Okay, I am wondering if those with older children can give me some thoughts. My 11yo son began Apologia’s General Science course this last week. He loves it. He loves science in general and I felt he was ready for a more advanced and formal program even though I realize he is a bit young for it according to Apologia’s website.
Anywho, while he is really enjoying it, he is starting to become overwhelmed by the pace that the program has him going at in addition to all of his other work (which is also becoming slightly more demanding as he’s getting older). He was only able to complete 2 days of their schedule over the whole week and now, because he’s a bit of a perfectionist, he’s already stressed because he’s 2 days “behind” (even though I keep telling him not to worry about it and just enjoy the program).
I’m thinking of just having him do science 2 days a week instead of 4 but I’m not sure if that would be wise because while I want him to enjoy the material, I also want him to step up to the more challenging requirements of advanced work. I know that if he were in public school he would be in 6th grade and those kids are kept crazy busy with tons of assignments, schedules and demanding work loads. Not that I want to mimic the failing system, but I keep wondering if maybe I’m not requiring enough of him; that maybe he should be able to handle more than he currently is.
I hope this makes sense. If your children went through these courses, did you follow a pre-planned schedule? We are using My Father’s World’s schedule and I can’t tell if it really is a tough workload or if I’m just not expecting enough. Oh the joys of the firstborn! I just don’t know what is realistic to expect from him as he is getting older. Any thoughts would be appreciated!