heartofdakota.com

Wow! You have gotten some wonderful advice. I completely agree with what Carrie adn Julie are saying. I wanted to add one thing. I have learned that even the most capable child and the brightest really needs the accountability of having to show all their work. I have all my kids and especially my 14 year old doing RTR, show me all their work. They narrate all to me that they read, every project they did and I take the guide and directly ask what did you do all the steps by listing them and then they show me. The things that do not call for narration we keep very brief. Another thing is after we do the together things I go over the independent things in terms of what I am expecting to be done. Often they have finished things before I am going over it and it gives them a chance to make sure what they did is going to meet what the guide is asking for. Really all my kids, even my 7 year old doing Preparing, starts on the independent things without me. But this really helps to keep them on track. They bring me the books they read, the projects they did and any writing and we quickly go over it.

If you think about it in ps their accountability would come in the form of a test. That is the way it is going to be in college for anything that is not turned in directly. So this is really very good preparation for the future. I think it also prepares them even for having a boss to know how to report what they have done. Plus this is a huge time saver in the end and it keeps you in the loop with all the independent things they are doing. We actually really enjoy this time and the kids take a lot of pride in it.

Saying a prayer for your situation.

Praying for wisdom and for your joy to return. I have found that the homeschool journey is a a long challenging journey but I have also found the sweet rewards! My middle dd is graduating from hs this year and has struggled with her lessons, chosen curriculum, motivation, assignments, her character, and her teacher, etc, etc...
She has had the opportunity to take college classes for dual credit. I have seen dd rise to the challenge of college classes such as 8 am classes, difficult subjects-Chinese, Math, and Science, deadlines, secularism, humanism, and difficult students and teachers. She has met the challenges, has an A average, and enjoys it! God has softened her heart, molded her character, and filled her with joy! My sweet reward is that she often says thank you for persevering, for homeschooling me, and for loving me. She has found her level of education has surpased that of graduated ps students who can't write, don't read, and don't know how to study.

The only HOD guide that we used for her was DITHOR as the other guides were not available. We have used many of the resources HOD uses for the upper guides. My ds in CTC is at an accelerated academic level from what I did with dd at that age. Somehow through all of our limitations and struggles it has been more than enough, because as His Word states "God equips the called He doesn't call the equipped." Luke 18:1 "Jesus showed the disciples to always pray and not give up." Sometimes academic subjects were lightened to address heart and character issues. Sometimes completing chores around the home was a higher priority than academics. I see God's humor because my favorite subjects are math and science and my dds have no desire for these subjects but love writing and history. I have learned about history and writing while on this hs journey and eagerly anticipate learning more.
Tammy

"God equips the called He doesn't call the equipped." Luke 18:1 "Jesus showed the disciples to always pray and not give up."

Great post and reminder, Tammy. Thank you.

Thank you everyone! I had some time today to really think about this. I looked over the books again in Beyond and noticed that they really are NOT too babyish for my 10yo. I decided that it would be best, for me, to do as Carrie suggested. I want to do ONE THING RIGHT instead of several things half-heartedly...and that's what was happening as I was trying to run 3 Guides. I can now concentrate my time and energy on doing ONE younger guide RIGHT instead of 2 of them "just to get it done". I will have my 10yo complete some "extra" assignments for the History portion. The only exception to Carrie's suggestion is that I am going to use a different Science altogether. I have CKE Earth and Space and I will use that to fill in so that I can just use ONE guide and have all 3 move into Bigger next year. They will all fit the age group perfectly (dd7, ds9 and ds11 using Extentions). I'm actually excited for this option as it will hopefully lead to more deeper discussions and quality time with my younger kids (and olders in RtR) instead of always feeling rushed. If anyone has any ideas at all as to how to "beef up" the History portion for my 10yo, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

8arrows wrote:I don't know if it will work for you, but I read everything they are going to read independently the night before. This makes it very easy for me to have meaningful interaction with them throughout the day as they ask me things or comment on what they read. It also makes it very easy for me to check their notebooks and narrations. I do not enjoy the school day nearly as much when I have not read through the material. We usually talk about the material as a group at lunch as well. Don't get me wrong, I do get behind. My oldest two boys just went on vacation with friends and we had some major catch-up grading before they went. I know pre-reading the material is not required or even recommended, but since I have a larger family also, I thought I would share just in case it would help.

Since this was brought up, I am just curious, Carrie do you have any plans to add additional teacher's notes in your high school guides? I understand the guides are written to the student once you reach a certain level (I think it's Preparing or CTC?), but it sure would be helpful to offer a separate teacher's guide that contained important information on what the student is reading and supposed to be learning. This would help to avoid Moms feeling like they have to read everything their children are in order to have meaningful interaction and would certainly be a Mom time saver (as well as sanity saver!)

Any thoughts on this Carrie?