As of August 1, we have begun a new journey.
Rachel has started 7th grade in a brave new world. A world without dress codes. A world without finite deadlines. A world without homework!
Rachel has become a homeschooler.
There are so many reasons why we have decided to try this route. Nevertheless, it was very hard to leave her previous school. She started there as a 3 yr old in the pre-K program. We had thought that she would graduate as a member of the class of 2015. But, we did not just leave the school, we have left the conventional concept of school.
Technically, she is a distance learner. We've enrolled her in a fully accredited distance learning program aka an on-line school. She can work at her own pace, on her own time, at her own level. The flexibility is already a greater gift than we ever imagined. It's not just the flexibility of when she does her schoolwork and how much she does at a sitting, it's also the flexibility of the curriculum to suit her needs specifically. We are still working out the kinks and the specifics, but it is still early in the game. She is taking a traditional mix of courses- English, History, Math, Science, Health/PE (ballet), and French. But, what she would have difficulty getting in a traditional school environment is the variety of grade levels. She's taking a mixture of 7th, 8th and high school level courses. We've been making changes as we go.. she's been taking assessments and trying out courses, moving up a few levels (Math, Science, History) and down (French) as need be. I suspect we are reaching the end of the tinkering and she should be settled into her coursework for each subject by the end of the week, next week at the latest.
I should also add that it was Rachel's idea to start school this early, instead of waiting for the traditional September. Yet another illustration of the flexibility.
Note: The scrapbook page at the top of the entry uses a small fraction of the many patterned papers in Scribble Scrabble's very recently released "Lullaby of Birdland" line. More scrapbook pages to follow in a later entry. :D
2 comments:
welcome to the world of hsing ! We hs'd all our boys all the way through high school and the oldest just graduated college ( SUMA ! ) and the twins are starting their sophomore year in college.
It was a joy beyond words and a true gift for all of us. One of my twins had a heart transplant in 2007 and if it wasn't for the hsing, he would never have graduated from high school with his twin.
As a fellow NJ'er, if there's anything I can do to help your new journey - feel free to email me !
gena.... in tenafly and a fellow 2 peas NSBR'er too !
let me be another homeschooling parent to welcome you to the wonderful world of homeschooling!! this will be our 9th year homeschooling and we are also trying something a little new this year, I have enrolled the girls into Classical Conversations - if you google it, you'll find tons of info about it so I wont' get into here.
Anyway, love your layouts! wanted to say hi and welcome to the homeschool journey!
Lisa Dale
Post a Comment