Homeschooling Update

Today Kathleen finished up her fourth grade standardized tests.  We now use an umbrella school for homeschooling, and part of their remaining accredited is having their students take tests every year.  Kathleen has had no problem with them so far (I remember thinking they were a bit of a joke when I was in elementary school), so I'm happy to go along with the rules.

I'm not one for changing horses without extreme provocation - we're using the same homeschooling book that Brandon brought back from the BYU bookstore when I was pregnant with Kathleen - so Kathleen will probably graduate from this umbrella school (along with everyone else).  So it's probably good to start the transcript early.  The thought of Kathleen graduating is a far-distant prospect, but I imagine it won't seem quite such a long time when she's actually graduating.

For the first time since we started homeschooling, we're having a summer break this year.  I've always schooled non-stop, figuring that there's nothing else better going on.  And also, there hasn't been a school year without a significant event to take a large chunk out of the year, necessitating summer schooling whether I wanted it or not.

But we've spent the entire school year in the same house, city, and country, so this year everyone's actually on track to finish their school by the beginning of summer.

Kathleen has already finished her writing program and Sophia is only three weeks away from the end of hers.  Both girls are reaching the end of history (this week was the Korean war), and the science books are just about finished, too.  And Sophia is less than two weeks away from the finishing Math 3, which is one of my favorite milestones because Math 4 is done independently.  I love independent school work.

So this means that we'll actually have some time on our hands this summer.  My childhood summers were spent at the pool and I have very fond memories of those long, hot, wet summers.  The embassy here very conveniently has a pool, so we're going to recreate my summers and spend every day at the pool.  It's the summers at the pool that make my mom job definitely better than working outside the house.

The children will still do some school - Russian and Math (the ones that don't require my input) - and I'll continue working on teaching Edwin to read.  He starts first grade in the fall, which means a whole lot of reading, which means that he has some work to do before that can happen independently.  So unlucky for him, we'll be spending a lot more time reading in the summer.  But that's what happens when you grow up - you have to do horrid things like reading instead of fun things like playing with Legos.

The children know about this plan and are all eagerly awaiting the pool opening - projected to be the first of June - and I am too.  We've worked hard this school year and everyone will enjoy the break.  Most of all me.