Desperately Need Your Help/Advice

[Nylene]

Hi. I’ve been a member of this forum since November of 2017 but I just always lurk and search for things that I need help with. But I think this time lurking and just using the search feature are not enough. I really need some advice and help and anything you guys can impart is greatly appreciated.

 

I have 3 kids: DD11, DS9 (turning 10 soon), and DS8. We started homeschooling last August and we’ll be finishing our school year at the end of this month. My plan is to homeschool during elementary years only and send them to public school in middle school. My DD, who’ll be in 6th grade, has recently told me that she’d like to continue homeschooling.

 

I’m sort of in a panic mode right now because I did not expect DD to say that. I am still on the fence but I am leaning towards homeschooling...it’s just that I have my fears. Also, DH wants her to go to public school because he thinks that’s the only way for her to go to very good universities, especially the UC system; he thinks that homeschooling during the middle and high school years is not a good idea. I told him that based on what I’ve read in this forum, homeschooled students can get into prominent universities even. He’s still skeptical and thinks only the gifted kids can do that.

 

Here are the things I need help/advice: 

 

1) If any of you had homeschooled before and decided to send your kids back to public school, what are the main reasons why you had to make that decision? Or what are the reasons why you pulled them back again?

I am going to evaluate our first year of homeschooling and figure out what to do next. 

 

2) English is not my mother tongue and I’m afraid that any errors on my part would rub off on my children. Do you think my kids’ learning of ELA be affected because of this? I try to talk to them in a different language (other than Japanese) when we’re not schooling since DD really wants to learn my mother tongue but makes me more worried that DC will limit their English. Also, my DS8 has some speech problem but he attends speech therapy once a week at our neighborhood ps. Now I am thinking that he might be better off if he goes back to public school so he’ll pick up from other kids the “normal” way to speak (he tends to talk in a babyish manner). If you have anything to share regarding this, that’d be great. 

 

3) We are Christians and I incorporate Bible lessons in our curriculum; however, DH is adamant that science should be separated from religion. What science books do you use that present accurate scientific information that can be modified to fit our Christian beliefs? 

 

4) What would you recommend to teach my daughter during 6th grade? Any curriculum that’s rigorous enough to appease DH and make him see that homeschooling can also get a student to good colleges? I haven’t completely read TWTM (but read Rethinking Schools). Besides, it was in July of last year that I decided to homeschool so just bought the curriculum that I thought was okay and didn’t have enough time to really research about curriculum. So right now, we’re doing:

Latin (Latin for Children Primer A) 

Japanese 

Primary Math Standards Edition (For math, I’m still debating whether to let DD take pre-algebra or not. She passed AoPS’ “Are You Ready for Pre-algebra 1” assessment test but DH is reluctant to let her skip 6th grade math because he’s afraid DD might still need to learn or review other concepts (and he’s not sure if the 26-questions assessment is good enough to gauge her knowledge. Any thoughts on this?)

LOF as math supplement 

MCT Island (for DS8 and DS9) and MCT Town (for DD)

The Good and the Beautiful LA  and Daily Grams as supplement

MFW’s ECC and its accompanying science curriculum (almost done)

Just started SOTW Vol. 1

Typing

Music

Lego Education 

All 3 kids are taking piano lessons and DD is taking violin lessons

Any other extracurricular activities you can recommend?

 

5) How do you guys do the grading? Just thinking about grading essays make me want her to go to ps as well. ?

 

6) Last but not the least, how do you deal with socialization? DD is shy and lately she seems to get lonely easily (we moved to a new state a year ago so she misses her old friends). This is the other reason why DH wants her to go to public school. ? 

 

I apologize it got this long. If you’ve managed to read everything, thank you so much for your time!

[Jean in Newcastle]

1.  Despite being a public school teacher, neither of my kids have ever gone to public school so I cannot address this question for you.  I will say, though, that many kids benefit from homeschooling through middle school even if they then go to public high school.

2. Public school speech therapy in our local schools tends to be a 20 minute pull out (in the hall) twice a week.  I would ask the speech therapist if his babyish talk is from an articulation problem (kids can sound more babyish if they can't pronounce certain letters).  If that is the case, being around other kids in a school setting is not going to fix his articulation problems.  Multi-lingual kids can lag behind in language arts at first but then they catch up and can even surpass mono-lingual kids.

3.  We liked the Galore Park science books.  They are British and we supplemented a lot.  I have found most secular science texts fit just fine with my Christian beliefs. 

4.  I'm going to leave the curriculum help to others.  My kids are in college and high school and I feel I'm not as likely to be helpful.

5.  I do not grade until high school or middle school subjects that will be on a transcript (like algebra).  There is no point to grading unless it is going to be on a transcript, in my opinion.  I grade essays using a rubric.  There are lots of them online to choose from esp. ones like for 5 paragraph essays (which are what tend to be taught in the public schools through middle school).

6.  We found a lot of socialization and friend opportunities at the Y. 

[Kiara.I]

I think your DH may need to be involved in the curriculum discussion. Let him look at the state standards and at the curriculum, and see what he considers to be rigorous enough.

I will say that if you're using SOTW for middle school you may want to supplement quite a bit, per guidelines in TWTM.

Find a good science program. There are many. For grade 6, Jay Wiles' Berean Builders might be adequate. You could also look at public school texts, maybe.

I plan to do Writing With Skill, which provides grading rubrics. You could also choose to outsource a writing class, if you liked, to have others grade the essay!

[PeachyDoodle]

My personal experience (my own, not my kids') is that middle school is a horrible time for everyone, much less for those starting in a new school with no friends. Especially girls. I am watching my friends' girls go through middle school now and am so glad that we didn't put dd in public school. Girls are just nasty at this age. If dd wants to go to school for high school, I'm open to that. Right now, she does not. I'm happy with that too.

I am similar to you in that we are conservative Christians, but we prefer our science without an extra side of Jesus. ? I have used both Noeo and Elemental Science at the logic stage. Both take a similar approach to that recommended for middle school science in WTM. They are pretty simple to implement -- my dd did a lot of the work independently. Between the two, we liked Noeo better; it is put out by a Christian publisher, but IIRC the religious content was practically nonexistent. I believe Elemental is completely secular. I've also used Real Science Odyssey in elementary school; no experience with their middle school curricula, but it might be worth looking into. I've been pleased so far. It's also secular.

My dd studied pre-algebra in 6th grade and algebra in 7th. I was a little apprehensive letting her jump forward. But if your dd passed the placement test, she's most likely prepared for it. I would start there and see how it goes. You can always back up if she is struggling. I let my dd forge ahead, knowing that we could always slow down if she hit a wall since she was so far ahead. We did take a few weeks in the middle of last year to work on some trouble concepts, but so far that's all she's needed.

We also use Writing with Skill and have found it to be an excellent preparation for high school writing (even for my natural writer). And the rubrics and teacher's materials make it easy to teach. It is a different approach to writing than often taken for middle school though (e.g., it doesn't really introduce thesis statements until the final level) so I don't think it's for everybody. There are tons of writing classes online -- you might consider outsourcing writing if you're very concerned about teaching it.

Otherwise, I think your curriculum plans look solid. You might think about beefing up history for your dd (another curriculum, or adding more projects/writing assignments to SOTW). Some people also like to start working on logic/critical thinking at this stage (puzzles, informal, or even formal logic). We leave extracurriculars up to the child's interests (within reason, of course). Since your dd is missing her friends, something that includes a lot of social interaction with other girls her age might be helpful. A book club, art or crafting group, dance, Girl Scouts? 

I would suggest reading through the Logic Stage section of WTM to get a good overview of what a classical education looks like at this stage. A classically educated student should have no trouble getting into college. But really, no college is going to be that interested in what your dd did in the 6th grade. So I would try to dial back the pressure on that front for now. Right now you need to concentrate on preparing her for HIGH SCHOOL -- whether that's a public/private b&m school, or whether you continue to teach at home. If nothing else, just remember that you aren't locked into homeschooling forever, even if you do it for this year. If you decide it's not working, you always have the option of enrolling your dd in school.

Best of luck!

[thefircone]

I have been homeschooling for fifteen years and my only experience with public school has been in the area of speech therapy.  When my verbally apraxic son was eight years old, he stopped making progress in his private speech therapy.  Our insurance would not cover more than one visit a week, so we approached the school district for help.  It was not a satisfactory experience.  They only offered him a 30-minute visit once a week and his IEP set some very modest goals.  The speech therapist at the public school had virtually no experience with childhood verbal apraxia and admitted that she saw very few older children for speech therapy.  All of the furniture in the room was made for preschoolers.  My son was uncomfortable with the idea of going there and so was I.  We tightened our belts and paid out of pocket for an extra visit a week with a private therapist that specialized in helping older children, and it made all of the difference in the world.

I would be careful about sending a speech-challenged child of your son's age to public school or any other public venue without caring supervision.  Elementary age kids can be extremely cruel to kids with speech issues.  My son has a thick skin and is very social, but we had to be vigilant to make sure other kids (and even adults) did not make fun of our son's speech.  I don't think I would have been comfortable sending my son to public school.  Hearing other kids talking normally wouldn't have done anything to correct his speech. 

As far as socialization is concerned, the best thing to do is to make friends with other families.  If your daughter has a strong interest in a certain area, find out if there's a class or club with like-minded kids.  I was a shy kid myself and finding people with similar interests helped break down a lot of barriers.

Hope this helps.

 

[J-rap]

7 hours ago, Nylene said:

Hi. I’ve been a member of this forum since November of 2017 but I just always lurk and search for things that I need help with. But I think this time lurking and just using the search feature are not enough. I really need some advice and help and anything you guys can impart is greatly appreciated.

 

I have 3 kids: DD11, DS9 (turning 10 soon), and DS8. We started homeschooling last August and we’ll be finishing our school year at the end of this month. My plan is to homeschool during elementary years only and send them to public school in middle school. My DD, who’ll be in 6th grade, has recently told me that she’d like to continue homeschooling.

 

I’m sort of in a panic mode right now because I did not expect DD to say that. I am still on the fence but I am leaning towards homeschooling...it’s just that I have my fears. Also, DH wants her to go to public school because he thinks that’s the only way for her to go to very good universities, especially the UC system; he thinks that homeschooling during the middle and high school years is not a good idea. I told him that based on what I’ve read in this forum, homeschooled students can get into prominent universities even. He’s still skeptical and thinks only the gifted kids can do that.

 

Here are the things I need help/advice: 

 

1) If any of you had homeschooled before and decided to send your kids back to public school, what are the main reasons why you had to make that decision? Or what are the reasons why you pulled them back again?

I am going to evaluate our first year of homeschooling and figure out what to do next. 

 

2) English is not my mother tongue and I’m afraid that any errors on my part would rub off on my children. Do you think my kids’ learning of ELA be affected because of this? I try to talk to them in a different language (other than Japanese) when we’re not schooling since DD really wants to learn my mother tongue but makes me more worried that DC will limit their English. Also, my DS8 has some speech problem but he attends speech therapy once a week at our neighborhood ps. Now I am thinking that he might be better off if he goes back to public school so he’ll pick up from other kids the “normal” way to speak (he tends to talk in a babyish manner). If you have anything to share regarding this, that’d be great. 

 

3) We are Christians and I incorporate Bible lessons in our curriculum; however, DH is adamant that science should be separated from religion. What science books do you use that present accurate scientific information that can be modified to fit our Christian beliefs? 

 

4) What would you recommend to teach my daughter during 6th grade? Any curriculum that’s rigorous enough to appease DH and make him see that homeschooling can also get a student to good colleges? I haven’t completely read TWTM (but read Rethinking Schools). Besides, it was in July of last year that I decided to homeschool so just bought the curriculum that I thought was okay and didn’t have enough time to really research about curriculum. So right now, we’re doing:

Latin (Latin for Children Primer A) 

Japanese 

Primary Math Standards Edition (For math, I’m still debating whether to let DD take pre-algebra or not. She passed AoPS’ “Are You Ready for Pre-algebra 1” assessment test but DH is reluctant to let her skip 6th grade math because he’s afraid DD might still need to learn or review other concepts (and he’s not sure if the 26-questions assessment is good enough to gauge her knowledge. Any thoughts on this?)

LOF as math supplement 

MCT Island (for DS8 and DS9) and MCT Town (for DD)

The Good and the Beautiful LA  and Daily Grams as supplement

MFW’s ECC and its accompanying science curriculum (almost done)

Just started SOTW Vol. 1

Typing

Music

Lego Education 

All 3 kids are taking piano lessons and DD is taking violin lessons

Any other extracurricular activities you can recommend?

 

5) How do you guys do the grading? Just thinking about grading essays make me want her to go to ps as well. ?

 

6) Last but not the least, how do you deal with socialization? DD is shy and lately she seems to get lonely easily (we moved to a new state a year ago so she misses her old friends). This is the other reason why DH wants her to go to public school. ? 

 

I apologize it got this long. If you’ve managed to read everything, thank you so much for your time!

(I had to quote so that I could see all of your questions!)  We homeschooled our kids through middle school full-time, and then in high school sometimes full-time and sometimes part-time, and with a couple kids and for a couple years, not at all.  We live in a small town that allowed us to do high school anyway we wanted.  

I'd say you can easily continue homeschooling through middle school.  In middle school, you are basically setting them up to take high school courses.  ?  You can do that at home, and those grades don't count toward college applications.

In high school, we decided to have our kids take science and foreign language at our local high school.  (Obviously if they wouldn't have wanted to do that, we would have come up with something else.)  They didn't do that every year of high school, but most years.  I just felt that those were classes that an experienced teacher could teach best (in our particular situation), although I know PLENTY of people who do an absolutely amazing job with those subjects at home all the way through high school.

I agree with your husband that science should be kept separate of religion.  (And we are Christians.)  Most of high school my kids took science at school, but not always.  For Biology then, we used Miller and Levine.  For Chemistry, we used Conceptual Chemistry.  Both of those had lots of on-line activities available too, which was nice.  For middle school years -- when we always homeschooled, we used a variety.  Often we used Singapore Science.  Once we used a fun program called "The Scientist's Apprentice."  Often we got unit-type workbooks that focused on one subject at a time and would last 4-6 weeks:  the planets, the animal kingdom, etc.  We have a Lakeshore Learning store nearby where I could browse and pick out those workbooks.

I'd say take it one step at a time and don't worry about high school yet.  You can see how the middle school years go and take it from there.

Our kids were involved with a homeschool group (not a co-op) so met other kids that way.  They also took part in community ed activities:  courses, sports, theater.  And 4H.  In high school, they were allowed to participate in our local high school's sports, music, and theater groups.  I don't know if that's an option for you.  

Several of my kids became fluent in a foreign language.  We did very, very casual foreign language classes through 8th grade at home.  We required them all to continue through high school, either online or through the public school.  (There are lots of online options that are very good!)  Several of them have become completely fluent in the language they started in.

Good luck to you!

[Clemsondana]

Even though I teach homeschooled high schoolers and know how well it can work, I, too, had a bit of panic when my older hit 6th grade (middle school) last year.  It looks like you have a solid plan - we have used some of the same materials.  One thing that you might consider for history is having your older use the K-12 Human Odyssey or a similar middle school history series at the same time that you're using SOTW with the younger kids.  That way you could keep them together content-wise while challenging the older a bit more.  Another thing to consider with your oldest is that you're not bound to do exactly one grade/book per year.  You could do Singapore 6 at a quicker pace, reviewing where needed, and then start AOPS mid-year.  You could also use Jousting Armadillos - it's sort of like AOPS, but less intense.  

Does your area have homeschool groups - co-ops or classes?  My older participates in Science Olympiad with a homeschool group -  this year our middle schoolers won the state championship and we got to travel to Nationals.  There is a lot of time for socializing when practicing and traveling with 14 middle schoolers!   There might also be lego or robotics groups.  Our karate school is going to start offering classes for homeschoolers during the day, and the Y and a local community center offer homeschool PE.  Would your violinist be able to play in a group - either a youth orchestra or a quaratet organized by her teacher?  While there are lots of homeschool activities in our area, my kids tend to get involved in groups that take a lot of time - a baseball team, a karate school, etc - and that's where they get a lot of socializing.  I know that when i was in school, most of my friends were other 'band kids' because that's where I spent my time.  

I would definitely have your husband look over plans and compare it with the state standards if that's a concern.  My husband also tends to worry about these sorts of things, but seeing that we were meeting and exceeding expectations alleviated his concerns.  I know that many people hate standardized testing, but if you have requirements to test, that can also help him to see that the kids are doing fine.  

As for grading, we work to mastery, meaning that we keep fixing things until they are correct, so grades aren't a huge deal at this age.  If you are just worried about grading writing assignments as somebody who doesn't speak English as a first language, could you outsource that one class to somebody online or at a co-op, or swap with a friend?  For example, I know somebody who traded art lessons for math tutoring.  Maybe you could swap Japanese lessons for essay grading.  

Not knowing what your child's speech issue is, it's hard to know if being around other kids would help - my kid with apraxia does therapy, and is around kids a lot, but I've never noticed it helping with the speech issues.  It may be different for other diagnoses, but if it's a diagnosed problem, I'd be surprised if just being around other kids helped.  

And, we are Christians who use secular textbooks.  Our co-op mostly uses the prentice hall school textbooks - it's what I teach my co-op class with, and what my older will use for dissection class this year.  Last year I based my 6th grader's science subjects on Science Olympiad topics, so I used books in the self-teaching guides series, which are meant for novice adults, in conjunction with books like this https://smile.amazon.com/Solar-System-Exploration-Planets-Heavenly/dp/0316268054/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1531180946&sr=1-8&keywords=solar+system  

 

[Nylene]

12 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

5. I do not grade until high school or middle school subjects that will be on a transcript (like algebra).  There is no point to grading unless it is going to be on a transcript, in my opinion.  I grade essays using a rubric. 

 

Are there any other middle school subjects other than Algebra that needs to be on a transcript?

[Nylene]

13 hours ago, Kiara.I said:

I think your DH may need to be involved in the curriculum discussion. Let him look at the state standards and at the curriculum, and see what he considers to be rigorous enough.

@Kiara.I Thanks for this idea. I’ll definitely do this. He’s warming up to the idea of me homeschooling DD this year but still needs a bit more of convincing.

11 hours ago, PeachyDoodle said:

If dd wants to go to school for high school, I'm open to that. Right now, she does not. I'm happy with that too.

My dd studied pre-algebra in 6th grade and algebra in 7th. I was a little apprehensive letting her jump forward. But if your dd passed the placement test, she's most likely prepared for it. I would start there and see how it goes. You can always back up if she is struggling.

We also use Writing with Skill and have found it to be an excellent preparation for high school writing (even for my natural writer). 

Some people also like to start working on logic/critical thinking at this stage (puzzles, informal, or even formal logic). 

I would suggest reading through the Logic Stage section of WTM to get a good overview of what a classical education looks like at this stage. A classically educated student should have no trouble getting into college. But really, no college is going to be that interested in what your dd did in the 6th grade. So I would try to dial back the pressure on that front for now. Right now you need to concentrate on preparing her for HIGH SCHOOL -- whether that's a public/private b&m school, or whether you continue to teach at home. If nothing else, just remember that you aren't locked into homeschooling forever, even if you do it for this year. If you decide it's not working, you always have the option of enrolling your dd in school.

Best of luck!

@PeachyDoodle I don’t know how to quote excerpts so I kept the ones that I wanted to comment and thank you for. 

One of our friends will be moving to our area and they have an incoming 6th grader as well. In fact, the mother wants to live nearby us so her daughter and DD can meet as often as they want. She knows I’m homeschooling but she’s hoping that DD will attend ps so her DD will have a friend at school. But DD just assured me that she really wants to be homeschooled. I guess my prayer was answered through DD and I’m happy with that. ?

We’ll do what you did in math. She really loves math and excited to do pre-algebra (she’s even watched some basic algebra videos). She’s not a math whiz but she is willing to take on challenges. 

WWS has been mentioned twice so I will start reading my copy. I also have IEW’s SWI but haven’t had the time to check that one either. Thanks also for the logic/critical thinking suggestion. 

Thanks for your encouragement! I will do this homeschooling journey one year at a time. ? 

7 hours ago, thefircone said:

We tightened our belts and paid out of pocket for an extra visit a week with a private therapist that specialized in helping older children, and it made all of the difference in the world.

I would be careful about sending a speech-challenged child of your son's age to public school or any other public venue without caring supervision.  Elementary age kids can be extremely cruel to kids with speech issues. 

If your daughter has a strong interest in a certain area, find out if there's a class or club with like-minded kids.  

@thefircone I’m sorry I don’t know how to quote excerpts so the quote looks like that. Anyway, thank you so much for writing about your experience. We haven’t really gone to a private therapist yet but I think we should. I want to make sure that DS8 doesn’t have an undiagnosed speech problem. The speech therapist at our local public school said that she didn’t see any problem that needs more attention. Anyway, I’ll be contacting some private therapists that specialize with older children. Hopefully our insurance will cover it.

Thanks for all of your advice.

[Nylene]

8 hours ago, J-rap said:

I'd say you can easily continue homeschooling through middle school.  In middle school, you are basically setting them up to take high school courses.  ?  You can do that at home, and those grades don't count toward college applications.

For Biology then, we used Miller and Levine.  For Chemistry, we used Conceptual Chemistry.  Both of those had lots of on-line activities available too, which was nice. 

I'd say take it one step at a time and don't worry about high school yet.  You can see how the middle school years go and take it from there.

Our kids were involved with a homeschool group (not a co-op) so met other kids that way.  They also took part in community ed activities:  courses, sports, theater.  And 4H.  In high school, they were allowed to participate in our local high school's sports, music, and theater groups.  I don't know if that's an option for you.  

@J-rap Thank you for your reply. I am thankful that I don’t have to grade middle subjects except Algebra (so far, that’s the only subject I know that will appear on transcript).

You mentioned Biology and Chemistry. These are only taken during HS, right? DD loves animals so we’ll do some unit studies on the matter that’s appropriate for her level.

Thanks. Will do it one step at a time. But I’d like to be prepared as well so I can see the big picture and not panic next time.

I will ask our local middle school if they allow homeschoolers to join their orchestra. I haven’t heard of 4H so will look into that.

Thanks again!

[Nylene]

@ClemsonDana Wow! Kudos to your homeschool group for winning your state’s Science Olympiad championships. My daughter is very much interested in science as well, but she’s more into animals. She remembers different kinds of facts of almost all the animals she’s read about. If only there’s a quiz bee just about animals. ?

I will check all the curriculum that you mentioned, especially K-12 Human Odyssey. I’ve read about K-12 Human Odyssey in the forum before. Btw, is a dissection class necessary for middle school?

Thank you for all of your pieces of advice and for sharing your experiences. 

God bless!

[Nylene]

@Danae Yes, that’s the plan, to use AoPS pre-algebra textbook. Have you used AoPS pre-algebra textbook before? I’m just wondering how teacher intensive it is. I just want to know so I can prepare for it.

Thanks!

[sweet2ndchance]

Does your husband know that many universities do not just welcome homeschoolers but actively recruit them and often have scholarship money that is set aside just for homeschoolers? Does he also know that homeschoolers can take community college classes in junior high and high school so that enterance into university is easier and less expensive? Your child does not have to be gifted to do these things. Many public school children take advantage of dual enrollment at the community college as well. Not only will it take some of the pressure off you for teaching and grading in the junior high and high school years and give your dd a place to make friends but universities will be able to see that she is capable of university level work. Entering a good university as a transfer student with some or all of her general education credits taken care of is usually an easier process than trying to compete with the incoming freshman. Universities are taking a chance on a freshman with no college credits under their belt. A transfer student with credits has experience with college level work and is less of a risk both in terms of scholarship money (again there is scholarship money just for transfer students too) and they tend to have lower attrition rates than incoming freshman.

Perhaps going around with your husband and your daughter to a couple universities and your local community college and asking them what they expect of homeschoolers applying to their school and any programs they have for homeschooled students would ease his mind. Sixth grade is not too early to think about these things and start preparing yourself and your daughter. 

[8filltheheart]

I have been homeschooling since 1994 and have graduated 5 of our 8 children from our homeschool. (I still have 3 younger kids at home: 3rd, 7th, and 11th graders.)  Our oldest graduated from our homeschool back in 2007 and is now a chemE with a great career. You can share with your Dh that one of our ds will be attending Berkeley in the fall for grad school for theoretical cosmology.  Both he and our current undergrad, rising sophomore, received full or close to full scholarship for college attendance. (Our dd's scholarship is just a couple thousand short each semester.)

We are devout Christians and I agree with your Dh that science should be taught as science.  Kolbe Academy offers traditional high school science sequences if that is something you want to investigate.

My kids work to mastery in subjects like math and science.  We don't move in until they have completely mastered concepts. A lot of my assessment of their progress in courses like history and literature is through oral discussion and essays (in high school).  I don't give tests in those subjects. (Obviously hasn't hurt my kids bc they have all graduated from college with honors ? )

Homeschooling for middle school can be a wonderful experience. It is a joy to see them blossom into the older child they are becoming. Middle school is a great time to begin philosophical discussions and to get them thinking about things they might not otherwise. Bc we are in control of content, we don't have to rush through across the surface checking off lists of to-dos. We can dig deep and explore ideas that lead them to understand the interconnectedness of subjects. I love homeschooling middle school. 

[Clemsondana]

To answer one question that you asked me, and another to somebody else...middle school doesn't usually have requirements the same way that people think of them in high school, but it is often part of middle school science.  High school biology has a strong focus in molecular biology, so if a student is going to do dissection, it's usually in middle school (or in AP bio if they take that).  You can order supplies and do it at home, and I've chosen an outsourced class  so that I don't have to mess with it, but students can also use a virtual dissection program or watch videos of it on youtube so that they can see everything without having to actually do it.  At the beginning of the class ,they dissect things like a leaf and a bug, so you could also choose to do those at home - it's easy to find plants and dead bugs  - and that way your student has some hands-on experience before you watch videos of the more complex dissections.  And, I know plenty of students who never do dissections and do just fine.  You get to decide what works for your family, and I can't imagine that a college admissions person would ask 'did you ever use a scalpel to dissect a frog?'.  ?  

AOPS is written directly to the student, so in that sense it's not teacher intensive.  The student book has all of the instructional materials and the other book is just a solutions manual -  it doesn't have teaching tips.  My older student is advanced in math, hit pre-Algebra at a young age, and didn't have the frustration tolerance to work through AOPS.  We took a break and used the Jousting Armadillos series and then came back to AOPS.  I didn't have to do a lot of teaching, but I did have to do a lot of encouraging.  It also can't be rushed - the challenging problems take as long as they take.  We moved through pre-Algebra and algebra in 1.5 years each.  It was an adjustment for me to think of it that way - not finishing a book a year as they would in traditional school.  Its an advantage to homeschooling, but it might bother your husband.  It's why I suggested doing Singapore 6 first, and then adding the AOPS - if he's more comfortable with the review from Singapore, you can do what you need a little more quickly, and then get a jump start on AOPS and then finish it the next year.  But, if you decide to switch from it, it's not a sign of bad teaching or lack of ability.  Its a weird curriculum that can do a great job for some kids but is a terrible fit for others.  I used it with my first kid, and it's probably the right choice, but I don't know that I'll use it for my younger student - we'll see what I think in a few years.  

[....]

20 hours ago, Nylene said:

4) What would you recommend to teach my daughter during 6th grade?

5) How do you guys do the grading? Just thinking about grading essays make me want her to go to ps as well. ?

 

6) Last but not the least, how do you deal with socialization? DD is shy and lately she seems to get lonely easily (we moved to a new state a year ago so she misses her old friends). This is the other reason why DH wants her to go to public school. ? 

 

Hi, I've got a 6th grader, too (she's our 4th out of 5 kids).  She is skipping 5th grade (long story), so she is a younger 6th grader.  

Grading.  No, I don't grade.  Even in high school.  For their high school transcripts, I give them grades based on how much effort they put in/how much they know the material.  For 6th grade, I definitely don't grade - ever.  And my 6th grader doesn't write essays yet.  We follow the Charlotte Mason (and WTM) method of teaching writing, so no essays yet.

Socialization.  This year, she is taking theater classes at an enrichment center.  She's taking Confirmation class once a week.  She takes Russian ballet.  She's actually thinking about dancing in college.  Besides classes, she was invited to audition with a dance company in August.  In October, she starts working at an equestrian therapy center with her siblings.  All of my teens volunteer at this place where they give riding lessons to special needs adults and kids.  They work with the horses - brush them, clean their hooves, put on the tack, etc.  They bring out the horses into the arena, lead the horses with a rider, etc.  In addition to all this, she does have 3 very good friends.  We try to arrange playdates, they go swimming together, etc - probably once a week.

What curriculum does she use?  Well, I probably use less curriculum than most people on this forum, because I am careful not to overschedule her day with schoolwork.  I believe they learn a ton through their extra-curriculars, also - especially stuff like theater.  Here's her line-up this year:

• My Father's World Creation to the Greeks, the deluxe set with all the composer studies, etc
• Book Basket (you know, from the My Father's World teacher's guide)
• The Action Bible
• Saxon 6 math
• Easy Grammar series
• All About Spelling series (we think she has a speech delay, so we are still doing spelling)
• CM writing: copywork, dictation, narration, notebooking
• Violin

She's usually done by lunch.  I do *really* like teaching this kid (and using MFW).  She's very enjoyable/easy-going to work with.

Good luck with your decision!

 

 

[BlsdMama]

21 hours ago, Nylene said:

 

 

1) If any of you had homeschooled before and decided to send your kids back to public school, what are the main reasons why you had to make that decision? Or what are the reasons why you pulled them back again?

I am going to evaluate our first year of homeschooling and figure out what to do next. 

 

2) English is not my mother tongue and I’m afraid that any errors on my part would rub off on my children. Do you think my kids’ learning of ELA be affected because of this? I try to talk to them in a different language (other than Japanese) when we’re not schooling since DD really wants to learn my mother tongue but makes me more worried that DC will limit their English. Also, my DS8 has some speech problem but he attends speech therapy once a week at our neighborhood ps. Now I am thinking that he might be better off if he goes back to public school so he’ll pick up from other kids the “normal” way to speak (he tends to talk in a babyish manner). If you have anything to share regarding this, that’d be great. 

 

3) We are Christians and I incorporate Bible lessons in our curriculum; however, DH is adamant that science should be separated from religion. What science books do you use that present accurate scientific information that can be modified to fit our Christian beliefs? 

 

4) What would you recommend to teach my daughter during 6th grade? Any curriculum that’s rigorous enough to appease DH and make him see that homeschooling can also get a student to good colleges? I haven’t completely read TWTM (but read Rethinking Schools). Besides, it was in July of last year that I decided to homeschool so just bought the curriculum that I thought was okay and didn’t have enough time to really research about curriculum. So right now, we’re doing:

Latin (Latin for Children Primer A) 

Japanese 

Primary Math Standards Edition (For math, I’m still debating whether to let DD take pre-algebra or not. She passed AoPS’ “Are You Ready for Pre-algebra 1” assessment test but DH is reluctant to let her skip 6th grade math because he’s afraid DD might still need to learn or review other concepts (and he’s not sure if the 26-questions assessment is good enough to gauge her knowledge. Any thoughts on this?)

LOF as math supplement 

MCT Island (for DS8 and DS9) and MCT Town (for DD)

The Good and the Beautiful LA  and Daily Grams as supplement

MFW’s ECC and its accompanying science curriculum (almost done)

Just started SOTW Vol. 1

Typing

Music

Lego Education 

All 3 kids are taking piano lessons and DD is taking violin lessons

Any other extracurricular activities you can recommend?

 

5) How do you guys do the grading? Just thinking about grading essays make me want her to go to ps as well. ?

 

6) Last but not the least, how do you deal with socialization? DD is shy and lately she seems to get lonely easily (we moved to a new state a year ago so she misses her old friends). This is the other reason why DH wants her to go to public school. ? 

 

I apologize it got this long. If you’ve managed to read everything, thank you so much for your time!

 

 

1. We put our two youngest kids in preschool last year.  It was a wonderful experience. I would NOT do it again.  The quality and value of homeschooling and family life is just too great.

2. You may not think your English is great.  However, based on your writing in this post, I have faith in your ability to teach your children adequately.  

3. I am uncertain of your question here.  I believe in creation based science.  I use Apologia.  If you choose evolutionary based science, there are several to choose from and many which do not make mention of religion at all.

4. We utilized The Well Trained Mind recommendations heavily.  My graduated children have attended state universities. Their (merit based) scholarships have been significant enough to cover their tuition.  My children had high ACT scores though nothing incredibly stellar, IMO.  The scholarships offered averaged about $11-$13k-ish per year and were renewable.  My oldest daughter never paid a penny for tuition or books.  (She graduated this May.) She applied with a homeschool diploma that I created.  The University never blinked an eye.

5. Grading essays was definitely a challenge for me.  I panicked with my oldest daughter.  After that?  We simply had them take Comp I and Comp II at the local community college their junior years of high school.  I haven't graded writing since the oldest daughter - it just became continuous work in progress.  For meeting and exceeding expectations I gave her As.  Further, it was confirmed by testing and by her college grades - similarly with our next son.  I expect the same out of DD#3 - a current junior who will take CC classes this coming fall.

6. Seek out opportunities.  Are there co-ops near you?  Volunteer organizations? Clubs?  Similar interest groups?  

You might want to administer the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.  I suspect you would find them both affirming and comforting.

[Jean in Newcastle]

10 hours ago, Nylene said:

 

Are there any other middle school subjects other than Algebra that needs to be on a transcript?

I don't think so?  Unless they are taking an advanced class in a subject.  Hopefully someone else will speak up if I am wrong on that. 

[MinivanMom]

10 hours ago, Nylene said:

 

Are there any other middle school subjects other than Algebra that needs to be on a transcript?

Perhaps Japanese if your daughter is fluent or working at a high level.

[Meadowlark]

Chiming in on #1 here because I've been on both sides of that coin. I homeschooled all of my kids up until this past school year, and all of my school age kids went to school. It was quite an awakening. I will say that public school is not necessarily the big, bad monster that I thought it was. That is, it was okay. It didn't make my kids into horrible people and quite honestly, provided more in a sense than what I was currently doing.

However-the education that they offered was sub par to what I can offer at my BEST. There's just no substitute for that 1:1 attention, an adult that is 100% invested in your child, and the curriculum...the public school curriculum is just not what I want for my children. Hence, my 2 oldest are continuing on (one public, one private) and the other 3 are coming home. So, I am not thrilled that they're going back, but they really want to and to me, their mental health at this stage is more important than how I feel (assuming there are no serious issues of course). If my children wanted to homeschool middle school, I would do it in a heartbeat. I've even tried to bribe them to no avail-they just want to go and be with their friends, do the afterschool sports, even eat the school lunch. I can't blame them-they're social creatures and that's what they're choosing.

Just know if you send her, you'll be disappointed with the academic quality I'm guessing. Does your husband know what is really going on in your local district? Has he checked out the curriculum and the teachers? What you're offering might very well be SO much better! Good luck.