We've got four weeks of homeschool under our belts now, which is long enough to have established a solid routine and to have formed an opinion. So far, everyone is working hard and thriving. Best of all, everyone is really happy.
Hyrum is set up on the desk top computer in the music room and works on his Khan Academy classes independently and without complaint or procrastination. He asks questions when he needs help, but is also learning to look things up when he doesn't understand a term or idea, and is being super proactive in enhancing his education. He especially likes his biology class. He passed the sixth grade beta ELA units in the first three weeks, and is now finishing up a grammar class. He has slowed down a bit in math, but it's also getting harder and he's putting forth good effort towards learning the more difficult concepts. The one area I think I need to push more is writing. I have him doing written answers for questions in his world history course, but most of the time we just end up discussing the ideas and the actual writing process gets lost. That will be my focus for him over the next month.
Abraham was floofing around at the beginning and testing the waters to see how little work he could get away with, but he has buckled down and is now working hard. He just passed a long unit on division in math and is about half way through the last section of fourth grade ELA. I think I'll have him go through and do the ELA starting at second grade and move his way up, as reading comprehension doesn't seem to be his strongest subject. He tends to rush through passages and does't pay attention to what he's reading, so more practice with slowing down and thinking things through will be good for him. I had originally planned on him doing a computer rotation and some writing practice out of a work book in the afternoons, but after only a couple days I learned he is not able to just burn through a workbook with minimal instruction. I've started giving short writing/grammar lessons to him and Mercy right after lunch, and then work closely with them as they do the assignments. Sometimes he finishes fairly quickly and then gets to read for fun the rest of the period, but a lot of days it takes him the entire 45 minutes. For his second afternoon class he switches every other day between typing practice and CAD.
Mercy is on fire and is really doing well. She passed second grade math at the end of the summer, but then they filled out the course, adding instruction and practices in most areas, so she's had to go back and re-pass everything. She's had a pretty good attitude about it and will likely pass the course anew next week. She also just passed all the second grade ELA units, so as far as Khan Academy goes, she's just about on to third grade! I'll likely have her do some other reading programs before going on with Khan ELA though. I think she needs a little more focus on reading fundamentals, so that's what we'll focus on this next month. In the afternoons, she does writing lessons with Abraham and then in addition has a sight words workbook, which often involves crayons and creativity. During her second hour, she and I read her daily scriptures together, then she gets to read for fun with any remaining time.
Mercy still throws a fit pretty much every day when it's time to practice piano, but she sits down and gets it done anyway, which I think is an amazing mindset to have at such a young age. Abraham and Hyrum have started playing drums and guitar together after their 20 minutes of obligatory piano practice is done, which I also love seeing. During their goal time, Hyrum has been shooting his pellet gun and Abraham has been researching how to make chain mail. Mercy is usually done for the day and plays dolls or Legos, which is one of the things I love most about homeschooling. They all seem thrilled with the opportunity to play with their toys, which they rarely had time to do last year during regular school. We push hard Monday morning through Thursday morning, then on Thursday afternoons we go to the public library and do weekly chores. We've set up a standing kid swap with Susan, so the boys get to play with Haley and Mercy gets to play with Olivia on Thursday's from 4-6. Then we take Friday off.
On the whole, I think we are all really happy with the situation. Albuquerque public schools have said they aren't going back in person until January, so since we'd be virtual anyway, we are all very glad to be deciding on our own curriculum and setting our own schedule. As pleased as I am with how things are going, I will admit that it is a lot of work on my part and I get very little else done each day. Pretty much it's school and dinner and I'm tapped out. I feel like this is what I should be spending my time and effort on right now though, and I've just about wrapped my mind around what it's going to be like for the next nine months. What a privilege it is to be in the position to make this choice. It's a sacrifice to be sure, but one I feel blessed to make right now.
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