E is for the End of the Year {Blogging Through the Alphabet}

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It's the END of the Year! The school year that is!

It's hard to believe another school year has come and gone! I'm thrilled to say that we have finished up all our classes, except math. Math we do year round for multiple reasons....to help stay fresh and on top of it, to catch up to grade level, and to practice areas where the kids may have struggled.

This year seemed like a busy one, but in reality it was probably one of our less busy years. Our local co-op had most of it middle school and high school kids head off to school last september, so most of the events were geared for children 10 and under. This obviously was not a great fit for my two teenagers. This shift in activities has forced us to look elsewhere. We've discovered a few things, but are still on the lookout. What type of activities are your teens in? I'd love to hear some new ideas!

Overall, I pleased with how the kids did, but both could use improvement in certain areas. We will definitely focus on time management and planning next year.

So What Worked?

Religion
Faith and Life 8
Baltimore Catechism
The Case for Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Confirmation Prep (for both kiddos)
CCD~ Religious Education classes at our parish

Religion was by far the easiest course for us. No book changes were needed. Both Michael and Therese passed their Confirmation tests and Michael will be confirmed next fall. Therese has one more year of prep and then she'll be confirmed.

English
Easy Grammar Plus
Daily Grams 7

This was the most loved English curriculum. Both Michael and Therese learned a lot. The lessons were easy to follow, understand and complete. I would recommend this program to everyone!

Math
Therese-Rod and Staff Grade 5
              Rod and Staff Grade 6
              Rod and Staff Grade 7

Therese completed grade 5, is almost done grade 6, and will start grade 7 over the summer. She will be completely caught up for high school. I am so proud of all her hard work. She's worked hard, by doing 2 lessons a day and completing lesson on the weekend.

Michael- UnLock Math Pre-Algebra
               Teaching Textbooks Algebra 
               Saxon Algebra 1/2 
               No-Nonsense Algebra...WINNER!!!!!
             

Michael had a few issues with both these programs. UnLock math had to many changes occuring in the beginning. Just when Michael would start to figure out how things were laid out, the system would change. He got to frustrated and then admitted he really dislikes doing math online. He prefers a book and paper. So we switched to Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra. He hated this! I know lots of homeschooling kids love it, but he thought the explanations were overkill. He quickly got bored, started out the window, and ending up wasting too much time. For our third switch, we went back to Saxon Algebra 1/2. I knew this was not going to be a hit, but we had it so I figured we'd try it. Half way through the book, I was tired of fighting, loudly encouraging (yelling), and pulling my hair out.I pulled out No-Nonsense Algebra from Math Essentials from our shelf. We had started it, but stopped when his other math course was taking to long. I can't tell you how much I LOVE No-Nonsense Algebra. Math has become so much easier. No fighting, no tears(mine), and no blow-ups. Math is done and done correctly. He understands the lessons explained in the book and if he doesn't he logs into watch the video lesson. He loves the instructor. He's no boring and doesn't drag out the explanations. This is perfect for the advanced math student. Neat, simple lessons. No frills, no drawn out explanations. I need to see if they offer geometry!

Latin
Memoria Press First Form Latin
Chant CD

I'll admit it. We gave up on First Form Latin. The kids didn't really want to learn it. I wasn't the strongest in it and I figured if we we focused more on word roots and vocabulary, the kids would do fine. The can choose what language they want to learn when they start high school. Michael is currently deciding that right now.
We continued learning our Latin hymns.

Poetry
The Harp and the Laurel Wreath
Shakespeare

We finished reading The Harp and the Laurel Wreath. We've enjoyed the variety of poems included in this book over the years.
For Shakespeare the kids read Macbeth and worked through the Macbeth study guide from Progeny Press.

Geography
Map Trek CD
Mapwork will be based on our history studies.

History
American History~ 1920's to the 1990's
Home School in the Woods The Industrial Revolution Through the Great Depression
Home School in the Woods World War II
Great Literature
Collection of my own resources

We spent a lot more time on World War I and World War II. We briefly got into the 1950's-1990's. I know both the kids will get this history again in a few years, so I'm not too worried.

Science
Biology for the Logic Student
Apologia Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology

Both these science books were a little too easy for the kids. After working through high school level courses, these seem like they were too simple. We ended up working through both books at a faster rate and I added more to the lessons. The best part of either of these programs was all the hands on activities and experiments.

Government
Founding Fathers~ A co-op class with our homeschool group. The kids will learn all about the 13 colonies, the founding of our government, and our government now. I'm very excited about this class, since it's being taught by a mom who used to work down at the Capital before she had kids.

Electives
Therese
    Photography

Dance & Drama~  Therese tried out for the play but didn't make it this year. There's always next year.
Sewing

Michael
    Cooking
    Life Skills & Outdoor Survival Skills (Bush Crafts)

Art
ArtAchieve
I'm still working on this one.

We love this program.....Great lessons that are fun to do!

Music
Listening to various music form our history time period

Clubs
4-H (we're trying out a new club for homeschoolers that was created this summer) 
~4-H was a no-go. The group was mostly little kids. There was just not enough teens to keep the kids interested in going.

Saint Zita's Home Ec. Club (Therese only)

~We finished up the year in May with an Ice Cream social. It has been fun the past few years, but is interested n=in bigger and better things!

How did you year go?

Till Next Time,

Monique

Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool

Kirsten @ DoodleMom

Jennifer @ A Peace of Mind

Kimberley @ Vintage Blue Suitcase

Desiree @ Our Homeschool Notebook

Markie @ My Life as Mrs. Cooks

Hillary @ Walking Fruitfully

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