almost done with first quarter - share what's going well

[Ame E.]

So for us, we're on schedule. We are not missing days. He is getting most if not all the stuff done on the planner.

 

He likes his classes.

 

He loves his outside activities, music, aquarium, and health club.

 

He practices music regularly.

 

We are still working on: writing, organizational issues, and handing things in on time.

[speedmom4]

So far things are going really well. My daughter has reached a level of maturity that is making school much easier. I am also keeping up with grading/accountability much better than I ever have.

 

We really like TT for Pre-Calc.

 

MFW World History is going well.

 

Apologia Physics is going much better than I thought it would. Chemistry did not go so well but Physics seems to click with her.

 

Piano is going great! Couldn't be happier with how much she is practicing.

 

Here's what is not going so well:

 

RS Spanish. I WISH I had never chosen it for high school Spanish. I want her to have 3 years of one foreign language but I don't see that happening. There is no explanation of grammar or vocabulary lists. Thankfully, I have a little knowledge of Spanish from college but it's not enough to teach Spanish.

 

My daughter is feeling some anxiety about college. I think she's pushing herself too much. I'm afraid she is setting herself up to break soon. She practices piano a couple of hours a day, does all her schoolwork, teaches 7 piano students a week, has several piano competitions coming up, volunteers at a therapeutic horseback riding facility, and plays a few times a month in our youth worship band. She gets up earlier than everyone (except my husband) works all day and gets to bed quite late. I try to get her to have fun with friends but she feels the need to do SAT practice or work on her pieces for piano.

 

I'm sure to some people that sounds ideal to have a student you don't have to push and prod, but I worry about her. I have never felt driven like she does. We have regular conversations about slowing down but she doesn't want to.

 

Sorry this turned into me venting my concern for dd.

 

Thanks for "listening"!

 

God Bless,

Elise in NC

[Brilliant]

My ds is 10th grade. So far this year...

 

Going well:

 

OK State German. He likes the lessons and the tutoring and seems to be learning a LOT.

 

Lial's Algebra 2. I love the Lial series; so easy to understand.

 

Not going well:

 

Apologia Chemistry. I am not a fan of the Apologia textbooks. I know ps textbooks are criticized for being too colorful and busy. But Apologia goes too far the other direction. It's hard to do any meaningful pre-reading or post-reading review because the text is so densely packed, and key ideas or changes in topic aren't highlighted in any way. Give me something bigger than 12pt underlined text to indicate a heading! Ds finds it tedious and I don't blame him.

[Jean in Newcastle]

9th grade:

 

I asked ds14 what is going well:

 

Ds says "you haven't gotten sick yet".

 

Apologia chemistry is going well. He enjoys the experiments.

 

WTM style history/lit is going well, though ds has decided that he definitely does NOT like Greek plays!

 

Traditional Logic I is "good". I have to confess that I have not looked at a single assignment he has done in logic though so I cannot confirm this.

 

Math had some tutor difficulties but I think I've scared the tutor into coming on time from now on. We are not progressing as quickly as I'd like.

 

Grammar is almost done for the year because we are finishing up the very last part of Analytical Grammar.

 

Classical guitar is going really well.

 

Latin (Galore Park) is going well but I'm behind in grading.

[Brilliant]

...

Apologia chemistry is going well. He enjoys the experiments.

...

 

Funny that this is on your list of what's going well, since it is on our list of what's not going well. :) Another reason why homeschooling is great!

[Jean in Newcastle]

Funny that this is on your list of what's going well, since it is on our list of what's not going well. :) Another reason why homeschooling is great!

 

I noticed that.;)

[Elinor Everywhere]

The Best:

 

For 13yods: CLE Math, Latin Prep, Earth Science

 

For 14yodd: Lukeion Latin, TOG, LLftLOTR

 

For me: I'm getting all grading done most every day, which is a nice change from last year.

 

All other subjects are going along fine, although Mapping the World by Heart is more tedious for them than I expected. They are really liking iCivics, which we do on Fridays.

 

Needs work: using their planners. Arrggghhhhhh.....:banghead:

[Julie in MN]

I love that you just asked what's going well - of course, the reverse is implied, but I like the emphasis on encouragement :001_smile:

 

For us:

 

1. Having a 10th grader instead of a 9th grader - praise be to growing up !!

 

2. The 8 week research paper in WHL is going SO well, such a relief with my particular ds. As recommended, he's writing on a topic he wants to know more about - careers in medicine. We've even done some interviews with real people :)

 

3. His outside activities are all the same this year but have lined up even better with our needs (math team time is later, book club is studying some of the books we were already going to study in WHL).

 

4. He loves Algebra 2 even more because of his dislike for Geometry last year. It wasn't the program(s) so much as his just not being a proof/more than one right answer kind of kid. He was so happy to see Mr. Firebaugh on his Math Relief videos

 

5. Adding a grammar workbook to Rosetta Stone 2 is not a rah-rah-great thing, and we have to talk through it together sometimes, but I think it's helping him realize some things he was missing last year. Last year, I don't think he would have known what grammar he needed, but now seems to be the right timing. He's not like me as far as looking up something he doesn't get (I probably wouldn't have needed the workbook as much) -- but this kid just skips over things that aren't obvious. (Using E-Z French.)

 

6. Doing my own thing for biology (based around Biology 101) is again not a rah-rah-hooray type of thing this year, but I'm satisfied that he's getting more science in him this way, and pushing himself more. Sometimes he even thinks something is cool :tongue_smilie:

 

7. A recent workshop we went to on PSEO (dual credit) was an excellent motivator for my particular ds. He needs to be around more kids who push themselves :001_huh:

 

Julie

[jamajo]

What's going well?

 

Working from pre-printed Lesson Plans such as the ones MFW provides. Helps me to stay on track even if I add, substitute or eliminate assignments. It's great to have a plumb line.

 

Actually everything is going well. I just have trouble staying motivated sometimes b/c I'm the type of personality that likes to do things on impulse (hence the reason why lesson plans work so well for me) to switch up the monotony of the schedule.

 

So far, I love all my curriculum choices ... I just have to stay motivated to get it all done.

[MamaAkins]

What's going well?

She's doing well in Math---using TT Geometry. She seems to be really understanding it, which is a major change for my "math-hater!"

She's really enjoying all of her outside classes. She's taking a literature/writing class (using IEW Windows to the World this semester and a literature focus in the spring). She's also taking Abeka Spanish I through a co-op and personal finance using Dave Ramsey's program for teens.

 

She's okay with our geography program.

 

Her least favorite subject at this time is Physical Science (using the Kolbe syllabus for Prentice Hall). She finds it tedious. Oh well....can't win them all, right?!

[FaithManor]

He is surviving his math and keeping a mid-B average. I can live with this as pushing for an A would be a lot like trying to draw blood from a turnip! Except for a B+ in literature (mostly because of less than stellar discussions), he has high A's in his other subjects.

 

He is studying history and art history independently. His outlining and notetaking are very satisfactory, we are having some interesting discussions, and he's retaining the information.

 

Literature - well, he's 14. I'm hoping that his ability to discourse in a clear, thoughtful manner on literature will be markedly improved by the end of the year. It's not awful. He just sounds sooooooo 14 and not very deep. :D

 

Science is sublime. He is loving the Campbell Exploring Life and keeping a 95% average including exams, lab notebook, and online activities. Now, I expect that to plunge a little when we dissect because he's a queasy boy, but I'm thoroughly enjoying his enthusiasm for the subject thus far.

 

Latin - he's "blech" about, but he's also maintaining an A. Therefore, no complaints.

 

He's just getting his practical drafting underway so I have nothing significant to report except that I suspect it will be easy for him.

 

His computer programming is coming along well. He's had to learn a smidge of trigonometry in order to do some CAD for the competitive rocketry team, but Dh has managed to sneak it in and explain it in such a way that he isn't overwhelmed by it. He'll be starting introduction to Java soon.

 

English Grammar and Composition - as usual, he's doing very, very well. This has always been an easy subject for him. His writing is coming alone quite nicely.

 

He is 1/3 of the way through his math, 1/3 through english grammar, 1/4 latin, nearly 1/4th through biology, 1/3 through history, and just shy of 1/4th in art history...way ahead in computer programming, and about 1/4th of the way through his Great Books list. He struggled a little through the Federalist/Anti-Federalist papers and I've ended up doing a bit of read-aloud and discussion to help him muddle his way through the political concepts. He has just tackled a book on Spy tactics during the Revolutionary War and he has enjoyed that immensely...those discussions were better.

 

All in all, I'm happy. :001_smile: The other two boys are churning out work left and right, so I think we'll be able to take a nice breather at Christmas time which will make me less stressed as I always have a heavy piano performance burden during the season.

 

Faith

[MtnTeaching]

My ds14 (9th) is doing well, but a bit overloaded. Our one day a week outside classes seem to have taken over our lives, but they are good classes. Tomorrow he has a French 2 test, Latin 1 homework due, a demonstration speech to give in Speech & Debate, Rugby in PE, 3D art class, and he is teaching a 2nd/3rd grade science class on Plasma (teacher's aide with a lot of responsibility).

 

It seems as if the other 4 days a week should be going better, but we are now a bit behind in World History to 1600's, Integrated World Lit and Composition, Health, and Honor's Biology. He also needs to put more time and effort into his AoPS Counting and Probability class.

 

I know he is doing well, but I also know that we are probably going to be going into the summer quite a bit.

 

Oh well, this is one reason why we homeschool, flexibility. So we go into the summer a bit. We just found out that we have confirmed tour reservations to both the White House and the Capitol building on his birthday during a trip back east we are doing in November. This will be a birthday to remember!

[Aquinas Academy]

We have finally found something that really works well for French. We are thrilled. :D

Greek is a ton of work, which is more of a problem for me than her, but we're reading real literature, so we're happy. Same with Latin.

Our religion plans have gotten sidetracked, but we're enjoying the rabbit-trail.

I think Icelandic is going well, but that's her own thing and I'm not really involved in it.

As usual, she's loving history and English.

Math and science, well, she's doing them. She mostly likes them, just not nearly as much as her other subjects.

Music is going to be the death of me. She's way too big a fish in way too small a pond. She's doing loads of practicing and playing beautifully. She wants to major in music, and I have no doubt she'll be able to, but between now and university the opportunities here are pretty scarce.

[lagirl]

TT Geometry!!

DD cried her way through Alg. 1 & 2 (TT), but she is a Rockstar with Geometry!

 

She is taking a one semester writing class with "Write at Home" and this is a nice addition to her schedule. Someone on this board recommended this (can't remember who) and we are very pleased.

 

She is right on schedule with all her classes.

 

DD is a Junior and these are our two things that are a big hit this year!

[plansrme]

Going well:

*AP Chem through ChemAdvantage is going beautifully. My daughter loves it.

*AP Econ at home with me, also going well, but keeping me on my toes.

*Worldview/philosophy/apologetics mish-mash also going well.

*P.E. Competitive gymnastics, getting ready for meet season--new vault and beam series are looking fabulous. :) "Grades" will start rolling in in January.

 

Going okay:

*ChalkDust Chalculus. She has used CD since pre-algebra, but we are so far beyond what I can help her with. I can barely even check her work, so I am looking into a tutor just to check in weekly and make sure she is getting it.

*Lively Art of Writing: love this, but I am having a hard time coming up with essay prompts for her. This is entirely my failing, not LAOW's.

 

Going badly:

Mmmm, nothing?

[Nan in Mass]

Well, my son's lack of friends (they all went off to college) is going better than I expected. He is keeping in touch with them via the internet and it is turning out that he is working so hard that he doesn't have much spare time for non-internet socializing anyway.

 

The community college classes are turning out to be just what we had hoped. The chem is much harder than my son thought it would be, but he has scrambled together a study group and they are doing exactly what one would hope in the way of studying. His grades are reflecting the amount of work he is putting in. I am relieved. He is learning how to study and how hard it is to get an A rather than a B. And he is finding the chemistry interesting. Math is the review he hoped it would be.

 

His at home classes are taking a back seat, which is annoying but inevitable. He is doing them. The history isn't as bad as we had feared and I found someone to correct his papers.

 

Three other things are going well: he has his space and life much better organized this year, he has decided what sort of engineering he would like to study, and he has decided that he would rather be good at playing piano than good at playing video games.

 

I have no idea how long these things will last. A year is a long time and he may run out of energy. But it is a very good beginning, and he has done it on his own. I laid in the groundwork last year (and before) but have said very little this year. 11th grade is a big improvement on 10th as far as this sort of thing goes.

 

Nan