In which the reader is regaled with tales of the fantastic, the amusing, the disastrous, the educational.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

July update

It's been over two months since I've updated this blog. I apologize for the infrequency of my entries, but life has this nasty habit of happening while I'm planning for other things!
It's been a terrifically busy summer. We went on a family trip to Cedar Point in Ohio and she went back to Chicago with her cousin for a couple of weeks after that. What with trips here and there, still fixing up the other house for sale, and just general busyness, we're only just now finishing up the Poetry class.
Every time I start to freak out about it, I take a deep breath and say, "We're homeschooling. Not doing school at home." She's learned a fair bit about American poets and exceeded expectations on the essay she wrote about "The Bells" by Edgar Allan Poe. At least, I hope she did. It's due tomorrow, but it was only supposed to be three pages. I think she ended up with more than that, and volunteered to do two drawings to illustrate the poem. That's the stuff I'm looking for with homeschooling! Now all I have to do is see how well she did on the analysis. Her previous efforts have been seriously lackluster, but when she finally dug in and started writing this, she seemed pretty enthusiastic.
This week is Art Camp at the local college and I know she's excited about that. I am, too. Aside from her trip to Chicago, she's been pretty isolated here.
We did go to a Park Day with a local secular hs group and she talked to one or two kids, but was otherwise shy. This is normal. I'm hoping that as these kids become familiar, she is drawn to interact more.
Geometry was...ok. She did really well on the final except for the Trig segment. It was totally over her head, even though she insists she understood the work while she was doing it. Eh. Next year is Algebra 2, so we have time to work up to Trigonometry.
We still need to finish up the Biology labs. I've been a little lax about getting her working through the notes. No worries. It'll get done. If the homeschool co-op does Chem this year, it won't start until after Labor Day anyway, so we've got time.
I'll make sure she has Gov't down during US History and the elections this year. Nothing like keeping current to hammer home those lessons.
I'll do a separate post for our curricula for the fall, even though there are still a couple of question marks. But it's only July and some things don't start until Sept, so there's no rush.
Her depression has been...okay. She's not sparkly outgoing, but she never will be. It's just not how she's built. On the other hand, she hasn't cried in months and she seems generally even-keeled. We do have the occasional bad day, but as long as it's acknowledged as just a bad day, it's easier to move past it. She's not taking her depression medication with the approval of her therapist, but she's still taking Concerta. Overall, not bad.

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