8th grade, more independent ???

[sbgrace]

I have two 8th graders. One is capable of independent work. The other definitely isn't due to special needs. 

 

I have tended to favor programs that have a lot of teacher/me involvement. As the work expands w/age, the special needs child's needs are also expanding greatly. So the time I have to work with the other 8th grader is shrinking in quality and quantity.

 

It's turned into an 8th grader who quickly does math, grammar, composition I've assigned, and CLE reading once a week. When he's done with his independent work (and some work for a team competition of his), he waits for me to finish with his brother because nothing else is independent. Or worse, I'm gone for therapy with his brother. At some point, often evening or even night or the next morning during breakfast, I go over this independent work and I try to do "together" stuff with him. It's too late. Those "together" subjects are constantly being dropped lately. Many days I'm just reviewing and discussing those things he did independently, helping with anything that didn't go well without me. I didn't feel bad about that during the summer, but it hasn't improved in the last month despite my efforts. It's not working for either of us.

 

I want to feel good about his education. He wants to keep homeschooling. 

 

I would really appreciate some thoughts on quality materials he could complete relatively independently.

 

I need to know what would make a solid 8th grade year curriculum wise?

 

I can and will go over work and discuss with him after. I don't mind some curriculum that is even heavy teacher input--I just have too much of that right now. I need more (not busy work....quality) he can get done without me. 

Edited September 1, 2017 by sbgrace

[HomeAgain]

What subjects do you do together?  Would you be willing to outsource a class or two?

 

My ds did Wordly Wise with the app in middle school.  It was very independent.  He also took 1-2 online classes.  You could do something like Mobymax or Discovery K-12, both of which are free.  Or you could look at curriculum like Creek Edge Press task cards, Pandia Press, Noeo, or Moving Beyond The Page, all of which can be completed pretty independently.

[Arcadia]

My 8th grader has always been independent because my 7th grader needs me to monitor and redirect most of the time. (ETA: he forgot his summer enrichment class homework when I didn't nag him)

 

Are you looking for books that can be self study, self paced online courses like Thinkwell, online classes?

Edited September 1, 2017 by Arcadia

[Farrar]

We definitely went over a hump in the last couple of years with independent work and this year, for 8th grade, most things involve me, but will be done mostly independently. I'm finding that my involvement time is important, but a great deal more flexible because they read and work and I answer questions and check and occasionally teach a lesson or structure an activity. I find I'm spending more time being caught up with them than anything else. So as long as I set up the day for them to work independently, they can for about 75% of their time. If you've got things set up so that nothing can even be done without you, even without the constraints of having another child with special needs who needs your attention, I think you probably want to rethink. I think most programs can be done mostly independently at this age - it's more about how you structure it than anything.

 

So... basically... what subjects/topics do you want to be doing?

[Zoo Keeper]

OP, I can commiserate.

 

I have a few that just need more from me: more time, more talk, more running around, more everything.  That means someone else gets less. And I hate that.

 

I try to have a few subjects that each child and I have daily time in; usually something that is a strength, and another subject that is a weakness less of a strength. ;)  Other subjects are more "check in" or I check up a few times a week.  Yes, this is less than ideal.  But it is what it is for now.

 

I've been happy with the quality of things on Khan Academy and Easy Peasy for some subjects in jr. high or high school. DIVE science has worked well  for us, too.   And after years of putting it together myself, I'm  defaulting to a literature textbook this year for my two high schoolers -- the Scott Foresman texts mentioned in this thread; the text for 8th grade is Explorations in Literature.  The series has a nice variety of works, and the questions and writing prompts are well done--the writer's handbook part is nicely laid out and easy to incorporate.   My avid readers are adding in selections from AO or SL to just read and enjoy. 

 

 

If I had the $, I would have no problems buying a core from SL ( editing or adapting as needed), and calling it good.  Conceptual Academy for science looks lovely as well (but once again, too much $ for me at this time.)

 

 

[sbgrace]

I do want what you all are describing--mostly independent, with my oversight and help as needed. I'm not thinking we're ready for other teacher/online courses. I think I would need to help too much, and I'm concerned about cost. 

 

His math is working well. He's doing two Algebra programs independently, w/my instruction or help if needed and going over work daily.

 

Right now, composition is working.

 

He's doing CLE LA independently (working)

 

CLE Reading indepedently (working, but this is just once a week and all the lit he's getting)

 

He has a drawing program, I just need to put it back in his stack of stuff to do. 

 

What we do "together," which is turning into sporadically when we can fit it:

 

 

Fallacy detective is working, it's just so sporadic that we have to review constantly. 

 

History. Right now I'm using Journey Across Time and the source documents work from Stanford. We're in age of exploration. We probably average chapter every two weeks now. I just can't get to it. We've not done any source document work for months. He likes history. I want to develop thinking, evaluation, and spoken communication skills. It's just not happening often. 

 

Science. I'm using Discovery Tech Book physical science right now. Again, sporadically and the videos don't run well with my internet connection so there are issues. 

 

Lit. I tried to do a regular lit study, but his twin is resistant to too much time being taken by school (his math alone takes hours), and I couldn't bear doing it with both kids individually so we stopped. He has had no lit outside of CLE reading. 

 

Spelling--he needs it. We haven't done it since summer. He's probably lost ground. 

 

vocab? Latin? I have tried vocab, but I don't think it's effective and it's rarely done now. I own some Latin, but I imagine it needs a lot of me, and I know once we start we have to keep going regularly, so I haven't started. I have Getting Started With Latin and the first two books of So You Really Want to Learn Latin Prep. 

 

 

That's all I have. 

 

Truly I want to prepare him for high school level work. How to study, write well, speak well, reason, and keep up in math. I want him to have a basic foundation in science so it's not all new for high school. I don't know. I feel I'm failing him.  

 

 

[scoutingmom]

Check out http://www.virtualhomeschoolgroup.org for their At Your Own Pace courses. They have one for Apologia Science. They have some Lit courses as live courses (full) that I think will be AYOP courses after. Maybe some other stuff fits

 

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[Farrar]

Why not let him try a short term class on Outschool to see how having an online class goes. Some of them are very inexpensive, the commitment level is low because some of them are very short term, you can choose something that's just an elective. They're not a great provider for serious semester or yearlong courses, but just to see how online classes might feel, I think that's a good option.

 

It sounds like he's doing fine, honestly. And like he is doing most things independently. I would just separate their history and science and give him something more independent as well. Maybe you can just keep doing what you're doing, getting to it as often as possible, but schedule more books for him to read. There are plenty of good books out there. And he could just outline from them - either all the time or sometimes. That would be an easy way to add more there.

 

As for spelling and vocabulary, reading more would help with the latter anyway. Maybe you could just have a once a week standing assignment to have "found" five new words in his reading. Or maybe add an online game he plays occasionally - Free Rice has vocabulary, for example, but there are others.

[deerforest]

Honestly, it sounds like it might be time to consolidate some of the work you're doing separately. Do you really need separate grammar, literature, vocab, and spelling programs anymore? Plus a reading and literature program? Separate composition too? I think I lost count somewhere about how many separate "English" courses that is.

 

I spend about 1-3 hours with DD daily. Otherwise, she's working on her own, and I didn't really think that she would like that, but so far she's really loving it this year.

 

For 8th this year, we are doing:

1. Literature -- Oak Meadow 8 which is largely student directed. Lots of reading, includes grammar, vocabulary, and writing. I do the readings too and discuss and check DD's work.

2. Contemporary US History 1950s-present -- I spent a HUGE amount of time prepping for this over the summer. DD has a ton of work to do on her own, including writing and projects. We discuss and watch documentaries, videos together.

3. Spanish 1 -- we go through daily lessons and then she has daily practice work.

4. Algebra 1 -- nearly all student directed as she is using AoPS algebra and just checks in with me. (This is our 2nd pass through Algebra as we did Forester's last year so this is mostly review but I wanted the AoPS benefits.)

5. Science -- culinary science, which was also a ton of prep work for me over the summer. She has a ton of reading to do, some independent writing, and labs with dad on Sundays.

6. Extra -- this is whatever I feel like giving her. It could be typing practice, study skills, extra grammar, vocabulary, whatever. But, it varies and might not happen at all some days. 

 

ETA: Although I only have 1 8th grader, I also work full time from home for a major company so I have other obligations that take a lot of my time.

Edited September 3, 2017 by deerforest

[fairfarmhand]

So I get that the time is hectic and unpredictable. Could you set him up a google classroom where you give the assignments and he submits work? You can grade and give feedback with your phone from whereever you are. You can set up assignments and do the feedback late at night.

 

 

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[Mrs Twain]

History--

Last year my 8th grade son did U.S. History Detective, books 1 and 2, from the Critical Thinking Co.  This is an excellent history course and was independent for my son.  All I did was grade it each day (multiple choice questions and one short-answer paragraph).  This is also fairly inexpensive.

CTC also has World History Detective workbooks you could use instead of US history.

 

Science--

BJU Science courses are fantastic for middle school.  I would recommend any of the 6th, 7th, or 8th grade courses for your son.  Sixth grade is a general science overview, 7th grade is Life Science, and 8th grade is Earth Science.  The Life Science and Earth Science are very difficult, (IMO) high school level courses.  I wouldn't feel badly about having an 8th grader in the 6th grade course if he needed a science overview because it is a good quality course.  I use the distance learning online  (DLO) classes for this because the video lectures are excellent.  This is an expensive option.  However, they are great science courses that can be completely independent--no grading necessary.

 

Vocabulary--

Try Oxford Sadlier Vocabulary Workshop workbook.  These are good quality and independent.  You just need to grade it.  Of course, it would be better if you could orally discuss the vocabulary each day since that is the best way for a student to learn it.  However, it could still be a useful vocabulary course even if you didn't get a chance to discuss it.

 

Spelling--

Not sure here, but try to find an independent workbook program, too.

 

Literature--

I would make a list of "good" books I wanted my son to read in 8th grade.  If you can discuss them with him, that is helpful.  If not, you could have him do some sort of written output to sum up the books' themes and characters.  Or else just have him read the good books.  Just reading and enjoying them is often the best part of literature!

 

 

 

[kolamum]

One of my children is less independent than he should be, both would be classified as special needs due to Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome. I tend to work the opposite of you, though, & refused to box myself into a teacher heavy programme. Instead, I pick programmes I know my kids can successfully do on their own.

Due to the SSS I tend to pick programmes that can be done with audio/video lectures & the kids can do the "hand written" portions via the computer either using Dragon Speak or just typing. This has meant, at times, that while *I* am not a fan of a particular programme I've purchased it anyway because it serves my child well, further he hasn't minded them & has had great success with it.

I've also made programmes that video/audio work by creating my own audio/video file for it. For instance, when my eldest was in Grade 8 we used WWS. He really loved Mrs Bauer's no nonsense approach, the specific guidelines he had to work in, & the lessons themselves. The reality for him was, though, that if he read the lesson himself he often ended up dehydrated & headachey amongst other symptoms. So, during summer break I recorded the lessons for him in audio format, saved them to the family desktop & he located them as needed. I went hoarse doing that because I aimed for something like 10 lessons a day, but it worked & my child was able to succeed with the work. :)

These days my child on the severe end of the SSS spectrum tends to rely on programmes Mamma doesn't have to pre-record: Teaching Textbooks, Apologia {you can get these in audio & he does the quizzes online for free via Virtual Homeschool Group {.org} where he can have Siri read the question if he needs to}, IEW {writing, they come in video format, all though I understand EIW does as well..}, IEW for Grammar {this only requires meeting with the teacher for the initial lesson & can be done across many grade levels so everyone meets up for that first lesson of the week..}, history is done with lots & lots of audio books, etc.

He's completed several SL & BkSk cores in that manner & is opting to try out HOD for 10th. We'll see how it goes as there are less available in audio format this way. Should be interesting. 

Instead of considering teacher intensive programmes, change your thinking to, "What can provide my son with the ability to work on his own.." By changing that way of thinking it opened up a whole world of curriculum to us we might not have looked at otherwise. Another thought is to consider online courses, this is not an option for us due to being overseas. There's just no way getting up at 4 or 6 am is going to work for my child to be alert enough to work on classes. ;)

However, there are some very inexpensive options out there from CurrClick {nominal depending on the course} VirtualHomeschoolGroup {.org which is free}. VHSG is one my son can participate in because there are both live & At Your Own Pace courses. Math, Grammar, Writing, Second Languages, Electives, Logic, Science, etc are all offered over there. Sadly we can only participate in a few of the offered courses as only some are AYOP where the rest are live. :)


ETA:  We get our audio books through Audible, we've been members for over 12 years so we have, quite literally, hundreds of audio books through that. Our membership has more than paid for itself to be honest. If you have proof of a learning disability you can also apply for a membership over at Learning Ally. If you don't have an account there sign up through Homeschool Buyer's Co-op because you'll get a hefty discount on that first year.

LA's quality is NOT as wonderful as Audible, which is a shame based on what LA is attempting to do. Having said that it has served our family well & allowed my SSS boy to complete several Literature Based programmes independently which he loved. LA will also have many books that use to be on tape, but aren't available on CD which opens up the range of books you can access. 

Edited September 5, 2017 by kolamum