Sophmoritis?

The kid is not to blame... we are both not as gung ho as we were in the beginning of the year. He got behind and so did I, but we are trying to make it up. The best part is that even though he has not been all in with the school program, he still has been learning through reading and playing video games. YES! Video games can be educational!

He is still up for learning to write Japanese and he found a video game that will help him (I'm not surprised, are you?). He is not going to buy it until it goes on sale though. Smart kid. He has also decided he wants to cook without me or Dad in the kitchen with him. He is going to experiment with different foods which I think is a fantastic idea. 

Even though we are not entirely focused on the school work, we are still learning practical skills. This is the best part about homeschooling... it is fluid and all up to you. We are going to finish the school year strong even though we have gotten off course this semester because homeschooling is what you want it to be - nothing more, nothing less.  

Happy Homeschooling!

3rd Year's A Charm?

  I don't want to jinx myself but I think we've finally found our groove. My son has four core classes that require a certain number of assignments completed each day in order to complete the week's schedule. He's been doing it without complaint. Without complaint! Someone knock on some wood with me!

  I have a list of subjects we did not cover during 8th and 9th grades so I will slowly introduce those to him in the coming weeks but so far so good for the first 6 weeks of school. I also have a list of subjects that I want to make sure we cover although the curriculum might already include some. I had resume and cover letter writing on the list but he's already doing that in Sophomore English so I scratched that off. I'm hoping to scratch off more but we'll see. Wish us luck!

Sophomore year!

  How is it possible my kid is a sophomore already? What is happening here?!

  Since we're still not participating in the co-op (even though they still have me in their group for the third year), we started school when we wanted to which is the day after Labor Day. Actually, I think the co-op started that day too but that is neither here nor there.

  We had a great day! We came up with a schedule, he's taking their math class (so far so good) and we have come to an understanding regarding writing assignments (which I intend to amend later but that's neither here nor there either). It's all good.

  Since he is doing the writing assignments, I've had more to grade and I'm already behind. Working 40 hours a week is really sucky when you're trying to homeschool a high schooler. I'm thrilled that he's doing so well and sticking to his schedule though so I'm not complaining!

  Issues so far that we'll have to work out:

1. Time 4 Learning still uses cartoon-y characters in their videos but we're dealing with it. If it stops being lectures again and all cartoon-y, I'll have to find another program for him which I have already been researching so I'm ready if that day comes.
2. Back to the writing issue - I do not believe he is fully utilizing their bank of information when it comes to his writing assignments but I will bring this up as we get a bit further into the semester. I have to remember that he is not an English geek like I am.
3. He wants to learn cursive and I have a bunch of other topics I want to introduce but I don't want to spring that on him until he gets a few weeks of his schedule under his belt. The hope is not to cause any surliness (at least, not more than he already exudes) and not to add hours to his school day. I need to figure out how to present these things to him without it seeming like school work. He's 16, not 6. 

  I'm up for the challenge and I'm optimistic for this year. Here's to a great sophomore year!