13 yr old placement question

[karenk]

My daughter is 13, 14 in October and going into 8th grade if you do grades. She loves writing, reading, and hates math and science unless it is interest led. I need to work with her on grammar because although she loves to write, she writes like she talks and hates going back to grammar and correcting things. What curriculum would you start her in? And yes I have looked at placement chart but a little confused. Should I just go by reading and writing because then she would be advanced? Thank you

[StephanieU]

Have you checked the placement chart?
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

[Nealewill]

I definitely look at the reading and writing above all else. If your child is really great at those, I would base her level off of that info. For math, you can adjust it based on her abilities. And then for grammar, you could just use a different R&S book based on her level as well. Those two things are very easy to tweak within a guide. Do you currently have your own math program? How much formal grammar has your dd had?

[LynnH]

Has she had experience with oral or written narrations? When you say she loves writing, is that creative writing or has she had experience writing essays? Is she used to working independently? The answers to these questions will help us to give suggestions for placement.

[karenk]

Yes she has done formal writing along with creative writing. She did research writing in coop this year. She loves working independently. She has worked independently for about 2 years but now has found she does like being with mom and brother....she had a two year hormonal puberty attitude going on and now she is pretty much out of it. She has had grammar each year. We started getting into direct objects, indirect objects, linking verbs, predicate adjectives, nominative case pronouns etc and she shut down on wanting to do it. We have changed math every year trying to find a fit for her. She was above average with math until she hit fractions and then again she shut down. She can do math but I am trying to find one she enjoys. Thanks for your help.

[Nealewill]

If she reads well and can handle quite a bit of writing, then I would go with MTMM. Also, since she does well alone, MTMM is very independent and so she will probably do well with this too.

As for grammar, I would check out the placement chart on Rod & Staff's sight and see where she places. With HOD, you will do 2/3 of grammar orally. It also has some writing assignments as well so you would want to be sure to complete those. I would guess that your daughter can probably start with R&S 5 and be fine. But without you looking at the chart on their website, I am not positive.

As for math - what all programs have you tried? I know that jumping around is hard on kids. I also know that Carrie had mentioned that her oldest struggled a lot and they did jump around a bit. She used VideoText for her oldest and it was a great fit. I wonder if using them for your dd would be a good fit. Has she done anything with fractions, decimals, and percentages? I would not necessarily recommend Singapore because you would need to be at level 4 to get fractions and decimals. I have heard of a program called the key to algebra. It is a 10 packet math program that focuses on these individual things. Books 1-3 does a ton of the areas I just mentioned and is geared toward older kids. You could do those 3 packets and then probably move into VideoText smoothly. If you do have experience with decimals, percentages, and fractions, VideoText does teach on those topics in their Algebra Level A course. That course is pre-algebra and gets the kids ready completely for Algebra. So either way, you may be able to move to VideoText only or could choose to do some review with Key to Algebra series. VideoText is something that HOD does promote but not Key to Algebra. I normally would recommend Singapore but just am not sure about your daughter with her age and the fact that Singapore is probably very different from what she is used to.

[Jennymommy]

I like that plan, Daneale I think MTMM is a great program for her...a bit of challenge and great reading. The science is interesting and will get her ready for the high school sciences. The math suggestions are good also. I was thinking maybe Khan Academy as a way to fill in missing skills prior to video text as well.