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Teaching things that matter need advice
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Hi. I would love some input and wisdom from other homeschooling mamas. I have had a difficult time teaching my dd who is 9. I also have a 2 1/2 ds and 8 mo dd. so with that being said I got module one and the 106 days she does lof and loves to read. It has been difficult financially so as far as buying a math curriculum, the ones I have looked into are way out of our league. She knows how to cook and sew. She also loves to crochet. But, I don’t feel like she is learning enough. She is very bright and I feel like I am not doing a good job providing her with all the tools and learning material she needs. I love the idea of the cm method I am just struggling with finding material that matters. I want her foundation to be the Bible. My thoughts are so scattered I hope this all makes sense. So all in all, how do you figure what things are important to learn about. Presidents…?! Reading books with value…how do you decide what things are important for your kids future? Any wisdom or words are appreciated. It is nice to know I am not alone in all of this. I appreciate this forum and the posts so much!!!
Thank you and blessings!
Jillian
I sent a reply this am that didn’t send, so I will try again.
“The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach” is a book that comes to mind. My local library has it. The author talks about the Bible being central. I like the approach but found it hard to implement due to having several older kids and not a lot of time.
What subjects do you feel she needs more? Math? Language arts? The extras like composer study?
There are a lot of good math curriculum out now, some free online like Ray’s. What type of math curriculum are you leaning towards?
As far as what is important, for me it is the Godly character,3 Rs, history and science, and life skills.
There are a lot of Christian and Christian friendly books for history and science, so preview, be choosy, and read reviews and it should go well.
Each child is so different that it is difficult to say learn all the presidents or else! If you don’t teach the presidents, and your adult child needs to know them, they can do it easily as needed on their own.
For math, check out MEP MATHS from the UK. It is free online except you need to print the practice sheets. There is an active yahoo group for MEP homeschoolers.
You could also contsct Book Samaritan to see if they could provide a few things.
I do fully understand…
So, the main reason I say she needs to learn more math is because my sister(public school teacher) came up for a visit and she mentioned my dd needs to learn math, that she is behind. She said she is not concerned about her vocabulary or anything else and that she is completely in awe of how bright and responsible she is. In my heart, I know math has been difficult… Telling time just clicked with her one day recently and lof has helped her a lot in different ways. The way she understands things is very foreign to me, when i try to explain things she doesn’t understand but when i ask my husband to explain something it clicks.
So my one of my main issues is if she and my other children will learn enough. I think of public school and I try to “de-school” in my mind and heart it is just difficult to know amd discern what is enough and sometimes I can become fearful like if they will be able to succeed with what they are learning…very prayerful about that
Retrofam: I looked into that book I am ordering it:-) I have a difficult time knowing what things are necessary. Yes composer study, I jut had the thought of getting material about different inventors how things began or came about. This has sparked some of my issue with knowing what is important.
Suzukimom: thank you I will definitely check out that website!!!
Thank you all
Suzukimom,
Thanks for the link for Book Samaritan. I will donate to them in the future.
Jillian,
I have had the same fears of “not enough” and will I hinder my children if I don’t duplicate the public school.
Having graduated a son, and one who is a senior, I now realize that even if I didn’t teach enough of the “right” group of facts, my children are SO much better off having been homeschooled. They love God, their family, and want to help others. They know how to find out what they need to know and how to work independently.
My 10-year-old dd is “behind” in math but being that she is my fifth child, I don’t have anxiety about it. I teach her math vs. independent work, and she practices math facts daily in various ways. She plays math games with her little sister too.
She likes math! This means I have finally figured out how to help my child without adding stress and making her feel inadequate. If she were in public school, I doubt this would be the case.
Like so many veteran moms used to tell me, relax. She is progressing and as long as you are doing math often, and she feels supported, it will be fine.
See if you can figure out how your husband explains things. Maybe he uses less words, different examples, etc.?
My 2nd son is starting his senior year and due to math difficulties and him skipping math too many days, he has to finish Algebra, geometry, and Stewardship Math before I will graduate him. I am confident that he will finish eventually.
For Algebra he doesn’t want to rush through because he wants to understand it. Ok, I will wait then:) He is using PurpleMath.com because they explain it well and discuss what part most students have trouble with.
All that to say that God is merciful and has seen us through on the math front and many others!
Retrofam: I truly appreciate you sharing your wisdom and experiences. It has blessed me tremendously. I can look back and remember what was said on those difficult days. Thank you so much for your encouragement!!!
I would like to suggest three things that, IMO, will smooth the road in homeschooling math:
(1) Decide what you really want from math, because this will affect everything else you do. Read Mathematics: An Instrument for Living Teaching. For example, I wrote about my math goals in the blog post How to Recognize a Successful Homeschool Math Program: I want my children to know that common sense applies to math, and that they are capable of reasoning stuff out. Everything else flows from that.
(2) Learn to recognize and talk with your children about the math all around you, including things you might not think of at first, like how hard it is to define the words we use, or how things arrayed in rows show multiplication. This is not “talking at” your kids, like we normally think of teaching, but starting a conversation and listening to their thoughts, to how they figure things out.
(3) Perhaps the most important thing is to model what you want your child to learn, to figure out how to enjoy math yourself. Playing with Math is a book about how many different ways people (including several homeschoolers) have found to enjoy math with children of all ages. The book is in crowdfunding now (you can pre-order it here), to cover the printing costs, and the first print run will be this fall. I’ve had a chance to read an early pre-publication version, and it’s truly a delightful, inspiring book. I can’t wait to get my copy!
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