Homeschool Year 2023-2024 Planning (Middle School & High School)

 

Happy August and welcome back to my very neglected blog.   I want to focus on what we'll be doing for homeschooling this year, but might slip in some life updates as I go along.

One reason I felt it was important to update this blog right now is because when I was starting to plan for middle school and high school back when my son was hitting middle school, I noticed that there wasn't as much info online from secular homeschoolers as I wanted. I figured, then, that I could be yet another voice online talking about some of our plans for how we'll be doing homeschool this year. Also, as you can see by looking back on my blog, I do like to put my thoughts down here as I'm planning the school year ahead. It helps me to then go back and see if I've forgotten anything or needed to clarify for MYSELF what the plan could/should be.

So, without further ado...

Let me start by saying that like many other families, we have been taking a lot of classes online over the past several years. This will be true this year as well, because even though COVID may have driven everyone online for classes, the re-opening of the world doesn't seem to be translating into as many in-person classes as I'd like quite yet (at least not in the area we live in). We HAVE found some in-person activities, but I'd say we're still at the point of having the majority of our learning be either done at home or during family field trips.

As intimated, Outschool (www.outschool.com) is one of the resources we use for online learning. Two other resources we have used are Lernsys (www.lernsys.com) and Udemy (www.udemy.com). There have been other random sites where we've done one-off courses or workshops, but I'd say the internet is your oyster these days so definitely shop around!

Here is a rundown of some of the topics for each student for this year. This is still preliminary, and it is not all-inclusive.

D14 (can you believe she's 14 ?!) Middle School:  

Math: Teaching Textbooks or TT (CD Rom Version): Algebra 1

Language Arts:  Mr. D Math: American English Grammar

Science: Chemistry (www.acs.org) 

History:  Ancient Greece/Rome (www.bbc.co.uk)

                            Colonial America (www.mission-us.org)

Art:  In-Person classes at a local art studio

Music: Mom-led, musical styles and history

Physical Education: Swim Classes and Playing Outside

S16 High School

Math: TT Pre-Calculus

Language Arts: Mr D Math: American English Grammar

Science: Udemy Physics Course

History: Independent Study of World History

Art: In-Person Arts Class

Music: Independent Study of World Music Appreciation/History

Electives: Any personal electives and clubs/activities 

will be either online or in-person per his interests

Now, that all doesn't seem so hard, does it?  We'll do several field trips (as we usually do each year) as they come up, but really this is becoming "old hat" at this point. You can see I've pared down a more intensive explanation that might be found in previous years. I think that part of that is because I'm not putting together so many items myself. I'm relying more upon classes than from my own lesson planning, and I have to tell you it is rather freeing. 

Both of our children are now at the age when they can do more things independently.  They have (wisely) chosen to focus more on structured classes for many items, freeing themselves up from their own needs to do regular planning.  Now more than ever, many of these items above are open/plug-and-go (as it were). You work on an assignment, complete what you can, and then pick up where you left off the next time.

As always, we build plenty of time into our schedules for imagination time and just going with our own flow. Both children love having plenty of time to pursue their own interests, but of course they know they must fit academics into their weekly schedule as well (you know my thoughts on not requiring academics, as I feel strongly about preparing our children for secondary education).

....And, there you have it!  That is the basic outline of our upcoming 2023-2024 homeschool year.

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And now for a Life Update

We've had our new home for three summers now and have been slowly building up the land, growing more and more crops, planting fruit trees, etc. We've been trying to enjoy our swimming pool as much as this very rainy summer will allow. We've also been doing little projects around the homestead and enjoying making it more our own.

Having said that, we've also been on the road a lot! My husband's job takes him on the road and we love checking out different locales. We also still have friends back in NH that we like to visit, so we love it when we're able to kill two birds with one stone and combine both "work travel" with "play".

I wish I could report that life has been more exciting than that, but to be honest we are just living our best life by working, playing, and learning in as harmonious of a balance as possible. I suppose we are quite blessed to have such a "boring" life update, but I think there is a beauty and a profound joy in the quiet "business" of  "simply living and living simply".

I hope this blog post finds you well, and that you've receive a little inspiration, support, commiseration, etc. as you plan for your upcoming 

homeschooling adventures. 

Cheers!

Daily Verse for 2022-2023 School Year

                                                           Daily Verse

I look into the world
In which the Sun shines,
In which the stars sparkle,
In which the stones lie,

Where living plants are growing,
Where animals are feeling,
And where the soul of man
Gives dwelling for the spirit.

Love lives within each of us,
also Spirit woven in brilliant light
Sun, wind, earth, and fire meld
The elements sustaining life

To be true to myself is my daily goal
With kindness, compassion, and friendliness
That strength, inner joy and blessings may grow
To learn, to work, to explore, and my heart to express.

 I adapted this verse from the High School daily verse on https://waldorfcurriculum.com/HighSchool/high.html.   The changes I made to the original poem allowed our version to be more in fitting with goals and important tenets of our family in general, and our children in particular.  If you find our version helpful, even as a jumping off point for you to consider tweaking the original to fit your own family, then great! 

We've gone through years when we haven't really had a regular consistent/same verse, and years where we had no verse whatsoever, and I have to say that the times when we incorporated a verse at least somewhat regularly created a time for us to center ourselves and focus on our work ahead with an inspired mindset. I say why not try out a daily (or semi-regular) verse and see if it might help your family to focus on the day ahead. If you do a google search for Waldorf Daily Verses, you can probably find quite a few to help you get inspired.

Homeschool Planning for 2022-2023

 

Can it really be that I haven't updated this blog since I posted last year's planning session?!

I think that like many families, we have been so caught up in life in the age of a pandemic/world conflicts/supply chain issues/inflation/etc that it has been hard to pull myself away from the daily grind of all of that and settle down to tend to this blog.

I have been trying to keep my head above the water line, and somehow in the midst of all of the above-mentioned turmoil, it's just hard to focus on much else! BUT, having said that, there is a LOT of updating I could be doing, so maybe I'll give a quickie update now...

1. We bought a new house.  As I mentioned last year, we finally found a community we wanted to live in near my husband's new job. Funny enough, he left that job just after his year anniversary for something that is a) less stressful  and b) more money.  It was hard to trust his instincts on this new position, because it has some travel requirements and some uncertainty around that, but I'm slowly learning to just trust the process (and his judgement). Those are both challenges for me, for sure!! 

2. Our new house has just under 11 acres!!  (I know, I've mentioned this before, but why not do so again since I'm still excited about it?!)  We couldn't believe our luck (but having said that, don't ask what we paid for all of this. We managed to afford it thanks to the super low interest rates at the time.). We also have a 40,000 gallon in-ground pool (it was NOT at the top of our wish list, and in fact wasn't even ON the list...and so it was a happy bonus!). That made for a really fun summer last year, especially for our youngest (who was in the pool several times a day all summer long, even on rainy days!). We also lucked out on having a 2 car garage (that was on the "wish list" but not a requirement). We've already planted new trees, bushes, flowers, etc and have the beginnings of an orchard in the works. 

3. We have the beginnings of a homeschool community here, but as always it can be hit or miss thanks to COVID (and thanks to the fact that we have a hard time peopling under the best of circumstances). We do our best to be active, but to be honest we still prefer to stay close to home when we're not on the road.

4. Somehow, by the grace of Apollo, none of us has caught COVID (knock wood), even though my husband has worked on the front lines in the hospital through the worst of the pandemic. Maybe we had non-symptomatic COVID? I don't know. All I know is that (THANKFULLY) none of us have been sick. We're all vax'd and still wear masks (although it's getting hard to keep the masks on these days - it can be very claustrophobic sometimes). We took MANY precautions in the pre-vaccine portion of the program, so maybe that helped.

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OK, enough life updates, back to homeschooling!

The big question of the day: Do we still use a Waldorf spine?  I'm going to say....kind of, but probably not enough to give it that official label. 

Look, keeping up a notebook/main lesson book was just too hard to do while a pandemic was raging around us. The kids (and us adults) were all super stressed (we also bought a house and moved, which is its own kind of good stress), and really it has seemed like a bridge too far. In fact, with the exception of math (Teaching Textbooks CD Roms for the win), writing (I do a 4 week "writing workshop" each semester with DS15), and the occasional history study suggestions (from Oak Meadow, so that's SOME kind of Waldorfy influence at least??) and short science units (done with a part Waldorf/part Montessori flavor), the kids have been allowed to follow their own passions and do interest-led learning. My kids have chosen QUITE A FEW online courses for themselves, especially my son. 

p.s. You may be asking: Well, then why are there things like music and art up in the planning pics above? Those are the "interest-led learning" items that the kids themselves picked out. Having said that, it means that they will have much more control over what that looks like and I will step back and let them figure out more of it for themselves. That doesn't mean they won't get prodded and "inspired" by me to get them to do something with those topics if I haven't seen any movement on them for a few weeks!

What about our youngest? Well, DD13 is autistic and has had some challenges over the past few years. Hormones are kicking in and adding a whole other layer of the onion for her. She doesn't always deal with change and stress very well, so you can imagine that a move during a big pandemic also hasn't done any favors. Still, she is the same playful and creative girl, just with less ability to calmly sit for lesson work these days. 

Other than math (which she can now do herself thanks to the ease of using the Teaching Textbook CD Roms), regular book baskets and 1x/semester science units, she is allowed to follow her passions right now.  To ease the minds of those who might question how well this has worked for her, she just completed her CAT (California Achievement Test, a standardized test) and she tested above her grade level in the majority of areas. 

I had someone recently ask me if that meant we could consider ourselves unschoolers. I still have to say "No", since I still drive nearly half of their learning - and I ensure they stick to a schedule as well, which would go against the typically-agreed-upon basic tenets of unschooling. The kids still get to choose a lot of what they're learning, but they don't have the option not to choose items in the main subject groups. Just because they may have an abbreviated 4-8 week unit on science per semester (for example) does not mean they may skip science altogether for the semester. As mentioned, there are non-negotiables that must get done. The kids do have a say in what their schedule looks like, but they still must have one. Does that clear it up a little? I hope?

Well, thanks for popping by!  I hope this update shows future homeschooling families that just because things might evolve, or have temporary changes, that doesn't mean that homeschooling is still not totally doable and a great option. I know that my kids still choose to not be in the public schools. They still choose not to be saddled with that daily homework, with compulsory attendance for 6 hour days/5 day weeks loaded down with busy work and very little say in their learning, not being able to stay in jammies many days, not having a hot lunch that they don't have to inhale in 10 minutes (and prepared with love in their own kitchen), not being able to hang out with their friends for hours online...and the list goes on and on.

We keep choosing it again and again, and it is still such a blessing to our family. We've weathered a pandemic in the comfort of our home, forming closer bonds than we otherwise could have formed if they were away for 6 hours a day. We get together with other homeschoolers outside and simply PLAY. 

It's still our jam, Baby!

Homeschool Planning: Grade 9 for 2021-2022

 

Well, it's August now, and that means full-swing planning.  As I am wont to do, I'm using this post as a sort of sounding board for this preliminary planning. Every single year we end up tweaking things as we go along, and I'm sure this year will be no exception.

Before I get into the actual planning for grade 9, I want to do a little bit of catching up...

Last year was a bit of a crap shoot, I'm not gonna lie! We had started the year in full lockdown mode, which really took a lot of wind out of our sails because in previous years, we had taken classes and done activities outside of the home at least twice a week (for most "typical" weeks). Last year, like many people we did absolutely no in-person classes or indoor activities with others. This was really hard on all of us, but my kids were real troopers. They adjusted to online classes and activities fairly well, although they missed being in-person with their friends terribly.

Last year was also a year of hardcore house-hunting for our family. That meant lots of drive-by visits of homes as well as inside touring of homes. We lost count of how many homes we looked at. It had been 3 long years of looking, and then finally we had to face a tough reality: maybe our experiment of moving to NH was not panning out quite as we had hoped. My husband had a really, really rough year being on the front lines. I know we aren't alone, but wowza was it rough. At the end of the day, he was stuck in a bit of rut of 60+ hours each week of SUPER high stress, swing shifts, and of course then there was the pandemic. It took an emotional toll on all of us, and when he looked forward to where he might be in the next couple of years, he realized that vertical movement really wasn't going to be possible in the way he could feel good about, and since the house search had gone so abysmally, we decided as a family to try our luck back in Maine.

As it turned out, he had been contacted by one of his previous employers who knew he'd moved up into management. They informed him of a couple of open positions within the organization. He applied for one and got the job. The next hurdle, of course, was then finding a place to live in the area. After 3 years of failed house-hunting, I was pretty terrified that we might end up physically living in NH another year while my poor husband commuted back and forth. As it turned out, we purchased a home after only looking at 4 places! Clearly the Universe was telling us that we were making the right decision. 

Our new home is on 10+ acres, is backed by a brook, has an in-ground pool, several outbuildings, a 2-car garage, and is really lovely and special on the inside as well. We have great neighbors, a lovely little town, and we are close to both my husband's work as well as nearby shopping, as well as close to family and friends.   OK, so enough about our move (but I should mention that it definitely made sticking to a homeschool plan practically impossible for a couple of months!).

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So, now on to DS14's "freshman year". Because he's on a college track, we sat down with him and hammered out some basic goals he'd like to reach over the next 4 years. We decided to take the advice of some friends of ours, and we're starting out by frontloading a lot of the items he'll eventually need. What that means is that he's been accelerating in math these past few years, and now he'll already be taking Geometry as a freshman. That means he can take Algebra II as a sophomore, and technically he could stop there if he wanted to. 

We've done Every Science Every Year for the past couple of years, which means he's already been introduced to Biology, Earth Science, Physics, and Chemistry. We've already touched on some Health topics, Language Arts (naturally), Maine Studies, Computer Literacy, and History of various different time periods. He's taken some introductory Spanish, done some Coding, and lots of interdisciplinary STEM activities and classes. He's done both music and art every year (to one degree or another), along with Library Skills. He's participated in a play (Peter Pan) as well. 

So, what does that mean going forward?

Here's the (rough) plan:  

Freshman Year:  Language Arts (including more in-depth Literature and Writing), Spanish I (full course - his last exposure was only a 5-week intro), Geometry, Chemistry I/Lab (with a goal of trying his hand at a sample Chemistry CLEP exam at the end of the year), Art (drawing, painting, charcoal, pastels, water colors, and other crafts) and Art History (we'll focus on 8 of the great classic artists in history, Music (a 4-week unit to refresh him on the basics of reading music and playing a song on a recorder), US History, Geography, STEM units, a short unit on Cooking & Nutrition, Swim Lessons, and of course any electives he chooses as the year goes along.

Sophomore Year:  Language arts (including Literature, Writing, and Grammar) - possibly in the form of a Community College Dual-Enrollment course, Algebra II, Biology/Lab (Semester I), Physics (Semester II), Art (to be determined), Music History (1 semester learning about many great composers, World History, STEM units, Domestic Arts (1 semester), Swim Lessons, and any electives he chooses

Junior Year:  Community College Dual Enrollment Classes - If he didn't do English 101 as a Sophomore, then he would want to do it now as a Junior. He could also do College Algebra 101. Another class he might be interested in might be a college-level History course, as well as a college-level science of some kind (if he doesn't CLEP Chemistry, then that might be a good choice as a class. Biology would be another good option). Other subjects he'll want to cover as a Junior will be chosen based on 1.) his interests  and 2.) whatever is still left to take after he's signed up for college classes.

Senior Year:  He'll likely be leaning hard into Community College classes by now. By the time he finishes his Senior year, he should be at least halfway towards an Associate's Degree (if not further, especially if he takes any classes in the summer).  Because his college classes MORE than cover any "requirements" for "high school", it really shouldn't be necessary at this point to worry too much about anything he's "missed". He should (by now) have covered the 4 r's (as it were) each year, along with all of the other fiddly bits that public schools often require for graduation. Because he'll have taken college level classes already, he'll be a great candidate for transferring into full-time college at that point (if he so chooses).

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So, one thing I decided to do was to download a free transcript template online.  I filled in all of the subjects he should be covering over the next 4 years. Then, I started a Course Description section. Because so many of the courses he takes these days are online, I can just copy/paste the course descriptions and course goals right into the document. Anything he does that is NOT online (such as his math - we use Teaching Textbooks CD Roms), I can easily go right to the website and copy/paste their course descriptions as well.  Anything that might be more miscellaneous (or that we've crafted ourselves using a more "unschooling" or free-form kind of student-led approach), we simply keep track of things as it goes along, and then we create a "course description" as a retrospective. It's always amazing how when we do that, we somehow manage to hit all of our "goals" 🤣🤣🤣

It is definitely nice to keep this Course Description section updated every time he takes a course. It should help save a lot of time when he starts signing up for college classes that have pre-requisites. We'll have all of the topics covered in each class right there at our finger tips for a college professor to peruse to determine if he's got enough background knowledge to succeed in their class.

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I know this can all seem a bit dry, but I figured that if I put it all down like this, it might help someone else down the road who might be trying to figure out how to plan their child's high school years.

This isn't all written in stone, but rather is a rough guestimate of the path we're likely to take through our son's high school years. I hope it might be helpful to someone some day, even if only to let that person know that it might seem like a lot, but if you break it down into manageable chunks, you can totally homeschool your high schooler! Just start with the basic requirements in your state for public schoolers, and use that as a sort of jumping off point and guide. The great thing about homeschooling is that we AREN'T required to follow a specific script (at least not in Maine, anyway). Our path is mainly being chosen on the basis of answer the question "What will a Community College or University want to see that he's taken?". Not every child will want college as their ultimate goal, and so their path may look very different!

                                                            You can do this!

Family Drama

Autumn on the Countertop

I know this isn't why you come to this blog. I've tried in the past to keep family stuff out of this blog as much as possible, but sometimes it seems like homeschool life can't completely be divorced from family life. Should it be? Can I just pretend life is fine when some part of it isn't?

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These aren't my words, but they might as well be. I'm just going to leave this here...

I took the time today and wrote down my feelings...the raw truth:

You wanna know what’s sad? When you raise someone for 18 years and you spend those years providing for them, supporting them, sheltering them, teaching them, laughing with them, crying with them, feeding them, clothing them, and most importantly loving them. Then one day, someone comes along, manipulates them, changes them, then steals them away from you. 

Their family takes the person in, that you raised, and they never look back. They leave you, your entire family, their pets, their sick grandfather, their home, and their entire life....behind. Gone. Like none of it mattered. And you’re left there, shattered into a million pieces in a gigantic puddle of tears. You spend your days and nights crying. For months. And the pain never goes away, it never gets easier, ever. You spend weeks, then months wondering what you did wrong, if the person you created ever really loved you, where they are, who they’re with, or if they’re alive or dead. 

Yet you need to put on a strong facad

e and continue living. You’re still a wife and a mom to others who are counting on you. You spend days cleaning out their belongings, going through old memories, pictures, books, clothing, all of it...only to bring you happier times which makes you cry all over again. It’s literally like mental torture. It consumes you like a disease. You feel bad for your other family members but you mostly feel bad for yourself because you know the most important person in your life should be your mother. It’s not fair. Any of it. You fear it’s never going to get better. 

The holidays are quickly approaching and the thought of waking up Christmas morning without them is nowhere near full of spirit but instead full of impending misery. How will I survive birthdays, holidays, everyday, forever without them? How will I continue on for those that are left behind? It’s like a death with no closure. There are endless days of grief and many more ahead with no end in sight. They miss important milestones, and important family time they can’t get back. 

You know they will live in regret someday and yet you still want to save them from future pain even though they’re causing you the most extreme emotional pain you’ve ever felt. You find yourself spending what seems like hours each day staring out the window with each passing car hoping it’s them coming back to reconcile. You wait for the phone to ring, hoping for something good, fearing the worst. You wake up each day thinking maybe this is the day, but go to bed each night with tears on your pillow because today wasn’t the day you hoped for. This is not how I pictured my life all those years ago. The family I created, we created, is forever tarnished and will never be the same again. All because someone came along and stole my daughter. The memories I have I will keep close to my heart. Hopefully someday they’re not as agonizing. Hopefully someday I will be able to deal with such loss. Hopefully someday she’ll be back. Hopefully someday I will get my daughter back.

Until then, I’ll be waiting, looking out the window.

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Those are someone else's words, and so of course not all of it is 100% applicable, but much of it is. My heart breaks every day since my oldest estranged herself from me (and our family). I would not wish this pain on anyone. At the same time, my other kiddos need me, and so...I get up each day and go through the motions of being a somewhat intact and whole person. My dear, sweet child: I will always love you, no matter what.

Updates and Thoughts

                                            Meat Pie Made With Love 

 I have been absent quite a bit from this blog (but is that super unusual?). It feels hard to write about "What We're Doing In Our Homeschool" (tm) when all of **THIS CRAZINESS** is going on around us. 

Still, we can't completely let learning fall by the wayside, can we? 

Homeschooling looks different right now. I know that life in general looks different for EVERYONE right now. Some people are homeschooling "suddenly", or dealing with some kind of learn-from-home scenario. You might be one of those people, searching for blogs on homeschooling and hoping for insight, inspiration...answers. I cannot guide anyone, but I can at least tell you that whatever preconceived notions you had about what homeschooling would look like is rarely how it really is...not when the rubber meets the road. In reality, kids need far less academics than we think...and busy work is for the glorified babysitter buildings they used to go to. Stop worrying about whether they will "get it all done", and instead focus on getting the basics done. The rest will sort itself out over time, I promise.

So, what does the actual HOMESCHOOLING look like for us right now? Well...we are still (loosely) using a Waldorf/Steiner curriculum-styled spine. I'm using Oak Meadow for history/reading for both kids now (DS13 and DD11). For math, both are using Teaching Textbooks (CD Rom version 2.0, DS is doing Algebra 1 and DD is doing Grade 5). For handwriting and drawing, they still work on main lesson book pages, but we also use Draw! Write! Now! We aren't doing either of them as regularly as in year's past. The reality is that it's hard for all of us to sit still at a table and calm our minds long enough to do it. DS is also doing some online classes (currently planning on 1 online class per semester, each lasting about 3-4 weeks only). 

My kids have been spending a lot of time online with their friends. I think that given the stress of the pandemic (and the isolation therein), that they need their friends right now more than they need table work. They still find creative projects to work on with their friends, and plenty of game-playing as well. Mostly, they love to hang out and laugh...which is something ALL of the kids in our circle of friends needs right now. 

Our kids took the CAT assessment exams back in June, and both of them blew the exams out of the water. They seriously did incredibly well, and I daresay both have skills above their grade level in both language arts and math (the two areas the CAT tests). 

Because of that solid foundation, I no longer feel as though I need to be as intense about things like grammar (although we will still be honing skills as we go along). Math keeps advancing with Teaching Textbooks as well. I cannot say enough good things about the program. It is great at both spiraling through skills as well as moving at a good pace. Learning about History seems to be a luxury these days that few people consider manditory, and yet we still do inject it into our semesters. As for science, we are focusing on biology this year (but we haven't started our Bio block just yet). We also plan to do some geography again this year, and we'll likely also have a couple of weeks of recorder for a musical touch. DS has also been learning some Spanigh (via an app called Babbel as well as a week-long online intensive he took at the end of August, which he quite enjoyed). 

Because DD is autistic and has had a language delay, I consider English to be her "foreign language". Still, we do go over Spanish vocabulary around her and she does pick up words here and there via exposure - but she makes it clear that it is too abstract for her to really be able to hold onto it and use it. Maybe when she's older. We try to get outside most days - for both movement as well as sanity purposes. 

That pretty much concludes the "official" homeschooling that we're doing currently. Some weeks are better than others in terms of taking time away from more leisurely and social activities to focus on academics. We're doing our best. Really, at the end of the day, it is their psyche that I care about the most. There is so much stress involved with this pandemic, especially since my husband is an essential worker (and a very busy one at that). It's so hard to grab onto one thought these days, or find a coherent way to explain what life is like right now. 

We're all afraid (though we work hard to push that aside). We are lonely and miss in-person activities with our friends very much. We're living in a very historic moment, and we are very aware of that. Currently, there's an uptick in cases after our area had been experiencing a decline all summer long. We've all worked so hard to be careful, and now that schools and colleges are starting back up again (in some areas), people are spreading the infection at higher rates again. People are dying. 

I'd like to add as a sort of aside that I am being affected by peri-menopause in a BIG WAY right now. It's definitely been a challenge to hold it all together when my hormones are going a bit crazy. 

I don't want to sound too bleak, but I also cannot gloss over the fact that this is a very challenging time to live through right now. Our kids are learning so much more than just their grammar points and their math equations. None of us will ever be the same. That is so obvious. Don't even get me started on the political environment. 

I'm sorry that this is not one of my more uplifting posts. I wanted to update, but I couldn't avoid the big elephant in the room. The pandemic is as much a part of our daily lives as our history books, math problems, and writing prompts. It's a bit much at times, and I struggle sometimes emotionally to hold it all together. My kids need me to hold it together. My husband needs me to hold it together. It's almost criminal that we need to even worry about "schooling" our kids, and yet...we can't just completely put life on hold and have the pandemic be so utterly invasive and pervasive that we don't at least pretend that there is hope that one day my kids will use this math and this grammar in their adult lives somehow. We are pretending that one day this nightmare will be over, and so we keep trying to sprinkle lesson work on top of the giant three-ringed shit show that is life right now. 

I guess in conclusion, I'll say that despite it all, my kids are doing so great. 

Kids are so resilient, aren't they? Yes, they feel the stress (and sometimes act out as a result), but they still amaze me all the time with their beautiful souls. I'm just afraid for them and the world in which they may be trying to use these "school" lessons. I hope that in a year or so I'll be able to report happier news on that front. 

                        Keeping our chins up. I hope you are as well. We are all in this together.

Homeschooling During Challenging Times

Building some 4x4 Raised Beds

Building some 4x4 Raised Beds

Draw! Write! Now! page from my 7th grader

Draw! Write! Now! page from my 4th grader

New Reality: Cordoned off entry-way for my front-line husband to change out of his clothing 

when he gets home from work

Cloth masks a friend of mine made and donated to our hospital for use by staff

Strange times we're living in, eh?  Our family has been essentially in lockdown for a bit longer than a month (the official stay-at-home order for NH I believe was made on April 13, 2020).

I suppose the one constant that helped us adjust better than some public-schoolers might have is the fact that we already were learning at home.  We were taking a few classes through two homeschool co-ops, which wisely cancelled their classes back in March (one of the classes is still being held online for my son, but all the rest were cancelled).

So, how is homeschooling going for us? It's been mostly smooth sailing, but having said that there are some challenging moments (just like any week/month/year, really).  We've all been a bit more stressed, which means our motivation to do lesson work is not always as high as it could be. As a result, we have probably taken more days off from lesson work than we should have, but everything I read and hear says that it's more important to focus on mental health than it is to worry about a history lesson. 

We made the difficult decision for me to move into my son's bedroom with him (we ordered him a twin-sized mattress to sleep on the floor) because we felt it was too great a risk to have me sleeping in the same breathing space as my husband, who is on the front-lines working with patients at the hospital. I remind myself that because he is an "essential worker", he still has a job (even if that job puts him in danger of getting sick and/or bringing the virus home to us). We are still financially stable, which a lot of families are not able to say right now. My heart goes out to the families who have lost their jobs, businesses, etc because of the lock down due to this pandemic.

We are using this time to re-dedicate ourselves to the focus of purchasing our own homestead (eventually) and finding a town to put down roots. We'll see what the next 6-12 months brings as we explore our options.

Another interesting thing that has come out of all of this is that DS12 has expressed an interest in pursuing careers where he could work from home. As a result, we have begun a series of skills exploration, including Coding and other technical types of skills (including Robotics, which may have less stay-at-home power but would likely have remote hours possible in ones schedule. I imagine that in typical Waldorf schools they would not be introducing coding (or really anything to do with computer screens) in grade 7, but I could be wrong. 

Regardless, study has begun and the interest is high!

Both children have now completed the CAT exam, which is a standardized exam that tests math and language skills and gives you scoring that suggests how your kids compare to other kids their same age/grade. Both kids did really well, actually!  I did accommodate DD10 (because of her autism and language delays) by reading the questions to her twice (if needed) and rephrasing some of the questions. I allowed both children to "phone a friend" (ie. look up a concept/skill on google) for 3 different problems (so they had to choose wisely!).  I have to say, the 3 they chose were concepts or skills that I myself was unsure of as well (and I consider myself to be highly educated, given my double BA which includes a 5 year teaching certificate, my 10 years teaching in the public schools, and the several years of homeschooling I have done with my own kids).

In other words: If I was unsure about the answers, they were likely rather obscure and uncommon and not something the "average adult" could rattle off the top of their heads on any given regular day. I didn't feel too guilty allowing the kids to look up 3 such items.  We used those moments as learning opportunities. We would watch videos on the concept/skill and talk about it so we felt very, very sure we understood exactly what it was and how to use it.  Personally, I feel that is what testing SHOULD be all about! It should inform and instruct, not simply give a graded score.

The reason we did this exam so relatively "early" (many homeschoolers choose to do it over the summer after the school year has ended) is because we are frankly getting a little burnt out from this school year (the mental exhaustion from dealing with the stress of this pandemic/lockdown/worry has taken a real toll on all of us). 

Now we can sit back and relax and enjoy the last few weeks of lesson work. I am planning to end this "school year" by the 2nd week in May and have us take the rest of the month of May off...well, for the most part ;)  We will still read books (my son is working his way through the Harry Potter series and my daughter is reading Ask magazines and short books from our home library. We'll still likely keep going with coding exercises from a book we got:

Besides Coder Academy, I ordered the kids Coding For Beginners Using Scratch and Coding For Beginners Using Python (I found them used online). So, once DS12 finishes Coder Academy, both kids are going to have a crack at the Scratch coding book (some of the exercises should be appropriate for DD10 to try).

I imagine DS12 may not get to the Python coding book until we start back up in the fall, which is fine. We want a comfortable pace so that he doesn't get bored or unhappy with too much all at once. If this is a career area that he might go into, we definitely don't want to make it un-enjoyable by pushing too hard. We also have some Robotics critters both kids can try to put together over the summer as well. Hands-on really is such a great way for kids to learn!

As you saw waaaay above, both kids helped us put together some raised beds to grow some of our own food into this summer. For obvious reasons, exploring some food security is a good idea, this year in particular.  The kids also helped to sow some seeds!

Leafy greens and beets

The kids cut out shamrocks for St. Patty's Day to put into our window to bring some cheer to neighbors walking by

Coding and Math (Teaching Textbooks CD's)

My husband at work in his PPE garb (when not in a full-face respirator for patient rooms)

A cut/paste worksheet for DD10's unit on the Pioneer days (to be revisited next year I think)

When things start sprouting outside, the kids will be observing the whole process, and of course will help with the harvesting! We have potatoes in one of our raised beds and plan to put more tender crops in the other planters.  I'm planning to direct-sow some zucchini and small pumpkins on a small hill out behind our barn, being careful not to allow things to sprawl too far and irritate our landlords. It can be a delicate balance sometimes.

I hope you are all well and staying safe and healthy. We are ((knock wood)) so far healthy and safe and riding out this interesting storm as best as we can, waiting for the day when we can once again rejoin the world. Yes, we do get outside of the house and play, take walks, etc and my husband does most of our grocery shopping (he has masks, gloves, and goggles he can wear for that), but we otherwise do not go very far. We're trying to help "flatten the curve" and keep infection rates at a reasonable level so the healthcare system can keep up with it. 

It is a bit harrowing for us, but we are doing our best to focus on mental health and trying to keep our daily lives as "normal" as we can, given the situation.  

Take good care out there!