| Author | |
At_His_Feet
Forum Pro
Joined: April 28 2007
Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 304
|
| Posted: June 01 2007 at 4:31am | IP Logged
|
 |
|
I have a dilema.
Our eldest son Thomas, has been hs for 15 months. One of the reasons why we brought him home was because of the difficulity he had in finishing any work at school. This has carried over to homeschooling.
Most days I have to tell him to put pen to paper MANY times before he will do anything. I need to be constantly telling him to hurry up etc. I have tried many times to give up telling him to hurry up and it literally takes him hours to do anything.
As I have a second son who has just come home, and who also has special needs (he has Asperger Syndrome) and a 2 year old, I am finding it increasingly difficult to keep it all together!
When we started hs he was on ACE, mainly because I needed structure and I didn't really know what was out there in terms of curriculum. We only used it for about 3 months. Thomas liked it, but i wanted to see what else was out there.
However, almost every day since I have fantisised about putting him back on ACE. Today I called them to organise his re-enrollment. But on one level I feel like I'm selling out. Mainly becasue it's not a catholic programme. However I really believe that it would benefit him, as he would have to learn how to be self-directed, and because I dodn't know how much longer I can tolerate his before I throw my hands up and say it's off to school you go! (Which he would like, or so he says!)I plan to only have him on it for 12-18 months, when he will then, with any luck, but able to be more self-reliant.
For what it's worth, he says he's happy to be going abck to ACE.
I do know of many Catholic families who use ACE and supp. with living Catholic books.
At the moment we are using many Seton books, which our second son will still be using.
So... what would you do?
Tricia
Aussie wife to James, Mum to 3 boys, 9, 7 and 2.
__________________
Tricia
Mum to 3 boys 17, 15, and 10.
Do whatever He tells you
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Elena
Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 13 2006
Location: Ohio
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 592
|
| Posted: June 01 2007 at 8:18am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Well, if he like ACE, and you like ACE...I think I'd go back to ACE!! When I first started homeschooling there were a lot of Catholic families in my group that used ACED. To each his own.
You could always supplement with real books, maybe with a reading time in the afternoon or evening when Dad is home.
__________________
Elena
Wife to Peter, mom of many!
My Domestic Church
One Day at a Time
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
ann@home
Forum Pro
Joined: April 26 2007
Location: Iowa
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 169
|
| Posted: June 01 2007 at 12:29pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I think the priority is what program your son will actually learn from and retain, so go back to ACE. Be thankful that you know of something that works  So many people don't get that far for years!
It seems to me that you 'live' the catholic lifestyle so this can be taught in many different ways, not just thru curriculum. Adding in living books and celebrating different events/holy days in meaningful ways will probably go further in making kids understand and form their values.
Good luck
__________________
Ann, Full-time Mama of a 10yr old Lego master, 7yr old DIVA, 4yr old King of the Mountain and one more in June '09!
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
lapazfarm
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 21 2005
Location: Alaska
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6082
|
| Posted: June 01 2007 at 1:28pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I'd say go with what works. Seems to me the logical choice would be the curriculum you both like, which happens to be ACE. Homeschooling is all about doing what works for your family, not anyone else's.
__________________
Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
folklaur
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2816
|
| Posted: June 01 2007 at 7:10pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I agree! We use Sonlight, as it just fits.
But I know the feeling you are talking about. I have felt it too  ...
But Sonlight just works so well for us.....
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Leonie
Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 28 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2831
|
| Posted: June 03 2007 at 6:06pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
My philosophy - if it ain't broke, don't fix it! 
So, if ACE works - use it - just add in living books about the Catholic faith, the liturgical year, etc. As I am sure you do.The main area to watch is history, so supplementing with appropriate saints stories for each historical time period might be a good idea...
__________________
Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
At_His_Feet
Forum Pro
Joined: April 28 2007
Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 304
|
| Posted: June 04 2007 at 9:26pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thanks everyone for your words of advice. I'm feeling somewhat more confident.
I'm somewhat surprised that there isn't aynone who disagrees!!! If you are out there, fire away!
Tricia
__________________
Tricia
Mum to 3 boys 17, 15, and 10.
Do whatever He tells you
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
At_His_Feet
Forum Pro
Joined: April 28 2007
Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 304
|
| Posted: July 04 2007 at 7:18pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
After much prayer and pondering, I've decided to keep going with what we are doing, and increase the living books we are studying. After all that's why I wanted to hs. To share great literature with my sons, rather than have them in their room doing lots of book work! 
My son's reading seems to have clicked at last, so things are getting easier. 
Anne (aka Aussieannie) gave me some great tips for motivating Tom, which are working a treat. Tom still wants to go back to ACE, but we'll keep pluging away.
Thanks so much for your imput and support.
Tricia
__________________
Tricia
Mum to 3 boys 17, 15, and 10.
Do whatever He tells you
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Bookswithtea
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 07 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2621
|
| Posted: July 04 2007 at 7:51pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
fwiw, I see that your ds is 9. I just wanted to add that the behavior you are describing is pretty typical for boys that age, no matter what the program. Use what works, but break up your day so that he isn't working at the table for longer than 20 minutes at a time without a break, and the break will be more helpful at this age if it includes something physical. My ds is quite self reliant now, but he was nowhere near that way at 9. He didn't get good at it until he was 11.
Also, I don't know how long your school day is, but if its more than about 2 hrs (not including listening to read alouds) then it may be more intense than is necessary. School kids are there for 6 hrs, but their school hours are nowhere near as focused as the 2 hrs of homeschooling.
.02
__________________
Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and  due 9/10
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Advise please. *Update*
