Fall Semester--The Teens
Last week, the teens and I sat down with pencil and paper and journals galore to add up their school hours to see what credits they earned and address any gaps. It was eye-opening for everyone. :)
Rose Red
My girl is struggling.
She has infinite potential.
Really, she just shines when she's on!!
But she's been off the whole semester.
She looked at me ruefully and said, "I've wasted the semester."
And she's right.
She did finish a full year of working at Freddies and then applied for and was hired at Old Navy.
And she earned 1 high school credit.
She earned that credit mostly in literature--participating in our classics book club, reading on her own, listening to our family read alouds, and journaling about what she read. At the very least, I am glad she's reading really good books--mind-expanding, heart-filling, thought-provoking books.
Only 2 credits left to graduate.
We've mapped out a plan.
I'll help her the best I can.
I hope she chooses success.
Pixie
My overachiever. We counted her credits and found that if she keeps working at this pace, she can graduate in one year.
Or she could slow down.
We discussed the pros and cons of both plans.
She's dancing as much as she can afford (she's paying for her own classes by working 2 jobs!). She's completing her academic subjects with good effort and competent results.
She came to dancing late--most dancers seem to start as toddlers and spend their lives in a studio. My girl didn't. But she loves it, she practices with her whole heart, and she learns quickly. In addition to her dancing, teaching, and choreographing for our family dance troupe, she's been doing beginner classes (ballet, jazz, hip-hop) through an adult recreational program at a local dance school, but as she's outgrowing the beginner classes, we're searching for a way for her to transition to a youth performance track. There's a wonderful Christian dance company relatively nearby--but it comes with crazy high (at least to us) tuition rates.
We'll need to pray and search for answers.
I trust that she'll find her way.
Super Star
This girl of mine is working to find herself. For a long time her passion was all things shark (icthyology), so she started the year leaning heavily on the sciences. However, as she participated in NaNoWriMo for the third time, it has become more and more clear to her that she loves writing.
The fact that 1.75 of her 3.25 earned credits this semester were in Language Arts is evidence that she has decidedly literary leanings.
Math continues to drive her to tears, but really, she's learning. And, as she works 4 or 5 times as hard as her peers do to understand math, I think she's amazing!
She needs to be reminded of that often.
She's a good student, and she wants a job so badly it hurts. I hate that laws keep kids from working when they want to. She's applied for 3, only to be told she's too young. When she finally gets a job, I think a lot of good things will fall into place for her.
Her biggest lesson was about documentation!! I asked and asked and asked her to keep an exercise log so that I could give her PE credit. She started one, but didn't keep it up, so we did our best to guess, and we looked up the titles of books she read on nutrition, but I'm pretty sure the quarter credit we came up with would actually have been a half credit had she kept an accurate log.
She agrees.
She says she'll keep better records next semester!
Belle
She's not in high school yet. We don't have to count credits. :)
She's still pretty dreamy.
I still have to check to see that she remembers to "do school," but she's bright and capable. School stuff comes easily to her.
Reading, writing, math, history, Latin, general science--basic stuff. She's not ambitious, but her she reads voraciously on her own, and she's social (in an introverted way), funny, and kind.
Her biggest project of the year has been running the household every Wednesday morning when I drive Pixie and Super Star to seminary. She gets 8 kids (10 and under) up and going, oversees their chores, and serves them breakfast. I come home to peace and order every Wednesday morning. It's incredibly impressive!
Rose Red
My girl is struggling.
She has infinite potential.
Really, she just shines when she's on!!
But she's been off the whole semester.
She looked at me ruefully and said, "I've wasted the semester."
And she's right.
She did finish a full year of working at Freddies and then applied for and was hired at Old Navy.
And she earned 1 high school credit.
She earned that credit mostly in literature--participating in our classics book club, reading on her own, listening to our family read alouds, and journaling about what she read. At the very least, I am glad she's reading really good books--mind-expanding, heart-filling, thought-provoking books.
Only 2 credits left to graduate.
We've mapped out a plan.
I'll help her the best I can.
I hope she chooses success.
My overachiever. We counted her credits and found that if she keeps working at this pace, she can graduate in one year.
Or she could slow down.
We discussed the pros and cons of both plans.
She's dancing as much as she can afford (she's paying for her own classes by working 2 jobs!). She's completing her academic subjects with good effort and competent results.
She came to dancing late--most dancers seem to start as toddlers and spend their lives in a studio. My girl didn't. But she loves it, she practices with her whole heart, and she learns quickly. In addition to her dancing, teaching, and choreographing for our family dance troupe, she's been doing beginner classes (ballet, jazz, hip-hop) through an adult recreational program at a local dance school, but as she's outgrowing the beginner classes, we're searching for a way for her to transition to a youth performance track. There's a wonderful Christian dance company relatively nearby--but it comes with crazy high (at least to us) tuition rates.
We'll need to pray and search for answers.
I trust that she'll find her way.
Super Star
This girl of mine is working to find herself. For a long time her passion was all things shark (icthyology), so she started the year leaning heavily on the sciences. However, as she participated in NaNoWriMo for the third time, it has become more and more clear to her that she loves writing.
The fact that 1.75 of her 3.25 earned credits this semester were in Language Arts is evidence that she has decidedly literary leanings.
Math continues to drive her to tears, but really, she's learning. And, as she works 4 or 5 times as hard as her peers do to understand math, I think she's amazing!
She needs to be reminded of that often.
She's a good student, and she wants a job so badly it hurts. I hate that laws keep kids from working when they want to. She's applied for 3, only to be told she's too young. When she finally gets a job, I think a lot of good things will fall into place for her.
Her biggest lesson was about documentation!! I asked and asked and asked her to keep an exercise log so that I could give her PE credit. She started one, but didn't keep it up, so we did our best to guess, and we looked up the titles of books she read on nutrition, but I'm pretty sure the quarter credit we came up with would actually have been a half credit had she kept an accurate log.
She agrees.
She says she'll keep better records next semester!
Belle
She's not in high school yet. We don't have to count credits. :)
She's still pretty dreamy.
I still have to check to see that she remembers to "do school," but she's bright and capable. School stuff comes easily to her.
Reading, writing, math, history, Latin, general science--basic stuff. She's not ambitious, but her she reads voraciously on her own, and she's social (in an introverted way), funny, and kind.
Her biggest project of the year has been running the household every Wednesday morning when I drive Pixie and Super Star to seminary. She gets 8 kids (10 and under) up and going, oversees their chores, and serves them breakfast. I come home to peace and order every Wednesday morning. It's incredibly impressive!
The pictures of the girls are absolutely fabulous. Period.
ReplyDeleteWe also struggle with documentation. We don't homeschool, but it's so hard to have the kids record how long they've read, or get me to sign their papers. I secretly don't blame them because I think timing reading sucks half the fun out of it.
ReplyDeleteI want to know more about how you assign credits and track them. It all just seems incomprehensible/overwhelming, but I have a 15 year old now and I need to start doing something! Are you making transcripts too? Do they need that as well as the ACT/SAT to apply to colleges? I know this is a whole huge subject...but you seem so calm about it all, it just makes me want to learn from you! :)
ReplyDeleteWhile we are on break I need to sit down with my 10th grader to look at what he has accomplished in the fall semester and what credits he has earned so we can make plans for the spring semester. I know he has not completed the literature assignments he was supposed to in the fall and will have to double up in the spring or do it this summer. He won't be excited about that but there are consequences to procrastination.....
ReplyDeleteYou're doing a good job, mama. I love that your girls are accountable for where they're at, whether that's ahead or behind according to others. I think I was afraid to HS high school because I didn't want that much responsibility weighing on MY shoulders.
ReplyDelete