Overwhelmed 7th grader

My 7th grader is having great difficulties the last 4 days with the course load. She has some mental problems as well that seem to heighten the problem. My concern is that she is falling behind in certain subjects like Religion, Literature, History and Bible History because if she misses a day then the following day when she is able to function again, she doesn't understand what she is learning because she has missed material the day before.

My first question would be what courses are required? Then I would also like to know if anyone has any suggestions. Maybe we only focus on 2-3 subjects/day, and do 2 days of assignments, or do we extend out our school year to compensate for the days when she is not function well? I'm still so new to this any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

You might try doing just the basics until she has gotten into the swing of things: Literature, Math, Grammar, etc. I would probably cut out the Bible History and language if you are doing any, and go lighter on the history and science. Remember that you have total control of those lesson plans, so feel free to adjust them as you see fit.

Block scheduling like you suggested might be a good alternative. Alternating days in which you do your subjects might help her concentrate and focus on one thing at a time. Its worth a shot!

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Megan Lengyel
Kolbe Academy Home School
Academic Advisor Department
Math and Science Advisor

Thank you Megan I'll give it a shot

Certainly, don't feel bound to the course plan. If she doesn't feel well on Monday, on Tuesday then do Monday's assignments. Keep pushing the assignments back Don't just skip over assignments. If I understood you correctly, it appears that may be what you are doing.

Don't worry about finishing every chapter in every book. At the end of quarter if she is behind, either cross the questions she didn't cover (in history, religion, science) but still have read the chapters she didn't get to, just not do study guide question etc OR continue plodding along and let her take the first quarter test the third week of the second quarter and count it as a second quarter test. I usually do the second option then in fourth quarter cross off all questions not covered on the fourth quarter test and have her read remaining chapters during summer but do no testing, questions, etc on those chapters. That way if she comes across that material again she may say "oh I think read about that once."

Also as far as math goes (Megan may correct me if she wishes) the whole doesn't need to be done either. The last 20 lessons or so will still be covered in some depth in the following book (Saxon anyway) and the rest of book gets a quick review at the beginning of the next book.

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Volunteer Kolbe Parent

	Quote:
	Also as far as math goes (Megan may correct me if she wishes) the whole doesn't need to be done either. The last 20 lessons or so will still be covered in some depth in the following book (Saxon anyway) and the rest of book gets a quick review at the beginning of the next book.

That's pretty much correct Sharon. Saxon will claim that you need to do every little problem and every lesson to succeed with his program, but I really don't think that is true. The first 20-30 lessons of every book is usually review from the previous year. Another way to "skimp" on Saxon is to just assign the problems in the lesson that pertain to that particular lesson and a few others (like maybe any problem that they do that has to do with one of the past 10 lessons).

Sharon has some really good suggestions. If you need more help, you can always feel free to contact the advising dept as well.

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Megan Lengyel
Kolbe Academy Home School
Academic Advisor Department
Math and Science Advisor

This is our 5th year of doing Saxon and I've always assigned 15 problems. I circle all the ones that pertain to the last few lessons and a few more for review. If the student gets more than 4 wrong, I have them do ALL problems for a couple of days not so much as "punishment" (unless the mistakes are sheer carelessness) but as review. I've never had a problem with missing concepts. We've even done two lessons in one day if they are relatively simple ideas, then just one lesson's worth of homework.

I wanted to chime in here and say, you're not alone.

My son was having trouble getting it all done in one day. He couldn't "switch gears" quickly enough to handle all the subjects in one day. So, we split things up. Monday and Wednesday, we handle the subjects that easier for him (since Mondays are horrible days for us). On Tuesday and Thursday, we tackle the more difficult things. Fridays are days for tests and playing "catch up." My son enjoys doing things this way as he feels like he has more time to work on things.

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Stacie
Ocean County, NJ

We did switch to only 2-3 subject / day and now things are running much smoother. I think Sara was just having a difficult time changing her focus.

Thank you all and God Bless!