11th and 7/8th grade ended.

I want to make this place my memory keeper again. Everyone is on Instagram right now, but I miss all this space for ramblings. I miss slow pace of blogging. I want to write things down somewhere.

Another school year has passed.

Last year around the same time we were on a crossroads about what to do about our school situation. A program we were relying on wasn’t working anymore, we were torn between several options. We ended up biting the bullet and withdrew both kids out of the program.

Here’s how it all turned out:

1) My Junior decided to only take his classes at the community college. It was not cheap even with a stipend from the county. But he appreciated the freedom of choosing his own classes, rather than seeking an approval from the school. He’s still trying to figure out if he wants to work on his Associate degree at the same time with his high school diploma, but in the meantime he’s getting all his High School AND transferable college credits in. He took 6 classes this school year: Japanese 1 and Japanese 2, College writing, College Algebra, Modern American History and College Algebra-based Physics. First semester was a bit of an adjustment, but he managed to finish it with an A and two Bs. He found his rhythm in the second semester and got all As!

He took a PSAT in the fall and SAT in the spring and did well on both. He is planning to take SAT again in the fall just to see if he can improve his score even more, and ACT later in his Senior year.

He produced a podcast and gathered an audience for it, his podcast now is in season 2.

He continued with his choir and karate (for which he got his 1st dan black belt in the fall).

Overall it was a very good year for him. He wasn’t as stressed. As I expected, being in the mixed ages/walks of life group benefited him enormously. He wants to do the same next year.

He has talked to an academic adviser at his college and has to figure out his fall schedule in the next week or so. He’s 3 credits away from fulfilling his minimum graduation requirements for High school. He has no idea yet which colleges he’ll apply to, we are encouraging him to take all the time he needs to feel comfortable about his decision.

2) For my daughter we did a mix of 7 and 8th grades this year. She was mistakenly taken to 2nd grade straight from Kindergarten in our former program, and this lost year was always kind of lost. We both feel that she should not accelerate towards High School. She is my social butterfly and I was worried she would hate being only at home, but she did really well. We started with quite a formal curriculum (Bookshark for language and science, Singapore for math etc.), but towards the end of the 1st semester we shifted to something I can only call “mindful unschooling”. She has taken over her lesson planning and followed through with all her goals. She has asked for math tutor and is now having those extra lessons. She became a wonderful baker, really gifted and meticulous. It’s amazing to see her passion blossom. She got a tour of a professional bakery in one of Denver’s luxury hotels and is now even more empowered to take on more complicated bakes.

In addition to all of the above she also had her choir and karate, and participated in our local homeschool group’s Roots and Shoots projects. We are both ok with her staying home for at least one more school year, but anything can happen of course. After so many years of being more or less in control of the majority of our life, I am forced to learn to let go, trust and go with the flow. It’s not easy at all.

In the midst of everything, life goes on.

It was not an easy spring. A lot of heartache due to the war, having family on both sides of it. Covid finally got us after 2 years, not badly but with lingering side effects…work kept us busy and we are doing our best to keep each other sane. We mine the mundane for small joys, counting our blessings even if the anguish never leaves us completely. I found an absolutely delightful book by Sophie Blackall, it is called “Things to Look Forward To” , it proved to be such a comfort, and I will be keeping it on my bedside for a while.

Summer holidays are officially here. It’s hard to believe that next school year our son will be Senior and on his way out into the wide world. I want to hold on to every moment we have with him.

As always commitments pile up – a choir tour, festivals, but I hope we can find pockets of time to just be.

10th and 7th grades ending soon

May is here, and not many weeks are left in the school year. This was a very difficult year for all of us, and not just for the obvious reason of there being a pandemic and everything being upside down for everyone on this planet.

The storm is passing over…

For us it was also because my eldest had switched to the full time program with the school my kids attended for many years for homeschool supplement. It is a hybrid program with rigorous homework expectations and 2 days a week classroom meetings. Nothing new really for him as he has taken many difficult classes there, he is an overachiever and likes to learn, and yet…

Without getting into too many details, I can say it was not the best fit for him. He comes out on the other side an overworked, extremely anxious and burnt out kid.

Now we must figure out what to do in the next school year.

Baseline:

A teenager that is burnt out and sleep deprived, extremely discouraged, will not have the best of grades finishing the school year and that is ok for me (not for him, he has been A+ student all 10 years). He passed Accuplacer test for local community college with flying colors and is accepted to attend. He wants to learn and wants to be good in what he’s learning. He is on track to graduate per county requirements even if he does NOTHING AT ALL next year.

Things he misses the most about homeschooling: 1. Time in Nature 2. Sleep 3. Time to read.

The choices:

Option A:

Current arrangement he has with his school for the next year:

He’s back to school for 3 subjects. 2 more subjects per semester are taken in a community college through school’s concurrent enrollment program

Pros: He receives school issued diploma (college classes are counted as 1 semester=1 year).

Cons: 2 of the classes to be taken in school he does not care about much. The remaining one he likes and wants to take it with this teacher. Parents can’t pay for additional college classes. Anything he learns at home doesn’t matter for his transcript. No time left for anything besides two extracurriculars between college and school homework.

Now to what we can choose instead:

Option B

Revert back to homeschool status, staying with current school.

He takes that 1 class he really cares about with school, 1 class in college through school program. Total 3 classes from them, the rest at home. It is not clear if we are allowed to pay for extra college classes ourselves, we need to find that out. He receives 2+ separate transcripts and I issue the HS diploma.

Pros: He takes the majority of his classes at home at his pace, more control over his time, more freedom, he can still borrow textbooks for other subjects from school. School pays for 2 of his college classes.

Cons: If school prohibits us paying for extra college classes ourselves, it can be a problem. He can’t go back to full time with that school. No reason to think he can’t do it with another one though. We don’t really consider public school at this time, but who knows.

Option C

We pivot to full time homeschooling.

If he wants to pursue his associate degree at the same time, or just collect transferrable credits for university, he can. If he doesn’t want to go to college this coming grade, he can. He can work. He can do whatever he wants.

Pros: Freedom!

Cons: Can’t borrow textbooks from the school. None of his college classes will be paid for by school program.

We have to make the decision pretty soon. It may look like a no brainer but there are nuances in each of the two options. So far we have talked about what he really wants his life to look like (more time outside, more time to explore his interests, more freedom of movement instead of hopping from activity to activity in the car…), time to read, time to just be…these are all valid.

For my youngest I am considering withdrawing her from the program completely for many reasons, but we haven’t made any decisions yet.

Goodbye Summer- Hello New School Year!

We are saying goodbye to another summer. Last summer of my son’s tweens, as he’s turning 13 tomorrow. Last school year was incredibly busy, and quite stressful for us with intense extra curricular activities. But the summer was sweet (but short).
We hiked,played with friends and visited new places in our state. We made lovely memories.

 

 

Colorado National Monument

 

Rocky Mountain National Park

Golden Gate Canyon State Park

This week we have started school at home and at the homeschool program my kids attended for many years now. D. started grade 8 and C. started grade 5.

This school year at home will be different for us as D. will take all of his core subjects at the program and I will support and supplement at home, which is completely new, as it used to be the other way around. He wanted to take Algebra and Physical Science and I wanted to make sure that he gets the best possible instruction. I don’t mind these, but they are not my favorites. He also takes English there, US History and STEAM. His classes are twice a week.

C. still goes once a week to the program taking English, Colorado History, Science and Coding there, most of her school is done at home.

Both kids continue to sing with Young Voices of Colorado, D. is now in advanced male choir and considers Music Theory Exam in the end of the school year. C. is in second level of training choirs.

Both are still doing karate with D. being a junior black belt and C.- solid green.

At home my goal for this year is taking a calm approach (1st week was a failure in that term) . We are trying out Book Shark Curriculum for Language Arts and Science/History. Singapore math for C., D. is doing Saxon for the first time in the program (we used to do Singapore with him). We continue doing our Russian lessons, and D. is taking Spanish in addition to that. He is very excited.

My plate is full with my illustration work  and the commitments I made for volunteering at children’s choir.

It will be a very very busy year. I do miss the early grades and the lovely slow days we had.  But I also welcome the challenge of having a full schedule and measure our time to do both work and play. I hope we can spend enough time in nature, will have more read-alouds as a family.

 

Here’s to 2018-2019 school year, out 10th year of homeschooling.

Board Game Review: Rewordable

I am always on a lookout for a new board game. My kids adore those that involve language. Rewordable is a project by Allison Parish, Adam Simon and Tim Szetela. It is a card game aimed at 2-8 players aged 8 and up. I thought it will be a nice addition for our homeschooling needs as well.

The rules and set up is pretty straightforward, there is a deck of cards and tokens. Three cards go into a pool and each player gets 5 cards. Words are then created and tokens received. We played half a deck at out first round and it took us about 30 minutes to get through it. It was three of us me, an adult, a 7th grader and a 4th grader. All three of us had fun making up words. It was definitely not as easy as I thought at the beginning as one gets a letter or a suffix or a syllable and has to get creative with that. My 4th grader had a bit of a trouble at first, but then got into it and had tons of fun.

Overall impression: fun and quick game, perfect for a classroom or a quick round with family and friends. Rules are easy to follow. Cards are made of a sturdy material which is nice for those little fingers that won’t stay still. I definitely recommend it.

I received this game via Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

January 2017

Already a month into 2017. January sure went by fast. Yet at the same time it was a month of adjustment, rather than new beginnings.

We went back to doing school after nearly a month-long break. Kids went back to their extracurricular activities. I went back to my work and had a very productive month. Life moves in measured paces more or less, with a crazy day here and there of course.

 

We went to see Star Wars the Power of Costume in Denver Art Museum, and we absolutely loved it, such a large and thorough exhibit. Local people, if you haven’t yet, definitely go and take a look, it’s on until April.

D. did three days of World Peace Game with our homeschool group. It was such a valuable experience for him and made him think about current events more.

School was mostly “getting into the swing of things” and hopefully it will be better in February.

Gray and white cold days, splashes of color of mundane things – the combination seemed comforting somehow

 

 

My favorite moment was probably playing with Excentric Cinema book by Beatrice Coron. Kids had so much fun moving shadows and making up stories

I ended up making one of my own papercuts out of black paper and it worked too

 

Kids read (beyond a pile of re-reads):

D. read Pax by Sara Pennypacker and White Fang by Jack London

C. read BFG by Roald Dahl and Amazing Animal Stories by Quentin Blake

Mama read Spaceman by Mike Massimino and absolutely loved it

 

I have opened a bookstagram  with most of our reads. Come and take a look. I have a Litsy account under the same username too.

So this was our January. February looks quite busy, but it is also shorter. I hope to keep the measured pace and not give in to the crazy moments.

 

 

Goodbye November +Advent Calendar

November is over. And thank goodness. Somehow it turned out to be so much more stressful than I was hoping it would be. There were quite a few shocks close to heart and there were and are a lot of things to ponder and re-evaluate.

What have we been up to:

-Lots of field trips: We went to Denver Art Museum and saw Glory of Venice and Japanese Fashion Exhibits. We went to Denver Museum of Nature and Science and saw Extreme Mammals exhibit, as well as Mummies (D. loved it so much, C. on the other hand hated it, “too many dead bodies”, I must say it was interesting but I didn’t enjoy it as much for the same reason). We went and listened to an awesome Drums of the World performance by Colorado Symphony. Even got to do Mannequin Challenge with them. We took a tour around Denver Center for the Performance Arts. D. and I did it once when he was in the first grade, but we had an awesome guide this time around and, since I am so much more in touch with my artistic side now, I achieved new levels of appreciation for the backstage workers, designers and craftsmen.

-The weather was fickle, with winds, first snow and some icy rain. But plenty of sunny days too.  We were busy with extracurriculars too- both kids had a dress rehearsal for the choir concert (C. can’t wait to debut, I unfortunately will have to chaperone and watch her from the backstage instead of the audience), both participated in karate tournament. C. did extremely well, was brave and endured long waits. D. did well too, but he also got hurt, not seriously but enough for me to consider taking him to the ER. He was ok in the end, very thankful for that.

-Also thankful for friends that we were finally able to have over for dinner, thankful for everyone being overall okay and even husbands medical concern isn’t serious and very treatable.

-We have two intense weeks ahead of us, two concerts for each of the kids, tournament training at karate, I will most likely cancel our mid-year testing, I don’t think kids will handle 4 hours and then a long rehearsal all in the same day. We all need rest.

-As usual I have made an advent calendar for kids, they ask for it and really look forward to simple activities we do. The list is pretty much the same as last year, the only thing I added is “grant each other’s wish” (with a reminder to keep it realistic and kind)

Kids read a lot in November: D’s favorite was “Marvels” by Brian Selznick and C. loved Grace Lin’s “Starry River of the Sky”. I am hoping to do a little book advent as well as the one with the activities we’ll see how it goes.

Hopefully, December is kind to all of us

Goodbye October+ First Week of November

October is over, whaaat?

That was one crazy month. Even though we didn’t have a particularly heavy schedule life seemed busy.

What have we been up to in October:

-We had guests: D’s godfather and his wife came to visit and spent nearly a week with us. We were so happy to see them and their visit gave us the longed-for opportunity to take a small break in our studies.

-I received kids’ MAPS test scores and was pleasantly surprised to see how well kids did, especially C. who tested as a third grader (to have her sip the grade was a spontaneous decision and I am still questioning it from time to time),  D. did wonderfully, but he almost always does, good job to both of them.

-Studies at home went well for the most part. We hardly had time for much besides core subjects for some reason, I am glad kids take science and history at co-op, this way at least  there they got their electives covered. They did lots of art on their own. But that would be my major goal to get beyond core in November.

-C. had her choir camp, D. was working very hard in Concert Choir and helped his friends there learn a song in Russian. They sound really good, can’t wait to hear them at the concert as well.

-We all got through a stomach bug, that makes it two times we got sick this school year. Something needs to be done.

-The weather was gorgeous, we got to see some amazing colors. The trees are getting bare now and we are ready (well, almost ready) for winter.

First week of November was loaded with things to do and thoughts to process:

-C. is heading to her first karate tournament next week, so she’s working very hard on learning her forms and practicing sparring. D. is going too, but it’s his 10th, so he’s more relaxed this time around.

-We went to Denver Art Museum

-Just a handful of practices remains for choir before the big concert. Looking forward to that a lot.

–I finally opened my Etsy store, YAAAAY! I have put a few cards out already, so come and check it out.

 

What my kids read in October:

C. read “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” by Brian Selznick and it took her all month to get through the book, but she loved it

D. read

The Archer’s Goon by Diana Wynne Jones,

Call of the Wild by Jack London, and

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

There were also tons of re-reads, which I didn’t keep track of.

Mama read:

Across the Universe Trilogy by Beth Revis. I read quite a bit of Young Adult novels this year, not just because they’re fun, but also to add to D’s “to be read” pile, this trilogy, although it was fast-paced and interesting read will have to wait for a couple of years.

 

Plans for November:

We have A LOT going on outside of home. I will need to try and balance it out so our school at home doesn’t suffer. But personally, I hope to reach the level of calm that will support me throughout the winter months.The past weeks were anything but calm, there was anxiety, there were struggles with children and general uneasiness about certain matters. Health wasn’t the best either, especially for kids. I crave the sense of calm and simplicity, so I will work on that this month.  I am already preparing for our December celebrations and hopefully will make an advent calendar slowly instead of at the last minute like past years.

 

 

September Round Up + First Week of October

September flew by and first week of October is also gone.

What was our September like?

-We were quite busy with school and extracurricular activities. After we settled in the routine our tempo picked up a little bit. Both kids had their MAPS testing, still awaiting the results, but  I am confident they did well. Both kids had their camps at choir. D. also participated in Songs of Holocaust event with his choir. Both got through the first bad cold (I got it too, ugh).  There were a couple of outings- we went to the Ice Core Lab and learned about Antarctic Ice and the process of getting it, it was very interesting, we got to go to the lab itself, the temperature was very low, kids got to learn first hand what it must be like to do a work of getting the ice from Antarctica.

We also went to Denver Botanic Gardens, which we try to do every year around the same time (many thanks to our friends for taking us along). The flowers and trees were absolutely beautiful and all of us got to sketch a little right there in the gardens.

Fall is truly here now, especially comparing the the first week of September with it’s “still summer” warmth.

-First week of October was very special for us as we had dear friends visiting. It also coincided with our first break this school year.  We went to the mountains and saw some first snowflakes and to Colorado Springs to the Garden of the Gods. It was absolutely lovely to have them over and we are truly thankful they came to visit.

-I am working more and more on my art, I had some good things happen in September and I hope October is even better. Etsy shop is coming soon too.

 

–What were my kids reading:

This list runs from beginning of school and through the month of September. I only count new books, something they haven’t read before. But as usual there were tons of re-reads.

D. read:

Fiction: Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt, King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pye, Matilda by Roald Dahl

Non Fiction: How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming by Mike Brown, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by Bryan Mealer and William Kamkwamba

Russian: Скифы в Остроконечных Шапках С. Фингарет, Каштанка и другие рассказы А.П. Чехов, М. Горбовцев “Мишкино Детство”

C. read:

Ollie’s Odyssey by William Joyce, The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate, The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl, Primates by Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks, A Nest for Celeste by Henry Cole, The Fantastic Flying Journey by Gerald Durrell

In Russian:Сельма Лагерлёф “Путешествие Нильса с дикими гусями”,  “В Лесу” М.С. Соколов-Микитов

 

Overall, the month of September was good to us, let’s hope October will be even better.

 

 

 

WEEKLY ROUND UP: 10% of school year is done :D

Well, I was away from the blog again. With the school year in full swing days fly by very very fast. The weather cooled down at last and we have our comforters out. Even though the sun can still be quite brutal, we can safely say that summer moved on. Truly thankful for that.

 

What have we been up to:

–School at home goes well,  mostly routine, we are settled into our daily rhythm and overall it is good. 10 % of the school year is done, hehehe. Kids had their testing this past Wednesday and seemed to have done ok, even though little C. forgot a lot of her math over the summer. D. gets lots of new information in math now, algebraic equations, exponents,  it is all very exciting. C. is ready to start multiplications in earnest. Both read and write a lot. C’s spelling has improved tremendously.

–Outside of home: extracurriculars progress nicely, D. is getting ready for a sleepover with his choir next week, C. had a couple of choir practices and seems to be loving it so far. Karate goes great for both as well. I am surprised how much C. loves it considering she wouldn’t even hear of trying  a couple of months ago. Now she’s fully focused on her practice and tries her hardest to keep up with more experienced kids. She’s an only girl in her Saturday class but it doesn’t bother her at all.  We had a lovely outing with friends in one of the local parks, it used to be my “pregnancy promenade” when I was expecting C. but then we moved away and I never returned there. I forgot how pretty it was with all the water and birds, the grand time was had by all of us.

-The House: we have interrupted our kitchen repairs. Interrupted is the right word here, I guess, since the repairs are truly never-ending. There are still minor things that need to be finished- some paint touch ups here and there, new curtains need to be put up. Downstairs bathroom needs to be done asap…But our kitchen is cleaner now and looks completely different. We went from yellow/ black to green/white/light furniture combination.

– Cooking: the highlight of the week is

Breakfast Pasta Bake

-cooked pasta (we had elbows)

-5 eggs plus 1/2 c of milk

-thinly sliced baby zicchini

-shredded cheese

-salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 350 F

Put boiled elbow pasta into a greased oven-proof dish, pout egg and milk mixture over, bake for about 20 minutes, sprinkle extra cheese on top and bake for another 3-5 minutes.

Enjoy!

 

-What are we reading:

D. read “How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming” by Mike Brown, he was absolutely fascinated by the process of discovering a new planet and wants to learn more about space now

C. reads Ollie’s Odyssey by William Joyce

Together they are reading Women in Science by Rachel Ignotofsky and Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Birute Galdikas

I read The Light Between Oceans by M.L.Stedman . I enjoyed this book, such a very sad story, but the descriptions of a life at the lighthouse were beautiful and fascinating. I am not sure whether I will see the movie, but I might.

Plans for the next week:

We have quite a schedule- doctor for D, a field trip, choir camp for D. I had to cancel one of the clubs kids were looking forward to, it was getting too crazy …Overall life is good.

Hope next week is fun and pleasant for everyone.

Women in Science by Rachel Ignotofsky

Both of my children want to be scientists when they grow up. We often talk about great scientists and their contributions. It’s true that most scientists we are coming across in books are men. But it’s changing and women’s role in science is being acknowledged more and more often. The book Women in Science, written and illustrated by Rachel Ignotofsky addresses exactly that.

The book allows a spread per scientist and covers about 50 brilliant women that contributed to the scientific discovery throughout the centuries, starting with ancient times and up to our days. Each spread features facts from a scientist’s life, her contributions and an awesome portrait illustration with additional facts surrounding her. The book is very fun to leaf through and even more fun to read. Many of these scientists I am learning about for the for the first time and some are like old friends. My daughter was delighted to see her favorite Jane Goodall featured here, and Valentina Tereshkova, first woman in space. Most of the scientists covered in this book are Americans, although there are a few Europeans featured, as well as Asians. I wish there were more representatives from around the world, but we can’t have everything. There are more women mentioned in the end of the book, they didn’t get a spread, but they are there.

Overall impression: My children and I enjoy this book and found information straightforward and easy to understand. The illustrations add to the amazement of fantastic discoveries these women scientists brought to the world. This book is a valuable addition to our home library.

 

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair an unbiased review.