Week 10 ~ Quarter Review

I was really ready for a very productive week...then it started to rain in the basement family room last weekend. The end result is that we had to rip out many ceiling tiles and some of the backs of my kitchen cabinets to find the huge leak (the main kitchen drain pipe was rusted out in seven places). Then the plumber had to replace the drain pipe as well as lots of other cracked nuts and bolts, and then he attached the dishwasher in another way so it wouldn't cause trouble in the future. To say the least, the bill was huge. Also, fixing the cabinets, laying new insulation and new ceiling tiles still needs to be accomplished. SO, I spent the week washing dishes in the bathtub, sorting through piles of wet stuff, helping dear husband rip out insulation and lay new insulation. The repair of the ceiling will have to wait a bit. I am beyond tired of this house showing us its innards! The year of 2018 is going to go down in history as the year of water damage and leaking pipes. I know there are issues that need to be dealt with soon in the boys' bathroom. I guess this 1955 home is feeling her age. I do feel abundantly blessed to have a working kitchen again. Also, the part came in so my husband was able to fix the dryer that has been down for two months. I am very happy to have these conveniences back in working order!

School continued on at a slow and steady pace this week. We are in week 10 so it is time for our quarter review. I am relieved that all of our at-home curriculum is currently working. Anne and Dean are doing Literature, Physics and Health together. All of these courses are going along great. They have completed two poetry studies (Emily Dickinson and Edgar Allan Poe) so far this year.

Dean (16) 10th/11th grade ~ This quarter Dean has been doing three out-of-the-home classes. He loves his class with the Wandering Swordsman. This is playing various live action combat games using padded weapons to role play fantasy scenarios. I am counting this as a sport and physical recreation. He is also enjoying his art class at co-op. He is rather unhappy with his photography and photo editing class. It will end in five weeks and Dean can't wait to move on to something else. On the home front, he really likes the Who Was/What Is series. He has read 10 of them so far this year on topics ranging from The Hindenburg, Alcatraz, Hurricane Katrina, Machu Picchu, The Great Depression and Blackbeard. He gets tons of information out of each one, and we have some interesting conversations. He has also completed one consumer math workbook and is currently working on his second workbook, Survival Skill Math. Dean is currently working on how to work out the tips and tax on bills. Dare I say that he is actually enjoying math a little bit? He has also completed 10 writing prompts and is on target with his goals in writing. He completed Biology and now has only one more required science credit to complete his high school science credits. The only course that I am still struggling with a bit is his World Geography. I know what I want to do, but implementing it is proving difficult. He is enjoying Geography Through Art, and I have created unit studies around two of the sections so far. He has studied the United Kingdom (mostly England) and Peru this quarter as well as performing lots of USA map work.

I decided last year that he really needed to start stretching and growing more step by step. He is resistant to change of any kind and finds much of the world anxiety producing. So each quarter, I am having him do at least one major stretch. This quarter was to return to the homeschool co-op and take two classes. He has done that and is experiencing success. He also (with tons of encouragement) attended the homeschool dance at the co-op and had a positive experience.

Anne (15) 10th Grade ~ This quarter Anne has been incredibly busy balancing classes at two dance studios as well as at home and co-op. We decided to reduce her Cecchetti ballet classes to only one morning a week for now. She is still studying for the level 5 exam and has the same goal of completing level 6 by high school graduation, but a slower pace is okay right now, since the next exam isn't until May and she is picking it all up easily. We will increase to two mornings a week when she needs to study more intensely. She now takes a two hour class in modern dance on Saturday mornings with the adult dance company at her regular studio. This is considered part of her apprenticeship with the adult company and she loves it. The class is one of her favorites and she is completely holding her own. She was granted the honor of dancing a main character role in the Nutcracker again this year. She will be the princess (again but dancing in pointe this time), and she is also dancing with the Junior Company as a Cat, Pop Rock Candy, Elastic Doll and a Siren Mermaid. She is taking all of the Junior Company classes that are offered each week. She is also loving her sign language class at co-op. She is very comfortable with all of her out-of-the-home activities.
On the home front, she is managing all of her classes. I sometimes feel like she is burning the wick at both ends. However, she continues to manage everything. She did come to me and say she needed a change with Algebra a few weeks ago. She completed lesson 24 Algebra Teaching Textbooks but felt that she was becoming increasingly confused with each lesson and needed the second change option the program provides most of the time. We decided to set it aside for now and do the Learn Math Fast program and try to shore up the gaps that she was experiencing. She completed Vol. 2 in a matter of weeks and is quickly moving through Vol. 3. She is feeling her confidence returning and still wants to return to Teaching Textbooks when she has completed Vol. 4 of the Learn Math Fast program. I really am okay either way. As long as she has a strong foundation in the math she will use all of her life and a working understanding of Algebra and Geometry, I will be happy. She completed Biology recently and is moving on with Physics. She is enjoying reading Story of the World book 4 and doing some of the accompanying activity book which counts for her World History course. This course was a carry over from ninth grade and she is almost done with it. She has completed 10 writing prompts and seven weeks of daily grammar. She has completed all of her reading assignments and is focused on all of her goals.

It is such a relief to have quarter one safely tucked under our belts. Quarter two is always more challenging because of Nutcracker and the holidays. We are starting to feel a bit tired at the edges, and the routine gets harder and harder to hang on to as the weeks get closer to the holidays. November always proves to be an intense experience in our lives, but usually a very positive one.

Blessings, Dawn

To see more wrap-ups go to weekly wrap ups.