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Big Picture Goals for 2015 with your AL?


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DD's primary goal for 2015 is to do stage 2 of her current research project, and to hopefully have it ready to submit for possible conference presentation and/or publication in late 2015/2016.

 

My goal is to basically keep moving in the direction we're going, because it seems to be working so far.

 

 

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ds's-the-older 's goals include

1) Getting onto the NZ maths olympiad training squad.  He is currently doing all the previous BMO's for practice.

2) Taking his first university class, and I might add his first timed test  :huh:  (I'm not sure it was such a good idea to not do tests over the years, but this is where we are.  So for the next 2 terms we are going to practice test taking in both math and physics to 'train him up.')

3) Reading and writing about current events.  DS has never had an interest, at all.  But just in the past month, he has had some positive peer pressure to become more aware of world events.  He decided to start with Islamic State.  :eek:   I suggested we start with something easier, but nope, he wants to understand the conflict(s) in the middle east.

 

ds-the-younger's goals include

1) learning to write literary analysis.  He has asked to do this, so we are starting with Ivanhoe, which is a fabulous adventure story. :001_smile:

2) working towards being independent with his latin and mandarin studies. He especially wants to get into Latin grammar as we have been doing Cambridge Latin which is light on grammar and he is hitting a road block.

3) doing a science fair project on the effect of trail making on alpine plants.  He's very keen to hike up the mountain and stay in the huts in the alpine region.

 

Ruth in NZ

 

 

ETA: just realised you asked for *my* goals. We are mostly interest led over here, so my goals are mostly their goals.  Main goals for me are 1) improve older's writing, and 2) improve younger's independence.  Plus lots of goals involving completing chores! :001_smile:

 

 

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ETA: just realised you asked for *my* goals. We are mostly interest led over here, so my goals are mostly their goals.  Main goals for me are 1) improve older's writing, and 2) improve younger's independence.  Plus lots of goals involving completing chores! :001_smile:

I'm not sure how it reads, but I didn't mean *your* goals so much as I meant "whats on the homeschool agenda regardless of who put it there?"

 

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With DD#1, mostly just "do the next thing."  However, I am trying to take advantage of the freedom homeschooling allows us to follow her interests, which means lots of learning about flamingos (and birds in general, but mostly flamingos).  My goal is to try to come up with some sort of flamingo-related study at least once a week.

 

DD#2 is ready to learn to read, so we'll start working on that in January.

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Not sure if we qualify as advanced learners here...maybe underachievers who scored in the gifted range on testing (maybe there's a support group for that).

 

12 yro: Continue teaching a class one night a week to kids 8 and under.  In May, going for Level 1 Instructor Certification in her "activity" (which will make her the 2nd youngest instructor ever in the school - her brother will be the youngest - LOL).  She's also one of the Top 10 girls in Texas in her "activity".  Testing for 2nd Degree Black Belt in June possibly.  After looking at 3,000 homeschool catalogs, we also decided that she will basically be doing something that looks like unschooling next year (and most likely high school).  I'm not calling it unschooling, because I need to set up some boundaries (like she actually has to do something productive during the day).  

 

11 yro: Continue helping teach a Special Abilities class one night a week (he is actually a really good teacher).  He's also going for his Level 1 Instructor Certification in May, which will make him the youngest one in the school.  He's also one of the Top 10 boys in Texas in his "activity".  Going for 2nd Degree Black Belt in June with his sister.  Our academic goals are to finish Lial's Basic College Math and probably work on AOPS Prealgebra.  I really need to sit down and have him tell me what he wants to do next year.  He might want to do what his sister is doing.  They seem to lead parallel lives or something...  I think they drive each other in the same direction.  He's interested in becoming an engineer or a pilot, so I need to find more stuff for him in that area.

 

9 yro:  Still working on art classes at a studio, but I need to find her a class that is more serious.  She's the youngest one in her class this year and she's just not learning anything.  I probably should ask the teacher if we could move her into the junior high class, but I don't want to feel like a jerk asking.  She'll probably continue with Ambleside Online, Singapore Math and different unit studies that we do throughout the year.  She seems to *really* like Ambleside Online and the Story of the World series.

 

7 yro: Continuing with ballet and TKD (she's also a 1st degree black belt - the youngest one in the school), but I'm not sure what else.  She still just wants to play all day and I'm OK with that.  I will probably use AO with her or something like FIAR. 

 

Edited to add:  After reading my post, I realized...Man!  My kids are weird!!   :tongue_smilie:

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With DD7 we will just continue school as it goes and keep moving forward. I would like her to produce some sort of project that she can display and also help her with presentations. Mostly though with her I want to work on how to be a good friend with kids of all abilities and how to treat her sister more nicely; how to do things simply because they are a good thing to do and not because she may get a reward and seeing things from other people's perspectives.

 

With DD3 we will also continue reading and writing, work slightly more on arithmetic than we have this year and help her work on solving problems with other kids without always bursting into tears and screaming at her sister or whoever she is having a hard time with.

 

Academics is the easy part :)

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Achieved in 2014:

Understand fundamentals of calculus...check

Take first SAT and do your best...triple check

Learn to program in Excel (intermediate level)...check

Learn (somewhat) to juggle a part-time community college schedule...check

Learn fundamentals of researching and setting up a business...partial check

Learn to build a fence around the house...check

Learn why mom insists you wear a watch...partial check

Solidify personal care habits (he has eczema and always forgets to use his creams)...partial check

Build more stamina...check

Be fully able to prepare your own nutritionally balanced breakfast/ lunch/ dinner...check

Be solely responsible for the care of a pet...check

Perform in a super fun live jazz band for a significantly large audience...double check

 

For 2015:

Continue to learn that time and tide wait for no man...(will he ever?)... and improve on those college schedule management skills

Improve personal care skills...

Continue learning to set up and manage a business...

Learn more than the fundamentals of calculus...

Start intro level calc-based physics and navigate required lab skills...

A student ambassadorship/ leadership position...(possible only, he might defer this to 2016)

Start a monthly puzzle column in his college newspaper...

Delve into more Shakespeare...(*I* can't wait!)

Gain international notoriety (DS's words)...optional

:D

 

 

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DD is only four, so our goals are simple. 2015 will be the year that she transitions from part-time preschooler and part-time at-home kindergarten to fully being at home. Our biggest goal is to make that transition as successfully as possible, both academically (which should be easy) and socially (more difficult for the social kid with introvert parents).

 

Right now, our primary goal is to survive winter. It finally clicked with me that she's showing some of the same signs of Seasonal Affective Disorder that I have. We may need to plan an extra vacation and make big plans on how to handle winter for the next few years here before we can move.

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I normally set school year goals rather than annual goals, but as DS is getting bigger I can see the value in revisiting more frequently. So here goes!

 

2015:

Add more Ambleside Online readings into our life (the goal is three a month)

Switch Greek out for Japanese (so I can keep studying Greek and get a much better handle on it)

Add significantly more casual Spanish conversation into our school day

Begin testing in Spanish

Get Ds' nonprofit up and live online

Partner with Plant for the Planet to run Academy's every for each quarter

Keep the flow we have rolling

Have the Annual Unschool Discussion where he lays out what worked, what didn't, and what he would like next year. It never looks like unschooling, because he comes to the meeting with an action plan, but it is *his* action plan. One of these days I need to get him a little brief case (he would be so excited!) to go with his

meeting sweater vests.

 

For Me:

Start structuring next year so it is wired down and action steps are planned

Get a framework designed to list of all the mentors and corporate partnerships with the non profit

Begin gathering all the stuff for quarterly reports to grant funders so Ds can write and send them

Try to figure out this whole Attic Greek thing (I am really stuck with it)

Focus on providing autonomy and lots of positive feedback

 

That looks so very daunting! Maybe I should write this out a bit more so we can feel accomplished. Normally we just do it and never think about how much is going on.

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I may come back to this as I flesh out the details.

 

For now, it's for Ds to be more flexible. Finally, he recognises he gets stuck in certain thinking modes. One simple example is, he will only wear certain pants, even if there are gaping holes, and the weather is freezing. Or, he loves Sine, so no matter what he'll try to use the sin formula even if it means going through extra convolutions. At least these days, I get an "oh yeah! Why did I do that?". All good.

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Me. Keep working alcamus alcamus and work out use this phone.

 

Ds7 work through level 1 ofBorac and hopefully be ready to do an on line course with them next September. I have decided to just do fun maths and teach him what he needs as we go. He gets enough boring stuff at school. Keep working on writing.

 

Ds5. Tagging on a bit and solidify basic skills. Maybe some WWE. He did most of level one workbook orally so I will do something with the text to include just copywork at first.

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2015 Goals for Sacha:

 

Master multiplication tables

Begin Beast Academy

Progress in reading from easy readers to longer chapter books

Learn to read in French

Master the Hebrew alphabet

Make the BU7 academy team of his soccer club

Progress from copy work to more creative writing

Have a larger part in a play

Complete a project in Scratch

Learn basic typing

 

It would also be lovely if I could lose weight, my youngest potty trained, and my oldest finished patching (for amblyopia)

 

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My goals for my ALs are no different than my goals for my avg kids or my struggling kids and they never have been. My goals are simple: to help my kids be the most successful "them" they can be. I want to fuel their interests and encourage constant forward progression with them experiencing success as learners. I compare my kids to themselves to determine successful progression.

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2015 Goals for Sacha:

 

Master multiplication tables

Begin Beast Academy

Progress in reading from easy readers to longer chapter books

Learn to read in French

Master the Hebrew alphabet

Make the BU7 academy team of his soccer club

Progress from copy work to more creative writing

Have a larger part in a play

Complete a project in Scratch

Learn basic typing

 

It would also be lovely if I could lose weight, my youngest potty trained, and my oldest finished patching (for amblyopia)

 

Psst, you may wish to delay the times table drills until you've done at least Beast 3A. Skip counting gets boring once you can multiply, but it's an important foundation and mental math brain-builder. Memorization is encouraged starting at the beginning of 3B.

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Psst, you may wish to delay the times table drills until you've done at least Beast 3A. Skip counting gets boring once you can multiply, but it's an important foundation and mental math brain-builder. Memorization is encouraged starting at the beginning of 3B.

Good advice. My list was more stream of consciousness musing than chronological.

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This is a great idea!  I've been waxing poetic in my head for the past month as to our trajectory going into upper elementary.

 

DS 8 -

 

Learn how to ride a two wheeler! (This has been years in the making.)

Try an online class

Community involvement in some capacity

 

Also, we are about 80% sure we will be bringing my twins home next year.  They would be in the third year of Montessori, but we are feeling more and more that home would be the better option.  They are both reading, not exceptionally ahead, but ahead.  I'm nervous to add 2 to the mix, but also excited.  It's would be their K year, so it's low pressure. ;)

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Just to share something amusing, my husband's 'big picture' comment for our AL this year is "I don't care if she doesn't learn a single academic thing this year. She already knows more than enough for her age. Our #1 goal should be to make sure she doesn't turn into a sardonic know-it-all asshole."

 

I'm sure some of you can relate! :D

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Last night my husband said our goal should be just to practice reading and the math facts he already knows so he doesn't back slide. This would be boring for my son and me though.

 

My goals are to expand his learning through current events like the news and newspaper. He is hooked on a 60 mins story on having fresh water. He is constantly bringing it up for more discussion. He also wants to work on improving our transportation infrastructure in a way that lasts longer and doesn't cost daddy more in taxes.

 

 I want to see improvement on the Dora Math and Reading test in May (don't care how much or how little).

 

I want to help him with his anxiety of working alone. This is the most important. He has a panic attack if a parent or his little brother isn't in the room while he's working. He fails tests just because he panics and can't cope.

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As "academic unschoolers" I tend to have a single goal each year.

 

In Kindergarten it was reading, and DS went from reading "Biscuit" books to reading the entire OZ series and "My  Side of the Mountain".

 

In 1st grade it was math and he did all of Miquon , MEP 1-3, and CWP3.

 

This year it is writing.  We have used Penny Gardner's Italics and have mechanics down. Narration has been a major theme. More free form writing is a goal.

 

Meanwhile, we pursue other subjects in an interest driven manner. For instance DS will soon start a geometry and programming unit at his request. I was planning it this summer but he went off on a major crypto rabbit trail instead... Likewise he is slowly reading his way through all the Landmark biographies...

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Okay, I am thinking I will try my hand at setting out some goals for next year for Alex--if for no other reason than to be able to have a good laugh when I reread them:)

 

1) since next fall will be her 'official' start to homeschooling (kindy), whatever that means, I will keep slightly better track/organization of what we are working on.

2) she wants to prepare for a spelling bee. Even if we take full months off, and only do spelling 2-3 times per week when we are working, she will be finished with AAS level 7. We have been supplementing with more advanced word lists, Greek and Latin roots, and a handful of basic spelling bee prep materials but she wants to 'really work on it.' Oy.

3) I think we will focus on writing. She is really doing some great little stories, but I think she is ready for a bit more.

4) typing and computer programming- she gets frustrated with her current abilities and wants more independence following rabbit trails, so this will be a huge help to her.

5) math- I have no idea. She is thrilled that we will have every day to work on it. This terrifies me as we have been part-timers up until now. The only big-picture goal I am certain of is that we will continue to work on problem-solving stamina and perfectionist tendencies.

 

The biggest goal will be to balance her age, intellect, and completely asynchronous emotional maturity (I would honestly say her emotional/social age is almost a year younger than her chronological age due to intensities) with her desire for more independent work. She prefers me to go away whilst she works but stay close enough to come and check her work, so we will be building on that...especially with little brother arriving in April.

 

Lots of reading in every area, and she will have a class in language, music, and art as well.

 

And lest I forget: massive effort into actually selecting, putting on, and continuing to wear clothing items without huge meltdowns. Right now I would trade a whole lot for that alone!

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Spending less money ;) My goodness that boy costs a lot!

I want to use more of the resources we've got, this coming year. I have most AO books for his level, and also loads of books on the Kindle. I really want to focus on Beast Academy and let him do SM on his own pace. The last few months I've been letting him chose the subjects we study and it has worked really well. We'll continue with that, but I'll just be making sure we're covering both history and science ;) not JUST science.

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The goals are for me, not DS5 specifically. My goal is to get to a point where I can discern where exactly he is in mathematics, in order to correctly place him in a curriculum. I would like to fill in some gaps here and there, so that my box-checker-self doesn't feel the need to stay in a kindergarten or first grade math program just because he doesn't have telling time (or little things like that) down, even though he's far past the majority of the curriculum. I'm terrified of gaps, even small ones, and I need to LET IT GO - seriously, he's going to hate math if I don't force myself to allow him to use appropriate materials and trust myself to fill in those little areas myself.

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T's big goals for next year are learning to sail (and getting her basic sailing card), finishing Algebra 1 and doing well enough on the SAT so she can go to Duke TIP camp at Rice next summer. My goals are playing a geography game everyday until she was a basic grasp of the world map (she inherited dh's total lack of knowing where things are in space, this is just the easiest aspect of this weakness that I can address) and getting her to actually say things in Spanish. Other than that, we'll stay the course we set this year.

 

I'm there with lewelma on dealing with a tween's newfound interest in current events. This morning T greeted me with the news that a 12 yo was shot by police because they mistook his airsoft for a real gun. She'd read it on the Washington Post app that came pre-downloaded on her kindle. You could have knocked me over with a feather that she checked the news when she woke up. Then I had to discuss police violence and racial tensions before I'd turned on the coffee maker. I need to step up my morning routine.

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1) Figure out whether or not we're going to give public school a try now that we have moved.

 

2) Make some friends in our new town.

 

3) Work on attitude--we've made major progress on being willing to try something she doesn't already know how to do, but we still have a long way to go on following directions with a good attitude.

 

4) Pick up with some more fun subjects again (art, history, science) which we dropped during the move and medical issues we've had going on.

 

5) Build up her confidence with reading so she's no longer intimidated by longer books/larger blocks of text.

 

6) Finish up Singapore 1b and 2 and (if she doesn't slow down) move into Singapore 3 & Beast Academy.

 

7) Find time for academics with dd2 as she wants them. This will probably include:

-Progressing beyond CVC words in reading.

-Working through Miquon Orange.

-Learning to write.

-Starting regular, daily violin with me instead of just occasional.

 

8) Potty train ds1.

 

9) Add more regular Spanish for the girls.

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For DS6.9 I'm planning on focusing on motor tasks:

Ride bike, tie shoes, use scissors, swim

 

He is planning on focusing on piano, history and chemistry.

What I'll likely work on academically is wrapping up elementary math and moving into Aops, and writing stamina.

 

Excited for the new year, and to have a seven year old!

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  • 4 weeks later...

For DS4.5, since DD3's diagnosis of ASD, we have only focused on the three-Rs of reading, writing(paragraph copywork) and arithmetic(Singapore & MM 1B), and basically dropped everything else to simplify our schedule. Our goal for the new year is to continue to have him read early chapter books aloud to me--He reads aloud for about 60 pages or one book at once with little difficulty.--and to read other quality literature and nonfiction together everyday. I'd also like to encourage independent silent reading for extended periods of time on a daily basis. And I'm trying my best not to rush him through math by doing every problem on every page. I let him do as many pages on math books as he wants, usually ranging from 2 to 10 pages a day, and will do the same in the next year. He's going to play in kids' sports leagues and start piano lessons at some point. By this summer, we'll have to make a final decision on whether to homeschool him full-time or send him to a full-day PS Kindergarten in suburban Kansas City. He's an extrovert who needs social time more-or-less everyday. 

 

For my nonverbal, stubborn and extremely self-directed DD3, who taught herself how to read cvc words and count numbers up to 100 but refuses to play or read with me, I have no teaching or lesson plans other than continuing to help her with vocabulary, pronunciation, social interactions, social skills and potty training. I plan to send her to preschool part-time and receive IEP services there when we move to the next duty station this summer.

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Not sure if we qualify as advanced learners here...maybe underachievers who scored in the gifted range on testing (maybe there's a support group for that).

 

12 yro: Continue teaching a class one night a week to kids 8 and under.  In May, going for Level 1 Instructor Certification in her "activity" (which will make her the 2nd youngest instructor ever in the school - her brother will be the youngest - LOL).  She's also one of the Top 10 girls in Texas in her "activity".  Testing for 2nd Degree Black Belt in June possibly.  After looking at 3,000 homeschool catalogs, we also decided that she will basically be doing something that looks like unschooling next year (and most likely high school).  I'm not calling it unschooling, because I need to set up some boundaries (like she actually has to do something productive during the day).  

 

 

 Evanthe...

 

I have a 12 yr old DD and we are looking to de-structure things here as well. I would love to hear more specifically how you plan to unschool with productivity. I am new here and am looking to define how we could take a very similar sounding approach...I know what it should feel like but I am not quite clear on what it looks like, if that makes any sense!

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  • 11 months later...

With DD#1, mostly just "do the next thing."  However, I am trying to take advantage of the freedom homeschooling allows us to follow her interests, which means lots of learning about flamingos (and birds in general, but mostly flamingos).  My goal is to try to come up with some sort of flamingo-related study at least once a week.

 

DD#2 is ready to learn to read, so we'll start working on that in January.

 

DD#1: Yes on doing next things.  Not so much on the flamingo activities...but that's okay.  She still likes flamingos, but the passion has waned (though she still claims she wants to be an ornithologist specializing in flamingos when she grows up).  She's currently all about fairies.

 

DD#2: She learned to read, and then some.  

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This is a great idea!  I've been waxing poetic in my head for the past month as to our trajectory going into upper elementary.

 

DS 8 -

 

Learn how to ride a two wheeler! (This has been years in the making.)

Try an online class

Community involvement in some capacity

 

Also, we are about 80% sure we will be bringing my twins home next year.  They would be in the third year of Montessori, but we are feeling more and more that home would be the better option.  They are both reading, not exceptionally ahead, but ahead.  I'm nervous to add 2 to the mix, but also excited.  It's would be their K year, so it's low pressure. ;)

 

1. Still working on it!

2. Finishing up SOTW 3 and Athena's and going on to SOTW 4 next semester

3. Also still working on it

 

Also my twins ended up finishing up the 3 year children's house program at their school this year.  They will start homeschooling Fall 2016. :)

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2015 Goals for Sacha:

 

Master multiplication tables  -- pretty much has them down

Begin Beast Academy -- almost through 3B, and loves it!

Progress in reading from easy readers to longer chapter books -- check!

Learn to read in French -- he wasn't ready this year; trying again in the fall

Master the Hebrew alphabet -- check!

Make the BU7 academy team of his soccer club -- he decided that he didn't want to specialize in soccer; he is still playing, but enjoys a lot of other extracurrics as well

Progress from copy work to more creative writing -- still working on copywork, but has progressed to dictation

Have a larger part in a play -- check!

Complete a project in Scratch -- check, check, check!!

Learn basic typing -- he's getting faster, but still a work in progress

 

It would also be lovely if I could lose weight, my youngest potty trained, and my oldest finished patching (for amblyopia) -- I am down 10 pounds (but still fat), Ronen is almost potty trained, and Sacha is done patching!

 

This was a fun idea. I love seeing how much progress he has made. Thank you for bumping this thread. :)

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How fun, I'd forgotten all about this thread!

1) Figure out whether or not we're going to give public school a try now that we have moved.  Finally decided to for the Fall, then wound up moving back instead and so stayed with homeschooling.

2) Make some friends in our new town.  Never really did.  It's good to be back.

3) Work on attitude--we've made major progress on being willing to try something she doesn't already know how to do, but we still have a long way to go on following directions with a good attitude.  We made great progress with this!  We still have some issues occasionally, particularly when we have taken any time off-- but my standard response has become, "go fold and put away five peices of laundry", and keep adding five more for every instance of bad attitude.  Works wonders.

4) Pick up with some more fun subjects again (art, history, science) which we dropped during the move and medical issues we've had going on. Yes, we've had fun with these.

5) Build up her confidence with reading so she's no longer intimidated by longer books/larger blocks of text. She's now reading chapter books on her own.

6) Finish up Singapore 1b and 2 and (if she doesn't slow down) move into Singapore 3 & Beast Academy.  I'm in the market for PM 3 and BA now, if anyone has some to sell.

7) Find time for academics with dd2 as she wants them. This will probably include: I never did manage to get this in until the Fall, when she started K. 
-Progressing beyond CVC words in reading.  She's progressing well with reading.
-Working through Miquon Orange.  We switched to Singapore, and she's doing well.
-Learning to write.  Coming along.
-Starting regular, daily violin with me instead of just occasional.  Didn't start this until recently when she turned 5.  She's working on her Twinkles, now.

8) Potty train ds1.  He's just now about half-trained.

9) Add more regular Spanish for the girls.  Nope, but we did start Latin.

 

 

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DD's primary goal for 2015 is to do stage 2 of her current research project, and to hopefully have it ready to submit for possible conference presentation and/or publication in late 2015/2016.

 

My goal is to basically keep moving in the direction we're going, because it seems to be working so far.

 

Presented in September-still working on the publication part :).

 

Overall, I think "just keep swimming" (or slithering!!) is working here :)

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DD is only four, so our goals are simple. 2015 will be the year that she transitions from part-time preschooler and part-time at-home kindergarten to fully being at home. Our biggest goal is to make that transition as successfully as possible, both academically (which should be easy) and socially (more difficult for the social kid with introvert parents).

 

Right now, our primary goal is to survive winter. It finally clicked with me that she's showing some of the same signs of Seasonal Affective Disorder that I have. We may need to plan an extra vacation and make big plans on how to handle winter for the next few years here before we can move.

I'd forgotten about this thread. DD has improved in leaps and bounds in academics and maturity.

 

Social has been a struggle. There's two kids she's clicked with at park day - one has a bunch of siblings, lives out of town, and the parent isn't looking for play dates, the other is more than twice her age and more interested in tween stuff (I may hire her as a mother's helper this spring). Her preschool friends are now in public school and are so scheduled and worn out we never get to see them.

 

The seasonal issues are definitely real. So is some major anxiety stuff. I finally admitted I was in over my head recently and we're working with a child therapist. Small improvements at this point.

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ds's-the-older 's goals include

1) Getting onto the NZ maths olympiad training squad.  He is currently doing all the previous BMO's for practice.

2) Taking his first university class, and I might add his first timed test  :huh:  (I'm not sure it was such a good idea to not do tests over the years, but this is where we are.  So for the next 2 terms we are going to practice test taking in both math and physics to 'train him up.')

3) Reading and writing about current events.  DS has never had an interest, at all.  But just in the past month, he has had some positive peer pressure to become more aware of world events.  He decided to start with Islamic State.  :eek:   I suggested we start with something easier, but nope, he wants to understand the conflict(s) in the middle east.

 

#1 YES.  He very unexpectedly made it onto the squad of 12, and he got his first international medal in mathematics! 

 

#2 Nope.  The squad took up so much time that he could not also prep for the university class he wanted to take in July.  Plus, ends up that it would have been a no go anyway as he had not yet finished 11th grade English, so couldn't have taken a math class anyway.  But we did get in some testing experience by taking both the offical Mock exams and the real exams for Physics and Calculus.  Very good experience.  And I am *very* glad we did it before he takes a university class.

 

#3 Yes.  He reads the Economist every week now.  Pretty cool.

 

ds-the-younger's goals include

1) learning to write literary analysis.  He has asked to do this, so we are starting with Ivanhoe, which is a fabulous adventure story. :001_smile:

2) working towards being independent with his latin and mandarin studies. He especially wants to get into Latin grammar as we have been doing Cambridge Latin which is light on grammar and he is hitting a road block.

3) doing a science fair project on the effect of trail making on alpine plants.  He's very keen to hike up the mountain and stay in the huts in the alpine region.

Changed our goals with the younger about mid way through the year.

 

#1 Yes.  We have done well. Currently, studying Willie Collin's Moonstone.  And we are starting in on Movies as Literature.

 

#2 No.  He has given up Latin and delayed Mandarin this year to focus on English.  It is becoming apparent that he has some sort of dysgraphia so we have been remediating that instead.

 

#3 No.  sigh.  It became clear that the project was going to become *my* project because his heart was not in it.  So we abandoned it. :tongue_smilie:

 

However, we set a new goal this year of an A- essay in an hour.  This is something that his cousin accomplised by the beginning of 8th grade and has been really motivating for my boy.  We have been focusing hard on this goal and moving forward.  He is at an A- essay in about 90-100 minutes at this point.  And I am very pleased.

 

Another goal that he has owned is getting his violin practise independent.  He is doing Grade 5 ABRSM (9th-10th grade in the UK) and has come a long way this year in owning it!

 

Overall, a very good year for us.  But so much more we need to get done! 

 

Ruth in NZ

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I normally set school year goals rather than annual goals, but as DS is getting bigger I can see the value in revisiting more frequently. So here goes!

 

2015:

Add more Ambleside Online readings into our life (the goal is three a month)

Switch Greek out for Japanese (so I can keep studying Greek and get a much better handle on it).

Add significantly more casual Spanish conversation into our school day

Begin testing in Spanish

Get Ds' nonprofit up and live online

Partner with Plant for the Planet to run Academy's every for each quarter

Keep the flow we have rolling

Have the Annual Unschool Discussion where he lays out what worked, what didn't, and what he would like next year. It never looks like unschooling, because he comes to the meeting with an action plan, but it is *his* action plan. One of these days I need to get him a little brief case (he would be so excited!) to go with his

meeting sweater vests.

 

For Me:

Start structuring next year so it is wired down and action steps are planned

Get a framework designed to list of all the mentors and corporate partnerships with the non profit

Begin gathering all the stuff for quarterly reports to grant funders so Ds can write and send them

Try to figure out this whole Attic Greek thing (I am really stuck with it)

Focus on providing autonomy and lots of positive feedback

 

That looks so very daunting! Maybe I should write this out a bit more so we can feel accomplished. Normally we just do it and never think about how much is going on.

Ambleside: kinda check? There is much more reading and snuggling up to read, but I do not know how many a tually have come from AO

 

Japanese: major check. He has almost all his Hiragana down, knows a fair bit of basic preschool vocab, and does it everyday

 

Spanish Conversation: check. I speak quite frequently with him in Spanish. We have a friend whose first language is Spanish and that is really helping. I do not know if I would call these conversations, since Ds is not yet ready to actually talk, but he definitely understands more conversational Spanish.

 

Testing Spanish: nope. Ds opted yo begin writing compositions in Spanish instead. Our friend's mother corrects them and has Ds talk with her about them in Spanish. So not a test exactly, but accountability.

 

NonProfit and Plant 4 the Planet: turns out none of the kids coukd give two flying bits about a website. Only their parents cared. So the website started to stagnate a bit. I know it will come back, but for now, not really. As for Academies, we have a movie night every month and are beginning Academies hopefully in January.

 

Unschooling Discussion: Check! This goes with Flow as well: Check!

 

It very much feels like the year has been successful. We are heading into next year with a much stronger plan and a great amount of life experience under our belts!

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