Mid Year Homeschool Update

As my children age, I blog about them less.

The reasons for this are two-fold: older children don't take quite as kindly to having their lives written about on their mother's blog, and the days of cute activities (that are fun for their mother to blog about) are diminishing rapidly.

Last year my daughter and I felt we had lost the WONDER in homeschool. She wasn't happy in her schooling and I had a persistent, nagging feeling  I had sold out on her interest led learning bent. We left Classical Conversations after Challenge II and decided to forge our own path. 

My son, however, after completing four years of Foundations and three years of Essentials, was ready and excited to continue into Challenge A. 

The biggest lessons I have learned are these: we MUST listen to our homeschool mom hearts. We MUST listen to our high school children. Never forget why you began homeschooling, and never let a method or a program become an idol.

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A Personal Update 

As my children have grown, my life circumstances have changed. I guess this is the cycle of life. Sometimes I long for the days of having littles curled up on the couch with a read aloud - but then I also appreciate being able to send them both to activities now with my oldest driving and me being able to STAY HOME!  

Life is funny.

My life has changed a lot in the past year. My children have made huge emotional and educational leaps. I know have two teens in the house. One of them is driving. 

My mom passed away last summer and now I am in the midst of helping care for my dad. I've had to be gentle with myself as I grieve my mom - she was my best friend and biggest supporter and there is a huge hole in my life without her.  My family is grieving, too. We've had a lot of tears, laughs, and good memories. 

My music appreciation business is growing by leaps and bounds and I'm working nearly 30 hours a week. The SQUILT LIVE! lesson academy has given me something to sink my teeth into - and hopefully this is something I can continue to sink my teeth into when my children are grown and gone.

My husband and I are actively involved in building a new church. He's been the president of our church this year, and this takes up a lot of our family time. 

God so graciously brought me to a place this year where my children are more independent and their schooling fits with our life perfectly. I have time to help them, but time to focus on other demands in my life as well. 

Homeschooling doesn't take up time, it gives us time. It gives us the freedom and flexibility to meet life's demands and to rest easy knowing WE are educating our children.

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11th Grade Homeschool Update

Our goal this year is to allow Anna to spend more time doing things she loves and to make her last years at home enjoyable and NOT tedious. 

My largest difficulty with the Classical Conversations Challenge was the ambiguity when it came to feedback from the tutor. The tutor was NOT the teacher, and in our home that did not work well. My child needed a TEACHER - an authority on a specific subject to give her feedback and GRADES. This is what motivates my child - other children may not need that motivation, but for us it was key.

The Challenge program may work splendidly for some children, but my oldest isn't one of them.

It is also my personal feeling that subjects like Latin and Chemistry (just two examples) need a skilled expert to teach them. Yes, my child can learn from a book on her own and also through discussions in a group, but her learning style is one where she needed motivation and accountability from a teacher.

(Again, my opinion - everyone is different.)

I am thankful for the many valuable skills Anna learned in the Challenge program - public speaking, integration of subjects, placing God into EVERYTHING, and personal ownership of her education. Our time in Challenge served its place and I think stepping out when we did was wise.

11th Grade Curriculum:

Pre-Calculus  - Mr. D Math  (oh how we love Mr. D and his class format!)

AP English Language & Composition - HSLDA Academy

AP European History - Memoria Press Academy

Chemistry - local Classical School

Piano, Ukulele, & Guitar - private & group lessons

Volunteer Work - Special Needs ministry through our church

P.E. - YMCA gym membership

Anna has also been babysitting A LOT - she loves children and wants to work with them someday, so I feel this has been a great investment in her education.

Another beautiful addition to Anna's year has been a BIble study with a dear friend of mine who mentors high school girls. She has been using the book GraceLaced: Discovering Timeless Truths Through Seasons of the Heart to guide the girls through so many beautiful activities. Anna has been learning calligraphy, is being encouraged in the "ancient" practice of letter writing, and is just being encouraged on so many levels.

More and more I'm witnessing Anna taking time to be creative, and I believe letting her have control of her schedule and allowing her to branch out this year is allowing that to happen. 

11th grade is a BIG YEAR, and I wanted it to be rigorous enough, yet allow space and time for my precious girl to develop at her own pace. 

We are thankful for the freedom homeschool provides, especially in the high school years!

Oh, and we've been making some college visits, too - I'll keep you updated on that as it unfolds. I will tell you this: it's not as hard as I thought it was going to be to get a homeschooler into college! 

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7th Grade (Challenge A) Homeschool Update

One word sums up Challenge A so far.

WOW.

From the first day of Challenge A I knew this was going to be a spectacular year. 

My son's group has 11 children who are highly motivated and encourage each other on a weekly basis. These children are the closest of friends, and our families have now grown close as well. We also have a tutor who loves and encourages the children. She is committed to learning and excellence, and is also a good disciplinarian. 

I've seen the motto of Challenge A, Personal Investment Builds Ownership, develop in each of the children in the past 15 weeks. 

Our kids like to have fun, too - here they are at a recent English Country Dance practice and bonfire:

We've followed the Challenge A curriculum exactly. It is such a rich year, packed with A LOT of hard work and knowledge. 

A few observations I have now that we are halfway through the year:

• The Latin presented in Foundations is ENOUGH to prepare a child to do well in Challenge.
• The Geography knowledge is incredible - and SO valuable.
• I can see my son beginning to organize his thoughts logically because of using The Lost Tools of Writing
• It is important to let your child fail a time or two - this is the only way they learn!
• A parent needs to be engaged! I've gotten an Audible subscription and listened to the literature books so I can discuss them with Grant. I've also tried to keep up with Latin.
• It is still important to let these kids be KIDS - I try to make time and space for my son to play LEGOS, play outside, draw, and do other things he loves. The work in Challenge could easily become an idol, and I'm trying to teach him to not let that happen. 

On another note -- I think my son has grown nearly a foot this year. He is now the GIANT of his class and almost as tall as his dad (6 feet). I still give him hugs liberally each day, even though I have to stand on my tip toes to do it! 

Our new puppy, Lucky, has also been a great addition to our homeschool! 

All in all, I'm very pleased with this year. Homeschooling changes a lot when your children are older, and I am thankful for the abundant resources available to us both online and in person to help us educate our children in a manner that is appropriate for our own family.

THAT is a blessing. 

I welcome any questions you have about our homeschool. Leave them in the comments below - it is my great joy to get to know readers and to encourage others with our experiences homeschooling!

 

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Homeschool High School: Don't Lose the Wonder

Let's assume you and your child are confident in the decision to homeschool high school. That's a big step. 

Give yourself a pat on the back.  (and ignore everyone who keeps telling you they could NEVER homeschool high school!)

You are homeschooling high school so your child can pursue their passions and become their own unique self. You are homeschooling high school because you don't want all of the horrible social pressures traditional high school can bring. You are homeschooling high school to give your child something MORE - something BEAUTIFUL - something tailored to THEIR NEEDS.

Somewhere along the line, however, your child (and YOU) lose the wonder in homeschool. You're checking off boxes and meeting college entrance requirements.  Somewhere along the line you forgot  these four years are about EDUCATION, not SCHOOLING.  

Somewhere along the line you lost YOUR vision for high school and adopted someone else's. 

This happened in our homeschool, and I want to tell you how (and why) we're making a big change.

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The Blissful Early Years of Homeschool (aka "The Wonder Years")

My oldest had a wonder-filled homeschool experience in the elementary grades.  

We have so many fond memories of our days using the Five in a Row curriculum - days where we would take nature walks, bake pies, read aloud, and spend hours and hours lost in an art project.

Then there were the years where The Story of the World was our guide . Wonderful read-alouds, notebooking, and hands-on projects were the staples of our days.

If there was a science topic my daughter was interested in we would research it and find a fun lapbook.

Those were GOOD days. My daughter learned so much and she LOVED learning. 

We were so far from what a typical "classroom" looked like, but it didn't matter because I knew there was an abundance of education happening in and out of our home. 

The stakes were low in elementary school and I knew we had several years to just soak it all in. 

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And Then... Middle School

As we got into middle school, adolescence hit - motivation decreased and we needed more accountability and motivation.  

These were the years we visited a couple private schools and investigated ALL of our education options. I wondered if I could keep homeschooling through this stage of life. I wondered if my relationship with my daughter could survive it. 

Have you been there?

Ultimately, we chose the CC Challenge program  in the 7th and 8th grade years - it was an excellent fit for us.  (You can read all about our time in Challenge A and B if you'd like.) The "seriousness" of our homeschool was taken up a notch and I felt  we were getting the guidance and direction we needed for those years. 

Throughout these years my daughter was showing a natural bent towards music (she played the piano and sang in a large children's chorus). She loved volunteering at a local preschool. She was showing some interest in the special needs ministry at our church.  

I won't tell you these years were easy, because they weren't.  But, I know this time around (as my son approaches 7th grade this year) that these changes are NORMAL - I don't take things so personally, and I am well aware of the turmoil that occurs in children during these years. 

As we moved toward  high school we had a few doubts about continuing with the Challenge program, but because we had been pleased in Challenge A and B and also because it is just such a beautiful curriculum, we forged ahead and committed to the Challenge years for high school.

I had a nagging feeling that we should maybe step away from Challenge and return our interest led routes, but in all honesty I was fearful: fearful about how I was going to transcript high school, fearful about college admissions, and fearful about how we would compare to everyone else.

(I confronted this fear I had --- even writing a blog post about it -- and felt equipped to tackle the future.)

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Homeschool High School: Why MY Plan Didn't Work

My daughter 9th grade year -- Challenge I -- was a year rich in American history, music theory, personal finance, and all of the beautiful things Challenge I had to offer.  Her tutor that year was truly a gift and invested a great deal in each student. It was a GOOD year, but I noticed that WONDER of learning was fading.

I assumed this was just part of being a teenager. 

I began to notice my daughter  spending A LOT of time doing her schoolwork. She didn't have time that year to volunteer at the preschool. Her piano practice suffered. While I knew she was learning a lot of valuable information, I had the nagging feeling we were losing what made Anna uniquely "Anna" in the process.

Once again, I assumed this was just what would happen - it was a natural part of growing up, a natural part of the high school years. 

As we made the decision for schooling in 10th grade we decided once again to enroll in Challenge (this time Challenge II) -- most of the children in her group were moving up and it seemed like the logical choice. This was our trajectory for high school.

It was settled.

Anna's 10th grade year in Challenge II was full of beautiful subject matter,  but extremely literature intensive. She had always been my child who loved to read, but the volume and intensity of the British Literature in Challenge II virtually killed her love of reading. 

I told myself this was probably normal and that she would love reading again one day (or would she?) .

I loved that Anna was learning Latin (we had invested in the Memoria Press online Henle Latin classes and she was doing well - having completed Latin I and Latin II) - but she didn't like Latin and was begging me to take sign language.

Another big thing  she WANTED was more of a regular classroom experience. In a very mature thought, she told me if she was accountable to a teacher she would be happier. She longed to have traditional grades and assignments. My normally shy, reserved child (who doesn't like new situations) was requesting to try something NEW.  

While she did learn a lot in her 10th grade year,  we strove to keep her involved in the things she loved. These loves, however, were always on the fringes of her "education". She was having to fit them in AFTER her regular school work.

As Anna and I sat and talked in the middle of the year, we started contemplating stepping away from Challenge so she could make those LOVES her education. She didn't feel a connection to her education. Somewhere along the line we had lost the wonder, and we BOTH agreed we wanted it back. 

Somewhere along the line I had stopped listening to what my daughter wanted and started listening to what others said. 

Please don't misunderstand - she learned MANY valuable things in her Challenge years. She is well read, articulate, and well versed in the fine arts. She has a good understanding of Latin and geography. She understands how everything is connected and how God is a part of everything. She can debate skillfully and carry on a beautiful conversation. 

There was a definite time and place for her Challenge education.  I know many wonderful young people that have schooled all the way through high school with Challenge. It just isn't the plan for us, so we can step away and make a new plan - and that's the beauty of homeschool.

God orchestrates everything for a reason, so I cannot look back and wonder why we made the choices we made.

All I could do was honor my daughter's request for her final high school years. 

The "Plan" for 11th Grade

Once the decision was made to NOT return to Challenge III for 11th grade, it seemed like a huge weight was lifted from all of us.

She still needed the required credits for graduation, but we could go about them in a more flexible way.

Anna and I sat down with the high school graduation requirements and also the Music Therapy entrance requirements at a college here in Georgia (Anna would REALLY like to pursue Music Therapy.)

She decided she needed to start learning to play guitar (in addition to piano) to prepare her for Music Therapy. We found a FABULOUS guitar teacher who has done such beautiful things with Anna. She was thrilled that I honored her request to learn guitar - and she has done so much in just a few months! (This is my reserved child that vowed she would never sing alone in front of people.)

She wants to volunteer at a local school for children with special needs.

In speaking to a few college admissions offices I knew that a mixture of AP and dual enrollment classes are a good idea. I started to gain confidence about us designing a junior year that would be rigorous, yet interest led and more full of wonder for Anna.

So, what does this schedule for the coming year look like?

• AP European History  (taken through HSLDA Academy)
• AP Language & Composition (taken through Memoria Press Online Academy)
• Pre-Calculus & Trigonometry (taken through Mr. D Math) OR Dual Enrollment College Math
• Chemistry (taken through a local Classical school)
• Sign Language (taken through a local homeschool academy)
• Guitar and piano
• Volunteer work with a special needs club & music ministry and babysitting

Now that we are in the summer before 11th grade, I see a big change in my daughter. Her delight and love of learning have returned. She has her nose stuck in a book again. She's keeping a practice schedule for her piano and guitar, even though it's summer. 

I believe she has been freed up to be herself  once I removed MY PLAN from her education. 

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My Advice (For What It's Worth) For Homeschooling High School

My advice to you is this:  

Listen to your child.

Listen to your heart.

Pray.

Pray some more.

Make yourself aware of all of the education options, but please don't be swayed by accreditation. I'm finding being unaccredited actually helps a child stand out during the college admissions process. 

Sit down with your child and map out all of the credits they will need. Give them a hand in planning their high school years. Make sure it includes what they love to do. Ensure you are giving them opportunities to shine. 

Seek opportunities for other adults to build into your child. 

If your child is the type that needs accountability, make sure they have it. 

Remind yourself of WHY you started homeschooling in the first place. There is no need to compromise during the home stretch of your journey.  There is always a way to work things out if you and your child desire to homeschool.

ENJOY the process. Spend a lot of time with your child - because whether you think so or not, they really crave your attention. 

Most importantly, NEVER forget your child's heart.

As I look back on all of the stages of homeschool each one has its highs and lows. Now that we're approaching the end of high school I'm thankful I get to hang out with a really cool kid - a precious gift from God that has been entrusted to me for a short time.

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So, that's our story.  So many of you have written asking about this. I hope it's answered your questions.

Talk to me about your homeschool high school journey. How is it going?

You might also like:

The Truth About Homeschooling High School

Homeschool Math With Mr. D