I knew going into this school year things would be hard. I did have to neglect most fun things, including projects, photographing projects, and blogging. Sorry.
I had no idea just how hard a 3yo, a 2yo, and a baby could be while also homeschooling five other kids.
Here is a quick update:
My oldest is truckin' along in BKSK 8. He is reading the history books and answering the questions in a spiral notebook that I correct on the weekends. He does no map work and no time line. He claims that if he needs to know where something is, he can just look it up online. And he knows how a timeline works. He does all the literature reading on the weekend after we've cut him off from screens and he wants to stay up late. Not my ideal schedule, but as he gets older and wants more independence, I'm okay with him trying new ways of homeschooling. He is on Week 22 and is on track to finish school by the end of May!
The second two, the 12 and 10 year olds, are around Week 18. We are just getting into World War I. This is the point in history where I look at my current fourth grader and shake my head. The World Wars straight out of the Landmark and Usborne books are just too much for this age. I've decided to cut my 10 year old loose and let her read American Girl books for the next few topics, along with biographies for the Wright Brothers, Hellen Keller, and whatever I come up with... They are both told what reader to read on Monday and what chapter to be finished with by Friday. They are learning to budget their time with their language arts assignments.
I've had to follow that same plan with science as well. I hand the 10 and 12 year olds their science activity sheets and tell them what book to read. I've given up on the TOPS books for now. I'm hoping to add some of the other projects when spring rolls around. But for now they are fine with a bare minimum schedule.
My 12 year old is not liking BKSK Science 7, which is sad. Too many labs from the Robotics book don't work out, so he is discouraged. The solar panel lost its wire, so his solar bot couldn't work. The walking robot wouldn't walk. But he is still doing the reading and worksheets in the other books.
My BKSK Level 1 groups was dissolved. My special little Kindergartener just needs more time before he is ready for organized learning and this is the perfect year to let him play. He does like to earn screen time by doing a math sheet, so we keep that up. My 2nd grader really does need to do more, but she will not miss out on too much and will join us all next year when we start the Eastern Hemisphere as a group. She is cruising through the reader schedule for LA 2.
