A case for repeating things/ a difference between "doing" and "working".

[Beorn]

I have one question. I keep seeing things like 3M or 3A and I don’t understand what you mean. I was wondering if someone could explain it to me. Thanks!

Hi empokorski. The 3M would be the moderated third grade curriculum and 3A would be the accelerated third grade curriculum. See this link for what accelerated third grade looks like: https://www.memoriapress.com/curricu...de-curriculum/

[empokorski]

I am so inspired by this post. Thank you for sharing this. I am in my fifth year of homeschooling and my situation is not going quite as well, but I am also trying to find my flow. I have one question. I keep seeing things like 3M or 3A and I don’t understand what you mean. I was wondering if someone could explain it to me. Thanks! Congratulations! It sounds like you are doing an awesome job with your family!

[DiannaKennedy]

howiecram

Momma, I am proud of YOU. You've been flexible when the situation needed some give, and persevered when you knew what he was capable of. Job well done. ?

[sarahandrew]

I love this Christine! Thanks for sharing

[cherylswope]

A month ago, even though Farmer Boy was familiar, when we "team read", he would expect that we alternate pages (which was fine by me). Over the last few weeks, he has just taken to reading more and more pages. Today, after 6-7 pages, I said "would you like me to read now"? He said "no, I'm fine"...and kept going for another 2-3 pages. He's more engaged with the guides and asks thought provoking questions while he reads.

Excellent, Christine! I love that he wants to practice cursive during your daughter's piano music.

As for the pacing, that is precisely the intent. We could race through or pull a child along, as if dragging him hurriedly by the hand down the street, but taking our time is much more satisfying. Carry on!!

[enbateau]

What an incredible testimony of meeting your son where he is instead of where we (or the world) want him. I love how self-aware my own child is. When I listen to him, he gets his needs met, and it is a positive experience for us both!

[howiecram]

Last year my son (now age 9 as of September) did much of "MP3M" due to a 3 family co-op. He was 8, but a very young 8. He also never did MP2. Overall, I would guess that my son is very bright (probably not gifted) but has struggled with anxiety his whole life. I don't know how a 2 year old could experience anxiety, but he did. (I suspect that his undiagnosed multiple food allergies contributed). We found simply classical when he was 4 years old. I stumbled upon it because the previous year my older daughter (who was 6 at the time) had used the Rod and Staff preschool workbooks and I liked them. Simply Classical B actually had a schedule for them. I felt ridiculous using a "special needs" curriculum, but started watching the forum with Simply Classical. As I read posts, I realized that perhaps my son had some of his own struggles. "He's still not "special needs" I thought. So, I made my first post and asked about using Simply Classical B with "not special needs". I did explain a few of his "quirks" to not sound ridiculous and low and behold many were "red flags". We are now entering our 6th year of using Simply Classical with him. I did have high hopes for him and tried, essentially 3A with him, but it was not going well. Well, it wasn't going terribly, but while he is very bright, he is very slow. After 10 weeks of schooling, we were essentially on week 5. One of the other reasons I chose 3A (sub Intro to Comp) was because last year in our 3 family co-op he had essentially "done" many of the subjects. We did Literature, Christian Studies and Latin. He was doing ok, but not really doing any of the "work". We read and answered questions orally, but that was it. He was doing the Latin, but after Lesson 5, it started to be hard for him to keep up. The other "boys" in the co-op were fairing about the same, so we spilt the group up a bit. He was a little young for LC, but Prima wasn't an option because he wouldn't' have anything to do during that part of our little co-op. I figured if he got a little vocabulary from the year, that would be enough and he could just do it again the following year. Well, he did better than I expected, it just took him longer to "get it" than his sister. He made it to lesson 11. (COVID cancelled our Co-op and we just continued at home). In literature we only made it through Farmer Boy and 1/2 of Paddington. I could see he was just not ready for Paddington and stopped. His sister stopped Paddington because the opportunity for the "free" Lion, Witch and Wardrobe arose through MPOA. (what a blessing that was!). I just had him read books at that point of the year. I don't regret any of this, but it was hard to make a decision for this year. I had decided with 3A to just repeat everything. I knew the "work" would be challenging but the material might be a review. Well, even with the material maybe not being too challenging, I underestimated the work. His writing, while beautiful takes him awhile. We could cut back, but he actually WANTs to do the work, but gets frustrated with how long it takes. I know that doing the work now, will help him later, so we are. I also have found that it is important to HIM to be able to spell the words. ??. Well, we can't do all the things and not take 10 hours to do his work. I found that to do the work in a manner suitable to his desires, we had to sloooow down. I already own 3A, 3M, and 5/6 one year pace. I broke down and bought the 5/6 two year pace and things are much better. (we'll keep up with a 1 year pace for Latin and Math). I had considered the 1 year pace for spelling, but spelling the Greek Gods, and States and Capitals was important to him, so the second week we spend time working on those spellings. A month ago, even though Farmer Boy was familiar, when we "team read", he would expect that we alternate pages (which was fine by me). Over the last few weeks, he has just taken to reading more and more pages. Today, after 6-7 pages, I said "would you like me to read now"? He said "no, I'm fine"...and kept going for another 2-3 pages. He's more engaged with the guides and asks thought provoking questions while he reads. He might want to know more and find another book to get those details, or he might ask Alexa. ?. I am finding that the pacing and order of the Christian Studies/Greek Myths is allowing us to really, really understand the material and cause him to actually enjoy it! (for anyone interested, the 5/6 two year order alone in those two subjects was worth the cost). It took awhile to make sure cursive was done every day. Today, it was still on his list, I reminded him of it. He said, "I like to do it when Rose practices the piano". ?. It's getting done every day now, I didn't realize that's when he had been doing it!!

I won't say life is a cake walk by any means, but the flow is better, and there is less anxiety from "me" because "oh we only finished half the day...AGAIN"! We don't need 10 days necessarily to do everything but 7 or 8 (instead of 5) is giving us a lot more breathing room.

My whole point, last year he "did" some things, but this year he is "working" and actually getting MORE fulfilled!

*Ironic, maybe : it felt like an eternity spent in the "teach them to read MPK" phase (this is the first school year, since 2015 that I have not been teaching at the "K/1" level of reading) and I anticipate I will spend as many years teaching from approx the MP3A curriculum)!