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Big Picture Goals for 2016 with your AL?


Gil
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One subject per day, with the likely exception of Math and foreign language.

Adding another (fourth) language.  However, he has until June to become reasonably conversant; if that doesn't happen, I'm dropping it.

All the subjects (math, history, science, art/music, and english) are tying in together and gradually preparing him for a capstone project at the end of the semester which will take approximately 3-4 weeks.

 

Both he and I are INCREDIBLY excited.

 

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This thread is great timing for us. Just a couple of days ago, my daughter (9) set herself some goals for 2016 (which pleased me no end!).

 

She wants to write three essays over the course of the year, to see how she's improved and progressed. She's realised that no matter what she may end up studying in the future, she'll need to master writing academic essays.

 

She also wants to be onto grade 10 maths (Australian level) when she turns 10.

 

Wishing everyone a great 2016!

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Big Picture Goals for Sacha:

 

Improve and enjoy playing the guitar, surfing, and playing tennis/soccer. Participate in some sort of guitar performance.

Audition for a play.

Nail down arithmetic and increase problem solving ability, become more confident in math competitions.

Do his best on the Exploratory Latin Exam.

Improve typing skills.

Begin Hebrew grammar and Torah study.

Learn to read in French.

Begin conceptual physics study!

Continue programming in Scratch and Minecraft modding.

Begin more creative writing.

Begin online classes.

Qualify for CTY programs.

Learn to sail and tie his shoes!

 

Big Picture Goals for Ronen:

 

Graduate from speech therapy and swim school.

Learn the alphabet and begin letter sounds.

Develop number sense.

Finish potty training.

 

Big Picture Goals for Me:

 

Read more books for pleasure.

Travel, exercise, and volunteer more.

More date nights!

Save more money!

 

Edited by SeaConquest
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Well, I want to incorporate more "PE" type stuff into our days.  Doesn't really have anything to do with either girl's areas of acceleration, but it's a goal. ;)

 

Beyond that, let's see...

 

Hmm.  I'm having a hard time coming up with specific, measurable goals.  I kind of just want to make sure I keep providing appropriate challenges for both my girls, which means staying tuned in to how they're doing and what they need.  I am boring on the goals list thing this time around.

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DD is currently 5.

 

- Better balancing. She steered her ship into deeper and deeper academic waters this past year and now wants a break. I'll continue to follow along with her, but want to nudge her towards balancing academic and non-academic interests instead of an all-or-nothing approach.

- Field trips. We always have the best intentions, but I really want to prioritize this. Especially given the goal to have better balancing.

- Spanish. We're gearing up for an immersion trip and might do add some Skype tutoring or an in-person tutor afterwards. The goal is to be conversationally fluent by her 7th birthday in 2017, when we add another foreign language to the mix.

- Cast the net a bit wider regarding extracurriculars. She consistently chooses to do dance and gymnastics. There are more choices starting at age 6 around here, so I'd like to see her try some new things.

- Major progress on emotional regulation. I suspect getting a handle on her anxiety would make all the other goals more achievable.

- Social stuff. This was one of only two goals for last year and it fell pretty flat. DD is very social, with introvert parents, and we've had a horrible time with her finding friends. I don't even know what to do for this, but I'll keep trying.

 

ETA my DD's goals for herself, as stated in various ways over the last few weeks:

- Science. So much science.

- More art. In addition to the lots of free form art, she specifically wants to improve her drawing and painting skills.

- Earn badges on DIY.org.

- Avoid math.

- Have great cursive handwriting.

- Learn lots of gymnastics. Perfect her cartwheel. Learn a good handstand. She would like to either test from age-5-and-under classes directly into Silver instead of Bronze when she turns 6 or quickly move up afterwards.

Edited by Jackie
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Find a better social fit or somehow make DD feel better about herself in the situation she's in. She's having a tough Christmas break-the cousin she was always closest to has become a teen and has "kid-zoned" her pretty strongly, and that is really making her question whether her co-op peers actually like her (after all, they're mostly teens, too) and lots of other stuff.

 

Academically, take DD's first college class and see how that goes, continue academics in other areas, get her first paper ready for publication and submitted (probably to the state level online journal, which is still peer reviewed, but more undergrad/masters level work, field notes, and wildlife agency reports).

 

But, mostly, I want her to be happy being herself. And right now, she isn't.

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dmmetler, I hear you.

Finding a social fit is so, so hard.

 

My daughter (9) has her 19yr old sister as her best friend, but she acknowledges that they have some things in common (books, music, movies) but she wants friends who are passionate about science and nature.

At the moment, our homeschool social days are more about my daughter socialising with the mums, who are very accepting of her eccentricities and passions.

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We have 'officially' finished grade 8 now, and have no required exams for the next 1-2 years.

So we start grade 9 with more freedom then we have had the last 2 years.

I'm not sure what to do with the freedom.

The freedom is relatively as we have to be back on track in grade 11, but we celebrate 2016 as the year without exams. :)

 

The only thing I can think now is to improve dd's writing skills. And to get dd an opinion about topics, somehow :)

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8th grade is probably the last year I'll have DS home with me, so there will be a big emphasis on getting him high school ready.

 

* work through anxiety and perfectionist issues, especially in regards to writing

* work on executive functioning skills, now that I recognize this is an issue

* increase stamina and productivity

* take his first online class (Derek Owens geometry) so he is held accountable to someone else

 

We will also change things up from our usual classical type history and science routine for something more integrated (BHP). I foresee organizational skills to be a big challenge as his work continues to become more independent.

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For my newly six year old: become a more fluent reader and solid on her math facts. I think she'll be happier if she can gain some independence with learning by not needing me to read everything to her and this will allow her to progress in math without getting stuck on her facts. More art.

 

For my 8 yr old: finish learning multiplication tables and find a better science program that isn't just review.

Oh, and get her a sewing machine! (her goal)

 

And, for my 11 yr old: take his first online class to have something to document and help him start transitioning towards being accountable for assignments. I also want him to take the initiative to begin his own work while I work the the younger kids. Improve writing.

 

For me and the kids: Make friends with parents to help the kids have time with friends...yikes!

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My kids are getting older. For my 16 year old the biggest goal is to finalize a list of colleges and apply to them. Also while his writing/notetaking has improved greatly, it could still get better.

 

For my 14 year old the biggest goals involve organization/responsibility. He has not yet figured out how to work towards deadlines and has a tendency to procrastinate too much and then panic.

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It's been really hard for me to admit that my fifth grader can and wants to work on high school level in many areas. Next year he will be in couple of high school classes. I can't figure out if I am generally holding him back or pushing him too far. I hope I even make sense.

Edited by Roadrunner
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It's been really hard for me to admit that my fifth grader can and wants to work on high school level in many areas. Next year he will be in couple of high school classes. I can't figure out if I am generally holding him back or pushing him too far. I hope I even make sense.

 

If it becomes hard when you think of it as high school level, just consider it as "his" level. Don't worry about putting a grade level on it. Just give him what he needs/ is asking for and think about grade levels later.

 

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Okay, I'll give it a go this round...

 

ODS (7) has really honed in on his passions this year, so his priorities would be math, geography, guitar/music, and running/biking.  With that in mind:

- Continue to let him move at his pace in math, encouraging his progress while watching for burnout.

- Help him expand his geography knowledge in a way that interests him.  I can't think of any way in which recognizing all the countries of the world by shape is going to help him, so I'd like to find another aspect of world geography that grabs him.  He's already got our regional street map memorized...  Maybe landforms?  Geocaching?  Hmm...

- Try to feed his passion for more and more guitar, and find some ensemble opportunities now that he's been moved to private lessons.  (The instructor mentioned a Christmas ensemble he could do next year, but I'd love to find something before then, since that seems so far away and he misses playing with others.)  Continue in choir. (See about moving him up to the next choir, which does the harmonizing he so desperately wants?)  Encourage his self-teaching of piano.

- Encourage his delight in biking and running, since the exercise is good for him in more ways than one.  Perhaps force a bit more fine motor, like shoe tying (!).

- Finish developing that R sound!  And since insurance is giving us a hard time, I guess we try this on our own.  ($95/half-hour of speech is too much for me!)

 

DD (nearly-6) has always been a bit of a mystery.  She is afraid of failure, but she when she attacks something she settles for "done" rather than striving for excellence.  Based on her interests/personality, I guess my goals will be the following:

- Provide her as much freedom as possible and see where she goes, hoping to see her excited/self-motivated about some particular academic area.  (This terrifies me, but she's far enough ahead that we don't NEED to accomplish anything, and I fear squelching her love of learning with my desire to actually make forward progress.)

- Encourage her sudden passion for all things creative by profusely complimenting her more careful drawings and pointing out the good points of her storytelling.  She has potential in both areas, if she takes the time to put in effort.

- Work on reducing her competitive streak and/or handling difficulty with grace.  She avoids anything she deems hard, and I'd like her to eventually move past that and see that doing hard things can be really satisfying, and that she doesn't always have to be first/best/most to be happy.  (Why does the first/best/most not come out in her academics except when comparing herself to her brother!?)

- Determine whether she's most passionate about dance, gymnastics, or soccer, since we don't have the money or time to pursue all three.  She's good at all of these, and she's willing to put in effort to succeed, so this could help with the above.  For that matter, determine where her passions lie overall on extracurriculars.  She's trying choir this spring and she wants to do violin.  We can't do everything; I'd prefer to have something athletic and something musical, but we'll see.  If she continues to dabble in piano she can fulfill the musical side on her own as her brother does with the athletic piece.

 

YDS (3.5) is my most challenging child.  I'm keeping it pretty simple with him:

- Work on independence (not needing Mommy to watch him/hold his hand/help him to get dressed, go potty, etc).  Perhaps expand this to an attempt to reduce his general level of anxiety about life.  Since every doc I've ever seen simply points to his size/growth and says he's perfectly fine, I'm trying to figure out how to do this on my own.

- Expand his diet beyond peanut butter toast, preferably without having to hear him scream.

- Get him back to sleeping through the night...or at least not waking hourly.  (One can hope...)

- Follow his lead academically, hopefully moving beyond sounding out individual words to really reading, developing a better number concept beyond ten, and working on fine motor so we can eventually transition to standard handwriting rather than creatively-formed letters.

 

Everyone needs work on emotional regulation/response to frustration, and I'm making a hard push this academic year to make friends by attending every homeschool event we can manage and getting my own rear out the door for the monthly Mom's Night Out events to connect with the moms of the kids I see my kids playing with.  (Lots of work for this introvert!)  I also want the older two to become stronger swimmers and the youngest to...well, realistically, just to be okay with getting wet up to his chin.  A backfloat would be nothing short of a miracle, but that would be wonderful.

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It's been really hard for me to admit that my fifth grader can and wants to work on high school level in many areas. Next year he will be in couple of high school classes. I can't figure out if I am generally holding him back or pushing him too far. I hope I even make sense.

It was a big jump here-and another one when even I had to admit that she truly was ready for college classes. I have to say that I was somewhat relieved to discover that she hadn't managed to master geometry and trig while I wasn't looking.... There's one part of me that wants to accelerate her on paper to the level she's really at (which would open up more options for DE, etc)-and one part which is clinging to the "by age, she's really a 5th grader", so I can keep her longer!.

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Goals for DS18:

-Finish and graduate high school.

-He is performing with a band (besides performances with his sis) that is planning some longer tours in Europe next year so he wants to see where his music goes and see a bit of the world before he decides what's next.

-Continue his study of sound engineering and participate in an apprenticeship-like relationship he's set up in that area.

-Record his new band's first album together and continue his recording with dd's writing teacher's new audiobook.

 

DD13: (I asked her what she wants to accomplish)

-Music performance tours (much of this is already set up or in the works) with her brother, her trio, and other musicians.

-Compose and perform more of her own tunes.

-Perform some of the classical pieces she has been working on…her classical violin teacher is setting her up with a pianist and performance opportunities because she's polished up some pieces she really enjoys playing.

-Learn more Irish and French.

-Exercise regularly.

-Take classes in interior design (just learned about some online classes from someone on the high school board and dd began looking at them).

-Raise money for her favorite charities with performance and her violin/viola mute crafts.

-Go to Ireland again this year for competition and do some performances while there.

(For me, figure out her first "official" year of high school and where/how to fit in college or AP classes with all the travel.)

 

 

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DD 5:

Read chapter books confidently

Eliminate letter/number reversals

Finish Saxon 1 (about half way done) and Saxon 2 for math

Write weekly stories

Become an independent swimmer

Work on Spanish and French

Improve Phonics using Saxon 1 and 2

Master addition and subtraction facts to 10

 

DD 4:

Eliminate mirror image writing

Learn to read using Saxon Phonics K and 1

Finish Saxon Math K and 1

Become an independent swimmer

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dd12 

-Help her manage her time better. She has been stretched thin and, as a result, she hasn't had nearly enough downtime. She just has so many interests and is struggling to pare down. 

-Start thinking about how to help her prep for post-homeschool life as she is seriously considering attending b&m high school. This possible transition is probably going to spawn its own list of goals.

 

ds10

-Improve work habits. We had the same goal last year, and he has made real progress, but he still needs less dawdling and sloppiness, more diligence and care.

-Find more outlets and opportunities for his science and engineering interests.

 

dd8

-Develop a real love of reading.

-Work on developing patience. She still gets so frustrated when tasks don't come easily.

 

ds5

-Work on his ability to listen and follow directions. He gets so wrapped up in whatever he's focused on that he zones out everything else. It's not a problem at home, but it's becoming a problem in other settings. 

Edited by MinivanMom
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My DS10 would need to learn to be more independent and less dependent on DS11 to do things and remember tasks for him. DS11 pampers DS10 so DS10 ends up taking for granted and slacking.

 

DS11 would be continuing to improve on his coping ability with frustration and perfectionism.

 

Academic wise we go with the flow so no set goals.

 

It's been really hard for me to admit that my fifth grader can and wants to work on high school level in many areas. Next year he will be in couple of high school classes. I can't figure out if I am generally holding him back or pushing him too far. I hope I even make sense.

Luckily high school classes and textbooks don't have grade levels listed. I just let my kids set the pace as long as they are not idling.

 

A local middle school used to start algebra 1 in 6th grade but stopped. So the line between high school and below isn't a clear demarcation here thankfully.

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We are emigrating early in 2016 and staying in a number of places until we leave the country, so my 4 and 8 year old will learn a lot of geography and about different customs. We may do a unit study on survival too since we are now down to very limited possessions.

 

With the 4 year old I will make sure she is ready for kindergarten (she would have been in preschool in our country, but due to start kindergarten in the other country and we do not know if she will be starting school there or if we will continue homeschooling - will depend on job availabilities).

 

With the 8 year old I particularly want to concentrate on LA and in particular writing and oral presentations  to make sure she is ready for grade 3 expectations in the new country. The rest of her academics is more than ahead of where the countries standards are so we will continue with the 3Rs mostly as set school work (there will be more than enough other learning with the moves.) Although she knows a lot about the country we are moving to, we will probably work a bit more specifically on its geography, flags and the way things work there (hopefully my husband will be able to educate me on this as he will be there before us). Books I give her to read will be mostly just fun ones and I will continue to read to her also from books that are slightly less academically challenging than we have done up to now.

 

And then I imagine lots of emotional talks with both girls about leaving friends, making new ones, life's changes, the value of worldy possessions and the continual presence of God as and when the issues arise which will be a continuation of what they have been learning this past year.

 

 

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I have really got to get my act together this year.  I feel like I still haven't gotten the hang of things since moving to multiple students+multiple littles this past Fall.  My kids are "ahead" and have made good progress, but I know they could have accomplished so much more if I were more on the ball.  So, goal for me is to find a daily routine that will work for us and then really stick with implementing it long term.

 

For Vivacious, who is almost 7, help her progress in handwriting and spelling to the point that they are no longer a hurdle to writing out all of her stories.  Also, over the course of the year we are going to move into BA and MCT.  I am hoping to be able to afford piano lessons for her later in the year, as she is approaching the point where I will no longer be able to teach her through books without an instructor anymore.  I also want to get to the point where she will get her routine tasks done with a few reminders, instead of me catching her going off playing and forcing her to do the next thing every time (simple stuff like get dressed, brush hair, put your plate away, etc.).  I expect she may also be invited to join team for gymnastics.  And she will be venturing into academic competitions, taking Math Kangaroo, the ELE, and the NME in the spring.

 

Empathetic, who just turned 5, is going to be getting a lot of focus on helping her develop her reading skills, and to work on having a good attitude even when she doesn't immediately understand how to do something (particularly in math).  I think I may get the Extra Practice books for her level of singapore math to let her hang out longer and solidify her understanding.  I am hoping to get to the point with her for violin when I can have her go and do her practice on her own, if I am not teaching her something new.  (Right now it is basically a one-on-one lesson with Mom every time she practices.) 

 

Dauntless, 3 1/2, will continue to practice his self-control and to do preschool-on-demand as we have, but I have a goal to make time for his preschool more frequently.  We are doing a little OPG and a little math, with a lot of whale study.  If we eventually run out of whales, we will move on to sharks.

 

Peaceful, 20 months, will hopefully continue to grow healthier and stronger (it seems he may be growing out of his breathing problems!).

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