Monday, September 16, 2013

Ch-Cha-Changes ending our 1st Quarter



I've done it again! Made changes :-(

QUARTER ENDED after 45 days of homeschool.

It's been a great two weeks since my last WEEKLY CHECKUP.

WHY DID I DO IT?

Because I could, lol! That's the great thing about homeschooling. If it doesn't work for your kid, you can change the program to meet their needs.

If you have put 45 days into a program and your child is still not challenged, you've got a problem. Evaluate if the child is learning, if the product fits their learning style and if the teacher (you) can manage it.

WHAT I CHANGED AND WHY

I've tweaked the schedule 3 times and we are 46 days in O_o

We dropped:
Abeka Basic Math 7 after lesson 40 or so.

Time4Learning since we were only using it for math it seemed a bit overpriced for our budget for 2 kids

Jacobs Algebra 1 - took too much work for me to set up lesson plan

Abeka Bible for 7th grader

We added:

We added Algebra 1 (Abeka and Teaching Textbooks - yeah we do both).

Geometry (Thinkwell (extra practice only) & Teaching Textbooks) she is taking it again next year with Foersters

Art of the Argument (my daughter wants to add it to her schedule in the spring.)

Japanese (only 1 time a week, using the week to practice)

Customized Bible Curriculum to: True Images Devotional: 90 Daily Devotions for Teen Girls  and The Power of a Praying® Teen

XtraMath.com practice for my 4th grader who seriously dislikes flashcards

I hope this is it...

HAVE YOU MADE CHANGES?


9 comments:

  1. We are adding some things to our Trail Guide to World Geography. Just wasn't thorough enough for me. Also, we are not completely dropping but making our main grammar (Saxon Grammar 6) a supplement and focusing on more on writing. My daughter knows a lot of the rules but needs to practice but really needs more work in the writing area.

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  2. I'm glad I'm not the only one making changes. I'm confident that what we have will work out beautifully now (I hope, lol!)

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  3. I am still making changes. Hopefully the vocab and grammar I picked will stick!

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    1. That's great Barbie, I'm cheering you on here, lol! At this point I told the kids, we are sticking with things. I personally cringe when it's time to change.

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  4. To recognize that something isn't working means you are actually doing a good job. Your kids will appreciate it later when "change" doesn't bother them. Gosh, at my house I've done some changing too...but mine is more rearranging furniture, book locations, schedules, etc. If anyone knows a good bible program that is duel purpose for a 5th grader and a kinder let me know...that one will be the first to get switched for us.

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    1. I hope they appreciate all this change. I quiver at the thought of changing anything else, lol! Oh when you create that program, let me know, lol! I'd love a dual program for both of them.

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  5. I love being able to make changes as needed! Like you said, it's one of the fantastic things about homeschooling!

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  6. Sounds like you guys have a good plan for the "second" quarter. I really enjoy being able to swap things up to fit the needs of our children. I'm going to look at Xtra Math and see what its all about.

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  7. Oh Jamie it's been great. I sat with the kids and asked them what they liked, what they didn't like and why. Home Is Where They Send us, my son loves the xtramath.com because it's short and he's competitive. Although he knows his facts, he hasn't mastered them on speed. This is a way to do it without using paper flash cards.

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