classes and they are cheap $7 each.  http://www.homeschoolwithminecraft.com/home.html

[Arcadia]

Uzingo homeschool package might work. Dmmetler's daughter has used it.

http://www.uzinggo.com/who-benefits/homeschool

 

Old thread about Uzingo

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/495315-has-anyone-used-uzingo/

 

:grouphug: sorry for your loss

[desertflower]

So sorry for your loss. He may like clever dragons. http://parents.clever-dragons.com/overview. I haven't used it, but I have considered it. I don't think it is a full curriculum. Perhaps a fun review?

 

I hope you find something.

[sweetpea3829]

Try Prodigy Math for math practice. It isn't a curriculum, but more of a practice. It's an online role playing game. You can set assignments or let the program place him and it will give him math to practice.

 

So the player engages in battles and to win those battles, he had to correctly answer the math question.

 

My kids love it! Goes to 8th grade.

[Guest]

I had my son 17 use Time4Learning. It is fun and engaging. There are assignments offline but he skipped those. I had him use it purely for fun learning. Try it out. It has a free trial. He did all the middle school levels (6th-8th) and some high school. 

 

K12 also comes to mind. Son 17 also really loved that one. Not sure how that workd from the UK. I know they have a contact number there.

 

 

Edited December 17, 2015 by Paradox

[LindaOz]

EasyPeasy All-in-One Homeschool http://allinonehomeschool.com/

[mazakaal]

Thanks so much for all the great suggestions. He tried Time4Learning and didn't really like it, but is excited about Prodigy and Homeschool with Minecraft. He was already on Minecraft, and he loves Dr. Who, so that's a win/win class! And, ElizabethB, I gave him the reading test, and he scored 8.9, so that was great reassurance that the ability to read is not what's hindering him. Thanks, everyone!

[deerforest]

Gosh, I'm so very sorry for your loss of your DH and the impact on you and the kids. Truly so sorry.

 

Honestly, I'd just try to find something interesting to him:

- Documentaries about any science, math, or history that he might be interested in

- Crash Course videos on YouTube -- they have them about so many different topics, and they are brief and engaging

- Learn to juggle? Sounds crazy, but my kid is a circus kid and it's extremely therapeutic for her and we know tons of boys who are super into juggling

[J-rap]

I'm so sorry for your loss.   :grouphug:  :grouphug:

 

I don't think this year has to necessarily put him a year behind in school.

 

Can you help make it a year to find him some really interesting hobbies/passions?  That can help a child that age get through a lot!  I'm thinking a sport, or a musical instrument (guitar lessons?), an art (working with clay?  painting?)?

 

 

[Another Lynn]

:grouphug:

 

I have no advice for online classes, but this might be a good age to go deep in some subjects and lighter in others.  I don't know if going back to the your original curriculum list is an option.  I like your choices, but I think it could be overwhelming to deal with that many different programs, especially if he's doing much of it independently.  If returning to any of those is an option for him, I would keep CLE for LA and math; I would let him read Adam to Us, and write an outline or summary once or twice a week (not on every reading) and require no other output or tests.  I would let science be a combination of library books or books you have on the shelf - possibly writing a summary on one reading per week - reading can happen 3x/week - does not have to be every day.  For literature, require free reading (or his choice from a particular shelf of hand picked options), 30-45 minutes per day.  Don't worry about Latin right now.  Without knowing you or your child, I would generally assume that some amount of daily structure and work would be helpful, but keep it streamlined so it doesn't feel overwhelming.  Retention would not be my primary concern right now.   

[mom2kando]

I second Easy Peasy All In One

[Haiku]

I'm so sorry for your loss and your struggles.

 

I don't know where your son is in math, but my son really enjoyed Timez Attack by Big Brainz, and both my kids enjoying playing on Cool Math Games.

[Reefgazer]

I don't have much advice on curriculum, but I wanted to say I am so sorry for your family's loss and for your terrible time these past few years.  I will say that I think you should concentrate on the basics and pick a single topic and delve deeply into that single topic (*occassional* related field trip, movies, readings, self-directed art). 

[Dmmetler]

If you're considering Uzinggo, go through Homeschool Buyers's co-op. Their year subscription is a major reduction from the list price per month.

 

An even more "gamified" science for Middle School is IntoScience, from the 3p Education folks. It's based on Australian standards. U.S. Kids are lumped in with UK, which is a little interesting-last year, my DD participated in the a Royal Society of Chemistry's online challenge (and did pretty well).

 

In both cases, they'll cover the main standards for that age/grade and get the knowledge down with little stress and writing. I do think that sometime in middle school is a good time to do more involved investigations and write reports (and this could be added to either), but this would let you check a box and probably be "fun".

[mazakaal]

Well, not a great update for today. It was a bit of a busy day, so I wasn't expecting too much from him. After family devotions I briefly went over some of the options that had been mentioned yesterday. He didn't like Time4Learning, but seemed positive about the others. And he said that he didn't really mind From Adam to Us other than the creative writing projects, so we agreed that he would keep doing that without the writing. Then I took him to the new parkour class, which he really enjoyed. We came home and had lunch, and  I asked him to try three of the websites for 20 minutes each while I worked next to him for an hour before we went to see the new Star Wars and have dinner out. He hated all of them. He tried Prodigy, Uzinggo, and Clever Dragons - said they were all boring and repetitive. I think part of the problem was that he only tried the math for each. I may have him go back to Uzinggo and Clever Dragons to try other subjects on their sites. I think that the Easy Peasy Homeschool is going to be too academic and boring for him.

 

He did remember that when he was in a small private school the year before we left England he had really enjoyed a website called SumDog, so I'm going to sign him up for a membership on that and hope he still likes it. I also emailed Discovery Streaming to find out if it is available overseas. When they first started up I asked, and it wasn't at that time, but if it is now, I can sign up through HSBC and he can watch documentaries there. And I have Netflix, which has a few documentaries. The Netflix here doesn't have the same films available as the one in the States. It's kind of frustrating. I'll have him try the Crash Course videos, Into Science and Cool Math tomorrow. He used to do Timez Attack years ago and enjoyed it, so I'll give that a try as well. I had already talked to him a while ago about being more self-directed and researching subjects he's interested in, but there wasn't anything he wanted to research.

 

He got juggling balls in his Christmas stocking a couple of years ago and picks them up every now and then. I've talked to him about learning an instrument, and he's considered guitar or saxophone, but won't commit to either. I may get him a used guitar for a Christmas present and just see where that goes. He's not at all interested in art. I wish I could get him to draw or paint.

 

He's more sporty but doesn't want to commit to any team sports. My older ds finally got his basketball hoop rebuilt today, so hopefully that will give him something to do. He had wanted a pull-up bar for his room which arrived from Amazon last week. I also managed to find a used exercise bike/step-machine inexpensively when we first got here, though he never uses it. I'll be taking him to the bouldering and parkour each week, though they're both on break for the holidays now. There's a group of homeschoolers here that go to a trampoline place every other week. We couldn't get there last week and they're off until the new year, but I'll bring him to that as well. And he's shown an interest in golfing, so I'm going to try to find a place for that. I think between those four outside activities, that should be enough sport for him. At least that's about all of my week that I can devote to it. :-)

 

I think that I do need to find some kind of routine or structure, which has been difficult lately. In years past I was always very good about having a regular routine to our days and weeks, but that just hasn't happened this year. Maybe that's been part of the problem. He's had a terrible time getting up in the mornings, and to be honest I've struggled with it a bit too, so we're not always starting at the same time every day. And things come up in the middle of the day that need to be done, so the whole day's routine gets thrown. I think that for the new year I need to really sort out my weekly activities and get a schedule put together so that we have some sort of regular routine, maybe even have it organised so that schoolwork happens in the afternoons so that his morning struggles don't throw us off so much. Hmmm. Will have to give this all some serious prayer.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. Keep them coming if you think of anything else. I'll have him try out those other websites tomorrow. Then we're on Christmas break for two weeks, so I'll have some time for re-evaluating and making a plan.

 

[MomatHWTK]

Several different programs that are available via Homeschool Buyers Coop offer free trials, try out some of those with him to see what he likes.

 

We like CTC math, Discovery Education and Plato.  I'm going to try Study.com next semester.  

[mazakaal]

Thanks so much for all the suggestions. Today was a good day. We've found some things that he likes (Cool Math Games, Uzinggo Science, Homeschool with Minecraft, SumDog, Timez Attack, Crash Course), and we'll combine those with Netflix documentaries, Discovery Streaming if it's available here, and some of the curriculum that we already had (From Adam to Us, Lively Latin, Apologia Chemistry and Physics) along with reading. The only thing that I don't really have covered is grammar and writing. He's way above grade level in spelling and vocabulary, so I'm not bothered about skipping that this year. I have a lot of old curriculum on the shelves, so over the Christmas break I'll have a look through and see what I can use, even in an adjusted, easier version.

 

Thanks again for all your help. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas break!

[EmmaNZ]

I am sorry for your loss, and for your struggles.

 

It sounds from your activities like you are near us location wise - somewhere near York???

[desertflower]

Happy holidays to you too.

[mazakaal]

I am sorry for your loss, and for your struggles.

 

It sounds from your activities like you are near us location wise - somewhere near York???

 

Yes! Crazy small world. I'll pm you.

[Carol in Cal.]

He sounds a bit depressed and pretty isolated.

I suspect that he needs structure and probably a bit more hand holding than is typical at that age.

I wonder whether there is an outdoor nature awareness program he could attend one day per week?  I think that that would give him community and goals and also that the outdoor time would settle him down a lot.