Homeschool 2011

Homeschooling for me this year has been very hit and miss ever since I was called to be Primary President. We've almost turned into unschoolers, which I'm not too happy with. I am a person who likes structure and rules, but my kids have had to be left a lot more to themselves than I am used to. As a by product, my kids have had more time to do their own projects. Christopher above has invented a lunar base, each portion part of the model with a specific design and purpose.

A lot of Christopher's schooling this year has been through getting boy scout merit badges. He has been working a lot with his cousin Sanford. They've earned so many merit badges, I've been loosing track. Sanford and Christopher also do monthly classes at the Evergreen Science and Aviation museum.
Angel, who is now 5 years old has been officially declared old enough to begin formal school work. She is now starting our "code books" which have taught all of our kids how to read. She is learning her letter sounds, and enjoying every minute. I fully expect that within the year, Angel will catch up to where Courtney is in her reading and writing...maybe not in math, though. Courtney has a natural feel for numbers and speeds ahead of me constantly coming up with answers to things I had no idea she knew how to do. Courtney is enjoying taking her sweet time in regards to reading and writing, which I do not feel in a hurry to press on her. Her dyslexia makes it very difficult for her to read for extended periods. She gets exhausted and has to rest. I've always felt she needs a little more freedom than I've given my other children. She has a very delicate and sensitive spirit and she is very in tune with nature and the world around her. She is slowing blooming in her own way. She is currently reading me a magic school bus book...but she can only handle about 4 pages a day. That doesn't stop her from learning, though...I feel like because she doesn't read fluently yet, she is forced to pay closer attention to details that the rest of us literate folks just pass on by. I am often surprised by her memory for detail, her keen observations, and her clever wit. Courtney's favorite subject to discuss is nature...if you were to look at Thomas Armstrong's theory of 7 intelligences, in addition to spatial intelligence, inrapersonal and logical/mathematical intelligence, Courtney has strengths also in the 8th intelligence....Naturalist Smart. Check out his theory and ideas here. I admire all the work done by Thomas Armstrong and try to read as many of his books as possible.
Dorathy's latest project is typing. Both my older kids have completed a computer typing program. Christopher enjoys using his new typing abilities on his computer games, computer programming lessons, and emailing Sanford.

Dorathy as a reward got to create her own blog, which she enjoys adding to. She's really only just begun, because I don't let her get on the computer as much as she'd like to! You can check out her first blogging attempts here.

Currently, her passion for blogging has been preempted by a strike of inspiration. She has been working on typing up her first chapter book. She first wrote it out on paper, and now she is perfecting and editing it into the typed manuscript. Who knows what project she'll choose next?