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My oldest dd was doing so well with her math and Reading stuff. We're using CLE for her math, reading, and LA. In case you're not familiar with this curriculum, the LA/Reading combines penmanship, reading comprehension, and spelling all wrapped up into one. It's very thorough and great but today she broke down and cried. The same with the math.

I plan to use BLHFHG w/ the Emerging Readers next year. I'm seriously considering switching her to Mastery math. She's a very bright girl who catches on quickly, but this learning a new fact every day when she hasn't quite got the previous facts down is starting to stress her out. She also has that Type A/Perfectionistic personality. It breaks my heart because she's only 6 years old and she has been in her room all afternoon crying--seriously crying.

She's a very independent learner and finds a great deal of pride in doing things by herself and she's just really struggling.

So, I'm considering, if possible, doing all of BLHFHG w/ Emerging Readers next year and then possibly adding in a mastery math (I might give Singapore a try, not sure though). I've looked over the lesson plans and such in the guide and I'm amazed at how complete HOD is, but just want to double check--will this really cover all of the topics she needs? Right now she's just very much overloaded with info and this just isn't fun anymore for her. I know that there comes a point in which school isn't fun, but at 6, I'd like to think that it was.

Well I'll give it a shot and see if I can help. First thing is if it is just one day of this maybe she is having a bad day or just needs to slow down the pace. If there is a some repetition in there maybe you could cut down the load a bit. She seems young to be feeling over loaded so I am thinking either it's a bad day or it is just too much. (not a very brilliant guess but it is all that comes to mind) Seven is still really young to be putting a whole bunch on them and sometimes they just need less or to move slower. One thing that comes to mind is if you are using BLHFHG how about just going with the LA that is in there. Beyond has a great LA program written into it. And if she is bright then Singapore would be great for her especially if she gets easily bogged down with a lot of extra work and catches on quickly.

Just want to encourage you though that you will work through this. It is normal to hit a bump now and then and need to wiggle things a bit. Hang in there. Hope there is something here that helps you.

My dd and your dd are very similar...perfectionist type, very bright, catches on quickly... We've tried SO SO many math programs and Singapore has been the best fit for her. It seems to be laid out just right, no overload on review, and never too many problems, but always enough. And even though she has already done Rod and Staff English 2, we are still using the LA plans in Beyond as is. It has been great! She is still gaining ground and filling in gaps. She has always caught on quickly and been able to move on...that has led to what I've recently found to be a retention problem as time goes on since we never spent much time on any one particular concept...why would we? She got it, right? Well, I'm enjoying sticking with it anyway now and continuing at a good pace that keeps her challenged without overdoing it. She is back to thinking school is fun and she is learning so much (and seems to be retaining it!) Much thanks to HOD!

Thanks for the advice! I really do think that she's starting to feel overloaded.

Just two weeks ago she learned subtraction for the first time. This week she's now doing algebra problems, as well as learning how to read a clock and new money items. On top of this she's learning all sorts of new vocabulary--cosonants, sentence, vowels, the "schwa sound" as well as a bunch of new phonetic sounds.

I went ahead and ordered a few paces from ACE, just to see how she'll do. I may go ahead and pick up one of the Singapore books, just to try it out. I don't mind buying a new item or two if it gives us a chance to try it out to see how she does.

She's only in the 1st grade and this is her first formal math, if she goes with Singapore, which book would she start off with? Would it be one of the Early Bird books? I really don't mind giving something new a try, if it'll help her. She's just such a perfectionist and reminds me a lot of myself when I was younger. I remember once in jr hr, clawing my arm until it bled because I felt as though I failed (all I did was leave my homework at home, but it was THAT devastating to me).

AboveRubiesMama,

You can give your daughter a placement test if you want to here http://www.singaporemath.com/Placement_s/12.htm but if she hasn't had any formal math I would just consider starting her in 1A. But it doesn't hurt to give her the placement test since she is so bright. Be prepared though. Most kids place a level below their current math curriculum when taking the Singapore placement test because of the way Singapore teaches math.

HTH!

AboveRubiesMama - Your dd sounds like one of my sons. He is a perfectionist, but not necessarily in the normal definition of the word. For him, he wants to be able to control everything. He will actually erase any marks I've written to help him with writing, etc., because he wants to do it ALL on his own. He also wants it to turn out "just right" which really boils down to HIS "just right" (never mine ). If things don't turn out "just right" in the way he imagined they would, he breaks down, often shedding tears, and feeling overwhelmed. I think it's because he feels like he "lost control". I wonder if this being in-control issue is something your dd also has? (Of course, this may totally be off-base, and this could just be my little honey! ). However, if feeling in-control is something that really affects your dd's feelings, it may help to have more choices in her day.

For instance, I let my ds choose anywhere between 1-4 pages in his Explode the Code book, whether he wants to color his handwriting or not, whether he's going to play inside or outside, which books he reads for independent reading time, creative art time (where he picks anything art-like to do from his closet), any computer game in his binder, etc. He loves it when I say, "You pick - either this or this - whichever you want, hon'! I don't always give him choices, but on the things I can, I always do and I make a point to point out HE has the choice. Just today my ds shed a few tears when his big brother stapled his paper for him. He had asked his brother to help him, but then was upset because HE wanted to do it, in a CERTAIN place. WHEW! We're making progress though... I keep telling myself that! Could it be that your dd would enjoy more control over some things? Maybe you could let her choose 1-2 pages of math to do each day or something. Or maybe you could just set the timer and let her get as far as she got each day. This may not be helpful at all, but if you dd has some control issues like my ds does, some of these things might help out.

On a side note, Singapore math has worked out great for us so far, and we're in 2B. The activities in the HOD guides work really well along with Singapore too. They've been a super combination for our family.

In Christ,
Julie

AboveRubiesMama,

Language Arts and Math are probably the most often mentioned areas of frustration for all homeschoolers! So, you're not alone! Often it is between grades 1-3 that those subject areas become overly time-consuming and really need to be pared down (so they don't overtake your child's homeschool day). I had this same experience with my oldest son, when he was in 3rd grade, and the "workbooks" were piling up for him for too much time daily. That is when we made the Charlotte-Mason switch and have never looked back.

It sounds like you have a good plan in searching for the root of the problem. The ladies on the board have given you excellent ideas to ponder in trying to determine what is really causing the tears.

If you decide that the problem is too heavy of a work load in language arts and math, you may wish to begin that portion using the Beyond Little Hearts guide now (for only those areas). You could follow the spelling list 1 (in the Appendix) and use the gentle grammar lessons in Beyond (which are every 5th day). You could also begin the Singapore Math 1A/1B, following the schedule on the right side of the Beyond guide's plans (and using the included activities - which really help cement those concepts). You could also begin the Emerging Reader Schedule (if you feel your daughter is ready for that). If not, you'd just keep going with your phonics until she is ready for the Emerging Reader's Set.

Then, in July, you could begin Beyond as written. You'd still be able to use the Spelling (just doing list 2 instead). You could redo the grammar lessons or do one of the Queen's book instead, if you've already used Beyond's grammar lessons this year. You could follow the schedule for Singapore Math 2A/2B in the Appendix of Beyond. So, you'd really get a lot of bang for your buck out of the Beyond guide. Anyway, this is just one option, but I suggest it to show you another way you could cover these subjects without overwhelming your little sweetie (and without ruining your plan to do Beyond in July).

Blessings,
Carrie

Thank you, thank you to all of you for the help and suggestions! Y'all are great!

This afternoon we're going to sit down and go over some math. She's been playing all day and had a great afternoon. I also made up a little goal chart with stickers that I put on the fridge and I'm hoping this won't freak her out. We're just going to go slowly and see what happens.

And ah spelling! That's one thing that's been seriously lacking because she's so overwhelmed.

Just to give an update. We sat down this afternoon for a couple of hours, just the two of us and slowly went over the work. But we also took out ALL of the reading and just focused on the phonics side of things. Then we just reviewed one thing at a time and that made a HUGE difference. She was much happier this afternoon. I think we're just going to focus on phonics and then once we're done with that we'll tackle reading, perhaps during our 6 week break between semesters.