Working Independently. Mostly.
I haven't posted about school in a while, so I thought I'd check in.
Kara just turned 11 years old, but is taking 7th and 9th grade courses. This is only a problem when the teacher books say that by the time she is in 9th grade, she should be doing the course completely independently. Well. Not really.
Working independently has been a process. At first, I didn't want to let her do anything alone. I love homeschool and I love learning along with Kara. I love how our mornings FEEL from wake up until about 1pm. There is a lot of giggling, a lot of learning, Kara has really cool questions about what we are learning (she is so not a little kid anymore), and there are pjs. I can't help but love that part.
Then God called me to volunteer at the church. I felt God saying to me, "get out of the house and let her do this alone."
Let me interrupt to say we use a funky schedule. I think it's called block scheduling. Every other day we do an A day or a B day. A days are when I'm at church (Mondays and Thursdays) and those are the subjects she can do independently. B days are when I'm home (Tuesdays and Fridays) and those are the subjects we do together. (Since 7th grade is harder than 6th grade, we started 7th grade with Wednesdays off. We are slowly adding more in - right now we do math on Wednesdays.) Depending on what is going on in each subject (or what is going on in our lives), those subjects change a little each week. A days (independent days) always contain Literature, Vocabulary, Writing, and History. They all have a lot of reading. B days (work with mom days) always contain Math and Spanish. (They are the 9th grade courses, too.) Grammar and Science depend on the week. And every day starts with Bible. I know what you must be asking yourselves - how can we get away with only doing each subject twice a week? Well, each day, we do two lessons of each subject. (Sometimes 3). I keep her busy Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, from 9:30am to 1pm. Wednesdays we work from 9:30am to 11am. Then we head to horse lessons (gym class!) from 11 to 12:30. Sometimes she has homework - I design the lesson plans so she won't have any, but if she decides to move too slowly, it's her decision to have homework. A little consequences lesson. ;-)
Okay, back to independent work. So, when I'm at church, I just left lesson plans behind and a to do list.
This worked...sometimes.
I found this is a little too much independence at first.
So I pulled out a highlighter and told her she had to highlight everything as she completed it. Maybe then she would notice the things she "forgot" to do.
Then I made sure we talked ahead of time about where exactly the worksheets are that I wanted her to do (they are always attached to her to do list with a paper clip). *eye roll*
I still think Kara is ready for independence, but not completely hands off. She did just turn 11, after all. Baby steps.
Then I had a conversation with my sister. My conversations with her are usually therapeutic. I was saying how I was going to pray about staying home from church more to work alongside Kara more, when and idea popped in my mind (thank you, Lord!) to just bring her to church with me. So, Monday we did that.
Monday was really fun. She just needed a few questions to prompt her - "how's grammar going?" "do you have any questions?" "how far along are you on your history essay?" Those were enough to keep her accountable and focused. (Also, at church in the work environment, it's the perfect school environment.)
Thursday while I was at church, all of her assignments were only reading in each subject, so I let her stay at home. Monday she will be coming with me again.
She doesn't like starting work earlier than normal, but she is obedient enough that she doesn't really complain. (I'm sure she will complain more in the winter when she has to leave her warm blankets and get in the car early in the morning.) She does really like going to lunch with us. :-) And we really liked having her.
By the time Kara was finished with school on Monday, I grabbed the rest of my church work and brought it home. We swung by the bank to deposit the tithe, and I finished my work later. It was a pretty perfect day. And all her school work was perfectly done. Like, I can't believe how well.
As with everything in homeschool, we will keep doing this until it doesn't work anymore! Nothing has taught me flexibility like homeschool. And I'm grateful for it.
Kara just turned 11 years old, but is taking 7th and 9th grade courses. This is only a problem when the teacher books say that by the time she is in 9th grade, she should be doing the course completely independently. Well. Not really.
Working independently has been a process. At first, I didn't want to let her do anything alone. I love homeschool and I love learning along with Kara. I love how our mornings FEEL from wake up until about 1pm. There is a lot of giggling, a lot of learning, Kara has really cool questions about what we are learning (she is so not a little kid anymore), and there are pjs. I can't help but love that part.
Then God called me to volunteer at the church. I felt God saying to me, "get out of the house and let her do this alone."
Let me interrupt to say we use a funky schedule. I think it's called block scheduling. Every other day we do an A day or a B day. A days are when I'm at church (Mondays and Thursdays) and those are the subjects she can do independently. B days are when I'm home (Tuesdays and Fridays) and those are the subjects we do together. (Since 7th grade is harder than 6th grade, we started 7th grade with Wednesdays off. We are slowly adding more in - right now we do math on Wednesdays.) Depending on what is going on in each subject (or what is going on in our lives), those subjects change a little each week. A days (independent days) always contain Literature, Vocabulary, Writing, and History. They all have a lot of reading. B days (work with mom days) always contain Math and Spanish. (They are the 9th grade courses, too.) Grammar and Science depend on the week. And every day starts with Bible. I know what you must be asking yourselves - how can we get away with only doing each subject twice a week? Well, each day, we do two lessons of each subject. (Sometimes 3). I keep her busy Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, from 9:30am to 1pm. Wednesdays we work from 9:30am to 11am. Then we head to horse lessons (gym class!) from 11 to 12:30. Sometimes she has homework - I design the lesson plans so she won't have any, but if she decides to move too slowly, it's her decision to have homework. A little consequences lesson. ;-)
Okay, back to independent work. So, when I'm at church, I just left lesson plans behind and a to do list.
This worked...sometimes.
I found this is a little too much independence at first.
So I pulled out a highlighter and told her she had to highlight everything as she completed it. Maybe then she would notice the things she "forgot" to do.
Then I made sure we talked ahead of time about where exactly the worksheets are that I wanted her to do (they are always attached to her to do list with a paper clip). *eye roll*
I still think Kara is ready for independence, but not completely hands off. She did just turn 11, after all. Baby steps.
Then I had a conversation with my sister. My conversations with her are usually therapeutic. I was saying how I was going to pray about staying home from church more to work alongside Kara more, when and idea popped in my mind (thank you, Lord!) to just bring her to church with me. So, Monday we did that.
Monday was really fun. She just needed a few questions to prompt her - "how's grammar going?" "do you have any questions?" "how far along are you on your history essay?" Those were enough to keep her accountable and focused. (Also, at church in the work environment, it's the perfect school environment.)
Thursday while I was at church, all of her assignments were only reading in each subject, so I let her stay at home. Monday she will be coming with me again.
She doesn't like starting work earlier than normal, but she is obedient enough that she doesn't really complain. (I'm sure she will complain more in the winter when she has to leave her warm blankets and get in the car early in the morning.) She does really like going to lunch with us. :-) And we really liked having her.
By the time Kara was finished with school on Monday, I grabbed the rest of my church work and brought it home. We swung by the bank to deposit the tithe, and I finished my work later. It was a pretty perfect day. And all her school work was perfectly done. Like, I can't believe how well.
As with everything in homeschool, we will keep doing this until it doesn't work anymore! Nothing has taught me flexibility like homeschool. And I'm grateful for it.
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