Well, we finished our school year up the week before Memorial Day. Should we say our year is in the books or our books have checked out for the year? Either way, we are finished. We accomplished quite a bit, yet I always feel like we didn't do enough. I should not feel that way. Maybe all homeschool moms feel that way. The kids in school get certificates and awards for the work they put in, but our kids have memories and workbooks, and stacks upon stacks of material they read sitting on our shelves. No one gives them an award most of the time. Do you think our children feel jipped or that they are missing out? Likely, they are too busy enjoying their summer to even think about it most of the time, but us mothers sit and wonder if there isn't a way we could recognize our children for their accomplishments. Granted, some participate in things where this can happen. I give my children the award for attendance. They did not miss a day the whole year. I give my youngest an award for learning to read this year. He did an amazing job and I am so proud of him. My oldest wrote his first research paper and I think he did great. Sure, things could be improved, but who can honestly say that they can't improve in some area of their lives? I know I can improve in many ways.
This week, I attended the CHAP Homeschool Convention in Lancaster. It was a nice getaway for the hubs and I. We only stayed overnight and came back the next day, but we got a lot accomplished I think. This year, we plan to try something different for our youngest. Since he seems to like doing work independently, we thought he'd like ACE. This is a program that is self-guided, for the most part. He won't be doing all the courses available, just 3, but I am adding All About Reading, Horizons Math, and an Astronomy course to his agenda. He is currently almost halfway through Level 3 of All About Reading and I got the 4th and final level for him to do next school year, after he's finished with level 3. The astronomy course looked pretty cool. We came across it in our perusing of vendors. I heard, "Do you want to sign up to win a free telescope?", to which I replied, "What do I have to do if I do?" I admit to always looking for the hook from others. I don't think most things are offered because they want me to get a deal, but rather so they can put me on their mailing list and pester me for the rest of my days. Reluctantly, we stopped and I did sign up, right under someone else whose name I recognized. I haven't seen said person for at least a year and hoped I would run into her, but sadly didn't. Hopefully soon though, as I found out from another that their family has moved back to our area. Good to know! Anyway, we stopped and after I signed up (sadly, I didn't win), I listened to what they had to say about their homeschool astronomy program, which is done via a computer. They have 3 levels, 2 of which we ended up purchasing, one for elementary and the other for junior high, which he recommended we use for our 6th grader. It will be interesting to see how the boys like it. I was impressed with what I saw and happy to find something different. We've done a lot of biology so far, mainly because that has been their interest, but I wanted something new this year. I had found a chemistry by MasterBooks that I had planned on purchasing, but decided to try that next year after coming across this. I also purchased math for both of them, Horizons for the younger and Teaching Textbooks for the older, level 7. Don't tell him but next year gets a bit tougher. Looks like the next level is pre-algebra! Things are getting real up in here! I did not purchase history or reading for the older, but I did sneak into the Sonlight arena and spy on the curriculum I plan to use. This year we want to do the second half of American History. Thankfully, the people there didn't "attack" me. They handed me a catalog and let me look at things in peace, but came back to ask if I had any questions later, which I did. I like this hands off approach. I don't like feeling pressured, especially when looking at pricey curriculum. We came, we saw, we walked away, breathing a sigh of relief. Yes, that is the introvert in me I guess. I talk when I feel like it, but hate being badgered. I did manage to get a vocabulary book with tests for him. We enjoyed that this year, Wordly Wise 3000.
Along the way, we stopped and looked at different displays. One I see there each year is a vendor that sells natural soaps and other similar products. According to the woman at the booth, they originally started out by doing experiments and projects with their homeschool. Over time, it has become a successful business, even though all of her kids are grown and no longer in school. I believe it is Virginia Soaps & Scents. We bought one bar of soap (they have a ton of different ones to choose from), a stain remover bar, a natural bug spray, and a deodorant bar of Himalayan Salt. Trust me, I got off easy because I love this kind of stuff but tried to keep purchases to a minimum. I saw that I can find them online so may be purchasing again from them in the near future. Another vendor we "found", and I say it that way because we passed him and he asked us if he could give us his pitch in 30 seconds, to which I said, "Can you?" This of course made him say, "May I?" (always the grammar police I am!), and let him try. I do not think he actually did only take 30 seconds, which I told him afterwards, but he said it was because I asked questions. The curriculum was a Bible based program that is called Cat and Dog Theology and is meant to make our children better followers of God. It did look intriguing, and although we didn't commit to buying it that day, we are still thinking about possibly getting it. Look it up if you are curious, but we think our kids could benefit from this program, making them want to be better people, listen more to us, want to help others more readily, etc. It was intriguing, although we weren't thrilled with it's price, esp. when they have separate programs for the different age groups our boys happen to be in.
So that's it in a nutshell. We had a short but productive trip and I look forward to next school year. Our summer has officially started and next weekend we go on our first planned camping trip. It is close to home but it gets us "away" and staying in our RV for a weekend with friends. Next month, we have reservations in Watkins Glen, NY and in August we will travel to Cook Forest. Hopefully there will be other trips in between baseball tournaments. Happy summer friends. May all your summer dreams come true!
