Our first official year of homeschooling is in the books! It definitely was a learning experience for Zoey and I BOTH...and we are totally and completely smitten and in love with this year and our experience with homeschooling in general. Were there some bumps along the way? For sure. There will be some curriculum changes next year and subject changes here and there. For example, she's not in love with Spanish and has really been interested in Latin lately. I think we're both feeling more confident in our expectations from everything to what it is that we think school will or should "look like" to what expectations we should and can have of one another.
Zoey has grown so very much in this past year. Not only physically and emotionally but her mind has just cracked open and she's made me so proud with how it is that she is thinking about people, the world and life in general. This is what it is that I was wanting for her!! The safe space for thinking original thoughts as well as the space to explore interests that she may not even have had the chance to know about before now. Just in this year alone she's confident and even enjoying math, something that was so not happening while in public school and she's actually retaining what it is that she's learning! We love Math-U-See and Mr.Demme so much! So very thankful we went with that curriculum for math. She also discovered an interest in drawing and sketching, something that she didn't have the confidence enough in to express while at her public school, (at least it didn't happen in the past). Growing up in a family with an artist as my father, there are days when I see Zoey sketching and drawing and I can't help but get a bit teary eyed. She NEVER used to do that and she does it all the time now. I love that she has so many ways of expressing her creativity and that drawing is now one of them.
Her favorite subject this year hands down, was science. Both what we did for school and her independent projects. Reading was a close second and she enjoyed free writing as well. She read a TON this year! So many books that I lost track of them all, (we originally were trying to keep a list). Makes me so happy. Something kind of quirky to note, she loves finding words that she doesn't know the meaning of and then looking them up and then finding ways to use them in everyday conversation. She cracks me up.
My one big worry about homeschooling her last year was, are you ready for it...socialization!! I know, silly right?!?! I had all sorts of concerns and worries. Well, guess what? She is just fine and in fact, had perhaps even a busier social calendar than had she still been in public school! Weekends were busy with friends coming over or her visiting friends. She knows more kids than ever now with the homeschool group kids in the mix of things now as well. Having dance classes twice a week and hanging out at the library after school hours helped too. She even attended two out of three middle school dances this year, which was awesome too! Very thankful that her friends have stuck around and remained friends despite our rearranging our lives a bit and that we've been able to make some new special friends through homeschooling as well.
She's happy that it's summer break, that's for sure...but interestingly enough, she mentioned that she was sad that the routine of "school" would now be over and that she was looking forward to next year already! Over the summer she'll be taking part in a day drama camp, taking some summer dance classes, babysitting and she has a potential job assisting at a gymnastics summer camp as well. She will be continuing working through math (I don't want to lose her foothold on things) and we'll be doing a somewhat lighter botany course as well. It's safe to say that reading will be on her agenda as well. There's no stopping that! I'm hoping to get her to be involved in the teen book club at the library that I work at, as well as participate in the summer programming.
Feeling so very thankful that we took this leap of faith last year and just DID it!! Thankful too for our friends and family that have shown so much support.
Feeling pretty blessed.
We'll be sharing our happenings here on the blog yet this summer, so stay tuned for what's to come!
