September Goals

I have two more posts coming about our vacation, but it is past time to post our September goals. I will return to our vacation posts tomorrow.

Our family hit a very rough patch right before vacation. Our dear son's girlfriend of more than two years broke up with him. She said it was temporary, but those of us who have lived through these things know that is unlikely. She said and still says she wants to be friends. We were all caught off guard and didn't see this coming at all. Dean is in total shock and deep, deep despair. He made it through the trip with tons of support, but barely enjoyed any of it. We could see him slipping further and further into depression. Everything came to a head after we got home. Without going into details, we had to reach out to emergency professional help soon after reaching home. Our world is now filled with self-care, medications, therapy and safety plans to help Dean reach out to us when he is too low (luckily he is a rule follower and follows his self-care safety plan). I say all this to explain the uncertainty, worry and exhaustion that is currently enveloping our family life as we try to fill the huge hole left by his girlfriend. My goals and lesson plans definitely take a back seat to his well-being at this time.

That said, here are our goals.

Both ~

• Finish The Scarlet Letter ~ We are halfway through.
• Start Physical Science ~ I ordered Mel Science and our first kit arrived last night. We will start with it and continue with some other light and fun science experiments when I can fit them in to our days.
• Watch two or three literature based movies ~ We are watching A Raisin in the Sun this week with discussion.

Anne ~  In addition to the above, Anne will be working mostly independently this year. Her schedule is jampacked with work, dance, sign language class and at-home schoolwork.

• Language Arts and Literature ~ She is concentrating on writing this month and will be using Language Lessons for the High School Student. She will also be reading The Prince and the Pauper and finishing her cursive for teens book. She wrote the Gettysburg address in cursive this week as well as a few shorter excerpts from great literature.
• Earth Science ~ Anne will continue working through the workbook I created for her and do accompanying experiments. 
• Geometry ~ She is using Khan Academy and so far loves it.
• World History ~ She is using World History Detective Ancient and Medieval Civilizations and CNN10 (student news).
• Sign Language III and dance are accomplished outside the home.

Dean ~ With Dean's processing and sensory disorders and damaged self-esteem, this setback is huge and is going to take more time than what might be expected for an average recovery. I am posting his resources for this month but don't know which I will use or if I will pull entirely different books from my shelves. This is my best guess for what he will be able to handle this month.

• English ~ Critical Thinking Detective (He got every single case right before this nightmare started...this week he got both that he did wrong, so I am setting it aside for a few weeks.) He will be using Reading Detective RX for comprehension work.
• Math III ~ Bargain Life Skills Math ~ He has done two pages and did them quickly and accurately without complaint. I have four books in this series and will probably stick with them until we are through this crisis.
• The Dangerous Book For Boys ~ I think this book may entice him and it is loaded with history, life skills and science. 
• Physical Science and Industrial Arts ~ Eureka Kits from Kiwi -- He really enjoys these most of the time, and they all count for industrial arts. Some of them have physics in them, too. He made an articulated working lamp this week. 
• Zoology ~ This is just for an extra science credit because he loves National Geographic and animals (especially wild and endangered). I have started pulling some zoology workbook pages from the Internet, and he is watching lots of National Geographic. We also hope to visit about a dozen zoos, aquariums and nature centers for this course over the year. 
• Physical Education III ~ Part of his self-care plan is to increase his exercise since it brings him some relief from depression and stress. He already goes to the Wandering Swordsman for LARP (live action role play) twice a week. We also are considering a gentle form of Martial Arts, exploring exercise equipment at local parks and starting a weight-lifting program at home.

I feel like I am missing something. Oh well, this is a good start, nonetheless. I am disappointed to be starting our 21st year of homeschooling in crisis. It seems like at least half of our homeschooling years have been filled to the brim with one crisis or another. I guess that means I am at least an old pro at it. Such is life with three of our four kids being high-end special needs. 

Blessings, Dawn