Blog

Finishing 9th and 5th Grades

I realized after writing last week's Collage Friday post just how much I have missed documenting our weeks.

Because, when it comes down to it, if we all did this each week I think we would see just how much we accomplish. Homeschool moms tend to be hard on themselves, and when I look back at our week it makes me feel good to see everything we did achieve. 

This week marks the END of 9th and 5th grades.  Other than a Latin and math final, we are closing the books on this school year and plan to take a LONG break from school. 

Collage Friday - finishing 9th and 5th grades

Music for Mother's Day

Playing piano is just a given in our homeschool. I'm one of those moms that requires daily practice, recitals, competitions, etc...

Learning an instrument has done so much for my children's confidence and concentration. It has taught them that perseverance pays off, and it has eliminated any fears they had of speaking or performing in public. 

Collage Friday

Their piano recital was on Mother's Day. The kids have taken lessons from the same teacher for many years. Not only does she create wonderful pianists, but she invests in my children personally. Having another adult that believes in them and supports them is such a gift.

And, if I might be a proud mom for a minute, my kids both received awards this year for their work in piano. Anna received her 8th superior rating in the Federation Festival - and she also received an Artistry Award from that festival - which means she displayed superior artistry and was recognized by the judges with a cash award.  Grant received his 3rd superior rating in Federation.  

I always dreamt I would have a house filled with music, and it does my heart such good to watch my children develop as musicians. 

Math and MORE!

For many years math has been a STRUGGLE in our homeschool. Having  one child who is average at math (and never liked it) and another who is excellent at math (and loves it) has been a challenge for me. 

Grant completed Saxon 6/5 a couple weeks ago and went straight into Saxon 7/6.  There are many reasons we use Saxon, and I believe it is by far superior for a math minded child in the elementary grades. Grant will continue math throughout the summer, because if he's not complaining I'm going to keep assigning lessons. 

Anna is finishing Mr. D Math Algebra I.  We jumped the Saxon ship this year and it was the right decision. The repetition in Saxon was TOO MUCH for my non math kid. Now, I have a child that enjoys math and has an A average, too! 

I've written about Mr. D and how much we love his math classes. Anna is already enrolled for Geometry next year. In the picture below you can see her watching one of Mr. D's prerecorded lesson videos and working through the lesson problems. I love that she can rewind as many times as she needs to understand the concept. Mr. D's instruction is clear, put into language teens understand, and effective. 

Learn about Mr. D Algebra I

Learn About Mr. D Geometry

 

Collage Friday at Homegrown Learners

One of the best things about homeschool is early May!  Homeschoolers are winding down their studies, and public school students are still in school. We had the gym at the YMCA to ourselves one day this week, so Grant and a friend got in their P.E. on the courts.

I've been trying to cook meals that last more than one night, and I made a double recipe of Cheeseburger Pie this week. It's nothing fancy, but everyone loves it, and Anna is also very good at making it!  

Confession:  I am a Words With Friends junkie!  I had to chuckle this week because I played the word ALOHA --- fitting because we are leaving for 2 weeks in Hawaii next week! Yes, I did say 2 WEEKS IN HAWAII. The trip is such an incredible blessing - and I hope to post a Collage Friday from Oahu in the next 2 weeks!

Grant just completed the Hawaii State Study from Notebooking Pages, and it's perfect because the study has journal pages for while the child is visiting that state! I'm thinking we might do state studies for some other states we plan to visit this summer, too! 

Planning, Organizing, and Beautifying

I may be a bit ahead (which is kind of unusual), but I printed a school calendar for next year, along with some adorable FREE planning pages, and started planning for 10th and 6th grades!

Grab Your Free Planning Pages from Ed Snapshots!

I also love Plan Your Year (also from Pam at Ed Snapshots) and will be using it to plan our full school year. 

I also began ordering some of Anna's Challenge 2 books. Right now we just received A Morbid Taste for Bones, Out of the Silent Planet, and Something Beautiful For God. (I'm hoping to read one of these on vacation because I do like to keep up with her reading during the year.)

Collage Friday at Homegrown Learners

Because Grant's workload was a bit lighter this week, he had some time on his hands. I was so proud of him for organizing and cleaning his room.

Maybe you can even see the paper plate puppet on his dresser - which he learned to make from a Charlie Brown comic book!

 I am a firm believer in being BORED. I'm not the mom that schedules a million playdates or outings with friends. I like to be HOME and I like for the kids to come up with things to do when they are bored. 

I've also been spending some time beautifying our house - and the front porch plants make me happy. It's getting to be my own little oasis and I just pray I can keep everything alive through the summer! 

That was our week in a nutshell! I'm breathing a happy sigh knowing that we have finished and finished WELL!  I'd love to know if you're finished with school, or if you're still going!  

Collage Friday

Collage Friday at Homegrown Learners

Join me on  Fridays for a wrap up of the week - or just to share pertinent thoughts that have been rambling in your head during the past week.

Be sure to include your photo collages!

Then, visit other bloggers that have linked and leave them a supportive comment.  I love the Collage Friday community!

Add your link using the widget below. Additionally, if you'd like to join further, use the hashtag #collagefriday on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. 

The Joys of Homeschooling Older Children

Homeschooling has plenty of HARD days. 

No matter the stage your children are at, homeschooling is just an immense undertaking. 

We have homeschooled through job changes, illness, home remodeling, chronic pain, teen hormones, and so much more.  There have been times where it would have been SO MUCH EASIER to enroll my children in school. 

This year - the year where my children are  9th and 5th graders - has been PIVOTAL.  We've completed the first year of high school for Anna, and we're getting ready for middle school with Grant. These children are growing at an astounding rate, and I'm just trying to keep up!

 I am beginning to see the fruits of our labor. The kids are becoming independent learners and excellent homeschool ambassadors to boot! 

As the school year draws to a close, my heart is FULL. I want to celebrate the many successes, because those keep me going through the hard days. 

Homeschooling older children is immensely rewarding, and if you don't gain anything else from this post, I want you to gain this:  It is WORTH IT to homeschool your older children.  

 

The Joys and Blessings of Homeschooling Older Children

Homeschooling a Pre-Teen Boy

My son literally appears bigger to me each and every morning when he gets out of bed. 

His CC Foundations class this year was all boys. They had a joke with their tutor, Miss Dawn -- that they would all be taller than her by the end of the year! Each Tuesday they would come to CC and measure themselves against her. Lo and behold, they are all taller than she is now. 

This is such a critical time for boys. They are still little boys, but they are quickly turning into young men, and guiding them is such a privilege. 

Each week Dawn would end each class session with the boys huddled in prayer. These boys grew into such considerate, helpful, and generous young men. I cannot accurately express what this year did for Grant, but I am fairly certain he couldn't have gotten this in a traditional school setting.  

A couple of weeks ago Grant earned the distinction of Memory Master!  What does that mean? It means he memorized and was tested on:

  • 160 events and people in a chronological timeline
  • 24 history sentences
  • 44 US Presidents
  • 120 locations and geographic features 
  • 24 science facts
  • 5 Latin declensions and the Latin noun cases
  • English grammar facts  (all of the prepositions, linking verbs, and helping verbs - and their definitions)

  • Multiplication tables up to the 15s, squares, cubes, geometry formulas, unit conversions, and algebraic laws of addition and multiplication

This information has to be 100% memorized and recalled with ZERO mistakes. Yes, his dad and I are proud of him, but more importantly Grant proved to himself that hard work and perseverance pay off in spades!

Memory Master & More

He's learned so much through completing the Veritas Self-Paced Ancient History course. We're wrapping up the year with a read-aloud, The Cat of Bubastes -- it's hard, but oh so good!  

A huge joy this year has been our homeschool tennis group. This once a week lesson has spurred an interest in Grant, and now he is playing two more times a week at our local YMCA. 

We are also leaving for Hawaii in just 10 DAYS (squeal!) and Grant has been completing the Hawaii notebooking state study from Notebooking Pages.  This has been a super way to learn about our destination and also to document that knowledge. I'm having him keep a journal while we are there and I hope this will be a nice keepsake for him. 

Challenge I Presentations

Challenge I has been a pivotal year for Anna. She has become almost 100% independent in her school work and is responsible for planning all of her work. 

(I shared a few months ago about a day in the life of a Challenge I student)

In short, Anna's 9th grade year has consisted of the following academic seminars:

  • Henle Latin I
  • American Literature and Persuasive Essay Writing
  • Free Market Economics and American Government
  • Physical Science
  • Drama and Music Theory
  • Algebra

She is also taking piano lessons, singing in a large children's chorus here in Atlanta, and playing tennis on the homeschool tennis team. She's been a busy girl, but I'm ok with that as long as everything has a PURPOSE and is of value to her. 

Challenge End of Year Presentations

The last day of Challenge I was Tuesday, and I had the great JOY of watching presentations from all of the students.

The Cost of Living project was particularly interesting! Anna had to choose a future profession (she chose Occupational Therapy), research the salary for that profession, and then come up with a working budget for herself.  She created a Keynote presentation and presented to the class.

Wow is all I can say. 

Another presentation was the music theory hymn score analysis and transposition project. Using the music theory curriculum each student was able to successfully analyze a hymn using figured bass and put that hymn into a different key. 

This project was DIFFICULT, but everyone rose to the occasion and I was so proud of them. (I had the JOY of helping them through this curriculum and it's one of my favorite things I have done as a homeschooling mom.)

Anna still has her Memoria Press Latin class and Mr. D Algebra I that are still meeting... and of course there are finals to be studied for. 

I've been sitting back a lot recently and just marveling at everything she has learned and accomplished this year.  It's just so very good.

Challenge Protocol Event

Challenge I Protocol

A highlight of Challenge I is Protocol.

Protocol is a formal event hosted for all Challenge I students and older... the Challenge I moms plan this event and invite the other Challenges (II-IV) to attend.

In the weeks preceding the event the students received etiquette instruction before normal classes started each Tuesday.  

Our group chose to have dinner at a nice restaurant locally and then attend a production of Hansel & Gretel by the Georgia State Opera Theater. 

Watching these young people conduct themselves so beautifully during an evening out was a JOY. They have come to be such good friends to one another, and I couldn't help but think how completely DIFFERENT this was from a traditional PROM experience. 

There was no PROM DRAMA (and I've been hearing stories about this from friends who have children in school) and the expense of this event was minimal. This also wasn't a time for dates, but rather a time for everyone to enjoy an evening out together as a group. 

The opera was a perfect introduction to the genre. It was sung in English, and even included the words on a screen above the stage. This is commonly performed and I would recommend going to see it if you ever get the chance -- maybe you're familiar with this piece:

Parents of younger CC students: keep the faith!  It is events like this that make all of the hard work worth it!

May the 4th Be With You

One of the most fun things this school year has been starting a LEGO club for my son's friends. 

A wonderful young man (who is also in my daughter's Challenge I class and LOVES LEGOS) is my very capable assistant. We meet every other week and have a ton of fun and learn a lot, too! 

Normally we are using materials from LEGO® Education, but this week we skipped the "learning" and just went for pure Star Wars FUN! 

This week we decided to celebrate May the 4th! 

 

May the 4th Be With You Party

Our agenda for May the 4th was as follows:

There is so much more I could share with you... but I'll save that for future posts. 

I'd love to hear from you! Do you homeschool older children? Or, do you have questions about homeschooling older children?  This is a new stage of life for me and I'm trying to embrace it fully (while quietly mourning the "littles" I used to have in my house!). 

 

Collage Friday

Collage Friday at Homegrown Learners

Join me on  Fridays for a wrap up of the week - or just to share pertinent thoughts that have been rambling in your head during the past week.

Be sure to include your photo collages!

Then, visit other bloggers that have linked and leave them a supportive comment.  I love the Collage Friday community!

Add your link using the widget below. Additionally, if you'd like to join further, use the hashtag #collagefriday on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.