I knew this year was going to be difficult. It isn’t just the physical time taken up by trying to move and all the work that needs done at our new property. It is the unpredictable nature, the phone calls asking to show the house that leave all the best laid plans in the garbage, the weather directing how much work we can get done and when.
So I caved even before the year began and bought my first unit guide made by someone else. A couple months in, I swallowed a little more of my own educational philosophy and purchased a computer based math program for my oldest: SOS from Alpha Omega.
And it has gone rather downhill from there. It took two weeks to actually get it to work, a little longer to figure it out and now, for no apparent reason, it has ceased to function. To this point, the only reason it has saved any time is because my husband has been the one removing the operating system, reinstalling older versions, updating and continually fiddling with the program to get it to work. He is the one that spent two mornings trying to figure out why the program cannot find files that we can see clearly in the directories they are supposed to be in.
I need to call Alpha Omega yet, and see if we can get some technical support, but I don’t have time for this. We are supposed to move in two weeks. We will be switching our internet connection shortly, and computer time will be more limited than it currently is. The whole entire point of this program was to give over the planning and direction of one time consuming aspect of our homeschool so that other areas would not suffer and I could still meet the demands currently put on my time.
But it is taking too much time.
The program itself was alright while it was working. It was sort of everything I didn’t like about math when I was younger. Every concept seems closed off from the others, and I don’t see as much building on concepts as I have in the books we have used. But she seems to like it, and has been getting on the computer and wrestling with the work on her own. The independence is nice, and over the years I have slowly learned to accept that my ideals for how education should look need to take into account what actually works for my children. Which for her, means worksheets and workbooks and moving on when I’m not sure she totally gets a concept because she does better later if she has had a break from it than she does if I just keep pushing it over and over.
But all that is gone now, anyway. She had a 92, but the only way my husband can see to get it working again is to delete everything and reload it. Maybe we’ll get it working if we can get someone to help us. But in the meantime, well…all my books are packed, all my manipulatives are packed and we just don’t have time for this. It’s the whole reason I caved and went this route in the first place.
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I feel your pain. I’ve tried some things to make school… more convenient?- not quite the right word, but I know the discouragement of time and money ‘wasted’, and of getting bitten in the butt with something that was SUPPOSED to be The Answer. I tried SOS one year too- it was OK, but I spent just as much time working with my kids as I did when they used Saxon, only instead of working on math concepts, we were working out glitches with the program. Ugh.
What your kids are going to learn through all this is how to persevere through a myriad of obstacles- don’t forget what valuable life lessons they will absorb through all the craziness. I know you know that, but you might need to hear someone else say it.
FWIW, we’re trying Teaching Textbooks this year for Algebra- much better since we don’t depend on the computer for keeping track of work and grades. My dd (11) is doing Dave Ramsey’s Foundations in Financial Freedom.. or something like that. It’s a hoot, let me tell ya’.
I’ll be praying for you all, Dana.
.-= Susan R´s last blog ..The Necessity of Nurturing Parents =-.
I may have to look into that. Next year should hopefully be better. Actually, things should settle down a little in a few weeks just because we and our stuff will at least be at the same address, even if we do still have a lot of work, and will have a lot of organizing to do.
I’m willing to let most subjects continue on the basis of the fact she loves to read, is beginning to write and listens to books on tape voraciously. But math doesn’t just happen in her world, so something to keep it regular is helpful.
.-= Dana´s last blog ..Homeschool Failure =-.
We’re having a week of homeschool failure as well, though our issue is primarily one of motivation on the part of my student! We’ve been extremely lucky to find curricula that adequately meets our needs in most areas, but it’s been a heck of a journey to find it.
.-= Smrt Mama´s last blog ..“Ask a [Smrt] Homeschooler” — Are you keeping ALL of that? =-.
Just noticing that algebra etc doesn’t sound as if it’s proven so important to you or your husband as you live and love this real family adventure with your children. (Not the one struggling to find curriculum and make it work properly, but the one curriculum SUPPOSEDLY is serving!)
.-= JJ´s last blog ..I Did the Math — This Sums Up America’s Mess =-.
How frustrating! We simply did not do any math during our move. I didn’t even think about remedying that, because we like our curriculum so much.
It was a bit of a challenge to get back into our routine, but we double up math lessons now and it’s going fine. We’ll be back on track in a year even with being “behind” before we stopped.
.-= Renae´s last blog ..How I Choose Curriculum =-.
JJ–I could totally just let it all go and let her learn from the adventure…except math. I think maybe it is because I always struggled with math, but I can’t let it go, even with the idea of “catching up” later. It stresses me.
I know that is really my issue, but I’m having difficulty with it. That and everything is so up in the air. We still don’t have a move date, yet it continues to linger two weeks in front of us. We’ve been moving in two weeks for almost two months now, and snowed in here at the same time.
It doesn’t seem to bother me as much when we are actually working out there. There is so much to do and so many experiences…and so much math as she helps me measure and plan all the building projects. But here, we’re just sort of in limbo, and that is a good time for me to stress.
.-= Dana´s last blog ..Homeschool Failure =-.
And Renae, I’ve managed to find a math program I like, but not one she likes so much. Other than this one. It actually does manage to challenge her a bit without losing her (except fractions. I thought the whole thing was going to fail on that alone!)
.-= Dana´s last blog ..Homeschool Failure =-.
I don’t know when I feel more guilty – when they’re doing too much “school” or too little! I have never used a boxed curriculum or anything like that….but through the years we have managed to find a few things that just plain work (at least for a couple of kids). I cannot say enough about Teaching Textbooks. My oldest is doing pre-cal and sometimes I can hear the lecture and EVEN I UNDERSTAND IT and believe me – that is an accomplishment! We don’t use all of it, I’ve found we can often skip grades because honestly, how much addition and subtraction can you learn? But we use it for algebra, geometry, and 6th grade.
I know what you mean. Us moms are good at feeling guilty no matter what! We don’t use packaged curriculum for anything else, but even this isn’t really working out. I guess I get to change what I do yearly with one subject at least.
Don’t worry! I have been there a million times. You can recover. New babies, moves abroad, so many things. Just this year my kids wanted the summer off (when they hadn’t even started in the fall) and after all of that (while I was working full-time) they got it all done and on-time. We just had a strict “to-do” schedule of mostly independent work and they had to work 6 days a week. It has gone just fine.
This is the beauty of homeschooling. You can be flexible to take turns in the road without screwing the whole year up.
I also used to try to reinvent the wheel and do every last detail myself. This year we tried Laurel Springs. I haven’t been really excited about the curriculum but having a teacher follow us and give me constant encouragement and helpful suggestions made a huge difference in our progress and especially my stress level. They also allow for you to replace their resources with others if you wish (and we did).
Hang in there!
Natalie
Just blabbing here… Teaching Textbooks has been great for us, too, or for most of us. I love it because there is NO teacher prep. My oldest daughter loves it because it is according to her learning style, and it has enabled to her teach herself more than a year ahead in math. My second daughter does NOT love it, because she hates math no matter what curriculum she uses. And we, too, have skipped grades, because, as the commenter above said, how much addition and subtraction and etc do you need? Now I also have math-apt Teaching-Textbooks-taught ten year old who is ready to start Algebra. I see that as a problem. Isn’t she missing something?? What do I do now? Saxon? I don’t have time for teacher-prep.
Good success with your move. This too, shall pass.
) I read of a homeschooling family who quit school completely for an entire year, while they built a house. The mom was really worried about her kids keeping up. But in a year they all tested right where they were supposed to. Maybe this story will be repeated in your lives also.
.-= Sally´s last blog ..Sight Reading Bears Fruit! =-.