farmfamily,
You have already gotten such good responses from the ladies as you ponder through this stage that your daughter is entering.
So, I'll just add a few things that I've discovered through my years teaching in the classroom and now homeschooling with the various personalities and dynamics that make up our home.
First I'll share that whenever my boys begin to make a fuss over not doing something that is typically a part of our schooling, I tend to take that pretty seriously. While I don't want to overreact, I also don't want to make a quick decision and just forego that particular area, simply because I need my kiddos to know that when I assign something I expect it to be completed without complaint and with a cheerful spirit.
In my mind, it is a differing situation when I decide that we need to shorten an assignment, or do it orally instead of writing it, or go over something in an abbreviated fashion. However, when it seems that my student is deciding whether or not we do an assignment simply by his reaction, it is now something that I need to ponder a bit more and get to the root of any heart issues that may be ruling the situation. While it can be as easy an answer as the student just really doesn't want to do the assignment, the greater worry in my mind is the pattern that is set up when the students feels he/she can get me to omit something, simply based on his/her attitude.
This is when age begins to play a huge role in how I react to my student in this type of situation.
With my high school student, I will often sit down and discuss possible options. With my younger kiddos, I pretty much never take away an assignment completely. I will always do it in some form, and usually I just do exactly what is written. This is because many things at a younger age are about training a child in first-time obedience and in complying with a happy heart. Honestly, I've found through 23 years of teaching kiddos that the less negotiating that goes on during our day is better for promoting these habits. When my kiddos know they are required to complete what is set before them, with a cheerful and at the very least obedient spirit, our days go better. When I allow their attitudes to affect what I require of them, I suddenly have opened a can of worms where every assignment is now open to discussion or modification.
With this in mind, even if your daughter has been a very compliant sweet-spirited child up to this point, it is good to know that she is beginning to be at an age where she is wishing to assert her opinions and is testing the waters for your reaction.
While you could just skip the projects and forego the battle, it is wise to consider what you will do when she reacts this way to the next thing she discovers is not her favorite.
I agree that since you have covered so many genres in a short time with DITHR, it is possible that you need a bit of a change in your schedule. So, I would advise doing formal DITHR 3 times a week and then just reading on the remaining two days of the week. In this type of schedule, you could either have her do her DITHR book all 5 days, with only 3 days of formal DITHR work (and just two days of reading a chapter from the same book); or you could have her save her DITHR book only for her formal DITHR days and have her just free-read on her off-DITHR days.
I would keep this schedule for her year of Bigger Hearts. When you head into Preparing Hearts though, she will only do DITHR 3 times weekly, with no extra reading on her off-days. This is because the reading in other subjects really begins to pick up then, and we don't want to overwhelm her.
I will share that my own boys are avid readers and that they often wish they could charge ahead in their DITHR books. Yet, I remind them that the DITHR books are meant to be savored and read at a slower pace, like enjoying a good meal. This is a different type of reading then the immersing themselves in a book reading they do in their free-time. When my boys understand that there are two-different types of reading, and in DITHR we're seeking the more CM "living with a book for a longer period of time experience", they function better.
When you arrive at the project in DITHR, I would have your daughter do it. I would expect a cheerful spirit. I would address her attitude toward the projects as a heart issue and gently and lovingly talk with her about her attitude. I would also help her see that since she loves arts and crafts that you want to see that enthusiasm in her DITHR project. If you need to stray a bit (or even quite a bit) from the prescribed project to allow her to include more of her personality in the project do that by all means. Allow a bit of freedom in the project, just make sure that it somehow resembles something from the original instructions (so she isn't just running the entire show and making up her own project entirely).
The projects encourage a child to pause and really internalize and think upon the book that he/she has read. I know my boys remember the books best that they have done as projects for DITHR. This is because the project gives them a chance to pause and ruminate, before rushing headlong into the next book. If you think about it, the things we remember best are those that we "sit with" and ponder long after the reading, movie, audio, or video are done. They are the things that we share with others and through the sharing become etched in our memories for all time.
If you forego the project, you are missing this opportunity to ruminate, ponder, and share.
Since it is truly your homeschool, you can do whatever you decide is best. You also know your daughter better than I do, and you may feel that what I am sharing is off-base. I just didn't want to let this thread pass, without sharing some lessons I've learned from years of working with hundreds of different kiddos.
I always try to remember that the habits of our children will last a lifetime, long after the assignments are done and filed away. This leads me to always ask what habits are being formed in my students by my actions as a teacher. Parenting and teaching are two different roles, yet as homeschool parents the training of our children overlaps into both roles affecting our entire day!
This makes the habit training of our children a priority as we look to the many years that remain ahead of us on this homeschool journey.
Blessings,
Carrie
they are a great at to review and add hands on for kids who like hand on.
Well. As Scarlet would say, tomorrow is another day. Better pull out all my books and give them a read through for tomorrows lesson! *facepalm*