I am so torn over how I want my boys' school years to go.... on one hand I want them to have a solid education with all the normal topics covered and mastered. On the other, I want them to *enjoy* school, to learn at their own pace, where their interests lead them. I am so scared they will miss something they really need, or that all of their peers will be so far ahead of them.... What is a mom to do?!?!? I have been reading about unschooling, though I don't think I can just completely let go and enjoy the ride. I have also read a little about Waldorf education, but haven't found good in depth info on that yet. My oldest is in 4th this year. He is great at math (but hates it!), does just fine with L Arts (is neutral about it), and is quite a good reader (loves it!). I would love to find a math that he actually enjoys, but so far.... I also wonder just how much he needs to cover in L Arts, esp in 4th grade. I love the idea of a well-rounded education, but at the same time I feel like he is growing to hate school more and more every week. I really did not enjoy school, and I hate to think that he has 8 more years of this, too. I wanted something better for my kids. That's why I homeschool. Any suggestions or advice? I really appreciate anything you can share.
I come from the viewpoint that you can have both. You can have a solid education with all subjects covered and mastered as well as a child who enjoys to learn. Both are my goals. That doesn't mean I always reach my goal, but I'll keep adapting to move toward that goal. I do love unschooling and it may be the way for some kids to reach that goal. It didn't work for my oldest so I didn't continue on that route. For me it isn't about finding the magic curriculum. While curriculum changes can help, I find that changing the approach helps more. So if he hates math the way you are doing it then I wouldn't look at other math programs that approach it the same way. With my kids I sometimes have to stand on my head to figure out how I can get information into their heads where they enjoy the process. For instance, with math I introduce new concepts above their level with living books and DVDs. They love that and it gives them the juice to go through their standard math program. I changed up my son's approach to grammar this year. I'm hoping it will work. My son has hated/disliked math in the past. In his first year out he really grew to hate it. I was frustrated and was given advice by a former teacher that some kids just won't like things. I'm so happy I didn't heed that advice, because my son now enjoys math. So in short, I'd take a look at what you are using and how he responds to it. See if you can use it in a different way or see if there isn't something you can add to it that can spark his interest. Just my perspective, YMMV
Another person's perspective is what I am wanting, so thank you! We have used the spiral approach (Horizons, CLE) and briefly tried the mastery approach, and he hates both. Is there something I am not thinking about? I hate to sound dumb, but my head has been spinning this year. Through the summer I really went out on a limb and ordered a unit study curriculum and the mastery math. Both were huge flops shortly in to the year. The unit study started out way above where he was in writing and the spelling was very lacking. It was more of a crafts/recipes kind of thing. The math, well, you know about that. I just REALLY REALLY REALLY want him to say that he at least is ok about school this year, even if he doesn't love it. I know his hyper/lack of focus self is part of the problem, but when we are driving down the road we get into conversations about all kinds of cool stuff. Of course, by the time we get home he doesn't care to learn anymore about it. He's a very 'in the moment' kind of learner. I want him to have a strong education AND enjoy it. Is that too much to ask for????
While some kids do better with mastery and others with spiral, I was referring to something else. I was doing dishes with my younger son tonight and I think he explained it well: Me: Do you like math? Son: No Me: What do you like? Son: Measuring Son: I like Timez Attack. This kid likes math, but he usually doesn't like the standard math program. I branch off of it to create an interest. My kids learn well when they are interested. For instance a typical week would have my older son doing LOF (he really likes this), Singapore, some math drill with stickers as reinforcement, and a math DVD, game, or a living math book. Coming at something from many different angles stimulates interest and keeps boredom at bay. A typical week with my younger son would be Singapore, a geometry game (he loves this), some math drill with stickers as reinforcement, and a math DVD, game, or a living math book. I don't find this ends up taking much more time than if we used just Singapore because we would use Singapore more thoroughly. Approaching things from different angles makes my children already know how to do some things when we approach them in our standard math program so we can go through that section faster. I don't let math facts hold us up either. I use stickers for those cuz everything is better with stickers I hear you about the unit study thing. I can't purchase something that is supposed to be all at one level for every subject area because my kids aren't put together like that. I end up meshing most of our stuff together to fit us better. I do use some curriculum, but don't let it dictate to me how I must use it. No, not at all. He is blessed to have a mom like you.
All I can say is my 2nd grade son sounds JUST like yours. I could have written your post. Thank you for posting this and thank you Embassy for the replies!
I understand now.... sorry!!! Like I said, brain is fried! LOL The CLE we are using had things set up so that you do it every day, but maybe I can take at least 2 days a week and do something else, like games or computer games, and condense those 2 missed days of CLE into the other days' lessons... Do you have any recommendations for math games? Thanks so much for the help!!!
Maria, technically my son would be in 3rd grade, but he is just a grade ahead academically. And he's been like this about for the last 2 years. I hope we can both figure out something that really works for us.
Maria, I found a site called Jumpstart that has math... it's K through 2nd grade, too! Looks fun and cute, and you can either play it free or pay $8 for full access. Just in case you're interested.
Timez Attack is good. There is a free version available to download online. Check your library for other games. We are going to try out about 8 different computer games this year. Cyberchase is a cartoon math-related show that is on Youtube. My boys watched a couple different math series for kids last school year from the library and they really learned well with them. Okay - found my list. Here is the list of the library/Youtube items we plan to cycle through this year. I have both my boys do this together. They are in different grades, but aren't too far apart with their math skills. Living Books Apple Fractions Little Numbers and Pictures to Show How Little They Are Piece Part Portion Warlord’s Puppeteers Warlord’s Alarm A Place for Zero Zero. Is it Something? Is it nothing? Big Numbers and Pictures to Show How Big They Are Great Estimations Greater Estimations Millions of Cats One Grain of Rice Mental Math Workout What Shape is it? By Kalman What’s your angle Pythagoras? Math for Smarty Pants Greedy Triangle Anno’s Hat Tricks Math Trek 2 Number Rumble CD-ROM Games Math Blaster for 5th grade Gold Medal Math Math Blaster Cross Terrain Challenge Addition and Subtraction Flash Action Software Math Blaster Mission 2 Soccer Math Math Missions Arcade Adventure Multiplication and Division Flash Action Software Mia’s Just in Time Math Videos Cyberchase - Youtube Story of 1 – Youtube Donald in Mathmagic Land - Youtube Hunting the Hidden Dimension Fractals http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/hunting-hidden-dimension.html
Thanks for all the suggestions!!! I have tried to find some of those math books at our library, but, as I expected, they have nothing of the sort. I did find some free online math games though. We will be trying them next week. Thanks, again, for all of the help!
LOL, those are the ones my library has. There is a bigger list that may contain books your library has at www.livingmath.net. I went through a bunch of others last year and was very pleased with how my kids learned math through read alouds. See if the library has the Number Devil. I learned a bunch from that one too
Ok, thanks. I'll look over that list and see what they may have. I fully expect to find zilch there, though. A few weeks ago I went in to look for books on the desert. They had one, about 1/8'" thick, from the early 90's. That was it - there wasn't even more that were just checked out. That's a big drawback to living in such a small town. But, I will try - maybe I'll be surprised.
I am using cle math as well. We started using the xtramath.org instead of doing the flash cards with my 2nd grader and sometimes with my 1st grader. They love it, it is way more fun then just the speed drills and flash cards. If he is getting the problems correct you might cut out some of the review each day. Like my son knows how to measure anything so we don't do that review, we do half of the regular problems, and We do some problems on a dry erase board, which makes it better then just the workbook which I have no idea why. I have also found that relating math to life helped make it not so boring. Teaching them how and when they will use it makes it easier for my ds to learn it. One thing that has helped me is to take into account my personality along with my children. If I am not happy/comfortable with a program it won't work well, and nobody will like it. Even if it is a perfect fit, exactly what I think I need, the latest and greatest that everybody is raving about. My example is MUS I bought it knowing that I wouldn't like it, but thinking my ds would love it. It was a flop. wasted time and money.
First of all, I love your id on here -- I live in a pecan grove! Anyway, I have to say I have tried a little of everything in the past 11 years. What has worked best for us is a VERY loose, free, easy kind of schooling. Very eclectic, with things pulled from here and there. We don't have a structured day because my kids have always done well with learning guided by their own interests. And my teaching style has been to let them explore. We all 3 love research, so most of our learning is research-based. I wouldn't call what we do unschooling, because sometimes we do things from curriculum --- for math, my kids LOVE to the billionth degree the Life of Fred series. There are sample chapters online at his website. Just google Life of Fred. My kids have eaten those books like Lay's potato chips (can't eat just one!). My daughter didn't care for math much, but she loves Fred. We also early on used Reader Rabbit, especially the math discs. So I highly recommend Life of Fred (all grades!) and Reader Rabbit (for younger kids). If you want your kids to love learning, I think the best way to school is to be fairly laid back. Yes, cover the bases. For example, for English we do Mad Libs. Yep. Mad Libs and writing. I have supplemented from time to time with some workbooks, but even though I taught college English, I just don't think it's all that important to spend endless days on intransitive verbs outside of what I need to write an intelligent essay. So, we cover it briefly and move on. In fact for most things, I cover it if it comes up and then we move on. For history, I hate all history textbooks. There I said it. They are either slanted, missing information, disorganized, or all of the above. So, years ago, we started making our own history curriculum. Basically we have researched each century since "in the beginning" and made notebooks for each time period and each geographical region that contains people! We have gone chronologically and made notes, etc for each time period for every place and not used textbooks. Instead we use the internet and the library. Not necessarily living books, but a mixture of living books and reference materials. The only book we've really used is our Italian book and our Science book, as we are currently doing Apologia. But our early science was research-based, using the Usborne Internet-linked science encyclopedia. I loved the way it was arranged. In other words, our favorite words are "look it up"! And how do I measure their "success"? Well, I know that from the time they get up until they go to bed, they are learning. We are in constant dialogue about whatever they've learning. We learn together. So if I'm learning, I know they are, too. So, I don't think you'll miss ANYTHING. Just don't decide to put yourself in a box. Unschooling, Waldorf, Montessori, Charlotte Mason, whatever, just realize you can use ALL the resources and methods at your disposal and because you are homeschooling you are not tied to any one thing.
In your title you are asking about Waldorf, I am using Oak Meadow this year which is a lot like Waldorf, some would argue differently but very similar, if that is what you are interested in. I am also using Teaching Textbooks for math, I am switching to that program because my children are getting some what beyond me in math. Oak Meadow also offers their own math which is much like Saxon. So far I really like what I am seeing with Oak Meadow we haven't started yet but next week we should. It isn't a Biblically based program so I will be incorporating Biblical view when need.
