We are about to embark on our fourth year of homeschooling! WOW! It is hard to believe that we have been on this journey for four years. I have heard from the families that have been doing this a long time that during the homeschool years, you will grow, change, and learn the whole time. And if nothing else reflects the truths to that in my life....it is the curriculum changes! This year, like years past, we are bringing in some new books and continuing with some old!
Our son, Dylan, is 13. He is a former public school student that we pulled out after he completed 4th grade. It took close to an entire year to "de school" and have him see that he was allowed to relax. During that year, it became evident to me that we had a lot of work to do. I had a gut feeling that he was "behind" his classroom peers, but his report cards always said different. I truly believe that Dylan, if left in the public school system would have fallen through the cracks. Dylan excels at geography, history, and science. However, his reading, spelling, writing, and grammar aren't as great. His math was shaky, but he did fairly well at it. We opted to start him back at the beginning and have him LEARN his way up. He understands that it has put him "behind" his friends or other kids his age, but he also understands that he is getting a great foundation that he will be able to use as his academic career continues! Here is what Dylan will be doing starting April 1, 2012:
My Father's World~ From Creation to Greeks (Bible, history, art, music, and some science)
Math U See~ He is in Delta and will fly through it. He already knows division, but we want that firm foundation! I fully suspect we will be purchasing Epsilon before our next school year!
Growing With Grammar~ To "catch up," Dylan is completing two levels (grades) of grammar per year. However, if he needs to slow down, we do. If he understands a concept really good, we move on. We started back at the beginning because he really needed a better foundation in grammar.
Soaring With Spelling~ Again, he does two levels in one year. His spelling is still pretty rough, but, it is MUCH better since we started with the basic spelling rules.
Winning With Writing~ Same as the above. Dylan really struggles with writing obviously, given the fact that he struggles with spelling and reading. However, we are making great strides with writing with WWW.
Apologia- Exploring God's Creation With General Science~ This will be a fairly large change for Dylan. Up until now he has done more topic specific science. This is the one he may be looking forward to the most!
