We Are Re Enrolling

  So?  Will we do this again?  The answer is a very loud YES!  This choice we were so uncertain about a year and a half ago; this choice that seemed so risky has turned out to be one of the best things I have ever done with my family.

   Honor roll with academic achievement!  Yes!!

   I was concerned at the beginning of the school year that at some point, they were going to ask me to show them the completed work.  I created a small file basket with folders for each child and each subject.  It is filled now. 

   No, nobody has ever asked me to send them copies, or produce any of them, but that file basket is a treasure trove.  Each of the art projects have had a purpose.  My child has learned so many techniques and so much about various artists.  It is wonderful to look through her papers and I will create a display with them for her room this summer. 

    Each of the writing assignments are there.  They are in order and I can see the growth and progress.  It is wonderful.

    The science papers with the explanations in their own words, drawings of what they have seen and learned...are all so wonderful.. I have proof of how much my children have learned this year.  They have done so much and learned about so many different things.  Their self confidence and personal responsibility has grown by leaps and bounds.  I am impressed.

    I can open the cabinet and see that we still have school supplies in good shape.  There will be a few things to replace, but not much.  We didn't spend as much this year on school supplies and it looks like even less next year.

    Now for a quick run down of what we actually used.

    My children quickly abandoned the three ring binders and the spiral notebooks and found that loose leaf paper in a folder worked best for them.  This might be due to the file system.  The work on things until they take the assessment, and then file them. No need for a cumberson binder.  Keeping a different colored spiral notebook for each subject proved equally cumbersome to them.  For another family, those might work better, but since my children take their lessons and laptop "to go" three times each week, it did not work for them.

    I will estimate the total paper use for printing at 2 reams for the year.  If we were doing this completely from home, I would imagine we would have used far less paper and ink, but again, for our purposes, this is how much we used. We also used the plain paper for art projects and science drawings.

    We used the colored pencils quite a lot.  The crayons were used a bit, but we will not need to repurchase those.  We did use the math kits that I purchased.  They had protractors, compasses, etc in them.  Find them on sale if you can.  We also used about half a package of graph paper.  The lessons requesting graph paper come with a file to print some, but it was easy to just grab some from the cabinet.

    Pencils.  Both children now prefer mechanical pencils.  I don't think that it really matters either way, but it is nice to have little lead refills in a drawer rather than sharpening often.

    Paints: The K12 kit came with more than enough paints and oil pastels for the lessons.  We still have quite a bit left.

    Glue and Glue sticks:  We have used almost as much of this as we did in previous years at B&M schools, but I honestly do allow for a LOT of lattitude in the creativity of completing lessons.  If my child is studying a unit on ecosystems and wants to create a representation with cut up National Geographics and a shoe box, I will let her every time.  So, for two children, one bottle of glue and four glue sticks have been used so far.

     There is one teeny, tiny thing I plan to look for this summer for both of my children.  I plan to find one of the journals that contains both blank and lined paper.  This is not really for curriculum purposes, but it seemed like it could blend in well.  At the beginning of each day or week, I would like them to do their writing assignments in the journal and they can draw or take pictures and glue them in.  They could cut out things from magazines that relate.  Basically, I think this will help them to be even more engaged in their writing assignments.

    Ahhhh.. the flexibility of being able to add to the curriculum.  I really do love it.  Last week, we added a project on Alexander Graham Bell. The girls built a telephone like system and were able to recreate a few of his other designs.  As long as my children are getting the main curriculum done first, I plan to continue these little extras.  It just happened that there were books and kits on sale at Half Price Books on clearance for $4.  What a bargain to add extra reinforcement to both their history and science lessons.  Next week we have a kit about Thomas Edison and making "movies" from still drawings... How much fun!

    Yes!  We have already re-enrolled and have been approved for the next school year.  I will have an 8th grade and 5th grade student next year so I will focus on preparing my 8th grade student for more challenging work.

    I am more than ready to do this again.  This has been an amazing opportunity for all of us.  I feel so grateful for being able to be so involved in my children's education while having all of the guidance and support I could possibly need.  We found our groove quickly.  We found what did and did not work for us quickly.  The curriculum is pretty intense at times, with cummulative tests and other more challenging elements, but this is what we were looking for.  My children need more challenging material.  They need to move quickly. 

    I still marvel at how history and science and art often teach the same time period, discoveries and about the same historical figures at the same time.  This greatly reinforces the material for all and gives my children a much better understanding.

   I love this!

   

Flexibility

       It's been a while since I have written anything, in fact, I believe an entire quarter has gone by.  Let me explain:

     My aunt had been fighting an illness for a while.  She would win the battle for a few years, and then have a few set backs and be back to champ status after a few months.  This all took a terrible turn recently. 

     If you remember, I have already gushed about how wonderful it is to have a flexible schedule.  I work three days per week and the kids are able to adjust their lessons, pack up and come with me.  They do a lot of assignments in my office, but we leave the art, science and anything that requires packing more stuff for the days we are at home.

     We began to help care for my aunt several days each week.  We were cooking extra meals to take to her. We were spending more time at her house.  Thankfully, we did not have to worry about missed homework, or making up tests.  We were able to be there when she needed us.  The week before spring break, I was at her house every day.  Things had changed dramatically and it was not okay for the kids to be there so every day, they spent time at another person's house.  The first two days, I gave them a "light load".  Basically, I picked out a few assignments for each girl and decided they just would not have full school days.  Tuesday night, I could no longer think through planning the next day.  I just clicked on "vacation" on each of their calendars for the rest of the week.  

    Virtual school is not so complicated. It really isn't.  It requires minimal preparation, in my opinion.  By generally, I would organize everything on the weekends and we would sail through.  As this situation had progressed over several weeks, by that week, I was prepping a day at a time. 

    The relief I felt was tremendous.  I did not have to write a letter to the school in hopes that they would "approve".  I knew that this was a temporary situation and had already talked to the girls about making up the hours and the choices they would have.  The were more comfortable with doing a couple of hours on Saturdays for a while and giving up two days of their spring break. 

    That Saturday, my aunt passed away.   I did not have to deal with multiple phone calls from the school.  My children did not have to try to focus on school work when their minds were overwhelmed by the situation we were in. 

   I was able to be with my aunt every day and focus completely on caring for her.   My children were able to be with multiple other family members without concern of wifi, lessons, assessments or anything else.  

   Yes, I know this is not a free for all.  We do have education as a priority at our home.  In normal circumstances, it is the most important thing we do each week, but these were not normal circumstances.  I am so grateful that we were able to make our own decision about vacation days.  I am grateful that we did not receive an harrassing phone calls about truancy.  We were able to do what we needed to do as a family.

   My children's grades did not suffer.  In fact, we have shout outs and certificates again.  It has been less than three weeks since my aunt died, and we are already back in the groove with lessons. 

    Not only is the curriculum wonderful and allows for acceleration for advanced students, but I think my children learn an even more valuable lesson about organization and personal responsibility each week.  They were fully aware of how those extra days would affect them.  They knew exactly how they would have to make up the time.  They also made excellent choices to make up the time.  They were able to do all of this with minimal panic or pressure. 

    I am so grateful that we are empowered to accelerate and take a day off when necessary.