How's homeschooling going?

It's coming to the end of the second week of homeschooling, and I have to say that it's going surprisingly well. Deven is really enjoying himself - we get down to business at 7:30am starting with bible study, there's no ten to fifteen minute break between classes, and he loves the lessons. We are doing a lot of work, but he has time to think about what he's doing and we know what he needs to work on. These are the subjects we're teaching him:

We have learned that he didn't absorb much Algebra, so we're teaching refresher lessons; which is fine for me, because I actually enjoyed Algebra in school (well, Algebra 2... my Algebra 1 teacher was an ass, and I had to take it in summer school, where I passed with an A). He should be back on track and ready for Algebra 2 in the fall.

Social Studies - he was working on the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark in school, so that's where we're picking up, and we're going to trudge right on through the 1800s.

In Science, we're going to complete small experiments and he's going to start studying the periodic table.

Language Arts - we're finishing a refresher course on punctuation. He also has vocabulary, journal entries to complete, and stories to read. He finished reading Flowers for Algernon (by choice) before we pulled him, so we gave him a test on that. He'll start a new book next Monday.

Spanish - there's this GREAT conversational Spanish website that Deven LOVES! It's Conversational Spanish - Basics for Beginners. It's really fun... I might even work on it, myself! We're not that worried about how he does in Spanish, because he'll have more structured lessons in the fall.

Music Appreciation - Deven is learning to play the guitar. He has to learn and perform a song for his final.

Home Economics - We're teaching Deven basic cooking and baking skills. He has to prepare a dinner and dessert for final.

Health is about nutrition and healthy eating, and he has Physical Education twice a week.

He also has drama. We want to make sure we keep his love of the arts alive. He will be in two plays this summer, and he has to also see and write a summary about another play. This will also help with his social life.

Speaking of social life, we're attending a homeschool historical ball on Saturday. Deven, Dianna, and Ahja are going - we're all excited about it.  I might allow Janiyah to go, but she was just in trouble for something, so I may not... we'll see.

I think that's where I'll end this. I'll update once a week, and of course, I'll post pictures of the ball...

Thanks for reading!
 

So what’s this thing…

…about homeschooling????  Gotta give you lots of “back story”. My friends know how I am…

Well FIRST, let me tell you my kids’ names. If you’ve read this blog before, you know that I disguised my kids’ names. I didn’t want to expose them to too much on the internet when they were younger because I was trying to protect them from internet dangers. Now that they’re a little older, I’m giving them a little more rope…

Anyway. “Nate” is my 15yo boy, Deven. “Renee” is my 16yo, Dianna. “Bri” is my 18yo, Iyana. I also now have Ahja(13) and Janiyah(9). They’re new additions – they weren’t part of the blog in 2008 and 2009. They also had their own internet identity before they moved here, so there’s no use disguising their names.

So Deven has been struggling with school since… well, since they stopped stapling his work in his composition book. He can’t keep anything together, he’s busy, talkative, and it hard for him to concentrate on one thing at a time. He’s already failed 5^th grade. If you’re a specialized teacher or a therapist, I know what you’re thinking. Don’t worry, we think the same thing. I’ve been running into road blocks, but I’m working on it.

Last year, Deven STRUGGLED! I mean, he passed 7^th grade by the skin of his teeth. He is extremely smart, but he would not turn in his work. He would DO his work, but not turn it in. Talking to him, grounding, rewards, spanking – none of that helped. I took him to school at 7am every day for the last quarter to even get him to pass.

This year – SAME exact thing. His math teacher called me in the beginning of the school year to tell me he was not doing well. I explained to her that I was not at all surprised. She wanted to take him out of the class and put him in a lower class. She said he’s capable of the work, but he’s not completing his assignments.

Same story I heard before, and I told her that. I told her it makes no sense to put him in another class, because he’s going to do the same thing – no matter what class he’s in. I wanted to pull him from school earlier, but my husband didn’t. It’s a creative arts school, and he was flourishing in his major – musical theatre. He didn’t want to ruin that.

Skipping to the end now…

When I found out he was definitely NOT going to pass the 8^th grade, we decided it was time for drastic measures. There was serious talk about moving him to another state, moving him to his home school, or keeping him in his school and let him fail. The other options would have given him a possible chance – keeping him in his school would have guaranteed him repeating the 8^th grade.

After much debate, talking to friends, and prayer – we decided to keep him home. I create his lessons and teach him on Mondays, Lawrence teaches him Tuesday – Saturdays. He has bible study, Language Arts, Algebra 1, Science, Social Studies, Spanish, Home Economics, Drama, and Music Appreciation.

We’re very serious about his work. We are going to finish this year and all of 9^th grade. We don’t know yet what we’re going to do after that. We DO know before we make any decision, an evaluation is necessary. We’re keeping all options open.

So that’s all for now… tomorrow I’ll talk about how it’s going.

Until then!

Helloooo.... anyone out there??

*blows dust off this blog*

Good morning!!
Soooo... what made me break this thing out again???

Well, I blog weekly about my adventures with crocheting (Crocheting All Day), and when I log in, I see this sad blog looking back at me. I thought it needed some updating. Plus, BIG things are happening in this family, and I need to make sure I keep everyone in the loop.

Today, I'm not going to post much... just wanted to let people know the blog is back.
Tomorrow's topic - homeschooling. Yes, we are now homeschooling. Check back to see what it's all about.