Fun Times and School Grind
Visiting a friend for a Yummy Southern Cooked Dinner
Girls Day Out, Makeup Class at Sephora
Finding ways to play and have fun with our older kids has been fun. We've done dance competitions, Poetry Slams, Martial Arts Tournaments and more these last few months.
SCHOOL IS LOOKING A LOT LIKE COLLEGE NOW
I've promoted Speed Racer to college classes and he has a tutor, Tiger Lilly, who checks his work before he turns it into me (which saves mom a lot of time and effort). Then I verify he is doing okay, and give him the approval to move on.
Meanwhile, we are planning a wedding for my oldest son, helping Tiger Lilly land her first internship and launch her new micro-business with her sister Rose, while considering what she wants to do for graduate school.
OUR WEEKS IN MOTION
Mom's and Dad's day looks like this:
Mom leaves early for work. Dad gets kids up, reviews work from the night before when mom bailed and went to bed, tells them what to review, or fix. Kids do work, mom gets home, or drops in for lunch, reviews work, answer questions, reviews work prior to them turning it into their online class, then verify work assigned for the day is done.
SPEED RACER's Progress
Started New Plan in January. He is now taking all College Classes. This is where the rigor of Abeka and mom's curriculum is really helping him with time management. He is doing well with retaining a lot of the information in these courses and doing pretty well in them.
Why the Change?
He told me that he was bored studying for CLEPS and DSST, that he'd rather just take a class. Also, the thought of sitting still for 2 hrs to take an exam outside of our home, made him anxious. So, we tried Straighterline, and he suggested Study.com since he liked the format. I figured, why not try both. He liked both. He just kept surprising me as he really caught on, and has been moving a decent pace.
Concerns?
He hasn't taken the proctored exam yet. With both Straighterline and Study.com he has to. So we practiced me watching him during one of the practice exams using a program called join.me and after a few tries, he did okay.
Does It Seem Like Too Much?
Since I've pretty much groomed my kids to have a vigorous, and intensive school day, this to him seems so much easier than mom making him do long assignments and tons of work that is out of his control. He told me this was easier O_o
How do We Manage the Tough Spots
He has a tutor in Math, and English who helps him with his papers he has to turn in.
The Plan?
The plan is for him to finish as many classes with Straighterline (that are open book finals) and with Study.com that he can use for upper credits and courses that Straighterline doesn't have to transfer to his online college of choice (UMUC.edu). Both programs transfer direct to UMUC.
Then, when he finishes his online BS degree in Information Systems, he wants to get his pilot license and go to school to learn to repair airplanes. So...we will see.
Straighterline Classes: Does in Evening with Mom available if he needs help
College Credit Earned: English 101
College Credits Working On: English 102, US History 2, Environmental Science
College Credits Planned: Nutrition, Religion, Intro to Business, Business Ethics, College Success, Cultural Anthropology
Study.com Classes: He does these during the day without help
College Credits Working On: Intro to Computing , Business Information Systems, Personal Finance
College Credits Planned: MicroEcon, MacroEcon, Marketing, Business Management, Sociology & Psychology (he finished these last year but didn't take the final exam ~ so he is retaking it and will take final.
Dual Enrollment ~ UMUC.edu (Online University - 8 week classes)
He is enrolled and taking classes as a non-degree seeking homeschooled student.
College Credits Working On: Speech, College Math (already on week 5 of 8 week course)
College Credits Planned: US History 1, Research, College Algebra
Overall, he is on schedule to finish these courses by June. If he does, he would officially be a Sophomore in college at 14 yrs old.
TIGER LILLY's Progress
Tiger Lilly is finishing up her final requirement for her degree in Information Systems with minor in Computer Science, and Graphic Arts. She is taking Principles in Web Design, Digital Marketing and Trends in Application Management-Capstone Course.
Starting in April (after her college classes are done) she is building some software products for her marketing clients (she has 2 clients). Then she plans on working on more art, her web comic and novella.
Internship interviews, are over and she landed two summer internships. She doesn't have to make a decision until April.
WORK and HOME BALANCE
Working and Homeschooling
MEAL PREP: This is going well now that we decided to eat healthy and remove the rice, potatoes, and pasta.
HOUSE CLEANING: Well, this has been touch and go. Kids don't want to do the dishes since the dish washer was broken.
LESSON PLANNING: So much easier!!! I just ask them to send me their plans for the week. They now do their weekly schedule and I just verify it. Mom delegation works!
MARRIAGE CHECKUP: Hubs and I are making our time together more of a priority. We have gone to some comedy shows together, had some friends over for his birthday, and just went for some long drives.
SELF CARE: I've failed miserably on this. Like, haven't done a dog on thing to pamper myself. However, I've been pampering my girls. I got to stop doing that. Soon.
