Is the School Year Over Yet? Another Math Issue

WE HAD TO TAKE A MINI-VACATION for SANITY CHECK

And what did I figure out? That even though I thought I wanted to do Year Around School, I NEEDED THE DARNED BREAK or I was going to explode.

Things I had time to ponder on while on Vacation.

1) My kids would rather be PLAYING VIDEO GAMES than going on tours. That had to change.

2) I need more sleep in days.

3) I DON'T know how to fully relax and do nothing for long periods of time.

4) I don't like staying in the house, even though my kids do.

5) The Math curriculums weren't giving my son ENOUGH MATH PRACTICE.

THINGS I CHANGED AFTER MY REVELATIONS

1) Math - MY SON needed a MASTERY BASED program where HE WROTE OUT his math problems to slow down his MENTAL MATH capabilities.

He will be working with a tutor on Math this summer. I changed his MATH program to LIFEPAC for Algebra 1.

WHY did I SELECT LifePack ALG 1?

 - It's NOT online
 - Read and Do problems
 - Can be done Semi-independently
 - Hard to cheat
 - I can purchase tutor help if I need it
 - It's only $59 for complete program
 - It is different than is online CTCMath
 - It focused on practicing what you are taught until you REALLY know it before moving on. Mastery based learning.

SAXON wasn't working because their wasn't the MASTERY and Saxon is more of a SPIRAL that is just too wide for my son.

CTCMath is still a GOOD SUPPLEMENT but he needs to WRITE OUT HIS WORK.

2) NO YEAR AROUND SCHOOL, we will have 1 month and 1 week off. I NEED it, the KIDS NEED it. My Husband NEEDS it.

3) In PERSON CLASSES for TIGER LILLY. She is too much of an INTROVERT. I found an IN PERSON Japanese class, Art class, and Unity 3D coding class for High School Students after school.

4) Summer Camp for 1 month and 1 week for BOTH kids, even though I initially didn't want Speed Racer to attend since he had some challenges at camp due to his own behavior last year. His siblings pointed out, how will he learn what is acceptable behavior if he doesn't have opportunities to figure it out? Good points. So I am giving it another chance.

5) Our school year will end July 1st. Woot!

Other Good Happenings

I still love homeschooling. I wouldn't be able to give my kids chances to shine, redirect, focus, and revisit work they weren't 100% comfortable with if I didn't homeschool them.

Algebra 1 with My Youngest Son Is Killing Me

My 13 yr old SPEED RACER is killing me with his nemesis ALGEBRA.

I mean it. I am literally in the mood to throw it out of our curriculum. I mean, he did get a C in the class last year.

Maybe, making him retake Algebra 1 this year was a torturous mistake for me.

We have TRIED EVERYTHING! 

Abeka Algebra 1, he did last year, got BARELY a C. So I figured, no problem, we'll just do it this year, but use SAXON. Well, he cheated the first part of the year by using a calculator, sneaking the answer key. So...we restarted the SAXON, and I changed his entire curriculum to ACELLUS because with my new job, I didn't have time to sit with him and go over every problem and subject.

THEN...the MATH breakdown. He was stuck at C and D level with ACELLUS and SAXON. What the heck!!

BUT I WON'T GIVE UP.

Now with SAXON, we practice with CTCMATH, which he is doing great with. Problem is, when he WRITES the MATH PROBLEMS, he misses key steps.

IN COMES this great book, No-Nonsense Algebra. Thank GOD!

The reason I haven't hired a TUTOR is because the boy simply hates PRACTICING his math. It's not that he can't grasp the concepts, he is just too insistent on not doing the work. Ugh!

For just $21 it comes with problems and videos. We are using this along with SAXON. 

It's going to be a long summer.

The HARDEST CLASSES to TEACH in HOMESCHOOL

You heard it!

There are some classes that I failed at teaching.

My MOST difficult one to Teach

Teaching languages has been an utter failure for me in my homeschool teaching career. My kids have tried EVERYTHING from Mango Languages, to Currclick Live, to Landry Academy, to Abeka Academy and lastly Middlebury Interactive.

None of them - not a one have given them the same level of expertise I found while learning both French and Spanish in the classroom.

Why? Well because No-One-Is-Speaking it to them.

As a last resort, my daughter, Tiger Lilly really wanted to prolong her Japanese lessons so I hired a Japanese tutor to work with her weekly. She won't listen to the Immersion CDs because she'd rather have someone speaking to her. As for my son, he has a 'basic' understanding of the Spanish language but doesn't feel confident speaking or writing in it.

This is the one class I am throwing in the towel on. I had to find outside and IN-PERSON classes to meet this need. 

Teaching Writing was another challenge. Now I love writing. I'm pretty good at it also. However, teaching it, reviewing work, and making the curriculum just wasn't as effective as I thought it would be.

My kids needed someone to help them learn grammar and editing rules while checking their work. I've had to order this curriculum out because they preferred to learn from an 'interactive' tool or teacher.

We've used Time4Writing, Fortuigence, San Diego Scribblers and lastly a private tutor. The combination of all of them worked well.

Teaching Advanced Math, Oh my goodness! Teaching up til Algebra 2 wasn't too difficult. Watching videos, teachers and having a few tutors here and there worked well. Most all of their classes were successful with Abeka Academy, Saxon, CTCMath and Teaching Textbooks (for Geometry).

But when we hit Pre-Calculus and Calculus there was a roadblock, limited teaching materials and difficult problems.

I hired a tutor to work with my daughter through her CTCMath and Saxon Calculus materials.

Physics and Chemistry were very difficult to teach. Especially, since the labs were not easily done at home. Also, I wasn't comfortable with these courses when I was in college 25 yrs ago and still am not.

These subjects we did a 'light' learning of by using Abeka Academy and Study.com videos. In each scenario the kids learned a lot, but didn't get the full experience of doing 'labs.'

I used Landry Academy 'Intensives' camps to expose them to labs.

WHEN TO HIRE OUT A SUBJECT

If I was doing this all over again, I would've hired out the subjects I knew my kids needed a 'great' takeaway or in depth understanding for as far as college was concerned.

Come to find out, my daughter didn't have to take Chemistry or Physics in college. So, I should have done my research earlier and wouldn't have needed to stress out about it so much.

We hired a tutor to work with the kids 2 times a week on the Curriculum we chose for them.

SUBJECTS YOU CAN'T SKIMP ON

Writing, Grammar, Reading! And Math. 

Make sure your student can Read and Comprehend,  WRITE (grammar and reading) well and understands MATH up to Geometry and Algebra 1 at least. All colleges at least want that. Even a job wants that. All entry test have those basic skills on it.

So if you're not confident in assisting your student in learning the above, don't feel guilty about 'hiring' to teacher or tutor.

Accelerate Your Homeschool High School Math

WHAT DOES YOUR CHILD PLAN TO DO AFTER HIGH SCHOOL?
Depending on what field of interest they have, math can play a major part in their success in college.

If they are pursing a Bachelor's of Arts Degree that supports fields in Business, Economics, Socialogy, Psychology then they would only require MATH up to ALG 2 and TRIG

If they are pursuing a Bachelor's in Engineering, Computers, Technology then MATH up to CALCULUS is necessary.

No College (like decide to go in the Military, work a non-technical job) then I'd say at least take them through Geometry and Algebra 1 which are both math's that we use in everyday thinking.

FIRST STEP: Look at the local colleges or universities and see what they require for each type of degree program as far as Math goes and that will give you an idea of what to have your child complete.

PRE-CALCULUS and CALCULUS IS NOT A REQUIREMENT in most majors.
However, ALGEBRA 1 and 2, TRIGONOMETRY and GEOMETRY are the least amount of math that 'most' college majors require.

OUR DISCOVERY

After graduating a Homeschool student and now having one doing Dual Enrollment, I finally feel comfortable sharing their MATH PATH to college.

Each child seemed to gravitate towards the sciences. However, when we began homeschooling I found they all had the below challenges.

CHALLENGES WITH MATH:

1) Forget accuracy, recall and math rules from Basic Math taken up to 8th Grade.
2) Solidification of Algebra and Geometry Facts
3) Having to take College Accuplacer Exam which is a College Entry Exam that reviews students Basic Math, Geometry, Algebra and Trigonometry - which most students forget the Basic Math, Geometry and some Trig by the time they take the test

SOLUTION:

1) Build in a curriculum of review
2) Once student knows the information - test out of the College course or take the College Class for that subject

OUR FAMILY MATH PATH and Curriculum that WORKED BEST FOR US

The Trick:

*Teach Each Math Topic Area In a Different Method/Curriculum

*Keep Math Review Lessons under 20 minutes

*Separate each Math Course for the Day with 2 Other Courses
 Only Go Up To Math that is required for your child's desired area for College Study

Skipping Middle School as a Homeschooler

Skip...Skip...skip to the next grade.

SKIPPING YOUR KID A GRADE

I never even considered skipping my kids a grade before we started this endeavor homeschooling. However, both of my children have seemed to sprout butterfly wings while learning at home.

When they were in public school, their wings were clipped. My daughter, the 7th grader, was placed in advanced math and science classes but wasn't classified as 'Gifted and Talented'. However, after spending the last several months teaching her, I realized that, although she didn't grasp facts the first time their were introduced, she did have a real understanding of subjects. Also, she's a hard worker, rather thoughtful, and a fabulous writer.

This school year I've had to change two of her classes in order to keep her challenged, and it made me really put some thought to SKIPPING MIDDLE SCHOOL.

COMPARE COURSES for DEPTH

Okay, so with the thought of skipping my daughter in mind, I compared the MIDDLE SCHOOL grades curriculum (from my provider for all my curriculum materials) and 6TH GRADE with 9TH GRADE.

Math - MIDDLE SCHOOL math from 7th, 8th grade is just the SAME as 6th GRADE math. ONLY more problems and an introduction to Algebra and Geometry concepts.

English - MIDDLE SCHOOL for grades 7th, 8th really is just a lighter version of 9th GRADE English, with book reports and less difficult literature. Also, 7th and 8th grade drive home those grammar facts.

Science - MIDDLE SCHOOL is debatable for science. A smart kid can go from Earth Science or Physical Science straight to Biology (used in 9TH grades).

SKIPPING 7th and 8th GRADES is a DOABLE action for HOME SCHOOLERS

I truly believe they put Middle School in there to give kids time to grow up and mature. Also, to solidify skills of Basic Math, Intro to Algebra and Geometry facts.

So, I plan on having my youngest son finish 7th grade, then skip straight to 9th grade materials. Or if he continues to eat up subjects as well as he has, I'll move his courses up to 9th grade level in the areas of his strength.

THE TRICK TO DO THIS SUCCESSFULLY IS....

In order to pull this off, you have to make sure that your child REALLY KNOWS, the following:

- Rules to Grammar
- Math Facts with Speed and Accuracy (addition, subtraction, complex division, complex multiplication, fractions, percents, comfortable with Algebra facts and Geometric understanding).
- Science (strong ability to read and understand techincal or scientific dialogue, good memory or understanding and strong writing skills)
- Writing and Reading (child should be able to read above grade level and be able to write well).

Extra Assignments to Get Your Kid Ready for the big SKIP

- Book Reports (start as early as 3rd grade)
- Journaling (start in 3rd grade)
- Math Fact Test (find fun ways to really solidify the core math facts of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to the point of Mastery)
- Science Experiment (add mini-experiments to your curriculum to teach kids how to reason for science)
- Logic building (The Art of the Argument is a great tool to teach at 6th grade) also games like Lumosity or mind bending games will help

WHAT ABOUT GROWING UP TOO FAST?

They can take their time in Community College once they've finished their High School classes which gives them the ability to improve their grades. Taking 2 classes a semester instead of 4 required to be full-time.

Also, at this time they can benefit from being both a Community College student and a high schooler, still able to participate in age appropriate activities and see what a beginning to College is like. Many Universities also allow 'Early Entrance' programs and the classes can be taken online. You don't even have to take the class to gain college credit you can 'audit' a class to just be able to learn about a specific topic.

Camps, work in real life internships, or go for it by CLEPing their courses and enrolling into some of the online colleges to earn out 2 years of school before transitioning to a traditional 4 yr college.

The sky is the limit if you are creative.

*Going to College early allows your student to enjoy Co-ops, Internships and even study abroad, yet still graduate at the same age as their peers, experiencing college and the advantages of that explorative time in life in a much fuller way but in less time.

HOMESCHOOLING ALLOWS US TO TEACH OUTSIDE BOXES

The best part of homeschooling for us has been the ability to 'teach outside the box'. My7th grader never would've been ready or permitted to skip to 9th grade material in public school. However, after moving her from Math 7th Grade to Algebra 1, then adding Geometry (at her request) I knew she could rise to the challenge of 9th grade work.

There are no boundaries to learning when done at home.

SO WOULD YOU SKIP MIDDLE SCHOOL? 7th or 8th GRADES?