Saturday, June 24, 2017

10th Grade is Officially Over

W finished up his sophomore year with a bang.  99th percentile on the CAT-E and what seems like a clear goal for his future.  He's always throwing ideas around and researching various careers.  I think he's finally narrowed it down to 2.  We'll see which one wins, lol.

His daily schoolwork has mainly been Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2 and a few workbooks that cover literature, poetry, reading comprehension, analysis, grammar, writing, vocabulary, and analogies.  I don't worry about his writing.  He hasn't really had much formal teaching in that area, but a few weeks ago he wrote essay-type answers to a bunch of questions in order to be chosen as an administrator on a popular gaming server.  It looked awesome to me, although I have no idea about any of that stuff.  Needless to say, he got the position.  It reminds me of how J always got As on her English reports in high school, even though she, too, had no formal writing instruction.  It still fascinates me how such a common-sense concept like child-led homeschooling delivers unbelievably amazing results.

All Science and History is done with short novels, documentaries, website research, and field trips. Last week, he and a new homeschooling friend made plans for us to see a show called Dark Universe at the Hayden Planetarium.  This fit in nicely with what's on the agenda for the upcoming school year - and we had a great time.  The show was awesome.  We'll be reviewing some Physical Science and Life Science, filling in whatever gaps we come across, and then focus mainly on Earth & Space Science. History will include some review but mainly focus on US History (from the Civil War to the 1970s), World History (1750 to the end of the 20th Century), Civics & Government, Geography,  and Economics.

W is still learning new things on the ukulele and has taken a renewed interest in the piano, teaching himself to read music and learn full songs with intricate chords (from YouTube), hanging up his drumsticks for now. If he sticks with piano, I'll have no problem starting him on formal lessons if he wants. The kid can really sing, too. Maybe another career choice??

The owner of K's hair salon is on maternity leave, so K is running the place by herself. She's really working so hard. She has a few weeks off in September and she and her boyf planned a trip to Greece. I wish I would have had even half that drive and determination when I was her age.

J is still teaching dance. Her studio just had their recitals and J will start teaching a bunch of summer classes in a couple of weeks. She was in another music video that was released yesterday, as one of the back-up dancers. Oh, and her 21st birthday is quickly approaching. How did my girls become adults so fast?

Oh, and I did get to keep my new work schedule.  It's been working out wonderfully.