Five things to try in your homeschool this coming year- part 1

It's nearly summer! My summer usually involves a little bit of sunshine, time at the pool, my personal professional development plans and tons of organization for the coming school year. The kid and I sit down towards the end of May or early June and try to imagine what the next year will look like and what direction we want to go. In general, we end up with about 50% of our plans sticking for the year. That seems to be an excellent success rate!

In planning for the new year, we try to think big and look at crazy ideas, not just choose a curriculum and a workbook. Recently, a family at school asked what have been our most successful big ideas and how we've incorporated them into our homeschool schedule. I realized that over four years, these ideas that were "big" in the beginning are now the regular part of our days and weeks.

What are those big ideas and what does it look like?


Part 1- Take learning online
It's no secret that we're big fans of online education and learning. We are living in a time where the whole world is at a student's fingertips. I personally feel that a fear of "screen time" is denying children amazing opportunities. I do understand the reticence of some families, but I promise- your foray into digital learning will be worth it.

For those ready to dabble, try these options:

• CurrClick- Totally free or very low cost, low requirements. Classes range from Lego Clubs and Magic Treehouse Clubs to high school science and math
  
• SuperCharged Science- Not sure you want to take an online class? Sign up for the email promotions and you'll receive several opportunities for free demo classes throughout the year.
  
• Athena's Academy- A fantastic resource for short and long term online courses. Students meet in a virtual classroom and discuss the topics of the course, as well as completing other assignments online. A short term 8 week class is a great way to get your feet wet.

Ready to go all in? Here are our favorites:

• Athena's Academy- Long term classes range from literature, history and science to philosophy and math for younger kids. Athena's specializes in elementary through middle school courses online. Your kids will love it!
  
• Gifted Homeschoolers Forum While we haven't specifically used GHF, it is well recommended among friends. The class topics are engaging, with subjects like "Beyond Percy Jackson" and "Minecraft Math". Your kids are sure to find one that looks exciting
  
• OnlineG3- I can't say enough good things about OnlineG3. We plan our entire school year schedule around the G3 schedule and what looks the best. Next year, the kid is tackling Writing From Sources in the fall and is hoping for a return of Science and Science Fiction Movies in the spring.
  
• Mr. Gelston- In a new partnership with OnlineG3 and Gifted Homeschoolers Forum, Mr. Gelston's One Room Schoolhouse is offering opportunities for older students and teens to study journalism, Algebra and to study data and statistics in a thoroughly interesting and tangible way. 

Each of these opportunities teaches digital literacy, online collaboration, online citizenship and encourages students to see beyond their own computers. As a homeschooling mom, it's extremely rewarding to hear your child having a thoughtful debate with other students all around the world!

Working through the hard parts

Homeschooling is not always cupcakes and rainbows. While it is for us, the better choice, it is not always the easiest choice. I talk a lot in my book about hitting "The Wall" and how to work through it. Sometimes we don't see The Wall appear for months on end. Other days, it seems like we climb up and over fifty times.

My son's particular challenges this year have been coping with math frustration and becoming a better, faster writer. We'll take three steps forward and two steps back each time we try to conquer a new piece of these challenges. I know that we have to persevere through the challenges but there are so many days I think "Maybe I'm not up for this. Maybe he'd be better off with someone who has less invested." 

For math, he's spent too many years in rote memorization and speedy, short problem solving. Even his first semester in a high school Algebra 1 class left him unchallenged and frustrated. When he stopped taking the class in January, we went headlong into an Algebra 1 class from UC Scout. However, since he hadn't really done a full semester in the first class, we had to tackle a full year of Algebra in the spring semester. Math has suddenly become much harder, much faster and requires a lot of patience and plodding to make it through single assignments. He's learning the very hard way that you actually must write down algebra problems and go through each step, piece by piece. If you don't, you get it wrong and have to start over.

One missing negative can destroy an hour in my house. He gets so frustrated by his own inability to just "know it" because it's truly the first time he's encountered math he couldn't do in his head. While I'm sure there are folks out there who can manage the quadratic formula entirely in their heads, this is definitely not a normal expectation. But he *thinks* he should be able to and therefore, is extremely disappointed in himself when he can't. Add in the stubbornness of an eleven year old who doesn't want to do it mom's way, and we're still battling through math every day. 

For writing, it's a double challenge of perfectionism and dysgraphia. We've eliminated the physical load of writing by allowing him to type or dictate whenever he chooses. But dysgraphia also impacts the organization of thoughts on paper. When you combine this with intense perfectionism and a desire to just hurry up and have it over, sometimes he's stuck for hours in the not started phase. He'll see a writing assignment on a lesson plan and do just about anything to avoid it. I decided that it was time to outsource writing, as a method of hopefully getting him over the initial hump and to find a way to just start writing. Success! One semester of Athena's Academy Intro to Academic Writing and he can now begin a writing assignment without too much drama. In fact, we are both currently snuggled up on the couch with our laptops, typing frantically before the ideas escape. It's a huge relief to finally make some progress in an area where we've been stuck for more than two years. 

After Athena's, we've jumped back to some creative writing exercises. While not specifically for homeschoolers, we both really enjoy the creativity and energy in Don't Forget to Write for the Secondary Grades: 50 Enthralling and Effective Writing Lessons (Ages 11 and Up) . The lessons are well scaffolded and easily modified for one person, rather than a whole class. When we need just a snippet of writing, something quick and fun, he also enjoys Rip the Page!: Adventures in Creative Writing. While Rip the Page could be expanded, most assignments only take 10-15 minutes at most.

So our success rate of fighting through challenges is 50% this year. While it doesn't seem like a huge accomplishment overall, it's a huge success for us. I'm still hoping with perseverance and math daily in the summer, we might hit August with fewer math struggles. Maybe, just maybe, we'll get to a place where math only becomes emotionally frustrating once a week.