Can children work independently?

[MommyInTraining]

Hi Ladies,

I haven't written in a while. It has been a rough year for me. One of the worst . But, things are looking up, praise be to our Creator! He gives beauty for ashes.

I tried to do MFW ECC this year with my children. It felt way too heavy. We got through North America, and will likely work on it throughout the coming years, but I need something where the children can work more independently. I am thinking about doing textbooks. Something like Chritian Liberty Press, Abeka, ACE, or CLE. I want them to become self learners. I have been reading about self-learning from Joanne Calderwood. With the type of personality I have, I really need something that is more hands off for me. I get too stressed out by alot of hand-outs, projects, and read alouds. Plus, I believe in the benefits of self-learning. But, I can't forget about HOD . My almost 12 yo aspiring teacher has been doing LHTH with the youngest children this year. What a blessing that has been. I have the TM and many books for Beyond and Preparing. I also have many books for Bigger. My 9yo and 7yo are about on the same level. I would say my 9yo is closer to Bigger and my 7yo closer to Beyond or Little Hearts. My almost 12 yo would do fine in Preparing, but I feel CTC would be more independent for her. She really needs to improve on her writing skills. We have been using Serl's Language Lessons this year for my almost 12 yo, 9yo, and 7 yo. Honestly, I feel like it has not improved their grammar much at all.

I just really need something right now that I can assign to them to read and do on their own. No waiting around for me to read something to them or do an experiment with them. So, textbooks might still be the better option for my 7 and 9 yo's. But, I was thinking maybe my almost 12 yo could do HOD mostly (if, not all) independently. I guess I could put them all into preparing and let oldest Sis do the readings and head up the experiments, but I don't think the 7 and 9 yo's would pay her enough attention. Plus, they still have major sibling conflicts at time, so that could throw a wrench into that plan.

So, what do you all think? Could the almost 12 yo, 9 yo, or 7 yo fit into any of the guides as an independent (or, almost independent) learner? Or, would it just be better to go the textbook route at this point in my life as a framework, and supplement with lots of living books? I would love to hear your advice and wisdom. I just don't want to run around stressed out from my 12 yo, to my 9 yo, to my 7 yo, while trying to keep my 5 yo and 3 yo from beating each other up and my 1 yo from crawling out of his high chair . I have had to deal with major anxiety issues in the last few months and I need something that is going to relieve the pressure.


Thanks so much for your advice!!!

[arstephia]

This has been my experience this year. (May be long) My 12yo has been doing textbook, my 10yo has been doing Preparing. My 6yo is doing LHFHG which obviously requires more "me" to do. Okay, so my 12yo textbook student has actually required MORE of my time than my Preparing student has! Textbook is not "open and go" like HOD is. My Preparing student sits down with the guide, and does the reading and other things that she can on her own while I am working with the younger child. When I am in a good stopping point with the younger, I go to her, we discuss what she'd read, do the dictation piece if it is that day, or we talk about the poetry she read, etc. It doesn't require me to drop everything and go explain something or they can't go on like the textbook student requires. Also, the activities are things my dd can usually go get started on her own. She was making a fossil out of bread and did that completely on her own and proudly showed us her finished product. She then sketched it in her notebook, and relished in her independent work. For my ds, EVERYTHING requires my help in setting up because the information is not readily accessible to him - it is in teacher guides/materials, etc. It is not always in his text or worktext. Also, to get a fully rounded understanding of the material textbook child is doing, I am supplementing with real, living books and that is getting old. For instance, they covered Shakespeare in literally 4 paragraphs. When DS saw that DD had 2 or 3 Shakespeare books in her HOD box, he snuck those away and read those! LOL! So clearly the textbook was not satisfying his interests. Thankfully with HOD, all of the books I need are just a box away and we aren't REQUIRED to go to the library for more. All that said, I am very excited about HOD's new guide Revival to Revolution that is coming this summer as I will place my oldest in that and have all of my kids in HOD guides. The independent learning that HOD lends so well toward is refreshing.

[sharonb]

I'm interested in seeing more replies to this question. I too have 6 children. My oldest just turned 9, and I'm considering letting her work independently in either Bigger or Preparing next school year (she'll be in 4th). Of course I'd still have to work with the other children, but at least the oldest would get her work done without having to wait for me all the time! My other option is to use MOH Vol 1 with all of them (4th, 3rd, and 1st grades) but I'm still not convinced we are ready for ancients, or that the 3rd and 1st graders will pay attention...

[8arrows]

Having used both MFW and HOD, HOD better guides the children to independence. At some of the ages you have now (from my experience) total independence is not necessarily the best learning environment. Check the placement charts, but it sounds like you could put the 7 and 9 year old in Beyond and the 12 year old in Preparing. She could do most of it independently, but will still need your guidance. This way you can ease in. If you put her in CTC there could be a big learning curve. The push toward textbooks is strong right now on the homeschool boards, but in a while the pendulum will swing back. HOD is a nice balance regardless of where the pendulum is currently swinging.

[momofabcd]

Hi Terri,
It sounds wonderful that your almost 12 year old is doing LHTH with your youngers. What a great plan. If she's a strong reader, you could easily have her do CTC almost completely independently, imo. My dd is doing CTC this year. She isn't doing the science portion, and we do our own math and Grammar although she's doind Write with the Best which I do with her. She spends about 3 hours doing all her independent work then we work together for geography, grammar, dictation. Her math program is on a dvd, so that' independent, as well. My dd loves CTC. She really enjoys the history notebook and is getting a great overview of the Bible during her quiet time. Towards the end of the year, the history reading is John and Acts. I don't make her do all the history projects and allow her to choose which ones she wants to tackle. If your dd is a strong reader, I don't see why she couldn't do the geography independently, as well. I was trying to implement RC style last year and realized HOD had it all put together for me. Her writing has improved tremendously through written narrations and Write with the Best. I don't have as many children at home as you do, so take that into account. My 10 year old is in a Christian school. Therefore it's easy for me to work with my 5 year-old, 3 year-old tags along while my dd12 is working independently. My dd5 is doing LHFHG (plust other things). I'll pm you with the rest. So, yes, you can do HOD independently.

[doubleportion]

We came from MFW, so I thought I would share what I felt was easier in HOD. We did MFW ADV, ECC and 19 weeks of CTG. We have switched since December to HOD and are using Preparing and LHTH. I think HOD really encourages more independent learning. For us most of the semi-independent subjects in Preparing my dd can do Independently. She is 9 yrs old and, for the most part, most days she does the following boxes by herself- Independent History Study, Science Exploration, Bible Study, Language (R&S), Math (unless it is new material that I need to explain or she has a question), Vocabulary, Timeline, Research, History Project,and Math Drill. You can look at the sample Guide pages http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/PHFHG-sample-week.pdf I still read with her the Reading About History read alouds (which don't take allot of time) and the Storytime reading. (We often do that at lunch time and my 4 yr old loves to sit in on it. That works well since they are all a captive audience.) I work with her on Dictation when it is scheduled and that general takes about 15 minutes or less. I created a checklist of subjects for she and I and we check them off as we go, that way I don't write in my TM and I can see what still needs to be done or what needs to be completed the following day. The nice thing about the guides are that they are 4 days. So for us, when we have a stressful day and don't get everything done, I can just move it to the next day and on the fifth day finish everything up.

I think it would be no problem for you to place your 12 yr old in CTC. But the best way to know is to look at the placement chart. http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php My dd would have easily placed in either Preparing or CTC, but I chose to do Preparing due to the way history was covered and the skills I felt like I wanted her to be strengthened in. Honestly Preparing has been easy for her except for the narrations, simply because we hadn't done it the same in MFW. So that was the only area where there has been a learning curve for her. You could also do Preparing half speed for your 9 and 7 yr olds and get LHTH for your 5 &3 yr olds. My 4 yr old loves it! And it only takes about a half an hour. We do it while the 2 yr old is napping and that has really helped him to feel like he is getting to "do school" and have some special one on one time with Mom.

BTW- I love that the Guide is written in such a way that my dd can take it to her desk and follow the instructions. We were never getting science done in CTG because I just couldn't get to it with her. There were plenty of other things we started never getting to as well w MFW. Now she does all her science experiments on her own and shows me her work. It has freed up the time that I really needed to work with my little guys (that was not happening w MFW for us). I think HOD's older guides are so much less time intensive for the Mom but very thorough for the student. I think you will find that HOD will be a breath of fresh air in your homeschool! I know it was for us!!!


Edie

[brenm37]

I understand what you are saying about you needing the children to work more independently. I have recently come to this conclusion for myself. This is my 7th year of homeschooling and I am losing some of my enthusiasm! I have somewhat entertained the thought of sending them to school, but know in my heart that is not the solution. That being said, my 11 year old does CTC very independently - she and I are both happy with this. My 9 year old started the year with CTC and did a lot of it independently, but got overwhelmed. We have since backed down from CTC for now and will pick it up again for her 5th grade year. I am fully expecting her to be able to be independent with it. I started Beyond with my 6 year old, but both of us kind of lost interest in it for now - it was definitely not the program, just us! My 6 year old now does online school and even though I have to assist her, it has taken the pressure from me of being totally responsible for it all. I did Preparing last year with my then 8 and 10 year olds and we worked together for it all as it was our first year of HOD. I know my oldest could have done it independently, as she felt held back and slowed down by her younger sister. So, with that being said, I think expecting independence of your 12 year old is reasonable. I wish you the best in your decision!
Brenda

[seekhimfirst]

I just wanted to chime in and agree with others that HOD definitely leads to independence in your children! I used ECC last fall with my three and found it to be an enormous amount of work for me to try to make it work. My oldest had to w-a-i-t on me a lot and would have totally lost interest in school by the time I could get him going on his next thing and then I felt like I was leaving out so much for my middle because it was too much or whatever. Now, I realize that it works beautifully for some families and that is why I am thankful to have options-I wouldn't have known it doesn't work well for us if we hadn't tried it! I have just discovered that HOD is a much better fit for us because of how it teaches independence...and lots of other reasons too. [It sounds terrible but we also tried textbooks (Abeka) last year when we first began homeschooling. There was just no way I could keep up with my part to be able to teach three kids at three different levels! I gave myself a year to experiment to see what works for us and we are settled in at HOD now. ]

*I will say that I believe that correct placement makes a HUGE difference!* We did try HOD at the end of last year and I chose levels (a little too cautiously) that didn't work but now that the kids are placed well our days are SOOOO smooth. My oldest will be 11 next month and does much of CTC independently and no longer has to wait on me or the other two!

If it helps I just posted a couple schedules on the schedule thread at the top of the main board. (Sorry, not sure how to link it.) It has my son's weekly CTC list so we have it at a glance. He checks it off daily with a dry erase marker and we have a couple very brief check-ins then I have a set teaching time with him. You can see all that he is able to do independently each day. I have marked with stars the things that he has to wait for me to do with him or at least get him started.

Hope you find what works and things get better for you!!

[my3sons]

Hi Terri - In answer to your question, I do think dc can work independently, but alas, it doesn't just happen on its own. This is where HOD comes in. HOD incrementally and systematically teaches independence in guides. Consistency of using guides obviously promotes independence in the most successful way. However, dc who are properly placed and who are given the initial guidance to be independent, will become so with HOD. Of course all dc need some teaching time with mom - new concepts and skills, character building discussions/sharing of our faith with them, and just initial instruction of how to go about doing things the first time - are all things that we as homeschool moms will need to plan to do as our dc's teacher.

The barriers to independent work I have encountered with other curriculums (not with HOD) :
#1!!!! Children are asked to be independent with something they have never been taught to do.
*Directions are written to the parent and are just over the student's head.
*Directions aren't clear.
*Materials can't be found in the home, and an errand is required to get them.
*Additional books have to be checked out from the library or gathered to make the project/activity/experiment work.
*Projects are inappropriate for the age of the student, so the parent ends up doing them instead (i.e. use of the blender or an iron for young dc, etc.)
*Projects take an unplanned amount of time (i.e. one day an activity takes 15 minutes, the next day the activity takes 2 hours).
*It is not clear when assignments should be completed (i.e. a general syllabus has assignments listed to be completed in a week or in a month, etc.)
*Assignments are drawn out too long, so they just don't get completed. (i.e. the left out half-completed diorama that had 1 month to be finished never gets finished so mom secretly throws it because it is setting out taking up valuable space in the kitchen and a constant reminder of what didn't get done yet again ).

Carrie has worked very diligently to overcome these obstacles, and I believe to great success. My dc are doing many things independently with HOD, and doing them well. I am systematically handing things off to my dc that HOD has already given them the tools to be successful with independently doing them. I have done my part and taught the things I am to teach in the guides, and the dc are then ready to take off with the things they are supposed to when they are prepared to do so. My dc are happy about this independence because they are ready for it, and I am happy to see them take it on with good results. With that being said, I meet with my oldest ds about 45 minutes to 1 hour a day to do my teaching parts for things. This is for all subject areas. I do not believe my time could (or should) get any less than that.

So, yes, dc can work independently, and yes, HOD does plan for independent work to increase as dc are able to do more. How can you have your dc work independently with HOD? #1 - Place dc in the program they really can do by looking carefully at the placement chart. This is very important, and if true independence is your goal and it's between 2 programs, choose the younger program. #2 - Plan to teach dc how to use their HOD guide as their own plan for what to do. #3 - Plan to teach the younger dc more until they are able to move toward more independence.

I have found a general routine helps, and in fact, is necessary as I've had more dc with very different needs. Long periods of us not checking in with dc (even hard working independent dc) often ends with their work becoming more and more sub par or not getting done at all. If it's not worth us even looking at it and taking time to check it, dc begin to think it is not important work, as that is the message we are sending. So, with my older dc, having a checkpoint time planned in the day where I quickly look over their work with HOD manual in hand and have them fix whatever needs to be has been good (this is included in the 45 minutes to an hour time I gave for my oldest doing RTR) . Finally, I believe the biggest mistake parents can make when independence is the goal is to place dc in an older, harder HOD guide that the placement chart has clearly shown the dc are not ready for, thinking that guide has more independent work, so therefore, it will naturally be more independent. Not so, if a student does not have the skills to do a guide, he/she will not magically have the skills to do that guide independently. Likewise, when dc are placed in a combining situation, and the younger child is not truly ready or capable of doing a guide, that child will not be independent with that guide. This will require more tweaking and work for the parent to make it appropriate for the younger child, which of course, results in more teaching time for the parent and less independent time for the child.

Is HOD or textbooks right for you? Only you can know. The 2 are polar opposites, and it really comes down to your philosophy of teaching and learning first and foremost. I pray you find what works best for you.

In Christ,
Julie