Progress Report

Blogging has really been put on the back burner with our new little one taking all our time and energy. We are enjoying him so much. The children have all adjusted to having a new baby in the house and they are still fighting over who gets to hold him. They are even becoming pros at getting him to stop fussing, as long as he is not hungry. He definitely already has a preference for his Mama, but I'm trying not to hog him too much ;) The most difficult thing I've had to adjust to is finally having the energy to do all the things that need to be done, but not being able to tackle it all right away. Lil' Lamb comes first and he is completely willing to let me know it. The housework will still be there, but he will only be this tiny and precious once.

I have a couple minutes to blog today and I thought I'd write a progress report of our homeschooling year. While all is going well, I have to admit this has been my most difficult year to date. I feel like we are so far behind, and I haven't achieved the goals I really wanted to achieve this year. I'm having to remind myself that as long as they have all progressed this year, we have done well.

Karate Kid will be finished with high school this coming week. I have her diploma all ready to be signed. She did well in the two college courses she took and continued to do well in the subjects she studied at home. She was accepted into every college she applied to, and several gave her sizable scholarships just based on her GPA and SAT scores. We are waiting now to see what the financial aid packages are like before she makes her final decision. Wingnut and I definitely have our preference of school we'd like to see her attend, but in the end, it will be up to her to decide.

JayP manages to just get by in his school work. His GPA reflects decent grades, but the goals I had for him fell by the wayside to a certain extent. I had really wanted to work on his writing skills this year and that has not yet happened. I did have him take a practice SAT this week and he did as well as I thought he would. He has plenty of room for improvement, but he also has the aptitude to make the needed improvement. For the remainder of this school year, he and I will be working on his test taking skills and will work through SAT prep materials. Practice, practice, practice should raise those scores to a competitive level.

Oleander continues to work above grade level in all her work. She is working very hard on her study skills as it looks like she will be attending a convent school for high school. We are in the process of filling out the needed paperwork for her to be accepted at the Aspirancy School run by the Sister Servants of the Lord and Virgin of Matara. She has talked of nothing else this year other than her desire to attend this school and to eventually become a nun with the order.

Skoshi A plods along with her school work. Her spelling and writing have improved dramatically. Her math skills have also improved, as long as she is systematic and careful in her work. She has always been a bit too speedy in all she does.

Special K is working almost completely independently. Hooray! She has really taken to math and she works very hard at all her work. My only regret with her and Skoshi A is that I did not do as much hands-on type work in science and history as I had planned. We still have several weeks left, and I'm hoping to really get more out of those two subjects with them.

Lil' Wingnut has somehow escaped the plan for him to do a bit of school each day. It became easier for me to hand him my iPad or start up Starfall on the computer for him so that I could focus on the needs of everyone else in the morning. I'm not beating myself up over it. He continues to read more with each passing month, and we discovered he also has picked up a bit of adding, subtracting, and money counting skills. Kindergarten really should be a breeze next year. He's also taking classes with the co-op. We put him in the k-2nd grade class, and he seems to hold his own, unless it involves fine motor skills. Thankfully there are plenty of helpers in that class that can help him along with writing and cutting.