Our experiment has ended. I have survived this first year of so many unknowns. Last night JT said, "The year sure went fast!" "Thanks for doing this for me."
This morning we began our last official day of school ON TIME! I don't think we've started many mornings when I said we would, but for some reason, today we were feeling inspired. We only planned for a half day of school, since today was also our youngest's last day of Kindergarten and they had a half day.
We had four things on our list for the day.
1. Spelling test
2. Talk about what we accomplished this year and changes we can put in place for next year.
3. Make some summer plans.
4. Register for a subscription at BrainPop.
The spelling test went well. 100% after he had only 9 out of 20 right on the pretest last week. He had been a little discouraged by the pretest score. We talked about how he would need to work hard at learning those words if he wanted a good grade. He was very happy that he pulled off the perfect score. I honestly was amazed that he did it. This was probably his hardest list. Some of the words: necessary, recommend, ascending, descending, duodenum (his suggestion!), concentration.
When we finished the test we moved on to talking about where we have been and where we are heading. We went subject by subject and talked through some of the new things he had learned. We both agreed that he had made a lot of progress in spelling. We decided that next year we will spend more time focusing on the meanings of words rather than just how to spell them. I'm thinking a list of 10 words each week (instead of 20) with the expectation that he be able to spell and define them on the final test. We also will need to spend more time on alphabetizing.
In Math, we felt that he had made real progress in his knowledge of fractions and decimals. He also learned to factor numbers and identify prime numbers. We agreed he needs to focus on memorization of basic math facts, instead of his unusual method of quick calculation every time. He will also need much more practice in long division.
Even though he seems to completely despise composition, he managed to do a decent job on his assignments this year. For next year we will be working on improving his outlining skills, adding more descriptive detail and more variety in word choices. I would also like him to become more proficient at keyboarding. I really think he would put forth more effort in content if he didn't need to spend so much energy on the physical side of writing.
Science... the subject we were so excited to have under our control this year, really didn't pan out the way I expected. I spent far too much time trying desperately to do ALL the school provided and never went far enough beyond what they had. Yes, we had our moments where we explored a tangent, but overall we did not do what we could have. JT said his favorite part of science this year was our unit on digestion. That was the one time we did our own thing completely, with not a bit of the school's material. He can very accurately describe the process of digestion from start to finish in all of it's gory details. That is one thing I am very proud to have taught him.
We both felt that Spanish, geography, history and reading could have been far more challenging. I think most of that could easily be blamed on me and lack of motivation. The material provided by the school in those subjects was below level for JT and I knew it, but I still did not invest the time and energy to bring them up to an appropriate place for him.
Overall, I think the year was a success for me and JT. We were both challenged to learn new things and we had fun. I still wonder how I am going to keep up with him as we move along this path. I wonder how in the world I am going to have the energy necessary to keep both of the boys learning and engaged next year. I wonder if they will tire of being with me both day and night long before their years of education are complete. But all this wondering is a good thing... after all, isn't that what education is about?
This morning we began our last official day of school ON TIME! I don't think we've started many mornings when I said we would, but for some reason, today we were feeling inspired. We only planned for a half day of school, since today was also our youngest's last day of Kindergarten and they had a half day.
We had four things on our list for the day.
1. Spelling test
2. Talk about what we accomplished this year and changes we can put in place for next year.
3. Make some summer plans.
4. Register for a subscription at BrainPop.
The spelling test went well. 100% after he had only 9 out of 20 right on the pretest last week. He had been a little discouraged by the pretest score. We talked about how he would need to work hard at learning those words if he wanted a good grade. He was very happy that he pulled off the perfect score. I honestly was amazed that he did it. This was probably his hardest list. Some of the words: necessary, recommend, ascending, descending, duodenum (his suggestion!), concentration.
When we finished the test we moved on to talking about where we have been and where we are heading. We went subject by subject and talked through some of the new things he had learned. We both agreed that he had made a lot of progress in spelling. We decided that next year we will spend more time focusing on the meanings of words rather than just how to spell them. I'm thinking a list of 10 words each week (instead of 20) with the expectation that he be able to spell and define them on the final test. We also will need to spend more time on alphabetizing.
In Math, we felt that he had made real progress in his knowledge of fractions and decimals. He also learned to factor numbers and identify prime numbers. We agreed he needs to focus on memorization of basic math facts, instead of his unusual method of quick calculation every time. He will also need much more practice in long division.
Even though he seems to completely despise composition, he managed to do a decent job on his assignments this year. For next year we will be working on improving his outlining skills, adding more descriptive detail and more variety in word choices. I would also like him to become more proficient at keyboarding. I really think he would put forth more effort in content if he didn't need to spend so much energy on the physical side of writing.
Science... the subject we were so excited to have under our control this year, really didn't pan out the way I expected. I spent far too much time trying desperately to do ALL the school provided and never went far enough beyond what they had. Yes, we had our moments where we explored a tangent, but overall we did not do what we could have. JT said his favorite part of science this year was our unit on digestion. That was the one time we did our own thing completely, with not a bit of the school's material. He can very accurately describe the process of digestion from start to finish in all of it's gory details. That is one thing I am very proud to have taught him.
We both felt that Spanish, geography, history and reading could have been far more challenging. I think most of that could easily be blamed on me and lack of motivation. The material provided by the school in those subjects was below level for JT and I knew it, but I still did not invest the time and energy to bring them up to an appropriate place for him.
Overall, I think the year was a success for me and JT. We were both challenged to learn new things and we had fun. I still wonder how I am going to keep up with him as we move along this path. I wonder how in the world I am going to have the energy necessary to keep both of the boys learning and engaged next year. I wonder if they will tire of being with me both day and night long before their years of education are complete. But all this wondering is a good thing... after all, isn't that what education is about?
1 comment:
From JT's remark, it sounds like a good year to me.
One thing I've come to notice about homeschooling is that you never feel you couldn't have done better. That's not to say that I don't continue to try to make things better, but I'm pretty certain there will never come a day when I feel I've perfected it.
As for keeping up with them in the future, I've seen homeschooled children taking college classes with me. The ones I've seen reach a point where they have a drive to teach themselves. I'm not sure how that affects the parent, but I'm looking forward to that day.
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