In part 1 of the bookshelf tour, you got to see my personal office bookselves, where my reference books, writing books, fiction, and many of the kids’ books are located. So, now I thought I’d give you a tour of the shelves that contain our homeschooling resources.

The challenge with this is that these don’t contain the many of the books and resources the kids are actively using right now, as those are in the kids’ schoolwork boxes or on their computer desks.

But it does give you a good overview of what resources I have on hand and how I keep this stuff contained and organized when it’s not in use.

Enjoy!
…Shannon

My 12 yo daughter is nearly done with Teaching Textbooks Math 7 (she’ll finish by Spring Break in March 2010) and my 10 yo son just started a few months ago.

So, when another homeschool mom asked me about Teaching Textbooks, as a possible homeschool math curriculum for her 9 yo son, I was happy to answer her questions.

One of these days I’ll write a full review, but in the meantime, if you are considering Teaching Textbooks as a possible homeschool math curriculum, I’ve pasted our Q&A here.  If you have additional questions about Teaching Textbooks, feel free to put them in the comments, and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Does your son like it?

Yes, my 10 yo son  likes it. All the lessons are fully explained in video format, and all the answers are fully explained step by step, so if he misses something he can click the solution button and see where he went wrong.

He does not like that each lesson is so long, i.e., has so many problems (20 problems, plus 5 practice problems per lesson). He’s used to a much shorter program, but he has adapted by doing a 1/2 lesson per day or a minimum of 2-3 lessons per week.

Any ideas about placement?

The Teaching Textbooks  has placement tests for each level, I highly recommend using them. Don’t go by what you think is the grade level; it’ll depend on what math program you’ve used in the past and where your son is currently at.  The placement test does a good job helping you position the student in the correct level. 

Also, you can look at the table of contents of each course to see what’s covered and see if your son is ready for that level of work. In my case, Teaching Textbooks Math 7 covers fractions, decimals, and some basic geometry, which is a good transition from our elementary math program, which is weak in these topics (in my opinion), before they are ready for Beginning Algebra.

Though I have to say because we moved from a mastery-based elementary math program to Teaching Textbooks (a spiral based program), there was lots of overlap in some areas and none in others.

I did placement tests with my son a couple times over two years because he was strong in some areas and not in others, and finally when he was ready, I just moved him into Teaching Textbooks Math 7, and that’s worked well.

From my perspective, it’s a big change for me, they basically don’t need me for math anymore (yes, I’m a little sad about that). My 12 yo daughter periodically will have a question when she gets a problem wrong and can’t figure out why (and doesn’t want to view the solution on the computer.)

But other than that…there’s no prep, no lesson planning, no teacher time at all. Just setting boundaries and saying “go do your math”. Which of course is a huge time saver.

Is it all on computer?

Depends on how you do it. It can be done completely on the computer, though you need a notebook or something to work the problems in.

The text book also contains all of the lesson materials (except the step-by-step walkthroughs & solutions, which are only on the CDs).

Because of some issues we were having with my kids, we now require the kids to do all the problems out of the book on paper.

So what my daughter does is watch the lesson on the computer (rather than read it), then does the problems out of the book (in a notebook, so the book stays nice for later resale and younger siblings), checks her answers after each problem in the answer booklet, and then inputs her answers into the computer for grading purposes.

My son watches the whole lesson and the problems on the computer, but works each problem on paper, checks the answer, reworks as necessary, and then enters the answer into the computer, and moves on to the next problem.

Different kids, different styles. But either way I require that they don’t move on to the next problem until they got the one they are working on right (no use doing the whole set wrong and then going back and fixing it…)

What about the testing/grading…is it on the computer as well?

There’s a quiz after each chapter, which is all dealt with on the computer (or in the textbook, see above). All the grading is done automatically for you on the computer and it keeps a record of it all for you. (nice)

Update: The high school level Teaching Textbook programs do not include the automated grading.

Is there a “lesson plan” or something that tells me how to get through it in a school year?

I’m not really sure. In Teaching Textbooks Math 7, there’s 118 lessons plus a quiz after each of the 18 chapters, so assuming 1 lesson a day for an 180 day school year, that’s pretty much how to get through it in a year.

You could look at the Table of Contents in the Teaching Textbook  you are looking at and see how it would break down. I set goals for the kids this way, based on where they are at, and how many weeks are left in the term, and how many lessons I think they can get through in a week and then term allowing for days off and slippage.

We’ve chosen not to try to complete it in a year. It’s taken my daughter at least a year and a half. There have been some chapters where she did a whole lesson a day, and others where a 1/2 of a lesson a day is fine.

But my style is to just let them go through it at whatever their pace is and not worry about what level they are in each year…just continuing on until they learn it. 

If you are working & homeschooling like I am, or are math challenged, or have a child who does best with visual or audio teaching methods, then Teaching Textbooks is a good, solid, and thorough math curriculum worth looking at further.

One of the ways we have eliminated battles over doing schoolwork is by clearly laying out expectations and having flexibility. When the kids know exactly what’s expected of them then I don’t have to spend time and energy on “motivating” or “getting” them to do their work.  And since Iwas asked about this recently, I thought I’d share a little about how our days are structured.

Basically we have three types of schoolwork days: Full schoolwork, Light Schoolwork, and No Schoolwork.  And the kids know exactly what is expected from them on each, so they can ask me “What type of day is it mom?” or I can just say “it’s a light schoolwork day”, they know immediately what to do.

A full schoolwork day is one where they work completely through their schedule. At the beginning of each term, I sit down and map out what I would like each child to work on that term, both in the form of what I want them to learn and what curriculum or tools they will be using. 

Then I sit down with my 12 yo and 10 yo individually, and we map out on a printout of our weekly schedule (broken into either 15 min or 30 min increments) how THEY would like their day to flow. I find things go a lot better if they have input and control over how their day flows, and it gives them an opportunity to tell me about what they think is working and not. 

I do require that they schedule math first in their day. I’ve just found that if they wait until later in the day, their focus on math just isn’t as good as it is if they tackle it first thing.

Other than that, as long as they meet my requirements for what they are working on, how often, and that it’s scheduled within our “school hours” then they have control and don’t give me any problems with how their day is flowing. Though sometimes they will suggest an alternative on a particular day to accomodate something special they are doing or if they don’t feel well.

Light schoolwork days are days when the schedule goes out the window. Rather than fight to get things in, then I’ll just call a light schoolwork day. It could be a day we have a lot of extra activities, or a family emergency, or someone is sick, or there’s something special going on, whatever. 

On light schoolwork days, the requirements are to do some math (it doesn’t have to be their math program), to do some reading (preferably at least an hour), and to write something (or do some copy work). That’s it. The rest of the day are theirs to work on special projects or play (usually outside in the backyard.)

No schoolwork days are what I call our “unschooling” days. While the kids don’t have any formal schoolwork on these days, they are not allowed to just goof off on the computer playing games or on the TV playing video games. So, on no schoolwork days they are usually out playing, exploring an interest of theirs, playing board or card games, and reading.

On no schoolwork days, I will allow educational videos or shows from Netflix; and doing research on the computer is allowed as well. 

It always amazes me how much they learn on the days where “no schoolwork” is required. The key is to recognize the value of the activities that they naturally do, following their own interests. And to give them the room and materials to explore.

This is a system that has worked really well for us. What types of school days do you have in your homeschool?

Last in our series on ensuring your homeschool can survive in a financial crisis, I shared three free literature-based curriculums. But, each of those assume that you have an internet connection available. And sometimes, that just isn’t possible.  So today we’re going to look at two inexpensive homeschool curriculums to have around either as your main curriculum or to use as your backup plan.

Both of these curricula are literature-based curriculum that use mostly public domain works (which are included) for the bulk of the curriculum. Both are on CD. And both use the 3R approach to learning, which means that they focus on Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic (math), with History and Science covered via living books/literature.

The two curricula are Robinson Curriculum and Accelerated Achievement (also known as A²  A-squared).  During my search for a backup curriculum, I looked heavily at both of these. There a lot of similiarities, but there are differences as well. Personally I chose Robinson Curriculum, while a good friend of mine chose A².

 Being that I’ve chosen Robinson, I’m obviously biased about those differences, so I’ll leave it up to you to decide which might work best for your family and budget. 

 But I do recommend checking out both curriculums as low-cost (cheap) homeschool alternative that will still give your children a wonderful education.

Have experience with either Robinson Curriculum or A^2? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

 You may remember homeschooling mom Karri Fieglein from her 26 Tips for Overcoming Homeschool Burnout guest post. When Karri shares her insights I’m always amazed at what I learn. Today, Karri has agreed to allow me to share with you her latest encouragement and insight.  Enjoy! …Shannon  P.S. (Thanks Karri!)

We’re Not Alone

By  Karri Fieglein

We are more like doctors as home school parents than most would usually think. Each day we are called to diagnose the problems and figure out a solution and then offer preventative care as well so we do not have to deal with the situation/ behavior/ heart issue again.  We often have to do this many times a day and with each child plus the variables are constantly changing. 

Parenting in itself is so hard but then add all the home school work and being with them so much and it makes it even more difficult. I doubt anyone has ever looked at any of us and said “Wow, you have life so easy with this added task that you have decided to take.” 

The beauty in that is that nothing worth having ever comes easy. Twenty years from now when we are further down the road we’ll all look back with wonder and how we pulled through it all and made it. We’ll see how great our kids are doing and be happy we made the choice to take the hard less traveled road. 

But ya, the here and now aren’t always so easy and sometimes I think all of us feel like we are ready for a break or to even throw in the towel completely.  Hopefully just being reminded that we aren’t alone in our pursuits helps.

As homeschool parents, we have to diagnose problems that  can constantly change even with the same patient, including:

 1.       Bad attitude

2.       Tired

3.       Lazy

4.       Lack of drive and desire

5.       Comprehension problem

6.       Content of the work is too difficult

7.       Work too easy

8.       Trying to get attention

9.       Feeling sad or upset by a situation

10.   Feeling mad at the parent for some reason

11.   Lack of positive role model

12.   Have been exposed to bad role model

13.   Want to play games and goof off

14.   No incentives

15.   Think it’s not fair

16.   Feel over burdened

17.   Feel bored

18.   Frustration with the same day to day schedule and routine

19.   Too busy arguing with siblings

20.   Not enough time with the Lord

And the list goes on

Often too we have the many of the same issues and often we have some of the following in addition to that:

 1.       We compare with others

2.       We sign up for too many things

3.       We set ourselves up for failure as we try to do too much

4.       We don’t say no

5.       We don’t set up enough limitations for the family

6.       We don’t cut ourselves or our kids enough slack (lack of grace)

7.       We don’t say we love them enough

8.       We feel like failures if we think our kid should be somewhere in their education that they aren’t

9.       We rush around trying to be everything to everyone and forget ourselves and become burned out

10.   We don’t have enough fun

11.   We forget to enjoy the journey

12.   We forget that homeschooling is a marathon, not a quick little sprint

13.   Lack of patience

14.   Unrealistic expectations

And the list goes on.

There is hope though. 

All of these can be taken care of easily if we just get out of the way and let God do his work and trust him to not only meet our kids needs but ours too.  If we will ask him where we need help and what we should do each and every day, he’ll show us. 

Oh I need to read this as much as I write it.  But I know it’s true. God has shown me over and over that if we take all the little things to him he will be faithful to help us. Nothing is too big or small to seek him on.

A couple weeks ago I felt like I wanted more help from the hubby, accountability for the kids, the schedule needed to be tweaked, and it all felt a bit over whelming with #6’s new arrival.  God gave me inspiration, great book recommendations from friends, support and encouragement and some neat ideas to help with things.  All I did was ask and he provided abundantly. 

Now don’t get me wrong we have new problems this morning and we’ll have new ones tomorrow too I’m sure. But I know that the reason for all of this is so that I can lean and depend on God and so that he can have a very real and true relationship with me and mine.

I think that sometimes we get over whelmed by the kid or the situation or whatever and we forget in the moment just how big of a God we serve and how much he loves our kids even more than we do. 

If we trust him completely with them then that means we have to let go and hold an open hand.  We used to attend Second Baptist and Dr. Young always said that unless you open your tight fist and grip on things you can’t receive the blessing either.
Today, as I write this, I am reminding myself what a great and awesome God we serve and how I need to loosen my grip on his children and my control over my life, because really it shouldn’t be my will but it should be his will; it shouldn’t be my plans but it should be his plans; it shouldn’t be my day, but it should be his day.

Today is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Blessing to you my friends

Much Love

-Karri

Karri Fieglein is a homeschooling mom of six  and the Foundations Director of Katy, TX for Classical Conversations, a Classical Christian Community. For more information on Classical Conversations, visit www.ClassicalConversations.com