So we removed out 12 y/o 6th grade son from school. He has homeschooled off and one MANY times. I have to say have been hsing my 1st grader for 2 years now and so it is not like I don't know what I am doing. My problem is that it is March and this was not planned. I do not have 6th grade stuff. I have 1st grade stuff. I AM doing Story of the world with my 1st grader, so I guess I have my history for my 6th grader, but beyond that I have very little. I feel like if I invest in too much at this point it will be such a waste of money. He has already completed more than 1/2 a years of school, so half of most curriculum he would have already done. Also, people spend weeks planning and I don't have that time. I need a quick start program, to get me through this year or something that I could carry over to 7th grade. I am in a state of panic. He hates to read, so if I have him read a book, I need questions I can ask him to make sure it has gotten done. I need a good writing program that is fun, but teaches the basics. I want him to do copy work, but don't know how to go about it. I need a good easy to follow science and nature study. Spelling? Grammar? I need to copy someone elses well thought out plan, because I just don't have the time, right now to think this all through.
What do you mean he's been homeschooled "off and on"? You start and get frustrated and put him back, then get frustrated with the school and pull him, then put him back again? Sounds to me that this may be a good part of the problem. For math, see if you can get a copy of his math book and see what topics it covers, what he still needs to know. Then teach him those concepts using worksheets you can get online for free. You could also get grammar worksheets, or you could just have him read a lot and do writing based on his reading. This can cover history, science, and English. For science, go to the library. Let him research a topic of his choice. (If he's come home because he's being a pain at school and thinks you'll go easy on him, this could show him otherwise!)
I think Jackie is right on with her suggestions. Also for reading you may want to begin by not assigning him a book but letting him choose one he is interested in since he does not like to read this may be a way of getting him to not hate it so much. Instead of asking him questions just let him read one chapter at a time and then tell you back what it was about - it is called narration - and he won't feel like he is being "questioned" so much. Just my thoughts.
You could try something online like Time4learning so that you aren't purchasing a full curriculum for a year, you just pay per month. Or you can try to find freebie resources to print online but that takes a little bit of time. (although, if you find a good website, you could have it done in a day easily). Best of luck to you. ((Sorry, didn't see the other ladies posts before I posted this for some reason; but I do like their ideas, especially the math book idea.))
With CLE (clp.org) you can do the placement test and then only order a few books for whatever subject. I agree - hit the library.... have him get a book he WANTS to read - 1 stipulation would be that it had to be on HIS reading level. Get videos..... let him watch "science".... things like that. I'm not sure what your state would require - but figure that out as well
http://www.sfreading.com/resources/ghb.html (grammar) http://www.zaner-bloser.com/spellingconnections/practice-pages.html (Spelling) Here are 2 free resources from ps curriculums. I agree with MonkyMomma about letting him choose abook he's interested in and allowing him to narrate back to you. If you choose to assign a book to read, there are free study guides online. Jackie gave you great advice about math.
Bookadventure.org has online quizzes the kids can earn prizes for. Plus the books are "leveled". We played around with englishgrammar101.com for a while until we found other things we liked. We did kidsastronomy.com which is a full astronomy course for kids online. And for this age I highly recommend the Percy Jackson (Lightning Thief) series. We did a TON of Greek mythology with this and it got him reading AT grade level. Plus we did some map work as Percy travels across the country. We read the 1st and 2nd book together, but then he didn't want to "wait" for school and finished the rest himself.
oh, and for math...try placement tests for all the different curriculums...you might figure out wich one will work best for next year. We are finishing up our books before the end of the year and that is what we will do for math.
Maybe something free like Miss Maggie's Old Fashioned Education would work, but you said he is not a fan of reading so maybe that might not work. Or maybe you can do something like ACE for him. The paces might work nicely for him. They have placement tests on their website so you could see if he needs to focus on anything before moving on. I use their math sometimes as a supplement and my dc like the short sweet colored format. Much luck to you.
Try Free World U, there's a curriculum there for each grade...even 6th. Maybe you'll find something there you like and best part is it's FREE! http://www.freeworldu.org/static/curriculum.aspx
Writing Strands, My ds12 loves it! Daily Gramms added to that annd you have english! Try getting him to read the books like kids Graphic Novels, Hardy boys has some and they follow the actual hardy boy story lines but with comics, my ds loves these. ALso Captain underpants, though may be a little young that and the Wimpy kid series are funny enough to keep my ds' attention. that is pretty much what he read last year. This year he has branched into reading Mystery of History (Redbook) with me, on his own when I can't get to reading with him even and actually not fussing too much over it. He is enjoying the stuff in it. If he does STOW with you and your younger make him take turns reading, make a big deal about him being your helper in it and it may help him read aloud easier. MY kids loved it when they got to be "teacher" now and then. Let me see, what other questions did you have? Go to CBD.com and check out thier sales, you may be able to find some Spectrum math books and such that you can work with. they are cheap and will last you a good amount of until the end of the year. This will also letyou see how much he knows math wise and know what to order for next year. We are using MUS next year, this year SOS math, but its not so much fun. Typing in the answers is a pain. So I am starting a new thing and printing work Fridays for him. What was he learning in math at his school? Will they let him take home his text from that class?
To everyone who gave me ideas, thank you. I am going to spend the weekend and try to come up with a plan. For the couple of people that asked why he has been in and out of school, well the answer is long, but boils down to we don't have a very good support network. Our ds never caused any problems in school and for the most part was a low A student. The problem with school, is there are many pressures, what with huge piles of hw, tests to study for, unreasonable teachers, and fitting in socially. Our Ds has a very hard time dealing with the stress. Almost every day he would come home unhappy because he had no friends and a pile of hw and no time to do anything he wanted to do. Then he would cry for hours and the next day refuse to get up for school.:cry: The problem with hsing is, I used to be a teacher, so I have these expectations of what I think he should be learning and the amount of work he should be doing and I listen to my friends tell me what their kids are learning in school. I then create stress which transfers to him and we clash. Also there are no co-ops and no friends for my ds to meet. How is this time going to be different? I have no idea. I do know that he will NEVER go back to the Catholic school he was in. If he ever goes back to school, then it has to be a none traditional school. So there you have it. Yes we are push overs. Yes we are terrible parents. If everyone really wants to know, we are a strange family with 2 kids happily going to a Catholic school, one kid that has NEVER stepped foot in a school, another child too young for school, and now a child that has tried both school and hs more than one time and wants to try hsing ONE more time.
Your poor Ds! Some kids just aren't a good fit for the regular school system. I always told my children that they are not obliged to stay anywhere they aren't happy. I don't mean happy every minute of every day, but there has to be something that makes it worthwhile. This is true for school, for jobs, even for marriage! The world is too big, and life is too short, to ever stay in a place that makes us unhappy. Best wishes to you and your son, I'm sure he'll find his place in time!
THAT MAKES SENSE!!! Thanks! Now I know what to tell you!!! (BTW, I have 10+ years in a public school special ed class, and my husband has 20+ years in a public high school class!) If you want to make homeschooling work, forget everything you learned in college! I'm heard it said that "real" teachers make the WORSE homeschoolers, because we have the "school mentality" ingrained deeply into us. The goal is NOT to create a "mini-school" at home! We want to homeschool our kids, not school-at-home them. I guess you have to decide which is more important...teaching your son FACTS or teaching HOW to LEARN, to ENJOY learning, and to create in him a LIFE-LONG LEARNER. But it seems to do that, you may need to back off a bit. Don't compare him to what is happening in any given classroom, or what his cousin or your neighbor's kid is doing. He is HIS OWN person. He has his own strengths and weaknesses. Build upon and encourage those strengths. Yes, you still need to make sure he learns his math, but let him go at his own pace. You go at HIS pace; don't push him to follow yours. If it's too much at first, back off a bit. Oh, and you're not a pushover or a 'bad' parent!
I hope it works this time! my kids have a hard time relating to some kids in schools because in homeschool I expect more of them than schooled kids, so dont badger yourself over that. Try setting up a week of work at a time and give him rewards for work done. Rules like a class room may help both of you cope with the changes. then make sure you take advantage of the benifits of home schooling and allow him to school on the couch, or the floor or even his room occasionally as long as he is working. Also give him a chance to debrief from the one type of stress befor piling on the work... my way of teaching my kids must work because they are ahead of private school kids in our area in may ways. Not saying that to brag but I am an ecclectic styled homeschooler, have done AOP for most of their years and then some SOS , Apoligiia, and others that have been mixed in in the last couple of years. I have never tested my kids state test wise but they grade top grades and I figured I may be leanient until I see dds grades at private school this year are still excelling because she actually does her work Lol go figure!
I am with MonkeyMamma, Sorry I missed this, but it sounds like you got alot of wonderful ideas. Good luck to you all and hope to see you around.
Sometimes the more school experience we have the harder it is too look at other ways of doing things. I am going to give you a link to some pretty amazing articles. They will probably cause you to have a strong reaction, positive or negative. But they have helped me to see that my son is an individual and I should treat him as such. http://www.homeschooloasis.com/article_chart.htm I would especially recommend the articles titled: "Animal School" "Aren't Schools the Best Place to Learn" Just another way of looking at things.
It sounds like you have had quite a struggle with him. Maybe the answer will be to just stick this out and lighten your expectations. If you keep him in HS then you can always adjust what you miss. No one is looking over your shoulder on that. As long as you know the rules in your state and follow the guidelines, the edges can smudge a little.
