We are gently and reluctantly launching our school year this week. I say reluctantly because we had a very full summer, ending with work happening in our house, throwing things into chaos and leaving me feeling (no, actually being) unprepared. But because of how our school year is framed, it is time to begin.
When we began the school year last year, my oldest, a high needs kiddo, was entering 8th grade. We were really working to determine what the specific high needs were rooted in, with the hope of finding extra support to address them. She knew that she wanted to homeschool high school. I didn't think I wanted to homeschool high school. And so went a year of addressing each of our needs and finding supports.
Oddly (or perhaps not), here we are, a year later, having considered a lot of different options (including a 'gap year'). Now, though, we are making last minute decisions for course work and curricula resources as we descend into another homeschool year, with both kids. Both Lala Bug and I have grown in the past year. The growth and the supports we have both received have lead to more mutual understanding and confidence that we can homeschool high school successfully.
The supplies above, the book stack below, and a handful of other fabulous goodies were free for educators (including homeschoolers) at a local reuse shop!
9th grade:
I want to say I can't believe I have a high schooler. I can, because this transition for Lala Bug has been on my mind for 2 years now and integrated into our lives for over a year, but I can't believe how quickly my kids are growing and, honestly, how hard it is to stay on level with them. I am simultaneously trying to keep up with the changing needs as a slow processor, all while not letting my head get away with me in thoughts of "shouldn't we be doing X by now?" Yes, 14 years into parenting, the "shoulds" can still niggle sometimes.
This year, we have planned for Lala Bug to participate in a part time program in a nearby school that serves kids who need extra support. We had additionally planned to begin a new homeschool charter that serves high schoolers, however, part of our last minutes decisions included releasing our spot. I had a difficult time reaching anyone to answer questions, and when I finally did, I had already spoken with a couple other moms whose families use that charter, and we were already coming to the conclusion that, as scary as it is to fly solo for high school, the charter would not be a good fit for us at this point. (If anyone in my everyday life wants to know the details, please just ask when you see me!)
We only just got the draft schedule for the part time program Lala will be attending and the slow, sporadic, unique orientation will be begin this week. She is nervous, as expected, but I am hopeful that this will be a good fit for her, and the blend of homeschooling with some small school supports will be just right.
So, while I am no longer an over-planner, I would have liked to have had all of the information I gained in the past few days, already in place several months ago.
Math: Lala will likely be taking math as one of her part time school program classes. She has also clicked with the teaching and practice style of ALEKS, so she will continue to practice using this program. She will also be doing some business math this year and she has spent quite a bit of time coding during the summer and I expect this will continue and deepen.
English ~ Literature, Language Arts, and Writing: We will be tying together history and literature and will be covering U.S. history (so we can cover government during elections in 2020) through the books we select. We will be using language arts learning guides such as Boomerang (Brave Writer). We will cover some essay writing, as well. In addition, Lala Bug has been using a spelling program to support some of her learning differences and will continue to practice typing.
History/Social Studies: We will be deepening the learning of U.S. history through literature and non-fiction books, biographies, documentaries, field trips, and discussions.
Science: Lala will experience science with lab in the part time school program.
World language: She has been asking to learn Italian for some time, but I think we will have her begin with Spanish, which is an extremely common language where we live.
6th grade:
Brown Mouse is starting 6th grade this year. We are leaving the elementary years behind, something I can't quite believe! He is still with our beloved charter school, for which I am grateful, although the school, on the whole, is going through significant (to us) changes this year, so we are starting the year curious, but less certain. I am hoping to have Brown Mouse undergo an evaluation through our charter school this year, as he has some differences when it comes to writing and spelling, which are signaling a possible subset of dyslexia or some other language processing difference.
Our plans for him this year are loosely Waldorf based, but with more mainstream resources.
Games and exploration: I just want to start by saying that we play games and do physical exploration for every subject that we can. This goes for both kids!
Math: He would like to continue using Teaching Textbooks for math, however I think he is capable of a bit more challenge, so I would like him to do some practice using ALEKS, which our charter school covers.
Language Arts and Writing: We will be doing both of these through literature, specifically Brave Writer style. I suspect the resource specialist will give us additional materials to work specifically on spelling, the mechanics of writing, and typing. I know there will be additional literature that he will join his sister and I with, in reading, as well, and we will tie into history through some Shakespeare. He and Lala are prolific independent readers.
Social Studies: I would like to cover Roman history and Medieval history with him this year. I think there are some enjoyable ways to explore these periods, despite history not being his favorite subject.
Science: This is Brown Mouse's favorite subject. We are going to be doing a lot of hands on learning this year, exploring some ecology, geology, and physics.
I know I haven't named a ton of curriculum resources, but it is because I am going to be pulling materials from a variety of resources, depending on the subject or project. My key tool is my library card. This allows us access to borrow books, audiobooks, ebooks, and DVDs. It gives us free admission to a number of museums, use of language programs, and more. We also have similar benefits through our charter school.
Other memberships and services we use (some free, some paid) are: Curiosity Stream, Khan Academy, Brain Pop, our local museums, our local parks district, Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, Pinterest, other bloggers, and probably more that I am not thinking of!
Extras:
Both kids participate in soccer, dance, and 4-H (which is comprehensive for leadership, teamwork, community service, and more. The kids will be co-leading a project this year.) There is additional interest in mountain biking, golf, piano, and more, and we are working out what our schedule, budget, and other allowances and limitations will be.
This is a year of a lot of change. I think I won't really know how it is going to go until we are in it and settling into a new rhythm. It will involve a lot of driving for me, and probably some park/cafe-schooling for Brown Mouse and me. I am hopeful and finally feeling at ease with the choices we have made as we move into high school.
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