Retired Homeschool Mom (formerly Learning Together)
~ thoughts on home, family, friendship, creating, homeschooling, marriage, faith and life in general now that my nest is empty but my days are still full!
My youngest is a slow reader, and struggles with finishing the sections on timed tests. He has always scored right around 50% -ish on his annual standardized tests. He has taken the ACT test twice, and his scores are okay, but did not meet the minimum for registering for college-transfer classes at the community college, which has been the plan for his senior year/5th year of high school. So yesterday he took the placement test at the local community college campus. Those scores can be used in lieu of ACT or SAT scores, but there is a minimum score required in order to register for classes in the college pathway. If he didn't make the minimum score, it would be back to the drawing board. No pressure, right?
The test, NC DAP, has 3 sections - Math, English/Reading, and Essay. All but the essay is untimed, and there is a 2 hour limit for the essay. It is all on the computer and you get the results immediately. Jason spent 2 weeks reviewing algebra with his dad, and doing some practice essays from prompts. It took him 4 hours to complete the test, and then he sat down with Ms. Hudgins, who oversaw the testing, for his results.
He passed with flying colors, and she commented that she always can tell which kids are homeschooled because they are the "child geniuses"!! That made him feel pretty good.
PTL!!!
Obviously, the timed factor is a big issue for him, and we will have to address that going forward. But now he is walking around the house telling his siblings, "You can address me as Child Genius."
Our homeschool year is wrapping up, with just a few more days until "summer" activities start. Jason, my youngest, is finishing his 4th year of our 5-year high school, and will be a senior next year. I can't even begin... nope, not yet, too soon.
Tomorrow is our support group graduation ceremony, with 37 homeschooled students receiving their diplomas from mom and dad. Jason is serving as a Junior Marshall and I, as a member of the Graduation Planning Committee, am running rehearsal this evening for seniors and their parents. We'll go over the schedule for tomorrow, show everyone where to sit, the seniors will practice walking in to Pomp & Circumstance, the groups of seniors and parents will practice walking on and off the stage, finding their marks, learning how to hold the microphone. "Fist on the chest, not on the belly." We'll watch the slide shows of "baby to grad" pictures, as well as the group shots from the 2 senior photo shoots we held during the year - playful shots of blowing bubbles, hula hooping, playing croquet, and cap & gown photos, both serious and raucous! There will be a few tears.
Next year my husband and I will be up there with our 5th and youngest, handing over a diploma and saying goodbye to 22 years of homeschooling. I can't even begin... nope, not yet, too soon.
Last weekend, we celebrated the achievement of my youngest daughter at her college graduation. Amanda graduated with honors, with a B.S. in Child Development. She finished her degree on time, in 8 semesters, even after transferring colleges and changing majors after her freshman year. This is the same child who couldn't read a chapter book until age 12, who took 2 years to get through 6th grade math, who barely squeaked through chemistry after trying 3 different curriculums in 3 years.
She didn't love school. She took a year off after high school because she didn't know if she wanted any more school, but did decide to go for it, applied to a few colleges and got accepted to one (not her first choice) cried through some of her college courses that she was sure she was failing (but never actually did), made good enough grades to transfer to the college she really wanted to go to, and found her niche. At the department reception before the college graduation ceremony, her professor gushed over how amazing she is. ( yes, I know!) She has a job lined up that might not look "successful" to some, based on the pay, but it is an amazing opportunity to help expand a ministry working with immigrant/refugee children in a city apartment complex - running a morning preschool program and an after school tutoring program. She has been interning there for the past semester, her supervisors love her, the kids love her, and SHE loves what she is doing.
My philosophy has always been to take the time we need to learn something, even if it is faster or slower than expected, and to give attention to ALL areas of growth - academic, artistic, relational, practical , emotional, spiritual, physical, etc. Even though one of our children was struggling in math or reading or writing, we didn't cut back on things like sports, time with friends, music lessons, camp activities, volunteer work, church involvement, etc. Those other areas were equally important in their overall development and happiness, and that is what I think contributes to ultimate success in life. Not just taking he hardest courses or getting the highest grades or getting the highest paying job. I know, pretty radical thinking.
I am holding onto summer for a couple more weeks! Jason and Amanda have been working at New Life Camp all summer, as a cabin counselor and First Aid Provider, and they live there Sunday through Friday. Saturday has been for catching up on sleep. Period. Jason finished work last week in order to attend an elite basketball camp at North Ridge Basketball Academy this week, and today is Amanda's last day of work, as she has to get ready to head back to college next week for her senior year.
I feel like I've been working on school planning all summer, but really, I've been planning a little here and there and letting myself get distracted by anything and everything in between. Now suddenly the August calendar is staring at me in the face.. and you know, school starts in August. I still have a couple of weeks to finish getting things lined up and an in order, but that's close enough to give me mini-heart-palpitations.
This is our 11th grade school plan for 2015-2016.. with room for tweaking still. This might seem like a lot, but he doesn't do every subject every day, and some subjects are much lighter than others. A couple of them are credits being spread over 2 or more years.
English - I teach this class in my living room 2 times a week for my son and a small group of friends. We focus on literature, vocabulary, and some writing. The first book we are studying is The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, followed by To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Les Miserable by Victor Hugo, and The Chosen by Chaim Potok. I still have to choose another one or two books to round out the year. I use a number of resources, including some Progeny Press study guides, as well as online study guides and lesson plans I find free online.
Math - Jason finished Algebra 2 last year, but since he isn't a confident math student, my husband is going to spend the 1st semester reviewing Algebra 1 and 2 with him, and then hope to enroll him in Statistics online through the community college in the spring.
History -We are continuing an American history program we started last year. It is Dave Raymond's America History Part 1, which we purchased as a download, and consists of lectures watched on the computer, supplemented by a Student Reader. Since reading is hard work for my son (convergence insufficiency), I look for some courses with limited reading, and this fits that bill. When we finish, we'll move right into Part 2.
Economics - second semester; haven't chosen a curriculum yet; possibly Notgrass, possibly Bluestocking Press. I also have some lectures on CD from The Teaching Company that could supplement. I have all of those on my bookshelves. Also, he'll be working through Dave Ramsey's Foundations in Personal Finance over the next 2 years.(available at 40% discount through 8/31/15 here)
Geography - I am a geography lover, so we'll continue to use maps and books and websites like education.NationalGeographic.com to learn about the world. By graduation he will have accumulated a 1/2 credit. Anatomy - Jason will be taking Anatomy, using Apologia's Advanced Biology: The Human Body,
in a class meeting once a week with the same teacher who taught the Biology and Chemistry classes he took at New Life Camp.
Spanish 2 - He will continue his Spanish studies at New Life Camp with Sra. Dean.
Christian Worldview - I am leading this class as well, with a group of about 8 teens. We'll be watching, discussing, and journaling about several DVD series: For the Life of the World from The Acton Institute, The Truth Project from Focus on the Family , Doing the Right Thing from The Colson Center.
Physical Education - Jason is a varsity basketball player on our homeschool team, which competes against other homeschool teams as well as private and charter school teams in the area. He works with a personal coach once a week for skills development and once a week for something called "Explode" training, which is working on strength, speed and jumping ability. He also goes to the Y and works out during the week and plays pick up basketball with a group of adults once or twice a week.
