Preparing Question...How much can I make independent?

[amarie]

Hi Ladies,

We are in our fifth week or so of Preparing, and really loving it! I wasn't sure if my 9 year old would be ready for it, but he is doing great. I'm so thankful for it.

My question is, how much of it can I make independent? Is it ok for him to read history on his own, and then follow up with the discussions, activities and story time with me? How about the same for poetry and Bible study?

Thanks for the help in advance, I so appreciate this board.
Amy

[Robbi]

Here is a recent thread that answers a very similar queation. Altho the dc in this thread is 12, which is quite a bit older. So keep that in mind.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=12668

[amarie]

Yes, thanks Robbi, I'd seen that.

I'm embarased to admit that we're having some mega attitudes here with just about anything Mom says...in order to alleviate some tension, I've started giving him more to do independently, which seems to help, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing too much.

[my3sons]

This is a good question! I bet he is your oldest ds? Just making a guess - those oldest dc truly do seem to LOVE independence, even early on. As mentioned, the thread was in regard to a 12 yo, and I do think that with a 9 yo, the level of independence should be less, though you are headed there soon.

It is probably fine for him to read his Reading about History, as long as he is a good, careful reader, and (as you already mentioned) you are doing the follow-ups. I'd hold on to the Storytime, or at least 1/2 of it. For my almost 10 yo in PHFHG, I set the timer for 10 minutes and read that much of the Storytime to him, and then he finishes what is left. This seems a good balance for us! I then do the follow-up with him.

As the Poetry is a "T" box and very short to do, I'd hang on to that. It is important for dc to hear proper reading of poetry with pausing only at punctuation (and not at the end of every line), as well as using appropriate expression when reading. The writing lesson based on the poetry, I believe, is improved by this modeling the rest of the days. So, I'd hang on to that.

As far as the Bible Study box, the 2 days that are meant to teach a quiet time lend themselves better to independence than the 2 days that are teacher-led. I have hung on to my teacher-led Bible Study days, and I still listen to ds say his Bible verse and share what he prayed about on his more independent days. This seems to have worked well. Really, I guess, this is not that different than the independence suggested for the 12 yo, but I think more monitoring is important at this younger age in general.

On a side note, I let my oldest ds (now in MTMM) know that the "T" boxes are mine, and that I am NOT giving them up. I let him know that this is not negotiable, and he in turn reminds me of his "I" boxes being all HIS, and that he does not need me to 'hover' as he affectionately calls it, for those. The "S" boxes we have determined to share. We're just a couple of kids struggling with sharing, really. But I have been thankful the guide laying that out for me so that it cannot be an arguing point between us. Perhaps you can have a talk similar to this with ds! HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[amarie]

Thanks for your help, Julie!

Yes, my 9 year old is my oldest. He isn't typical, though, and I'm finding I need to push him a little to become more independent.

I think I was leaning for things along with what you suggested. Sometimes it is difficult for him to focus/be attentive for some of the history discussion and Bible study discussions. I do not think he is ready to read and understand all of the assigned history pages, but rereading the portions assigned on the written narration days really really helps him to be able to narrate. I was thinking that for the Bible study portion of the day, if I have him read and work on memorizing the verses, and then think about the questions we're going to discuss, when we do it together he might be able to understand and answer the questions better, if that makes sense?

Interestingly, the boxes marked for him to do independently, specifically science, are more difficult for him to do than other independent work I give him. I'm thinking it is difficult for him to follow directions in paragraph form, so we're going to work into that and maybe that will be a goal that we reach later on in the year.

Thanks again!
Amy

[my3sons]

Glad to be of some help! If he is not ready to read the history portions well on his own, I would retain those readings for awhile, and just have him reread the portions for the written narrations or 'prepare' for the oral narrations independently. Further down the road, you could have him take over some of the history reading as he is able. We are now in Unit 31 of PHFHG, and I just have given all of the Reading about History over to ds now. Prior to that, I read it unless we were really short on time, and then on those rare occasions, I let him read it.

... I was thinking that for the Bible study portion of the day, if I have him read and work on memorizing the verses, and then think about the questions we're going to discuss, when we do it together he might be able to understand and answer the questions better, if that makes sense?

We do this exactly, and it works great! I'd give it a try!

...Interestingly, the boxes marked for him to do independently, specifically science, are more difficult for him to do than other independent work I give him. I'm thinking it is difficult for him to follow directions in paragraph form, so we're going to work into that and maybe that will be a goal that we reach later on in the year.

Thanks again!
Amy

I don't think this is uncommon, and it is the reason HOD starts with just science being an "I" box first. It really takes dc time to learn to follow multiple step directions well, and with science experiments, there are direct results for not doing so. Did ds do BHFHG? I remember near the end of BHFHG we worked on ds reading the science box carefully and practiced gaining some independence. That really helped my ds. You may want to have ds read the whole box first on his own, then have him tell you briefly the steps he will follow. Then, he can do the steps primarily on his own with you near if he has questions. Last, we have dc reread the box one more time at the end to see if they did it all. This has worked well for us! HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[amarie]

Hi Julie,

Yes, I agree, I don't think he is ready to read history on his own.

We did do Bigger Hearts, but we ended the school year with four-six units to go, so we may have skipped the part of science you were referring to. I really struggled with whether or not to finish it during the start of this year or not, but after praying about it and talking it over with my husband, we decided to just start in with Preparing, knowing that we could go back to Bigger if he didn't seem ready yet.

Thanks for your advice with science, I think we will try what you suggested this week, and I may go back and look at the last few units of Bigger to see if there are some other tips that would help. I had not thought of that.

Thanks again for your help, I'm so glad I asked!
Amy

[my3sons]

...We did do Bigger Hearts, but we ended the school year with four-six units to go, so we may have skipped the part of science you were referring to. I really struggled with whether or not to finish it during the start of this year or not, but after praying about it and talking it over with my husband, we decided to just start in with Preparing, knowing that we could go back to Bigger if he didn't seem ready yet...

So sorry - I think I was confusing in what I said! What I meant is doing BHFHG science together the year before is good training for this year in PHFHG - but the part about using the end of BHFHG to teach my ds some independence with the science box was just something I did. It wasn't something in the BHFHG plans. I just did it with my middle ds because I remember doing it with my oldest ds at the start of PHFHG. I just thought I'd get a little jump on it with my middle ds, but it's not in the BHFHG plans. What I meant was that if ds didn't happen to take on a little more independence with the science box by the end of BHFHG, then he'd probably need to have that help at the start of PHFHG, like my oldest ds did. I think you can just work alongside him and teach him those skills to doing the PHFHG science box well independently now, using some of those strategies I mentioned. Sorry if I was confusing, but I think it takes a little while for dc to be able to learn the skills to follows a sequence of multiple directions well, and science in PHFHG is a great place to begin training them to do so! HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[amarie]

Thanks Julie!