I hate planning (whine)

[SamanthaCarter]

There. I said it. I am so tired of wading through the options. I wish I had some Mary Poppins sort of evaluator come tell me what exactly each of my children needs so I can just go do it. I wanted to homeschool so that I could tailor my kids education. But that’s so much harder to figure out in practice (you have to deal with the added variables of cost and good curriculum fit to mom as well as kid.) 

Trying to figure out next year and I’m demoralized. 

[prairiewindmomma]

I'll tell you what to do if you schedule out chemistry and pre-calc and english III for me! ?  I find picking out the materials to be fun. It's the deciding what to do and when to do it that kills me, and not all of my options come with that pre-scheduled for me.

[SamanthaCarter]

Hahahaha! (Sorry, I’m not there yet).

[Targhee]

Just wondering if this is a case of perfect being the enemy of good?

Are you struggling more with choosing curricula, scheduling it, or coordinating across kids/subjects?

[SamanthaCarter]

Choosing mostly. I’ve been all over the place with my oldest in Language arts, mostly because I have no idea what I’m doing and because he struggles with writing and spelling. He’s had next to no exposure to literature other than just reading. Anything math I’ve thrown at him has gone fine. He’s going into 7th, language arts below that grade level, math is high school geometry. (Finished Algebra 1&2)

Second child is his exact opposite, in personality and math = difficult, language arts = natural. 

Third child looks like she will follow more in brothers’ style. 

Coordinating is always a struggle. They all three demand a lot of one on one time with me, which I want to give, but I’m a real person with real limitations. 

[Targhee]

Whatever you choose, keep in mind that you wanted to homeschool tonmeet their individual needs. Don’t think below grade and above grade levels - think what’s next or what’s needed.

For a 7th grade needing help in writing and spelling, I would actually consider dropping spelling (don’t anyone flame me for it!). Teach him to proof read (either automatically on computer or to come find someone to read over his paper). Separate spelling and writing tasks so the one doesn’t impede the other.  Put all his other subjects on autopilot (do the next thing, outsourced, or student directed) so you can focus on teaching him writing. Don’t get too hung up on a perfect choice, because odds are you will have to approach it at more than one angle before it will click with him. This was DS last year - lots of patience, some remedial resources on outlining and summarizing, some videos, some graphic organizers, practice using topics he was very interested in, and lots of bucking “what your 7th grader should know,” WTM approach to writing, and comparing to his older sister or to myself at his age.

I would do something similar with dd who is a great writer and needs math help. Put everything but math on autopilot and spend your time one:one with her doing math. I’m not sure what grade she is or what you’ve tried, but like writing with DS, don’t be afraid to use multiple resources and approaches in trying to help her understand.  With middle dd we had to combine things - RS, Singapore, Miquon, and drawing pictures of everything.  We would get to a new topic and she wouldn’t grasp it, so we’d switch how we approached it until we found something that clicked. And honestly sometimes I think she just needed the time that took for it to sink in.

As far as how to get to them all, I’d consider doing science and history together in a simple way, maybe even every other day. The tools of math and writing are more import at this point! Also, consider a rotating block, eg you are either working independently, having a short break (or doing chores), or working one:one with mom.  20 minutes and rotate.  After an hour you’ve hit everyone once.  In three hours you can get everyone through language arts, math, and science or history.

best wishes for everything!!

 

[PeterPan]

One of the fascinating things about my dd at that age was finally realizing that her strengths and weaknesses weren't about my fault or what I had/hadn't done but because they were HER. Maybe look for why your ds is able to do almost any math (high structure, clear instructions) and bring that to his writing time. I agree you're about to the end of spelling, mercy. 7th was end of the road for us. You could do dictation or one last time through something high quality, but if it's within the tolerable range I agree it's ok to move on. (tolerable = spellcheck can get him there and he's not got glaring, simple spelling errors)

On the writing, my two cents is to look for something that fits his personality or why he'd want to write or what he wants to communicate. He may need to type or go toward non-fiction (expository). He might like to write for debate prompts or respond to science magazine articles. That's a big thing in high school and college writing now, doing response journals. I had my dd do it quite a bit in high school, and it's handy for the flexibility. You can make it go with anything he's interested in. 

I also think it's kind of easy to get end of the road, sky is falling, and all that about writing when you read things here on the board. My dd did WWS1 in, um, 8th I think. Check my old posts. She did WWS 2 in 9th. She did response journals, etc. through high school then DE freshman comp and CLEPed some more stuff. By her freshman year she was doing 300 level philosophy classes and getting As. So I hear you if writing is a problem, because writing was a problem for my dd. I'm the one who had to go through WWS with a high lighter so she could actually find the important parts. She was a sweat great drops of blood kind of writer, still is actually. 

I'm just saying your kid is not BEHIND. Unless the behind of my dd bugs you. Be a little more confident. Embrace exactly who he is, teach him exactly where he is, and spit on people who say you should be worried. That's my two cents. Worry isn't gonna get you through the next 4-6 years. Honestly, your kid sounds brilliant. He probably has good things inside, and he might need some typing skills or some material that connects or some tasks that actually connect with what he thinks about to unleash that. As it comes out, it will be brilliant. Don't be afraid of it. 

PS. Plan to screw up some things. That way he can hash through a little on his own and say his Ma screwed up something, lol. It's not a crime to mess up or be imperfect, kwim? 

PPS. Sounds like you need to set some boundaries so you get your introvert time.

[SamanthaCarter]

Thank you all for the encouragement. I really do have an adequate amount of resources to use with the 6 and 9 year old. I can start with what I had for ds and branch out as needed. For instance, Dd6 is reading now, and by the end of May she had grown a love for CLE math, so we’ll stick with that. 

Ds, on the other hand. Can anybody point me in a good direction for his language arts? As in what to buy? This is a kid we call the decoder. He figured out how to read at 3-4. Things that are not difficult for him are math, sentence diagramming, parts of speech. History captures his imagination and he draws some amazing parallels between things. Science seems almost boring to him, but I think he hasn’t been challenged there, he loves things like the periodic table, molecularbonds, etc. I see this as a parallel with his ease of diagramming sentences. He has ADHD, so while asthetically pleasing curriculum is important, pages with text bubbles all over them are not good. 

Ideas? 

[Another Lynn]

1 hour ago, SamanthaCarter said:

Thank you all for the encouragement. I really do have an adequate amount of resources to use with the 6 and 9 year old. I can start with what I had for ds and branch out as needed. For instance, Dd6 is reading now, and by the end of May she had grown a love for CLE math, so we’ll stick with that. 

Ds, on the other hand. Can anybody point me in a good direction for his language arts? As in what to buy? This is a kid we call the decoder. He figured out how to read at 3-4. Things that are not difficult for him are math, sentence diagramming, parts of speech. History captures his imagination and he draws some amazing parallels between things. Science seems almost boring to him, but I think he hasn’t been challenged there, he loves things like the periodic table, molecularbonds, etc. I see this as a parallel with his ease of diagramming sentences. He has ADHD, so while asthetically pleasing curriculum is important, pages with text bubbles all over them are not good. 

Ideas? 

I would also consider how much you can do vs. independent work.  For example, all my kids ended up in Spelling Workout because I just didn't have time to do something more teacher intensive with them.  Sounds like he has some LA strengths - I would use something open and go, semi-independent (short teaching time) for those.  Where do you want to focus your engagement with him?  Writing?  

[PeterPan]

I can tell you that for my bright + ADHD dd we were using AP reading lists for science by high school. You could take where you might end up by then and work backward. It sounds like you might get more engagement if you aim higher and have a clear purpose, like AnotherLynn says, for what you're wanting him to do in the writing. 

Inspiration software was good for us (mindmapping), and outlining Muse magazine articles was good for her. You can take anything he enjoys (periodicals on areas of interest, essay collections for areas of interest, etc.) and analyze them for structure. Then let him summarize and respond to them. We used Best Essay collections (inexpensive on amazon), news articles, periodicals, etc.

https://www.amazon.com/Writing-100-Days-Student-Centered-Composition/dp/0964904209  He's at a good stage for this. Around then we also used the Jump In daily writing prompts that are found in the tm. Not the whole curriculum, just the writing prompts.

https://www.scribd.com/doc/115893878/50-Debate-Prompts-for-Kids  This is a GEM!!!! I used it with my dd around that age, and I think it went oop. You could give it to him and have him do one a week, writing his arguments one day FOR and the next day AGAINST. Then he could meet with you and debate, hehe.

Don't forget the value of becoming news-aware. He's at a good age to begin subscribing to news feeds that can come to his email. Then he can make written responses and rabbit trail one a week as a tie-in to geography. I did that with my dd around that age, and I think it was a good thing. There's nothing weirder than a student who is super smart who knows NOTHING about what is going on in the world and isn't conversant about anything.

My dd was so post on curriculum honestly. I think the Abeka grammar (which starts around grade 7, yes?) is fine. It has some writing assignments. It's concise. When we finally started it (later), I just had her do maybe 3-4 in each set, not the whole page, mercy. Used that way it was ADHD-friendly. We did response journals for lit, because she was already widely read and able to discuss any time I threw stuff at her. Definitely don't bother with what they don't need. Do what they do need to get somewhere. If you want him to be able to do AP science and write tight labs, then obviously you're going to focus on tight expository and narrative writing right now. Figure out where you're going and work backward a bit.

Also, many kids will have a developmental spurt in their writing around 12. It might be something to watch for and not lose hope about. Those years (12-14) are pretty magical, especially for ADHD kids. A lot of what you're sweating might just happen, boom, with the developmental spurt. That's why it's ok to enjoy him, focus on communication, focus on what he WANTS to communicate and can do more concisely and precisely, and just let the development happen. Geometry is a marvel for the brain. Between that and some working memory work and debate, he could come out a seriously organized thinker. That's what I personally would focus on, the ability to get out his thoughts and the orderliness of his thoughts. 

[prairiewindmomma]

I would work on helping him organize his thoughts in a way that works with his brain. PeterPan mentions Inspiration, which worked for one of her kids.  My own ADD kid has really fantastic thoughts and can narrate things well, but the transfer to paper is a struggle.  He struggles with logical sequential writing, which is what most academic writing is.  

A few things we've done, at that age range:

1. Read a short passage---discussed it---then worked on writing a brief summary of what was read.  IEW takes this idea and uses it a lot in SWI-A, but if you're comfortable doing it outside of a curricula framework, you could pick high interest science passages.

2. Outline a chapter in a book

3. Write a logical argument for doing something

4. Written the steps of performing a more difficult task (ie laundry---discussing sorting, stain treatment, methods of washing and drying, etc.)

 

There's a notable progression in homeschooling. In the elementary years, everyone targets the same basic skills.  In the jr. high years, you plug gaps and begin to tailor to make sure that the foundation is solid for high school. In high school, you begin to specialize skills and explore opportunities for adult life while still trying to tick college admissions boxes (if that's where you're heading).  My point is that a lot of us begin leaving the box in those early teen years, and that's ok.  Don't burn out spinning all of the wheels with your elementary aged students if you don't have to (special needs being the exception here).  You're in a marathon.  I'm also INT/FJ.  Don't analyze this to death, and don't get stuck in box checking.  Pick a couple key goals and then pick tools to meet those goals.  

[Bocky]

8 hours ago, SamanthaCarter said:

Ds, on the other hand. Can anybody point me in a good direction for his language arts? As in what to buy? This is a kid we call the decoder. He figured out how to read at 3-4. Things that are not difficult for him are math, sentence diagramming, parts of speech. History captures his imagination and he draws some amazing parallels between things. Science seems almost boring to him, but I think he hasn’t been challenged there, he loves things like the periodic table, molecularbonds, etc. I see this as a parallel with his ease of diagramming sentences. He has ADHD, so while asthetically pleasing curriculum is important, pages with text bubbles all over them are not good. 

Ideas? 

My favorite someone-else-teach-this-kid-to-write 7th grade writing curriculum is Cover Story. Lessons are by video and workbook, and there is a cool response journal. Over the course of the year the student creates a magazine on a topic of their choice.

I love your description of ds as the decoder. It makes me think that he would be very good at Ancient Greek if he wanted to study it.

[SamanthaCarter]

1 hour ago, Bocky said:

My favorite someone-else-teach-this-kid-to-write 7th grade writing curriculum is Cover Story. Lessons are by video and workbook, and there is a cool response journal. Over the course of the year the student creates a magazine on a topic of their choice.

I love your description of ds as the decoder. It makes me think that he would be very good at Ancient Greek if he wanted to study it.

I saw Cover Story in my agonizing over curriculum! Lol. Looks very cool. It’s little on the pricey side though not completely out of the question. The price would require some shuffling of priorities. I am *this* close to dropping geometry from his co-op line-up, because some moms warned me that all it entails is going over homework. She’s using MUS, which is also $$$ and I’m having a hard time justifying the cost of something someone else picked just to help them with homework. Curriculum plus class cost is bumping up close to some of the online classes I’m seeing. Ironically, if I drop him from Geometry, there will be a writing option in that period. IEW Narnia. I’m not the biggest fan of IEW, but with someone else teaching..... hmmm. I don’t know!!! ?

[PeterPan]

If math was going fine for you at home and writing is the one you want help with, then putting him in the writing class at co-op makes more sense, absolutely!!! And yeah, if the mom teaching the co-op class isn't bringing anything to the table, isn't actually going to TEACH and inspire and make the subject awesome, then why kill the absolute most fun math (geometry) with lousy teaching? Do it yourself, continue what was working, and use the co-op for what you actually need help with. The IEW Narnia class sounds GREAT. He's at a terrific age for it and Narnia is wonderful. That sounds like a can't go wrong. 

[mumto2]

I vote for the Narnia IEW too!  ? If math is going well at home I would not outsource unless it was to an inspired teacher.....your coop class doesn’t sound inspired. ? My kids really liked LoF geometry but it comes after Algebra 2 unlike many geography programs.