Our Academy 2013-2014
We actually began school on August 5th (did I mention I'm a little behind blogging?) this year. It was never my intention to take the summer off, but really, I need that time to a) tackle the mountains of laundry that has accumulated over the past 9 months b) clean out the cobwebs, dust the vents, and all the gazillion other chores that go undone during our school year, and c) PLAN for the next year. This year I have a sophomore, an 8th grader, a 6th grader, and a 3rd grader...legally that is.
Really, my 10th grader has Aspergers and some learning issues that mean he can work at about a 6th grade level independently...if only I could get him to do ANYTHING independently. Last year he worked at grade level, but I did everything with him. EVERYTHING. This year, my other "bookend" needs my attention, and so I looked into putting him in a local school for ahem, kids like him...but that just wasn't going to work. And since he won't do anything for me, that means his school year is a little different. I had planned for him to do one subject at a time- kind of like extreme block scheduling, but he doesn't really do anything I plan for him, so that's out the window. Now, his school plan is piano, reading the books I get him (taken from lists of Sonlight/Winter's Promise/LLATL, etc.), and homeschool programming (look for that review tomorrow)...and a once a week internship with his father. He plays with the worship band at church, participates in youth group, and does weekly Bible time with our pastor. That's just going to have to be good enough for now. So far, he's read all of the Maze Runner trilogy, and the prequel whose name escapes me, The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas, The Way of the Sword, The Way of the Samurai, and The Way of the Dragon, and The Wednesday Wars.
Mimi and TJ share a LOT of subjects and basically work at the same grade level. They are both finishing 7th grade Teaching Textbooks. After that, they will move into pre-algebra with The Great Courses. They and their younger sister Sari are doing Mystery of History II. We bring in mapwork, copywork, drawing, and readers to augment that. We also do one read-aloud, sometimes topical, sometimes not. Right now, it's not. It's called Dandelion Fire, and I DON'T recommend it! The first book, 100 Cupboards, was decent, and we listened to it as an audio. No local library has the next two books on audio, so we decided to read it aloud. I can't wait until it's over. They both do spelling on Spelling City, where I make up their lists. Both are working through a Precept study called Lord, Teach Me to Pray for Kids. We are doing creative writing on Wednesdays, critical thinking on Thursday, and art on Friday. They diverge on Science- Mimi is doing Physical Science with a co-op, and TJ is doing Apologia Astronomy for the fall, and possibly the new Chemistry and Physics for the spring.
Sari is terribly, terribly "behind". Behind enough to just embrace the "delayed academics" approach so at least it seems intentional ;-). She and I are working on All About Reading Level 2, All About Spelling Level 1, and RightStart Math Level B. She also spends independent time on the computer doing Reading Eggs (she has finally finished all the basic levels!), Ooka Island, and Always IceCream. And, like I said, she does MOH II and the read alouds with us.
We are on week 5 of school, and we follow a "Sabbath week" schedule: 6 week on/one week off. It works brilliantly for us, but in order to finish school by Memorial Day, we had to start 2 weeks ahead of our local public schools. I plan during our "off week", and the kids get to do fun activities. We also spend at least one day at a theme park during that week. YAY!
So that's the brief, uber-real synopsis. Add in ballet, silk, and soccer, and our days our full. I'm very blessed!
Really, my 10th grader has Aspergers and some learning issues that mean he can work at about a 6th grade level independently...if only I could get him to do ANYTHING independently. Last year he worked at grade level, but I did everything with him. EVERYTHING. This year, my other "bookend" needs my attention, and so I looked into putting him in a local school for ahem, kids like him...but that just wasn't going to work. And since he won't do anything for me, that means his school year is a little different. I had planned for him to do one subject at a time- kind of like extreme block scheduling, but he doesn't really do anything I plan for him, so that's out the window. Now, his school plan is piano, reading the books I get him (taken from lists of Sonlight/Winter's Promise/LLATL, etc.), and homeschool programming (look for that review tomorrow)...and a once a week internship with his father. He plays with the worship band at church, participates in youth group, and does weekly Bible time with our pastor. That's just going to have to be good enough for now. So far, he's read all of the Maze Runner trilogy, and the prequel whose name escapes me, The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas, The Way of the Sword, The Way of the Samurai, and The Way of the Dragon, and The Wednesday Wars.
Mimi and TJ share a LOT of subjects and basically work at the same grade level. They are both finishing 7th grade Teaching Textbooks. After that, they will move into pre-algebra with The Great Courses. They and their younger sister Sari are doing Mystery of History II. We bring in mapwork, copywork, drawing, and readers to augment that. We also do one read-aloud, sometimes topical, sometimes not. Right now, it's not. It's called Dandelion Fire, and I DON'T recommend it! The first book, 100 Cupboards, was decent, and we listened to it as an audio. No local library has the next two books on audio, so we decided to read it aloud.
Sari is terribly, terribly "behind". Behind enough to just embrace the "delayed academics" approach so at least it seems intentional ;-). She and I are working on All About Reading Level 2, All About Spelling Level 1, and RightStart Math Level B. She also spends independent time on the computer doing Reading Eggs (she has finally finished all the basic levels!), Ooka Island, and Always IceCream. And, like I said, she does MOH II and the read alouds with us.
We are on week 5 of school, and we follow a "Sabbath week" schedule: 6 week on/one week off. It works brilliantly for us, but in order to finish school by Memorial Day, we had to start 2 weeks ahead of our local public schools. I plan during our "off week", and the kids get to do fun activities. We also spend at least one day at a theme park during that week. YAY!
So that's the brief, uber-real synopsis. Add in ballet, silk, and soccer, and our days our full. I'm very blessed!
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