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The thing about summer is that it doesn't usually go quite the way we expected. That's why we stay flexible! And we make our "plans" knowing that they probably will need to change. I headed into our Summer Semester with what I thought were fairly reasonable expectations of how we could finish up some of the coursework that was incomplete at the end of the 2015-2016 school year, and how we'd get a bit of a start on the 2016-2017 school year, but I knew there was a good chance I'd have to adjust those plans as we went along. Which is exactly what has happened!
The original plan:
Kennady had some Geography that needed to be finished, and a Literature Study (The Scarlet Pimpernel) to complete. I had some extra writing assignments from IEW that I wanted both kids to work on. And Math is a subject I'd prefer Kennady keep working on without a too-long break, especially as Algebra is a challenge.
I figured an hour or two a day, for maybe three days a week and we'd be finished Geography, Literature, and Writing in a few extra weeks; and that we'd just work on Algebra a little bit each weekday throughout the summer. Obviously taking breaks for long weekends and whatever vacation time or trips we would take.
What's really happening:
The unexpected twist to our plan has been Kennady's summer job. She is providing child care for a couple of boys during the summer, and while it's not the level of watching every move that babysitting would be, it does require her to pay attention and be present with the kids. So yes, she can still work on her schoolwork; just not as much or in the same way we'd originally planned. Geography is sort of going the way I'd pictured it, although not as fast, but that's the easiest one to just carry on as planned. We just put The Scarlet Pimpernel on hold for the time being, and hope we can still get back to it. We're working on a review of The Power in Your Hands from Writing with Sharon Watson so that is the writing we are doing instead of the IEW I'd thought of originally. And as for Math, we're working on a review in that subject area as well - CTCMath. To start with, I'm satisfied with her working on that a couple times a week when she has the opportunity. Because she needs the computer to work on it, which isn't always convenient when she's supposed to be watching the boys. After we're finished the Unit of the writing course that we're in right now, and have written that review, then she'll pause that until the school year starts and have more time to put in on the math.
The original plan:
Kennady had some Geography that needed to be finished, and a Literature Study (The Scarlet Pimpernel) to complete. I had some extra writing assignments from IEW that I wanted both kids to work on. And Math is a subject I'd prefer Kennady keep working on without a too-long break, especially as Algebra is a challenge.
I figured an hour or two a day, for maybe three days a week and we'd be finished Geography, Literature, and Writing in a few extra weeks; and that we'd just work on Algebra a little bit each weekday throughout the summer. Obviously taking breaks for long weekends and whatever vacation time or trips we would take.
What's really happening:
The unexpected twist to our plan has been Kennady's summer job. She is providing child care for a couple of boys during the summer, and while it's not the level of watching every move that babysitting would be, it does require her to pay attention and be present with the kids. So yes, she can still work on her schoolwork; just not as much or in the same way we'd originally planned. Geography is sort of going the way I'd pictured it, although not as fast, but that's the easiest one to just carry on as planned. We just put The Scarlet Pimpernel on hold for the time being, and hope we can still get back to it. We're working on a review of The Power in Your Hands from Writing with Sharon Watson so that is the writing we are doing instead of the IEW I'd thought of originally. And as for Math, we're working on a review in that subject area as well - CTCMath. To start with, I'm satisfied with her working on that a couple times a week when she has the opportunity. Because she needs the computer to work on it, which isn't always convenient when she's supposed to be watching the boys. After we're finished the Unit of the writing course that we're in right now, and have written that review, then she'll pause that until the school year starts and have more time to put in on the math.
As it turns out, today she has the day off, so I let her sleep in a bit, but we're also going to knock off some extra schoolwork!
What I'm planning:
We have most of our courses decided for next school year, but I haven't detailed the lesson plans yet. I'm starting to work on that a bit this week. The good news is that I've already got lesson plans for some of the courses (like Notgrass Exploring World History) saved in my Homeschool Tracker Online, so there's only a bit of customizing I will need to do there. I just renewed my Homeschool Tracker Online account for the next two years, and I'm so thankful for how easy it is to keep records and lesson plans with it! (You can check out my full review of it here: Homeschool Tracker Online (A Homeschool Coffee Break Review)) Kennady has a different Biology course she'll be doing so I will be entering the lesson plans for that soon. I also found that SchoolhouseTeachers.com has a great full-credit Biology course available as well, so I am figuring out how to combine and use some components of that course along with the DVD based course we've chosen. I'm also considering a couple of courses from the electives list at SchoolhouseTeachers.com that Kennady may be interested in. And if not this year, then perhaps next year. I'd like her to do the Music Theory courses - not that she is in need of more Fine Arts coursework, but some more detailed Theory study would be a great addition to her studies. And since she will need a Technology credit at some point, I'm going to have her look at a couple of options like Computer Science, Introduction to Graphic Design, Photography, and Image Creation and Editing; and see which of those would appeal to her.
So listen - if you're not already a member of SchoolhouseTeachers.com, you need to check it out! And this is the final week of special pricing for memberships during the Spectacular Summer Event. Until July 15, 2016, new memberships are only $20 auto-billed every two months. And included in that price is a free copy of the e-book Building Blocks of a Nation; a free one year online membership to MollyGreen.com; and the newest Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner 2016-2017(print edition)! Plus all the amazing courses, lesson plans, and so many other extras on the website.
Are you summer schooling? Are you working on your plans for next year? Leave a comment; and link up your posts about homeschooling high school here. Visit your neighbors and leave some encouraging comments!
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From the High School Lesson Book will be here on Mondays from now on. During the summer I might keep it short depending on what else we're doing, but I'd like to continue to connect with other homeschool bloggers with high school students through this link-up and the blog roll.
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From the High School Lesson Book will be here on Mondays from now on. During the summer I might keep it short depending on what else we're doing, but I'd like to continue to connect with other homeschool bloggers with high school students through this link-up and the blog roll.
This post is part of a Coffee & Conversation Link Party at PatAndCandy.com - Join us!
This post is linked at the Hearts for Home Blog Hop hosted by Embracing Destiny and nine other blogs.
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5 comments:
I admire your plans to do school over the summer. It's a balancing game as our children get older and branch out with "summer jobs" as you mentioned.
Speaking of things not going as planned . . . she was so sick today, we got hardly anything done!
Summer School...that fun times of I have this planned, but we really did this! :-) I love to block schedule the big subjects in the summer.
My lad has work he needs to do in the summer as well... not much just three days a week but enough to keep certain subjects going and to keep him busy. So far we don't have the crunch of summer jobs...
Mostly, we are keeping up with reviews. I had planned for math to be a constant but we have ended up so very busy. With wonderful things but it has changed our plans for getting some solid math work done. - Lori
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