School Begins....Our 7th Year!!!

We started our new school year August 7th. This year is different than all the rest---for one thing DD 17 is graduating this year. I am shell-shocked by this knowledge. I can remember her first day of school like it was yesterday.

DD 17 is taking 2 classes at our local community college. They will give her a headstart for when she starts her college education in Fall 2009. I have learned that 80% of high school graduates who begin college require a remedial math and/or reading class. I would like to avoid that for DD. One of her classes is Elementary Algebra which is high school algebra. The reading class is designed to give her the necessary comprehension and study skills required for college textbooks. These are semester classes--they do a year's worth in 1 semester. Once she gets through these we will evaluate how to use her 2nd semester to her advantage.

DD 16 is in 10th grade. We are trying something different with her veering a little more on the unschooling side, but still with a purpose and goal in mind. For her Biology she is doing Animal Biology & Care, instead of human biology. Of course I will tie the two together in our discussions, but she has a passion for animals and if this is what motivates her to learn, so be it. I have discussed with our local vet the possibility of her doing on-going mentoring throughout the year. He was very open to it and DD 16 is excited about the possibilities. She is also doing a lot more reading, ie., fiction, classics, non-fiction etc. This is a vast improvement from last year when it was like pulling teeth from an alligator to get her to read anything.

DD 10 is now in 5th grade. Amazing!! My baby is growing up as fast as the other two did. What is a mother to do? I am excited about our school year plan for her. This will be the first year that there hasn't been some kind of major distraction that has kept my time divided too thin. We begin our Beyond 2 unit studies with Sarah, Plain & Tall and I know she is just going to love the wonderful lessons that go along with it. I mean, I'M excited so it's bound to rub off! :) I am also using a new spelling curriculum called Sequential Spelling. We have been using it for 2 weeks now and we both love it! Her confidence grows with each lesson.

I have so much hope for this year. I believe there are going to be learning leaps for each of my girls.