Progress

September 5, 2011

 June 14, 2012

 September 2011

June-ish 2012

I can't even begin to explain what a blessing this school year has been for all of us.  We went into it quite unsure of the outcome and, despite many little hiccups along the way, everyone benefitted from the break in homeschooling.   I, for one, realized that staying at home with the kids can be really boring if everyone is gone all day.  I am excited to get back into homeschooling next year, and I have some better ideas about how to proceed with a toddler and multiple students.  

For Z, learning a sense of self-discipline through homework was great.  She did so much writing that next year won't seem like a huge challenge, and her grasp of English grammar is going to be so much better after all of the Greek conjugation and declension drills she had to do.  Her spelling has vastly improved, which has made me realize that it might be a developmental milestone.

M, essentially, had a year off.  Had we been at home, he would have been pushed (by me) probably more than he needed to be.  As it was, our ten to fifteen minute reading lessons were a perfect compliment to the four hours M spent playing at school.  He'll be more developmentally ready to sit still next year and get down to learning.  He'll really miss all of the friends he has made, but I am trying to expand our social network in the US, especially and intentionally to include boys.  I smell Cub Scouts in our future.

T definitely basked in the spotlight while the kids were away at school.  He and I had opportunities to play with neighborhood friends that we would have missed had we homeschooled.  It was a pleasure to focus on him (most of the time), and I realized just how enjoyable those toddler years can be.