End of the First Quarter..........

It was a looooooooooooooong first quarter & it just didn't seem long enough!
I was scared to go to the parent-teacher conference. I knew we were behind on our assignments. WOuld they kick us out? Would she get mad? Would we get 'in trouble'?

I worked extra hard w/ my 2 to get as caught up as we could before the official last day of the quarter & then kept working extra hard to accomplish as much as we could up to the meeting date so we could continue to show 'progress'.

Finally, I was ready to deal w/ whatever. We had to 'face' whatever would come. I also started to feel confident that we did the best we could & nothing could change that. I do have to admit to some areas of weakness *I* have, as a mom & the fearless leader of this homeschooling adventure. I am not as disciplined w/ the use of my time as I would like to be.

Also there were some realistic factors & adjustments that needed to be made. It was harder than I thought it would be to have 2 "school-age" children. And the kindergartner...well that takes my COMPLETE attention, as opposed to my 7th grader who can do most subjects on his own. Plus dealing w/ dad's real life, UNtraditional schedule. These were REAL day to day challenges.

I am however, very pleased w/ how it turned out in the end. Using this particular program & curriculum has really allowed me to see my children's academic strengths as well.

My 7th grader does exceptional in Literature. I knew he was a good reader & all but he is also really good @ comprehension. Also his vocabulary was a snap. The tests he has taken in the past..he always scored well on vocab portions, even though I never taught him any 'vocabulary'. (a good friend once told me it was because we were so 'conversational'...which I know means: talkative! lol) I know he can do better in Math (pre-algebra) But he does not have much self-confidence in that area so he avoids it & procrastinates. ugh!

He has always been talented in Art & it looks like our Kindergartner may be as well. I am disappointed in the phonics portion of the program but I am willing to live w/ it. Our K student is zooming through Math. I almost feel guilty donig the lessons w/ him...like I'm treating him as if he's stupid! lol It's SO easy for him.

I realized today that I am not even sure about some of the things in the Music...like if a note is high or low...some notes are so close that my brain can't seem to process it. Never thought I'd have that probelm. It's wierd. It's hard for me to sit down & take the time to do the lessons BUT I also enjoy being 'forced' to take that time. For example, literature is reading out loud & then thought provoking questions & activities that go w/ the stories. Well sitting down & reading out loud is something I would like to do ANYWAY! So it makes it easier for me. I love that aspect of it.

L is only pre-school age BUT I teach her right along w/ S. I make copies of handouts when she's interested. She tosses out answers right along side him when I ask questions. It's cute.

I'm not big on taking days off...except when it's dad's day off & sometimes on Sundays.....so when there are 'holidays' we do @ least a little bit anyway...that helps to cut back on the progress & get us more up to 'par'. SO I am confident w/ that strategy, we will be where we need to be by the end of next quarter if not 'ahead'.

Since dad's days off are during the 'weekdays'...I need to conserve THOSE days off. SO that is why I have them do school work on holidays & weekends. It is a bit inconvenient if we have activites on Saturday...but it preserves our family time this way. I would rather cut out a weekend activity if possible than our family time. They don't always like it on the weekends but they enjoy the weekdays that they have. THAT is one of the main reasons we chose to homeschool anyway...."family time". :o)