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My Daughter Wants Her Own Books…Plus Other New Revelations Today
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I had it all planned out. It’s been on my blog listed under “Our Curriculum” for a few months now. Curriculum shopping has been DONE for the year. All I was doing was trying to help my soon to be 12 year old begin more independent studies. I thought that I would just make her a check list instead of putting her things in workboxes this year. I thought that would be a good start. THEN I decided to ask her (on our way to Wal-mart today) if there were things that she would like to do differently for school this year. She said she didn’t want to do things with her brother anymore. She wanted her own books to read by herself without his distractions (which is the truth…he is a bit silly and causes problems some days).
Okay…next she told me that she LOVED reading an old ABEKA science book that we bought at a used book store! She said she wanted to read and write down what she learned. OKAY! So… I gave her and her brother a sample of The Storybook of Science vs. a text book (ABEKA) and they BOTH said the textbook was much better. (SAY WHAT?) They liked the way it read, and they could remember more about the things they read in the text book. They said it wasn’t silly or didn’t beat around the bush by telling a story.
WELL! GREAT! LOL! Now what?
Do I just continue on with what I had planned and give her SOME independent work or should I make drastic changes to my plans? I do think she is telling the truth, and she learns much better when she reads on her own. I also think that my son would really do better alone too because his silliness is sparked by trying to make his sister laugh (mostly during my reading aloud times). Right now we combine Bible/History/Geography, Art, Hymn, and Nature study, and I was going to add some vocabulary and logic puzzles.
It will totally mess up our history rotation if I use another curriculum, and we are learning so much from the SCM guides.
Help me figure this out please 🙂 Thanks (and here’s my original plan: http://teachthemdiligently-amanda.blogspot.com/p/our-curriculum.html
I wouldn’t change to a textbook for one simple reason – they like it because it spoon feeds them bits of information, it’s requires less critical thinking and work on their part. I understand that feeling too, but it’s not one to encourage. I would look at what living books you have planned and make sure they are not too difficult a reading level if they want to do all their own reading though!
So if it were me I would simply continue the SCM history and allow them to read their own individual books and maybe teach them to take notes if they are interested.
Good luck! Sometimes it’s hard balancing things, isn’t it? Especially when our children develop opinions…LOL.
I second what was said above, but would add to it that if you come across used science textbooks, like ABEKA, that she would like, then perhaps she can read it in her spare time, while still maintaining what you require.
My son reads APOLOGIA and the Masterbooks science books on his own while I schedule other books for him and I read aloud a science.
Just an idea…That way way her “idea” is still recognized and interwoven into the year. She knows that, though you make final decisions, you can still try to find ways to use her ideas, too, if possible without shortchanging your own efforts of a CM education for them. A child will generally want the easier paths if left to their own devices.
I don’t have a whole lot of advice but I wanted to let you know that I am in the same boat with my 11 year old daughter. I did click on your post and checked out your plan. I wouldn’t necessarily change anything you’re using, but find ways to let your daughter work within those parameters though still on her own terms. My daughter and 10 year old son have done everything together until now. Maybe I can spark some ideas for you. Here are a few things I have changed:
- I now have them reading different books for Literature. We are doing one book every six weeks.
- My daughter is doing French. I have decided to let her have that for her own, and have dropped it from all the other kids for a while so that she isn’t held back. (This was one thing that really bothered her – having to go at everyone else’s pace.)
- Following the History guides, my daughter will be do her own your own reading from the 7-9th grade level, while my 8 year old and 10 year old read from the 4th -6th level and my 6 year old will read from 1-3rd. We can come together once a week to let everyone share what they’ve learned from their book. This way we are all getting information from all the different books.
- She is beginning her own century book, while the other kids will continue working on their timeline books that they’ve had for years. I have emphasized that the century book is for more mature learners.
- She is in charge of keeping a family almanac from which we will analyze weather data after one year. She really likes this.
- For Science, we will be using BFSU level 1 (along with continuing our science readings), but I will expect more analysis in her notebook, a deeper level in conversations, etc. I am still feeling this one out a bit and will have to see how it goes.
- The kids make notebook pages as a way to express what they’ve learned. I don’t give her (or any of the kids) any instruction on this other than “show me what you learned about _________” and I find that this is a good way for her to be able to express what she’s learned on her own level. She appreciates not being given guidelines and knowing that she is wholly responsible for deciding what’s on the page.
I have also heard the same, exact words about the Storybook of Science versus textbook. My daughter also told me that the kids in SOS were just too cheerful. I asked her to think back to all the Apologia textbooks we have done and tell me what she learned about the subjects we covered. Then I asked her how much she knew about ants from reading SOS. She kind of started laughing as she was answering me because just by giving her answer, it was clear to her IN HER OWN MIND that she learned and retained much more from SOS…. so she is not arguing against that one any longer. I do not require any narration on this book. We are treating it as a novel, not a Science book.
One more point – my daughter is definitely not an auditory learner. It is difficult for her to retain much when we just read a book aloud. While I do believe this is a skill that can be developed and we are working on it, I also know that this is a weak point for her. If there is some information that I she NEEDS to retain, I make sure that she gets it from a source that she is reading on her own. She is still included in all the family read-alouds as well. It is not her preference, but she doesn’t complain about it as she knows it’s just something that is expected. When we do something like “Outdoor Secrets” which has short readings, I let her read it to everyone.
She is still doing some of the same work as the 10 year old, but they are not doing them together at the same moment like we have in the past.
I am also treating SOS as a novel for my dd, with an occasional request for narration. My son had no interest in it, felt is was too young for him, so I didn’t make him, but my dd loves it. My son does read the Christian Lib. Readers and next year will read some science books from Yesterday’s Classics.
Mine are only 6 mths. apart, but they do most work independent from each other. They only have one subject they do together, other than our Family subjects, which are also less than before.
Mine are 12 and 11.
Thank you for all of your advice.
I really do not feel that she is asking for the easy way, but that she really thrives on this type of learning style. She is asking for these books because she says she learned a lot more with them in the past. She really can tell me all sorts of things that she read and learned about insects from an ABEKA science text.
I do not plan to change everything we do, but I am going to have to think and pray about allowing the kids to learn the way that is best for each of them. I don’t think I would do her a great service by making her read from a book that she hates, which essentially teaches the same facts in a different style, instead of allowing her to learn in a way that makes her excited about learning more.
Wasn’t it Miss Mason who said that the children should like the books they read? 🙂
You know your child best! We’ve used Apologia Elem. books because they were CM-friendly and I felt the need for a program. However, I don’t think my kids remember a whole lot. But ds can recall all kinds of facts from science books he’s read on his own that were not necessarily living books that I would pick. I regret not going more w/books of science interest for both my kids. My friend has used Abeka and her dd retains a lot and did exceptional in her year at p.s. last year. When they used SL and narrations, they loved the books, but she didn’t retain much.
My dd has trouble w/retention so I’m doing a learning styles assessment w/her before starting school back up to see how I can tweak what we do. Maybe adding notetaking, using different colors, etc. Not sure yet…but agree w/you to teach the child and not hinder a love of learning:) Blessings, Gina
My children love reading and thrive on CM style and good, living history and literature books. That said, they hated SOS. They felt it was babyish and complicated at the same time – for instance, took a long, convoluted time to explain that the earth turns, which of course, they know already. They also love the Abeka science books, which are not written in a very text-booky fashion and all my kids have found interesting – and for what it’s worth, do not spoonfeed the kids information (in my opinion); they are still somewhat challenging for one of my guys. It is the only text we’ve used and I’ve let go of any guilt in using it during the years it’s worked best. And for the record, the Abeka books prepared my 14-year-old very well for the higher level Apologia books. We’ve also used science suggestions from Heart of Dakota, such Galen and the Gateway to Medicine, and Archimedes and the Door of Science, and a real favorite here, Exploring the History of Medicine.
I have also found that my kids (the 10 and ups at least) learn much better by reading things themselves. I used to read all the history material together, and one of my guys seemed to grasp very little and had trouble staying focused. When I began to turn over his history reading to be done independently (when I learned CM recommended that around age 10), he was amazed at what he retained, and actually came to me to say, “I learn and remember much better when I read things myself.” I revamped our studies using the same materials, so now I read a bit of a historical fiction that corresponds with our history studies each day, and they read their spines on their own – so if I had chosen to use the SCM guides, I’d probably have them read the family history reading on their own, and then I’d read the literature aloud.
It’s wonderful that your daughter is sharing with you what works best for her learning! I don’t think you’d have to make drastic changes to your plans, but could assign some of the family subjects, or at least parts of them, as independent reading. It might be a nice time for her to take more ownership of these things anyway, and it’s great that she’s asking to!
Blessings,
Aimee
I think ALL reading is beneficial. There are times I go to Wikipedia because I have a question that needs answered quickly…I don’t need a living book to satisfy all of my inquiries about this life. If it were me…which it’s not, so take this with a grain of salt…I think I would schedule some of those books she likes, require a narration, and make note of the pieces of the textbook that spark her interest (this will be obvious in the narrations I believe). I would then find living books and/or biographies on those particular subjects/people and schedule them into her school day.
Personally, I’d let her continue to use the ABeka science materials. If she enjoys using them and is learning, then i don’t see a problem. Some children thrive with textbooks for certain subjects, others with living books, and that is okay. You can always pair her textbook learning with living books to extend her understanding and fund of knowledge. I think it’s wonderful that she is taking such a proactive role in her education at such a young age and knows what seems to work best for her. That said, I’d support her request, especially as she was asked for her input. Good luck!
(Echoing hsmom22) My children and I like to read science textbooks because the vocabulary is emphasized. We enjoy narrative science/nature stories to hinge a concept to a memorable tale. I vote you use A Beka as your main text…and keep The Story Book of Science accessible as supplemental reading.
BTW, the colorful diagrams in A Beka would make nice notebook drawings.
ABEKA has really nice Science textbooks. I would just buy them and go with it. We used them for some of our children also. The SCM Science is mostly nature study and ABEKA covers a wider range of Science. Correct me if I’m wrong but this is what I’ve noticed.
Listening to your child’s input on school may really enhance your school year. We were using a very hands on science at one time when my children said, “Can’t we just read about this in a book?” I realized that the extra effort I was putting into science was just using up my energy and frustrating my children. I switched them to a textbook and they were happy as clams.
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