Learning

...How Our Homeschooling Works These Days...

So...grade levels. I've pretty much abolished them as I think they are unnecessary for us. Instead, I'm coming up with a checklist of what each kid needs to complete to graduate, since as a private school, we set our own graduation requirements. Mine are as follows, though they are still a work in progress:

Language Arts:
Be able to write effectively, and communicate orally with ease. This means they can write strong essays with different approaches, communicate properly with mail and email, and enjoy a discussion of literature, along with discussing other topics. My goal is to get them into an upper entry level English class at the junior college without trouble or remediation, OR, simply be able to communicate effectively verbally and in a written format.


Math:
They need to work up through Algebra 2, most of which they will likely do at home, and then do a semester of personal finance (the Girl), and upper division math at college (The Boy).


History and Science:
Historical, cultural, and scientific literacy is my goal here. We delve more deeply when needed, and skim other topics as desired. They don't need to know everything about every field of science, or every point in history, but need to be familiar with how things work, and how they fit together.

For additional/current interests and resources, see my Afternoon Basket page


Project-Based Learning: 
 They will each complete a major project.
 The Boy is already at work on his... the restoration of a 1940 Ford step-side pickup. He is essentially an apprentice: working under the tutelage of someone with vastly more experience; learning each part of what it takes to entirely rebuild an older vehicle from the smallest to the largest parts.
Note: while he was unable, due to circumstance, to finish this project, he did rebuild a 1993 Toyota Tercel that is now his commute vehicle.

As for The Girl, she is helping me in turning our yards, back and front, into a wildlife habitat will be her project (with my assistance/mentorship). We are working on a meadow/native plants garden in the front yard, and various habitats/biomes in the backyard, depending on sun exposure, micro-climate, etc.


Volunteer Work:
 Each will complete a minimum of 100 hours community service, which is actually pretty easy to do, since they already have numerous hours with food banks, puppy petting, bicycle repair, and The Girl's work at a local service that provides freshly cooked meals for cancer patients and their families.


Notes:
As I said, this is a work in progress, so we'll see what I come up with!

The Boy, almost 19 now, has decided to take his remaining GE classes, and explore options other than mechanics. While he loves working on cars, he would like to explore other options and keep that as a hobby.

The Girl hasn't figured things out yet, so we're focusing on her last year of academics (mainly math and writing in a shout out to my What If post from years ago). She has many hobbies, but no driving passion, which I didn't have at that age either (17).

I have come to really feel comfortable with this hybrid approach as they get older. They are no longer dependent on only my instruction, which is definitely a transition, but a good one.