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Bookswithtea
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| Posted: March 21 2007 at 8:29pm | IP Logged
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LLMom wrote:
Okay books,
How do you do all of the above and have them independent? That is why I switched to a prepackaged curriculum 2 years ago. I just didn't have the time to sit and type narrations, give dictations, do hands on stuff and I couldn't find a program that had that without a lot of teacher involvment. I am planning for next year and am facing the same challenges. My little ones are still so needy and I have 5 homeschool aged children. I would love to do what you describe but it makes my head spin thinking about it. |
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LOL. Busted, eh? I don't have 7 children, so that probably makes a difference. I'm all for simplified, though. I'm a strong believer in 'better late than early' so you have to know that about me.  I always let the olders begin with independent stuff and work with the youngers first. Once they are done with all they can do independently, they can play until I'm ready for them. YOUNGEST FIRST I say almost every day.  Here's my basic plan:
2yr old and very young 5 yr old: picture books! Now don't laugh at me for this...Abeka sells both K4 and K5 arts and crafts book that are super easy. For example, in the K4 book, there's a picture of an apple tree to cut out and then color the apples red. I'll give that to her and we'll read an apple book. Or this week she cut out two sides of a 'basket', strung them together with yarn, and then cut out two fish and five loaves of fish. I read her the story and she did the craft. It keeps girly girls happy and for 12 bucks, I'm willing to drop the money to have it all put together for me. There are lots of crafts in there that don't go along with books but they all require little more than scissors, crayons, a dab of glue, and the occasional paper bag or piece of yarn. I will probably work 2 or so days a week on letter or number flash cards with the preschool aged 5 yr old. I'll be content if the 2 yr old will listen to the story and not try to sit on the book!
7-8yr old/2nd grader: Math U See Alpha along with Flashmaster. I have used MUS now for a year with 3 different children and I love love love it. I don't start it until 1st grade so that the child feels quite successful. My 7yr old first grader can watch the dvd herself and usually 'get it' without any help from me. I have her do 2 pages a day, 3 days a week in primer (those two pages probably take her 15 minutes). There is no test booklet for primer. Flashmaster is this handy thing I got from Sonlight a year ago. It was well worth the $50 I paid for it. My oldest who had a concussion in the year children are supposed to memorize times tables FINALLY 'got it' after a year with Flashmaster. It doesn't take long and it does not require ANYTHING of me, other than telling them to do it. No paper, no pencils. Children aged 6 start thinking its interesting and thats when I start them on it at the lowest level with 9 seconds per problem to solve it. She will continue with Explode the Code (I don't normally like workbooks but I've used these three times now with great success so if it ain't broke...), and I usually just give instructions for that and let her finish it. She is slow on the reading curve but isn't too discouraged about it. I listen to her read to me 3-4 days a week (more often 3 days). I should say that my ds couldn't do the Explode the Code books at the same age without me sitting right next to him, so for wiggly boys, this is less independent than it is for girls. I will do religion with her (some combined version of CHC's communion prep and Elizabeth's first communion notebook) and FIAR/Mosaic, and chapter book read alouds (I'll use audiobooks instead when life gets really busy). I'm thinking about Startwrite (Elizabeth recommended this on a language arts thread and I'm intrigued now) for copywork/handwriting practice based on the books we are rowing.
5th grade/10 yr old. This child is very independent and takes pride in her work. I thank God He gave me her because otherwise, I would have thought I failed entirely as a hs mom if they were all like my oldest!  She will have independent religion...reading books like St. Patrick's Summer, or a girls devotional or something like that. I usually mix it up throughout the year so she doesn't get bored. Two days a week she will listen to a chapter of SOTW 1 on audio cd and put the timeline figure in the book from Sonlight. I will do some read alouds with her from this time period. She will do MUS Delta mostly independently and also flashmaster. She will do ILL 3 days a week and an oral narration once a week (I will keyboard). ILL is not completely independent, but doesn't usually take me too long as long as I don't expect her to do the handwriting part of the compositions. She is going to learn to type this year using Mavis Beacon (completely independent cd rom and under $20 at Costco). The two days a week she doesn't do history she is going to do Beyond FIAR, but ONLY the science portions. I'm going to completely plan out the units ahead of time and find some 'do it yourself' type kits to go along with it, and some other science based living books that she can read to herself. I may include either a CHC speller or a Wordly Wise (used for spelling because I think vocabulary exercises are a little less stupid than spelling ones) book, but I may end up scratching this altogether in favor of copywork.
9th grade/14 yr old (this assumes I move him on to 9th grade...if he doesn't show some motivation in the next two months he may be repeating 8th grade, because I refuse to work through the summer with him):
Algebra 1 teaching textbooks (this is supposed to be almost entirely independently...I'm taking their word for it!). Still looking for grammar. Vocab/Spelling with Wordly Wise. Literature a modified version of some of Kolbe's new Jr. High Literature program (I'm only using the books that I think are 9th grade level). American History will be Anne Carrolle audio cds, Teaching Company dvd lectures, some literature from which I will require written summaries/narrations, and some text type living book that I have yet to discover but I'm sure its out there. Religion--I found a neat Peter Kreeft book that is an introduction to the scriptures...easy to understand and not much more than 3 pages for each book. Along with that, he will be required to read about 5 NT books (one Gospel, Acts, Revelation, Romans, and one of the short books) and write short summaries. I'm going to bite the bullet and pay for several Scott Hahn audio tapes that cover these books for him to listen to as well. I will probably require three papers out of him, one on the Eucharist, one on the End Times and one on something of his choice. Rather than go through all of this with him, I am going to have him writing daily about it all and then read what he wrote. I keep thinking, Charlotte Mason says, "All true education is self education" so I really feel like if I give him the best of the best and get out of the way, he will learn what he needs to learn. Science I'm still working on. If he completes Physical Science this year, then he gets to pick his own subject, which will likely be agriculturally based. I'll let him read lots of good living books on livestock and such and let him raise chickens and probably have him chart the growth of the chickens and feed usage and stuff like that. This will also include researching and building me a chicken coop!
Oh my...this got really long. We start around 8:30. The 2 and 5 yr olds will be done in 30-45 minutes tops, The 2nd grader will be done in about 1 1/2- 2 hrs including read alouds but not including time to lapbook, which I will do occasionally with her. The 5th grader will probably need closer to 3 hrs (not including an hour of personal reading time a day), but only need me for history read alouds and ILL. The 9th grader should be mostly independent except for 'I don't understand' type questions. He will work 4-6 hrs a day, not counting reading literature. Everyone will be done before noon except the 9th grader. Friday is for catching up and grocery shopping, and math for the oldest two who can't complete a year of math without a 5th day.
Notice what is missing??? Latin. I'm not a Latin mom. That takes tons of time and none of it is independent. I have my limits and this is one of them. I don't do any foreign language until well into the high school years, and hopefully, the child will be driving and can learn it completely independent of me.
I'm kind of excited about this Fall. I hope it works. Do you think its not independent enough??? Please comment! Otherwise, I will be the one next March posting the "Help me to avoid burnout!" thread. 
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Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and  due 9/10
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: March 21 2007 at 8:59pm | IP Logged
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That sounds really good, Books. Very nice mix of independant and collaborative learning. Now...can you organize next year for me?
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julia s.
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| Posted: March 22 2007 at 8:18am | IP Logged
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Ok Helen,
I really hoped to post this when I had more time and it might not come out as scattered as I think it might.
I think the most important thing is to figure out what wears you out. For me it's planning. Even if I modify someone elses plans that is better for me than having to start from scratch and plan. By the time I gather the book list and the materials I'm usually worn out and don't even want to look at the stuff I planned let alone go over it with the kids.
Another thing is find things on tape (audio or visual) as often as possible. Listening in the van or having something on hand to put on at the end of the day when your tired that is something you chose special. Priceless.
Finally, years back when I was working in a bookstore my boss always kept motivational material to read in the bathroom. One of the books talked about how athletes always returned to "the plan" when things were getting rough. The idea is you have a plan and when things are going well and you have a lot of energy and synergy from the outside you can free form and deviate from the plan, but when things are getting tough you return to the plan that you have outlined. It's like going to home base. The examples were when Michael Jordin was asked how Scotty Pippin (I think that was the player) who was new to the team was doing Jordan said Pippin was doing well, but he needed to know when to work the plan. Another example was when someone asked McEnroe (the tennis player) what he told himself when he missed the ball McEnroe said "this is a racket you hold it here, this is the ball you hit it with the racket. Basically it's the basics revisited.
Well the kids call--
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Helen
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| Posted: March 22 2007 at 9:43pm | IP Logged
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julia s. wrote:
Ok Helen,
I really hoped to post this when I had more time and it might not come out as scattered as I think it might.
I think the most important thing is to figure out what wears you out. |
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Thanks Julia for the great question. I've beent thinking about it all day. I really like everything about Homeschooling – I just can’t do everything every year.
My newest thought in refining my method is coming from
alicegunther wrote:
| This makes a lot of sense. Charlotte Mason had twelve week terms, but I think six week terms might be energizing and and manageable for homeschoolers, perhaps with a week off here and there in between. |
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I think most of us realize that we can’t duplicate what is done in the classroom. Homeschooling is a way of life and although we can have certain times and rooms where we do most of our “schooling/learning”, it is still in the context of the homeschool.
Now, I’m wondering if I’m laboring under another institutional school idea which has gone unnoticed.
Perhaps the idea of “a year” is my problem. By March, the year is almost over and the view is to finish the year. More often than not, this implies looking at what WAS NOT accomplished. (A rather disappointing view point)
A 12 week session based on seasons, might be a more realistic and in sync way of looking at the homeschool year. There’s a time for fireplaces and long evenings or open windows and new growth. Just as I don’t try to duplicate schooling in a classroom, maybe part of my method problem is adopting the institutional school year. Instead, maybe I need to have some closure at the end of a season – even if we still mean to continue something.
By continuing, I'm refering to the balancing act: to offer enough consistency so that subjects which need frequent attention such as math, Latin, or instrument practice have their daily place but also have a sense of moving with life and offering a sense of completion – of success.
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: March 23 2007 at 8:36am | IP Logged
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I have been thinking alot about adapting our homeschool to the seasons as well- "to everything there is a season" and all. I tend to do this anyway, but I think I may take it even further and focus on certain subjects during different seasons.
Right now all we want to do is go outside and do nature study, build things, and sit on the porch and read. Why fight that when there is much to be learned that way?
In the winter we want to stay indoors and write and bake and do crafts and read historical fiction and celebrate the holidays. Why not go with that?
Add to that breaks in between the seasons and I think it is a very organic way of learning and living.
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julia s.
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| Posted: March 23 2007 at 9:01am | IP Logged
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One more thing I'd like to add and hopefully not make things more confusing is remember that burnout may not always have to do with homeschooling, but it may be hard to homeschool when you're burnt out. I remember a book I read when I first started hsing said put on a piece of paper "It's not the homeschooling" and tape it to the refridgerator. This was as a reminder that just because the kids are not acting like you hoped or your life isn't going like you planned to not always blame it on the homeschooling.
You have a lot of young children right now and that is just hard.
That said I do think planning ahead for next year is a good idea.
I too think the idea of instutional education and worrying about what hasn't been done by this point is really draining. This year I've been writing down (rather inconsistently) what we've done so that I can see the list of books and the activities that we did and feel accomplished. Maybe plan in regularly a review period every so often so you can go over what has been done and remember where they were when you started.
Also, I don't know if you're like me, but sometimes I like to go looking at other peoples blogs for ideas, but sometimes I end up feeling bad like why didn't I think to do that last week or oh, yeah I meant to get to that and we were all sick so another year has gone by and we didn't do this plan. Sometimes it is best to clear out all distractions for awhile and just focus on your kids and husband and home. Also, it is like information overload sometimes.
Finally, I was reminded today not to discount hormonal cycles as mine are returning after nursing the baby and full PMS was in swing last night.
I'm just laying out a few thoughts so even if you do figure out the right plan for you you remember that bad days and times still happen and the plan may be fine and it might have to just be pushed through for a few weeks to see it's strengths again (or maybe have a plan for those low energy times vs. high energy times).
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Tina P.
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| Posted: March 23 2007 at 9:57am | IP Logged
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lapazfarm wrote:
| it is a very organic way of learning and living. |
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Ooooh, I like the way you said that, Theresa. Organic learning ...
Yes, I agree that the best way to learn is to flow with seasons rather than fight them. We do everything we can on our back porch right now. The kids read in trees. I was helping my 9yo format a math page with columns the other day and he was so antsy that I told him to run around the block twice to kick out some of energy.
May or June does *not* signify the end of the year for us. We always seem to have *enforced* breaks. We break because of a baby, or because we have to visit relatives ~ for instance, this summer is my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. We don't get to just relax and enjoy each other on break. 
What I'm considering doing with our year is starting the whole process in January or February and working until a couple of weeks before Christmas for a month total. We'll take a break Holy week and Easter week. We might take a two-week break in summer (certainly not in August where we are, ugh!), and maybe two weeks in Autumn. I haven't fleshed out the plan to see how it will work.
Also, I agree that planning short chunks of time for schooling is more realistic for us. There are the obvious, plodding subjects where it is easy to follow a *do-so-many-pages-per-day* plan ad naseum. And then there's history. Our family's going to proceed through history at a *much* slower rate than your typical school. There's so much more to learn about periods in history than can be crammed in one book. I'm flexible about what they want to learn. We linger on some subjects and fly through others.
And then there's science. When, really, does that subject ever end? I find that when we're highly concentrating on history, science suffers. When we concentrate on science, history suffers. But all things told, we spend quality time on each and for me, it's sometimes good to have a break from one subject or another. We still *do* the subjects, mind you, just not as thoroughly as we might have otherwise.
And Theresa, can we visit for cookie-tasting in winter?
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: March 23 2007 at 10:11am | IP Logged
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Please do visit, Tina! We'll whip up an extra batch!
I do have to add one caveat to all my ramblings, however.
I think part of my low stress level and lack of burnout is because I do not care one bit what kids in regular schools are doing. I know my kids are all doing what they need to be doing and I feel no need to compare them to their public schooled peers.
I think if one can free oneself from that burden, it lightens the load considerably.
Now if I can just quit comparing MYSELF to other homeschooling moms, I'll be doing fine!LOL!
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Tina P.
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| Posted: March 23 2007 at 10:27am | IP Logged
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YOU!?!? With all your creative ideas, lapbooking/notebooking (which I'm still learning ever so slowly), massive quantities of learning accomplished, and little minds loving learning Theresa, I wish we could just live with your family (drag the kids over here, our house can handle a few more people). I'll cook and clean and you plan and implement for a few weeks. And then we'll switch. What do you say?
Oh, I wish it were that easy! Can you imagine having a few weeks off to refresh yourself for teaching the next major period in history or science concept (btw, you'd have to teach all physical sciences and math  ).
Dream, dream, dream ...
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: March 23 2007 at 11:53am | IP Logged
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Tina, you crack me up!!!!
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Nina Murphy
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| Posted: March 23 2007 at 1:39pm | IP Logged
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One thing that came to me concerning burnout: I really think (from my informal assessment of those I know) that having a new child and for the first year or so (or more)... really changes things---it is a totally different picture you're looking at. The moms I know who haven't had babies in a while simply seem more capable of handling the homeschooling.
It is a HUGE factor, which I don't think, is fair to minimize in the whole discussion of which educational methods are ideal, or even possible---in terms of simplicity, relative ease, low-stress and wholeness for ourselves and our families.
And it can also be something to look forward to and give hope to our aspirations if we ARE presently discouraged and burnt out....that someday things will change and possibly become more conducive to homeschooling serenely and fruitfully when the babies and toddlers are grown, and we are no longer pregnant or as exhausted/ overwhelmed with the all-encompassing care of several little ones.
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~~Nina
mother of 9 on earth,
and 2 yet-to-be-met
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: March 23 2007 at 1:43pm | IP Logged
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Nina, you are absolutely right. When my dear grandsons came to live with us in January It made a HUGE difference for the longest time, really knocking us for a loop. We have rebounded pretty well, but just having a baby around is the largest consideration in most of the things we do. It affects EVERYTHING.
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JenniferS
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| Posted: March 23 2007 at 3:04pm | IP Logged
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Wow, Ladies!! I've been following this thread, and I have gotten so much from it. THis is only our second year of homeschooling, but I have hit that burnout point in Feb/MAr both years.(Last year, we had a baby in November, and this year, my dh has had several surgeries. Maybe that is why?) Anyway...I am finding the twelve week terms very appealing. I told dh lastnight that I wanted to try it. He is a public school teacher, and we've always gone with his schedule, so this will be different, but I think the kids will love it more.(How's that for a run on sentence???) Thank you so much!! Sorry, I am rambling!
Jen
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Helen
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| Posted: March 23 2007 at 3:49pm | IP Logged
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julia s. wrote:
| One more thing I'd like to add and hopefully not make things more confusing is remember that burnout may not always have to do with homeschooling, but it may be hard to homeschool when you're burnt out. |
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Nina Murphy wrote:
| One thing that came to me concerning burnout: I really think (from my informal assessment of those I know) that having a new child and for the first year or so (or more)... really changes things---it is a totally different picture you're looking at. The moms I know who haven't had babies in a while simply seem more capable of handling the homeschooling. |
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If our children are high needs (young children qualify  ), then the methold/philosophy of homeschooling needs to flex with the family. The whole method should allow the mom some time for recharging. (One thing with concentrated effort)
I'm really glad to hear Theresa say that she doesn't experience burnout. I don't think I should accept unconditionally that as a homeschooler I should feel tired in March. I'm not saying that it's not going to happen. But to plan on it?
Tina, I also like the word "organic." I'm thinking if looking at the year in a seasonal way, it is probably easier to make course changes, adjustments and not "feel" like something failed. The seasonal approach builds in the idea of modifications.
Reading Vol 6 of Charlotte Mason has been very helpful: "The teacher should do less teaching"
Let the children ponder ideas with living books.
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amyable
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| Posted: March 23 2007 at 4:19pm | IP Logged
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Nina Murphy wrote:
One thing that came to me concerning burnout: I really think (from my informal assessment of those I know) that having a new child and for the first year or so (or more)... really changes things---it is a totally different picture you're looking at. The moms I know who haven't had babies in a while simply seem more capable of handling the homeschooling.
It is a HUGE factor, which I don't think, is fair to minimize in the whole discussion of which educational methods are ideal, or even possible---in terms of simplicity, relative ease, low-stress and wholeness for ourselves and our families.
And it can also be something to look forward to and give hope to our aspirations if we ARE presently discouraged and burnt out....that someday things will change and possibly become more conducive to homeschooling serenely and fruitfully when the babies and toddlers are grown, and we are no longer pregnant or as exhausted/ overwhelmed with the all-encompassing care of several little ones. |
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I've been thinking about this a lot lately. In families like mine and yours and many others, where a baby is coming every two years, and you go from "hard to school because you are pregnant" to "hard to school because there is a baby" right back to "hard to school because you are pregnant" all over again! Not to mention other needs (medical, LDs, etc)
If I have babies into my mid-40's, my oldest will be graduating from high school before I get over the "hard baby stage". I don't want to think that only my youngest kids will get a mom/educator that has real time and energy to school them well.
Yes, please, let's talk (maybe this is better for a new thread?) about what works in these situations, yet still provides a good possibly college bound education. (read: my dh will never let us unschool for good )
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The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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Nina Murphy
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| Posted: March 23 2007 at 5:32pm | IP Logged
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I know.....so true. We DO need to just figure out what's gonna work so they can move on at some point! Not necessarily when society says (18) but able to live independent productive adult lives eventually. ?????? So, this is a worthy discussion....perhaps indeed for another thread.
But the fact is NOT every woman is given babies every two years, not every woman continues to keep having those babies (and for many, it is not their will, of course--they WOULD have more) --- some moms only have one, two, three or at some point they just inexplicably stop conceiving.
All God's good Will, but...I think it just is *easier* in some ways at that point to stick with it through High School. I can't even imagine if I had only one or two teens right now, and that was it, how different my life would be---the time, the sleeping through the night, time to fortify myself, the quiet, the relative control of the household. (And I oughtn't to imagine it as it is vain---it is not my life.)
But someday perhaps it will be. The only ones who will be left perhaps to educate at home are these two (last) boys (if I have no new babies), Andrew and Joey. Our homeschool would look totally different.
Who knows what wonderful directions are lives will go in? But for now...I NEED HELP.
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~~Nina
mother of 9 on earth,
and 2 yet-to-be-met
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guitarnan
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| Posted: March 23 2007 at 6:18pm | IP Logged
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You know, my burnout comes from another source...dh's job wears us all down at different times (especially now, when he dislikes it so much he's volunteered to go to Iraq six times!)...but I can totally relate to the new baby burnout. You're just SO tired. Getting food into the house (table...find it yourself...) is nearly impossible. Everything is like that.
One thing I think it's important to remember is that we are educating the whole child. We have no way to screen the children from these "adult" realities. Tiredness, illness, family crises...they're around for all of it. I've decided that it's good for my children to see that Mommy will drop anything to talk with a sobbing s-i-l, even school, because God and family come first, and I must stick with that cardinal rule even if we don't practice multiplying or review German vocab.
In the end I think our children are more realistic and understanding for these experiences. Witness Elizabeth's Michael, who fell in love with baby sister Karoline and who, I'm sure, is really happy to be able to go to college near his beloved home. How many teens learn this kind of empathy from a classroom, or from TV?
I like the seasonal idea; I have Seasonal Affective Disorder and have learned not to plan amazing and incredible activities in February. I can't do them. It's all I can do to get through a typical school day, even if it's really sunny out. Yesterday, though, we chucked the lesson plans and dashed off to the airport observation park. All of us were recharged...me with sunshine and kites, dd with running and kites and playing, ds with airplanes and cameras and a walk.
I can't wait to see how everyone develops the seasonal idea!
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Helen
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| Posted: March 23 2007 at 10:58pm | IP Logged
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I wasn't sure where to post these ideas on how to avoid burnout. I suppose I'll use this thread since the focus is on avoiding burnout. But there is another thread discussing the fine points of seasonal learning.
Should I post there too?
Organic/seasonal learning thread
Seasonal Learning to prevent Homeschool Burnout
Especially for young children
Based on the ideas of Charlotte Mason
Rules
1. No dividing of books or text books over the course of a school year.
2. The goal of this type of Homeschooling is habit formation vs material covered.
3. Daily Latin, Math, music practice, copywork, reading practice, prayers.
10-15 minute maximium
4. No Drill and Kill (thanks Elizabeth)
5. Intersperse lessons with recourse to real life, real books, real people; daily and without pressure.
6. No stray lessons given on interesting topics.
[Discuss how these subjects can be taught seasonally.
Change location, time, book? in the other thread, theOrganic/seasonal learning thread?]
Easier seasonal topics
Science, history, literature, poetry, art music
Charlotte Mason ideas:
• Variety with wide sampling (I think variety needs to be interpreted from the early 1900’s. They just didn’t have the access to the quantity of books that we have today. Interpretation of this rule in order to avoid burnout would include FEW.We have so much at our fingertips:Less is more.)
• Simple materials: a few, excellent books
• Do not arbitrarily include or exclude a subject
• Best book chosen even if read over the course of several years
• One reading for attention
• Oral narrations only. (Written for those children who can easily write on their own.)
Closure to a Season
1. Not the date of Spring or Fall
2. The feeling of change is in the air. (Basically we will know the time of year, but we are not beholden to the time – more or less 12 weeks.)
3. Take a week off during change over to evaluate:
Education is an atmosphere, a discipline and a life:
a. Were habits practiced and formed?
b. How’s the prayer routine?
c. What needs adjustment?
d. Assess new stresses or changes in family life.
e. Did I fall into the homeschool temptation? “Since I homeschool I can do X.Y, Z and ABCDEFGH….” (cut back on unnecessary activities and studies.)
f. Am I tired after this season? Take another week off and have generous contact with real life:Outside activities, field trips, visit with family, vacation, and read one good book, uninterrupted for recharge.
Let's discuss these ideas at the other thread:
Organic/seasonal learning thread
Right?
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Ave Maria!
Mom to 5 girls and 3 boys
Mary Vitamin & Castle of the Immaculate
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JennyMaine
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| Posted: March 25 2007 at 6:17am | IP Logged
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Helen:
I just want to say that I've been experiencing a lack of motivation for the past two months. I blame it on the long Maine winter. Now that spring is here in Maine (sort of - there's still snow on the ground! LOL), my energy level is coming up and enthusiasm is returning.
I run my homeschool a little differently than some, because of my unique situation. First, I only have two children so my teaching burden is less than a mom with a large family. However, I am a single working parent, and also in college full-time this semester. All that to say, the kids accomplished the bare minimum of what I expect for the past two months and it will be the same until the end of this semester. We will be schooling all summer, in the early a.m. I try not to focus on grade levels or pressure to finish by the end of May or anything like that. We finish when we finish, but we keep plugging away (for instance, this past week I had a big event to coordinate for my p.t. job and midterms. But the kids still did the basics of reading, spelling, math, grammar).
I just wanted to chime in on your struggles with implementing Sound Beginnings and Right Start with multiple children. I've used The Sonday System with my daughter and it is very time consuming. Also, with children who are struggling, you can't take big chunks of time off without reviewing everything they've ever learned. That's why it is "just so daily". My son doesn't have her learning struggles, so I don't do Sonday System with him. No way. He flew through Hooked on Phonics and also the Master Reader program -- zero effort from mom. I've also had both of them use the Explode the Code workbooks & CHC for language arts. In your situation, is it necessary for them all to use Sound Beginnings? If your answer is yes, don't let your heart sink to your feet. Don't you dare be discouraged about that. If they all need it, then they all need it. It will pay off handsomely in the long run and it is top priority. Will you get sick to death of it and will it eat half your day? Yup. But picture yourself four years in the future trying to school them all when they're all still nonreaders. Ouch.
I feel the same about math. I use Bob Jones Math (please, don't throw anything). It is simply the greatest math program I've ever seen and we love it. We've tried MCP and Saxon and I thought the kids would die of boredom. But BJU has to be taught by mom everyday, as I assume Right Start does also. For days when I am pinched for time, I pull out the BJU review workbook for the grade level they're on and just have them do a couple worksheets for review.
There's simply no way around having to make time for math and reading/spelling lessons. But, you can farm out other things to keep yourself refreshed. This winter, I barely read anything aloud. I was too tired. We listened to lots of books on cd from the library -- lots of Little House, Jonathan Park adventures, etc. We all enjoyed it. Because of my daughter's reading struggles, I have to read her history and science texts to her still. I would think, though, that if you were willing to use a program like Story of the World on CD for history, that would be covered without work from mom. Science -- there's always something like Switched on Schoolhouse, which even has a feature that can read the text to your child. Again, takes the teaching burden off mom. (I haven't tried it, but I've been tempted!)
Also, just one comment/question on the CM method. If I recall from when I originally read the 6 volumes, they had a six day school week in addition to long terms. Is that correct? I just worry that some who are implementing many CM ideas might not realize that the schools using CM methods really were packing it in. So no homeschool mom should be feeling like a failure if she can't do it all, if she's comparing herself to a perfect CM school. There's just no way one single woman in a busy household full of children will accomplish all that CM wanted to see included in her method. In my own opinion, CM was very much reacting to the psychology and philosophy of her day, which implied that intelligence is a gift for the upper classes, and is genetically lacking in the poor. She had something to prove, and prove it she did. Good for her! But I don't have a chip on my shoulder or an agenda of altering the mindset of an entire nation's educational system. I have limited time and must pick and choose what works for this family, this home, this lifestyle. In my current season, there's no way I could implement a full CM curriculum. It doesn't fit. Pieces here and there. . .sure, I can do that.
Oh, and I highly recommend the book "When Homeschooling Gets Tough." It is the best homeschooling book I've read and will help any mom who is struggling with burnout or who wants to prevent it!
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--JennyMaine, Mom to Catherine (17) and Sam (15) "The countenance is a reflection of the soul. You should always have a calm and serene countenance." -- Therese of Lisieux
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Helen
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| Posted: March 25 2007 at 7:17am | IP Logged
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Thank you Jenny.
I appreciate your wise advice and the sharing of your experiences.
I do like Sound Beginnings - does everyone need it? Well, it is the one program that I've used successfully to teach some of my children to read. I like the way it teaches the spelling rules. It gives the beginning reader chunks of information with which to decipher books. It allows the developing writer to practice penmanship in small segments but meaningful segments.
I think I just can't use it exclusively and for extended periods of time with 4 children at one time. I'm a slow learner. I keep pushing without learning *my* lesson.
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Ave Maria!
Mom to 5 girls and 3 boys
Mary Vitamin & Castle of the Immaculate
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Plan for next year: No Burnout
