School Update
This is kind of a journal entry for me to look back at later. Nothing secret or anything, but you may find it boring. You've been warned!
Kara and I are still humming right along with school. I seriously increased Kara's math and she is doing very well with it. She says it makes her tired and still takes her a while, but it's good for her. It stretches her brain and pushes her to do her best.
Since I am always looking for what is next, always researching, I am already thinking about sixth grade. While we are done with fifth grade grammar (because we hate it and wanted to get it over with) and reading (because she loves it and zipped right through it), we still have a ton of other stuff to work on. (We are so far behind in history!) We started fifth grade in March, then took the summer off. If we start sixth grade a year later, that would be March. (Except that's right around when we are moving again! Uh, didn't think about that. Maybe we'll need another "summer" vacation.) Anyway, while doing research, I am finding we are really happy with the curriculum we picked and things are going really well. That's good, right?
Then I was thinking - we are less than a year away from SIXTH grade. When I was in school, that was middle school. Whoa. Since Kara is young, that doesn't make her a teenager or anything, but I think it is definitely some serious school. In my opinion, middle school is time to prepare for high school. (Thinking about high school home school transcripts freaks me out. Probably like potty training used to. I'm sure once we get there, it won't be a big deal.) Middle school should prepare her for high school. And high school should prepare her for college. I appreciated being in the tougher classes in high school because it made college that much easier (easier is the wrong word - college was hard for me - bearable is a better word).
But, right now we don't do grades and most subjects don't have tests. I focus on just learning. We only test Math and Spelling. Everything else we talk about out loud and read together and investigate and research. I think it's time we start bumping up things that I grade. For example, in Science we read her text book, then we go through the workbook together, answering questions that are in the text we just read. To be honest, she gives the answer, but I do tell her when she is wrong and to keep trying until she gets it right. Up until now, I've always thought it was more important that she learn the right answer than be judged for answering incorrectly. I guess I'll have her work on those alone and start grading her.
Then comes the hard part - how do I stomach giving her bad grades, when she deserves them? Oh, that's going to be hard. But good for her. And probably me too.
I should also buy those standardized tests for her to do at home.
She is getting much better at working independently though! I can give her an assignment, then get in the shower. Tomorrow morning I am meeting Bert at the house with the tiler to start discussing that, so she'll be home working on school alone for a bit. I think she'll do fine.
While I trust God will tell us the best plan for Kara's education, I sure hope He keeps us home schooling. I love it so much!
Kara and I are still humming right along with school. I seriously increased Kara's math and she is doing very well with it. She says it makes her tired and still takes her a while, but it's good for her. It stretches her brain and pushes her to do her best.
Since I am always looking for what is next, always researching, I am already thinking about sixth grade. While we are done with fifth grade grammar (because we hate it and wanted to get it over with) and reading (because she loves it and zipped right through it), we still have a ton of other stuff to work on. (We are so far behind in history!) We started fifth grade in March, then took the summer off. If we start sixth grade a year later, that would be March. (Except that's right around when we are moving again! Uh, didn't think about that. Maybe we'll need another "summer" vacation.) Anyway, while doing research, I am finding we are really happy with the curriculum we picked and things are going really well. That's good, right?
Then I was thinking - we are less than a year away from SIXTH grade. When I was in school, that was middle school. Whoa. Since Kara is young, that doesn't make her a teenager or anything, but I think it is definitely some serious school. In my opinion, middle school is time to prepare for high school. (Thinking about high school home school transcripts freaks me out. Probably like potty training used to. I'm sure once we get there, it won't be a big deal.) Middle school should prepare her for high school. And high school should prepare her for college. I appreciated being in the tougher classes in high school because it made college that much easier (easier is the wrong word - college was hard for me - bearable is a better word).
But, right now we don't do grades and most subjects don't have tests. I focus on just learning. We only test Math and Spelling. Everything else we talk about out loud and read together and investigate and research. I think it's time we start bumping up things that I grade. For example, in Science we read her text book, then we go through the workbook together, answering questions that are in the text we just read. To be honest, she gives the answer, but I do tell her when she is wrong and to keep trying until she gets it right. Up until now, I've always thought it was more important that she learn the right answer than be judged for answering incorrectly. I guess I'll have her work on those alone and start grading her.
Then comes the hard part - how do I stomach giving her bad grades, when she deserves them? Oh, that's going to be hard. But good for her. And probably me too.
I should also buy those standardized tests for her to do at home.
She is getting much better at working independently though! I can give her an assignment, then get in the shower. Tomorrow morning I am meeting Bert at the house with the tiler to start discussing that, so she'll be home working on school alone for a bit. I think she'll do fine.
While I trust God will tell us the best plan for Kara's education, I sure hope He keeps us home schooling. I love it so much!
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