WE HAD TO TAKE A MINI-VACATION for SANITY CHECK
And what did I figure out? That even though I thought I wanted to do Year Around School, I NEEDED THE DARNED BREAK or I was going to explode.
Things I had time to ponder on while on Vacation.
1) My kids would rather be PLAYING VIDEO GAMES than going on tours. That had to change.
2) I need more sleep in days.
3) I DON'T know how to fully relax and do nothing for long periods of time.
4) I don't like staying in the house, even though my kids do.
5) The Math curriculums weren't giving my son ENOUGH MATH PRACTICE.
THINGS I CHANGED AFTER MY REVELATIONS
1) Math - MY SON needed a MASTERY BASED program where HE WROTE OUT his math problems to slow down his MENTAL MATH capabilities.
He will be working with a tutor on Math this summer. I changed his MATH program to LIFEPAC for Algebra 1.
WHY did I SELECT LifePack ALG 1?
- It's NOT online
- Read and Do problems
- Can be done Semi-independently
- Hard to cheat
- I can purchase tutor help if I need it
- It's only $59 for complete program
- It is different than is online CTCMath
- It focused on practicing what you are taught until you REALLY know it before moving on. Mastery based learning.
SAXON wasn't working because their wasn't the MASTERY and Saxon is more of a SPIRAL that is just too wide for my son.
CTCMath is still a GOOD SUPPLEMENT but he needs to WRITE OUT HIS WORK.
2) NO YEAR AROUND SCHOOL, we will have 1 month and 1 week off. I NEED it, the KIDS NEED it. My Husband NEEDS it.
3) In PERSON CLASSES for TIGER LILLY. She is too much of an INTROVERT. I found an IN PERSON Japanese class, Art class, and Unity 3D coding class for High School Students after school.
4) Summer Camp for 1 month and 1 week for BOTH kids, even though I initially didn't want Speed Racer to attend since he had some challenges at camp due to his own behavior last year. His siblings pointed out, how will he learn what is acceptable behavior if he doesn't have opportunities to figure it out? Good points. So I am giving it another chance.
5) Our school year will end July 1st. Woot!
Other Good Happenings
I still love homeschooling. I wouldn't be able to give my kids chances to shine, redirect, focus, and revisit work they weren't 100% comfortable with if I didn't homeschool them.
Good luck with the new Math program. We crashed using TT Math 7, got stuck at fractions. We've been doing workbooks for a while. I am, however, reviewing Unlock Math right now, which is computerized, but we do plan on working those math problems throughout the summer.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! I am encouraged by several of your changes.Thanks for always being REAL about working and homeschooling! I love your updates!
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