Hi Mumkins! I am sorry you are feeling this way!
I remember starting high school with Wyatt and feeling like I needed to really 'toughen up.' I was sort of looking for errors at first and jumping on them like "HA! I caught you!" I don't know why.
I think I got cold feet or something. I think I felt I needed to become 'strict mean teacher' to really demand his best, or maybe he wouldn't do his best.
Well, it made us both sad. It was not the answer. What I realized is I needed to really give him time to learn the guide under my tutelage, which meant me underlining the guidelines laid out in the WG daily plans at first to draw his attention to them. I also realized I needed to look at the weighted percentages for coursework in the WG Introduction more carefully. I also realized I needed to take time to correct things daily. Finally, I realized I had to decide if I still had faith in the CM way of doing things or not. That's what it really came down to for me. I had answer keys for LOTS of things and tons of helps in the WG "Introduction" as well as clear guidelines in the WG plans, so what it came down to was the CM things, and the assignments that planned for students to respond creatively, personally, and individually to subject matter. There has never been an answer key for CM oral or written narrations, and there is a reason for that, a reason that CM intended for all time: there is not one right oral narration or written narration. There cannot be an answer key because doing narration the way CM intended means there is not one right way to do it. It is creative, personal, and individual. That is the point - sharing what struck you personally the most... sharing in your own words... sharing your heart... sharing what got you all worked up... sharing what you'll remember about whatever you read 10 years down the road. That can't have an answer key, for if it did, we'd drill it, demand it, make our dc 'fix' it to match it (or at least I know I would).
Does that sound special?
No. Definitely not CM.
In WG, there are extremely detailed answer keys for "Getting Started with Spanish" for teaching Spanish, "The Fallacy Detective" and "The Art of Argument" for teaching Logic, "Fundamentals of Literature" for teaching Literature, Rod and Staff English for teaching grammar as well as writing lessons, "Rooted and Grounded" for teaching Bible Study, detailed rubrics in "Essentials in Writing" for teaching composition, "Foerster's Algebra 1" for teaching math, 180 Activity Book sections in IPC for science - along with labs and reports, the entire mapping of the world with "Mapping the World with Art" showing exactly what must be done, and I am sure I am forgetting some, as it is late at night here.
Of course there are also the obvious 'you got it right things' that simply don't require an answer key - i.e. did they memorize their Bible memory work? Well, I had him say it for me. Did they write their Common Place Book entries for Literature classic novels? Check the Common Place Book. Prayer journal notes? Flash it, so I can see you did it, but keep it private. Annotating Practical Happiness or Stepping Heavenward? Well, I paged through it and checked. These things are just natural ways to check work that I know you know, but I'm sharing just to give the bigger picture here for everyone.
So, the things that are left are more CM-like, more creative, more personal. Take the Living Library, which is all history-related, but which is NOT necessary for WG credit. So, the sentence summary, the oral narration, all the cherry on top of learning, but not the 'have to' for credit. My goal here became, as CM would say, 'not to get between the student and the book.'
But how about World Geography then, you say? Well, let's look at that together - really look at ALL of it together rather than just 1 part of it. Let's take the CM style WG oral narrations, for example. Yes, they are more open-ended. There is no specific answer key, which is totally as CM would have intended. But, there are precise clear guidelines that make assessment pretty easy, as far as oral narrations go (i.e. Key Word oral narration has key words provided in the WG plans for parent to listen for - I checked them off as they were said and asked Wyatt to include about half as they are extensive, Summary oral narration must be 7-10 sentences and I held the short reading following along as he gave it holding up a finger for each sentence, Detailed oral narration - set the timer for 5-7 minutes, Topic oral narration - narrate on the topics provided in the plans, Key word typed oral narration - use the provided key words in the plans in narration). These oral narrations are
15% of the WG grade. The Book of Centuries entries (totally easy to grade) are
10% of the WG grade. The completion of the Map Drawings from Mapping the World of Art, obviously easy to grade, are
25% of the WG grade. The geography projects and review maps -easy to grade- are
15% of the WG grade. The Final Project: Create a World Map, easy to grade, is
5% of the WG grade. The Seven Wonders of the World project, easy to grade, very specific guidelines provided, is
5% of the WG grade. So, we get to the Expedition Journal. It involves some things that are obvious for grading, i.e. map reading, sketching, map making, reading primary source documents. It involves some CM things, like written narrations, but even these have guidelines that must be followed (i.e. 3-4 paragraphs and editing using the list in the Appendix), and the Book of Centuries entries, which can easily be checked by looking at the guide. It involved baking, making, creating some things - usually obvious if things turned out. It involved watching the DVD Must See Places of the World, and pondering this or that or responding to this or that, usually in an informal way as the watching of it was the point. It involves comparing of maps in Book of Discovery, etc., which I just had him do or I did it with him. It involves Socratic discussions, which have extremely detailed prep questions in the WG guide, often with provided Scripture verses to look up, with specific page numbers of the WG book read that day, usually spanning only 5 to 10 pages, which I skimmed before we met. It involves outlining. The directions are very clear on this in the guide. Each paragraph of reading has its own Roman numeral in the outline, and each Roman numeral requires 1 sentence. Usually there are about 9-10 paragraphs. I just looked at his one sentence to be sure it matched the 1 paragraph it represented to correct this. For note-taking, there are guided questions with the page numbers that link to them from the reading which is usually not more than 10 pages, so I just checked the notes according the the provided pages. I think I covered most of the Expedition Journal in this - so sorry- exhaustive paragraph! Keep in mind these activities rotate. So, ALL of this that I just described in this paragraph, amounts to
25% of the WG grade. AND, if your student did the Living Library? That adds
10% extra credit to the WG grade. So, we are talking about potentially
15% of the WG grade here, and over half of it or more is quite easily gradable.
The other journal is for the 1/2 credit in World Religion and Culture. I could go through the percentages, but they are in the WG Introduction, and I think it is important to remember that this is an
elective - which means an "optional" course of study. Much about this awesome study is personal response, deepening faith in God, and compassion and empathy for those who grew up in a different religion and had the courage to become a Christian against all odds. Yes, hard to grade, but easy to see.
So, in sharing all of this, I am trying to show you the path my thoughts took that first year of high school! I came to the realization that I was sweating the minimal parts of the guide that didn't have exact answer keys and were more CM-like, more personal, more creative, more elective - yet THOSE WERE THE VERY THINGS I WANTED TO BE A PART OF OUR CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE! I am putting in caps because it was a big light bulb moment for me. These were the things I promised myself I'd NOT give up. I promised myself I would invest my HEART and SOUL in my son in high school - not just the cookie cutter public school head only academics stuff - but the stuff of a LIFETIME! And I did. Just by breathing in, calming down, and doing the WG guide without sweating the heart and soul stuff that couldn't be tagged with an exact percentage. You know what happened? I enjoyed seeing my son grow, mature, and become a strong Christian young man. You know what else happened? He enjoyed his high school year with ME as his teacher.
Oh my, my, my, Mumkins? Are you willing to give all that up so someone else can tell you how your daughter is 'doing' in high school? My heart aches. It is not worth the quarterly graded report card and 15 minute conferences you would receive. I promise you - no matter what you may be wondering about how your daughter is doing right now in a few areas of high school, you'd be wondering how she was 'doing' in virtually every area of high school if you never saw her for the day. Much is at stake. You can do this high school thing! And so can she. And the rewards will be manifested forever! I hope something here has helped, and I hope you take this as intended encouragement and as coming from me having gotten to know you and care for your and your family the years you have been on this board. I don't get personal like this with everyone, but I know you, and I care about you, and I feel like this might be one of those important moments. So, I have stayed up very late typing this, even though I'll be up in 6 hours homeschooling. May the Lord help you with this and make clear your path!
Love in Christ,
Julie
Oh, and here is the link I was originally going to post as well...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15348