I wrote up our history of education in my last post, so I can focus on our current year in this post.
Even though Arriah really enjoyed her two years of home schooling, she wanted to see what 'regular' high school was like and decided that 9th grade would be a good year to do that. She started out the year at GFHS and loved it. She came home with energy and enthusiasm every day, enjoying almost every aspect of school. Unfortunately, as the year went on, she became less and less excited about going. The hardest part for her was dealing with the constant swearing and low morals of those around her. Her group of friends knew not to swear around her, but it was impossible to avoid otherwise. In December she was so depressed that she wanted to quit school and never go back. I took her in to see one of the HS counsellors, and we had a good discussion about options and future possibilities. Arriah eventually decided to finish out the first semester of school, which ended Jan 29th, and then drop all but two classes for the rest of the school year.
She ended the first semester with A's in the four classes she has since dropped (science, technology, health, and yearbook). She ended up with a B+ in Geometry (mostly due to missing assignments), and an A- in Honors English. It's ironic to me that the classes she had a harder time in are the ones she's most interested in sticking with.
She will still be going to early morning seminary (a religion class), then will come home and do home schooling, then will head back for Geometry and Honors English, and will then take the bus home after school. She'll have about 3 hours at home in the mornings. One of the classes she would have had at school this semester is P.E. so our plan is to go on a walk or do some other form of exercise for at least 30 minutes/day. She will continue working in her science text book, taking notes, completing chapter reviews and tests, and doing any lab work that is possible for her to do at home (without spending a lot of money). Technology won't really be a separate class at home, because she's already so comfortable with a computer and the programs she would have been taught; instead, she'll just use technology as part of completing other tasks. The one area that she didn't have at GFHS was social studies, so we will be incorporating that into her home studies for the remainder of the year. Hopefully, this will be a better situation for her.
Braelen also goes to 5th and 6th period, but at the middle school. He started out the year doing that, as a compromise to wanting to home school full time and still wanting to regularly see the friends he made in 5th grade. He doesn't share any classes with his two best friends from 5th grade, but does have other friends in both classes, so it's working out pretty well. His 5th period class is science (which was something I insisted on, knowing myself from the past two years...science was the area that got the least hands-on work, and rather had a lot of boring text book reading). His 6th period class is the elective period, which changes each quarter. He started in art, then had technology, and is now in study skills.
One of his weaknesses last year was math. Part of that is because he went from a normal 4th grade to a Hi-Cap 5th grade, which means he missed some aspects, which made it harder for him to grasp what was being taught. I really wanted him home this year so that I could help him build up a solid foundation of basic math skills and get him back to being ahead of the game. We usually spend 45 to 60 minutes a day on math, and I do think his basic skills are much stronger now. We've started into some pre-algebra and there are some concepts he's struggling with, but I think he's a lot further ahead than he would have been, had he been enrolled in a normal math class with 25+ other kids. We also do reading, writing, social studies, art, and some PE (we started out the year going on daily walks, but got lazy about it during the cold wet months. We plan to get back on track now, though).
Khasia is in public school full time. The main reason is that in the summer, when I was making my final decision on whether or not to homeschool, she was in a stage that was hard for me to deal with. She argued about doing everything and I was pretty sure it wouldn't be a good thing to have to fight over every single assignment. Instead, I put her in a multi-age program at the other GFs elementary school (Monte Cristo), where she has thrived and is doing great. It's a group of two classes of kids, with two wonderful teachers, of kids from 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. They do a lot of work-at-their-own-pace assignments, which has been helpful for Khasia, as she has been able to fill in some gaps from previous years. The teachers also emphasize individual effort, especially since there are three grade levels worth of kids. Khasia plans on staying in that for all three years of the program, and then wants to start home schooling in 7th grade. I'm fine with that. For now, I volunteer in her class every Friday morning.
Shaya is home with me, full time. We go to Sky Valley in Monroe, one day a week, where she takes Wood-Working, Gymnastics, Legos, and Art. It's a different district, so their schedule is off from the local schools, which make things kind of tricky sometimes, but that's okay. Next week is the new semester in Monroe, and Shaya will continue in gymnastics, but will be dropping the other classes and instead be taking a choir class. A few weeks ago, she wanted to just take one semester of art, woodworking, and legos, but she has since come to really enjoy those classes and wished she could continue in all of them. Unfortunately, they're now full, so unless something opens up, she's out of luck. I'm glad gymnastics is a year-long class, because she's really doing well in that.
We spend a lot of time on basic skills, especially in math. We also do a lot of reading together. Her science the past few months has been the study of animals, the life cycle, the food chain, etc. with a culminating project on scorpions. We'll be starting earth studies next, with weather and seasons, and then some astronomy for the rest of the year. She's really enjoyable to work with. I feel that her self-esteem has gotten much better this year, now that she's not around a daily dose of unsatisfying social situations. She's much happier and seems to be more confident in herself and her abilities. I am very glad that she's home this year.
And that's it. We are a mix and match of the public and home school systems. I know I'm fortunate in that I am able to offer these choices to my children, to help them find what works best for each of them individually. Hopefully, even with a new baby coming along in a few months, I'll continue to be able to do that.
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