Big Picture Goals for 2019

[Gil]

I know it's a few weeks early, but with the spending season upon us, and the Seasonal Blahs lurking some of us could probably use the head start or morale boost.
What are your big picture goals for 2019 with your AL?

 

If interested, you can review the goals from 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015.

[Jackie]

My goal is more field trips and project-based learning. Less worrying about trying to fit in traditional academics on top of the field trips and PBL, or about what the academics will look like in the future due to her acceleration.

DD’s goals are to make it to at least States, and hopefully Globals, with her Destination Imagination team, and to get into Epsilon Camp.

Edited December 3, 2018 by Jackie

[Rush]

No academic goals this year. This year we enjoy life and make memories for a lifetime😊

[SKL]

• Improve study skills, organization, & time management.
• Improve self-care - a healthy diet based on a realistic body image (if that's possible), sleep, age-appropriate hygiene, planning ahead, and keeping their spaces nice.
• 2nd degree black belt.
• Get serious about the sport(s) of their choice.
• Social smarts and attitude improvement (middle school stuff).
• For eldest, really get strong in math and language over the summer.
• For youngest, get more comfortable with communication.

Edited December 3, 2018 by SKL

[SeaConquest]

I always look back at the goals from the year before to see where we are:

 

Sacha continues to take guitar classes through his charter, but really has no desire to do more than that. So, I am not pushing him to do more. He also seems to have lost interest in musical theatre for the time being, so I don't foresee any parts in a theatre production any time soon.

He continues to participate in Math Kangaroo, the Exploratory Latin Exam, and the National Mythology Exam -- all of which he enjoys. I think that he wants to put Epsilon Camp on the back burner to focus more on science.

We have been changing up our homeschool of late to be more child-led. I am scaling back on online classes for the spring to free up more time in our schedule to follow bunny trails.

Our biggest issue at present is that Sacha likely has ADHD, so I am pursuing an evaluation and appropriate academic/social/medical supports for him. I hope that this will help him to perform to his abilities and to be less distractible and distractive to others.

He still cannot tie his shoes, but his paragraphs are decent enough. So, I accomplished something!

Goals for Sacha are mainly focused on executive functioning issues and getting a handle on his ADHD symptoms.

 

Ronen is learning to read, and is doing very well in math and science. I am still adjusting to having two very different kids in our homeschool. My goals for Ronen are for him to meaningfully participate in our homeschool activities, and to work on his mental health (we are pursuing an evaluation for him as well), as the transition to Kinder classes at our charter has proven difficult for Ronen. I am likely going to switch charter programs for him, and have him re-classified as a TK. With an August birthday, he just needs more time. I should have listened to my gut and had him red-shirt this year. But, I have learned my lesson and we are making changes mid-year that I hope will help him.

 

As for me, I ended up doing very well on my nursing school entrance exam and in my pre-reqs, but, because Ronen decided that he wanted to homeschool, I put my nursing school dreams on hold for the foreseeable future. I also had gastric bypass surgery last January and am 60 lbs lighter today! My big picture goals are to travel and save more.

 

[lewelma]

Thanks, Gil for running this thread again. I looked back to last year and we didn't do too badly. 🙂 I'll give it some thought and post in a few days.  

[Dmmetler]

My first thought is "for everyone to be mentally, physically, and psychologically healthy and balanced". Can you tell that the last few weeks have been pretty awful???? Sigh....

[4KookieKids]

4 hours ago, dmmetler said:

My first thought is "for everyone to be mentally, physically, and psychologically healthy and balanced". Can you tell that the last few weeks have been pretty awful???? Sigh....

 

Hear, hear.

We've made a ton of progress this year, I feel, but it's not academic in nature or objective to measure. DS9 with ASD has learned with about 80-90% accuracy, to identify when he's getting overwhelmed and overstimulated, and even better, to actually *do* something about it by asking for a break and going to a quiet, calm spot. He's also flown through a year of grammar curriculum in the last 6 weeks and started AoPS Pre-A while simultaneously finishing up BA this past year, but it's the mindfulness that I'm most proud of. My other kids have their own accomplishments that I'm proud of, but it's so hard for me to set specific, measurable goals for us, because I feel like about the time I do set some, something more important or more pressing pops up (like this past year, when we had significant enough issues that our ped wanted to put my 6 yo on anti-psychotics...)

[mathnerd]

5 hours ago, dmmetler said:

My first thought is "for everyone to be mentally, physically, and psychologically healthy and balanced". Can you tell that the last few weeks have been pretty awful???? Sigh....

I hear you. Similar outlook here as well! Let everyone have a healthy and well balanced life ... Stress management and time management are the main goals for 2019.

[Donna]

Goals for 2018: As our homeschooling journey is winding down, I find it fun looking back on the goals I wrote previous years. We did manage to sell our home and move. As a result, I was able to take a break from work for dd's last couple years of high school and dd has been able to tour more extensively with her music. She's had some really awesome gigs and experiences and the memories we've made with all the travel together have been worth the lack of funds from my not working. Dd did take six DE credits in the spring (and kept her GPA even with her extensive touring schedule) and she took another 11 credits this fall which are finishing up now. She has continued working on her novel though with all the travel and college, she has not had the free time she'd like to write as often as she'd like. She managed to polish more than two new classical pieces and recorded two of them with an accompanist- she had not performed classical violin with a pianist in a couple years. We leave for Thailand right after the new year so not quite met in 2018. She has toured and spoken to the heads of most of the universities/conservatories she is considering and now knows what she doesn't want though she has not quite found exactly what she does want. She completed one recording project recently and the other will be completed in February. She continues to make progress with learning the Irish language though that has also suffered with the business of life. We both understand more than we can speak but we are improving. The goal she did not complete was the photography project but she changed her mind on it and decided to begin a vegan blog instead.

DD's Goals for 2019

- Continue to do well in her college courses (a longer term goal is to earn her associates degree by the time she graduates high school in spring 2020).

- Come to a decision on where and what she'd like to study for college.

- Complete and release the recording project she's scheduled to do in February then tour the project. She's very excited about this project because she is collaborating with someone she's admired musically for years.

- Continue to travel with her music (so far she's scheduled to go back to Thailand in January, Ireland and Canada in February, and numerous gigs around the US are in the works for the rest of the year so I am fairly sure this goal is a given).

- Complete novel and attempt to get it publish or self-publish.

- Continue with vegan blog and get more followers.

[SeaConquest]

On 12/3/2018 at 5:46 PM, SeaConquest said:

As for me, I ended up doing very well on my nursing school entrance exam and in my pre-reqs, but, because Ronen decided that he wanted to homeschool, I put my nursing school dreams on hold for the foreseeable future. I also had gastric bypass surgery last January and am 60 lbs lighter today! My big picture goals are to travel and save more.

 

Well, I received a very unexpected phone call the other day. The only nursing program that was going to work for us while homeschooling phoned to let me know that I'd been admitted to the program, starting Feb 1st. The program is incredibly competitive (literally, I have a better chance of getting into Harvard Med School), and I was already rejected twice (what nursing shortage?), so I decided to accept the spot. My big picture goals now include juggling nursing school with homeschooling. This could all end as a spectacular failure, but I wanted to at least give it a shot! So, at 44 years old, I am a student once again. 🙂

[Condessa]

Hm, I went back to look at the past years’ threads, and I’m seeing patterns:  oldest dd work on attitude, younger dd on reading, older ds on temper/character, make more time for current little.  The pattern holds pretty well this year, too.

Dd9: Deal with her bad attitude without taking it out on her family whenever she gets frustrated.  Let her stretch herself in gymnastics and enjoy competing.  Do our vending machine project and gradually turn it entirely over to her.  Finish arithmetic and start prealgebra.  Move into logic-stage history, whatever that will look like.  Find a medium for her to move on in Latin beyond where I can take her.

Dd8: She has made huge strides overcoming her dyslexia, and now sometimes even reads on her own time!  However, she is not really at the reading-independently-to-learn phase yet.  For example, she might be doing math she is totally capable of understanding and calculating on her own and with instructions she can read and understand, but it’s like she can’t divide her focus to keep track of both at the same time.  I hope sometime this year we can get to the point with her reading where we are done with the last level of AAR and she is just reviewing her phonics through AAS, and she can work on other subjects without needing me constantly to read instructions to her.  She would love to be able to do BA Online.  Otherwise just continue on learning well in her other subjects as she has been.

Ds6: Academically, I plan to just keep hanging on for dear life—he has the bit between his teeth and will pretty much go where he pleases, and I am just grateful that means learning and music.  He is my unrulable child, but is growing into a boy who does a pretty good job of ruling himself.  We’re now down to having meltdowns only once or twice a month, and I hope that this year we will see the end of them.  He’s nearly finished Suzuki Book 1 in cello, and I am really looking forward to watching where he goes with his music this year.  He is doing Sentence Island with dd8 and I because he decided to.  He’s taken an interest in Spanish, and I just hope I can satisfy him with watching Salsa for this year, because I don’t have the time to add that in as a subject.

Ds4: My goal here is to make more time for doing school when he wants to.  He would love to do math every day if I were available for it, whereas now we’re managing about once a week.  My other goal is to interest him in learning to read.  Not so long ago, it was all numbers, all the time, but he’s really enjoying being read stories now.  I think he may be dyslexic like dd8, but unlike her, he has absolutely zero interest in even trying to decipher letters.  I think he will need the AAR approach like her, but I’m thinking about maybe drawing him in with Happy Phonics games.  He will also get to start violin lessons with a real teacher this year instead of Mom, once he’s enrolled in the charter school in the Fall.

Me: Figure out where I want to be.

[Runningmom80]

It's hard to believe that 2018 is almost over. 

Our goals are much different for 2019. My twins (8) are going to school! I feel like I can admit here that I'm burnt out. I'm not an idealogical homeschooler. I can definitely see the benefits and the draw to homeschool, but it was never my plan. You all know what it's like when you slowly start to realize that traditional schooling isn't an option. I have no regrets on how we've handled it thus far, but the fact of the matter is, I didn't plan on this way of life, at all. I also don't see school being a disaster for my twins, the way it was for my oldest. I actually have high hopes that they may thrive! I also want more for myself than educating my children and running the house. It's important and meaningful work, but it's no longer working for me. My oldest will stay home next year for 8th grade, and we will re-evaluate for high school. 

That all said, here are our goals - 

H (age 12)

- more academic work. It's time for him to get deeper into some subjects. He's really enjoying online G3 so I think I will look in to more opportunities like this for him. Assignments seem much more palatable to him if they don't come from me. 😂

- Friends. sigh. It's not for lack of trying. We haven't found his "people" yet. We will.

- Find a new piano teacher who can help him "level up." 

G & M (8)

- adapt to public school 

Me! 

I'm going back to school, for real this time. I have 3 semesters to get a second bachelor's in Psychology. After that, I will apply to graduate school. My goal next year is to not lose my sh*t!  - ETA: I dropped my classes to make sure I have enough mental capacity to see my kids through this huge transition. I will start in the fall instead 🙂

Edited January 19, 2019 by Runningmom80

[Runningmom80]

On 12/8/2018 at 1:13 PM, SeaConquest said:

 

Well, I received a very unexpected phone call the other day. The only nursing program that was going to work for us while homeschooling phoned to let me know that I'd been admitted to the program, starting Feb 1st. The program is incredibly competitive (literally, I have a better chance of getting into Harvard Med School), and I was already rejected twice (what nursing shortage?), so I decided to accept the spot. My big picture goals now include juggling nursing school with homeschooling. This could all end as a spectacular failure, but I wanted to at least give it a shot! So, at 44 years old, I am a student once again. 🙂

 

 

Congratulations!!!

[Xahm]

Let's see. Part of me says "survive the year!" is our main goal, but of course I want to do more than that. 

For all of us: Strengthen family bonds, including with dh, while he is deployed, then reintegrate successfully when he comes home. He's been gone so much the last year that it's hard for the kids to turn to him when they need something, and we both have to not get annoyed when we have our own way of doing things that doesn't flow together as smoothly as it did before this ridiculously ramped-up training schedule.

DD6: To continue to grow academically while finding more enjoyment in group activities. She doesn't seem to be a fan of kids her own age, though she plays happily with little ones who let her lead them around or bigger kids she can emulate. Currently she has been acting clingy when it is time to go to choir, sit with the other kids at cub scouts, etc, although she separates easily when it is an un-organized activity like playing at the park. It doesn't seem like real fear and once she gets going, observation would indicate she is enjoying things, so...?

DS5: Keep working on basics of reading and math while finding him fun challenges in building-type projects. Right now his ideas run ahead of his fine-motor skills. Find enough people for him to talk to about any and everything that my ears don't bleed and fall off. He's a great kid, but tends to wake me up before daybreak with questions like "Are there geysers underwater, or do they have a different name then?"

DS2: Keep working on encouraging his speech. He doesn't talk much, although he clearly understands everything and has pretty good diction when he does talk. He finds it better to use his own, very expressive, sign language.

New Baby boy: Get lots of cuddles. Balance giving him and the others loads of attention. 

Me: survive, take lots of pictures so I don't forget things that happened just because I will be sleep deprived all the time. Accept help when offered and ask for help when needed.

[Rush]

On 12/6/2018 at 3:39 PM, dmmetler said:

My first thought is "for everyone to be mentally, physically, and psychologically healthy and balanced". Can you tell that the last few weeks have been pretty awful???? Sigh....

I feel for you.

It has been a very hard year from the very beginning. We did a few mistakes too, that's why in the next 2019 year we need to slow down for a bit and have a little break. So no plans to reach any stars, just to carry on as usual without any deadlines, stress and pressure, spend more family time together, have fun and travel more.

Edited December 10, 2018 by Rush

[Rush]

On 12/8/2018 at 7:13 PM, SeaConquest said:

 

Well, I received a very unexpected phone call the other day. The only nursing program that was going to work for us while homeschooling phoned to let me know that I'd been admitted to the program, starting Feb 1st. The program is incredibly competitive (literally, I have a better chance of getting into Harvard Med School), and I was already rejected twice (what nursing shortage?), so I decided to accept the spot. My big picture goals now include juggling nursing school with homeschooling. This could all end as a spectacular failure, but I wanted to at least give it a shot! So, at 44 years old, I am a student once again. 🙂

Congrats!

[Sarah0000]

DS 7yo: learn to swim and join the city swim team, learn to take fun online classes and follow along with assignments

DS (will be) 4yo: gain fluency in handwriting

DS 1yo: potty trained

[4KookieKids]

DS9 is taking his first standardized test next year, and I'm hoping for a smooth ride without too much stress over it. I'm hoping he can also start taking the reins a bit more. He does most of his work independently at this point, but it's mostly the very basic things like math and reading. He's super into robotics and reads lots of books on it, but I think both of us need to figure out how to turn that into more productive time. He really wants to be building stuff and programming it, but I just don't have the time with three younger kids.

DD7 is *starting* to develop some frustration tolerance... I'd love to see her be able to work through something for at least five minutes of struggling, rather than just walking away the first time something goes awry. She seems to have a gift for music, and I want to nurture that, but she's also very mercurial. Her sight for next year is set on auditioning for the local Nutcracker performance, since she'll finally be old enough.

DD5 really wants to learn how to read, but has been getting the shaft as I deal with DD7's dyslexia and the EF problems (emotional regulation, organization, etc.) that the older two kids have. She thrives on 1-1 time with me, and I want to do better about giving it to her. My main goal for her is to get her reading fluently. She's got great phonics skills, she just needs practice so that she doesn't have to painstakingly sound out every single word. She is also very determined to get her cartwheel perfect and figure out a kick-over and handstand by next summer, so she can do an acro class with the "big girls" at her dance school.

DD3 just loves those silly kumon books that are completely overpriced except that they're such nice paper to write on... She got two for an early Christmas gift, and sat down and finished them both already (without me!) 😞  I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with her, yet. I'd let her tag along with dd5, but dd5 really needs the individual time. I may kill two birds with one stone by getting dd7 to "do school" with dd3, and help teacher her to read, hopefully cementing some of her own dyslexia remediation.

As a family, we hope to go camping more. At least one weekend trip each month (not camping in the winter, though!!), and really focus on making memories as a family and being intentional about spending time together. We may look for a different home, since we're starting the foster care certification process. There's lots that we're hoping to do, but my main goals really would be to see my kids grow more like Christ and to learn to handle whatever life throws at them (with the help of family, of course. 🙂 )

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

I feel very “ruttish” at the moment; so much so that I called off school after the first week of the month. My big goal is to build back up the excitement (and DS’ engagement). Our years always start off super fun, but I find it hard to keep up that energy level. Otherwise, my goals for 2019 are:

• Complete BA 3A-3D & tackle the multiplication table
• Improve narration skills, work toward producing written summaries 
• Hopefully get DS reading for fun... this is elusive, despite his reading level being solidly on a 2nd/3rd grade level. 
• Introduce Poetics & Latin (MCT Island)
• Learn about the Roman Empire before our trip to Rome
• Visit / revisit all of the 30 places on our Hong Kong Bucket List
• Formulate a plan for short visits to 8 nearby countries in 2020

 

We’ve accomplished what we set out to do in coming overseas, and have begun to formulate our “exit plan,” but will be here at least another year and a half. I’m torn between wanting to experience so much in this part of the world and an unexpectedly strong, sudden desire to “go home”. With any luck 2019 will bring us some clarity regarding our next steps...

Edited December 18, 2018 by Expat_Mama_Shelli

[deerforest]

Wow, I'm glad I stopped by today because I just haven't had time to check in on this board lately. 

2018 and 2019 Goals

- We planned to try some online classes -- we did 3 BW classes, doing Derek Owens now, and she does HS Spanish Academy for Spanish conversation practice. All have gone really well. She's willing to do another BW class, and I'm hoping to convince her to add French to her list of online classes for fall 2019. We're also hoping to start ASL together, probably online at first. Also hoping that the in-person bio class we are hoping for will run.

- We planned to decide whether to retest neuropsych eval in prep for SATs/ACTs in prep for college (fo accommodations), and we've decided not to re-test right now. She's academically gifted but also talented with her aerial arts. She has requested not to attend 4 year college right away and doesn't want to take them. Current plan is to do a gap year performing and teaching before applying to circus school. So, goal for 2019 is to continue to broaden her skill area, adding some additional classes, continue TAing, and continue getting paid for some gigs. (She transitioned to all apprentice to a mix of apprentice and paid gigs with her troupe.)

- I also encouraged her to take 2 non-aerial dance classes, and she agreed, and has been loving both her contemporary dance and acro dance classes. Plus, she accidentally got a small solo bit in chorus, which she never would have purposely tried to do, and she has thrived and loved it. I've asked her to add another dance class next year. For aerial work this past year, she was able to participate in several advanced workshops and trainings that led to even more connections. So, we'll just continue making those connections in 2019. She's been self-teaching herself ukulele and enjoying it.

This has been a year of tremendous academic growth for her too--not so much in skill but in process. More independence, more stamina. I think some of the classes we cared less about have definitely been too easy for her, but that's given her more time to focus on classes that matter more to her. So, I don't think that was necessarily a bad thing. 

I guess in 2019 (10th grade), we'll be focusing on algebra II, Latinx history and literary studies, biology (if the local class I want meets our schedule), Spanish III, French I, ASL some other TBD electives.

[strawberryjam]

Both kids together:

-study art history up through Renaissance before trip to Europe this summer using Hillyer’s Child’s History of Art as a spine.

-increase activity level, considering Couch to 5K running program and some at home exercise videos for kids...

-hands on grammar, and both start Latin and restart German

 

Grade 7 kid:

-keep doing what he’s doing. Work on neater handwriting and cursive. It’s too bad he doesn’t want to be a doctor when he grows up cause his handwriting looks just like one. 🤪😜

-more focused vocabulary work 

-do a lot more memory work, especially Scripture and poetry

-finish writing science fiction novel and self publish it

-start Leitner memory box system (or something similar) for science

 

Grade 4 kid:

-more memorywork

-more handiwork and art, maybe get into knitting or embroidery or something

-this kid has a natural knack for biology so something along her passions for snakes and horses. Interesting combination, I know.