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Nique
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| Posted: Aug 03 2011 at 11:25pm | IP Logged
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2 of our children have asked to go to school this September (they have been asking for years). After much prayer, my DH and I have decided yes. However, our 11 year old will remain homeschooled, as this was HER prayer. She is entering grade 6. We will still HS our 3 primary graders, along with a very active 2 year old  .
As I know this year will be different dealing with kids both in and out of the school system, I am asking your advice for my sixth grader. She struggled with Motivation last year, and I was hoping for resources that have helped your child succeed, having worked through this.
Was there a particular subject book you used that you would highly recommend, that she could do on her own AND would keep her interest? Math I will do with her, but I’m hoping to find subject material that she is able to do independently.
I realize I myself need to be more organized/disciplined  . Which I will work at (and  for) everyday
I’m just worried about how very busy life is going to be.
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I had always thought that once you grew up you could do anything you wanted - stay up all night or eat ice cream straight out of the container. ~Bill Bryson
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Becky Parker
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Hi Nique,
My dd was in sixth last year. Two subjects she was able to do mostly indepently and enjoyed were Latin, with the Latina Christiana DVD's, and spelling, with Phonetic Zoo. She is a very strong auditory learner so hearing something on tape or seeing a DVD really helped her.
For history my dd read alot and then while I cooked dinner in the evening she sat at the end of the counter and narrated what she had read. Sometimes I had her use the computer to type her narrations as well, but we enjoyed our dinner prep time discussions.
Science was great. We used a couple of the kits from TOPS, but the awesome thing was that she met with a friend, also using TOPS, once a week and they did the science together. All I or the other parent did was stay within ear range so we could hear what was going on and provide an occasion explanation. They really learned alot through their discussions and explorations with these kits - way more than she would have learned doing it on her own.
Last year, with our new baby arriving in December, I was all about getting my older kids, especially my dd, to be very independent with their schooling. I was worried that they would feel like I was pushing them away, but by the grace of God, they didn't. I think in a lot of ways they felt more mature. I didn't do so much hand holding while they worked, but we had more discussions about how they were doing on their own. I'm not explaining it well, but maybe an example would help... Instead of sitting with her to do Latin, she did it on her own. Later in the day, like when I was preparing dinner, I would ask her how she was doing and we would talk about things she was struggling with. It was less "hands on" teaching for me and more independent learning for her. I made sure we stayed connected through our conversations.
Back when I was trying to plan how this would all work, Jen gave some really great advice about having "meetings" with the kids. My dd and I really enjoyed these meetings. She felt more grown up when we met to discuss her school work than when I was sit by her as she did everything.
I'm hoping Jen might chime in and explain it better than I am. I need to get my morning coffee!
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Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
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vmalott
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| Posted: Aug 04 2011 at 7:33pm | IP Logged
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Like Becky, I had a daughter in sixth grade last year as well. One thing that helped was to have an assignment book (planner/agenda) to write her assignments in. For some reason she really liked this, even though I use Homeschool Tracker Plus for my oldest dd and print out weekly assignments.
That way, she could plow ahead with assignments when she felt like it, leaving a good deal of free time to pursue other interests. Sometimes she'd rise *really* late, usually when everyone else was done, and then she'd spend a couple of concentrated hours to knock of a few days' worth of scheduled work. Sometimes she'd even work ahead, but that was a little more rare.
She did math and spelling out of workbooks on her own, though if she had a question, she'd wait until I could help her if I happened to be busy at the time. The rest of her work was accomplished through reading living books. Much of this was independent, and if she felt something was interesting enough to share with me, she would usually bring it up in the car driving somewhere or at the dinner table. Any hands on kind of learning was/is done with older and younger siblings.
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Valerie
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Aug 04 2011 at 7:40pm | IP Logged
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Off topic for just a minute.....
vmalott wrote:
| I use Homeschool Tracker Plus for my oldest dd and print out weekly assignments. |
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Oh Valerie, if you have time, could you pop over to Babs' thread? She's looking for some specific help in working with Homeschool Tracker for writing her lesson plan assignments and when I read your post I immediately thought of hers! Thanks! 
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Jen Mackintosh
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Nique
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| Posted: Aug 05 2011 at 10:37am | IP Logged
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Becky Parker wrote:
Back when I was trying to plan how this would all work, Jen gave some really great advice about having "meetings" with the kids. My dd and I really enjoyed these meetings. She felt more grown up when we met to discuss her school work than when I was sit by her as she did everything.
I'm hoping Jen might chime in and explain it better than I am. I need to get my morning coffee! |
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Jen?
I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say 
Thanks!
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I had always thought that once you grew up you could do anything you wanted - stay up all night or eat ice cream straight out of the container. ~Bill Bryson
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Aug 06 2011 at 3:02pm | IP Logged
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Nique wrote:
Becky Parker wrote:
Back when I was trying to plan how this would all work, Jen gave some really great advice about having "meetings" with the kids. My dd and I really enjoyed these meetings. She felt more grown up when we met to discuss her school work than when I was sit by her as she did everything.
I'm hoping Jen might chime in and explain it better than I am. I need to get my morning coffee! |
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Jen?
I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say
Thanks!
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I'm so thrilled that I have a quiet moment to sit down and chime in!
I love how Becky described her daughter's day! This is how I would describe our days around the 6th grade as well - a fostered independence with plenty of communication! Time to connect and relate!
For motivation, I do find it helpful when the child takes ownership of their day. Both of my older children are self-educators (which means they are responsible for living out their education, not that I give over my responsibility in considering and choosing their books and deciding the manner in which they will be used). I credit their hard work at forming good work habits, and our weekly meetings. I am certain that there are many ways to foster and encourage this ownership that the child begins to take of their day, but these weekly meetings together have proven to be very useful for us. It has helped me ensure that each child's day is always meeting needs as well as providing the time to brainstorm the tools they need to exercise discipline (habit and motivation) throughout the day.
Hope this is a help for you in considering, Nique!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Donna Marie
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| Posted: Aug 06 2011 at 5:31pm | IP Logged
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Another great thing about "meetings" is the discussion of their interests and finding out what they feel works for them and what doesn't work for them. I know there are some things that they have to do that are non-negotiables, but there are a lot of wonderful books out there and if you find that your child develops an interest in a particular subject or author or maybe are interested in another aspect of a time in history (for example) and they are excited about it, you can keep feeding them. There is nothing like giving them what they are excited about as they absorb things much easily that way. Hey, I know I learn best that way! 
I always keep a scribble notebook around when I am teaching...for IDEAS. When I hear the excitement in a childs voice as they are narrating to me something they learned, I write that down. If I see they are stumbling over something and need more practice, that gets written down...etc...
It is right next to me so I never miss a beat. I look over these jottings when I am making my plans or library lists..etc. Lately, I thought it was like a nature journal...the real nature of each of my animals in this zoo I am directing... haha 
I too have a 6th grader...and a 7th and 3 in 11th (yes, you read that correctly) and a 3rd grader and a 1st grader. And 2 toddlers, one will be 1 soon, and my 2yods will be 3 soon and is quite a challenge (although cute) So I have to have lists for everything to stay on top of things. It makes for a more evenly tempered me.
One of the best things I ever did was to give them a plain marble notebook and have them write down their assignments for the day (or week) and have them ck them off with the TIME it took for them to do it along with the number of pages covered.
For my boys, that was a winning feature in getting them to understand where all of their time goes. If they don't do what is required of them before the end of the week, they have to show DAD that book. There is no wiggle room if they want to goof off and get away with it. Not that EVER happens here! 
My 12yo ds and my 15yo ds have always needed me to practically sit on them to get them started with their work. Now my 15yo finally got the idea that school is "HIS work" and started to take on more!
The 12yods? He still needs me to be sharp and on the ball. I need that book to keep my finger on his progress. And it also works in reverse...."Wow! Did you realize you read x# of pages this month! You are making great progress!" It really helps!
Oh, and as a quick aside. I found out that if a child gives me a hard time about starting, they generally stop fighting me after about 12-15 minutes...on a really bad day 20 minutes. I should know, I timed it. It is then that they grudgingly realize that they are being silly as what we are covering really IS interesting! Silly children. This was my 12yo to a T last year. Motivation was not even in his vocabulary so I had to be it. LOL once I figured out how his older brother worked, I learned a thing or two...like watch out for him leaving the room backwards. These children are geniuses! I just have to reorient their mental energy to more fruitful pursuits....
So the book. That book is my friend, as well as theirs. The cool thing is...it is in the book. It isn't all on me. "Your book says..."
That is "more better" (as my 2yo says)
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God love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
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Finding Elegant Simplicity
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ElizLeone
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| Posted: Aug 15 2011 at 7:24am | IP Logged
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Hi, Nique!
You know I'll be praying for you as you make this transition this school year.
I cannot imagine homeschooling without assignment sheets that I prepare for the kids. I don't use homeschool tracker (I'm on a mac, so it's never been a good fit), but I just create assignment sheets in table form in Word with one week's worth of assignments laid out, Monday through Friday. (If there is something that might change or we might figure out on the fly, I'll say... "Science: See Mom" for example.) But otherwise, it's pretty much laid out, and it makes my kids pretty independent. That does not mean they are always motivated and diligent, but for some of my kids, being able to see the Monday through Friday workload at a glance really helps give them the incentive to work a little faster and try to get some of those end-of-the-week things done earlier in the week, so they have a little more free time. It's a system that works in our house! :)
Hope this helps a little?
Elizabeth
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Elizabeth in Wisconsin
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Sixth Grade
