How Would You Plan Module 6 for a High Schooler?

All of my children, including my 11th and 10th graders, are using Module 5 this year and I’m loving it.  We plan to do 6 next year, when my oldest is a senior.  My high schoolers listen to the scheduled spine readings along with their younger siblings and have never complained about it being too “young” for them — a living book is a living book!  🙂  We follow the guide pretty closely, and I feel like they’re all getting a great picture of this time period. 

I schedule 2 or 3 “together” subjects at the beginning of our day, before a time of independent work, and then again right after lunch.  Then they finish out the day with independent/guided subjects.  Spreading it out like that seems to help people not get tired of listening to read-alouds. Our together subjects include Bible, history (spine), geography, Spanish, picture study, Shakespeare, art, nature study, PE, and some literature and poetry (not all of those are every day!).  I hope this is helpful!

The only suggestion I have is to look at a timeline and see if you’d like to add in books/documentaires for topics not covered in the module….for highschool, not the other grades.

All through the Ages, by Christine Miller is an excellent resource for this, or you migth look at the last level of TruthQuest, by Michelle Miller.  IEW has a new resource called, Timeline of Classics, by Gail Ledbetter.  It breaks the modern era into several categories.  This might trigger subjects you could enter into the SCM Bookfinder for titles to add if needed…..BUT, read the recent thread “Prayer Request from Sonya,” first!  It’s an excellent reminder to keep things simple.

hth,

Becca<><

Ya know, looking back, I think if I’d had my older ones pursue assigned studies at their pace versus keeping the family on the same page/timeframe, they’d have covered more ground.  Trying to keep the youngest on the same history/science as the oldest has just been a hard thing to do.  Either I’m dragging it along too long for the older ones to wait on the younger siblings, or I feel like the younger ones don’t have time to grasp much of anything.  My possibly controversial decision for next year is to keep the youngest working on 3Rs and CM fine arts while her older brother tackles all the subjects.  She’ll have plenty of history/science for an 8 year old based on the books she chooses from our library.  (I’ll be making baskets of them related to what her older brother is learning, but they will be completley “free read” and added into the CMO after the fact.) 

Over and over again I tried to make certain our older four (three have graduated) were covering chronological history and topical sciences when they needed more time to build their foundation in reading, writing, and math.  This meant having to come alongside them at much older ages than I’m willing to do with our youngest.  I’m older, I’m dealing with physical challenges, and I want to equip her better to tackle those studies on her own in middle/highschool.  She’ll be the only one homeschooling at our house in just four years.  I’m going to use them to make certain she’s a solid reader, has a good understanding of spelling, can put her own thoughts down on paper (gradually becoming more proficient,) and possesses the confidence to pursue math and science head on. 

I’m quite sure that if I’d focusses on the 3Rs and the beautiful extras of CM in the early years, the upper level courses wouldn’t have been as intimidating for our older children.  I have done a better job with the fourth, but want to make certain our youngest reaps the benefits of my past regrets.  Her older siblings all encourage her in her studies.  The older three are the best cheer leaders for our 14yos, too.  They enjoy challenging them to do more in these basic areas.

We will certainly continue history and science for her, but not at the expense of the others.  I think that’s the one thing I’d add into Sonya’s “keeping things simple” workshop.  If the basic tools are not put into place, the other planning and resources become a huge source of frustration, discouragement, and disappointment.  Any of the plans/resources can work, but having the fundamental skills in place takes a huge amount of stress off mom and allows the best laid plans to actually be pursued.  If they aren’t in place, the days are long and daunting. 

I’m hoping I didn’t get this off track for you.  It’s just a caution.  If your youngest is a good reader and math and spelling are rolling right along, by all means, enjoy these studies (one, or both, in fact) together if they work well that way.  If not, let your older tackle them on her own and beef up your younger daughter to prepare her to study easily down the road.  It will make it easier on all of you. 

I love it when it all comes together!