Oh my gosh, these boys! They are constantly amazing me (and challenging me). They’ve grown so much in the last year, it’s almost unbelievable. Physically, they’re taller than most adults and mentally, they’re growing up and finding their way. It’s an incredible thing to watch.
The above picture was taken on their first day of taking dual credit classes at our local community college. Will is 16, so he was eligible to begin dual credit. Scotty, however, is only 15 and had to write a letter to the college’s vp to get approval. He got approval and we’re so happy that they get to start this new journey together. They’re starting off taking a class called Achieving College Success. It was a GIANT uphill struggle for Scotty, my bashful homebody kid. Yesterday, when I picked them up after class, Scotty told me that it gets more fun each time. I’m so happy that they both seem to be enjoying it. This class goes until Christmas break and then we’ll have to decide what’s next.
We are homeschooling everything else and here’s my plan:
I was shocked to learn, in May, that we were roughly a year behind where we should be in math. So with the advice of the instructor at Math-U-See, we did an accelerated program over summer break and we’re almost caught up. We’ll have to continue the accelerated pace for 3 more months and then we should be golden. Homeschool will resume on Friday, Sept. 8th, when we will begin Algebra 1.
For History and Geography we’re using a Charlotte Mason program for the first time. It looked very interesting to me. I hope the boys think so. All three of these books are part of the program. This curriculum is supposed to be a full year so I’m not sure when we’re going to fit in Greek Mythology, but Scotty is VERY interested. So I’ve purchased the book below. I’m not real happy with it, so I’ll have to find more resources when the time comes.
Literature and Language Arts will start with a 4 week study guide and reading Animal Farm. Then we’ll be moving on to a general course of American Literature, authors and writing assignments, which is designed to last one trimester. We’ll continue with Total Language Plus Poetry Study Guide and then Short Stories.
When I asked the boys what they wanted to do for science, they both said, “Astronomy!” (must be genetic) I was thrilled! So I’ve found a very contemporary curriculum called Astronomy and AstroPhysics that I haven’t purchased yet but will very soon. We’re going to be reading that Neil DeGrasse Tyson book first. And Scott has subscribed to a monthly chemistry experiment kit that we’ll be doing as well. I hope we don’t blow up the house…
There will be Health class in the form of gardening, cooking, biking and treadmills again. There’ll also be an online health class at http://www.allinonehighschool.com that will teach the benefits of eating healthy and living an active lifestyle.
I think we’re going to drop Duolingo (Spanish). They’ve done it for 2 years. They have the basics. If they choose to go further, and I hope they do, it’ll be online or at the community college.
I’d love to incorporate classes from http://www.outschool.com this year as well. The first one I want to try is called Tea Time: Art, Poetry and Music. Each week students are encouraged to make a cup of tea and some biscuits and chat with the instructor about an artist, poet or composer and their works. Sounds amazing to me. If the boys aren’t interested, I might sign up!
Of course, the plan is flexible. If something doesn’t work well, we’ll adjust. If something’s awesome, we’ll linger. We start school at 8am. The first couple of weeks will be long, getting back into the routine. I anticipate that when we get back on schedule, our school work could be over each day by 2 or 2:30. (fingers crosses)
That’s it. Easy Peasy, right?
Doodles, Dogs and Bees 