Pillars of Pine

Pillars of Pine

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

And That was That....

Today, I sat my two teens down for a chat.  They had both been taking the 'One Year Adventure Novel' course, but, well, it didn't seem to me that they really 'were' using it, given that it had been so long since they began the course, and I'd seen very little work from them.

They both said they liked it fine, but would rather be writing fantasy novels, where as the programme insisted on an 'adventure' novel.  Of course, they do realise that the knowledge could then be used to write in other genres, but they were struggling with motivation to complete the course.

After a long chat and listening to their views, we unanimously decided to call it quits with the One Year Adventure Novel.  We still do like the programme - and I have a suspicion that a couple of my younger girls will love it, so, we'll put it aside for now, and see what the future brings.

As my teens are working through the English textbooks, 'English for Australian Schools', and as they have already completed several IEW writing courses, I have decided to be nice, and allow them to continue with only their English text and their Literature Lists for the rest of the year.

My son, however, said that he wouldn't mind taking a geography course, so we've added that in instead - I think we'll use the 'Ultimate Geography Guide', along with the lesson plans from Mother of Divine Grace School, both of which I have on my shelf.

It feels like we're always changing bits and pieces of our curriculum, however, I strongly believe that there's no point  pushing things that are not being enjoyed, or more correctly, when learning isn't taking place.  In this case, I felt it was time to let go of a curriculum that, while excellent, was not working for my two teens at this point. 

And,  we're moving on.......


Linda.

2 comments:

Jeanne said...

Hey, Linda,

Thanks so much for visiting my blog. It feels a bit like I've been visited by a celebrity! Thanks for what you do for the homeschool community. I, for one, certainly appreciate your contribution.

Linda said...

You're most welcome! I've just put up a link to your blog post - I'm still mulling it all over.

I've met families whose children pretty much play Playstation Games all day, which says to me that some moderation is definitely needed, but then again, I've met some families who do very little 'bookwork' as such, but yet, these children are far more 'educated' than what they would be in the school system. But I could see these particular families having a very difficult time with the education department.

Lots of questions, but not many answers!