The lesson plans were set up by the calendar I set on the school program. The first year for my daughter was the toughest as we adjusted to this new curriculum. We persevered and now she is in 7th grade and working pretty much independently on her lessons. My son is now in 4th grade and he struggles more with school than his sister. We have been using Switched On Schoolhouse with him, but finding that he needs more hands on work away from the computer. So I am using the history lesson plans to plan what we will study away from the computer together. We still use the other subjects as they were intended.
The weakness I have is that I tend to become a slave to the curriculum instead of using the curriculum as a tool for guidance. When I see past due notices on the screen I tend to tense up and want to push my child faster than he can handle it. I have had to learn to back off with him and maintain the perspective that it is better that he master the material than just push through it to stay on top of the past due notices. I think pushing through the material is a great temptation for any homeschool mom. After all, we want to see progress being made and we want our extended families to see that we are getting through the material and staying on the grade. It is a temptation that we all need to resist. Character building and mastery of the material should be our primary goals. Finishing all the lessons should be lower on the priority scale. I continually have to remind myself of this. Homeschooling has taught me more about myself and my own weaknesses more than anything. I have had to lean on God's grace to work past my own weaknesses in the area of patience especially when my son is having a difficult day with his lessons.
If you are homeschooling and getting discouraged, losing hope, or if you are new to homeschooling and feel overwhelmed by it all, I hope that I can be of some encouragement to you. It is possible in the face of what seems like impossible circumstances. If God has called you to do it, He will make a way for it to work. It is a life of learning to trust Him.
Mathematical Reasoning Through Verbal Analysis is a book of math activities designed to be used in a cooperative learning situation. The activities are deceptively simple in appearance. It is essential that the teacher read the Teacher's Manual before beginning the lesson. Only in this way can he/she become fully aware of the multilayered learning that takes place when students explore all the information that can be gleaned from one exercise.
The materials were NOT designed to be used as an independent workbook. After the teacher has thoroughly discussed the example, and introduced and defined any vocabulary that is new to the students, the class may proceed to work the next few exercises independently or in a small group. However, the students will not receive full value from the lesson unless each exercise is discussed in the manner outlined in the Teacher's Manual.
As a result of exploring each exercise to the fullest extent, layer by layer, the students should show significant gains in vocabulary development, increase observation skills substantially, and be able to process mathematical concepts on a much higher level. This workbook covers number and numeration, geometry, operations, measurement, relations, and tables and graphs.
