Homeschool Help!

Yes, I have yet another curriculum question....especially for those of you with kids who are in, or have been in the 7th grade. In the past I've used Abeka for History, Health and Science, and it has been fine. But Kat does it because it's what she's supposed to do...there's no real interest or "love" for it. I'm considering in those subjects to just choose topics within the subjects that interest her and studying those more specifically, not even really worrying about tests and quizzes. So for example, maybe in history we'd study Daniel Boone, Paul Revere, the civil war or whatever, etc.. maybe even study state history a bit with significant people or events to those states. Maybe in Science we'd study planets, or ocean life, and health, study more nutrition. I notice that often so much of the books are just repeats with a little more depth year after year. My only hang-up on doing it this way is, will I be able to come up with enough material? Will she get enough info? How many months or weeks do I dedicate to each topic? Or do I just get the textbooks and use what I want, expanding on things that interest her more and skipping things that don't. If any of you have any thoughts or can direct me to someone who has thoughts, that would be great. LOL!! I don't want to do what we've always done because "that's what we've always done", or I want to make sure she does good on her testing. Sheesh, who cares if she does good on her testing but can't stand learning. Do all of you do tests and quizzes that usually come with the curriculum's? Those are the last three subjects I have to choose for her and I'm trying to get it done in the next few days. Thanks for your help. I'm off to research now! With Joy UNquenchable,

Comments

  1. Hey,
    Thanks so much for your prayer on my blog. I really appreciate that there are so many good friends in the blogging world.
    I try to allow my kids to study what interests them for the most part, or atleast until highschool. They seem to learn more and especially retain more. I don't see them keeping much of anything that they have been forced to just endure. How much do we really remember from middle school anyway?!? I think reading real books about interesting people is much better than being forced to read a boring textbook anyway. Quizzes and tests are more for records, try making notebook pages to enhance what they are learning. We have just started this and my kids are really getting into it, even my highschoolers.
    Thanks again!
    Blessings.

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  2. Hi Kirstin,
    Have you ever looked at Winter Promise or Sonlight? Their approach for history is so different than the textbook approach. I was one that hated history in school too, because of the boring, dry, textbook approach.
    Since homeschooling my children, I now LOVE history! I look forward to reading to my children and I have learned so much! Oh, wait, so have my children. Hee-hee! :) We used Sonlight from PreK to 3rd with Alek, then Tapestry of Grace (didn't care for it), this last year we did our own thing (but Sonlight-like) and this new year we're using Winter Promise. LOVE it!

    If you don't want a BIG curriculum like that, you should take a look at Mystery of History. It's something she could probably read on her own (unless you want the interaction). It's very enjoyable- I'm sure she'd like it. There are lots of projects to choose from that are divided by age group.

    Also for science, she could easily do one of Apologia's elementary science books on her own and there are lots of topics to choose from. I know she's 7th grade, but she'll learn a lot from those books (I did! LOL!). You can also buy a kit to go along with the books that contain everything you need to do the experiments and projects. They are very enjoyable books! I'd love to go through the astronomy book with my children again... and the botany... ;)

    I always worried about how my children would test because we've always used this approach. I can't remember how Gracie tested in science last year, but Alek has always scored REALLY high- and we have never followed the typical public school scope & sequence AT ALL.

    Okay, my 'puter time's up- Julianna's done nursing! LOL!

    Oh, no we don't always do all of the quizzes/tests- I usually ask them questions as we go to gage what they've learned.

    Love, Alyssa

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