Luckymama Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 I took a really loooooooong board break-----a year! I had intended to be away for a few weeks last summer to enjoy our extended family vacation (which I did!). Unfortunately my father died quite suddenly after the school year started :crying: It was devastating to loose both my parents within two years, to say the least. I had much to deal with over the past year with being both the executor and trustee of my parents' estate. We listed their house for sale in March and it sold in 5 days (!!!!) for our asking price. I didn't truly relax until the real estate closing in early June :tongue_smilie: I can feel my anxiety level rising as we approach my mom's bday, my parents' anniversary, and the anniversaries of their deaths. The holidays were quite rough for all of us. The beautiful plans I had made for dd's sixth grade year had to be massively adapted... After looking at the samples of AoPS Pre-Algebra, I made the decision to have her work through the book before beginning their Intro to Algebra. I am so pleased she did so because she was introduced to the AoPS way of thinking before being plunged into a challenging text. After completing Pre-Algebra she finished the first four chapters of Intro to Algebra. That's where we'll pick up in a few weeks. We did use CPO Life Science as planned. I didn't take a single blasted photo of science lab all year long :huh: I adapted when I had to, skipped a few labs that used CPO's own products, and didn't use the entire human body section. Science Olympiad was a major part of science last year. She moved up to the middle school division and competed on the local homeschool group's team at the state level (small state=no regionals). She placed second in Rocks & Minerals (w a partner), fourth in Forestry (same partner), and tenth in Towers (all by herself----a partner dropped out in January). I am so proud of her performance in Towers as she researched, designed, and built the balsa wood tower all by herself. I supervised the building and provided an extra set of hands while she was supergluing bits together. The judges talked to her after the competition to congratulate her and to ask just how she had prepared-----I guess a petite (she had to stand on a chair to set the testing apparatus in place :D: ) red-haired sixth grade girl in a room of boys stood out :lol: Dd placed well (eleventh) but out of the medals in Food Science (w a partner). She has been drooling over some of the new events for this school year and can't wait to get started sometime after Thanksgiving! We did use K12's The Human Odyssey Vol. 2 last year but didn't follow any of my plans :001_huh: She basically just read from the (very good) text and discussed the reading with me. No historical fiction, no fun documentaries, no writing. MCT language arts was cut to The Magic Lens and 4Practice for grammar and Word Within the Word 1 for vocab. Holy cow, that grammar is awesome! She will finish the last 50 sentences in 4practice this year. She got through the first 17 lists in WWW, very very challenging but excellent. It needed to be done daily, that's for sure :tongue_smilie: I think we took 6 school days per list, with a two days in between the later part of the year for cumulative review. We will continue this year, and I expect to order WWW 2 when ready. French was cut as soon as Dad died. I knew we wouldn't get to it every day. I've got some good plans for seventh grade which I'll post in that thread. I am so happy to be back here. I have missed the camaraderie and support :grouphug: (My laptop self-destructed last fall and was replaced by an iPad. Please excuse any bizarre auto corrections as I haven't used it on forums until now!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Create Your Ritual Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 Hey there Luckymama, great to have you back and I am glad that her school year went well despite all of the loss and change that you had. So sorry about your parents. Hugs to you and welcome back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klg Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 from a newbie. i'm taking notes, thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PollyOR Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 :grouphug: I'm sorry to hear about your parents. :grouphug: Welcome back! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 I am so sorry for your losses. I have to admit I was a little worried about you, but hoped you would be back. I am glad you are here, but sorry to hear about the reasons for your absence. We are also gearing up for 7th grade here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeJM Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 It was devastating to loose both my parents within two years, to say the least.... I had much to deal with over the past year... Given the above, and reading all that you did, I would say you did GREAT!!!!! I lost both my parents in about 2-1/2 years -- what a whirlwind of a whole bunch of emotions and activity, and stress on many levels. Last to go was Mom, 3 years ago. It does get easier, you do normalize, you do recover, you do become more able to do the things you used to do, but the emotions do come back in waves, and sometimes you just don't function as well. It's good to know those tough times are fewer and further between the more time-distance goes by. Still, it's hard sometimes. Continue to give yourself time and space when needed. All the best to you!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osmosis Mom Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Hey Karen, So sorry about your father's passing. I have missed you here, though, and am very happy to hear you are back and in full gear. Have a wonderful year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Welcome back! I am sorry to hear about your parents.:grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyJudyJudy Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 I'm sorry to hear about your parents. I know that can be tough (I lost my mother a few weeks ago and my father when I was a child). I'm glad the school year went relatively well, though, and I'm glad you're back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Mama Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Welcome back. I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your parents. :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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