Do you give more attention to weaker subjects?

[Phryne]

If your answer is different for different ages, that would be interesting to hear, as well.  I'm just curious.  I have a six year old who is better at math than reading (phonics), so far.

Would you devote more time to one than the other?  If not to the exact curricula I mentioned, then to the subjects, generally?  Or would you devote the same amount of time to math and reading, regardless?  Sometimes, I am actually tempted to devote less time to reading and more to math because math is just a happier subject for both of us.  However, doing the reverse might be more logical.  I'm currently splitting the difference by devoting a roughly equal time to each.

[2_girls_mommy]

I think it doesn't depend on specific ages, but maybe just specific times of life for different families. At times we really focus on a weak subject like the year I decided multiplication facts were long past the point they should be sticking, and nothing I had done previously had helped. So I really researched it that summer and I really put in the time daily that year, just a few minutes a day, but very consistantly, to work on that daily before other school work was begun. I've got one that is likely dyslexic. In my state it isn't recognized in schools for special ed, so we never had her officially diagnosed, but went a different way spending money on vision therapy and a special ed teacher with a masters to tutor us as part of that service. That was money well spent and the methods she taught us for spelling and other topics were really focused on for the next year or so. My dd will never be a great speller. We don't spend the same amount of time on it now, but it did help her improve quite a bit at the time. Now she and I both know these methods when we want to focus on spelling, but she is also older and knows other helps like spell check and talking through her phonics rules, etc.  I feel like we peck away at everything year in and year out, math daily, a little Latin most days, reading, history, etc. But some years we really focus on say History and do a big year with all of the bells and whistles- projects, films, multiple spines, videos, field trips. Other years, just reading a spine book and doing a paper or two a semester are enough because we are having a weightier science year or focusing on the spelling and writing or something else. 

[Tanaqui]

So long as you're getting through an adequate amount of your phonics curriculum every day, I don't think it's bad to spend extra time on fun math stuff if that's what your kid likes.

[Jackie]

Thus far, I’ve leaned more to giving extra time to the subjects that are most enjoyable, and either minimizing other subjects or shelving them altogether for chunks of time. I find that when DD is struggling, she often just needs time for either her brain to develop or simply to let the topic rattle around for a while before coming back to it. We shelved math for nearly an entire school year. I was afraid she would lose substantial ground. Instead, she came back to it ready and willing, and was able to cover so much ground that it much more than made up for “lost time”.

[Arcadia]

My kids spend about the same amount of time on core subjects for K-8. They can pursue more in their free time on whatever their favorite subject(s) is/are. One kid favorite past time was architecture.

For weaker subjects my kids get a subject tutor and usually in a one to one/two tutoring format as my kids could combine for foreign language/art/music theory tutoring. 

For stronger subjects my kids could attend classes and/or self study. 

We are spending more time on writing this year for my writing phobic 9th grader because strong writing skills are essential for summer camp applications, college applications, all kinds of applications that ask why you are applying. Also I don’t want to have him suffer in English composition classes when he goes to college if I can make it easier by getting him less writing phobic through tutoring. 

[Targhee]

I give more of MY attention and time to weaker subjects.  What I mean by that is these are the subjects that I spend more time preparing, teaching one-on-one, and analyzing what is working and what is not working.  My kids naturally spend more time on subjects they like and find success in (don’t we all).  This is especially true of core SKILLS.  If the kid hates history and we already tried everything to get engaged with it and do well with it we will probably opt for a get-er-done approach soo there is basic historical literacy.  One kid hates art I don’t make them do it often, or I find a creative outlet they do like.  We still might study it objectively through art history or picture narration, but I don’t see it as an essential skill and therefore don’t press it.  Physical activities - you need to be active but you don’t need to be super skilled if you don’t want to.  Science, you need to be literate and understand how to think critically, possessing healthy skepticism.  But if you don’t do well in math, or writing, or reading we hit that hard.

[Sarah0000]

No I give more time to the subjects that come more naturally, like math. My child is seven and most of the time I just need to wait a couple months and suddenly he can do whatever the thing he struggled with was. If he was older I might focus on the weaker subjects more, for a core subject.

[Coco_Clark]

With a VERY young child, say 6 and under, I don't force any weak subjects.  I let it go completely.

With a YOUNG child, say 6-9, I spend far less time on weak subjects than strong or "fun".  I am an unforgivable plodder and a firm believer in "little drops of water" as the song goes. So we devote 5-10 minutes every day on that tricky subject but for the most part wait for it to click. I don't drill and kill young kids because most of the time, in my experience, you are waiting for a developmental stage. 

Now, when they are slightly older, now 9-12, occassionally that weak spot is hurting them.  Poor handwriting, for example, is now affecting their ability to write. Poor grasp of multiplication tables is holding them back in long division. Sometimes, with an older child, it is time to step back and really focus on a weak or missing skill. But again, I think plodding is key.  5-15 minutes every darn day, or in extreme measures twice a day, gets you far.  I will use summer a lot too, to focus on weak skills, since we tend to have light summer school.  So no forward movement in math but lots of tables games and drills.  

[Clemsondana]

For us, it depends on whether the difficult subject is something that I think they'll outgrow.  I didn't force a lot of writing on my boy who struggled with it - we did the minimum - until 4th grade.  At that point, I started requiring more.  On the other hand, when my highly capable girl mostly refused to learn any of the multiplication facts, I budgeted more time to practice with her.  It also matters whether they're struggling with being able to do it or if they just don't like it.  If they just don't like history, content they still need to learn it.  I may give options to do it 'get it done' style, read, or do projects, but they need to do something.  But, every now and then we hit a wall with a skill that just doesn't compute.  If i come at it a couple of different ways and it still doesn't sink in, I'm more likely to take a break from that concept and come back to it later than I am to add more time.  

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I would not, and the answer is because more time does not equal more learning.  Banging your head against a wall for 40 minutes does not give twice the results of doing it for 20 minutes.  

Hit the weaker subject every day for the length of time the child's attention span allows.  For my 7yo who is struggling with reading, we do 10 minutes on Phonics Pathways.  Later in the day, she spends about 5 minutes reading a section of McGuffey's Primer, then when she feels ready, she reads it to me (<5m).  At another point, she reads 1 page of Frog and Toad (<10m).  So all told, 30 minutes of phonics, but if we did it all at once, it would be a disaster.  

On the other hand, even though she struggles with math as much as with phonics, she will happily do math for 30 minutes with concentration.  So we do that all as one block.  

All of that to say... I don't go by time, I go by attention span.  

[MerryAtHope]

Not more--but adequate time to both, and probably with more options to pursue special interests. With each school year, I used to pick a priority and a passion. The priority was the weaker subject--and making it a priority meant that no matter what else happened, if I was able to do any school at all that day, I at least did that subject. The passion was either a strong subject or a subject my child identified as an interest he or she wanted to pursue. I similarly made an effort to make sure we did that subject daily, and also that there were opportunities to shine or excel. My son loved history, so we had audios that allowed him to listen to more history in his free time (in addition to our daily read-alouds for history, various projects etc...) He could watch history shows with dad, we'd go to museums etc... My dd loved science and participated in science fairs for 7 years--I tried hard to make sure she had time to do that and wasn't overworked in all other subjects, sometimes adjusting her schedule to make it possible etc... 

I have very fond memories of doing fun math riddles and games with my dad when I was little--there's a definite benefit to pursuing passions with your child! 

[Mommyof1]

My DD6 could do science all day because she loves it.

A math lesson is done in minutes because she finds it easy but refuses extra lessons because she just wants to play. That's fine she does about 3 lessons (Horizon Math K) a week and her Dad and I do verbal math with her at other times.

Phonics she has to put effort into so she resist it more. She does really well at it and is reading well for Kindy. 

I insist on phonics 3-4 times a week because reading is important. It's not hard for her she just doesn't want to work for it, she wants it to be easy, like math and science.

I just asked her what her weakest subject was and she said writing because she makes mistakes.  I explained that she is just learning and there is nothing wrong with making mistakes. 

 

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

I tend to increase the challenge level (depth, breadth, speed, or some combination) for subjects that are more natural for my DS to naturally even out time spent on each subject.

In our case, the “easy” subject is generally mathematics and his skills there are pretty even. When lessons moved too slowly, I condensed them. When the questions were too simple, I switched to a program that offered a supplement with more complex logic needed to solve problems. Eventually we found a good fit; challenging, yet enjoyable! 

He’s fairly strong in LA as well, but his comprehension is 1-2 grade levels ahead of his production capability. In this case, I added breadth. We cover grammar, literary elements, poetic devices, Latin, creative “writing” (dictated to me) while keeping handwriting and reading demands at a comfortable level.

He’s not super into history or science, but loves projects, so we take a more hands-on approach to those topics. We also incorporate other topics, like art and music, this way. 

Overall I’m fortunate that he seems to enjoy any subject so long as I avoid busywork and don’t demand too much fine motor work (handwriting / drawing / coloring / cutting).

[Petrichor]

Until DS was 8, I didn't. I strongly believe that a love of learning is infinitely more important than drilling concepts and skills before a child is ready.

When he was around 8, we started spending more time on memorizing math facts, for instance.

And now, yes, I do give more attention to weaker subjects - it wouldn't make sense not to! But, that doesn't mean we're spending more time on one subject than the other. The max time block I assign to a specific subject is based on my kid's attention span for age. When math was something he didn't like that much, I'd put it in the beginning of the day, and give it 45 min, max. That way, his attention was fresher, and he could focus better on it for the whole time.

When the concept of multiplication wasn't sticking, we got out legos, we drew pictures, we looked at the question from 6 different directions (figuratively speaking). We spent a few more days on it, and didn't move on until he either got it, or needed some time to work on something else before coming back to it. For example, we put away the multiplication and spent a few days on measurement instead, making a note to come back to the multiplication later.

I'll give more attention to it by trying to bring the subject up in every day life. I'll do my every day necessary math out loud instead of in my head. We'll be out grocery shopping (or shopping online) and I'll say "hmmm, that cheese is 8 oz for $4, and the other package is 16oz for $6... which one is the better price?" or "$20... but it says 20% off... 10% of $20 is $2, and 10% + 10%=20% so $2+$2=$4, then we gotta subtract... 10-4=6, so the price will be $16" and even if it's not completely at his level yet, he sees that I need to do math for something as basic as shopping, therefore, math is useful and a grown-up thing to do (he craves grown-up independence.)

But the same sort of thing goes for any subject.Handwriting/writing? I need to write a grocery(or chore) list, but I'm trying to finish washing the dishes, can you write eggs, milk, etc. for me? Reading? "can you read that page in the book for me? I gotta go put the laundry in the dryer real quick" History? "Man, I was reading this article the other day about xyz, and it was saying about [how the native americans were really treated by the first europeans in the americas]. How do you think they reacted to that? Why? What do you think they should have done? And do you know what? even after that, zyx was done to them and that made it harder for them to do yzx, and now many of them are xzy"

But at 6, it's really not worth stressing over things like reading yet. Very often, pushing reading on kids turns them away from reading. It's the kind of thing that, given the support and incentive, will just click one day. I made a point of presenting the incentive to reading something that opens the gates to wonderful stories and interesting information, by reading to him, and allowing him to see, before he could read, that books are filled with wonderful stories and interesting information.

At 6, my DS was just starting phonics. At 7, he was reading street signs and things like that. At 8, he could read books on his own if he had to, but preferred to just look at the pictures. At 9, he can read just about anything, though there's a few words that he struggles to pronounce correctly when reading. He does prefer to read books with lot of pictures - BUT he loves to read. He loves books. And I don't doubt that it's because we modeled that for him. DH and I both read a lot. We read to him, we read for our own education, we read for personal enjoyment. I laugh out loud when I read something funny. DH and I both share with each other and with the kids when we read something very funny or very interesting. More often than not, just about every horizontal surface in our house (and even the car) has a (pile of) book(s) on it.

 

[Bluegoat]

I don't really give more or less time to weaker subjects.  I try and give the right amount of time to each, which has more to do with how much time the kids have for other things and how long they can pay attention, and how long I have.

Now, with ds9, he has not always been able to sit through much school.  He's also a very late reader but fine with math, so I tended to do reading before math, because I didn't much care if we got to math.  I did want to make sure he had his reading practice done  before we had to pull the plug.  Though I mixed that up sometimes so he wouldn't get bored.

[HomeAgain]

No.  I devote more attention to weak skills.

My kid loves math.  All day long, he would do math.  His reward for having a great music lesson is a math game. 😄 I let him explore math for as long as he wants every day, some of it guided, some of it on his own or with minimal assistance.

My kid struggled with handwriting and struggles with organizing his thoughts now for writing.  It is more important to me to use a short amount of time (so that he's not feeling like it's never ending) and carefully plan that time to maximize his effort and skill in it.  When he was weak in handwriting we only did 5 minutes, but I made that 5 minutes count until he was doing well enough to change it up.  Right now we use a targeted language arts program that keeps him motivated and interested.  Before we found it we used an open-ended one that I set a small amount of time or a small task for.

I want my kids' confidence to grow with their weak skills.  If we added more time the sense of failure would be overwhelming because it's more of something that's already hard.  Short bites work much better in my house.

[EKS]

I started homeschooling because at the end of first grade, my son couldn't read beyond laboriously sounding out (certain) CVC words or reliably count to ten.  Early on in that process, I discovered that he picked up math easily but that learning to read was going to be a long haul.  That first year we only did reading and math.  Because reading was exhausting, I split up the lessons into (I think) three parts that we did throughout the day.  The math we did all in one go.  That said, I pushed the math a bit because I wanted my son to be able to point to something academic that he was good at.  So he ended up doing two years of math that year, and from then on being "good at math" was part of his identity.

All of this is to say that for struggling students, it is critical to find something academic that they enjoy or are (relatively) good at and to help them run with it.  It is just as important as remediating the weaknesses.

Here is a blog post that I wrote about this several years ago.  My son is 2E, so it's written from that perspective, but a kid doesn't have to be 2E to benefit from this approach.

[RootAnn]

I hit the weak subjects consistently but not necessarily for more total time.

So, if math is the problem, I don't skip doing something math-related on lighter days, but we might just play a game that works on math facts or do half a lesson. If reading is the issue, same thing - hit it even on half days or lighter homeschool days.

I'm always tempted to skip the trouble subject, so that's my deal with myself - touch on it, circle back to it, and sometimes hit it in more than one way.