How, then, did we wind up here? Bear is constantly fighting me on school work while Boo just trots on by like it's the easiest thing ever. I was frustrated and at the end of my rope. I was watching as one child was falling behind because I was so determined to follow my schedule that I made. The same schedule I made without bothering to work with and consult the two people who knew best what they need: my daughters! Duh!
This week I swallowed my pride and did what I needed. I decided the best way to give my children what they needed was to talk to them. I had fallen into exactly what I do not want to be. The parent that says do the work and keep up {as a teacher, that is what I am told to do, as a mother, I know better}.
How was I able to gain control in just a week? Easy...look...
1. {ok, it was more like two weeks because I needed to plan for a week}...I followed my regular lesson plans for a week
2. During that same week, I began to just ease off and see where exactly the issue was. It really didn't take long.
3. I wrote everything down {by the way, I started the year with a time-block schedule, then swapped to a list schedule right away as both girls preferred it}. I noted what work was not getting finished, or how long each assignment was taking.
4. I read my notes and this is what I saw:
*Boo: Finished all work fast, correctly, and even early.
*Bear: Math was great, she is excelling, Latin...same, Geography is where she slows, she is bored with it. Science was going well as long as I was reading the book to her, same with History. Finally we have Language Arts...this is a disaster. Not one day resulted in finished work. She could only finish if we were doing it all verbally **ding!!
5. I called the doctor! Yes, you read that right. Now, I am not all about labels, but I am a divorced mother, so I need my bases covered. Her doctor and the specialist agree: learning disability {ps...I despise that term. These children are not incapable of learning, they just do it differently!!!} Appropriate appointments made, and school work will be done 50/50 verbally and on her own {because if we are being real...college}.
6. I regrouped: I pulled out my notebook, called the girls in and got to work!
7. The real work: I sat with each child and talked about how she learned and how she liked to break her day up. Boo really does do well with a list, so she still gets her daily task list to check off each day. Bear has a time-block schedule now. Technically both girls do, just in case Boo isn't feeling it that day, she has a time-block to get her through.
8. I went through and printed up worksheets for all missing assignments! Every. Last. One. I then filed those in a file with each child's name and class. If there is missing work it will be there. The child can go in and look when she has extra time and finish the work! I tend to have Friday as quiz day, so this is perfect for Fridays!
9. I picked up additional small unit studies for Boo. When she has nothing left, she can do some of that work. She loves ancient Greece right now, so I got two on that for her.
10. I took a hard look at curriculum because Bear was unhappy with Language Arts and was getting frustrated with the amount of time she was doing Math. For Language Arts, I got rid of a couple items, small books and stupid sentence stuff, and we no longer diagram. For Math I added Life of Fred, which we all LOVE. I am slowly beginning to rethink Mystery of History. While I absolutely love it, I am not sure either of my daughters likes the chronology. Plus, in Volume II there is a lot of anti-catholic view, which I can deal with because it forces me to teach my children the view of the Church, but I worry that I might miss something one day, What do you think? Is there a History curriculum you love?
New schedules for my girls:
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