Whew! What a day!
Today I packed up Abigail and the stroller, picked up Anna as a backup, and took us all over to the A Beka Books open house taking place about 1/2 hour away. I got to glance through their display last week at MACHE, but we had three hours before the displays closed and three buildings to get through, and I was stressed and knew an open house would be a much less stressful setting, so I didn't buy anything. Today was different - I know a bit more about what next years curriculum is going to look like (lol, I know a bit more about what the next four years are going to look like!) so I was more prepared.
I picked up science books and test/key sets for the twins (14) and Ruth (10)... I don't really intend to modify the course much, as I am not a science-y person. I picked up a lot of language arts material in various grades to use as reviews/quick studies, since it has recently come to my attention that our language art skills are a little lacking. Ok, try nonexistent. I am trying to keep a hopeful mind, since we were working 4th grade math on October and the kids just tested into 7th grade math last week, and will probably test close to grade level by the start of the next school year (we'll definitely be working math over the summer!), but on the other hand... Oh, I am so discouraged! It feels like just when I get one area under control, I find another area that needs just as much work. I would love to take the summer off because right now I just feel so overwhelmed, but when I think about "wasting" even a few weeks, I feel almost more overwhelmed. Arg. No good answers, apparently, just keep chugging away and do the best we can. Anyway...
I also picked up a history course for Ruth at grade level, but I'm also conscious that if I can't get her reading at a much higher level by next year, I'm not sure how much of this curriculum she'll be able to handle. This is key - I absolutely HAVE to get her reading over the summer! Must must MUST! As far as the twins go, I want to do world history/geography, but I wasn't in love with the A Beka course, so I bought the map worksheets and am going to cobble together my own curriculum.
Anna (16) bought a Bible Doctrines course for next year. I was impressed by the curriculum, and I think that not only will the knowledge be useful to her, but that the textbook itself feels less like a textbook and more like a reference book. Well worth the $16!
I also bought several grades worth of math for Ruth, as she also has some major catching-up to do in the arithmetic department, but I think she will be easier to get caught up since she is still pre-algebraic. ;)
I expected to feel less stressed out after getting the curriculum together... instead I think I feel a little more. :(
3 comments:
Just curious, how did they get so far behind?
I was homeschooled from K5-12th grade, and trust me, take a break if you need it. If you can't take the whole summer off, work shorter weeks, but when we tried taking no breaks at all I think my mom got more stressed out than we did. :)
Elizabeth - thanks for the tip! :) Another homeschool veteran actually suggested the same thing to me - take a break - which we did/are doing with great results... learning is taking place, just not quite so structured. :)
In short, some health problems for one of my siblings meant that my mom ended up dealing with doctor appointments, therapy sessions, etc, during most of the week, which led to mental burnout as well as ate up a lot of time; as a result, the four youngest students have been a little sidelined for the last few years. I (big sister) hadn't realized how bad things were until October, at which point I took over. We're catching up at a rapid pace and will be starting at grade-level in most subjects by next school year! :)
I also was homeschooled K5-12. :)
Ah I suspected it was something like that. We had the same situation at one point when my mom had multiple pregnancies then related health problems, then my brother had health problems, then we moved mid-year, and we had to work the summer (those short weeks) then really hard the next year. I was only 10 so there was no one else to help, but we caught up pretty good. I think it's great that you're stepping in to help! Keep up the good work!
P.S. Also rare to find a fellow homeschooler. And I think we're both fairly normal! :)
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