Looking for a bit of guidance for son who isn't absorbing lessons without worksheets.

I live in PA. What kind of help do you need with your portfolio? You can add pictures of the things that he does for different subjects, samples of writing, and art work. If you let me know what you are having trouble with, I may be able to help you more.

I agree that SaraB. made a very good point.   I also want to add that some children have different learning styles. I think I would continue what Sara says and stop the worksheets for narration.  However, if you wanted to use them for backup on science reveiw or a reveiw of what he already knows that would help you feel confident he is learning.  You could do this with a hot dot pen and hot dots on laminated card pockets too. He would like the pen and dots and he could reveiw quickly. Just another thought but I know not all kids process the same when it comes to learning styles.  

   I also wanted to say that I had recently read an article that it may appear that some children may be behind other public school children for a few years but by the time they are in High School they are 3 years ahead of public school children.  I thought I would add that just so you aren’t to worried about how he is learning.

        Have a blessed day!

Remember that Charlotte Mason’s focus was not on ‘retaining information’ but on gaining exposure to lots of living ideas so that the student can make connections and use what they were reading and learning in ways that are meaningful to them.  This is what narration is all about.  The teacher shouldn’t be deciding what is important and then trying to plant that into the student, which is what worksheets do.  The STUDENT gets to decide what is important to them.  If it’s important to them, it will be retained.  At this age, the specific information is not important, it’s learning how to read, understand, and process information.  If all they learn right now is to read and narrate, it is enough.  In the long run, that will be far more valuable than retaining facts from a worksheet.

Perhaps you can find ways to make it possible for your mother to guide the CM activities.  Here are some ideas I thought of that she might be able to handle, but you’ll know what works in your situation.

Copywork – should be done everyday, and can usually be fairly independent.

Math practice.  Depending which curriculum you are using, you could do the teaching on days that you have him, and then assign practice activities for independent work.

Have your son read a book or listen to an audiobook, and then draw a picture narration.  He could also speak a narration into a recording device; wait until he gets home to narrate to you; plan a puppet show to perform for you later, or if your mom has time, he could narrate (just tell the story) to her.  In my mind, narrating is the key to the CM approach, so I would really find ways to make this your main lesson method.  You could even design some notebooking pages that would be workbook-y enough to help your mom guide the lesson, but really be a form of narration.  For example, we are using the Burgess Bird, Animal, and Seashore books as a main feature of our science.  I’m designing a page where there is room for a picture, and then these headings: “Tell about the bird’s appearance”  “Tell about where this bird lives”  “Tell about this bird’s food”  and “Tell about some interesting habits of this bird.”  There are no ‘right’ answers, and not all sections must be filled everytime, but it gives some guidance for the narration.  If that is too much writing for your son, maybe your mom can scribe for him.  If you are doing plenty of narrating (ie. narrate everything!) when you are working with him, he should be able to begin translating that to what he is doing with your mom.

Maybe they could have ‘Tea Time’ together and read some poetry, listen to music from your composer, and look at a picture from your artist. 

Cuddle together on the couch and read aloud some of his free reading books (or some of your mom’s favourites from childhood!) 

Spend lots of time outside (weather permitting of course) and then come inside and make a nature journal entry about something they noticed.  Or if you have a camera that the kids can use, they could take a picture of something and you can journal it together later.

I’m sure once you start thinking about it, you can come up with more ideas. 

Good luck!  It sounds like an amazing opportunity for your children to be building a relationship with their grandma!

Joanne