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SCM Modern Times & Epistles – Taking longer than expected – what do I do?
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Hello, I’m looking for help. My kids & I (currently 5th & 7th grades) have been working through SCM Modern Times & Epistles for 2 school years. My goal is always to do 4 days per week – but even with that goal in mind, our progress has been very slow because my goals have not equaled our reality (new baby 2 years ago; preschooler with sensory issues; I’ve had chronic fatigue & mono & flu & every virus the kids breathe near me; life in general….). I’m truly not trying to make excuses ( there have certainly been times that I haven’t been as diligent!) At this point we will finish our second trimester at the end of the month (June). I do give my boys the grade level assignments to do independently & then we usually read the family assignments together. Am I the only one who has taken forever to get through this? I don’t think it’s too much work – actually compared to others we’ve tried, it feels just right – if I could get ‘control’ (HA!) of my days. We spent lots of time on Early American studies prior to finding SCM. I had planned to moved to ancient times next year, as we’ve only grazed early times in history through various other studies, but I also want to finish the Modern Times as we are all learning so much & enjoying it. As my oldest is going into 8th grade next year, I am definitely feeling the pressure (internal & external) of having ‘only one year left’ before high school & wanting to get it ‘all’ in. Any suggestions/thoughts?
Hi Tricia! Most homeschool moms have had times like this and it’s perfectly okay. A friend of mine got stuck in ancients for years and we all joked that she did horizontal history! Her kids learned tons and they had a blast and everything was more than fine.
When it comes to your soon to be 8th grader, this simply means he needs to have more work assigned independently. Have him continue reading his books even when everyone else is unable to. It’s the only way to get through all the high school work he’ll soon be facing.
Many schools barely touch upon history in the elementary years so you are doing your kids a great service by taking your time and really enjoying your journey through history.
When I started homeschooling my children, my history knowledge was abysmal. I mean really, really bad. When I discovered CM methods, history became my favorite subject and I have so enjoyed learning with my kids for the past 14 years. Your kids are already ahead of the general population just because they are learning history and enjoying the process.
You may find this blog post by Karen Andreola encouraging as I did. It seems to tie in.
Thank you, ladies for your help & encouragement! You’re so right – I even have a distinct memory of being in 3rd grade in public school and wishing that the teacher would tell us how the people lived ‘back then’ instead of reading us the boring textbook with the list of dates and names and then quickly moving on. I have loved watching my boys become interested in History & have learned so much along with them.
It’s so easy to get to this time of year and panic over what we haven’t accomplished instead of what we have (and the joy we’ve had along the way). I also fall into the trap of comparing us to other homeschool families – but probably need to remind myself that we have different kids, family circumstances, goals. I know these things – but it’s hard to feel them sometimes. I do think I will keep going with what we’re doing; working towards independent learning & enjoying the process. Slow and steady wins the race.
And Melissa – thank you so much for sharing that article – it was so encouraging. And how have I never seen Karen Andreola’s beautiful blog before? I’ve loved her books, but somehow missed her online. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Tricia! Andreola is such an encouraging writer. When I find myself growing anxious about homeschooling I sometimes turn to her “purple book” or go to her blog. She helps me put things back in perspective.
This was our second year following SCM’s guide and we didn’t finish all of the lesson plans yet. My 15yo went at his own pace and worked ahead and my 12 and 10yos read their books on their own and we dropped off of reading the main “spine” book 2/3 through bc I know they’ll cycle around to the subject again eventually and I didn’t want to kill ourselves over it. As for the Enrichments plans I decided that after lunch (on summer days when we are home) we will observe a picture, listen to music by a composer, etc. and call it a day. We really do have to take into consideration the size of our families (we have 6 kids) and whatever is going on in our lives. New babies and toddlers make it tough but so do many other things in life. It’s important to “find our feet” as Andreola would say.
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