A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

Cupcakes by Nature Angel.  She made them at a church activity. We had Morning Meeting every day--with a focus on Matthew chapter 5. We had 3 Symposiums.  I cancelled Tuesday's meeting in order to take Ladybug to the psychiatrist's office to start the process of getting her established as a patient.   They changed their intake procedure at the new year, so I just filled out paperwork, and got her an appointment for March 11.  Then Thursday's meeting simply never happened because Pixie was really sick, and all of the teens slept late.  I figured sometimes we need sick days. On Friday they took their Unit 7 test for language arts and earned excellent scores.  There was significant moaning about the essays and and sentence diagramming, but I don't know why, as they aced both sections!  After the test, Pixie started crying because she was still just sick and wiped out, so we skipped history and Spanish in favor of me reading aloud to them...

Rose Red turned 18 this year, and she opted to exercise control over her own life by refusing to finish school. She started the year 3 credits shy of being eligible for graduation.  (3 credits shy of our state minimum for public school graduation) She earned 1 credit in the first semester. A cobbled-together credit comprised of simply meeting the minimum standard of 130 hours of academic work.  It covered literature, history, some Spanish, a bit of math, some P.E. and some expository writing. Between January and now (mid-July), she's worked on her education for 116.5 hours.  Those hours include some literature, a great deal of history (an entire OYC lecture set about ancient Greece), and some P.E. I'm just going to hold on to those 116.5, allowing her to add to them until they equal 130.  When she finishes her remaining 130 hours, I'll issue her a diploma. I'd like to say I'm being cool and calm about it all--and outwardly I am--but inside I want so...

Starting at the end of last week, this week became a week of incredible mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual work. And it is not over. How interesting is it that as the week began I was finishing up Deuteronomy and reading how Moses told Joshua to "Be strong and of good courage" several times.  Then I began Joshua and found that the Lord himself repeated the same advice several more times.  Then I read two different bloggers who wrote on the theme of courage. It has been good advice for me. I have wanted repeatedly to give up.  The work has been actually too hard--too fraught with fear, hurt, collateral damage, and ignorance. But I have not. And I have received encouragement along the way. In the mean time, the kids' delightful aunt and uncle in California gave us their unused Nikon camera.  It is a VERY NICE camera.  It was kind of for Pixie because she's such a beautiful photographer, but she's dancing so much that picture-taking is on hold...

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...

Pixie has an outrageously demanding schedule this year, so I didn't push too hard for getting back-to-school photos.  But as I realized how time was passing, I finally begged and pleaded enough to get the photos I wanted!! It was so worth the wait. Rose Red--17 yrs--Senior Year Pixie--15 yrs--10th grade Super Star--15 yrs--9th grade Belle--13 1/2 yrs--8th grade Nature Angel--10 yrs--5th grade Little Princess--8 yrs--3rd grade Ladybug--7 yrs--1st grade Mister Man--5 1/2 yrs--K Brother--5 1/2yrs--K Beowulf--4 1/2 yrs Lola--2 1/2 yrs Baymax--2 1/2 yrs Wow . . . sometimes it takes a post like this to make me feel the gift of family I have . . .