am I doing this right?

[68whiskeywife]

I just started homeschooling my 8th grader. So far we have a schedule that looks like this:

7:30-wake up?breakfast/brush teeth/etc
8:30-spelling/reading
9:30-math
10:30-social studies
11:30-"special" (art/cooking/computers)
12:00-lunch
12:30-science

He is really behind in spelling so I'm trying to catch him up. For reading right now he's doing "the hobbit". His math is K-12 pre-algebra as he's had problems with math before too. Social studies right now is geography then will be explorers, pilgrims, rev. war, civil war and constitution. Science is hydrology (that is what the 8th grade is doing in the public school) and then we will do water pollution and then evolution.

I'm wondering if I'm missing anything. I"m trying to do things he's interested in but I also want to include things that I know the public school is doing. I'm going to have him do some research projects on topics he enjoys and he also does a lot of worksheets.

Any suggestions to make this better?

[redcrayola]

I think your plan looks good. Keep in mind that he may not always be able to complete his subjects within the time frame you mentioned, and that is perfectly o.k.

I didn't quite understand what you meant by teach him "evolution." Did you mean you are going to teach him how to refute evolution? I think that's a great idea for this age group.


Hope your year goes well!

[Bee]

Im sorry, is this a Christian homeschooling forum? If so I apologise, but not everyone wants to teach refuting evolution to their children.

[Theodore]

This isn't a formally Christian forum, though a lot of homeschoolers are Christian and the majority of users here are probably Christian. I think the original post was just ambiguous, since people don't generally ask about teaching evolution unless it's from the opposite point of view - evolutionists just lump it in with science in general.

[romacox]

I am a tutor for public and home school families. I find the biggest mistake new homeschoolers make is to duplicate the mistakes in public schools.

Many of us tutors attend homeschool conventions because there is so much more available, and much of the best is created by homeschool parents.

Here is an article that explains:
http://www.read-phonics.com/how-to-homeschool.html

[68whiskeywife]

I think your plan looks good. Keep in mind that he may not always be able to complete his subjects within the time frame you mentioned, and that is perfectly o.k.

I didn't quite understand what you meant by teach him "evolution." Did you mean you are going to teach him how to refute evolution? I think that's a great idea for this age group.


Hope your year goes well!

No, the public school will be doing a unit on evolution in science so I want to touch upon it. I don't want to offend, but I am an athiest so I won't be refuting evolution.

[jinger]

I am a tutor for public and home school families. I find the biggest mistake new homeschoolers make is to duplicate the mistakes in public schools.

Many of us tutors attend homeschool conventions because there is so much more available, and much of the best is created by homeschool parents.

I'm totally behind this. trying to duplicate the public schools method won't bring any good in the good case and will only damage in the worst.
IMO, Its crucial to understand what's the abilities and mainly the interests of the kid.
good luck