Giving up on ("academic") classes?

[Mizelenius]

We are pretty unschooly, but I still wanted to put my DD (8) in at least one "academic" class. I found a co-op, which I thought would be a good way to be part of a homeschooling community (one I don't have to organize!) and expose her to new ideas.

DD went today again (she was in it last spring as well) for the first time and was miserable. She resisted going, and afterward, did not want to go back. This was for a class geared toward 6-9 year olds. HOWEVER, she happened to see a class listed geared toward 12+ (but they would let in 10 y.o.s) and said she'd rather be going to that one.

I asked the teacher about the age minimum, and she was very nice about it, but no . . .DD could not get in. When she explained all the work involved, I had DD listen, thinking she would think, "Nah, too much work!" but to my surprise, she said, "OK, OK! I'd like to do that!" This seems to happen again and again. The classes that DD is qualified for age-wise do not challenge her.

Do I keep her in the class I signed her up for? (And yes, I was the one who signed her up . . .she did not ask!) Do I give up on academic classes? The class DD wanted is not one I can exactly do at home . . .it involves group discussion as well as acting (Shakespeare class). We'll do the reading/writing part but not much else I can do about the rest, I guess.

TIA!

[midnightwriter]

Originally Posted by Mizelenius

We are pretty unschooly, but I still wanted to put my DD (8) in at least one "academic" class. I found a co-op, which I thought would be a good way to be part of a homeschooling community (one I don't have to organize!) and expose her to new ideas.

DD went today again (she was in it last spring as well) for the first time and was miserable. She resisted going, and afterward, did not want to go back. This was for a class geared toward 6-9 year olds. HOWEVER, she happened to see a class listed geared toward 12+ (but they would let in 10 y.o.s) and said she'd rather be going to that one.

I asked the teacher about the age minimum, and she was very nice about it, but no . . .DD could not get in. When she explained all the work involved, I had DD listen, thinking she would think, "Nah, too much work!" but to my surprise, she said, "OK, OK! I'd like to do that!" This seems to happen again and again. The classes that DD is qualified for age-wise do not challenge her.

Do I keep her in the class I signed her up for? (And yes, I was the one who signed her up . . .she did not ask!) Do I give up on academic classes? The class DD wanted is not one I can exactly do at home . . .it involves group discussion as well as acting (Shakespeare class). We'll do the reading/writing part but not much else I can do about the rest, I guess.

TIA!

I wouldn't keep her in--if she is resisting the class, she is unlikely to learn anything anyway. Besides, it won't be a lesson of "you chose something, you stick with it", as you signed her up. And even if it was, I often question the value of those lessons. Why to keep her miserable?

[mom2ponygirl]

We've had similar frustrations with academic homeschool classes and some community classes. We've found reasonable fits when dd is at the bottom of the suggested age range, for example, at age 9 for a 9 to 11 year old class. Ironically, I've found our local homeschool co-op to be more rigid about age guidelines than library classes or a local school.

I wish I had a solution for you, but we're still searching as well!