momee Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 My ds is buckling under our current workload. I understand everyone is different but if you could take a look at what he's doing and give input, I'd appreciate it. Math - Alg I 1 credit TT one lesson per day (we were with TT, wasn't doing well, went to CD, felt it was over his head, back to TT so there's much frustration here) Language - German 1 1 credit through OSU, just realized he's not been doing well and not taking some quizzes, says it's due to not studying Science - Biology 1 credit Apologia, doing fairly well, feels labs are redundant, I have an issue with the lack of study time and his note taking English 9 - 1 credit Tapestry literature (ancients) year 1 and analysis, Our Mother Tongue Grammar and Tapestry composition History - World History I 1 credit - completed Tapestry, doing all core reading, questions, charts and geography assignments Government - 1/2 credit elective Tapestry, mostly doing the readings and discussion with me, this is a handheld time for us Philosophy - 1/2 credit elective Tapestry, script and discussions 1st half year with dad, 2nd half with mom Bible - 1/2 credit elective various books and survey of OT and NT with TOG We have dabbled in and out of WTM. SL and TOG attempting to find something that will work. We've landed with TOG but it is soo overwhelmingly involved for ds, I worry it's distracting from the other subjects. I don't really have a question, unless it's how to help him ramp up to high school level note taking, study habits, workload management type stuff. I'd love to hear any suggestions you all have found successful with your high schoolers. He doesn't necessarily want to stop doing any one subject (as he's devoted to going to college and maintaining a rigorous courseload). He does however want to be succesful and we're both feeling frustration over getting it all done. WAAAAAhhhh. Sorry for the whining. You all are the only ones who understand.:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 How old is he? Are there some electives that can be put aside for a while? Govt is typically a gr 12 subject. Did he complete world history this year? Maybe you could reward him for that by taking Government (and possibly philosophy too) off his plate until he finishes German 1 (since this is a university course, and most likely too late to drop...). You don't want a bad grade in that if you can help it. You can't do it all and do it all well (not to mention maintaining your mental health). At least not all at once. Get the boy to chill or he's going to make himself nuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Wisc Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 My ds is buckling under our current workload. I understand everyone is different but if you could take a look at what he's doing and give input, I'd appreciate it. Math - Alg I 1 credit TT one lesson per day (we were with TT, wasn't doing well, went to CD, felt it was over his head, back to TT so there's much frustration here) Language - German 1 1 credit through OSU, just realized he's not been doing well and not taking some quizzes, says it's due to not studying Science - Biology 1 credit Apologia, doing fairly well, feels labs are redundant, I have an issue with the lack of study time and his note taking English 9 - 1 credit Tapestry literature (ancients) year 1 and analysis, Our Mother Tongue Grammar and Tapestry composition History - World History I 1 credit - completed Tapestry, doing all core reading, questions, charts and geography assignments Government - 1/2 credit elective Tapestry, mostly doing the readings and discussion with me, this is a handheld time for us Philosophy - 1/2 credit elective Tapestry, script and discussions 1st half year with dad, 2nd half with mom Bible - 1/2 credit elective various books and survey of OT and NT with TOG We have dabbled in and out of WTM. SL and TOG attempting to find something that will work. We've landed with TOG but it is soo overwhelmingly involved for ds, I worry it's distracting from the other subjects. I don't really have a question, unless it's how to help him ramp up to high school level note taking, study habits, workload management type stuff. I'd love to hear any suggestions you all have found successful with your high schoolers. He doesn't necessarily want to stop doing any one subject (as he's devoted to going to college and maintaining a rigorous courseload). He does however want to be succesful and we're both feeling frustration over getting it all done. WAAAAAhhhh. Sorry for the whining. You all are the only ones who understand.:lol: The reason my family tends to go towards a more textbook approach in high school is that an overwhelmed feeling comes upon them more easily when the see a pile of miscellaneous books that need to get done before June. You have: 1 Apologia Bio 1 TT Alg I 1 outsourced German (probably more work than an at home class??) 1 English (lit, comp, grammar) 1 Govt/Philosophy .5 Bible 1 History (done) I usually have: 1 science 1 math 1 foreign language 1 history/social studies 1 elective (Bible is not considered school time here) So, how much time/day is the Tapestry stuff? An hour/day per class? Is both Govt and Phil done for an hour each day? If so that is 7.5 hours. If Tapestry is more than that, then you might be expecting him to do...8, 9, 10 hours/day? That much time in school work just does not happen in my house. We max out at about 8 hours because we have the farm, CAP, AWANAS, as well as life to live. So...if it is too much--can you move Govt/Phil to next year, or...? Just my thoughts. Jean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoriM Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Math, English, History, Science, Foreign Language, Bible, Philosophy, Government...and the History is done for the year? Sounds like a great, balanced schedule. So, where's the challenge? Too many things each day? Can you switch to block-scheduled approach, and spend longer on each subject, but hit them fewer days? For example, two math lessons per day, but only three days per week? Can you switch his science to a two or three day per week course? (What is the issue with his notetaking? How much notetaking are you requiring? How does he do on the tests? If my kids could master the material in the chapter on a fairly rigorous test, then I didn't require anything more than simple outlining or other graphic organization of the material in the chapter.) If the challenge is the overall quality of his work, you may find you have to model the kind of work you expect to see more clearly for him. Not every kid is a natural note-taker. My second child doesn't think *at all* like I do. GRIN. So, when I wanted to see a certain result, or thought "these are the great ideas from this unit of work"...I gave her several options to demonstrate mastery of those ideas. Sometimes she'd write papers (the easy way out!), sometimes she'd produce a chapbook of material she'd learned and present it to me, and other times she'd do a powerpoint presentation (most formal) to her father and me after dinner one night. Once she wrote and filmed a narrative production. :) I think it helps to keep in mind what your outcome is for 9th grade, and for these particular subjects. Algebra is easiest...mastery of the material so that the student can easily solve basic algebraic real-world problems, and manipulate equations for further algebra investigation. That might mean working 30 problems per day, and it might mean working 90 problems per day. But history? literature? philosophy? even science? The objectives are less clear. I always wanted to see diligent study, making progress in the great ideas of the material, integrating something new into something already understood. Posing questions, and getting answers. Thinking. Reading. Learning. All the while, keeping a good attitude about it, organizing things better, rewording and rethinking preestablished ideas, and managing daily life around it--clean room, clean clothes, clean dishes, balanced activities. After all, as the teacher, as the school, you decide when enough is enough in any one subject. I think hsers typically overkill the material covered (especially us WTM types!). Typical work for my daughters in 9th grade was about 15-25 pages of written work per week, including math problems and outlining, and essay questions. Across all subjects. Three to five "pages" produced per day was more than enough. The rest of the work was in their brains, heart and clean bedrooms. :) Lori Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liza Q Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 How many hours is he actually working? I like to keep the average for my older girls at around 6 hours per day, though it can be as low as 4 (real life interfering) or as high as 8 (studying for a test/finishing a paper) on a particular day. Can you set some of the work aside as *homework* to be completed over the weekend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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