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ALmom
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| Posted: Aug 31 2007 at 11:40pm | IP Logged
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Will someone come to my house and teach Biology. Dd and I just had a spat over the dumb course - and I'm feeling sorry for myself and panicky here. Science for my highschoolers is the only thing we never seem to get right. I'm just so worn out right now from this whole venture.
Really school with the rest of the kids is going great, my plans for them are done, they are basically happy with them and we seem to be accomplishing lots - NOt the kind of fun stuff that everyone here seems to be able to do but we are making progress. Sometimes I wish things would happen more easily and naturally - that it all wouldn't seem like such a struggle. Sometimes I wish that my children just took to academia - but they really don't. Most of them, I've exhausted myself doing eye therapy with just to get to the point where they can read. And I am grateful that we were able to do this and that they love to read - but sometimes you just wish things were just relaxed and fun. Everyone here seems to have all these great stories of lapbooks and fun family stories and doing things all together and nature walks and.... The thought of that seems so neat - but it exhausts me just to think about it and my kids hate that kind of stuff - they don't like to put anything to paper, no matter how creative or how inspiring the topic. Here, sometimes, I feel like we are always in just survival mode. Learning just isn't all that fun at our house. It is a lot of work to overcome lags. It isn't bad, don't get me wrong, but it isn't the poster version for homeschooling. No one would hold us up as an example of how great homeschooling is.
I am not a good teacher and none of this comes naturally to me. My children don't do well with open ended exploration - they then become fixated on one interest only to the exclusion of all else. I like to read and ponder and philosophize - but I haven't had time to read anything just for me - though I've read plenty of Biology lately. The children hate discussing things with me because I "talk too much". Most of them hate to write too so we don't ever look very smart to anyone else - though I know my children are learning many things - and quite well. Still sometimes I wish they would conform a bit more where they could do textbook thing and get by in a crunch or make beautifully illustrated notebooks or do narrations or... I'm not saying they don't come up with stuff to do - but nothing that you can just record and show around or take to show and tell.
Now, I'll have a mess of tubing from one child and wonder where the salt went and find it with the contraption to pull hydrogen out of the water. I have tin foil balls, pieces of wire, wax stains, and plenty of messes. We don't have drawings to hang up - and some of the children still half cut and half tear with the scissors. And, yes we talk about all the different things that interest us - but only in informal ways. IF we try to make it formal, they freeze. We've heard the science fan's ideas on how he is planning on harnessing this hydrogen he's getting out of water (he is really bottling it) to power some sort of plane he is building - where there are scraps of paper everywhere. I suppose I could sit down and write down the whole detailed description of this and call it narration - but I haven't the time and energy for that and certainly couldn't do it for all of these kids. I sure wish he'd write it down neatly himself - and actually begin with a capital and end with some sort of punctuation. Then at least I'd have something to show for all that we do and try to provide.
My other 2 would stay curled up with a book day and night - one of them doesn't mind writing for assignments but none of them would ever write just because they wanted to. The boy wouldn't write anything unless I made him. They don't even like writing their name. The girl doesn't really talk - it is like pulling teeth and to have a conversation with her is like being in slow motion and having to wait for hours in between sentences while she puts her thoughts together. She notices everything in terms of family dynamics and she is a great kid really. She can tell you every detail of the 101st and 82nd airborne during WWII from the more significant to the trivial. But she cannot seem to be able to read a Biology text and even make heads or tails out of it. It is when we pull out science, that I feel like a total failure as a teacher (except with the one science fan - and honestly he is just the only child in my house that seems to get science and it isn't due to me.
There are things that I thought would be in place by now that aren't - like the science cards and reading kits but I'm not sweating it too much. STill I feel like I'm already beginning to wear myself out from the start - we start with prayer, a read aloud and then most go off to independent work while I do therapy/school with my nephew. During this time my 4 yo is generally in the Montessori room. I follow this up with a read aloud for him (which my nephew often listens in to). Then I work with the boys on spelling and grammar (one at a time). I usually end with one on one with my 7 yo who is starting to take off on reading but not reliably well enough to do on his own (plus we are waiting for a few workbooks to come in). Then I was determined to not get behind in correcting math and science work and I do some of this in the evening. I have been keeping up. The children are getting free time - but I'm not. I'd even be okay with that if I felt like we were moving ahead with the highschooler and wrapping up the courses she didn't finish from last year (mainly Algebra and Biology). I just don't know what to do for her as far as getting her to learn how to juggle her time and concentrate on more than one thing at a time - especially when it isn't her favorite subject.
Janet
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lapazfarm
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Joined: July 21 2005
Location: Alaska
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| Posted: Sept 01 2007 at 9:29am | IP Logged
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Janet, you know I would if I could!
I don't know what to tell you except that God knew what He was doing when He gave you these children. And you are obviously doing the best you can, so that really is all you can do.
Is there any way you could get some outside help with the writing or the biology to take a bit of the burden off of you? Perhaps a community college class for the highschooler or some sort of coop?
The science-loving kid sounds as if he is learning a lot of science, even if it isn't written down. For him I would focus my energy more on the writing skills. Perhaps an online writing course like the ones Bravewriter offers?
Hang in there, Janet, and give yourself a break. I am sure no one works harder at this than you do. God will not let all of that effort be in vain.
__________________
Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Jennifer
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| Posted: Sept 06 2007 at 11:37am | IP Logged
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As a former junior high science teacher, I have to say way to go! You are doing a better job than anyone else could for your children. You know them and love them, which sometimes is the problem. Theresa gave good advice about checking out community college classes. What about checking out Rebecca Rupp's book, Home Learning Year by Year. I absolutely love this book when I yearn for objective guidelines of what the typical 10th grader (or whatever grade) needs to know. Under the 10th grade science, Biology is the covered subject. She lists 7 objectives (topics) and includes 8 resources including typical textbooks, websites, coloring books, lab manuals. This resource is great; it does include evolution so use your discretion when choosing materials.
Jennifer
Camp Homeschool
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ALmom
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| Posted: Sept 06 2007 at 4:44pm | IP Logged
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Thought I'd update everyone. We are persuing the possibility of a Biology tutor but I have come to the realization that what is garbled in her mind is on something that it is best that I cover with her - all that DNA, RNA ,etc. Why does it have to be transcribed, and does it really matter how many chromosomes ... what the heck are .. and why do some cells only have half the number. I finally saw a pattern. Ok, the vocabulary is all strange to me, but I am familiar with the basics and the Punnit square so I think with occassional help for me on the more technical aspects of the vocabulary we should get by here. Don't know why it didn't dawn on me before that this was the basis of her confusion. It is time for another one of those talks that has a lot more than Biology involved. I'm praying how to approach this all.
Another mom offered to let me use all her study guides for this Biology textbook. This saved me tons of time - and helped me see the pattern of what was confusing our dd. Our solution was to begin tackling the study guide and dd came up with a list of questions that I could look at and make sure I knew how to answer before we met - or that we would bring to whatever tutor if that was the plan. Well, now that I know I will more than likely be tackling this, the question list helps me have time to figure things out before we meet, thus alleviating me talking through the whole book while I'm trying to learn it and her glazing over before I even reach the answer to the question.
Also Kolbe e-mailed me revised plans for the text that use the text more of a hit the basics in a more general way. (This is evidently something they put together over the summer - it is nice to know I wasn't the only one getting lost in the detail - which, honestly, normally, I really prefer being a detail person). We were drowning in the detail and it was obscuring the overview. Now we're getting the overview and I can let her go back to those other chapters later if it interests her but we'll walk away with a respectable knowledge of Biology that will be a base if she ever does decide or need to pursue it more. Also, I know this dd, once she learns something, she really learns something. It will be with her forever, which is lots more than anyone I know in the schools on subjects that are not their own passion.
I'm working on writing up those lovely lesson plans for her and feeling much, much better. Once we get beyond this chapter, I really think the rest is more what I've already been trying to learn for the other boys - taxonomy, habitats, biomes, etc. and she might even benefit from the Montessori stuff if I ever get it put together. Also we managed to come up with our own solution to how to divide out the kingdoms which is not me creating my own way - we are following the textbooks 6 kingdoms (I can understand at least in a general way that this thing looks like it really isn't bacteria due to some stuff someone has been looking at in the genetic code. Ok. So I can at least feel comfortable presenting that and giving some reasonable explanation for the divisions. My English outlining is getting in the way of the 3 domains as I want to divide Eukaryotes and prokaryotes - but cannot seem to grasp that you have something that you make a domain and then it only has one kingdom in it. I know this may not be the way scientists do it - but it grates on my ingrained organizational experience in other fields - so rather than go out on a limb doing what I'm not qualified to do - we're simply not categorizing to the domain level. My highschooler can learn the 3 and read her textbooks for the very balanced explanation of this being still up in the air and know that this is part of an ongoing debate - all of this true. My others just won't categorize for now beyond the kingdoms. We are also starting more at the bottom and working our way up - figure that part is more familiar to me.
I'm actually getting a little excited about the learning - still a bit wishing we'd figured this out early last year - But .... We'll make it.
I know a lot of you all have been saying a little prayer and thanks for this and the support. Being able to cry here helps me get my panic out and let the stubborness take over so we can actually find a solution. Different ideas, suggestions, the empathy and the tangible, local assistance have all provided us with significant help out of our bog. Thank you all so much. It will take a while and there are still some decisions and I'm sure I'll still pull my hair over some of the more technical stuff - but I think we can see a light at the end of the tunnel now. Does dd want to try and finish high school in 4 years or just plan to take 5. She is leaning towards keeping it to 4 which means we need to get moving with Physical Science and Geometry or plan one more summer, but we are taking one step at a time. I'm not nearly as worried about physical science (we chose it cause we knew we weren't ready for physics or chemistry and it is more of an overview - plus this is all in dh interest area so I can always ask him questions and - plus since my 10 yo has already done every part of this book that does not require Algebra - I think I'll have an inside source of help  . (He will obviously just plain have to duel enroll for high school science once we get past Biology).
Janet
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Help
