If anyone is out there, please help me? My 9 year old says she's getting tired of Cantering the Country. She likes it but we've done a unit study by the same authors last year (Galloping the Globe) and I think it's starting to wear down on her just a little. I kept this going because we've all been enjoying it so much.

Rabbit wants: Lifepacs! I mean everything Lifepacs! But it will cost too much in the end. She has asperger's and needs structure. Piglet could use some more structure too. I'm willing to meet them halfway on this and get the math and History/Geography. (Rabbit is huge on history and geography - she reads these kinda books just for fun and then I get to hear it all day! )

Right now is a crazy time to switch curriculums - looking to move out to the midwest, looking to vacation out there to make sure this is where the Lord wants us. Trying to get to this house and get it up for sale..

There's a lot going on right now. I'm so overwhelmed. Anyone? I need some advice here. I want to help them to learn but I'm not sure if I should follow Rabbit's lead or if I should meet her halfway? And maybe this would help her see if she really likes the Lifepacs by trying it out for a year - some of them, that is?

Help?

I don't have any advise to give you snmom, but I am praying for you and praying for God to give you and your dh wisdom in all this.

Thanks Saint Deb, I appreciate that! ((hugs))

Chris,
I have an opinion, not necessarily advice. Part of my answer is "it depends". How old are your kids? Where are you in your school year? The older they are, the more I'd give them input on what to do. The closer you are to the end of your school year, the less likely I'd be to make any changes (for this year). To me, it just makes sense to make major changes when you're taking a break anyway, like after the summer. But if you school year-round that might not apply.

As for following her lead or not, I think you should probably at least consider it. I found with my kids, it paid off more to follow their lead than to try to force them into something that wasn't working for them. BUT, that doesn't mean you have to drop everything and make a sudden change. If you're close to the end of what you're doing, maybe you can tell her you need to finish what you've started, then make the switch. Or, like you suggested, agree to switch for one or two subjects but continue on with other subjects as-is. I don't think it's wise to jump around every time a kid wants a change. Sometimes they just need to learn that all of life is not "fun", and you sometimes just have to do what you have to do. I guess it's kind of a balancing act -- not wanting to force them into something that isn't right for them, but also not wanting to teach them that if things get tough, we bail out.

I don't know if that helps or not. As I said, their ages and where you are in your year are big factors to consider. Above all, pray! God knows your kids best, and He wants what is best for them (and for you).

Hey Lori,

My kids are 9 and 7 1/2. We're not even halfway through with Cantering the Country yet - we'll be learning about Iowa next week. We don't take a ton of breaks though.

I would like to finish this curriculum next year but I think they're wearing out of doing this kinda unit study and need a change. And I think Rabbit needs something more "solid" using books for her subjects but still am unsure..

I will most definitely pray about this and talk more with the kids. It's true not everything should be "fun" for them, they need to learn to do the hard stuff but I don't want to be too harsh, kwim? Math isn't always fun.. I think art should be though or at least not something to dread. We had a blast with science today; I even dug up a couple of violets outside so we can do a flower detective for Considering God's Creation. And we're learning a lot about squirrels and chipmunks!

So is Cantering the Country just geography? If it's just one subject, I don't think it would be a big deal to set it aside and do something different next year. You could either come back to it later, or not. Or, maybe take a short break from it (like 6 weeks or so) and do something more along the lines of what she's wanting, then come back to it to finish up. Obviously you couldn't switch to Lifepacs for just 6 weeks, but maybe there's another way to satisfy her need for a change. Just another option to consider.

Cantering the Country involves history, Bible (character traits from the Bible), science (animal detective, tree and flower detectives), geography, art and activities that go with the states, language arts (but we don't do that one).
They recommended Considering God's Creation which is where we got the detective pages, so I decided to do that one separately as well. We get a lot of science that way.
So it is a fairly big change here. They even include a cooking across the US recipe book in the pack from geomatters. So you really get a lot and there's a yahoo group too.

Chris,
Wow, that really does cover a lot! I can see why it would be hard to switch to something else before you finish. You could still take a short break, then go back to it. Or maybe just change the way you use it, like work on it 3 days a week and do something else 1 or 2 days. I don't know, just some ideas. I know it can be hard, and frustrating sometimes, to figure all of this out! With my kids, about the time I think I have them figured out, one of them changes on me!

Well now Rabbit told me she meant like her core subjects - math, language arts, etc. And she wants more History. She's a history nut. I mean everything: Ancient Greece, American History, everything.

And today we were in a restaurant (early Mother's day dinner) and I had to ask Rabbit to stop talking politics because it could make others around us upset. NJ and politics don't go together, kwim?

So she wants to keep Cantering the Country and change her math and language arts? Oh, boy, what fun! That actually could be easier for you, either to change what you're using or keep it and just supplement somehow. We used to do a LOT of games for math, and quite a few for language arts. All thru elementary school we did that, and my kids loved it and learned a lot. For several years we'd do "regular school" Monday-Thursday and then Friday was "Game Day". All day long we'd play educational games instead of doing book work. It was great! I miss those days, since Game Day doesn't work so well in high school.

Good luck figuring it all out.

Well I ordered some curriculum and it should be here by Wednesday. Can't wait! I am getting a few Hands on books (Hands on Heritage) plus some extra history for the girls (Piglet's getting a 3rd grade book on Pioneers by Christian Liberty, Rabbit is getting First Ladies of the White House or something like that). And an abacus for Piglet. Plus some others I can't remember right now.

Thanks Lori for being so helpful and encouraging!