Trail Guide to Learning POE and WriteShop

[LongRamblings]

I recently came across Trail Guide to Learning Paths of Exploration and am considering changing to it this year. I would love to know if anyone here has used it. All three of my children will use Singapore Math with LOF and Miquon as supplements. 6th grader would use the expansion kit to the base set which will be used by my 4th grader. I believe my 2nd grader could use the base kit's 3rd grade material with minimal adjustment thus saving the expense of purchase that expansion. 2nd grader will also use Phonics Pathways and her favorite. ETC. 

Last year was a great year but I became bogged down trying to do too much and sadly this hurt us most in history and science. We did not accomplish as much as I would have liked as we tended to overstay in one part too long before moving on. It was so difficult to not try to use it all with the program we were using, Wayfarers- Barefoot Meandering. Don't misunderstand, Wayfarers is a wonderful program that gives you multiple choices but for me it was hard to not choose too many and become "behind."  Even though I have looked over POE, I am not getting the same vibe from it. It has the overall feel of Wayfarers but with less choices. This would be a plus for me. I really need to streamline our school and do as much as possible together.  I would cut out  LOF, or Miquon if my kids didn't love it so.  We tried them as core programs but found using them as occasional supplements worked better for us and were not too time consuming this way.

I know POE claims to be a complete program in everything but Math but is this entirely true long term? Have you found the need to supplement anything? I tend to over schedule and choose too many supplements so having something complete would be a plus. Is the writing and grammar enough alone?  Grammar is something my kids covered well with ELTL and Easy Grammar but their writing skills are still lacking. Copy work improved their writing but only minimally. Long term I may see a difference but I worry if it doesn't work quickly they will be so far behind and have to play catch-up. Do I trust POE's writing/grammar to be enough or supplement especially for the 6th grader? I have looked at Write Shop but am unsure which level to put her in. Her minimal paragraph writing experience produced lackluster  results. A friend is giving me Write Shop 1. Is this too advanced for a child that only writes good simple sentences? Should I start with a Junior program and work up from there? If so, which one? OR just let POE's writing be enough? 

Some have questioned whether the science is enough. Have you found this so? I am doubtful the program is worth it for us if I need to supplement science, grammar, and writing. I want to embrace "Less is More" this year. When I finally let go of the pressure of using so many math spines, it was freeing and made for better school experience. I insist they finish their Singapore levels but LOF and Miquon is only added when we have the time or just for a break as the kids enjoy it. Before it was more trudging through. I want science to be fun and less "work" but something that gets done. Science is also not my strong suit so I will need hand holding. Apologia seems like a good program but it seems so much to add to POE.

Any advice is much appreciated.  

[stlily]

We used this program a few years ago and we enjoyed it very much.  I still look back at that year with fondness, however, I left because of some of the same concerns that you have: are my kids getting enough, grammar, writing, and science instruction?  The thing is that Paths of Exploration is wildly different, you may even be able to say opposite, from The Well Trained Mind Classical philosophy of education.  POE believes students should learn American history first.  TWTM recommends students learn history chronologically. POE teaches spelling, grammar, writing, and science in an integrated method, kind of like a unit study, whereas TWTM promotes teaching the skills subjects (not science) in a systematic way without skipping anything.  As you know, TWTM recommends studying one field of science for an entire year vs. a few weeks on life science, a few weeks on physical science, and a few weeks on Earth  science.

My advice to you is this, revisit the goals you have for you students, re-evaluate what  educational philosophy makes that most sense to you and go with that. You can either continue with the TWTM method of education and find ways to streamline it. Maybe ask here on the board how people teach spelling, writing, grammar, etc.  to multiple students, you know, what everyone's schedule looks like. Or, you can go with POE and use it as is without adding anything to it except for math.  There is A LOT to POE. You will be working on it all day because it does cover so much. I tried to supplement like you're thinking of doing and our days seemed never ending. 

POE is pricey but the books selections are excellent.  If you decide to go that route, I highly recommend jumping in with both feet, resist the temptation to doubt whether or not you're doing enough, resist the temptation to add to it and just use it as intended and enjoy it. Your kids will be fine.  At that end of that year you can re-evaluate.

I'm curious to know what method of education you've been using so far and why are you looking to change/tweak that?  I know you mentioned that you want to keep your kids together as much as possible and that you want to be more consistent with science.  Are there any other changes you'd like to see happen?  What aspect of your current method of homeschooling is working?

 

 

[LongRamblings]

Thank you so much for the advice. You gave me lots to mull over this summer.  I also have a high schooler with learning disabilities that I feel I have failed. There are so many what ifs and shouldas. She will have no trouble of accomplishing her dream job and even has two other strong options that were placed in her lap in the last year in spite of her being only 16. She has never wanted to attend college but I fear that my lack of ability to figure out what worked best for her for so many years hindered the possibility of college in her eyes. She has learned to cope well with her disabilities but sadly is still behind and would have to attend community college unlike her friends. I know she could make it work if she put her mind to it but fear that I have held her back from even wanting to.

With my other kids I don’t want to look back a few years from now and think if only I did this or that, they would be so much further ahead. I definitely don’t want them behind which they aren’t yet. I want to continue homeschooling and this was our most successful year but it was also nearly unbearable at times. Basically I would start the day teaching one child followed by giving him assigned pages in that subject, grab another kid to start teaching and assigning, then another. Usually I could get to assignment on second child before first needed attention or new subject but not all the way through the third child. Basically I just folded them in and out for hours hoping nothing interrupted the flow or else I would have to start the pattern again with someone waiting on me. By the end of the day I had tons to grade and prepare for the next. Many times my teen would need help thus causing the flow to be even more difficult. It felt like a never ending loop of “here is how to do” and “do this” without stopping or else it would be so difficult to get it all done in a day. There was definitely very little joy. Many times we worked straight through lunch, choosing to eat later, just so we could not break the pattern. Anyway I know it isn’t supposed to be all easy and fun but I don’t want it overly tiresome either. The most fun we had were the times at the beginning of the year when I always started the day with a read aloud, a couple of LOF chapters, a riddle or two, and a Mad Lib. We also loved the science experiments and games which became fewer and farther between as we got “behind”. I love that even my 2nd grader knows more of the periodic table than I did as a graduating senior thanks to a game we played at the beginning of the year. Yet  As the year flew past I wanted to push through the “textbook type work” trying to catch up rather than allowing time for the extras. All are above grade level readers but at the beginning of the year I sat with each child and read great classics with them. Depending on the child, they would either read to me, me to them, or tag team read followed by discussions. The last few months of school was more me assigning the pages to be read followed by narration while I helped someone else. While this is still an accomplishment, the kids loved that one on one time and discussion with me that wasn’t available when I had not read the book. I can tell those moments along with the other moments were their happy school times. I want to somehow find a balance. I am not sure I can ever feel assurance that CM or a literature approach works entirely. Even though I would love to trust it, I fear I will have a high schooler that while well read, will be behind their peers and not having enough traditional schooling to accomplish whatever future goals they have. I think the issue is I believe in classical schooling methods but fall short or if I accomplish it, it becomes drudgery. I love Charlotte Mason method in theory and find it most enjoyable and a great fit for us but doubt it’s long term abilities or should I say my ability to make sure it works and not miss something. I need a balance between the two that allows a little freedom and fun but still boxes to check to ensure goals are met.  

 

Sorry i I know this was long. It helped me to type and think things through somewhat. If you made it this far, know I appreciate your time and effort to help. 

[thefircone]

This is an old post, so I don't know if you'll see this, but I hope you don't give up on your daughter's college plans. My son just graduated last week with a bachelor's degree and he's severely dyslexic. He was able to go to college with accommodations - such as speech-to-text software, textbooks on audio, and extra time for tests. Most of his professors were quite understanding when he explained his issues. We had to take him to a neuro-psychologist for an evaluation to qualify for accommodations at the college. It was expensive but worth every penny. When my son reach his mid-teens I felt a lot of responsibility and shame for his lack of reading and writing skills, but much of it was due to his dyslexia - something neither one of us could change. 

As for Trail Guide to Learning, we used it for three years and absolutely loved it.