How to motivate an unmotivated 12 yo girl.

[MamaSweetie2]

.

[Dianna]

Can you let us know how long you've been homeschooling and what kind of resources you use? It may just be a mix-match of resources to her learning style.

Dianna

[MamaSweetie2]

.

[Dianna]

Anyhow, I really would still like to hear other's opinions on my situation and any ideas on how to handle the negative attitude about EVERYTHING!

Thanks so much!!

MamaSweetie

MamaSweetie, before you buy anything else, I would recommend that you ask your daughter what she's interested in learning (if you haven't already). Although there are specific subject areas designated by state law that we must teach, the topics within those areas are very flexible and allow for a lot of interest-led learning. If she's able to make some of the decisions, she may lose a lot of the attitude.

Would you feel comfortable with letting her choose specific subjects she'd be interested in exploring? Would you consider continuing the structure in Math, but lightening up a little on the language arts (more on that in a minute) and letting her lead the areas of social studies and science? Let me explain a little more so you'll know what I'm talking about.

Math - since the math is working for her, and since math is a skill area where children usually learn best with a structured format, keep that as it is.

Science - Apologia works well for some, but doesn't for others. If it's not working for your daughter, consider letting her decide which science-related topics she'd be interested in learning. She can then check out books and videos from the library to learn more about that topic, then move on to another topic, etc.

You can also subscribe to science-related magazines such as Ask, Muse, and Odyssey to inspire interest in science. My 12-year-old son recently read an article in Odyssey about terrorism and the new threats with bio-terrorism and agro-terrorism. It was a interesting issue that combined science with today's issues (terrorism). He just finished reading the most recent issue of Odyssey yesterday, and it was focused on the science and technology in today's films - computer animation, 3D & 4D technology, the making of Yoda and Gollom, the good and bad science behind today's films (The Day After Tomorrow; I, Robot, etc). It was just a wealth of current science and technology about subjects that are interesting to today's children. Ask and Muse magazines are equally good.

History/Social Studies - I haven't been hearing many positive things about the Mystery of History lately, so it may not be you or your daughter on this one. It may just be the materials. Would you consider the same approach here as with science? Let her decide the topics and then go from there. There are also two series of "texts" (and I hesitate to call them that because they're so unlike typical texts) that children seem to relate well to - A History of US by Joy Hakim (US History) and A Story of the World (history from ancient times to the present) by the folks who published The Well-Trained Mind. Some parents use those as "spines" and then let their children delve deeper into any topic from the book that interests them (through literature, videos, non-fiction, whatever).

Social Studies is also Geography and other topics... not just history. So if your daughter needs a break from history, there are other subjects that would fulfill this requirement.

Writing/Grammar/Language Arts - you seem to have a lot of resources for these areas. This may not work for you, but my approach to vocabulary and spelling is by reading good books, learning new words in context, and by writing, correcting spelling mistakes as they go along. (Some of the moms here also use my Word of the Day game to increase their children's vocabulary and spelling skills.)

Does your daughter have a particular weakness in spelling and vocabulary that requires these books? Could you reach an agreement with her that if she increases her reading and writing, you'll chuck the spelling and vocabulary books?

Many homeschoolers feel that a study of grammar is completely unnecessary and their children do fine without it. I used to be one of them until I discovered the Rod & Staff English series and realized that my younger children are having a lot easier time with writing and speaking correctly (without the typical mistakes that southerners tend to make), than my oldest child did. That said, he's doing fine in college and is making A's on his English papers and essay exams. (It absolutely shocks me, too, because Writing was his weakest subject.) So is grammar absolutely necessary? Probably not. However, I've converted, and the best grammar program I've come across is Rod & Staff's. It is a Mennonite text, so it is religiously based (just in case that's not your cup of tea). It's very traditional in its approach, too, so some children find it dry. Mine don't, however, which really surprises me. If you decide you'd like to look into this, let me know and I'll post a link to some samples, plus tell you the ways it works best for our family and others who've used it.

As far as writing is concerned, the problems you are having may very likely have something to do with Writing Strands. From my research on different writing curricula, Writing Strands tends to have about 10%-15% of people who like it, and the rest just can't make it work for them. I'm wondering if you're in that 85%-90% group. I personally like the Wordsmith series better and use it as a base text in my online writing classes.

Reading - the other required subject area is reading. For that, we just integrate reading quality literature throughout the different subject areas. In other words, all the magazines and books they read for other subjects are also counted here in the "reading" area. We don't do anything separate.

Okay, I've gotten really long-winded here, but I hope it helps you in some way. My suggestions are what have worked for me, but they may not work for you, so keep what you like and throw out the rest. Please let me know if you have any questions that I haven't answered, or if my reply generated more questions. :smile2:

Warmly,
Dianna

[MamaSweetie2]

.

[lavinemch]

Mamasweetie,

Dianna gave you some great advice. Our hs is much like hers (that makes me feel confident!) I just wanted to put in my two cents, too. First, about feeling like you will "miss" something: No public classroom covers everything. I hsed my first son through 7th grade, then he chose to go to public school. He is in 10th now, and I am constantly shocked at the small amount of learning that actually goes on in his classroom. I know there will be holes in his education, as well as in my other son's that I still hs. But the idea of creating a self learner is, if they come across something in life that they need to learn about, they know how to find the resources and satisfy their curiosity.

I am pretty lenient on science and soc st right now, but strict on math. I am kind of in-between on the reading and writing. Last year, writing was a struggle for us - over the summer we looked at alot of lang arts materials and settled on 1 spelling book (we do not overdo this: he only concentrates on the words he cannot spell) 1 writing book: it is the 6 Trait writing method, which step upon step teaches organization, word choice, fluency, etc. And then we do literature studies (so many can be found on the internet for free) with good books that, without the child realizing it, is increasing his vocabulary, grammar skills, etc. Literature studies many times lead into history or science themes. For example, we are now reading "The Devil's Arithmetic" by Jane Yolen. This book is about the Holocaust and Jewish traditions, so of course, we are studying that, too. And there are many resources on the internet for this book (puzzles, guides, vocabulary tests, etc.) We also use field trips for reward and that works well in our household.

Mary

[Dianna]

Dianna,

Thank you so much for your insight and for sharing your experiences.

I do thank you again and tomorrow we will try things a little differently and see how it goes.

MamaSweetie

MamaSweetie, I just wanted to tell you that you're welcome, and to ask you if you've made any headway with your daughter. :smile2:

Dianna

[MamaSweetie2]

.

[Dianna]

It is a step in the right direction........ :smile2:

MamaSweetie2

It's sounds like a giant step in the right direction! :smile2: It sounds like your strategy for improving her attitude is working, too. I'm glad we were able to help.

Warmly,
Dianna

[SChomemomof3]

That sounds fun to study. There are loads of free books at the library don't forget to use them.