A Solid Week ~ Finding Our Way Through

It is hard to believe that April is nearly gone! My youngest son turns 15 this weekend! This past year has been tough for him. I pray that 15 proves a more positive year for him. I do see little glimmers of his depression lifting ~ just a bit. It is hard work every day, but worth the effort to see an occasional smile.

This week only had one really rough day emotionally for our son and our family. That is an improvement over most weeks. One thing that is helping is encouraging exercise. This is kind of a funny statement, considering how much dance my kids do. However, it seems my son needs to do even more -- and preferably outdoors. We spent one sunny day at the arboretum, and I got a few fantastic shots of the kids leaping.

Another day found us walking the newest section of the greenway our city is building along the river.

As always, encouraging sibling love and compassion is at the front of my thoughts. Even if the world outside is hard to take, your family is always, always there for you. One way our family has always connected is with board games. They bring lots of laughter into our home. We added Quelf, Harry Potter Scene It, and Exploding Kittens to our collection of board games this week. I love lucky finds at consignment shops!

We continue to strive to pull farther back from social media and online gaming. Both, have caused a fair amount of sadness to our home. We decided to let the kids keep Instagram, but it is very heavily monitored by us. We have returned to some old school computer games that require a CD 😉 and one online game that is heavily monitored and designed for parents to enforce safety for their kids. Some of these restrictions have been tough on our son, but they have resulted with him feeling somewhat more comfortable and secure.

It is no secret that this has been a rough year in our little homeschool. I am not saying that it hasn't been filled with quality, but it has also been filled with trials, changes, regrouping, changes again and just plain burnout at times. As I look back over the year, I am pleased with our accomplishments and all that we learned. The kids continue to grow and stretch. If anything, one of the main frustrations has been the kids complaining that they already know much of what we studied this year. I didn't intend for it to be a review year, but in some subjects it turned out to be just that. I do feel like they are solid in what they do know and are ready to move forward next year. Even Anne is finally grasping all things about fractions. We have come back to fractions time and time again over the last two years in every educational way imaginable, and fractions are finally starting to consistently click. We are relying heavily on videos as we enter our last five weeks of school. One common thread that has been a great success this year are educational videos. We have watched some excellent movies and documentaries. We discovered Ted-Ed. We love the short lectures with discussion and questions. 

Blessings, Dawn

Thinking About Next Year

I am thinking a great deal about what we will be doing next year. I would really like to spend less than $300 next year on books and materials, so that my homeschool budget can be spent on out of the home classes and field trips. Thanks to being on the review crew and being a pack rat (of books), we are already in pretty good shape. Below is the list of what I already have.

Dean 9th/10th Grade

English I (9th), mostly a writing course ~ Finish Cover Story, grammar workbooks,  Linguistic Development through Poetry (will be halfway done with this course by the end of this school year).

English II (10th) Literature English and American ~ Progeny Press Unit Study of Great Expectations, Literature through Movies, see Shakespeare plays offered in our area, two other great works to be determined...

Career and Technology (10th) ~ Succeeding in the World of Work textbook and field trips.

Community Service (10th) ~ Volunteering at the regional nature center, food bank, Humane Society, as well as doing special projects for the Red Cross and Meals on Wheels (150 hours).

Math I (9th) ~ Real world math (algebra and geometry) with Math Mammoth, Hands-on Math Projects with Real-Life Applications,Grades 6-12, other hands-on resources and occasional drill worksheets.

Earth Science (9th) ~ We are using lots of Internet and library resources in addition to lots of field trips. (We will be done with this course by next November.)

Biology (10th) ~ Still need to determine curriculum. This is where a chunk of money will be spent because we will dissect several specimens.

U.S. History I (9th) The Story of the Thirteen Colonies & The Great Republic Memoria Press American History through Spanish American War, lots of field trips (will be 1/3 complete by the end of this school year).

P.E. and Health (9th) ~ Swimming, physical therapy at home, dance classes, as well as a 6 to 10 week health course (to be determined).

Taught by Others ...

String Instruments (9th) ~ Ukulele, guitar and electric guitar (will be halfway done by the end of this school year).

Visual Art I (9th) ~ Art classes with Grandma and Miss Laura (may complete this course yet this year. If so, so he will go onto Visual Arts II for 10th grade).

Anne 8th/9th 

Anne will be doing two or three courses toward her 9th grade credits, even though she will be an 8th grader.

Biology (9th) ~ Same as brother's curriculum, to be determined.

English I (9th) ~ Same as brother's curriculum (will do lots of extra reading).

P.E. (8th) ~ Swimming and her technical dance classes.

Performing Arts and Music (8th) ~ Dance classes that are for performances, all rehearsals and performances, piano lessons.

Math (8th) ~ Math Mammoth and hands-on math projects.

History (8th) ~ Two research papers and presentation on historical topic of her choosing, lots of biographies and field trips.

Home Economics (8th) ~ Sewing, personal finance and household budgeting, cooking, gardening and other life skills.

Logic (8th) ~ Fallacy Detective, jigsaw puzzles 500+, Orbiting with Logic, Unlocking Analogies Middle School, Red Herring Mysteries Level 2.

Blessings, Dawn

Spring Break

This week was a combination of field trips and a working vacation for me. I really had loads to do. I wish I could say the "to do list" was complete, but it isn't nearly done. I did get lots accomplished, but I was just terribly behind in paperwork, "business" phone calls, filing medical papers and all the little pieces of life that get brushed aside when there are more pressing things to do. It takes a great deal of time and energy to run a special needs family. I have already decided to take Monday off to get a bit more done. Thank goodness for the flexibility of homeschooling.

We also had lots of fun this week. We went to two movies ~ Beauty and the Beast and The Zookeeper's Wife. They were both excellent, but The Zookeeper's wife is a hard movie to get through. I suggest consulting Common Sense Media before going to determine if your children are ready for it. I am glad my kids saw it, but there were lots of difficult parts to experience.

We also went on a history tour of Biltmore Industries and learned about this very small, but famous fabric company that was in operation from 1901 to the 1980s.

We also investigated an antique car museum.

The kids enjoyed having a snack at the Grove Park Inn. Dean selected a "dangerously sour candy" and then had a hard time keeping a straight face while trying to eat the pieces. lol

Our really big adventure this week was to visit Gatlinburg. This was our first time since the wildfire at the end of last November that took 14 lives and destroyed more than 2,000 structures. 

We also went to the Ripley's Believe or Not, played miniature golf and went through the Ripley's Marvelous Mirror Maze. We very much enjoyed everything. Well, I did think the Mirror Maze was a bit scary...lol! Looking at the pictures below amazes me. When did my kids get so big and grown up?! They are all taller than my husband now!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter.

Blessings, Dawn

The Week Before Spring Break

This week was filled with great learning. I love the weeks that are filled to the brim with great quality stuff. Dean takes art classes with another homeschool mom two times a week. They are working on mural designs and looking for a public space that they would be allowed to paint a mural. They came up with a few possibilities this week.

Time for a bit of silliness while on their quest.

In science this week, we went on a field trip to a mining and gem store. The kids got a huge tub of dirt laced with semi precious gems to sift through. They had a great time and came up with some great finds. Later in the week we identified the gems. The kids have garnets, several types of calcite, quartz, rose quartz, agate, sodalite, and lots of jasper. We are looking into getting a rock tumbler, so we can polish our gems and make jewelry.

In history this week, we finished our unit study on The Tree in the Trail, which was about the Sante Fe Trail. We wrapped up the unit by making honeycomb candles. We are excited about moving on to learning about Native American Indians. 

We finished the week off with our eldest child's birthday. Tim wanted events more than gifts, so we headed out to lunch and then to Fun Depot (an amusement center). We went on a 4D dinosaur adventure ride, played laser tag, played miniature golf and drove go-karts. It was an all-around exciting day. It amazes me that he is 27 and that I have been a mother in charge of a special needs family for that many years~ WOW!

Besides all the fun, we did lots of seat work and DVD watching. We also had one and a half days of trials and tribulations with the bureaucracy. But I am too tired to repeat all that. I'd rather just repeat the positive this time. We have lots of great plans for our "field trip spring break". It should be a ton of fun and a nice break from the grind of dance and school. 

Blessings, Dawn

Our Week in Numbers

I wasn't kidding when I said this week would be a blur. It was one of those weeks that flew by. Here is a quick post of our week in numbers.

• 132 ~ miles driven in the car
•     8 ~ sweet teas purchased out on the road (drank by multiple people)
•     3 ~ full meals eaten out this week for the family ~ yikes!
•   18 ~ hours spent at the dance studio
•     2 ~ absolutely incredible performances that my kids danced in
•     5 ~ hours spent in medical offices, Cognitive Therapy for Dean, Fetal Alcohol Clinic for            Goldilocks
•    4 ~ trips to Walmart ~ one of my least favorite stores
•      1 ~ glorious hour spent outside enjoying cherry blossoms
•    90 ~ ninety dollars made at our yard sale

We also got some good school work done around the edges of life.

Here are some photos of their performance ~ 

Blessings, Dawn

The Week of Spring Fever

We are really feeling ready for spring around here. Dean and I spent time in the yard transplanting iris back into the bed that had escaped. The cherry blossom tree outside his bedroom window is blooming. My husband is tuning up the lawn mower and mowing today! I hope spring really is here to stay, but I suspect it isn't. We had such a funny winter and it is still only March. We shall see. I toyed with taking spring break early but decided to stick it out and wait until the public school system and dance studio are on break. We are actually doing educational field trips each day of spring break, which will still count for school ~ but don't tell the kids 😉.

I decided to make our field trip this week to the nature center even though it didn't really fit into our science plans. The kids just needed to get out, and Dean needed to familiarize himself with the layout of the nature center before he volunteers there this summer. Our nature center is over 40 acres. It is a big place. I hope it will be a great growing and confidence-building experience for our young man.

We also went to a mini golf course, plus go-karting with another friend last weekend. The kids had a blast!

The rest of the week was spent doing school lessons and going to appointments. Dean had another speech evaluation, where the speech pathologist gave some more ideas on how to work on his pragmatic language issues at home. This coming week is going to be a blur. We have tech week for the Junior Company showcase. Anne has seven dances. Goldilocks has an all-day appointment at the FASD Clinic that I will be attending, and we are preparing for a gigantic yard sale. No wonder I have spring fever! It feels like life is taking precedence over school right now. Nevertheless, we are inching toward the finish line. I sorted out the books that we have completed so far for this school year. It felt good to get the school shelves down to manageable order. (I kept walking past the shelves and things were falling off.) It made us feel like there was no end to how much work was left. Now I can see the finish line much better. This has been a rougher school year than most, and I am ready to put it to bed. We have just nine weeks to go. I never regret homeschooling my kids though. It is an awesome blessing to be home with them and guiding them to their goals. I wouldn't have it any other way -- even on the rough days, months ~ and, in this case, most of a YEAR.

Done!

Blessings, Dawn

My Teen Son's High School Plan

My son is currently 14 years old. According to the public school system, he should be completing his freshman year of high school. Instead, he is completing his eighth grade year and is working on a few courses which will count for ninth grade. Dean needed tons of medical intervention and therapies when he was very young, so we didn't start homeschooling full force until he was a bit older. The result was that he was ready for eighth grade this year, but he desperately wanted to be in ninth grade like his public school friends. At the end of last year, I had my son professionally tested for various special education needs as well as extensive IQ test. He came out with a superior IQ and some very confusing, scattered test results that suggested a learning challenge and the need for further testing. Further testing showed that he has a significant pragmatic language disorder, scattered processing issues and depression. Armed with this information, we were advised to have him do a split year. We continued with eighth grade as originally planned and picked some courses that he could work through that would count for ninth grade.

This year he has been working on the following courses ~

8th Grade Courses

• English 8 (8th grade) ~ mostly literature
• Pre-Algebra (8th grade)
• World History (8th grade 1/2 credit)
• Life Skills (8th grade)
• Physical Education (8th grade)
• General Science (8th grade 1/2 credit)

9th Grade Courses

• English I (9th grade) ~ mostly a writing course
• Earth and Environmental Science (9th grade)
• U.S. History I (9th grade)
• Visual Arts I (9th grade)
• String Instruments (9th grade)

Obviously, with 11 courses on his plate, he isn't going to complete all of them by the end of the year. He thought he would be able to tackle this much schooling at the beginning of the year, but his depression really got in the way. Instead, we are focusing on finishing all of eighth grade and being at the halfway mark in most of the ninth grade courses he worked on this year. This will mean that he could take on the rest of his ninth grade courses next year and perhaps two tenth grade courses as well. In the end, he hopes to somehow "catch up" and graduate at the same age that most of his peers would. This is all his own internal pressure. I would rather take the next four years to complete his high school credits. He has come a tremendous way from the huge challenges placed on him in infancy, but there is lots of work to still do. I wish he would relax and give himself time.

Below is part of his high school plan. I have studied all of the requirements of our county and state. We are focusing on a college track diploma, even though I think a two year college degree is the most likely scenario for our son and doesn't require foreign language and the harder sciences. However, we want him to be ready for a four year college if that is where he is led. We are not required to follow the local high school transcript, but I find it to be a good guide. I feel it will be helpful for future employers to have a familiar looking transcript (if he doesn't go to college at all).

His current plan ~ 

9th Grade

1. English I
2. Math I
3. Earth Science
4. American History I
5. Physical Education (mostly dance) and Health
6. Visual Arts I
7. String Instruments I

10th Grade

1. English II
2. Algebra
3. Biology
4. American History II
5. Career and Technology course
6. 
   
7. 
   

11th Grade

1. English III
2. Geometry
3. Chemistry or Physics
4. Spanish I
5. 
   
6. 
   
7. 
   

12th Grade

1. English IV
2. Personal Finance
3. Government
4. Spanish II
5. 
   
6. 
   
7. 
   

We still have many electives empty, since I am still waiting to see what he truly needs to follow his passions. Our state requires a 4 year concentration for public school students. Dean's concentration will most likely be in the arts, which can be a combination of music, theater and visual arts.

Blessings, Dawn