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donnalynn
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| Posted: Nov 03 2009 at 6:15pm | IP Logged
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Oldest Dd was very reluctant to homeschool for high school - so dh and I gave her a lot of input in what kind of high school program she would do.
She picked Kolbe and really wants the Summa diploma.
We are trying to finish our 1st quarter and I just can't stand what our homeschooling has become. Feels like we are scrambling to get pieces of paper together -studying for tests that I don't feel really add anything to the learning process and doing a lot do formulaic type writing assignments.
I am trying to figure out how to calculate grades in a way that is fair to her since we've never really done this kind of program before. I am so frustrated.
She has been trying so hard and when we calculated a grade for her 1st Literature exam - she was so disappointed.
I just don't feel that the "honors" program is a good fit but not sure where to go from here. I guess we'll stick it out and I think I did learn a lot about what kind of help she needs for the next quarter - that is - if we ever get everything together to move on to the next quarter. 
This is not what I expected our high school experience to look like - will this get easier? A big part of the problem is that I just do not feel that *I* can keep up with the reading in order to facilitate any kind of real discussion.
I guess I am worried that *I* am failing dd.  And I don't know what to do about it.
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donnalynn
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Bookswithtea
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| Posted: Nov 03 2009 at 6:24pm | IP Logged
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I'd find out first if she is happy with the challenge and wants to continue, or...if you voiced concern and expressed frustration with the program itself, would she feel relieved and also let you know that this isn't what she was expecting???
Honestly, something similar happened to me once with one of my kids. We completed the first quarter, just for consistency's sake, and then we morphed it into something that we were both happier with. I wouldn't stick it out if its as bad as you are describing. 
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mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and  due 9/10
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ALmom
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| Posted: Nov 03 2009 at 7:47pm | IP Logged
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If it is something your dd likes and wants to continue, perhaps taking the stress off yourself, you could use the on-line discussions and get EES (it does cost but it is worth its weight in gold for me) At my house, having someone else who is both highly familiar with the material and very good and efficient at evaluating writing, means we are all happier. I am discussing so much more with these children now that I don't have to. They talk to me more freely because I'm not the one evaluating the work and I have my own questions that are stirred by something someone says. I also e-mail advisors/graders when dd has a question that I cannot grapple with adequately - they are just too deep and require a bit more classical background than what I have.
Honestly, we've never done honors with them because the quantity of work is insane and I just don't believe that my children benefit from covering so much so fast. I'm more of a fan of doing a little bit but at a really thorough level. My children do better when we go through the material together and decide exactly what we want to do (and by want, I'm not saying just whatever strikes our fancy, but what we have together decided will really be beneficial and we understand our own purpose for doing it.) Some things we discuss, some things they write papers and submit to EES, some things I just have them outline to make sure they are getting the main ideas and so I know what we might need to talk about more. I also highlight in the lesson plans themselves when there are really important points. We do a test or two to get the feel for it, but we don't do tons of those. Be sure that you are not dealing with errors in the AK or errors in the study guide. I know my oldest ran into some of that on one of her years with Kolbe.
Also the grade isn't solely based on the test and you are the one to weight what things count for. I believe the weighting of different things is totally up to you regardless of the diploma type or honors/not honors. If you think the test isn't that important or beneficial, then don't count it any more than any one paper.
I'm the expert at jury rigging things to make it work for our mavericks here. A lot depends on how your child really feels about something. Some of my folks do things and thrive and love them - though I would be stressed, they like it. On the other hand, if she hates it as much as you do, then I'd definitely talk to her and find out what it is she likes and doesn't like about it and change things in a way that works for you and benefits all.
Also, when you submit paperwork - ask for any assistance/feedback you want them to give - be specific. Sometimes teaching the children how to read the "this is important" clues in the lesson plans, etc. is helpful for a child who has never done any kind of textbook or test type stuff previously and that might make the tests less time consuming (more in the proper place in terms of importance - ie it isn't the most important thing, but it is a convenient skill to have) and an easy hoop to jump through so you can spend more time with the learning you want to do from this. For some folks, they are really motivated by the honors, summa, or whatever designation. If that is important to your dd, then these are just some ideas to make it more beneficial all the way around.
Janet
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donnalynn
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| Posted: Nov 06 2009 at 8:44am | IP Logged
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<Sigh>
I *carefully* talked to dd - this is what she wants to do.
She's on a fishing trip with dh this long weekend (NJ teacher's convention) - where she'll probably learn more useful science than she ever will with this Physical Science course. Ugh.
I will make some changes for the next quarter and pray that it goes better for both of us.
Thanks for all your tips Janet - and overall she will do ok this quarter.
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marihalojen
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| Posted: Nov 10 2009 at 5:19pm | IP Logged
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Donna, can you find her literature selections at Spark's Notes or Cliff's Notes? Use them as a teacher's guide for yourself? That might help facilitate discussion...
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Nov 10 2009 at 6:36pm | IP Logged
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marihalojen wrote:
| Donna, can you find her literature selections at Spark's Notes or Cliff's Notes? Use them as a teacher's guide for yourself? That might help facilitate discussion... |
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That is a great idea!
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Topic: Not what I had in mind...
