What should I teach first

Depends on the kid(I’d get her opinion, this is one of those issues where the kiddo can take ownership and she’s more likely to be more enthusiastic about it)… but I’d lean towards starting with something to be successful with… and ending with something to be successful with too. Do structure things so that the tough stuff can’t be avoided — but make it finite. So from 10 to 11 you’ll work on X (you may have to negotiate what *must* get done in that time or worked on later… but you may also want to build in a *lot* of success in the first few months to build some confidence, too.)

WHat work are you doing on skills; what is touigh and what is easy?

In general we try to do the tougher stuff first, and do the easier tasks toward the end of our lessons. Just try to start and end on a positive note- a short, successful assignment to start with, move on to the hard stuff, take a break and then come back and do some interesting and enjoyable work.

The temptation is to assign too much work, especially in areas that she needs to “catch up” on. SHORT daily lessons that she can handle with sucess will get you further in the long run than dragging lessons out to the point that she isn’t concentrating, starts to get confused and frustrated, etc. You may want to break up math lessons into two shorter periods, or follow a tough grammar lesson with a short break before you tackle spelling.

Be sure to keep track of her progress so that she can easily see the gains she is making- for example, a list of books on tape that she’s listened to, a chart for noting practice on math facts, etc.

Hope this helps.

Jean

For my daughter, we do the toughest first and divide it up into two sittings, then after the worst is behind her, so to speak, she enjoys the rest. Getting up and on task always helps her , too, so she has more free time at the end of the day. Good luck!