Week in review August 25-29 2014

We have finished our second week and actually started our 3rd also since we are only going to school 3 days next week.  Things are going much better!  As I have related other places I was really going through some doubts and frustration that first week, not sure if he was going to be able to handle HOD for highschool.  I spent time talking to dh and more time talking to God and God revealed to me several things that helped me to adjust my thinking and my expectations. 

In science he did another experiment this week and also many days he did 2 lessons instead of 1.  This is a challenge for him and I can tell he starts to wear out because he always misses more in the second lesson than the first.  We have talked about that and the need to stay focused all the way until the end. 

He is enjoying logic, but it is hard for him.  He got very frustrated this week when the numbering was wrong for the questions at the end of the chapter-they left out number 4 and 5.  This threw his answer sheet off and as a result we aren't sure if he really missed ones or if it was due to the numbering.  I tried to model for him that it wasn't a big deal and that the important thing is just to look at the answers and make sure he understood why they answered the way they did. 

Spanish is still his favorite part of the day.  Filling out the workbook is tough, but he is really enjoying learning the new words.

I really like the EIW program.  I like how it breaks things down and has him practice individual skills before moving to the essays. 

One unique thing we are doing with the guide is in regards to the book Practical Happiness.  He reads and annotates it on day 4, but he waits to discuss it until Saturday morning when he and his dad go out to breakfast together.  My dh is reading the book right along with N and so far they have had really good discussions and they both look forward to that time.

He did a better job on both written and oral narrations this week.  It is still a work in progress, but I am learning that's ok.  It's ok for him to grow into the high school level skills.  He dictated the generations chart to me.  I really try and pick and choose where all his energy goes.  I figured the important part of this was reading through the bible and picking out the generations, not the actual writing part.  He is getting better and better at picking out phrases from the text to make bullet points of his readings.  This time it was about Petra. 

He also drew his first map this week.  I was very impressed he didn't ask for help with the labeling.  He did it all by himself.  He said it was hard and wore his hand out but he did it.

As for Literature he did do better this week.  He still struggles with things like atmosphere and mood and finding examples of persuasion, but I realized after looking at the WH guide sneak peek that he will continue to have exposure to these things next year, so I decided to teach it the best I can and move on.

His favorite part of the week is something called BEAST class.  This counts as his physical education.  The acronym stands for Boys Endurance Agility and Strength Training class.  He gets to work on all the free running, parkour, American Ninja Warrior moves that are truly his passion right now.  Here is a video of one of those.  Here he is practicing his front and back flips.

 

I hope this post is an encouragement for anyone else that started out kind of rough that things really will get better.

First week in review of the new school year!

We officially started the World Geography High School guide this week.  I have to admit to being very apprehensive prior to the start of this guide.  I am well aware of the challenges that N faces with certain things and I knew some things were going to be overwhelming for him.  I would like to say I was wrong and that this week went super smooth, but I want to be honest on this blog, so I will say that we have had smoother starts.  It did get better as the week went on.  Here he  is in the traditional first day of school pic.

First I have to say I am impressed with this guide and how it is all put together.  There are so many skills that are imbedded in the different boxes.  This week he worked on taking notes from a reading, drawing a sketch from just a description, annotating, writing a one sentence summary, answered thought provoking questions about literature, searched his reading for phrases to describe 4 different religions and of course did a written and 2 oral narrations. 

In history he read A World of Discovery on the first day and he struggled with understanding this reading and said he didn't even know where to start with an oral key word narration.  I could tell his frustration was real so I let him go back and read a paragraph at a time and then narrate to me.  Not ideal and I know he should be past this point at his age, but it was the only way he could do it.  I am hoping as he moves further into this book he will get back to narrating in more typical fashion.  The rest of the week he read the Archaeology book and did well with it.  His written narration lacked life and was back to a just the facts type of narration, but I didn't have him add too much since this book is written in a somewhat just the facts kind of way. He drew a sketch of the pyramids(I labeled them as directed by him) and he drew a sketch of how they might have moved the stones up to build the pyramids. The DVD's that go with the World Geography are great and really help bring the readings to life.

In Science he did an experiment the first day just to get the hang of the scientific process.  He is going to like this lab kit and guide.  He is doing very well with answering the questions at the end of the reading.

The bible study is challenging.  I am trying to not grade too tightly because I don't want him to feel like he is failing at studying the bible. So if he can explain to me why he answered the way he did then I count it.  If he is way off we discuss it in a pretty casual way.  He is working on memorizing his first verses of the year and he was instructed to put them to a tune today.  He was quite dramatic in his delivery. (on a side note this is my favorite shirt of his, it truly describes who he is).

He is doing well with his World Religions and Cultures assignments.  He did need some guidance in taking a word description and putting it into a drawing.  He made his chart this way on purpose so that things lined up with each other.  We both love the look of the ivory copy paper that he is typing things on for this notebook.

Literature was the big bump in the road this week.  He really struggled to understand the first story and pretty much missed the entire climax.  It was frustrating for me and for him.  Unfortunately this gave him less than a positive attitude towards lit.  He was supposed to type the answers to the end of story questions the next day and the thought had him near tears, so I let him answer verbally and he and I set a goal of next time typing 1 and answering the rest orally and eventually by mid year work up to typing them all when scheduled. 

He loves Spanish and Logic.  The logic doesn't come easy for him, but he likes the way the book is written.

I was very discouraged at the beginning of the week, but then God reminded me that high school isn't a sprint it is a marathon and I need to set small goals for him to achieve and not expect him to have it all down just yet. 

Why we chose to homeschool

I have read a few posts by friends of mine talking about why they chose to homeschool.  I also recently heard someone say that they see no advantage to homeschooling over public school if the parent is an involved parent.  These 2 things really got me thinking about our reasons for homeschooling and what advantages I see for our children.  Notice I said see for our children.  I don't presume to know what is best for other peoples kids.  I can only state what the advantages are over public school for my 2 kids.  I don't want this post to make anyone who has their kids in ps  feel bad or as if I am knocking your choice.  This post is just designed to give insight into our homeschooling journey.

N. was in ps up through 4th grade.  He had a pretty rough 2nd grade year due to a teacher that truly didn't understand his physical challenges.  He also had quite a few experiences with bullying.  He came out of 2nd grade feeling frustrated and "less than".  He then went into 3rd and 4th grade where he had 2 great teachers who truly understood him and he regained some of his confidence.  He struggled a little with what we thought was reading comprehension, but we later found out was short term memory issues.  Towards the end of 3rd grade he told me he would stay in ps through 4th grade, but then he was going to be homeschooled.  Honestly I had thought about homeschooling, but I truly didn't think I could do it.  I didn't think I had the patience, knowledge etc.  I laughed at him when he told me this.  Well God started changing my heart bit by bit and as I researched homeschooling I could see so many advantages for N.  I finally got up the nerve to bring it up with him again and ask him why he wanted to be homeschooled and he replied that then he wouldn't feel rushed and could actually take time with his work.  He also said that he wouldn't have to feel out of place for having a laptop and typing up his work.  His last reason was that he could study the Bible and learn about God as part of his daily school at home, and he couldn't do that at school. These reasons were pretty hard to argue with.  God had given him some remarkable insight for a 9 year old.  So after much prayer we brought him home.  God led us to the Heart of Dakota curriculum, which is very Christ centered and also includes lots of hands on activities.  At first glance it looked like a poor fit for N. since it included lots of reading, copywork, writing and drawing.  These were all things he had big struggles with.  However, the curriculum has been wonderful for him.  He has discovered that he can write, that there are books he enjoys and that he loves to draw.  For the most part he truly enjoys each day of school. 

When we brought N. home S said no way was she coming home, so she went to 9th grade determined to love it.  9th grade proved to be very different than previous years.  Bullying that had always existed, but had been controlled by school staff, escalated.  Now she also had the added issues of sexual harassment.  She was in gifted classes for all things except math and electives.  The classes that were not gifted classes were miserable for her.  The pace was way too slow and the teacher spent the majority of the class time dealing with behavior issues.  The gifted classes moved at a better pace, but she dealt with a teacher that was very condescending towards her Christian faith and her belief in creation.  I watched her become a different child who went from smiling and laughing to one who was angry and sullen.  At Christmas of her 9th grade year she told us she might want to come home the following year, by spring break she told us she was sure of her decision and asked if would I homeschool her for the remaining years of her education.  I was terrified-how was I, someone brand new to homeschooling, going to tackle  high school!  Once again the adage of if God calls you to something he will supply the ability and strength to answer His call, was shown to be very true.  She thrived with homeschooling and graduated and has gone on to a Christian university.

So that is how we came to homeschool and why.  Here are some of the advantages I have seen for my kids.  For N. I am able to adjust things specifically for him.  I import pdf's onto the Ipad and he types on to them.  He types most of his work and knows how to manipulate things in Microsoft Word in order to make our tweaks work with the HOD notebook pages. He can take as much time as he wants to do his work.  If he doesn't remember something after reading it once he can go back and read it again without worrying about holding others up or getting teased for not understanding something. He is truly able to work at whatever pace he needs.  If we want to stretch math out over the summer because I supplemented with another curriculum then we can do that.   I have been able to introduce him to wonderful books full of stories of missionaries, martyrs and others who endured hardships and overcame their own personal "handicaps" to do wonderful things to further God's kingdom. He has the bible incorporated into every subject from history to science to grammar.  He has time to pursue his interests such as getting his black belt in karate, taking a few years of trombone lessons, golf lessons and parkour gymnastics.  Yes, theoretically he could have done those things while in ps, but honestly homework just took up too much time and we felt  stressed as a family so we wouldn't have signed him up for many of these things. 

For S. she was able to work at her own pace which was a more accelerated pace.  She could finish her day fairly quickly and have time to have a job, do church activities and volunteer in a classroom with kids with special needs. This led to her deciding to major in special education and early elementary education.  She took college classes online her senior year and went into college with 12 credits from that same college.  She was able for the first time study school subjects from a Christian, bible based perspective.  She loved having textbooks that had this point of view.  She felt like at school she was spoon fed deadlines, what would be on a test, exactly what to write and how to study.  At home I backed off and had her figure out some of those things on her own.  This has really helped her in college. 

As for me I have discovered that I love homeschooling my kids!  I have seen God's provisions in ways I never had before.  He has given me friendships I wouldn't have had except for homeschooling and he has pushed me in ways that have been difficult, but on the other side I can see how He was molding me or refining me.  The part of me that was put on the back burner when I stopped working as a pediatric physical therapist has found an outlet in homeschooling my son with some unique learning needs.  God has brought others into my life whose kids have similar needs and hopefully some of the things I have learned have  helped them also.  My only regret is that I didn't bring them home sooner, but when I feel like that I have to remember this wasn't orchestrated by me it was orchestrated by God and His timing is perfect.