Problem: A recent question in the homeschool forum asks for ideas for a boxed curriculum or other independent learning system for an independent 13 year old. Particulars in this situation is that mom is pregnant, the 13 year old is beyond the mothers level of math knowledge, and up until now, the mom has been preparing the curriculum. The 13 year old is also considering a special high school program and so he needs to be prepared to possibly enter high school in a year. A follow up question revealed that the son has a math tutor. Mom also wants a curriculum that is not too heavily curriculum based.
Solution ideas:
If you have read the homeschool curriculum glossary, you know there are hundreds of resources available to homeschool your student. The goal is to find the right program for him. While writing or preparing curriculum for your child can be rewarding and help keep his education individualized, we all reach the point where we decide that a prepared program, or part of it, will better serve the child. This is especially true as the child’s knowledge begins to reach and exceed that of the parents. (This is our goal, after all.)
My suggestions are that you first give the child a standardized test or other assessment test. Whether it is required in your state or not, it is important to give you a good reading of where your child needs more work and where he will not. Since your child is starting 8th grade, it is also smart to make sure he has a good base knowledge before entering high school level. Consider giving two tests. One for 7th grade to show if the child has retained what he should have learned so far, and an 8th grade test, to see if your child is ready for high school. My guess is that in at least one or two areas, he will be more than ready, and you can spend the rest of the year working on the rest.
In addition to that I would continue with the math tutor, but also provide a complete math curriculum for the child that is self teaching. We have had great success with teaching textbooks which I mentioned in My Top 5 Math Curriculum picks Other math curriculum ideas are presented in the comments of this blog post.
Finally, if you feel he needs some attention in the areas of science, social studies, and language arts, you may want to look into local co-op or homeschool enrichment classes or other curriculum options. There is always the boxed curriculum option as well with titles such as switched on schoolhouse, and Alpha Omega Lifepacs, and online curriculum options like Time4Learning, the Jubilee Academy, and ACE School of Tomorrow, but you must remember that no boxed curriculum is going to be perfect for your child. but it will eliminate the need to write curriculum every day.
Read:
So much curriculum, so little time
Knowing you have found the right curriculum part I and part 2