The Last Week Of Our Season But Work's Not Done
Tiger Lilly Working On a Chatbot
Program for her Game Server and Friends
Speed Racer and Pops Paintballing
Preparing for the Holidays was harder this year.
We used to travel every holiday from Thanksgiving to Christmas, but now that we live here, traveling is very expensive and well, we love it here and aren't anxious to go. So we are struggling to redefine our traditions. We aren't big tree families, and so we are doing a Christmas Chair, and going to volunteer on Christmas day as we did on Thanksgiving day. Hopefully, this will spark a heart of giving in our kids. They have been less forthright in asking for presents and have instead told us to just pick another name off the angel tree at church.
Working Through Some Writing Gaps
Speed Racer can write well, however, he can't write fast. We discovered this during his pretty intense college Writing course this semester. Therefore, I had to actually work with him two nights a week to edit his work, give it back to him, and have him fix it to motivate him to write faster. The class is over and he passed with a good grade, however, this is something we need to triage. During the break, he will be doing some speed writing drills to prepare for the next class. He will also be finishing his homeschool Java class to prepare for his college Java class he is starting in March.
Working through learning or skill gaps is a good way to keep moving your child forward, despite their struggle.
KIDS PROGRESS
SPEED RACER's extra activities are slim this season.
Since his classes were pretty challenging for him, we decided not to sign him up for any outside of his martial arts the last few months. He complained, but we all needed a break from ripping and running for sports. He now just has a Monday and Wednesday obligation until January when dance is thrown back in. April is when canoeing season starts and it's hectic again.
SPEED RACER desired more one on one time this semester.
This school year has been challenging for Speed Racer becuase his sister Tiger Lilly isn't home with him. He spends the day sleeping until noon, waits for me to get home at 2:30pm to actually start his work, and sometimes doesn't finish until 10:30pm since he is having to redo some work for improved quality.
College Online Courses:
Wrap up of Fall Semester Classes
Finished all with 'B' or better
8 week courses
UMUC.edu
Biol 101 and Biol 102 (lab) - 4 credits
Info Sys in Org - 3 credits
Research Writing - 3 credits
College Algebra -3 credits
Business Writing - 3 credits
Homeschool Classes:
Wrap up of Fall Semester Classes
Investing: The video course on Youtube was informative, we even purchased stock (that tanked) and played the investing game (which the kids hated by the way). The game was a bust, the kids found it frustrating and even I thought it was a bit depressing, so we shelved it.
Recreational Pilot License Training: Speed Racer is enjoying the self-directed, online course. He doesn't love it, says it has boring moments, but he desires to learn the information. He is about half done this course and will pick up on it in January.
Black History: We spent this semester watching movies, documentaries and having long discussions about them. We both learned from this class.
Astronomy: We failed to work this into the schedule this semester.
Bible Review: He is actually enjoying the TruthUnedited Bible videos, and we are almost finished them. We watch them together, and discuss the topics.
Cooking and Car Repair: He cooked dinner about two times a week and did great at it. The videos were a bust, because he said they were boring and he'd rather just fix a car. So he helped his dad change the oil and do some minor checks of our vehicles.
PE: Started with three sports and went down to one by October, we need to step back and focus, and mom needed to relax.
JavaScript and Unity 3D Programming: He finished the Saturday classes in November and started with CompuScholar (formerly Homeschool Java) in December and is getting through it pretty easily. This class is to prepare him for his college Java class starting in March. He's had to have some help from his sister in the Compuscholar course.
TIGER LILLY the Homeschool Graduate
BS Degree, now Working on MS Degree
17 years old
This is the last semester I'll be updating Tiger Lilly as she is officially working full time, found hobbies such as group meetups for Dungeons and Dragons, gym workouts 3 days a week, and completed two semesters of graduate school.
WORK and HOME BALANCE Working and Homeschooling
MEAL PREP: These few weeks we've been just tossing something together. Eating out, and making sandwiches have been getting us by.
LESSON PLANNING: I did more day to day lesson planning. I would send Speed Racer a 'what to do today' email, call and check on his progress from work, then call on my way home and tell him what better be done...or else, no video game or cellphone. That seemed to work since his sister is no longer home to make sure he stays on task.
MARRIAGE CHECKUP: Weekly date nights haven't happened in the last few weeks, but I purchased tickets to see Sheila E. and some comics my husband likes to get us back on track.
