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Family subjects?? Something is not working. Any thoughts??
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I’m having an issue w/ the differences in my dc’s interests/ages and family subjects. In particular Latin, foreign language (they want to do Spanish), and probably something else I can’t think of right now. I feel that my oldest needs to do many of these subjects on his own as to not have to wait on me (we do Latin orally and would do Spanish as a family). I feel as if I have held off unnecessarily in some areas for him (all the while he is getting older and older) waiting for the time when it will work for the family.
Now I know that doing things “Family” style is just a suggestion, but I’m the type that takes suggestions much too literally. And, I feel that in theory the programs/curriculum I have chosen are great for all of us and would be great to do together, but in practice, is just a mess or just hit/miss.
I have The Learnables for Spanish which we will begin this coming week (my dc have been begging for Spanish). Not sure if this is going to be too juvenile for my oldest but am open to something else for him, if that is the case. Any suggestions??
I like Getting Started w/ Latin but feel we need worksheets or something, especially for my oldest to do on his own if our family time does not work out. We also have English from the Roots up that I could do w/ all 3, but that brings issues for my oldest if I don’t have it all together. He is very independent and could easily do these subjects on his own, and may prefer it that way anyhow, LOL.
We are doing great w/ Shakespeare (just started last week), weekly read alouds (& audio books), history, geography (although I’d like to see my oldest do more in geography), character-maybe 1 time a week (they still enjoy the Millers books, go figure) and Nature study when it fits into our lives. So it’s probably more geography, Latin and will be Spanish that I feel I need to have supplemental material for my 8th grader. I know there are online supplements for Spanish (not sure about Latin) but I feel he needs paper material.
Am I the only one who has 3 kids (or more) but feels as if they have 2 separate families to work with, even in the Family subjects??
One thought–just came to me. Pass the Latin off to my ds (maybe even pick something altogether different for him) OR just do EFTRU with all 3.
Purchase another Spanish for my oldest and do the Learnables w/ the other dc when it works. They are not any closer in age but for some reason my oldest is light years ahead of them and needs to move on without us holding him back. Then I could just work w/ my younger two who seem to be more on the same page.
Help!!!
I have 4 kids though they are close in age- the youngest is 7 and the oldest 12. We do about half our work all
Together and the rest they do individually. The youngest 2 do Spanish together but the older 2 each do their own foreign language, mostly because they wanted to learn different languages.
Nebby
I actually do have two seperate levels going on (upper middle school and preschool!
I find that we have had a great time with my olders for several years all together and it is hard to break it off – I want to keep learning with them. In reality too, they want to keep their schedules even, but it won’t really work. One is ready for more – the other not so much. It’s hard too because we are starting to add in the teenage hormone thing (we have all girls). It frustrates me to try to do things with their weepy eyes. Argh! 😉
You have plenty of family work still going on, so I think that there is no real reason to not let him go on the ones you are concerned about.
Why purchase another Spanish program? Can’t he just add what you have into his schedule on his own time?
I have the Getting Started with Latin, but feel the same way about wanting worksheets. =) I didn’t use it this year because of that. Thought since I want to learn Latin maybe I should use it and do English From the Roots Up or something else for the girls.
We started Prima Latina at the beginning of the year. We were playing around with Spanish, but I never found a program that fit (I had an inexpensive program from our local bookstore and we watched the Salsa videos–my oldest thought they were very baby-ish).
For Prima Latina, I cover most of the lesson orally (even the 3yo joins in). Then my younger two are able to go play while I have the older two write out some of the lesson. This way they all learn the same material, but it’s more challenging for the older two. I’m not sure how we’ll continue this as they get older…I’m just trying to get through the year!
I feel like I need to separate my boys more as well, and this will be easier next year when my oldest starts 7th as they will be doing separate science. My younger son wants to do zoology 3 for 4th and the older will be doing General Science. I have not yet decided if we are going to continue on to mod 3 or try MFW ECC next year. I am very torn. And then I started wondering if it would be better to try a workbook curriculum where I work mornings and thought maybe that would be better for them to work through independently. Easier on my dh, too, on the mornings he is off. We have such a hard time getting everything in, especially experiments for science. The fact is that I only have so much time available for schooling in the afternoons, and right now family work takes up all of it. It’s hard to find one on one time to work on things that need my assistance/teaching. As much as I love the idea of CM, I am finding we have to be more eclectic in our approach. My youngest is ADHD and is particularly distracting for my older ds. Every family’s situation is different. I would love to stay at home with half a dozen kids and be able to be that perfect CM mom, but that doesn’t seem to be God’s plan for our family.
If you are finding that your older ds is independent enough to move ahead of the pack, don’t hold him back. This is an opportunity for him to show maturity and responsibility. Embrace it. It’s a good opportunity for him to explore other interests, too.
Thanks so much for understanding how I’m feeling. I so wish I had gone w/ my gut at the beginning of his 7th grade year; he was ready but I wasn’t ready to let go. With him about to enter 9th grade, I know that he really needs to be more independent w/ the family subjects that I can let go of (I don’t want to let go of those things I feel do not hold him back 🙂 He’s more than ready (with me checking in daily/weekly with his progress, narrations/discussion) and is willing to do what is assigned ( again, with me checking, he does think that his way is just as good as what is assigned, he’s a teenager).
I feel like it has taken me so long to figure out CM, and hsing altogether, that before I knew it another year had passed and another approaching. Once I figure/d some things out, they’re ready to move on, LOL. I don’t want to repeat myself next year by not doing what I feel we need to this year, especially for my oldest. When they were younger we did more family subjects together (106 Days for one) but now it is time (and has been for awhile now) to place him where he needs to be. I already live with much regret with him (and he’s so done with that..he just wants to do what I think we should, basically, stop talking about it, let’s just do it!)…I have to allow him to move on in the areas I have held him back.
He’s not one to complain so I would’ve never known he was screaming to take more on independently. This has come about by me trying to figure out how we were going to work family subjects and him get to his own studies. As important as our studies are, I think he may feel that his own studies are interrupted and has to deal with waiting on us (meaning, me) when he could’ve been doing more on his own.
Ok, I’m rambling. Thanks so much for the replies. You all have given me some great ideas I hadn’t thought of, like the Spanish idea, duh. Why can’t we share??!!
I am finding that my dd12 in 6th is ready for lots more and I am definitely holding her back. Next year, we are separating for everything really. Even fine arts (music, composer, poet, hymn, etc) somewhat since we do these in our CM co-op and will switch to doing them in forms (ala CM schools). We will review together at home, though.
We will still have great conversations about all that we’re learning, but my then 7th and 4th graders will have even greater independence than now. I’ve invested years into them now (ESP the older) and now I need to shift my main focus to my little ones (will be 1st and 3.5 years).
Just my 2 cents fwiw.
Christie
I’m approaching this in some ways but have THREE groups.
Makayla is her own group going into 7th grade next year. She’ll still participate in some family studies (history family read aloud, scriptures/memory work, artist/composer, book club family read aloud) but in many things she’ll be independent (science, grammar, language arts, etc) or doing extra work at her level (ex: history).
My next group has 3 children: Joseph (3rd next year), Emma (2nd next year), and Daniel (K next year but advanced like crazy). They’ll have many family studies together including their age range history read aloud (after our family book) and science.
My third group is 4 little ones. Oliver will be preK (4), Caleb will be preK (3), Mason will be the toddler, and the newborn baby boy will be here. They’ll join in some family read alouds, scripture memory work, and then have things for their age to play with/learn from.
It’s crazy and fun and overwhelming if I think about it too much. I’ve learned that it all works out so long as I rely on my Heavenly Father for the day to day direction of our studies and where to spend my time. Daily bread – that’s what he offers, enough to get through today. 🙂
That is why I ended up splitting my kids up… I have some health problems, and if I wasn’t feeling well, nothing would be getting done. Now that I have my school aged kids (age 7 and 9) somewhat independant – I just have to feel well enough to get them going.
One thing I’m working on for next year are some independent reading lists. I’ve been looking at booklists for AO and HUFI to get ideas. We have quite a few books on our shelves as well as the Yesterday’s Classics set, but they have a difficult time finding age-appropriate books on their own. I’m hoping this will help.
Thanks for the encouragement everyone.
Unlike Christie, I don’t necessarily feel like I have poured myself in my oldest, sad to say. I feel like he has had to take the brunt of my learning curves. We didn’t hs from the beginning and it took me a long time to figure things out, in the mean time he did accomplish this & that, but just not in the way I would choose now. Personally, he has accomplished so much (in the past I had mentioned his challenges w/ friends, self -confidence & he was on the one that wanted to go to ps for jr. high hoping to meet more kids). Academically, we have had challenges w/ his vision (therefore, reading), math (have tried a few things that have now made him feel behind), science (he feels behind even though we went at his pace & he has followed rabbit trails), foreign lang. (thought he was going all the way w/ ASL, not so much). He’s also the one that can spend hours in his room (doing school or not) and bringing him out for more family time seemed necessary. I think part was hormonal and part was maturity. He has leveled out so much and has chosen to spend more time with us, his mood has lifted, and he has found himself some good friends. He has grown so much…I’m very proud of him! Anyway, that may have been why I was hanging on for so long, we had some emotional issues to work through. I can see how we can make some changes this coming week to benefit all of us.
On a side note, we have done so many great subjects as a family, so I don’t feel like a complete failure, but I should’ve passed a few things off on to him awhile back. I forgot to mention Shakespeare…we just started that as a family and I had meant to start him on logic, but I’m always looking for that perfect time/day. I guess you could say I am a perfectionist.
We did have a talk last night about the changes we will make and he is super excited! He completely agrees with the need to change things, not just so he’s not w/ us, LOL, but because it is the right time. He agrees that there a certain things we can maintain as a family, but the subjects I have already mentioned, I need to let go of.
I feel so much better!!! Thank you!
Glad you are both feeling better about things! Sounds like good changes. I have a 7th grader and know it’s a struggle to figure what’s best together vs. independent…she could do everything pretty independently and probably finish her day sooner than waiting on us:)
I am separating my oldest dd next year as well. She’ll only be in 6th, but after much deliberation and consideration over where the disconnect was with her learning, I discovered she is an extremely visual learner. It explains so much about why her retention has been so low and she is barely able to narrate more than the last sentence or thought she hears. Her retention is wonderful when she reads and discovers for herself, but almost nil when she is listening. I’ve had to come to terms with giving up my dream of a one room schoolhouse but I know it is best for her. I’ve experimented a bit the past few weeks with handing her some more things to do independently and she’s done extremely well! I was sad over the change, but now I’m getting really excited about it. I know my youngers, 1st and 2nd grade, will benefit from more time with me and oldest dd will be able to learn more and grow more, even if I am having to let go of being in the middle of it all. So, I understand how you are feeling! We’ll get through this and our dc will be all the stronger for what life brings!
“”We did have a talk last night about the changes we will make and he is super excited! He completely agrees with the need to change things, not just so he’s not w/ us, LOL, but because it is the right time. “”
I consider it a complete victory any time a child is super excited — glad to hear it.
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