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.
Showing posts with label public school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label public school. Show all posts
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
Our Home School Summary
One thing that might be a little unusual about me (although, far from uncommon), is that I home school and part-time home school some of my children. I'd like to share a bit of that aspect of my life for today's blog.
Way back in the days of dinosaurs, I got my degree at WSU in elementary education. I worked as a substitute teacher for four years before finally getting a job as a second grade teacher. The ironic thing is that I got pregnant that year, so I only got to teach the one year, before 'retiring' to become a stay-at-home mom. The good thing is that I learned a lot about the public school system, with the hands-on, behind-the-scenes opportunity of my teaching. It wasn't a place I wanted my children to spend 6+ hours of their day, every day, for 13 years.
So, my intent was to home school my children. When Arriah was ready for kindergarten, however, I was pregnant with my third child and didn't think I was up to ensuring that her educational needs were being met. My neighbor had a daughter Arriah's age that was going to be starting in a co-op school, which is a public school, but with required parent participation. That sounded like a good compromise to me, so I signed Arriah up.
It did turn out to be a very good thing. Our years at the Marysville Cooperative Educational Program were wonderful. My kids were enrolled with other kids from good families with similar values. There were almost always parents in the room with the teachers, so teachers were more likely to be on their best behavior, being respectful and kind to all their students (although the teachers there were ones I would have trusted with my kids, regardless). And best of all, I was able to play an active role in my kids' education. Until we moved from Marysville, we kept the elementary-aged kids enrolled in MCEP and I was happy with the education they received and my part in their school.
Arriah went to 6th grade at a 'normal' middle school in Marysville. She absolutely hated it! That was the year we were building our home out in Granite Falls, so life was way too crazy and hectic for me to do anything other than to help her endure it. Our home was finished in April of her 6th grade year, so she got to finish the year out here. She liked being the 'new kid' at school and definitely liked Granite Falls Middle School better than the one in Marysville, but she still didn't enjoy it. Mostly, she wasn't comfortable with the lack of morals in the kids surrounding her every day.
And finally, life was stable enough, that I was able to home school Arriah the following year. She home schooled for both 7th and 8th grade, through a program in Monroe called Sky Valley. This program is also through the public school system and supports families that home school their children. Basically, Sky Valley is set up where you are accountable to them in what you teach your children, although they're very flexible in what and how you do it. They offer a wide variety of classes for the students, from math and English, to painting and pottery, to gymnastics and swimming, to weekly field trips, to drama or astronomy, so you can enroll in as few or as many (with limits) classes you want your child to participate in. The rest of their education is up to you, but you're required to write up a monthly summary of what they are taught. I actually like that aspect, because it helped motivates me to stay on track. Arriah spent two days/week at Sky Valley and used the rest of her school time studying at home. It was a great system and worked well for us.
Since we've lived here, all three of the other kids have gone to a 'normal' elementary schools in Granite Falls. Braelen finished out his 3rd grade year, spent all of 4th grade (a horrible situation), and was accepted into the Highly Capable (hi-cap) program for 5th grade. Even though his 4th grade year was terrible, I didn't give him the option to home school, because he was in a very tough stage, making it very challenging for me to motivate him to even do simple things, let alone taking on the full responsibility of his schooling. Luckily, his 5th grade teacher was perfect for him, encouraging him to expand on his creativity in writing and drawing. He also participated in band (saxophone) and learned to play the basics of violin in music class. His self esteem started the rebound process and he has since become a much easier person to live with.
Khasia had a tough 1st grade year. Even though most of it was at MCEP, it was a hard situation there, as well. The poor kids in that class started the year with a substitute for a few weeks (the teacher that was supposed to teach took a different position a few days before the school year started), then had a regular teacher for a few weeks who went on administrative leave in December (due to an unjust accusation). They then had a series of substitutes while waiting to see if their regular teacher would be coming back or not. Finally, in mid-February, a new regular teacher was hired for the remainder of the year (their former teacher was not happy with the politics of it all and quit teaching altogether). And then we moved in April. Unfortunately, she had a teacher in Granite Falls that wasn't good. It was her first year teaching and she didn't seem to have any patience for a new student and did absolutely nothing to help Khasia feel welcome. It just wasn't a very good year. Her second grade teacher, however, was great! And in 3rd grade, Khasia was enrolled in the Hi-Cap program, which was fairly challenging for her, as all of the other 3rd graders had had the same Hi-Cap teacher in 2nd grade. Khasia had quite a hard time 'catching up', especially in math, but she eventually got the hang of it, and it turned out to be a good year.
Shaya wasn't old enough to go to school in Marysville, so her only experience in public school was kindergarten and first grade in Granite Falls. Both of her teachers were great and she learned a lot. Unfortunately, she didn't do so well socially. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but she was picked on a lot and tried to emulate some of the other students by being mean and rude, which led to worse relationships with the other kids. She had a couple of friends that were nice to her, but they often played with their other friends and left Shaya to fend for herself. Shaya did not like school, at all, which is really sad, especially for a first grader.
This year is quite a bit different. I have spent wayyy too much time writing today's blog, however, so I'm going to write about this year's situation in my next post :-)
Way back in the days of dinosaurs, I got my degree at WSU in elementary education. I worked as a substitute teacher for four years before finally getting a job as a second grade teacher. The ironic thing is that I got pregnant that year, so I only got to teach the one year, before 'retiring' to become a stay-at-home mom. The good thing is that I learned a lot about the public school system, with the hands-on, behind-the-scenes opportunity of my teaching. It wasn't a place I wanted my children to spend 6+ hours of their day, every day, for 13 years.
So, my intent was to home school my children. When Arriah was ready for kindergarten, however, I was pregnant with my third child and didn't think I was up to ensuring that her educational needs were being met. My neighbor had a daughter Arriah's age that was going to be starting in a co-op school, which is a public school, but with required parent participation. That sounded like a good compromise to me, so I signed Arriah up.
It did turn out to be a very good thing. Our years at the Marysville Cooperative Educational Program were wonderful. My kids were enrolled with other kids from good families with similar values. There were almost always parents in the room with the teachers, so teachers were more likely to be on their best behavior, being respectful and kind to all their students (although the teachers there were ones I would have trusted with my kids, regardless). And best of all, I was able to play an active role in my kids' education. Until we moved from Marysville, we kept the elementary-aged kids enrolled in MCEP and I was happy with the education they received and my part in their school.
Arriah went to 6th grade at a 'normal' middle school in Marysville. She absolutely hated it! That was the year we were building our home out in Granite Falls, so life was way too crazy and hectic for me to do anything other than to help her endure it. Our home was finished in April of her 6th grade year, so she got to finish the year out here. She liked being the 'new kid' at school and definitely liked Granite Falls Middle School better than the one in Marysville, but she still didn't enjoy it. Mostly, she wasn't comfortable with the lack of morals in the kids surrounding her every day.
And finally, life was stable enough, that I was able to home school Arriah the following year. She home schooled for both 7th and 8th grade, through a program in Monroe called Sky Valley. This program is also through the public school system and supports families that home school their children. Basically, Sky Valley is set up where you are accountable to them in what you teach your children, although they're very flexible in what and how you do it. They offer a wide variety of classes for the students, from math and English, to painting and pottery, to gymnastics and swimming, to weekly field trips, to drama or astronomy, so you can enroll in as few or as many (with limits) classes you want your child to participate in. The rest of their education is up to you, but you're required to write up a monthly summary of what they are taught. I actually like that aspect, because it helped motivates me to stay on track. Arriah spent two days/week at Sky Valley and used the rest of her school time studying at home. It was a great system and worked well for us.
Since we've lived here, all three of the other kids have gone to a 'normal' elementary schools in Granite Falls. Braelen finished out his 3rd grade year, spent all of 4th grade (a horrible situation), and was accepted into the Highly Capable (hi-cap) program for 5th grade. Even though his 4th grade year was terrible, I didn't give him the option to home school, because he was in a very tough stage, making it very challenging for me to motivate him to even do simple things, let alone taking on the full responsibility of his schooling. Luckily, his 5th grade teacher was perfect for him, encouraging him to expand on his creativity in writing and drawing. He also participated in band (saxophone) and learned to play the basics of violin in music class. His self esteem started the rebound process and he has since become a much easier person to live with.
Khasia had a tough 1st grade year. Even though most of it was at MCEP, it was a hard situation there, as well. The poor kids in that class started the year with a substitute for a few weeks (the teacher that was supposed to teach took a different position a few days before the school year started), then had a regular teacher for a few weeks who went on administrative leave in December (due to an unjust accusation). They then had a series of substitutes while waiting to see if their regular teacher would be coming back or not. Finally, in mid-February, a new regular teacher was hired for the remainder of the year (their former teacher was not happy with the politics of it all and quit teaching altogether). And then we moved in April. Unfortunately, she had a teacher in Granite Falls that wasn't good. It was her first year teaching and she didn't seem to have any patience for a new student and did absolutely nothing to help Khasia feel welcome. It just wasn't a very good year. Her second grade teacher, however, was great! And in 3rd grade, Khasia was enrolled in the Hi-Cap program, which was fairly challenging for her, as all of the other 3rd graders had had the same Hi-Cap teacher in 2nd grade. Khasia had quite a hard time 'catching up', especially in math, but she eventually got the hang of it, and it turned out to be a good year.
Shaya wasn't old enough to go to school in Marysville, so her only experience in public school was kindergarten and first grade in Granite Falls. Both of her teachers were great and she learned a lot. Unfortunately, she didn't do so well socially. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but she was picked on a lot and tried to emulate some of the other students by being mean and rude, which led to worse relationships with the other kids. She had a couple of friends that were nice to her, but they often played with their other friends and left Shaya to fend for herself. Shaya did not like school, at all, which is really sad, especially for a first grader.
This year is quite a bit different. I have spent wayyy too much time writing today's blog, however, so I'm going to write about this year's situation in my next post :-)
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