hard time with curriculum

[LaMere Academy]

My son is in the 9th grade and is pretty self motivated. We always used to do Sonlight so this year I bought Sonlight 200, but it was just too much, he needed too much help and I have 3 other kids, so we've put it to the side and he's been doing English with a virtual school and history with his sister, so they're doing the Core 6 history books.

I'm lost as to what to do next year for him. I don't think SL is going to work for him independently. I love the literature approach though.

I've purchased Omnibus and didn't like it so I sold it. What else can I use? I've looked at Notgrass online and I'm not crazy about that either. I'd like something good, with literature that he can do on his own with very little involvement from me. Any suggestions?

[Miss Marple]

You might just make up a list of books you would like him to read and then purchase or find online (free) some study guides. You could link the book choices with his history studies by using some of the handy websites that show time periods of the particular books.

 

We're doing Great Books right now and using study guides from Thegreatbooks.com. We also used the Greenleaf Guide to Ancient Literature, World Views of the Western World, and an old set of Veritas Press study guides for the Great Books. Thegreatbooks.com even has tests that you can print off for each level of study. They may contain questions on books you choose not to use, but you could easily make your own test based off of those.

 

So, if you want to put something together on your own, you could find books that would not overwhelm him, and would probably work for your daughter as well. My 15 yob and 14 (just turned) yob did these together.

[Lori D.]

I'd like something good, with literature that he can do on his own with very little involvement from me.

 

 

How about Hewitt Homeschooling's Lightning Literature programs? Each high school program is one semester long, written to the student, designed to be done pretty independently. Hewitt also offers a number of other course subjects, including history, and also offers online grading and testing.

 

Lightning Literature high school:

- American Lit.: Early-Mid 19th Century

- American Lit.: Mid-Late 19th Century

- Medieval British Lit.

- British Lit.: Early-Mid 19th Century

- British Lit.: Mid - Late 19th Century

- Christian British Authors of the Late 19th-Early 20th Centuries

- Shakespeare: Tragedies & Sonnets

- Shakespeare: Comedies & Sonnets

- World Lit. I: Africa & Asia

- World Lit. II: Latin America, Africa, & Asia

 

See Lightning Literature at: http://www.hewitthomeschooling.com/book/blight.asp

 

 

Another option is to look at the Bob Jones University Press courses on DVD. Subject kits are available for secondary subjects. Each DVD subject kit is $399. The price includes a 13-month lease of the DVDs, all essential textbooks, and teacher prepared handouts. It is $999 for a full year of all BJUP courses (I believe that is 5-6 classes). The one downside of the BJUP Literature portion of their high school English classes is that they only cover excerpts from many classic works; they don't read entire works.

 

 

One last thought

You mentioned that you bought SL200 for your son to use this year, but he is doing a virtual class instead, which uses SL6 books. Perhaps Sonlight IS still an option for him -- it's just a matter of matching him up with what HE'S really ready for?

 

For example: Of the 36 books listed in SL200, I'm familiar with and/or have read 24 of those works. Of those I would say that only about 12 of those could really be able to be done solo by our 9th & 10th gr. boys (ages 15 and 16.5). So there are a LOT of mature works in SL200, or works that are really best done together with a parent. For example: The Screwtape Letters -- we just read/discussed this one together as a family last semester, reading a letter a night, 2-3x/week, after dinner. While the boys probably could have tackled this one on their own (but would have missed out on a lot due to so many references to the times/culture in which Lewis was writing) and been "underwhelmed" by it, by doing it as a family, they LOVED it!

 

In contrast, we just did the ancients last year (grades 8 and 9, at ages 14 and 15.5), and used a lot of the SL6 books as solo readers -- and it worked well. We read/discussed the history and some tougher Great Books (from the WTM list) together, and had the solo work be mostly -- on the surface -- what appeared to be below grade level, but was really the best fit for them. Also -- just my opinion, BUT -- I do think some of Sonlight's selections are pretty advanced for the grade level (the majority are on target, and some are below grade level), BUT, SL200 seems especially especially advanced to me -- SL's recommended range is 14-18, and while an 18yo could probably do most of it solo, the student on the young end would understandably be overwhelmed trying SL200 solo.

 

Also, a big consideration is that SL200 is very different from all their other history-based cores. MANY of the books in SL200 are adult books. And many require a LOT of abstract thought -- 9th grade, especially if you have a YOUNG 9th grader, is probably not the best fit with SL200, unless you walk through it with the child. AND -- if you compound this with needing the child to work pretty much solo... then (as you're seeing with him successfully using SL6 books this year!), consider selecting a younger SL core.

 

What about SL7 (continuation of SL6, medieval into modern times) which Sonlight lists for ages 12-14. Or SL100 (US history), which Sonlight lists for ages 12-16. Just my opinion, but, the closer your child is to the older end of the Sonlight recommendations for ages, the easier it would be for the student to successfully accomplish SL on their own.

 

Just my 2 cents worth! BEST of luck in finding what works for your family! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited January 24, 2009 by Lori D.
added info

[LaMere Academy]

well i'm wondering if I should just let him do core 6 this year like he has been (we're all behind with the year but we'll finish it) then let him do core 7 with his sister again next year. I have added in harder books for him like now he's reading The Odyssey. I guess I feel bad having my 9th grader do Core 6, but he's doing high school English and I think the history reading he's getting is pretty good, plus I'm adding in A Beka World History, 10th grade to go along with it for him.

Perhaps I should just let him continue with his sister.

[Lori D.]

well i'm wondering if I should just let him do core 6 this year like he has been (we're all behind with the year but we'll finish it) then let him do core 7 with his sister again next year. I have added in harder books for him like now he's reading The Odyssey. I guess I feel bad having my 9th grader do Core 6, but he's doing high school English and I think the history reading he's getting is pretty good, plus I'm adding in A Beka World History, 10th grade to go along with it for him. Perhaps I should just let him continue with his sister.

 

 

Maybe it's just me, but I see all benefits to your plan and no downsides:

 

- Your son will be working at a level that's right for him.

- Your son will be able to work independently, which is what is needed.

- You'll save time and money having 2 children working from 1 core.

- Your son & daughter will be able to discuss/share thoughts -- not only enhancing their work academically, but encouraging sibling friendship.

- You're also giving him additional work to help him do some things separate from his sister, and to challenge him appropriately through the additional harder books; the high school English; and the Abeka History.

 

 

And finally two thoughts about "being behind all year long":

 

- You were trying to do 3 SL cores with 4 children! Yikes! Even now you're doing 2 SL cores, which is a lot. And SL even says that they put MORE into their cores than any family needs -- or can! -- do so that families have the ability to change, adapt, drop, revise the SL core to best fit their needs.

 

- Some years are like that, giving us the opportunity to teach very important real life lessons to our children in how we handle circumstances that come up and seem to interfere with school, plus the lessons learned through how we make decisions about whether we should "catch up" school (through perseverance, summer school, or other), or whether we move on.

 

 

Hugs to you (((Becky)))! Warmly, Lori D.

[LaMere Academy]

Thanks for all the help Lori, even though we've used SL for years, he did jump from Core 5 to trying to do 200.

 

I guess my hang up is that he's in high school doing Core 6...but I know he's getting a better history education than I did in high school!

[Deb in NZ]

My dd began SL 200 after we did a combo of SL 3+4 / SL 7 as a family(she used SL 7 as written). We ended up dropping SL 200 as it was way too-o-o much for her (at age 16yo) SL 200 is great, but is too much for the typical early teen. It requires a spiritual maturity that most teens don't develop until nearer to the end of their HS years (or even after leaving home) SL 200 is full of great books, so we've put the core on the shelf & my dd is slowly reading through the books.

 

In your position I would suggest you do a SL 1/6 & 2/7 combo for the next 2 year. SL 7 was perfect for my dd at age 15. I've used 2 cores at a time, but couldn't imagine attempting 3 core at once. The strength of SL IMHO is in the discussions that come up during the shared reading time. Using SL independently does away with this time.

 

JMHO,

[laughing lioness]

I don't see any problem going with the core that his sister would be using

 

I do have an additional thought. As the kids move out of concrete thinking and into abstract thinking (from the grammar stage, through dialectic and onto rhetoric) a huge part of their learning is the dialog, writing, and wrestling that comes about because of dialog about a subject. Answering rote questions is well and good but getting in deep to the heart of a matter goes well beyond. This can, and should take place in writing, but it is also so important to encourage verbal discussion about topics and to help them develop their ability to discuss in a way that is logical. I would schedule in time to teach and train him to become astute about the material that he is learning next year, regardless of the program that he is using.

[TxMama]

My self motivated dd worked through several levels of BF's study guides mostly on her own. It was a better fit for us than SL .....which we used for many years when they were younger.

[Veronica in VA]

well i'm wondering if I should just let him do core 6 this year like he has been (we're all behind with the year but we'll finish it) then let him do core 7 with his sister again next year. I have added in harder books for him like now he's reading The Odyssey. I guess I feel bad having my 9th grader do Core 6, but he's doing high school English and I think the history reading he's getting is pretty good, plus I'm adding in A Beka World History, 10th grade to go along with it for him.

Perhaps I should just let him continue with his sister.

 

I would let him continue with his sister. We used Core 6 for high school, too. I added in Literary Lessons with Lord of the Rings for literature and I added The Teaching Company video series World History (the teacher dresses in period costume). You could do something similar - it was a nice addition, but not too much.

 

Veronica