7th Grade! You're in Junior High

I hope one day you remember how much coaxing it took to pull out the girly side for these photos.
You look like you wear pink, plad mini skirts every day of the week when in fact, you usually dress in some kind of mismatched sweatpants and dirty socks! But there it is -the sassy side. It's in there. And once or twice a year, we manage to find it.





The beginning of this school year was fraught with drama over what to do with you. I was this close to putting you in the nearest public school with bus access. I also considered a charter military school. No, I'm not kidding. A couple of minutes to midnight, I finally decided to secede and enroll you with MyTechHigh again -homeschool. Well, it's been going better, whatever spell you had fallen slave to that caused the careless lazyness with school work was finally cracked and you are taking command of your education and doing better. As a result, you are also much happier.

6th grade going on college

It's amazing what a little hair wave will do. Looking so mature in this school picture for 6th grade.

Let's get this party started

We got pretty well behind in several subjects last year due to Sofia's marching by the beat of her own drum. So, we worked hard through the summer to finish up math, writing, and we're still working on chemistry. We're almost to the 5th grade finish line, though we've already started 6th. Hooray for homeschool flexibility. And, Sofia loves chemistry.

School Begins: 5th Grade

Homeschooling

Source: TopMastersInEducation.com

4th Grade

Sofia begins fourth grade this school year with My Tech High again and the Provo eSchool.  We continue with our classical curriculum for language arts, Writing With Ease 4 and First Language Lessons 4, All About Spelling levels 5-6, Right Start Math level E, Story of the World Vol 2, RSO Science Earth & Space, as well as some extras we will throw in as time allows such as Meet The Masters for art, Song School Spanish, Song School Latin, a bit of US Geography, a tiny bit of World Geography, Typing, and also her tech class, Cartoon Animation.

Admittedly, this could be the year that breaks the camels back. (Yes, I'm the camel). Sofia marches to the beat of her own drum which doesn't jive so well when it comes down to efficiently getting stuff done in the realm of school work. (It would be no different in public school).  When I first started homeschooling her, fourth grade is as far as I could possibly see going with it into the future. I think that was probably more of a reflection on my own confidence with homeschooling. Now, I feel pretty well prepared to continue into higher grades, but I'm not so sure I have the stamina to do so --growing pains I'm hoping to get through this year. Never the less, the overall picture of her school performance is good and I don't feel there is a better educational alternative for her at this point, where we live.

Her interest in reading has recently been re-ignited after a long hiatus which is a really positive thing. Her weakest subject continues to be writing and expression, though last year's end-of-year test scores through me for a loop with high scores in L.A. and lower than expected scores in math. But her level of success on formal tests usually is a result of how well she can manage to hone her attention on the task at hand. This, of course, is at the center of the conundrum which is Sofia's ADHD story.

So this year, I'm struggling a little between different methodologies, the innate drive to militantly place the core subjects at the top of the priority list and getting stuff done efficiently, and the wiser, more zen desire to prioritize by interest level and energy level. Should we do more "fun" things and ignore the drilling?  Will I be OK if she can't budget her money, or write a three cohesive sentences together (something I still struggle to do even now), as long a she's happily coloring and making pictures with glitter glue?  I don't know.  I would love to think she will learn and teach herself in an interest-lead manner, and everything will magically come out splendidly. But, my type A personality doesn't think so.  So I try to go both ways, which is really neither way, but somehow, I'm trying to find a balance.

3rd Grade Graduation

We completed our schooling efforts about three weeks ago.  There wasn't much of a to do about it so I decided to throw Sofia and Marcelo a quick graduation ceremony complete with confetti and diplomas.

The graduation presents, kids kayaks. How fun. We have a tandem adult kayak but someone it seems it would be funner to be a kid with a kid kayak.

I'm so glad I caught these two moments on film digital.  

Between all the aggravation and darkness that children can cause [me], there are these moments of light and hope.

Sofia's reaction as I inform her of our summer homeschool plans.  Yes, learning is year round.  One of her summer school subjects, the 50 States using Little Passports USA Edition and selected books.

Regard her focus and careful deliberation as she reads the intro page.

And then ...

[High five to myself]

STOW: Christianity

Oh yes, we did.

Why not visit the Mormon Temple with the Christmas lights and life size nativity set for our Story of the World: Ancient History studies on the beginning of Christianity.

Truth be told, this was a completely impromptu stop after Marcelo's dance performance at the Salt Lake County Fair Grounds. We didn't want to drive back in rush hour traffic, so to make the most out of our trip to downtown Salt Lake, we went to the new City Creek Mall and as I couldn't suffer through Ray's psychotic episode over figuring out where to park, I told him to drop us off at the temple so we could go see the lights while he figured out where to park in the gigantic city that is Salt Lake. (It's sad when people get old. It really is).

At first the kids were delighted. Then, exactly twelve seconds later, the incredible nordic cold hit them in the face and they were not so delighted anymore. Especially, Peter, whose little experience with the discomfort of the elements prompted him to take it as a personal assault.

The lights were not as enchanting as I thought they would be up close and I had completely forgotten about the nativity set at this time of year. Duh. So, when we walked up to it, naturally, I took it as an excellent opportunity to review the material we had recently covered in Chapter 39.

There were a couple of times when the kids where walking off a little too quickly and I had to refer to the Lord's name and it was quite refreshing that for once, it was an appropriate place to use his name.

When the mysterious voice started telling the story of Mary and Joseph, the kids were actually looking at each other like that was weird, while I thought it was completely normal.  I think they're overall impression was that religious temples are painfully gelid places and one must have the fortitude of body and mind to be able to visit one.

It was a successful little visit despite the cold. The fact that we were able to exit the premises of our own free will is a testament to that, which is more than I can say for Cookie Cutters of Lehi.

Then we went to the mall and had a very expensive meal without thanking anybody except the waitress and ourselves for having earned the money to pay for it. (Ok, that was unnecessary.  But it's true. It's a true story).

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In the mean time Sofia, please stop asking the population of Utah County if they are Christians or Jews.

Christmas Around the World

Field trip with My Tech High to BYU's cultural dances around the world.  Front row seats on the stage floor! Nice. Perks of homeschooling. AND you get to bring your Abuela along without riding on one of those buses back there. Awesome.

Beijing Dance Academy

First field trip with the Provo eSchool.  Purchased discounted tickets via e-mail.  Allowed to bring extra family members.  Showed up, got checked off list, sat down where we wanted.  Enjoyed the show.  Left in our own car: no long stinky bus ride. Awesome.

Lego Robotics

The distance learning program with Sofia's charter school lasted just long enough for us to borrow a laptop, use it for two days and then take it back. Come to find out, there was another distance learning program available also through Quail Run and an online school, My Tech High, which would provide us with similar benefits, field trips and testing through Quail Run, but the added bonus of financial reimbursements for curriculum. So we switched to the new program. Sofia got to go on one field trip with Quail Run before Quail Run backed out of this agreement with My Tech High. Figures. So, now we are homeschooling with My Tech High whose sponsor school is the Provo eSchool. Yes, many switcheroos. We were sad that Sofia would no longer have any contact with her beloved third grade teacher and wouldn't be able to meet up with her old school friends occasionally, but the freedom from Quail Run's administrative headaches is a welcome relief.

As part of the enrollment with My Tech High, Sofia is required to take a minimum of one online, technical course. Her tech class is Lego WEDO, and here she is building one of her first projects. When she's done, she will connect it to the laptop where she will utilized the included software to design a robotic program. Pretty darn cool!

Preparing for robotics

In anticipation of the arrival of her Lego WEDO kit, Sofia warms up her constructing muscles with building the robot from her Erector set.

Self portrait

For the first day of school, we started off with a drawing project, a self portrait.  Sofia and Marcelo really enjoyed being "class mates".  Immediately, I can see a bit of competitiveness ignite in Sofia's eyes, but mostly I think she will enjoy, showing her little brother the ropes.  Homeschool is so tough.

Books

It was about this time last year, that Sofia completed her formal reading instruction using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. To celebrate, I gave her the boxed set of Magic Tree House books 1-28. Now, a year later, she has finished them and has picked up a new obsession, the Secret of Droon series. In the span of only a month or two, she has read up to #16 in addition to other books I select for her to read that tie in to our ancient history and science studies. I think there's around forty in the series. They are right below her current reading level which I'm sure adds to her joy and ease of reading them. She can fly through one in a day. She loves telling me about the exciting details.  In fact, now that she doesn't have to go to Quail Run in the afternoon and gets to partake of the regular schedule which includes Quiet Time, she can't wait to go up to her room to get her fill.  Often, she is fully under the covers surrounded by her favorite stuffed animals and blankets, with steam rising from her head.

The only problem now is how to get her interested in more challenging chapter books and classic literature. Maybe I just need to check the them all out from the library so she can get them out of her system sooner rather than later.

Solar Eclipse

We made a highly sophisticated instrument in order to safely view a very unsophistiated image of the solar eclipse.  Sadly, it became overcast soon after it began and we weren't able to see much.  But it was worth a try I guess. 

STOW: Hatshepsut

 For our history studies, Sofia made some Egyptian jewelry and Hatshepsut's beard.  Hatshepsut was the first woman pharoah but she had a hard time being taken seriously so she wore the same fake beard the other pharoahs did.  (Those toilet paper rolls really do come in handy for homeschooling).



Yes, I did this myselft, but only for educational purposes. Dear lord, please tell me she's not going to look like this when she's fourteen.

First Day of Cursive

After diligently practicing her D'Nealian manuscript for the past year and a half, Sofia is finally ready for cursive. Here is her first cursive word. Not bad!  Not bad at all, if I do say so myself.  I can't say I feel too bad about burning through a few reams of paper in the name of homeschooling.

SOTW: Ancient Mesopotamia

Sofia colored the boat for this project so cute that I had to take a picture of her work.