Our story with Beyond is, we started in January '08 at the beginning of the guide. Me - being who I am - felt it too easy for ds so I jumped ahead to the middle of the guide so that we would finish mid - late June.Summer,
I would definitely go with Julie's suggestion to go half-speed with Bigger Hearts, allowing your son time to grow into Bigger more. What parts is he struggling with?
If you give Bigger at half-speed a good trial run (a month or so), and it isn't getting better, you could consider combining your son with your twins next year in Beyond. Since your son has already done Beyond this isn't the best option. However, you mentioned that you rushed him through it, so I'm wondering how much of it he missed?
I'd love to hear more of your thoughts if you get a chance. Possibly, you'd want to start a new thread?
Blessings,
Carrie
We are currently in unit 8 of Bigger (day 3 I believe without getting up to look at my guide). In history, I have to stop periodically and go over what I read otherwise when we are done with the reading, he can't tell me about anything I just read to him. He is getting the hang of using the dictionary though he is still a little "clumsy" with it and he doesn't always get the meaning of the character trait in the Bible lesson when we read the definition from the dictionary.
He is a hard one to know exactly what he is struggling with. He does not express himself very well and getting him to answer questions at times is like pulling teeth that are deeply rooted! He just refuses to answer me. I don't know if he is stubborn or if he just doesn't know what to say so he doesn't say anything but he will just sit there....
R&S 2 seems to be too easy for him and his spelling is really improving! His copywork is awful! It took him 45 minutes to copy 2 sentences last week. He does not do any writing right now for R&S or science. I do the writing in science for him. We do all of the grammar lessons orally. He's really enjoying Cheerful Cursive, he has been wanting to learn cursive since he found out there was a cursive writing.
One of my good friends was over today and she suggested that I do more fine motor exercises with him and have his eyes checked. I have had him doing the cutting and pasting activities with his brothers in Little Hearts but she also said that upper body exercises helps to strengthen those fine motor muscles too so I guess I need to do those now too.
I just have to add that this is really humbling for me. I feel like I am whining about my child and I'm making him sound awful. He is my pride and joy, my first born son after a struggle to carry pregnancies to term. We named him David because he is our promised child from our Heavenly Father but I am really struggling here and I'm trying to do what is best for him but I feel like throwing my arms up and saying I can't do it anymore... Our evaluator even said that he would difficult to teach in the public or private setting because of his quiet stubbornness. She couldn't pin point the "problem" either but that he is just difficult to teach.
When I sit down to teach him one on one, anxiety fills my heart. I know that's wrong and that I should allow the peace of God to fill my heart but in the moment I literally feel anxious. hands shake, sweating palms the whole thing...
He is very bright and knows more about science at his young age than I know at my age. If he thinks about a math problem he struggles to answer it and usually gets it wrong the first time when he finally does answer. But if I ask him an addition problem or subtraction problem (and some multiplication and division) and he just gives a quick off the cuff answer, it's usually right. It's almost like something isn't clicking right in his recall center of his brain.
He is not an emerging reader. We are using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons after trying Hooked on Phonics, Phonics Pathways, and a couple of other programs. He seems to making great stride right now though - after me laying it down for a time and picking it back up.
To be honest, I feel like all of this is my fault. That through my insecurities I have made him the way that he is. I have cause his learning struggles. Maybe I have but how I fix them now? What can I do now?
We start school between 9-9:30 a.m. and finish around 2-2:30 p.m. (breaking for lunch at 12 to 12:30). I'm exhausted by 2:30 and just want to lay down. This time includes Little Hearts. We start with that then do Bigger. And we usually don't do our story times in that time slot either. That happens at bed time and/or after dinner.
I really wasn't posting on the other thread to get any answers, I was posting that I really have no idea what to do next year! But you ladies are so kind and willing to help - it means so much...
Thank you!
Kathleen
, I can also comment on the behavior stuff. I definitely would get the hearing and vision checked. We did that and two out of the four needed glasses! I think one of the responses had a really good balance of slowing on the curriculum but evaluating the behavior at the same time. Some really good advice I got from a fostering book was "Always make the child work harder then you". That may sound harsh but I have seen how it has totally deflated their desire to fight wills with me. For example, if I ask a question that I clearly know they know the answer to instead of drawing it out and pleading with them, I ask the ?, wait for response, no response comes, then I say calmly and lovingly, "I know that you are very smart and know this. I would like you to sit on that(away from where you are working) chair/your room/ and let your brain think about it until you have a answer. When you do, let me know and we can talk about it". I guess it is like a mental time out. The kids soon realized that I wasn't going to come up with the answer, skip it, or allow them to dictate what was accomplished. They also realized quickly that they were never going to be able to get to their free time or join the fun activities that the rest of us were doing until they completed what was asked of them. Be very careful not to exacerbate them or set them up to fail. But we are to teach them to persevere and "work as if onto the Lord". I feel like it is also a good example of how work and perseverance results in blessings and the opposite results in consequences. Our kids are so much smarter than we give them credit for and mine know how to push my buttons. I don't always think it is intentional but we are all sinners and we all have a desire to want the path of least resistance. Very few of us are naturally "strivers". I think just as important as the "educational" aspect of home educating is the "character" aspect that we need to train our children. I wish I had slowed down a bit and targeted both when my kids were younger b/c it isn't easy to undo some of the areas I let "slide" or gave up on when they were younger!
). I am organizationally challenged, so that doesn't help with school or housework. I'm also low on energy alot, have fibromyalgia and heal spurs and I make my own bread and cook alot with whole foods. My point is we are all so different and it's so easy to set yourself up to look at everyone else and feel bad about what your are doing or not doing. Just do what helps your crew and keeps you sane. You cannot be succesful in anything if you are exhausted and wanting to curl up in a ball at the end of the day, so it's time for a Plan B. That doesn't mean you make school super easy on them or you. Just set that timer and make some changes for your oldest, and rest and pray.
is that it's a hard balance for me personally to give moms the "best" advice for their particular situations as each mom's situation is so different.