Monday, March 26, 2007

It's that homeschooling decision making time again. Buck and I must decide our course of action for our four children's schooling next year. This year has been our best year yet in that all the children have stayed on course and applied to academics. My oldest, Peace, who has few organizational skills, is being challenged but not broken at a once a week cooperative. My middle children are much further along in critical thinking, language skills, spelling, composition, literature, and math than last year. We've done more history and science than ever before. My youngest has begun to read and is mastering a few number skills.

For the first time, I think I look forward to our standardized testing scores. I'll let you know if I'm off base when the results are in.

I've spent a good part of this evening filling out an application for one son to take one science course in a lovely Classical School next year. We're good to go on plans for next school year as far as I can tell.

My only regret again is that I still haven't found an excellent art teacher near enough. The local ones I've spoken with don't follow my "no spaceship, no robot" policy. My boys already only draw spaceships and robots- they don't need instruction for that.

We'll officially conclude academics the first of May and begin again in July.

My youngest son, Wise One, remains half a year behind, but he simply cannot go faster. He's seriously considering some summer schooling with me. Strangely, he's the only child of mine who asks for his work and wants to get it done everyday. I must work much harder to inspire my other children to finish daily work.

My children are living proof that children are born as who the people they will be. I can mold but I certainly cannot make my children what I want them to be.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Reading this awakens my put-on-the-shelf vision of starting an on-line school that home schoolers could take advantage of.

truevyne said...

Interesting! Let me know if you get the idea going, Questing.

Truth said...

I have to agree with you about each child being an individual. Even though it was "my" desire to homeschool all of my children, each year was spent considering/praying about what each and every one of them needed for schooling. There are so many things to consider when shaping them according to their uniqueness.

Kat said...

I saw a book you might like. It's called Forty Acres and a Fool: How to Live in the Country and Still Keep Your Sanity, by Roger Welsch. I have no idea if it's any good or not, but the title made me laugh!

truevyne said...

Truth, Good points as usual.
Kat, I do consider you to be my professional library consultant. I'll look it up.