Laura Corin Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 What would your priorities be? Calvin will be fourteen when he goes to school, Hobbes eleven. The decision to put them into an (excellent) school is one I'm happy with; I just want to make the most/best of these last two years. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 I'm down to my last few years as one is graduating this spring and the other has only 3 more years. I'm most focused on just enjoying my time with them -- reading aloud together, going on trips and outings together as much as possible. I feel like we have a momentum going with academics, and while some subjects have to be beefed up or tweaked and some cajoling is in order, I don't feel like I need to obsess over their education the way I used to. They are really enjoyable kids to be around, and they will be out of the house before long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soph the vet Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 I love your sig, in fact we just read the "Beginning of Armadillos" after lunch today! What would I do? Or what do I think you should do? I'll go with what I would do if I had only teens left. I would make sure they know how to learn new things. I would make sure they know how to study Scripture thoroughly. I would send them to Summit for worldview training before they hit college. I would make sure they know enough life skills to be good neighbors and responsible, productive citizens. That they can cook, clean, and manage their finances too. And we would probably have a lot of marriage and relationship discussions as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIch elle Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I now know how to prepare him for 9th grade because his older brother is doing what he'll have to do in 2 yrs. (He'll attend the same high school). We dropped Latin because it doesn't appear to be helping my older ds in French, his lowest grade. Class participation counts for 20% of this grade and he's not getting French conversation fast enough to participate (or so he says). He feels at a disadvantage because many of his peers had French in middle school. I don't remember enough French to help him. So we'll do Spanish for Children in grade 7 & 8 instead of Latin (dh took many yrs of Spanish and could help). History - I've spent TOO much time on history in the past and not given enough time to other areas. Looks like we may use Biblioplan 3 or Beautiful Feet Early Am. & World History for grade 7 and evaluate to see if we want to continue Math - try to complete algebra I by the end of grade 8. We'll use CLE math 7 and LOF algebra in grade 7 to prepare for The High School Placement Exam in Nov. of grade 8. Do more focused vocabulary study. My older ds uses Vocabulary for the College Bound Student so we'll use the lower level - Vocabulary for the High School Student in grades 7 & 8. We'll continue with IEW writing and a strong focus on English grammar (try CLE LA from R&S). Reading - CLE reading 7 & 8 prepared my older ds well so we'll continue with that along with other literature including Shakespeare Science - older ds used Prentice Hall Science Explorer series and I think it wasn't enough. I'm looking at Apologia Gen. Science for grade 7. Bible - continue reading aloud Memory work - continue memorizing poems and important facts in all subjects. We didn't memorize science key terms in the past and will try to do that more. MORE summer lessons - keep it lite and simple (2hrs/day) but do more to prepare for the upcoming school year. History - listen to SOTW, Biology - listen or watch, Bible studies, require fiction reading, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I now know how to prepare him for 9th grade because his older brother is doing what he'll have to do in 2 yrs. (He'll attend the same high school). We dropped Latin because it doesn't appear to be helping my older ds in French, his lowest grade. Class participation counts for 20% of this grade and he's not getting French conversation fast enough to participate (or so he says). He feels at a disadvantage because many of his peers had French in middle school. I don't remember enough French to help him. So we'll do Spanish for Children in grade 7 & 8 instead of Latin (dh took many yrs of Spanish and could help). History - I've spent TOO much time on history in the past and not given enough time to other areas. Looks like we may use Biblioplan 3 or Beautiful Feet Early Am. & World History for grade 7 and evaluate to see if we want to continue Math - try to complete algebra I by the end of grade 8. We'll use CLE math 7 and LOF algebra in grade 7 to prepare for The High School Placement Exam in Nov. of grade 8. Do more focused vocabulary study. My older ds uses Vocabulary for the College Bound Student so we'll use the lower level - Vocabulary for the High School Student in grades 7 & 8. We'll continue with IEW writing and a strong focus on English grammar (try CLE LA from R&S). Reading - CLE reading 7 & 8 prepared my older ds well so we'll continue with that along with other literature including Shakespeare Science - older ds used Prentice Hall Science Explorer series and I think it wasn't enough. I'm looking at Apologia Gen. Science for grade 7. Bible - continue reading aloud Memory work - continue memorizing poems and important facts in all subjects. We didn't memorize science key terms in the past and will try to do that more. MORE summer lessons - keep it lite and simple (2hrs/day) but do more to prepare for the upcoming school year. History - listen to SOTW, Biology - listen or watch, Bible studies, require fiction reading, etc. Michelle, My son is going to a school very much like St. John's in the fall. I like your advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie in NE Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Especially if it's an area that my student is especially interested in.... For example, I would read, read, read the great books, if the new school has the "average" or "normal" literature requirements. Or I would teach the classical or modern language that the school doesn't offer. Is there a gap in the sciences? Religion? Something else? Whatever the school doesn't offer, that I wished my dc would have, that is what I would teach...... Or maybe the school is truly perfect for you, and you can just take a lot of field trips for the next couple of years, and get those "out of the classroom" experiences that you won't be able to get anywhere else..... I'm so glad you've found such a great school for your dc. jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraceinMD Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Science - older ds used Prentice Hall Science Explorer series and I think it wasn't enough. I'm looking at Apologia Gen. Science for grade 7. MIch elle, could you tell me what didn't seem "enough" about PH Sci Explorer. I've liked it (for 6th and 7th), although we don't *do* enough. I don't care for Apologia, but ... hmmm, maybe need to reconsider. Thanks for your input! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 I think I would focus on the reading..as many good books as possible. I dont know if you still read aloud...I do and my kids don't seem to want me to stop. And the other thing that comes to mind is to really enjoy your time together, as well as focusing on life skills...cooking, cleaning, sewing on buttons, those sorts of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIch elle Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 MIch elle, could you tell me what didn't seem "enough" about PH Sci Explorer. I've liked it (for 6th and 7th), although we don't *do* enough. I don't care for Apologia, but ... hmmm, maybe need to reconsider. Thanks for your input! Calvert School use to have dc do 3 PH books/year now the new Calvert has them do 5 PH books/yr. I have old Calvert 7 and don't want to buy another new Calvert LM and tests. I NEED tests. Maybe if I listened to Tami, I could buy the other components of PH and it would be better. My dh did PH science with ds and although he's a PhD chemist he did it in a relaxed manner (although I asked him to do more). He didn't have ds memorize the vocabulary and didn't keep up through grade 8 with it (spotty). I need to take over science. I NEED something like Apologia General Science with all it's components (tests, audio, video, experiments). I will have to submit a transcript for grade 7 and need to give tests in all subjects. I'll be looking at science, history and many other things at the upcoming MassHOPE homeschool convention 4/30. I'll be looking at Apologia and Rainbow science. HTH, Michelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyinva Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Great advice. :) I would add that you might want to be sure they can take notes from a lecture and read a fairly complex textbook. When my son started taking a community college biology class, we had to work together for him to really glean the important material from the text. It would have been preferable to practice that skill ahead of time. I would also be sure they type well. They probably won't have as much time to practice that type of thing once they are in school. I imagine they have plenty of training in writing well, so that's all I can think of! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen sn Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 What would your priorities be? Calvin will be fourteen when he goes to school, Hobbes eleven. The decision to put them into an (excellent) school is one I'm happy with; I just want to make the most/best of these last two years. Laura Aside from your regular schedule, I would make sure they are organized. Assign them "homework" to be turned in at a certain time, books to be read, papers to be written.... Have them write it down in a small note pad - this will come in handy in HS and college. I always had a weekly page going and knew what chapters needed to be read in which books, what was due that week, etc.. and it was quite satisfying to cross things off when they were done. I also had a monthly calendar that I wrote test dates and projects due. I would want them to have extremely good foundations in math and spelling. Good note taking skills are a MUST! And they need to be able to really pay attention to what you say the first time because the teachers don't slow down for the day dreamers. And of course - what everyone else said about the time together, moral character, and kitchen skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaNY Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 What would your priorities be? Calvin will be fourteen when he goes to school, Hobbes eleven. The decision to put them into an (excellent) school is one I'm happy with; I just want to make the most/best of these last two years. Laura I'm facing the same thing right now, although my dd is going next year. I've decided to focus on math, Latin, history, and writing. (along w/the suggested resource for 8th gr. science) I've purchased a copy of Drew Campbell's (Plaid Dad) LCC, which is helping me flesh out this goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanga Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 If you know what the school will teach (and I am sure you do) I would focus on any gaps that you can see in their curriculum. My dd was going off to college to major in BioChemistry, so I focused on history and literature. I know that seems counterintuitive, but I knew she was good in Math and Science and I didn't need to prepare her for the academics. Instead I felt it was probably the last time she would have a chance to delve deeply into the classics and I wanted to take advantage of my limited time with her to do so. My son is planning on going to college in 2 years to major in art, so I am focusing heavily on math and science. I would also teach them anything that you would be jealous if someone else taught them first. I hope that makes sense. My dh wanted to teach my dc to program. I had/have certain books that I wanted to read and discuss with them. We both wanted to teach them calculus. Basically we wanted to share some of the things that we loved, hoping they would/will share our enthusiasm. I also asked my dc what they wanted to study, realizing that they are never again going to have a tailor made curriculum. My dd wanted to study economics in depth. My son has decided to spend his last 2 years at home learning another language?!? (Japanese?) and he wants to study geology next year instead of taking chemistry or biology again as an AP class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 I think my biggest hotspot would be in writing. There is a lot more reliance on written answers in a school than in home education (where you have the ability to discuss much more). I would need to make sure that my kids could do good paragraphs and essays. Notetaking (from lecture and chapters), studying for a test (how to put those notes and practices to use) and time management would be other issues that I think would trip up my kids. I would also consider if there was something that I'd always wanted to do. Maybe a bunch of science labs. Maybe nature study. Maybe art studies or music studies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Virginia Dawn Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Writing and reading. Writing well will give them an edge. Reading because there wont' be as much time to read what you want them to read. My son missed out on a lot of good books his senior year because I sent him to community college. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanga Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Oh and travel! I know this seems silly to tell you, but the hardest past of letting my dd go to college early was operating within the confines of school's schedule. My dh is military; we were accustomed to traveling and mostly traveled when everyone else was in school so we did not have to deal with crowds. Oh, and it is now more expensive when we do things because we are always doing them at the peak of the season. Take skiing, we used to go midweek when it is half price and uncrowded, now we have to go on the weekends where we twice as much for half the fun. I will stop now before this turns into a full-blown pity party!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Oh and travel! I know this seems silly to tell you, but the hardest past of letting my dd go to college early was operating within the confines of school's schedule. My dh is military; we were accustomed to traveling and mostly traveled when everyone else was in school so we did not have to deal with crowds. Oh, and it is now more expensive when we do things because we are always doing them at the peak of the season. Take skiing, we used to go midweek when it is half price and uncrowded, now we have to go on the weekends where we twice as much for half the fun. I will stop now before this turns into a full-blown pity party!:D I know what you mean! :grouphug: I am already mourning our little day trips we'd take to zoo, museums, plays, movies, lunch... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 This post is timely for me. I have 2 years left as well (before she heads to high school). I'm going to put most of my effort into her writing skills. I'm going to focus more on bigger projects and self scheduling. We will continue with Latin and add in Koine Greek. I'm going to do a combo of building up highschool skills and also doing a few things that she won't get to do once she's there. And then I'll pray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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