Trials and triumphs of the school year?

[quark]

We homeschool year-round and for the last 2 years, have switched our school year from Jan - early Dec instead of Sept - May. I see everyone planning ahead for fall and am having acute planning-envy. Anyone else feel this way? :bigear:

 

Not only that, I am no longer the person driving the planning and the decisions as much as I used to. My son is becoming more independent than before. I really miss the days when I had more "say" over what we did.

 

I wish I could share plans for what we will be doing next but since I am no longer in the driving seat and things change so radically here, I would love to hear about the trials and triumphs of this school year instead. What have you and your DC done this year that you are proud of? What was more difficult and how did you spring back or overcome the challenge?

 

Trials (it will take too long to explain all so I chose only one):

Physical activities are really hard. It can be incredibly painful to watch my son swim or run or play basketball, especially when it comes so much more easily to other children. He has to work very hard at this. Whenever my heart breaks watching him struggle, I remind myself that this is his resilience training. He is thankfully, persistent. It is also resilience-training for me. To not hover. To let go. To allow him to find his way on his own. But it still hurts to watch him being clumsy and slow, even confused or disoriented at times, not displaying the confidence he usually has in bookish things.

 

Triumphs:

A brag here: DS is enjoying his math, algebra/trig-based physics and Coursera comp sci. course very much. His math tutor is very proud of him and has suggested introducing college level math topics next year. DS is learning much more than he would have if I'd carefully planned his year. Being interest-led has really helped him "learn to learn". He is working so hard and is enjoying it too. Physics is hardest I think and he's working at about 1/2 pace but he's learning so much and has been having lots of aha moments. He began "auditing" the Coursera course out of curiosity (he's under 13) and now takes notes diligently for every lecture and is able to explain things I never thought I'd hear him explain (before this course, he had no interest in comp sci topics).

 

Your turn. How would you wrap up your year in words? Please share! Or if you've written it in a blog post, please share the link!

[boscopup]

Trials: Getting to science, art, and other such things. I gave up on art. We still do science, but I also keep around science kits and books that he can do on his own, plus they watch Mythbusters. ;) Another trial we had was boredom from math. We overcame that by switching curriculum. He loves it again. :D Our biggest trial is probably the absolute paranoia over writing anything original, even if it's just a word or two. I've focused on spelling the rest of the year, and I've also pulled out R&S English to give him some practice copying sentences and filling in an original word or short phrase, easing him out of his paranoia. It's coming along, slowly. We're going to try IEW next year, and Mr. Pudewa suggested an electronic dictionary/speller thingy for kids like this. I haven't gotten one yet, but probably will.

 

Triumphs: My son can now copy 6 sentences without his hand hurting!!!! :party:

[boltgirl]

I love reading about the kids that took a long time to ride bikes and tie shoes! My DS is 9 now, and it took him forever to learn to ride a bike. His younger cousin is riding around like crazy and DS is slowly making his way around. I am just glad to find out it's not just my kid.

[KAR120C]

We moved this winter, 500 miles across the country. Lots of good reasons for it and we really love our new home, but any change of that magnitude is difficult at best. I'd really like to wake up and find that it's February again and summer isn't looming!

 

That said... Some things went really well. We got here in time for the local science fair, and it was a great success. He's taking the SAT Saturday and feels very well prepared. AP Stats is in two weeks and he's on track to be well-prepared for that too (I want a couple more rounds of practice free response questions out of him before I'm entirely happy about it).... He has a new flute teacher already and she's optomistic about his chances for making the cut for the youth orchestra. Also there are a ton of opportunities here for his other hobbies - film, theater, robotics, etc.

 

Trials... Just not having enough time for everything. We didn't get anywhere close to finishing our reading list (which was long by any measure), and we didn't finish Spanish 3. Both of those can slop over into summer, but I'd have been happier if we had gotten closer to done. Next year is our last homeschooling year, and I'm feeling a bit hemmed in by that solid deadline, as well as the added work of finding a good high school for him to apply to for 2013-14.

 

But on the plus side... looking back at our years of homeschooling... we have the makings of a really nice portfolio of work, test scores and awards, extracurricular activities, and hobbies. I'm looking forward to finally putting that all together as a package and seeing how much we really have accomplished.

[quark]

Enjoying the responses!

 

Good luck to your son for the SAT, Erica! And boltgirl, welcome to the boards! You are not alone at all.

 

Yes, writing is still a trial over here too. Although he has written pages of notes and proofs for Coursera and geometry, he will not do the same for anything else. Thankfully, we still have time to develop those skills!

[nova147]

Triumphs

 

Cursive! We started cursive a few weeks ago and he LOVES it. This morning I came home from taking the baby for a well visit and found he had written "my dad is a great lawyer" in cursive. For fun. :D

 

Math - LoF made him enjoy math. Hooray!

 

Trials

 

Spelling - AAS is a good fit for him educationally, but he hates the writing. Hmm. Maybe we can do it in cursive now?

 

Listening - this is more of a parenting trial, but man. This kid can ignore like no other! If he doesn't repeat back what I said, there is a 10% chance he will actually do it.

[ebunny]

I've been homeschooling for 4 months short of a year

 

Triumphs: Teaching DD persistence, the ability to "stay in the struggle". By far, the biggest triumph has been the very fact that we began homeschooling. She is infinitely more self assured than she was 8 months ago.

 

Trials: 1-Second language is progressing slower than molasses.2- Her extreme need for variety in everything causes a few hiccups.

[Tattarrattat]

Trials: He hasn't done as much as we planned in languages arts (reading, writing) and foreign language. Not much art. History is through audio books for now. Also, he needs to work on his organizational skills.

 

Things that go well(trying to avoid the word triumph:) ): Math and programming with AoPS. Challenging sometimes, but he's learned a quite a bit. Programming seems to be his new passion. His typing is getting better. He's learned quite a bit of chemistry and some physics here and there, but nothing formal. He chooses to do algebra-based physics for next year. He chose to add second instrument. Time-consuming, but was able to manage both.

 

I, too, enjoyed reading others' responses.

[Beth in SW WA]

Triumphs: Teaching DD persistence, the ability to "stay in the struggle".

 

:iagree:

Dd9 had fewer dramatic episodes this year. We have found a groove.

Dd7 made strides in her reading. Spelling needs work.

 

God gave us a blessed year. I am thankful for you ladies here that have helped me soooo much! Thank you!

[MinivanMom]

Trials:

-I've been pregnant and morning sick. We moved into a new home while I was pregnant and morning sick. We've been getting all the important things done, but I've had a hard time getting to the extras.

-Ds6 is very short for his age. I have watched him struggle with physical skills and sports. I've seen him be rejected by boys who thought he was lying about his age (those are some interesting conversations to overhear). I've had moms talk down to me and discourage friendships with their sons, because they were sure their (tall) son was too old and mature for ds.

-Dd4 continues to have serious articulation problems. Therapy has helped, but she still struggles to communicate with non-family members.

 

Triumphs:

-I've watched dd8 just blossom this year: her creative writing, math, piano, friendships. She is so happy and confident.

-Ds6 has matured so much in his schoolwork. His attention span and stamina have increased, especially where writing is concerned. I'm amazed at the progress he has made in math.

-Ds6 has developed a good friendship with a boy his age. They really connect and the mom has been eager to encourage the friendship since ds is a grade ahead of her son and therefore an "older" friend despite his size (really their birthdays are just on opposite sides of the Sept 1 cutoff).

-Dd4 has just bubbled over with creativity. Her drawings, stories, and imaginative play always surprise me. There is so much going on inside her head, even if she can't always make herself understood. She has benefited from having older siblings at home who understand her garbled speech and engage in hours of imaginative play with her. She benefits from playing with them and having them available to "translate" for her. This has really built up her confidence, so that she's willing to play with and talk to non-family members even when they don't understand her or she has to repeat herself several times to be understood.

[Dmmetler]

Trials-DD's biggest struggle right now is finding her place in the world. She's becoming more and more aware that spending time with other kids is all give and no take-that she is the one who has to rein in her interests and pretend interest in what other children are doing, or find a common interest and only go to whatever depth the other child does, but that they don't do the same for her. She's improved a LOT on social skills and on perspective taking and understanding that her sharing her interests and the things that thrill her often come off as making others feel stupid-but at the same time, it's leading to a bigger feeling of alienation.

 

Triumphs-At the same time, she's starting to look for validation and support and belonging outside of the circle of kids she knows. She did the World Education Games this year, and has spent a lot of time playing on Live Mathletics, and has found both very validating. She went to Lego Brickfair and had a great time talking to the teen and adult builders, and discovered that she could find people interested in what she's interested in outside her age group. She is becoming more comfortable with finding adults or older children and trying, less and less to fit in, which is a good thing.

 

I'm also seeing her pull away from the pack academically-where even a year ago, a year after leaving PS, she was still trying to put herself in a grade level box, she's becoming more comfortable with the idea that she's not in a grade, and that she does what she wants/needs to do academically without it defining her. She has made GREAT gains in math this year, and a large part of it is because I think she finally gave herself permission to stop worrying about being "too young" and just GO.

 

And, she's finally mastered her bridge, is much, much stronger on her handstands, and is very close to getting her cartwheel (which may not seem like big accomplishments for a 7 yr old, but for DD, it is). She also climbed to the roof of the playhouse at her cousin's house this summer without panicking. She's much, much better at maintaining her emotional equilibrium-situations that would have caused a total meltdown a year ago (like getting the first one wrong on a section of mathletics problems on subtracting negative mixed numbers because she was trying to turn them into improper fractions and did the math wrong) don't-she might cloud up, but she keeps going. She's grown up SO much emotionally.

[JeanM]

Trials:

We moved in August, and it took a while to settle in.

DH is now the primary homeschooling parent, and I've had some trouble adjusting to that. Luckily he has little interest in planning, so I get to do that. :001_smile:

DS10 has had huge ups and downs emotionally, making schooling difficult.

 

Triumphs:

Both dc have both made huge progress on their instruments this year.

DS10 has gotten very interested in robotics and programming.

DS13 has done MUCH better with writing this year.

They've both made more friends, and they're enjoying church and co-op this year.

[Five More Minutes]

Trials:

Science. It just didn't happen nearly as often as I had hoped.

 

Triumphs:

My painfully shy, anxious girl has blossomed socially! We had a friend visit who hadn't seen her for a year, and who was amazed at the person she has grown into. It seems that homeschooling has reduced her anxiety to the point that she can relax and enjoy people. If nothing else had gone right, that alone would have been worth it!

 

Math and history were just plain fun every lesson.

 

I'm enjoying this thread!

[nitascool]

Sorry it's a bit long... I guess with 4 children I've got more to report. We’ve all been ready for summer since February. Science and Latin got set aside in favor of finishing up the less fun stuff.

Trials

My 12 year old ds who is GT and ADD had a lot of trouble understanding his Logic book this year. We had to put it aside for next year. It was just too much thinking for him this year (oh, the hormones). We finally just dropped it after chapter three. Math has been a struggle too for him (his weak area). Socially he has been in despair. At the beginning of the school year we were going to a church in which the youth pastor offended him… saying that he was too young and immature to attend the youth group for at least 2 more years. Ds is very small (size of an 8 year old) for his age but at least 3 years ahead of his peers in knowledge and maturity.

 

My 10 year old ds who is advanced and has SPD, PDD-NOS & ADHD combined seems to be at a standstill in math this year. His writing skills are really holding him back. He gets concepts so well, but his writing is just so bad and so laborious that he struggles. His focus is also off so much lately. He isn’t doing as well as I’d hoped in his Social Thinking group and distraction is a big factor there as well. We haven’t seen a whole lot of growing up yet emotionally. But he does have bad BO.

 

My 7 year old ds who is advance academically & behind emotionally has been taking up some of his brothers’ bad habits of daydreaming and goofing off when he’s supposed to be focusing. We haven’t gotten as far as I’d hoped with his phonics program, but his reading has progressed nicely anyway.

 

My 5 year old dd has not gotten near the attention I wanted to give her this year. Again we didn’t get as far as I’d hoped in her phonics program, but she seems to need very little repetition. We're still working on detaching from mommy's hip. I guess it's just a youngest thing.

 

Triumphs

My 12 year old has really taken off with computer programming and has rekindled his love of graphic arts. After changing to a new church he is finally finding some friends in the youth group and has begun to show some interest in spiritual matters. He hasn’t been spiritually challenged in such a long time despite his father and my efforts so it’s nice to see a spark there again.

 

My 10 year old has improved quite a bit with his writing skills and has completed his Occupational Therapy goals 6 months before his therapist had expected. Another skill that is finally emerging is his ability to narrate. We’ve been doing narrations since he was 5 but over the last few months he can actually do one without being prompted for every sentence. It was like a light finally clicked on up there and he started just doing it with everything he reads.

 

My 7 year old has gone from beginning readers to chapter books this year. I am finding that he needs to only see a math concept once and can infer it across a wide area of study. After my math phobic oldest I’m glad to have one a little less challenging to do math with.

 

My 5 year old has been an amazing little sponge. Her enthusiasm to learn has been great. With 3 boys who would rather catch their hair on fire then to do math or grammar it’s nice to have one who loves learning the traditional stuff. Her penmanship has improved quite a bit over the year. It is so neat and legible with hardly ever a reversal. She’s nearly half way through our beginning readers and is so excited about getting to read chapter books next year. She got her ears pierced last Friday (her birthday) and was such a big girl she didn’t even cry. We were all very proud.

 

I am quite looking forward to the summer brake. If none of the little ones need it I know I do. We are doing a garden this year and I'm excited already to see how they are learning so much in a less traditional way. If only they would unschool math for me like they are gardening. :lol:

[Donna]

I am only going to list the trials and triumphs of my home schooled child. The ones in ps have completely different lists.

 

Trials:

 

We did not get as far in history as I had planned. We did it regularly but took so many rabbit trails that we barely made it out of the Revolutionary War.

 

We did not do any of the art curriculum I had planned...just never got to it.

 

Scheduling has been a nightmare and I really need to fit in some appointments but have been putting it off until summer. The biggest problem is I have a hard time saying no when someone tells me a child needs a therapist so now I am working another day and though I like having the extra money, I don't like giving up that time with my dd.

 

There were a number of things we wanted to do to the house that didn't get done because other things happened like wind blowing off roof and siding then gas company giving us service so having to change appliances (all good things but I really wanted new carpets).

 

Triumphs:

 

Dd spent last year working on a lot of technique with her violin (and she does not like Kreutzer or scales very much at all) and not as much repertoire as previous years but now, as a result of all her hard work, she has made amazing leaps in what she is playing and is cruising through repertoire that she really loves so has been practicing like a crazy. I love to see her joy when playing! Also, as soon as she plays her current piece in their studio recital the beginning of June, she gets to move up to a bigger fiddle...so exciting!

 

We actually finished nearly all I had planned for the school year which has never happened before. Either I am getting better at figuring out how much we can fit in a year or we did a better job of getting it done...I think it is the latter because we did keep a fairly regular school schedule, well regular for us anyway.

 

We did a better job of making time for dd to play with her friends this year. It involved a lot of tricky planning (especially since one of her favorite friends lives 5 hours away) but we did it and time with friends is important to dd.

[quark]

Wow, what amazing reports. I've really enjoyed reading about all the victories and am also doubly motivated by all your trials to tell myself to keep moving forward. Thank you so much for sharing all your stories.

 

I really needed to hear what others are doing when I wrote the OP. DS and I are often on our own over here, and it helps so much to know everyone has challenges.

 

Good luck for the coming year!

[acurtis75]

I love reading about the kids that took a long time to ride bikes and tie shoes! My DS is 9 now, and it took him forever to learn to ride a bike. His younger cousin is riding around like crazy and DS is slowly making his way around. I am just glad to find out it's not just my kid.

 

 

I made a similar comment on a recent thread. dd is 7 and it is painful watching her try to ride her bike and swim. We just started private swim lessons this week and I'm hoping it will help. dh and I sat there watching her try to coordinate arms, legs & breathing & it's clear she lacks the coordination to do it correctly. Fortunately the teacher is very patient with her. For bike riding we need a big open space with no curves or turns:lol:

 

I was a late bloomer but ended up being a good athlete by high school and dh and his sister are both very good athletes so I think she'll eventually get to at least a basic level of coordination but the process is hard to watch.:001_huh:

[acurtis75]

Trials - Scheduling and trying to balance life in general is our biggest challenge. We traveled a lot and work was hectic. This resulted in not getting as far in some curriculum as I would have liked. We skipped our weekly library trips way too many times and generally did not get to history, science and geography every week like we should have.

 

Triumphs -

DD is getting more independent and working better on her own.

 

We got an ipad and learned to work in pdf's for traveling with is SOOOO much more convenient.

 

I stopped making her do every mus worksheet every week and let her move at her own pace so we finished 2 1/2 levels since November. We discovered LOF and Beast Academy and for the first time she doesn't hate math.

 

We started making real progress in Latin and she's moving faster than I thought she could. We also added Greek at her request.

 

I gave in and let her start cursive and it has improved her printing and she is writing well both ways now.

 

I let her start doing history, art & science independently a few weeks ago and discovered she doesn't need my help and can probably move faster without me which means I can get some work done.

 

She came in 2nd place in her first every spelling bee and helped move me towards dropping formal spelling and using spelling bee lists. She got every word on the weekly pre-tests right for 2 years with three different curriculums. I'm a slow learner but I eventually get it:lol:

 

I've been feeling like a failure the last few weeks. Thanks for this thread idea. It made me think and put things in perspective. I guess a few bad months of scheduling issues haven't ruined our year and progress after all.

[Mommyfaithe]

Triumphs:

DS with Lyme disease is finally feeling better. He has begun a new sport (kickboxing of all things!). He was academically assessed so we could find where his memory gaps were. That was so successful! He is getting ready for his forst try at the SAT in June. He is actually feelig very prepared. This is a MAJOR Triumph!!

 

DD is graduating Summa Cum Laude from college Saturday!!

 

My boys have come leaps and bounds academically this year. My quirky ds is having less major meltdowns, and we have found curricula that work for him

 

My 13 y/o dd is actually going to be ready to start 9th grade come fall!!!! This is a mojor triumph as well because she has faced many health challenges this year.

 

 

Trials: My health has really taken a turn for the worse this year. I am trying, once again to take the bul by the horns, but it keeps getting LOOSE:glare: My pain levels are out of the ballpark!

 

I am counting my blessings and trying to keep from focusing on the negative though...

 

Faithe

[boscopup]

I love reading about the kids that took a long time to ride bikes and tie shoes! My DS is 9 now, and it took him forever to learn to ride a bike. His younger cousin is riding around like crazy and DS is slowly making his way around. I am just glad to find out it's not just my kid.

 

My son is still working on the bike riding, but he learned to tie his shoes this past week when I bought him tie-only shoes that he HAD to learn. I just gave us an extra 15 minutes before leaving, so we could have shoe tying lessons. Worked like a charm! :D

[quark]

Triumphs:

DS with Lyme disease is finally feeling better. He has begun a new sport (kickboxing of all things!). He was academically assessed so we could find where his memory gaps were. That was so successful! He is getting ready for his forst try at the SAT in June. He is actually feelig very prepared. This is a MAJOR Triumph!!

 

DD is graduating Summa Cum Laude from college Saturday!!

 

My boys have come leaps and bounds academically this year. My quirky ds is having less major meltdowns, and we have found curricula that work for him

 

My 13 y/o dd is actually going to be ready to start 9th grade come fall!!!! This is a mojor triumph as well because she has faced many health challenges this year.

 

 

Trials: My health has really taken a turn for the worse this year. I am trying, once again to take the bul by the horns, but it keeps getting LOOSE:glare: My pain levels are out of the ballpark!

 

I am counting my blessings and trying to keep from focusing on the negative though...

 

Faithe

 

Congratulations to your children and so sorry for your pain! :grouphug:

[quark]

Oh and quark..about the physical stuff. My 10 year old is the same. I guess I'm not particularly upset about it because they aren't things I value if I'm being blunt.

 

Thank you! I'm really beginning to realize how much *my* mindset has to do with it. Why do I allow what he cannot do to eclipse what he can?

[roanna]

I am another mom of a son that couldn't put his socks on until 3 1/2, etc. my mom would tell me I was babying him but he really couldn't do it.

 

My little triumph was last week my husband and I found a little notebook our 5 almost 6 year old writes little words in and we found he had written a snake name , cottonmouth, but it didn't fit on one line so he inserted a hyphen and continued the word. Silly , but it reassured me that I didn't need to feel pressured to get some LA program soon. He is absorbing.

 

The worst was realizing I wasted money on a few curriculums that I thought would be so wonderful.

[ALB]

Trials:

Chinese:confused:. It's not really an option, we live here!

Doing art on a consistent basis.

Doing music at all.

 

Triumphs:

Reading, dd devours good books daily.

Math- we're finally passed the tears and are actually enjoying math for once.

Bible- I can't believe how much my dc LOVE the VOS Story Bible! It's their favorite thing we do every day. I was hesitant since it doesn't really have pictures and is much more wordy than the story Bibles we had previously read. We're all really enjoying our Bible time each time.

[TracyP]

I really enjoy reading these. Great thread idea.

 

Trials:

Meeting the academic needs of my oldest two while trying to meet ALL the needs of everyone else in our home. I don't think I was quite prepared for how hard this would be. I enjoy it 95% of the time, but it is really hard.

 

dd8: her emotions; she seems 8 going on 13:glare:

 

ds6: Math has been a struggle. He is so good at it, but he just doesn't like it. I can't seem to find out where he is at. Should I skip ahead? slow down? *sigh* I'm relieved to start our summer break.

 

ds4: He is so different than my older two. He is speech delayed and maybe delayed in other areas. It is so hard to tell what is going on with him.

 

Triumphs:

dd8: She has always been advanced in the LA's, but closer to grade level in math until this year. This year, she has made huge leaps in math. She now is willing to sit and think about a problem rather than break down and say, "It's too haaard!"

 

ds6: He has started to enjoy creative writing(all on his own). He writes "books" that are pretty good and very funny.

 

ds4: Despite being delayed in some areas, he has made really big leaps this year. I look forward to what next year will bring.

[LMD]

Haha quark - we school Jan-Dec too, we're only into term 2 here so I do understand the planning envy :D Though it hasn't stopped me from planning for next year anyway.

 

However I have seen progress in just the first term, so I'll play if that's ok?!

 

Triumphs:

 

Seeing DD's writing stamina improve! She has handled the increased 2nd grade workload very well. She also moved onto the next book in her violin lessons.

 

DS beginning to read! He's at the stage that I love - when they start discovering that the world is full of words to read, he's sounding out signs everywhere! Oh, and learning to ride his bike without training wheels (since we're on the subject!)

 

Trials:

History. Didn't work and required a rethink. Haven't started back yet. Sigh.

[serendipitous journey]

what a good thread to be reading ...

 

TRIUMPHS:

1. I think I can actually plan out second grade!!! and the OP on this thread has me feeling that I should enjoy this while I can. Button has stabilized enough for me to have a read on where he's going and what he can do (not always an accurate read, but a good guess!). Based on past experiences, we should be fine for about a year, not more than 2, before his psyche reorganizes again and throws everything on its ear.

 

2. Button is above-grade level in reading. This child, who has amazing spoken language and terrific comprehension, detested the written word and last year at this time (mid-K) was unable to do, say, first-grade level workbooks I found at the local bookstore. But he's zoomed ahead. Whew.

 

3. Writing, as in physically writing things out. Gotten much better this year, can do the WWE-length exercises.

 

4. Character. We have made so much progress on Button's self-management and regulation, and he is pretty much thriving. This has been the major work of the year, really.

 

5. DH is sold on homeschooling. !!! He even is seeing us doing it through high-school, a bit of a problem earlier b/c our academic standards are very high and he didn't see how they could be accomplished, high-school level, at home. !!!

 

ETA: 6. My 6yo and my toddler are best friends. :) :)

 

TRIALS:

1. Writing, as in handwriting quality. We switched from Zaner-Bloser to italics and, while I was distracted, the quality plummeted. Wasn't until we saw some work from a K-er I know that I realized how far behind Public School Standard he is. Granted, the public schools involved are very good; but my general goal is to keep him a bit ahead of public school standard in skills at a minimum. So a new Zaner-Bloser workbook is on the way. -- I don't think italics is a bad idea, just not good for Button right now.

 

2. Math. This year has been math insanity. We've settled into something and are moving forward again -- I can tell by how frustrated he gets sometimes! at the moment, it's a fluctuating mix of Singapore, MEP, LoF, Key to Fractions, and drill.

 

3. Art and music. Totally back-burner here, though I think they are important; managing Button, being a good mama to Bot-bot, & keeping the household functional has taken all my creative energy.

 

4. The challenges of educating my children. It's become clear that the little one is a fast learner, too, though he's very even-tempered thank goodness ... this whole process is much more demanding than I'd expected. :) lots of room for personal growth here!

 

5. Latin. We abandoned it due to Limited Energy (as in, mine :D). But Button really liked GSWL and I plan to pick it up again this summer.

Edited May 5, 2012 by serendipitous journey

[boscopup]

ETA: 6. My 6yo and my toddler are best friends. :) :)

 

 

This is one of my favorite things about homeschooling! When DS1 was in school, his relationship with DS2 went downhill quite a bit. I brought him home, and they became fast friends again. I love it when they "go adventuring" together (we have 10 acres, mostly pasture - I can see them the whole time ;) ). They're even including the little one now, and it's wonderful to see DS1 seriously try to teach math and reading to DS3 (I don't think I'll have to teach that kid... DS1 will do it all :lol:).

[dharmacat]

Oh and quark..about the physical stuff. My 10 year old is the same. I guess I'm not particularly upset about it because they aren't things I value if I'm being blunt.

 

My sentiments exactly! Even if most others in our sports-obsessed town do not share this view. :confused:

 

For now, my ds (8) is oblivious to how uncoordinated he is compared to his peers. I wish it'd remain that way.;)

[boscopup]

For now, my ds (8) is oblivious to how uncoordinated he is compared to his peers. I wish it'd remain that way.;)

 

My son didn't seem to notice either. He plays hockey, and he was one of the slowest skaters on the team. The thing is... He listened to the coaches and did the moves exactly how they were saying to do them. He was much more precise than some of the faster kids. And then as he got faster, he was better at those moves, whereas the initially fast kids were sloppy. Then this past year he got to play goalie, and it turns out... He's actually really good at it! One coach was talking to DH and said that the goalies are usually a bit neurotic. As he said that, DS1 was making sure the goal was exactly lined up where it was supposed to be - for about the hundredth time. DH just said, "Yep, we got that!" :lol:

 

I can't see DS ever doing well in baseball or football, which are all the rage in these parts. Thankfully, the hockey goalie thing is panning out. :)

[quark]

:grouphug: everyone! Wonderful responses. I am really enjoying them. I wish I could reach out and give a proper hug instead of relying on the smiley. :001_smile:

[dharmacat]

One coach was talking to DH and said that the goalies are usually a bit neurotic. As he said that, DS1 was making sure the goal was exactly lined up where it was supposed to be - for about the hundredth time. DH just said, "Yep, we got that!" :lol:

 

I can't see DS ever doing well in baseball or football, which are all the rage in these parts. Thankfully, the hockey goalie thing is panning out. :)

 

It's all about finding you niche, right?:D

[KirstenH]

Trials:

 

Resilience. He has none. He just came home in March, and up to that point, he'd been used to a PS environment where everything was dead simple for him and he either got 100% on an assignment or a zero for refusing to do it. I'm giving him much more challenging work, and it's hard for him to wrap his little mind around the fact that it's normal and expected to get stuff wrong sometimes.

 

Impulse control. His is zilch, which is a major reason why we brought him home. It's not much easier for me to deal with it than it was for his teachers. At least I don't have 22 other kids to worry about.

 

Fear of new things. He cries and screams at swim class. He melts down over Beast Academy. He tantrums when he's overwhelmed. His behavior is so over the top that it's been recommended we test him for Aspergers, which we're going to do.

 

Triumphs:

 

He's happier.

 

His academics are now targeted to his ability level and making him think.

 

He has more time and space to pursue his interests at his own level and still be a kid.

 

He's making more connections between the things we're learning in school and the wider world.

 

He's teaching his little brother, which is very sweet to watch.

[nitascool]

I have another kinesthetically challenged 10 year old son. He is now 4 years delayed in all motor functions. We worked on learning to ride a bike every spring and summer for 5 years before he mastered it. Now he can ride like a pro.

 

Soccer and swimming were both big flops here. No interest in organized sports in our family. My dh's idea of sports is NASCAR. But we do try to teach them the basics: toss a ball, hit one with a bat, ride a bike, roller skate, Frisbee toss etc. We're making progress albeit slow.

 

We can't hide his awkwardness as he has older and younger siblings who are passing him up in abilities, but he's okay with it. We get snide comments on occasion, but other then the stupid people it doesn't bother me that he's delayed. I know that he will get there eventually. I hadn't planned on a sports scholarship anyway. :lol:

 

Oh yeah, he started Karate about 3 months ago. He's awful at it but he loves it. Well, his Kiai is awesome. I'm hoping he will begin to focus enough in the next few months to begin to learn a few moves correctly.

Edited May 6, 2012 by nitascool

[Dmmetler]

DD7 had her Spring rec cheer competition yesterday, and I'm amazed at how far she's come. She still looks awkward at times, but honestly, she's not much different from the other kids her age (she's on the young side for her team right now). And at the end, while waiting for the results, all the girls came out to the floor to dance-and instead of hanging back, my hypersensory, anxious in crowds, noise hating, unable to handle heat child was out there, dancing and having fun with the rest. When some of the kids started doing stunts, she went over and asked if she could join them-and did-and while the girls were ones from her team, they weren't her usual stunt group or her close friends, so for my child who hates to be touched, hates to be off the ground, and is usually very, very nervous, that was amazing.

 

I'm so impressed with how far she's come even since last year at this time!

[Parrothead]

Triumphs: I gave us permission to skip the last few chapters of CW Homer. I hated that book almost as much as dd. But it was well worth the struggles. We also finished all most all of our books this year as opposed to the last two years when we only got 3/4 of the way through.

 

Trials: CW Homer. Did I mention I hate that book now? Also making time for Latin. This will be the one book we didn't get more than 3/4 of the way through.