End of the Year Reflections

I am the only homeschooler that I know, who chooses to follow the calendar instead of the "school calendar " when homeschooling her kids. This means that my family is finishing another year of homeschooling this month. We always start a new year in January and finish it sometime in December, taking off as much time along the way as we like. It seems to be easier and less stressful to me to do it this way. I never have to rush to cram it all in before the weather turns warm, and I never have to worry that we are taking too much time off... we just go along throughout the calendar year, working all the days that we can and somehow always manage to finish enough to call it a year by December. This year I even managed to coincide our last lessons with the beginning of the Holiday season, so as of Wednesday afternoon, we are DONE!

Spending a few moments to look at the good things that came out of this year is critical to my sanity, so I think I will write them down here and maybe go back and review them when I start feeling like nothing is getting accomplished during the upcoming year.

Josh-
Participated in Odyssey of the Mind and managed to do well on a high school team, despite the fact that the kids were less than cordial to him. Learned about what a tenacious kid I have.
Finally mastered pre-algebra and was ready to move into Algebra with much less struggle than our past attempts. Sometimes the knowledge is there, but the boy needs to mature a little before moving ahead. This is a good thing.
Refereed soccer this summer for kids 10 and under and grew into some young, caring, responsible kid right before my eyes.
Is beginning to show interest in his accomplishments and motivation to do well academically so that he can have a future! NO MORE STRUGGLING TO GET HIM TO DO WORK!

Max
Participated on an Odyssey of the Mind team and managed to become part of a team and overcome some very serious shyness.
Managed to learn multiplication without any help from his mom!
Began to read complex books, when required, by himself.
Knows more about the Civil War than anyone I know, and I haven't taught him any of it.
Became a joy to be around, most of the time, during the school day because he finally has resided himself to actually having to do the work. He spends less time fighting and more time finishing.
The most detail oriented 9 year old I have ever met. Anal to no end regarding his work. Not willing to have any errors, smudges, or miscues EVER.

Things that we used that we liked:
Josh-
Odyssey of the Mind
Chemistry with Dominic Crea
AYSO soccer and referee program
Margaret Lial's Introductory Algebra
History of US by Joy Hakim
Hake's Grammar
Paragraph punch website

Max-
Horizons Math
Odyssey of the Mind
AYSO soccer
SOTW 2 and maps from activity guide
GUM by zaner bloser for grammar
Spelling Workout
science classes with Dom crea

Things we will use next year:
Josh-
Margaret Lial's Introductory Algebra/Intermediate Algebra
Chemistry w/Dom Crea
Physics w/Dom Crea
History of US by Hakim volumes 6-11
CSPAN information on elections and govt
Essay punch website
SAT vocabulary book (have to find one)
Movies as Literature guide

Max
Horizons Math
History of US by Hakim volume 2-5
SOTW 3 and guide
CSPAN information on elections
Spelling Workout
GUM
lots of reading to correspond with History
science classes off and on through the year

I fell like we are in a really good place with homeschooling now. Both boys are excelling at their own rate and in their own subject areas. Josh is focused on improving his SAT scores and trying to get into Macomb sometime in the next 18 months. It will be good for him to have a goal. He is also joining Civil Air Patrol, which should be a fun outlet for him. Max is focused on animals and math right now. Strange combination, but it works for him. He struggles with feeling "Not as smart" as Josh, but has seemed to come into his own a lot this year.

Mom has found a routine and peace with the process for Josh, now just hoping that I am able to do it for Max. I think if I did nothing with Josh from now on, he would still be able to get into the college of his choice and do well. I think Max wasn't as lucky as Josh, to be born with a natural intellect. Max has to struggle at academic work, so Mom has to struggle right along side him, making sure I smooth out the road enough that he doesn't quit. That is my ONE focus for this next year....

Enough ramblings for now...