Wow, it has been quite a semester, as this was our first year homeschooling. While it has been amazing, exciting and wonderful - it has also been challenging, eye-opening and overall...beyond words. Not only have I been able to really get to know my daughter's learning style, but also dig deep into what motivates her and what she loathes.
We changed a lot throughout the course of the semester, modifying studies with respect to literature and history, and implemented new and exciting physics and math modules. She is clearly a 10 year old STEM bent child. To put it bluntly, if she could do math and physics all day, she would! Since there is so much to cover, in terms of grammar, literature, poetry, history, etc., but her love is for the sciences and math, we decided to modify the schedule a bit. She has math (Singapore 5B/6A and AoPS Pre-Algebra) everyday and within the first few weeks of school we added Science 5 days/week instead of three to four. She finished the chemistry module with Real Science 4 Kids and moved into Physics. This was a challenge for me because she loves ALL things physics, and this was one of my weaker sciences. Not knowing how she would perform with physics, I decided to get creative and combine sources. She works on Life of Fred Physics twice a week and pads up the coursework with CPO. Talk about padding! I think I need it more than she does!
CPO is very academic and geared more toward the classroom. While I can't afford the $2000 lab equipment they offer, I supplement with HomeScience Tools equipment, which allows her to work through some great studies and labs. We have a lot of fun with it. From pendulums to friction and robotic arms. Like I said, she eats, drinks and loves ALL things physics.
While I have most of my planning done for the next month (we begin back to school January 3) the overall modules seem to be evolving. The freedom is wonderful, although I do adhere to some of the, yes, I am going to use the word...'standards.'" I know, such a bad word. However, it does keep me on track, at least for a rough skeleton. I would never keep her under that boxed in system, otherwise, she may as well go back to public school. For us, the gifted learning and investigation is wonderful, it is just my planning that seems to be ever-changing.
We have adapted a lot of Socratic-method when it comes to literature right now. Although, she is mastering the 5-paragraph to 3-page academic essay, much of the content comes from information used with MCT Language Voyage, etc. She did one comparison analysis between Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol that was quite intriguing. Overall, she did a wonderful job and I was thoroughly impressed with her ability to synthesize a thesis and stay on track with it, while writing with an academic and scholarly tone - something MCT promotes, as do I!
In all, it has been a wonderful semester. So happy to see my daughter thrive. My goal is to update on the blog more frequently in 2013. Now that I am in the groove I will provide more frequent updates and a clear direction for this blog.
Happy New Year to all! May 2013 be one of the best years yet! Happy learning...
