# Homeschool progress report.......advice please



## hintonlady (Apr 22, 2007)

So...........

Been HS ing for around 3 months? Not sure, would have to look it up. My DS is 13 and smarter than he lets on. Tries to act dumb to get out of things because he is lazy. Other times he struggles. The problem is he has some issues focusing. Aside from that we do have the occasional emotional outbursts of a teen. :shrug: 

He is going to scouting for a month now and LOVES it. We may add some other activities after the holiday season passes. :dance: 

All in all I have been quite pleased.  We will continue to homeschool long term. No more public paid for glorified daycare education.

He and I have so much more time to just be a family.

Less social stress, although the limitations of socializing now still concern me.

He is working MUCH more on the farm. Somedays when he is burnt on books I let him trade manual labor for school. Not sure how that will go in the long term. :shrug: To think, some days he BEGS to do chores just to escape school. I sort of use it for his breaks.

So as I look back I think I have only one major "worry". Academics.

We do have text books we use and a sort of schedule. It is often open for events or mood. My DS does a lot of independant research on various things. He just discovered a flair for writing and reading. He would do nothing but that if I let him. (all day)

The problem is he slacked a bit in school and is certainly just a tad behind grade level. (not to mention the bad habits public school taught him) I really want to provide him with the best education I can, while making it something he likes and retains. (I do not like memorizing, test taking, then forgeting)

I know there are typical grade standards. Those for me seem like a paint by number system in which each childs needs/strengths are not accounted for. Also, it is so hard to integrate those into a sane school day, when he isn't a "typical" student.

To shorten this long story; We are happy but I hit that dreaded zone of panic. The part where I wonder if I am doing enough or if the lack of structure is going to harm his intellectual development. My confidence is low because this is a very serious and scary life choice to have made.

We took the plunge. Now a little guidance for what come after would be super appreciated. ESPECIALLY from those of you who have older/graduated HS ers.

BTW...thank you all for the support. It was because of you :angel: I had the courage to make this choice for our family.


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## halfpint (Jan 24, 2005)

I don't think boys do well at schoolwork at that age. Both my older sons (oldest graduated from college and working now, and 2nd a sophomore in college) didn't do too well on the bookwork at that age. I also do not like 'tests' however we would have discussions on whatever they were studying and when they could discuss a topic intelligently with their own insight they would get an A for that and we would move on. In high school, I tested in math and sometimes in science, all our other grades were based on discussions, presentations, experiments etc. Oldest did fine in college, and 2nd is doing quite well in college currently with a 3.8GPA- and he is the one who struggled the most academically.

Our 2nd was also behind about 1/2 year in school starting from K, but also had a late August birthday, so just before 9th grade we decided to pull him back a grade, which let him excel in high school and gave him many opportunities for community service, work, missions projects and academic activities.

It sounds to me like you are doing a good job. If he was wanting to not do schoolwork to play video games, watch TV or other stuff, then you would need to be concerned.

I'm not familiar with the laws in your state, do you need to complete and submit a progress report to someone? There are lots of creative ways to use his work as school projects. Much farm work requires math, science, reasoning etc., you just need to figure out how to put those things on paper.

Dawn


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## RockyGlen (Jan 19, 2007)

Instead of worrying about grades, we aim for mastery. Ours have to correct every single problem until they get it right (we help if they are truly stuck, but at that age it is usually either that they rushed or were lazy), then they move on. We do subjects for a set number of minutes and they have to WORK for those minutes, not doodle, stare out the window, etc. or I start the timer over. We have never done 1 lesson per day and just keep on going to get through it....because of that, I have a child in 7th grade math, 8th grade literature and history, 6th grade spelling, etc. He is right where HE needs to be in each subject.

This method has worked well for us - I have three that graduated from home school. Two got full scholarships to universities, and the third got partial scholarship.

Our goal was never to just get through the school years. It was to teach our children.


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## Goat Servant (Oct 26, 2007)

First of all congrats for taking on Homeschooling! At 3 months you are going to doubt yourself at every turn.
What happened from pregnancy, infancy toddlerhood? You probably went with the flow as we all did. Then comes this gigantic thing called EDUCATION and THIS IS HOW ITS DONE. Somewhere in there we lost the "flow". All around us are the "experts" telling us how it is suppose to be done. 
A public jr high teacher once told me that boys are brain dead at that age. You know him. You know when he needs a break. Maybe having a set time....maybe even saying look here...you can go do the chores. But X amount of basics first.
Just throwing out ideas here...how about a reward system based on that? Or finding some academics in related field that he needs to complete? 
Say math. (I hate math) How long does it take for chores? If you (meaning him)had to pay someone to do to them how much would it cost?


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## Sonshine (Jul 27, 2007)

We got our DD when she was 14. Her birthmom died of a drug overdose. She had been in public school her whole life and wasn't doing very well. When I got her I originally tried a standard curriculum. It didn't take long to realize she was memorizing to the tests, the immediately forgetting it. So, for the first year, minus the 3 months we tried the regular curriculum, I had her do some thematic units. I found out what she was interested in and created a unit for her. 

You can find so much online these days that it makes it easier to do thematic units.

After the first year, I again went to a regular curriculum and she did great! She graduated this past May and is now in the USAF.


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## Karen (Apr 17, 2002)

One of the reasons for homeschooling is so that you have the flexibility to educate your child to fit their needs; and to work from where they are at this time in their lives.

Some children just take to academics like ducks to water. Some children struggle. Some children just can't concentrate or sit still. Some children just have no interest in learning. 

Having children when I was young, as well as late in life, and oodles of foster children, I've been homeschooling just about all my married life (almost 40 years). I've come to the conclusion that books and well-intended folks will tell you all sorts of stuff about how you need to a schedule, discipline, etc. But what they fail to understand is that children are all unique. What one person does with their children, simply does not work for another.

Personally, I believe children should have the space to be children. Of course they need to learn discipline and what it means to work together as a family, as well as to be prepared to work in the real world. However, there are some children who just simply have not matured enough to accept certain levels of academics as set forth by things like grade levels, test scores, etc. 

Children are individuals with different needs and tolerance levels. It's like being a fisherman. Sometimes you need different bait to catch different fish. 

Trading in school time for chores is "bait". It teaches responsibility and working in the real world. Doing chores also requires academic skills and if you incorporate some unique opportunities in there, along with his wonderful reading and writing skills, you will find you can "sneak" in a great deal of academics and he won't even realize it! 

Congratulations on your creativeness and ability to work with your child outside the box! You're doing a great job!!


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