Getting Ready for Homeschool Graduation

 I've posted something similar three years ago when the last kid graduated.  Now, here we are - getting ready for high school graduate #4.

Since this kid is also a dual enrollment student at the college, I need to wait until she has her final exams at the college to graduate her from our homeschool.  Her college exams will be during the first week of May.  On her paperwork, I will probably put her high school graduation date as May 1, 2025.  Just to keep things simple.

Here's my homeschool graduation checklist:

• Transcripts
• I make these on Microsoft Word, but Google Docs or Excel or anything else would be fine.  I finalize all her grades and GPA on the transcript.  I print out 10 copies, sign them, place 3 or 4 into envelopes, seal the envelopes and sign my name/date across the back.  I then put all of these transcripts into her Graduation Folder (which is literally a folder).
• Graduation Packet
• This is a folder where I print out booklists, curriculum we used, volunteer work/dates, sports they played, activities, leadership activities (like Scouts), awards (some of mine held sports records), etc.  This goes in the folder with the transcripts.
• Diploma, Cap and Gown, and Tassel
• I order these from www.homeschooldiploma.com.  I design an individual diploma for each student and choose colors for their tassel.  Two of my kids had tassel colors based off their team colors (they did track and football).  One kid had her colors chosen by a sibling.  
• Graduation Pictures
• This is pretty obvious
• Graduation Announcements
• I think I will order these from www.snapfish.com.  
• Scrapbook
• I make a scrapbook for each kid and give it to them at graduation.  I also make these on Snapfish.
• Gift Bag and Ceremony
• We have a tiny ceremony in our dining room with just family.  We give them a gift bag, their diploma and their graduation packet

That's it!  My daughter is already taking college classes, so nothing is really going to change for her in the fall other than she will take a full-time college load, instead of two classes at a time.  She's already picking out her fall classes and putting them in her registration cart.

She is graduating high school as a 17 year-old (a year early), but having completed high school and four college courses (Composition 1, Composition 2, US History 1 and Kinesiology).

Planning for High School Graduation

I'm graduating my 17 year-old in May.  If she went to public school, she would be a high school junior this year.  Because we homeschool, she's been able to take dual enrollment classes at the college all year.  She has a large number of credits: 35.5.  It wouldn't be worth it to have a senior year of high school.  She has a 4.0 college GPA also.

Here's my graduation checklist:

• Finalize transcripts
• I make these for free on Word.
• I print, sign and date about 10 copies.  I place three copies in envelopes, seal them and sign/date the back of the envelopes.
• Graduation Packet
• This is also a Word document that's several pages long.  I include information she may need when filling out college applications like volunteer hours, dates, curriculum used, sports/activities, awards, etc.
• Graduation Folder
• I place all the transcripts, envelopes, the graduation packet and any other paperwork or awards into a folder.  I give her the folder at graduation.
• Diploma
• I'm ordering a diploma from www.homeschooldiploma.com.  I'm also ordering a tassel from them.
• Cap/Gown
• I bought one a couple of years ago from www.homeschooldiploma.com, so we will be using that for pictures.
• Graduation Pictures
• Scrapbook
• I'm making her a picture scrapbook on Snapfish.
• Gift Bag
• I'm putting a gift bag with some gifts together for her to give at graduation.

Mid-Year Curriculum Review (4th and 12th Grade), including Sonlight D

 Mid-Year Curriculum Review for 4th Grade

Sonlight D US History 1 with Readers 3

We are working through the new Sonlight D with some of the older books added in from the 2017 version.  We're also reading the regular readers + the advanced readers.  So, it is going to take a big chunk of time to get through this Sonlight level.  I'm expecting to be finished by the end of next summer.  I'm ok with that, because some of the books in this level are some of Sonlight's best selections.

I am not using Sonlight's Bible selections this year - I substituted 100 Bible Stories (Concordia Publishing House), My First Catechism (Lutheran) and The Apostles (Adventures in Faith).  We are almost finished with 100 Bible Stories and My First Catechism.  Both are excellent.

Some of my son's favorites from Sonlight D this year are:

• Explore Native American Cultures!
• Pocahontas and the Strangers (this is from the 2017 version)
• Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims
• The Corn Grows Ripe

Math

We switched from Wild Math to Beast Academy + IXL 4th Grade Math Workbook.  I should've stayed with Wild Math.  He enjoyed that program so much more.  We're using the online version of Beast Academy and the timers in the exercises stress him out.  He did learn a lot from the IXL workbook, but he doesn't like the repetitive exercises.  I've resorted to teaching math without a curriculum, adding in some project-based math (which he really likes) and using Beast Academy as a supplement.  In other words, I really messed up his math this year, but he is still making progress with it.

Language Arts

Early on, we dropped Masterbooks LA, because it was a terrible fit for him.  There's also no real support in their Facebook group for parents who are having difficulties with their curriculum due to dyslexia or learning issues.  I taught him the parts of speech without a curriculum.  We are also using Mad Libs for fun.  He's doing free writing, which he loves.

All About Spelling is a giant thumbs up.  Very dyslexia-friendly, also.

Handwriting without Tears = no complaints.  Super self-explanatory and simple to use.

I have stopped using Barton at level 4, because his reading has just taken off.  Barton got him reading when no other reading program could.

Science

We are using Abeka's 4th grade science textbook, Understanding God's World.  This is super simple to teach from.  I just have the textbook, which I understand there's a workbook and teacher's manual, but he is not going to want to fill out workbook pages.  I read the lesson with him and we do the short lab/demonstration at the end of each lesson.  We do the review questions out loud together.

I have really enjoyed teaching from this textbook.  My son loved the birds unit.  We took a rabbit trail from the animal unit to read a bunch of library books about animals, but we will return to the textbook afterwards.  

All of the labs/demonstrations have worked and they use simple objects from around the house.

French

We're watching the French with Mr. Innes series on Youtube and I think this is my son's favorite subject.  These videos are excellent for elementary-aged kids.  He has a more complete curriculum on his website that we intend to subscribe to when we finish the YouTube series.

Art

Artistic Pursuits Book 1 is going well.  Sometimes, he does not want to do the exercises in the book, but wants to do his own art, which is fine.  He's filled up an entire sketchbook this semester.

Mid-Year Curriculum Review for 12th Grade

My 12th grader is actually supposed to be an 11th grader (if she went to public school - she just turned 17 a couple of weeks ago).  But, she started taking college classes in August and is only doing three home made courses with me this year.  I'm graduating her in May.

Personal Finance

We use Mathusee Stewardship for this subject and it's also excellent.  No complaints.

Classical Literature

We put this list together ourselves and it's been a great list of books.  She's read almost the entire list at this point, so she will probably be finished in January.  Her list includes:

• The Epic of Gilgamesh
• Sophocles' The Three Theban Plays
• Beowulf
• Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
• Shakespeare's Poems and Sonnets
• Shakespeare's MacBeth --> she's currently here in the list
• Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream

Dual enrollment courses at the college

She's taking English 1301 (Composition 1) and Kinesiology 1164 (Intro to Health and Physical Fitness).  She has 100% in both classes.  Since it's almost time for finals, I'm assuming she will end the semester with a 4.0.  She's registered for English 1302 and US History 1 for the spring semester.

The one thing I would be wary of with dual enrollment classes is adult content in the classes.  My student is a minor, so that was a topic I was concerned with.  So far, we have not had any problems and she likes her professors.  

Our 12th Grade Plans 2024-2025

 Here it is.  We've worked out our last year of high school.  Her goal is to try to go professional with ballet, so we are being flexible with our idea of college.  She is going to do dual credit/enrollment at the college this fall.  Our goal is to possibly finish a general studies Associate's degree, so she has a head start on college if she decides to stop ballet.  

At Home:

• Classical Literature - reading through some classics on her own
• Personal Finance - Mathusee Stewardship and we'll try Investopedia
• German II - I'm putting this together somehow
• Music - working on guitar.  She has a classical, acoustic, electric and a ukulele
• Art - trying to find her a class at the pottery shop here

Dual Credit at the College (fall)

• English 1
• Intro to Kinesiology

Extracurriculars

• Still teaching gymnastics
• Ballet classes + a preprofessional camp this summer she's auditioning for
• Church activities

February Planning for 2024-2025

 Nothing is set in stone, but I've started to do some planning for later this spring as we finish up everything.  Due to dyslexia and ADHD issues, I'm changing our homeschool method a bit for the youngest kid.  Up to this point, he has been using a lot of curriculum.  I'm going to move away from that and tailor everything to him.

My tentative plan for 4th grade:

Bible

• Finish 100 Bible Stories
• Mini classes I'm going to put together on Lutheran Catechism and the Apostles

Math

• Beast Academy

Reading/Language Arts

• Barton (reading and spelling for dyslexia)
• Readers
• Handwriting without Tears cursive

French

• continue Ecoutez, Parlez!

Literature, History and Science

• By interest and with as much hands-on, experiential learning as possible

Music and Art

• Art - he's been doing this himself using online videos
• Continue Piano, start ukulele

Electives

• He wants to try woodworking
• Unit on First Aid and Safety

My tentative plan for 12th grade:

Math

• Mathusee Stewardship
• Investopedia

English

• Continue The Elements of Style Workbook

Art and Music

• Continue classical guitar, acoustic guitar and ukulele
• We're trying to find pottery classes

Literature

• Reading through classical literature that she chooses

Dual Enrollment at the college (hopefully)

New Curriculum Review: Mathusee Stewardship

 This just arrived from Rainbow Resource:  https://stewardshipmath.com

This is going to be my 16 year-old's last high school year (most likely) and I couldn't decide if I wanted her to continue with Precalculus or do this Stewardship course.  She plans to major in Fine Arts, so I decided to buy the Stewardship.  She will never use Precalculus in her daily life.  But, this Stewardship course looked incredible.

I'm going to put one credit of Personal Finance on her transcript when she completes this.

It covers personal finance/consumer math, including these topics:

• income
• income taxes
• banking/credit unions
• budgeting
• credit cards
• comparison shopping
• vehicle ownership/purchasing
• mortgages
• house ownership costs
• compound interest
• investing
• charity
• insurance

It comes with 4 parts:

•  digital code to see the lectures online
• instruction manual (textbook, basically)
• student workbook
• biblical studies book (which covers what the Bible says about different financial topics)

I'm planning to have her start this by August at the latest.  1 credit under the category of math: Personal Finance.

School Plans for 2021-2022

 We school year-round and are going to be finished with our stuff in 4 weeks.  I would really like to take a break after we finish this round, because this has been a very hard year.  I do need a break.  We've also had a number of significant life changes this year - two kids going to college, etc.  

The kids do not want to take a break.  *sigh*

The kids do not want to do interest-led learning (that was my idea). *sigh*

The kids do not want to do Sonlight for the fall (my go-to curriculum when I need an actual curriculum, because life is overwhelming).  *double sigh*  They both want to continue unit studies (claiming they learn more - bwah ha ha haha).  *rolling my eyes*

Ok, learning = good.  Me = exhausted.

😅  

Here are the plans we all came up with together.

Changes for ME

• After a four year hiatus, I am back to using Evernote.  I have this installed on all of my devices and that way I can access our records and plans from the laptop or my Kindle, etc.  I've created some planning notebooks and record-keeping notebooks.
• I broke down and bought a new Kindle.  The old one was maybe 7 years old and had stopped working, which meant that we stopped buying Kindle books.  We have so many Kindle books that I needed to just buy a new one.  Now I can buy books on Kindle again, because we are running out of room in this house for books.  

6 Year-old (Late K-1st Grade)

Bible

• Finish the Beginner's Bible
• Not sure after that

Math

• Wild Math - I bought the pdf and downloaded it onto the Kindle.  It's a kinesthetic math program meant to be taught outside.
• Accessories I bought - Yard Dice, a Montessori 100 Board, a child-safe tape measure
• Need to make: I have a bucket of river rocks that I'm going to paint numbers on
• I'll add Living Math books with each unit

Reading/Language Arts

• Continue Explode the Code
• BOB Books and phonics readers from the library
• Continue Handwriting without Tears
• Read-aloud from the library or bookshelf

Science

• Continue Summer's Lab - looks like we will finish in Oct/Nov
• Sassafras Adventures: Zoology (same curriculum as Summer's Lab)

Social Studies

• Library books or books from the bookshelf

I spent about $85 on his schoolbooks/math accessories.  (I already had Summer's Lab and his current ETC workbook)

13 Year-old (9th Grade)

Math

• Finish Algebra 1 (she's a third of the way through it)
• Begin Mathusee Geometry

Theater Class (outsourced)

16 Year-old (12th Grade - she is skipping her Junior year)

Math

• Mathusee Stewardship - Personal Finance/Consumer Math - we decided to do this instead of Precalculus, because it looked so much more useful.  It covers credit cards, mortgages, investing, car loans, buying a house, comparison of costs, taxes, etc.  In hindsight, I wish I would've used this with the older two kids.

Finish Government/Economics

• She's already done a lot with government this year, but I'm going to add some living books for both of these subjects and combine them in one course on her transcript.  She's currently reading the Ray Maybury books - Whatever Happened to Justice? and she'll read Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? next.  After that, I'm going to need to look around.  One of my friends is recommending the Marginal Revolution Economics videos:  https://mru.org  I plan to be finished over the summer.

Shakespearean Theater Class (Outsourced)

SAT Prep

Both Teens Together 

English

• Literature selection from the library or bookshelf - using Bravewriter or Progeny Press Literature Guide
• Read-aloud
• Language Lessons for the High School Student (Queen's Homeschool)
• Creative writing

World Geography

• Trail Guide to World Geography (this includes Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide)
• Mapping the World with Art
• Living Books about different parts of the world

Science  (rotating Physics one day. Chemistry the next.)

• Physics
• Lab-based using Conceptual Physics as a guide (I bought this textbook used on Amazon)
• Mythbusters videos, YouTube videos, etc
• Chemistry
• Masterbooks Chemistry (lab-focused)
• Labs

Beginning Coding

•  MIT's Scratch (free online)

German

• Everyone just work on their Komm Mit texts with me

Bible

• Continue Bible readings
• Missionary Book/read-aloud - some from the Christian Heroes, Then and Now series - some not
• Continue Friday morning Bible discussions, Saint & Hymn studies, etc

I spent about $195 on the two teens' schoolbooks.  (I already own a lot of science lab equipment and I plan to use the library)

My total cost for the three kids this weekend: about $300.  I ordered from Rainbow Resource, the Wild Math website and Amazon (for math manipulatives).