Don't Make Unschooling A Band-Aid For Frustration With Homeschooling

Parental Frustration can cause knee-jerk reaction to Curriculum and Methods for Homeschooling

As a homeschooling and working coach, I have heard it a million times, "My child just isn't cooperating, doesn't want to learn to read, write or do math - I am just going to 'unschool' them."

The truth of the matter, if all parents could push off the learning, curriculum planning, teaching to someone else - even their child, we would.

Supporting a child in traditional school with helping with homework, frustrated teachers and more is difficult - but being the one and only one in charge of teaching a child who may have many challenges in focus, learning or motivation can be daunting.

WHAT IS UNSCHOOLING?

Child interest led learning that is initiated by the child's curiosity and the parent provides the resources to support their interest. There are several types of unschooling, some extreme, others that work as a hybrid where the child's parents still teach core subjects like reading, math, and or writing - but when the child desires to learn them. Some families the child initiates everything and what some would consider play like video games, watching movies, playing outside, the homeschooling parent categorizes the activity into what subjects the child is executing and tuning while they go about their regular play.

BEFORE YOU DECIDE ON UNSCHOOLING - KNOW THESE FIRST

• Have you 'deschooled' your child and yourself
• Evaluated Your Child's Learning Style
• Made sure their frustrations with learning isn't normal child expressions of disobedience
• Ask them how they would like to learn or be presented with the information
• Have you made learning fun or are you bringing home traditional school methods that didn't work for your child
• Is there a parental and child personality mis-match and should you have someone else teach them the subject
• What is your child's attention span

YOU CAN DO IT WITHOUT JUMPING TO UNSCHOOLING (right away)

My post on 'The Curriculum Recipe' is a good place to start before considering unschooling. The method of unschooling is a great option for homeschoolers and after-schooling. However, make sure it is a good fit for your family. You can do unschooling for a short period of time, or infuse different methods of instruction within an unschooling framework for the school year. Deciding on a method to homeschool should always be done with the child's learning style, communication methods, love language, personality type and the parents ability to meet them in consideration.

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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.

Why students should take Primary Math til 12th Grade

ADD - SUBTRACT MULTIPLY - FRACTIONS - DECIMALS - LONG DIVIDE - EXPONENTS & WORD PROBLEMS

I started to notice with my oldest son, that once he started taking Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2 and Pre-Calculus he'd forgotten the 'instant recall' of Middle School Math facts.

He was in Traditional School and therefore, just because he got passing grades on advanced math facts, I didn't think he needed any recall on core math facts - UNTIL he took his SAT PREP class and I realized it took him 3 times longer to do fractions and Decimals division than when he was in middle school.

WHY DO YOU NEED TO KEEP PRACTICING MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH FACTS?

Because they show up constantly in advanced math (BUT STUDENTS USE CALCULATORS) and start to forget the math facts.

They need to know how to complete these problems for (1) SATs (2) COLLEGE ENTRY EXAMS (3) Some JOBs (4) Military Exam (5) JUST BECAUSE

MAKE SURE - you reinforce this by having them 'write' their answers when they are re-learning it. Then use interactive math programs like IXL, CTCMath, CK12 or others that are free online to further practice and master facts.

Also (1) Have Student Write the 'RULES' for solving certain types of problems. - FRACTIONS, DECIMALS, WORD PROBLEMS and EXPONENTS were where we needed to do this the most.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT?

When your kid takes advanced math, (1) Give them a Daily Drill on each of the Math Facts above. (2) Do a periodic testing to see which math skill they've forgotten (3) Make BASIC MATH a core curriculum that follows your student until they start College

MY CURRENT EXPERIENCE.

My kids had the most difficult time remembering the RULES for FRACTIONS, DECIMALS and EXPONENTS - all which are needed for Algebra. But when they don't use it - they lose it.

However, I still needed to keep their fast recall of ADDITION, SUBTRACTION, MULTIPLICATION and DIVISION so that they didn't waste as much time pondering over facts they new backwards and forth in Elementary and Middle School.

MY YOUNGEST DAUGHTER FORGOT her CALCULATOR when she took the SAT. And you know what? She scored a higher score in MATH than her brother because she still had instant recall of the basic math facts and it made those types of problems easier for her.

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?

A Day or Evening Of School As A Working Mom

Weekly Wrap Up

This week was another wonderful one in a two week stretch. Remember a while back where my 4th grader and I had to get some bad behaviors under control?

Well it happened. He's totally and extremely on board now. No tantrums in the last 2 weeks. Consistency in finishing his work within his 3 hour (2-10 min break) time frame in the last 2 weeks. And one 'stomping' up the stairs, was easily redirected with him grumbling an apology, and asking for 5 min break. Actually communicating to me. This confirmed what I'd known in my heart for a long time. My child was not ADD or ADHD or Opposition defiant. I'd known his behavior wasn't consistent. Figured it was caused by a teacher hitting him, and another playing mind games with him, along with bullying by bigger kids (my son is on the shorter side for his age). But for the longest time, he'd act a certain way at school and differently at home. So with that acting out behavior developed after years of being bullied at school, we are back on track! Woot!

OUR TYPICAL DAYS NOW THAT WE ARE ALL TRAINED

Welcome to a peek into our hectic day as a Working Parent who homeschools their 2 kids after a day of work. Or, Dear Hubba (DH) may pitch in with help of our other Substitute Teacher, Dazzling Big Sis.

After working from 5am in the morning. Teacher picks up kid from sitter (if kid isn't already home with DH), rushes home and after a quick snack have the students take their place at here Desk.


Here is: Student, Speed Racer, attending his DVD based class.

Time in Class: (includes homework and 2 - 15 min breaks) - 3 to 4.5 hours
This week he took 4 quizzes and 3 test. Finished all his seatwork, homework, did Teaching Textbooks Math 5 & xtramath.com in addition to his Abeka Math and all subjects. AND he finished 2.5 hrs of instruction time (but we had a bit more breaks in between this week which takes time up to 4.5 hrs)

TOOLS of The TRADE that makes this rather easy.

1) DVD Based Curriculum that has everything laid out for the Teacher. All items are numbered by Lesson - even the DVD

2) Any other Computer Based or Interactive Based curriculum that allows kids to be taught independently BUT requires an engaged FACILITATOR

WEEKLY WORKBOX SCHEDULE that is placed on each child's board and in the Teacher Notebook that's on a bookshelf.

We did horrible with our workboxes these last 2 weeks....WHY? Well I didn't fill them (I know, when mom/teacher slips, everyone slips).

The result was, several missed Test/ Quizzes - we made them up on the weekend (Sunday is homework day).

Each box is (1) NUMBERED and has the (2) SUBJECT that is contained inside labeled.
Inside each box there is 2 major things.

(1) Working Textbooks for labeled subject
(2) Notebook
(3) Folder for the week's test and quizzes

THE SCHEDULE

This schedule is the kid's cheat sheet. It shows the following:

(1) Workbox #
(2) Day/Date
(3) Subject and Quiz,Test,Project to be done or study for

EXTRA ACTIVITIES:
We are now doing the following activities daily. - There is literally NO WEEKDAY FREE. This isn't on purpose just because I'm homeschooling - WE WERE CRAZY enough to have the exact same schedule when the kids were in traditional school O_o they were SO TIRED then, as was I.

Now this is bearable.


WHAT I'M THANKFUL FOR THIS WEEK?

The fact that my daughter and I are having a great time doing 'Teen Devotional' (

True Images Devotional: 90 Daily Devotions for Teen Girls by Moore, Karen) together for our new Bible class. I actually rush home to do this with her. She's so creative and thoughtful.

My Speed Racer's being back on track, becoming the little guy I'd known he was all the time. Also, him finishing all his work on time and well done, even the xtramath.com and teaching textbooks I squeeze into his already full Abeka DVD curriculum.

DH (aka Dear Hubba) has taken over teaching 2 complete days in a row to give me a break. Although I must admit I really didn't want him to because I enjoy it so much. But I used the time to catch up on some sleep.

That I have no complaints. Not about homeschooling my kids. Maybe because I've seen the other side, and appreciate the freedom of this.

HOW DOES YOUR SCHOOL DAY GO? What are the tools that make it go smoothly for you?

Finding The Right Math Curriculum Middle School On

Yes, this is how I looked just a few weeks ago as I started researching what I wanted to do for my daughter's MATH curriculum 8 th grade on.

GOALS

When I took her out of traditional school she would've been taking Algebra 1 this year in 7th Grade. However, I did a merging of Pre-Algebra and Math 7th grade for her after seeing some areas of weakness in her abilities.

So, I set goals for Middle School 8th grade on.

1) Is kid going to 4 yr college?
2) Is kid going to Community College initially then transferring to 4 yr college?
3) What is their areas of strength?
4) What fields have they considered?

Math Program Goals

1) Independent Study needed?
2) Prep for SAT needed?
3) Highly planned out curriculum needed?
4) Lots of practice through Spiral approach needed?
5) Prep for transition to Community College Math?

TYPES I CONSIDERED for ALGEBRA, GEOMETRY and PRE-CALC

Abeka

This was an easy consideration since both my daughter and I are used to this program, we are getting the complete package for the grade and this is part of it. The Pros also include that it's heavily detailed, comes with DVDs, teachers manual and is completely laid out for us. Unfortunately this program loses some of it's momentum in Algebra 2. However, I really loved the way the Algebra 1 book presented topics in an ordered fashion and the DVDs are a great help also.

Teaching Textbooks

We use this now as a Supplement to Abeka and the kids don't actually appear to mind the extra 30 min they spend on Math a day using this. With this and Abeka I've gotten the best of both worlds, but this will not meet our needs for a complete High School Math program as there are areas that are not covered for advanced SAT testing into Algebra 2.

VideoText

Oh, I really loved the concept of this program. Also, I could get it used for about $200-$300 and it would include Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, 2 and Geometry. But, I don't know if I truly want to use or learn a new program without testing it out. New this is $550 in price and that's a big chunk to toss out to try a new program. Also, this is a large commitment, if we don't like the program we've wasted a lot of time.

Saxon Math with DIVE DVDs

This option seemed viable. Only problem is my daughter needs the Spiral approach - badly. This is incremental. But it's one of the few Calculus programs that would allow her to skip pre-calc because it has precalc contained within it. Also, it's slowly build. So, I may consider it for Calculus.

Paul Foerster's Algebra  and Geometry Books with Math Without Borders Companion CD

Now, this was something I could sink my teeth into. It collectively had all the areas covered in the SAT with a decent book and explanation videos. BUT, it didn't come with detailed lesson plans or test I could use. I'd also have to purchase this separately. It wasn't that expensive new. The CD was only $69 but the books for both teacher and student would be about $200. However, I found some used sets online that included the CD, Teachers Manual, Student Text - but still NO TEST. I'd have to create them myself. O_o . The Geometry book is EXCELLENT though, and I love the DVD/CD's that come with the program! So this is a great choice for a Geometry supplement and Algebra 2 / Trig course.

Ask Dr. Calhoun

This program is MUCH easier to find in a complete set than the Foerster's program. It's reasonable compared to the others with Ask Dr. Callahan (using Jacob's Algebra) costing $222 new. It includes DVD, Text, Solutions set and Teacher's manual. This is the easier choice over Foerster's.

Thinkwell

Love this program for it's fun approach to a difficult subject. I want to prepare her with the core facts in Pre-Calculus and Calculus but we don't mind if she tests into PreCalc in college. Only problem with this is that it doesn't have a textbook. I personally prefer programs with a textbook. But it's a good well rounded program and I don't want to change programs from Pre-Calc to Calculus. So this would be for an introduction to Calculus.

YourTeacher.com

This program is similar to Thinkwell's with 1 very important exception that works for us - it maps to about 20 different textbook choices. But you don't need a textbook to fully utilize the online chapters, test, quizzes or lectures. My daughter just prefers learning with a textbook. But this program only goes to Pre-Calc, so I'm hesistant to get her used to it when we desire to use a Calculus curriculum.

Time4Learning.com (High School is new)

I really enjoyed the offerings of Time4learning for elem and middle school. But the kids wanted a bit more order to their lessons. However, after reviewing their Pre-Calc program, I'm rather excited about making it a supplement to one of the above choices. My kids were really impressed and we tried it out for 14 days and my daughter really liked the Pre-Calc. So we are feeling this one out.


CREATING OUR PERFECT CURRICULUM

So, I guess you are wondering what the heck I selected. After reviewing these options with my oldest daughter who is a Math Tutor and A math student upwards to Calc 2 we came up with the following concoction.

Order of Courses:

Algebra 1 - 7th Grade Abeka Algebra 1 and Teaching Textbooks Alg 1 for drill
(Remedial Review - with Math 7 Abeka)

Algebra 2 - 8th Grade Foerster's Algebra Books - (Algebra 2 & Trig) and Teaching Textbooks.

Geometry - 9th Grade Foerster's Geometry and Teaching Textbooks Geometry for drill

Pre-Calc - 10th Grade for Pre-Calc (Summer Intro to Calculus) - Thinkwell Online and Time4Learning

Calculus - 11th Grade Full Course  Thinkwell and (hope to be able to test into Pre-Calc 1 & 2 Honors at Community College12th grade)

Reinforcement and Topic Supplements

Algebrator or Mathway- (Algebra 1) Software that breaks down every single Algebra problem you throw at it. http://www.softmath.com/ and www.mathway.com

Teaching Textbooks -Although my daughter prefers lots of practice, she really wants to keep her Teaching Textbooks as part of her 'Math Lab'. Now she does it everyday, as her last subject of the day. Her Abeka DVD Algebra 1 class is her 2nd class of the day. She said doing Teaching Textbooks is fun and gives her more practice on what she learned earlier. The only disconnect I've noticed with Teaching Textbooks is with my younger son, he does the problems well using TT in his head mostly, but when he has to write out the problems he struggles more. So now I have them both write out the problems on scratch paper.


so, HOW DID YOU PLAN YOUR MATH CURRICULUM?