Progress Report

It's getting to the end of our school year and I'm beginning to assess all the children's progress. We've had some huge successes this year, along with a few areas that were less than what I had hoped to accomplish. Many homeschool families school year round. We have needed to school in the summer a few times (when a new baby has been born during the school year), but usually we take a long summer break. I need the time to regroup; the children need the time to unwind and enjoy lots of creative play and outdoor time.

We didn't get as much math and science as I had hoped to accomplish this school year. The children played catch up from a few months last year, when we worked on this house and during the move. I let them have the summer off, but hoped to play catch up this year. It didn't happen. We will do math and summer for about 1 1/2 hours each morning this summer and begin next school year slightly ahead in these areas.

Steve has grown tremendously as a writer this school year. Amy has been tutoring him since Christmas one day each week. It has been such a blessing to turn writing over to her. Steve and I have concentrated a lot on his math. His confidence has improved and he has fully grasped all the concepts and formulas. He completed the geography, history, literature and vocabulary that was assigned this year. Chemistry didn't go as well as I would have liked. But, we'll finish it up over the summer.

Joe has had a very successful school year. He's completed his geography, literature, vocabulary, math, history, and writing. Science fell a little to the wayside, while we focused on other classes. He should be able to complete the remainder of the science work by July.

Madelyn has worked very hard this year. She completed 3 grades of spelling, geography, history, 2 grades of English, 1 1/2 grades of math, and flute lessons. Science was the area that didn't get the attention needed. Do you see a theme here?

Paige and Allie completed their science, penmanship, geography, reading, English, and math. They still need to finish their phonics workbooks and history. I'm not too concerned about the history, because we do 4-year cycles. Every 4 years we redo the same time period, so they will get more next time we cover the ancient world. The younger girls also did music and art 2-3 days each week.

The older children have each completed 1 semester of music (piano) and 1 semester of art. I love our art semester. We did a lot of carving and stamping, and completed 2 oil pastels. I'd like to do a sculpture unit and possibly a drawing unit during the summer.

Over our summer break, I'll be working out our goals for next school year. Then, the materials will be selected and lesson plans written. I'm also considering some changes in the set up of our school. Possibly using work stations or areas. I'd like to keep the materials more organized next year. My plan for this year was not successful.