Assessment 2017--Rose Red


There was a little girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.

When she was good,
She was very, very good.
And when she was bad, she was horrid!
--Mother Goose

This poem could have been written specifically for my curly-topped Rose Red.  Sir Walter Scott and I have recited it for and about her since she was a toddler, and it applies just as well today as it did back then.


She is a young woman of extremes--extreme opinions, extreme emotions, extreme questions, extreme behaviors, extreme judgments, and so forth and so on.

Her next birthday will be her 18th, and she is chomping at the bit to get out and be independent . . . but she hides from independence at the same time.

She's definitely matured this year, and I am curious to see how much more she will mature in the year to come. 

Will she be ready for the independence she craves and plans to claim in less than a year?


Academically this was a tough, tough year for us both.  Tough for her to buckle down and do it.  Tough for me to supervise. The jury is still out about whether she'll get the full 6 credits that make up an academic high school year.

Here's what she has:

1.5--Spanish 1 (This was a 5 credit college course that she took at the local community college.)
 .5--Medieval history (She participate in our second semester of Symposium)
1 --Remedial Mathematics  (She never completed one of the programs we tried, but she worked constantly on her math skills using a variety of sources)
1 --Classic Literature (She read and narrated various books, participated in some of our family read-aloud time, and participated in our teen book club)
.25--Art Appreciation/History (Symposium)
.25--Music Appreciation/History (Symposium)
.25--Geography of Asia (Symposium)
 .5--Religion (New Testament)
 .5--Economics (Compass Classroom)

That gets her to 5.75 credits.

So close!!!!


Then there's the CLEP work she's done for American Literature.  I told her that if she completed the online study program, even without taking the exam, it would be worth a full credit (and would push her easily over the required number of credits for her junior year).  Taking and passing the exam is worth 3 college credits.

She was faithful at daily work on that until our 3 week long trek to California and Utah.  With a halt to her momentum, she's now fighting against it as an unreasonable expectation.

I'm torn between fighting back because she doesn't realize how this will affect her and letting her make the choice and reap the consequences.  

Given my Rose Red's particular challenges, there are merits and pitfalls to both courses of action.

It's only a quarter credit . . . she can earn it when she's ready . . .

It's just so hard to watch her give up . . . 

Sir Walter Scott and I have much to discuss and pray over this month.

 She's really an amazingly bright kid.  When she's on, she's so on that I'm dazzled by her. 

I love to watch her when she's on.
 

Her siblings cycle through loving and hating her as her behaviors and moods cycle of their own accord, but they always come back to loving her because she's so stinking much fun when she's on.  She has this presence that either makes or breaks any circumstance--chores, meals, outings, family meetings, social events . . . she's just larger than life!


I'm hoping she'll be one of those adults who turns out fabulous after a rough adolescence.

I'm sure she'll find herself on the Lord's timetable.


Comments

  1. JudyJuly 14, 2017 at 8:18 PM

    I love her.

    ReplyDelete
  2. DawnJuly 15, 2017 at 4:25 AM

    Awesome! I just love your assessments and they have inspired me to do a style closer to yours this year than I usually do.
    Blessings, Dawn

    ReplyDelete
  3. DanielleJuly 15, 2017 at 9:32 AM

    She's beautiful as well. It sounds like she'd benefit from this book called The Teenage Liberation Handbook. It helps teens find themselves. Only downside is that it encourages them to drop out of high school- although I probably would have dropped out of high school if I knew then what I know now. Sounds like she needs a lot of freedom with generous boundaries at this time. God bless.

    ReplyDelete
  4. grtlyblesdJuly 18, 2017 at 8:46 AM

    I also have a 17 year old, who is constantly reminding us that in just shy of 11 months, she's leaving for boot camp. So much to try to pack into such a short time when you know the days are numbered.

    ReplyDelete

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