Year End

First of all, I have to put up a picture of the flag - because today is Flag Day and I am not flying mine outside due to the rain this morning.  (it's not raining now, but I'm sitting at the computer, so....)

 

Yeah I know I posted that before too.  LOL  (It's Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia)

 

Well I put the report cards in the mail yesterday, so our "official" part of the school year is complete.  There are a few things that will be done during our version of Summer School in order to tie up the loose ends, and Harrison will probably opt to work on a couple things over the summer for which he'll be awarded credits next year.

 

Here is the final report on our 2006-2007 school year:

Harrison

• AlphaOmega Lifepacs Language Arts 9 - not quite complete, but will be done during Summer School.  The best part about this was that he did actually apply himself to the material, even that which did not particularly interest him, once he'd decided on a career path in journalism.  Language Arts tends to be important to that field of study, I would think.


• Saxon Algebra 1/2 - a lesson or two left to finish, and the final test. 


• World History - as complete as it's going to be.  LOL  By which I mean, I originally thought we would cover more material than what we actually did, but I'm not disappointed.


• Apologia Exploring Creation with Biology - he did not like this book and literally slogged through the first few chapters that he did complete.  At the end of the first semester I realized he was not going to finish this book in just one year, and boy howdy I was right.  Maybe I should have leaned on him to work harder, because I'm thinking that once he got to more complex animals it might have held more interest, but  it's too late for that now.  So - he WILL be completing this course by the end of first semester in 2007-2008.


• Phys.Ed. - we had no trouble at all meeting requirements for a 1/2 credit here.  He did two sixteen week semesters of co-op Phys.Ed. class, plus all the paintball and basketball tournaments, and rec softball - not a problem counting up the credit hours.


• Fine Arts - Photography - this is the course that I think I'll have him work on over the summer, hopefully complete during the summer.  We did the introduction part of the course, the written work, and then ran into the spring fever era and never actually got the camera working. 

Spencer

• AlphaOmega Lifepacs Language Arts 6 - not quite complete, but will be done over the summer.  Spencer has struggled with reading, spelling and handwriting, so these books are challenging him, and I have been pleased with his progress.  I don't think he will likely choose a career that involves writing though.


• Saxon Math 7/6 - again, not quite complete, but very close.  I've had to go over some things more times than enough, but for the most part he has done really well with Saxon Math.


• God's Design For Life:  The Animal Kingdom - we finished this science course early in the spring.  I had this great ambition to get through an abbreviated course with another book in the series, The World of Plants, but there was that whole spring fever thing.  LOL We finished this book, so anything else was just "gravy"


• World History - same idea as Harrison


• Phys.Ed. - two sixteen week co-op classes


• Art - on his own, and a 12 week co-op class

Landon

• Teach Your Children to Read Well, Level 1B - he finished this in January.  He can read almost anything I put in front of him now.  (not always a good thing LOL)  He can hardly wait to start on Grade Three material.


• MCP Math Level B - finished right on schedule.  Could have finished much earlier if not for the precious hours spent playing with grandparents.  But there are no complaints about that!  He still mostly enjoys Math, so that's great.


• Science and History were the same as what Spencer did


• Phys.Ed. - two sixteen week co-op classes, plus spring baseball


• Art and music - 12 week co-op class

Kennady

• I had several phonics and beginning reading books that we "played" with.  Like Landon at the same age, she is not really interested in reading - she would far rather do Math.   However, we did some lessons, and she does know all her letters, many sight words, and one activity she really enjoys is copying words in a notebook.  I think that she is learning quite a bit with this, because then she and I will talk about what words she found and how the letters make those sounds.


• MCP Math Level K - finished about six weeks ago.  This is what she really enjoyed.


• Science and History were the same as what Spencer did.  She really liked Science, and was sometimes yes, sometimes no when it came to History. 


• Phys.Ed. - two sixteen week co-op classes, plus spring baseball


• Art and music - 12 week co-op class

PlainJane asked in a comment if we had a lot of regulations and deadlines to meet in our state - actually we don't!  Maryland is, I have found, a very easy state for homeschooling.  We are under the supervision of an accredited umbrella group that does our oversight.  We do need to report grades to our oversight and they review portfolios of our children's progress.  But because they are fellow homeschoolers, dedicated to seeing home education succeed, they are understanding and work with us.  The umbrella group keeps our records and issues valid report cards and transcripts for our students - so because I want report cards, and a transript, that is why I had a deadline to get those grades in!  Also, we are not required to do standardized testing at any grade level.  I'm very glad of this, as two of my boys are nowhere near ready for timed tests.  One just works too slowly to be able to handle that anxiety.  The other is still too stubborn and would likely refuse to do a test if he was being timed.  LOL