2019 wrap /brag thread :)

[Dmmetler]

I know the last one continued through the year, but I thought it was time for a new thread.

 

DD14 had a difficult year in a lot of ways. She ramped up to a travel cheer team, which involved a lot more time commitment and stress, plus a heavy academic schedule. She applied to governor’s School and got waitlisted. She tried out for the regional homeschool cheer team and got turned down. She had less time with her friends and for her interests. And she had a lot of anxiety and stress because she is more and more aware of current events, but feels that she has no control.

But, on the other hand, she discovered that she cannot do everything at 120%, or even 90%, and that it’s not the end of the world. That a B on a test that you take after getting home at 2:30 am doesn’t mean that you can’t get an A in the class. She made some choices to back off on academics in the Spring and learned to set priorities. She has also really gone on a voyage of self discovery this year,  and made some hard personal realizations. Socio-emotionally, this has been a big year of growth. She taught a new herpetology class and another semester of her initial one, and will have a two semester sequence starting this fall. She has applied to present at the World Congress of Herpetology as part of the education and outreach track, because she is truly doing something novel in the field. 

This summer, she is going to a 3 week college program and will be studying Cultural anthropology and European history. She is hoping for a limited travel cheer team, but the director and coach are both aware of her summer program and World Congress commitments and will take that into account for team placement. She has picked her classes to allow extra flexibility, with more online classes and fewer on campus ones. 

 

She has a couple of good college options and is zeroing in on what she wants. 

 

I am so proud of her! 

 

BK has recovered dramatically, and is currently interviewing for summer jobs. She hopes to go back to college part time in the fall. She will also play her first ever piano recital this Friday. 

 

I got back into teaching music and tutoring more, and got hired to teach at the community center, so will start there in September. 

Edited May 12, 2019 by Dmmetler2

[HomeAgain]

9yo DS  is starting to develop skills in his interest areas.  He gave his first speech this year in a competition and did quite well, enough to move on from regionals to state.  He came in second there in his division, behind a 13yo from our county.  He learned how to swim, play hockey, and baseball, and is looking forward to doing more of all three this upcoming year.  We've scheduled him for his first long bike ride, too.  It's only 10 miles, which is long enough to feel successful but short enough to not make it feel like "work". 
His violin playing is coming along nicely but I don't think it will ever be a major part of his life.  He plays because he enjoys it and not because he wants to be passionately good at it, and I'm good with that. 

As far as academics, he bloomed there.  His writing was stilted at the beginning.  He is now about grade level and doing well with stamina so we'll return to our previous program at his request (ELTL).  I'm holding him in math, going deeper and wider because we ran  out of other options before algebra. I'd rather not have him tackle that in 4th, or at least not before we've exhausted playing with math before then.  Languages are coming along- I'm glad I didn't pick same-provider programs.  The very different set up in L'art de lire and FFL helps him mentally switch.

Next year our goal is to continue the things he likes (most of it), change the things he doesn't (FFL), and give him more opportunities in the community.  Many things are open to 10+, but he has been invited this past year to some of those events very quietly.  He's just awfully short and I'd rather hold off unless the rest of the kids know him well.

[gstharr]

My 13 has just completed precalc, and  is prepping for the June SAT.  He missed SET last June,  by one question and a harsh curve. Only using the College Board released tests for practice.  a 3 of the 8 done so far.  1500 is  within reach. 

[MadhuIndia]

DD1 (9yo entering IV grade)

Eng - Reading skill is good, comprehending& writing skills are yet to improve. I don't know how to grade her. Comparing to most of her peers, she is above her level. We will be working on her story telling and comprehending and writing skills.

Science - She has shown interest in human anatomy and self taught herself circulatory, respiratory and urinary system using khan academy. She completed all the basic videos. She even drew them so she can remember. She took the basic quiz too. But I don't know how much she still remembers and how much she can recollect. In Physics, she understood the basics of light and sound.  Now she wants to learn electricity. But I want her to learn basics of Force and laws of motion before proceeding.

Math - Khan academy 8th grade completed. Though she completed the mastery challenge, she makes mistakes in word problems. She has a mental block that word problems are difficult. This year we will be working more on word problems, ratio and proportion and similar topics. We will be working on her mistakes and her math writing which is poor. 

Sports - a) Last year she learnt breast stroke and butterfly in swimming. b)She is graded for next level Karate(orange to green Jr). c)She has started learning Kabbadi with her friends. Wish we get more time to do it regularly and find a better coach! 

We are planning to add Chess the upcoming year.

DD2 (5yo entering Sr.KG)

she is ahead of her grade at reading and Maths. I am not able to spend quality time. Need to spend some quality time with her.

[Cake and Pi]

DS#1 made spectacular progress with his social anxiety this year! In the fall we came up with an arrangement with the local gifted magnet to have him go into the 5th grade classroom for their 30-minute social-emotional learning class once a week. It took a long time to slowly work him up to it, but he did it and I am so proud. Back in the fall he wouldn't even go down the hall with me holding his hand and offering every bribe I could think of. Now he buzzes himself into the building and goes to class all by himself, participates, then goes to lunch and recess with the class while I wait in the library.

DS#2 has mostly been coasting. He did make a little progress with tolerating some sensory things like nail trimming, and he got accepted into DYS. 

DS#3 rocked AoPS Online Prealgebra and Intro to Algebra A. I was worried about signing him up because of his age, but he even better than I expected. He's also gotten better about not crying on the floor about ridiculous (to everyone but him) things.

DS#4 is really, really talking now. The gibberish and cocktail speech has (mostly) stopped. He made progress on or met all of his IEP goals at school and now knows several letters. He started jumping forward a distance, hopping on one foot, and can sometimes independently dress himself. Still working on potty learning, but he's made some baby steps there, too.

[gstharr]

10 hours ago, MadhuIndia said:

DD1 (9yo entering IV grade)

E

Math - Khan academy 8th grade completed. Though she completed the mastery challenge, she makes mistakes in word problems. She has a mental block that word problems are difficult. This year we will be working more on word problems, ratio and proportion and similar topics. We will be working on her mistakes and her math writing which is poor. 

 

Probably not a block.  My then 4th grader took almost 2 years to do pre-alg.  It took time for reading comprehension to catch up, Also it takes a while to move from the repetition of simple addition, multiplication, etc to being able to set up the formula.

[SeaConquest]

Can I brag that I finished my first term in nursing school today, at age 44 while homeschooling two kids? 

I will come back to update about the kids after I sober up. 😉 Kidding [sorta].

[Runningmom80]

I still can't believe the school year is almost over. DS had to tell me he was out of HSA classes this morning because I apparently didn't realize it was May.

We had such a funky year. I had to sit with this for a little bit and really think about where we were in August to where we are now.

My 8 year old twins are finishing up their semester at PS. (3rd grade) It was very validating as far as homeschooling goes. DS qualified for the GT program, and DD ended up with some 2E diagnoses. Needless to say they will be back home in the Fall. I'm very proud of how they adjusted and opened themselves up to a new environment and new friends. I think we will all have a different perspective going forward with homeschooling. The grass isn't always greener. 🙂

Oldest, the 12.5 year old, has matured SO much. He's starting to see his path, little bits at a time. He put himself out there to do a comedy writing club for teens and did a great job. His work ethic is slowly coming along as well. We are considering a DE at out local CC but I missed the college credit plus deadline so I have to see what our options are. 

I guess our brags are mostly emotional intelligence related as opposed to academic achievement, but I'm very grateful for these advances! 

[Runningmom80]

13 hours ago, SeaConquest said:

Can I brag that I finished my first term in nursing school today, at age 44 while homeschooling two kids? 

I will come back to update about the kids after I sober up. 😉 Kidding [sorta].

 

 

Absolutely! Well done!

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Runningmom80 said:

I still can't believe the school year is almost over. DS had to tell me he was out of HSA classes this morning because I apparently didn't realize it was May.

We had such a funky year. I had to sit with this for a little bit and really think about where we were in August to where we are now.

My 8 year old twins are finishing up their semester at PS. (3rd grade) It was very validating as far as homeschooling goes. DS qualified for the GT program, and DD ended up with some 2E diagnoses. Needless to say they will be back home in the Fall. I'm very proud of how they adjusted and opened themselves up to a new environment and new friends. I think we will all have a different perspective going forward with homeschooling. The grass isn't always greener. 🙂

Oldest, the 12.5 year old, has matured SO much. He's starting to see his path, little bits at a time. He put himself out there to do a comedy writing club for teens and did a great job. His work ethic is slowly coming along as well. We are considering a DE at out local CC but I missed the college credit plus deadline so I have to see what our options are. 

I guess our brags are mostly emotional intelligence related as opposed to academic achievement, but I'm very grateful for these advances! 

I think emotional intelligence and growth becomes a really big deal as they start heading into adolescence. The good news is that with kids who are already ahead, they have time to dial it back on academics and deal with those emotional and social issues.

[Runningmom80]

yes! There are several times a day I'm grateful for the fact that we have the time to have a 45 minute discussion about emotional regulation or motivation or lets face it most of the time both. lol

[MadhuIndia]

On 5/13/2019 at 5:41 PM, gstharr said:

Probably not a block.  My then 4th grader took almost 2 years to do pre-alg.  It took time for reading comprehension to catch up, Also it takes a while to move from the repetition of simple addition, multiplication, etc to being able to set up the formula.

@gstharr I showed this reply to  DD and she is happy that everyone is going through same boat. Now she doesn't have a reason/chance to give up. 🙂 Thanks.

[Guest]

I have 6 piano students playing in a recital tonight :). My studio is slowly getting off the ground 🙂

[Runningmom80]

DS gets to DJ tonight with his mentor at local arts district event. They are even letting him use beats he created. 🙂

[Lawyer&Mom]

Dd 5.5 and I are enjoying Dorthy Mills The Book of the Ancient Greeks as a just for fun read aloud.  We’ve reached the comparative political philosophy section of Athens vs. Sparta, and I keep pausing to see if she is really still interested (it’s absurdly dense) and she is!  Okay!  I’m game!

But my biggest brag is her first ballet recital yesterday.  She’s my maybe 2E kid, and emotional/sensory regulation is a struggle.  She had real poise and presence on the stage, and I’m just so proud of her for rising to the occasion.  (Behavior fell apart *afterwards* but hey, mine did too.  “Big Event” mode isn’t easy for any of us.)

[Donna]

Dd16 took three DE online courses per semester this year including one each semester she had been dreading (Statistics in fall and Biology this spring). Both required hours of work per day and proctored tests.  In addition to her other two course each semester, her hugely busy touring schedule (this spring she took proctored exams in Thailand, Ireland, Brooklyn, and Montreal), recording a new CD, and learning a lot of new music, she was swamped and sometimes more than a little stressed out. I am very proud she managed to overcome her test anxiety and maintained a 4.0 GPA (her goal).

We head off to Ireland in a few weeks where she'll be the fiddler for Riverdance all summer. She is going into her senior year of high school and trying to decide what comes next. She has some amazing touring opportunities (dream jobs for her) she definitely wants to pursue but would also like a college education so is seriously considering continuing her education online. She will be, technically finished high school by December in time for a six month U.S. tour which she will be doing on her own (without momma). It has been an incredible journey for us and with this era coming to a close, I can look back and am extremely grateful for each and every moment we've spent. 

Edited June 1, 2019 by Donna

[Porridge]

DD and DS made a stop motion adaptation of Animal Farm. The back cover of our copy has this quote: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." They saw that, then started bickering over who would get to read it first. The stop - motion thing was entirely their own idea and they saw a complex project through from start to finish. We were so proud of the fact that they worked together to bring a complex idea to fruition!

[SKL]

I might post twice here, once for the personal growth stuff (now), and one for the tangible achievements (later, because our school year is not yet over / grades might not be final).

I feel my eldest made a lot of progress with study skills.  She used to bomb many tests, but now she has a much better idea of how to prepare.  There is still much opportunity for improvement though.

Both kids have gotten way more involved socially and developed good friendships.

My eldest has mellowed a lot (she had been a real pill at times since she was 9yo).  She is taking more interest in being healthy to support her sports interests.

Some progress has been made in living skills ... we really have no excuse to be behind here, but we are.  I guess one big achievement is my younger daughter's ability to care for her long, beautiful, but easily-tangled hair.  She is also becoming a pretty confident cook, considering how little time I have spent teaching that skill.

We have a lot to work on, but it is nice to focus on the positive when we can!

[SKL]

OK my second post re tangible / officially measured accomplishments.

I just sat through their award thingy at school (everyone is recognized, not just the top kids).  Half of the kids in 7th grade look almost like adults.  I need to keep in mind that the standards my kids are measured against are for older kids, and that "honor" and "merit" roll are real accomplishments even if many of the older kids also achieved that or better.

Kid 1:

• Merit roll all year.  This was hard work for her.
• Participated in 5 school sports; lettered in cheer.  (Not really sure what counts as "lettering.")
• Made the reading "wall of fame" with 150 AR points.
• Had a "first seat" in band.  Also participated in choir & Power of the Pen.
• In TKD, is on track to achieve 2nd degree black belt this year (passed 3 of the 4 sub-tests; belt test will probably be in August).
• Final year on the performance team at her gym (they age out at 12).  This year she acquired the skills to do an aerial, back tuck, and front tuck, which she also used in cheer at school.  Was accepted in the "high school class" at a more demanding gym.  (We are still "rec" participants though.)
• Won the middle school 1-mile race series in both Spring and Fall.  Ran in 4 or 5 5Ks and improved her times over last year.
• In AHG, earned 1 badge, 1 service star, 1 sports pin, and progress toward other badges / stars / pins / level award.

Kid 2:

• Honor roll all year.
• Participated in 2 school sports.
• Made the reading "wall of fame" with about 450 AR points.
• Had a "first seat" in band.  Also participated in choir & Power of the Pen.
• In TKD, is on track to achieve 2nd degree black belt this year (passed 3 of the 4 sub-tests; belt test will probably be in August).
• Participated in horse riding including "drill team."  Will most likely do horse shows in the summer, didn't do any during the school year.
• Participated in a 1 mile race.  Running is really not her thing, so this was an accomplishment for her.  She promises to do a 5K this fall.
• In AHG, earned Presidential service award / Gold level, 14 service stars, and the level award / crossed over to Pioneer.

Edited June 1, 2019 by SKL

[Jackie]

DD just turned 9, and we’re wrapping up our year with a road trip as we move across the country.

This past year, she flew through a few years worth of math, ending with AOPS Algebra A, all so she could meet the math requirement for Epsilon Camp. She also stuck to wrestling with the Epsilon application (which was seriously more work than my college applications!). She’ll be off to camp in July!

Her Destination Imagination team earned a perfect score at their regional competition, and came in third place at their state competition, so they were able to make their first trip to Global Finals. She’s already made me promise to do everything reasonably within my power to form a new team when we get to Virginia.

She won her school spelling bee, against the 12-14 year olds. She wasn’t allowed to advance to the county bee because our county sponsor won’t allow elementary students, and she handled that disappointment well.

She handled the news that we were moving across the country with a maturity I hadn’t expected. She really didn’t want to move, and I had expected the news to be taken much more... well, worse than it was.

She had decided she wanted grade skipped by her homeschool charter, which generally refuses to even consider skips. She listened to all the hoops they set out, and was meticulous about jumping every single hoop. She learned how to write essays to meet the required state standard, presented in meetings with adults who were not particularly friendly with her, and asked what her options were when met with fierce resistance. Again, showing more maturity than I had previously seen in her. (She was eventually granted a single skip, not the double skip she wanted, and the skip turned out to be useless once we knew we were moving, but seeing her go through the process was impressive.)

 

[HomeAgain]

6 hours ago, square_25 said:

 

Let me know if you want any ideas for fun pre-algebra stuff to do :-). We're definitely pre-algebra over here, and we've had a ton of fun with a variety of ideas (you've seen the threads, so I'm not sure you're interested. But just throwing that out there.) 

Thanks!  I think I have a good year planned out with a focus on living math and concrete visualization  I'm tutoring a 6th/7th grader at the same time and am putting them together for projects with AIMS while working with them both on later Gattegno books.  I did buy a sticker math book for the kid when he finished this year for giggles (I didn't think he'd take to it) but he enjoyed himself so much that he has asked for the rest of the series.  They end after the next book and I have yet to see anything like it for middle/higher math. 😞 I do have This Is Not A Math Book, so that might be on the table for fun work after.

 

[RoundAbout]

DS(12): Qualified for SET this year, and is off to MathPath next month. He also earned a silver medal in the National Mythology Exam. He tried two new sports - Wrestling and Tennis. He also achieved the Outstanding Student Award at his piano studio (he is a late beginner but always works hard). He also earned his SCUBA certification this year and went on a father-son diving trip to Cancun. 

[SeaConquest]

We finished our 5th year of homeschooling -- the first with both boys.

For Ronen, I am proud that he communicated to me that he just wasn't ready for a structured school day. Enrolling him in a play-based charter program, and giving him that extra year of TK, was the right decision. Different kids, different needs. I am learning. 

For Sacha, I am proud that he had the patience and attention span to sit through tons and tons of evaluations -- both by his developmental pediatrician in getting the ADHD diagnosis (they are still doing OT evals on his writing) and by the school psychologist through the IEP process. He has also been really good about taking his medication. As a result, he was able to sit through the PSAT 8/9 (which he took before his 504 plan was complete, so without any accommodations for ADHD), and scored well enough to qualify for DYS. In the past, he has always underperformed on tests; this was the first time that I could really see the difference that medication makes for him. So, I am proud of him for going through all the evals to get the help that he needs.   

[SKL]

I should add that my kids (and I) got certified for First Aid / CPR / AED in June.  Since it was a 7 hour course and they make you actually prove you know how to do it, I will consider it an accomplishment rather than just another class I forced them to take.  😛

Found out that the black belt test is in September this year, so their 2nd dan will go into next school year ... unavoidably.

[rebcoola]

Oldest DD got into the STEAM program at our charter it is a pretty hard process, resume, cover letter, essay questions, and a creative project. She could have used a project she made in school this year but instead spent a whole week planning a rube goldberg machine to set off a volcano cake. 

Younger DD had her worst year of gymnastics ever and I couldn't be more proud.  She had a huge growth spurt lost a bunch of her skills and went from placing most of the time to hoping not to be last.  2 years ago she would cry if she didnt do well and really struggled to be a good sport but this year she was nothing but class.  She cheered on her teammates, kept working hard and never gave up.  

[lewelma]

I've been hesitant to write here even though it is a brag thread. There is just so much pressure not to brag here in NZ. And although I can be super proud of my older, his accomplishments have been intermixed with struggle, which is what makes all of us into complete human beings. Basically, his first year at MIT has be a huge success. I will admit, that I was more than a little worried about sending him around the world to an elite school with only my perception of his gifts and achievement. MIT has a mantra "you belong here", "admissions doesn't make mistakes." They say these things because they know that 50% of all these amazing students will be in the bottom half. And 10% of them will struggle in the bottom 10%. This has a profound impact on the freshman.  My ds called most nights all throughout his first year to just talk through what he was experiencing. All the freshman couldn't help but jocky for position, and try to get a sense for where they were within the class.

DS was one of only 2 international homeschoolers to get in his year, so not only did he have to deal with a different culture, he also had to deal with a totally different schooling situation.  We were close to unschoolers. So he had to learn the basics of managing his time for set assignment deadlines, and he had to actually go to class. I laughed that his response to his college schedule was that he felt like he was in class all the time, where all the other students felt the burden lifted of an 8-3 schedule. But basically, ds has come out in the top 10%ish of his class. This has been a shock to both him and us.  He was unfortunately labeled 'genius' by a few early acquaintances, which is something we thought would finally go. And he has even lost some of these early friends due to his higher ability.  It is just hard, I think, to find yourself at MIT and be in the bottom third. And ds has found that students like that tend to avoid the top kids. He has also found that he is one of the only students who has 2 high level passions - most kids got into MIT because they had one really good thing. He has found that homeschooling has been a MAJOR plus. He knows how to study, how to structure unstructured time, how to interact with all types of people. He felt that so many of the freshman just were very schooly, so he mostly hung out with upperclassmen (dorms are mixed year levels.)

He has been crazy popular and won the award for his dorm of "most likely to amass a cult following". He has also had the most kudos for his humanities skills (not math!) and had one professor say "this is the best student paper I have read in many years, MIT is lucky to have you. " And that was for a junior class he took as a freshman. As for math, there are a huge number of really amazing math kids, but then again just 40 elites out of a class of 1200. He has settled in well and taken a grad-level math class this year.  In fact, he was playing a video game with his brother on line, when an IMO perfect-scorer knocked on his door and asked for help with his homework (yes, you read that right!). He has been accepted into the elite math group (who all know each other from the IMO camp), and has become very good friends with one of the USA IMO team members. He finds that they are faster at fast work, but he is a deeper thinker with hard problems. As for his major, he has earned the top score in both of his honors physics classes this year - this is the physics MIT students call "physics for masochists" - he finds it easy, and I thank my conceptual high school physics approach for this. His music has been a struggle as he has a very hard-core teacher who often leaves him in tears, but he has improved and has come to terms with her harsh approach.  He has overcome challenges of friendships, confusing grading systems, time management, culture shock, his music teacher, and sickness.

He has done this all on his own, far far away from home. I am immensely proud of him, and know that MIT is absolutely the right place for him to be. He is currently home for the summer working in a physics lab here, but next year I expect he will stay in Boston. So we are working our best to make this last summer one to remember. I just want to thank all of those here on the board, for all the support and advice you have offered me over the years. His homeschooling experience was strongly impacted by what I read and argued about here on the board. Thanks to all of you who were a part of our journey. 

Ruth in NZ 

Edited August 6, 2019 by lewelma

[drjuliadc]

I really love these threads.  I appreciate seeing everyone’s progress, and struggles overcome.  Thank you Lewelma, for your detailed post about your son at MIT. The specific dynamics of his experience are very interesting to me.

My 6 year old son got a great math foundation in his 3 years of part time Montessori school from age 3-5, among other things, like beautiful cursive. He has since taught himself all addition and subtraction math facts using apps.  He started public school last year and about 1/2 way through asked his kindergarten teacher if he could learn multiplication.  She told him he would learn that in 3rd grade.  It took me a few months to realize that she thought she would have to teach him and probably didn’t have time to do that. I’m slow, and I actually didn’t know he knew all of his addition and subtraction facts at that time, since he did all of this completely independently of me.  At that point, the school year was almost over so I just let it go, but he just started to teach himself multiplication on his own anyway.

I recently asked him how multiplication facts were going and he said, “I know 88% of them.” “What about division?” “Around 25%.”

Kindergarten was only 3 hours, so it didnt matter as much. I will know for first grade to let his teacher know to let him learn what he wants to and that she doesn’t actually have to teach him, so she won’t hold him back. We just have to supply him with materials and he will teach himself.  

 

 

[Guest]

DD survived a 3 week intensive academic program-two college classes in 3 weeks, in a dorm plagued with mechanical problems where food service was having issues keeping up (not really their fault-the dorm summer program students were supposed to be in and the one cafeteria open for the summer had kind of gone “boom” the week before, so they were scrambling). She has decided she does not like that kind of high pressure, competitive situation, although she did well academically, and that just because other people are smart doesn’t mean they can’t be just as obsessed with  stuff like dumb internet stuff, fashion, and possible relationships as every other teen around :). 

She is also surviving a major life change-due to persistent knee problems, she is abruptly out of the sport she has been in for years. I think she’s handling it pretty well, all things considered. 

[lewelma]

This is just a brag and not a wrap.  🙂 Older ds just got personally invited to attend the master class and dinner for the new violin professors they are interviewing. He is to represent the student musicians, and has been asked to be chatty and make them feel welcome. One of the interviewees is from NZ, so ds and this potential prof will definitely know some people in common from the music community here in NZ. Super cool!

He was promoted this semester to principal second violin for MITSO, so one of the top leaders. This has caused him to LOVE the orchestra. He just loves being a leader. My guess is that this (and the fact that he is chatty!) might have led to this invite. 

Funny, his best thing is math, but his music and humanities are where all the recognition is happening. (Although he has landed a research position in String Theory as a sophomore. Which makes me laugh. 🙂 )

Edited November 23, 2019 by lewelma

[lewelma]

Ok, it appears to be just me bragging, but I have to talk about my younger!  He just took his first test of any kind today (we don't do tests in our homeschool). It was a NZ national exam in Chemistry, and he WROTE 800 words on his own!! In one sitting! On Chemistry! And he earned an excellence!  To put this in perspective - 4 years ago, he could not spell CAT and could not have written a sentence independently.  My dh just about fell over when he heard!  We actually might be able to get him ready for university in 2 years! Hurray!!!

Edited December 10, 2019 by lewelma

[chocolate-chip chooky]

On 12/10/2019 at 6:16 PM, lewelma said:

Ok, it appears to be just me bragging, but I have to talk about my younger!  He just took his first test of any kind today (we don't do tests in our homeschool). It was a NZ national exam in Chemistry, and he WROTE 800 words on his own!! In one sitting! On Chemistry! And he earned an excellence!  To put this in perspective - 4 years ago, he could not spell CAT and could not have written a sentence independently.  My dh just about fell over when he heard!  We actually might be able to get him ready for university in 2 years! Hurray!!!

Oh wow, Ruth. That's amazing. Congratulations to you both!

[Donna]

I just realized I do not have any big picture goals for 2020 so I'll put this here...

Dd just finished her last two DE finals yesterday so is now officially finished high school. Yay! She is taking six months off school to tour North America with Riverdance. During that time, she is going to continue working on learning Irish (kinda going to be immersed in it with a fellow band member who speaks Irish) and she'll figure out how much free time she has so she will know how many credits are do-able when she begins at University of North Carolina Wilmington in the fall. She found an online program in International Studies with a concentration in Arts and Literature and was accepted as a transfer student. She can continue to tour while she earns a degree.

[Mykids2000]

My son turned 14 the day he started his first college class this semester.  He really enjoyed it and even though all the material was new (pre calc for science/engineering majors) he just got his final grade.  His final grade is a 100%.  It is actually higher but for this program is that is as high as she can input it.  His teacher wrote him the nicest comments encouraging him.  He enjoyed his fellow students and one in his group even goes to our church.  He said the class really wasn't hard but he came out many times all excited about a certain problem so for him that is a win.  He was so nervous to do this (i think mainly because he has a severe stutter). We have tried to get him to go for a couple years and I am so proud of him for stepping out!

[seaben]

Well since AMC 8 Statistics are finally out I can write up a small entry. I had the most kids yet 21 take the test and we had our highest school score and made it to the Merit Roll. I suppose most importantly since I see many of the kids multiple years there were decent amounts of growth across the board even accounting for the test's difficulty this year.,

[SeaConquest]

On 6/8/2019 at 10:54 AM, SeaConquest said:

We finished our 5th year of homeschooling -- the first with both boys.

For Ronen, I am proud that he communicated to me that he just wasn't ready for a structured school day. Enrolling him in a play-based charter program, and giving him that extra year of TK, was the right decision. Different kids, different needs. I am learning. 

For Sacha, I am proud that he had the patience and attention span to sit through tons and tons of evaluations -- both by his developmental pediatrician in getting the ADHD diagnosis (they are still doing OT evals on his writing) and by the school psychologist through the IEP process. He has also been really good about taking his medication. As a result, he was able to sit through the PSAT 8/9 (which he took before his 504 plan was complete, so without any accommodations for ADHD), and scored well enough to qualify for DYS. In the past, he has always underperformed on tests; this was the first time that I could really see the difference that medication makes for him. So, I am proud of him for going through all the evals to get the help that he needs.   

 

Following up on this earlier post about the difference that ADHD meds have made for Sacha, he took the California High School Proficiency Exam (CHSPE) in October and passed on his first attempt. This was a goal of his since last spring because he wanted to be able to dual enroll at our local community colleges in the next year or two, and most of our local schools have age/grade minimums for enrollment. Passing the CHSPE gets him around those minimums because it is the equivalent of a high school diploma, so he was really proud of himself for achieving his goal (the essay portion of the test, especially, was his nemesis).

He also recently got an A on his first midterm in AoPS Intro to Mechanics. Sacha has test anxiety, and tends not to do well on exams where there is time pressure (cough cough: AoPS exams), but somehow managed to do well on this one, which shocked the heck out of the both of us. The AMC 8 on the other hand... not so much (he only got an 11 on his first try -- speed is just not his thing). Ah well.    

Edited December 27, 2019 by SeaConquest