I am excited about next school year. I know it is a bit early, but I am in full planning mode. If everything works as planned, Russell will be back at home with us to start high school. Ezekiel will be in 5th grade, and Caden, if his reading skills are where I expect them to be, will be starting 1st grade. We are branching out a bit more from ABEKA curriculum next year and modifying our schedule some.
Russell is going to enroll in a correspondence high school so he can receive a diploma. I will be able to continue to teach him at home he will just turn his paperwork in for a grade on a report card that will result in a transcript and a diploma. He will start with two high school credits already since he took Algebra I and Spanish I this year in 8th grade. His goal is to finish high school by Dec 2011. He is interested in continuing his Spanish studies all the way through Spanish IV (imagine my surprise), and wants to take all the Sciences and Math classes. He is still interested in Forensics. He also wants to continue playing football, so the plan right now is A LOT of travel during football season (the closest home school football team is FAIRFAX VA a little over an hour from home). It is unfortunate that the WV school system harbors such resentment for home-schooled children that they will not allow them to try out and participate in high school sports. He will be going to football camp this summer and is hoping to get his work permit this summer and start earning "real $". He also wants to go on a mission trip with Teen Missions International. Because of his school schedule he will be unable to go on a Missions trip with them this year but is looking forward to raising the money necessary to travel abroad for a month next summer. It will be so nice to go back to the flexibility of all the kids being in HOME SCHOOL.
Ezekiel stepped away from the ABEKA spelling late last year and has completed the first book of Sequential Spelling now. It has REALLY made a difference. We have been using ABEKA primarily for 3 years now, but are planning on stepping a little further away from it this year. There is nothing wrong with the ABEKA program we are just trying to take full advantage of the flexibility homeschooling offers. I have always wanted to understand better how Biblical History fits in with "secular" history. It always seemed to me that they (even ABEKA) teach Bible happened and then the rest of History happened. This is not so. After lots and lots of searching and coming up empty, by chance, my sister-n-law heard about a book at her home school group. I have since bought it and I am thoroughly impressed and anxious to use it. All that being said, we will be doing MYSTERY of HISTORY for history class next year. I really like ABEKA's Language books, and Zeke does really well with ABEKA Math (he needs LOTS of repetition). We are departing from the ABEKA reading program next year and opting for reading whole books not excerpts of books. He already reads a lot of books, and the ABEKA program has become an inconvenience since his comprehension level is well above his grade level. The timed drills that he is supposed to do for ABEKA give 4 minutes to complete and he completes them about 2 minutes with a perfect score on the comprehension questions. Science is another place we are going to branch out a bit. We are designing a course to incorporate the things he enjoys learning about. Some of the topics he has chosen for Science are: How Guns Work (we found the perfect material that discusses the physics/chemistry/mechanics etc . . . about guns), Navigation using natural and man made devices (astronomy as it concerns navigation/how a compass works and how to use it/Map and terrain reading), Communication devices (Sound waves and how radios work -we have a build your own radio kit/learning Morse code -- daddy knows this/emergency signaling devices such as signaling mirrors etc. . .). Science should be really fun next year. In addition to all the new curriculum changes, I am trying to lay it all out in advance to enable coordination of field trips in conjunction with the different topics. Field trips such as the Creation museum for History (since this year we will be studying Creation to Resurrection), the NRA Museum for our Gun unit, the Spy Museum for our Morse Communication unit etc. . . While he is schooling he will also continue to take Tae Kwon Do where he should test for his black belt in Feb time frame 2011.
Caden is going to use all ABEKA curriculum next year whether I choose to do K5 or 1st grade is the only decision left to make. I really like the ABEKA method of teaching reading for the primary stages (first 3 years or so). Looking back at Zeke's K5 stuff, Caden is about the same place as Zeke was at this point in the school year so we will see. Caden gets to start Tae Kwon Do next month. Should be fun.
Right now Olivia's schooling consists of learning to sing songs, potty training herself, dressing and undressing herself and her dolls, etc. . .
1 comment:
Wow, so much going on! So Russell is not going back to Ft. Union? I think it is great that he is self-motivated in so many areas. We have also looked at that homeschool football team--a friend of ours played on it a few years ago. That's really a hike for you! I wish there was one up in Loudoun County.
I'm glad the Seq. Spelling is paying off. I started Caleb on it, and he is doing well too. I heawrd the author of Mystery of History speak at my homeschool group in Ohio (she was a Cedarville grad). She was SO enthusiastic and inspiring! If I hadn't already just dumped a bunch of money into Story of the World, I probably would have bought MoH on the spot! I've heard good things from the people I know who have used it.
The science stuff sounds fascinating! Good topics! I might have to steal a couple of them, LOL. Obviously I need to devote some thought to next year because I am nowhere near as organized and ready for it as you are going to be! : )
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