Thursday, April 18, 2013

School Update

Homeschooling is one of the best decisions we ever made and probably something I don't talk about nearly enough.  Probably because it's become such a daily thing, like eating, that it doesn't warrant much attention any more.  But it should.

Motocross Boy/Man has continued to use Switched on Schoolhouse for his curriculum this year and has done very well.  He's even pulling a high B in Algebra that has us all pretty surprised since math has never been his subject of choice.  He's also continued with the welding classes with neighbor Jeff.  Last week they worked on the math test that is taken by every plumber who goes through the union apprenticeship program.  Since I'm friends with so many plumbers through work, I was given a copy of the test for practicing.


Hopefully by the time Motocross Boy/Man needs to actually take this test, it will be easy-peasy.  I know I sure had to think hard to get SOME of the answers!  

Next year he will start doing a lot more hands on with the welding which should prove to be interesting.  We also found a cool app that is for welding but it's only available on the Droid right now - he needs it for his iPod.  Neighbor Jeff and I think we need to come up with a cool welding game or app that would be interesting and fun for kids to use to get interested in doing such stuff.  Our world is going to be sadly lacking in the skilled trades if we don't encourage our kids in these areas.

Equestrian Girl is finishing up Spanish and Honors Biology at the co-op school and the rest of her curriculum is Switched on Schoolhouse as it has been the last couple of years.  Next year she wants to switch to Global Student Network.

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A friend of hers has been using this curriculum over the past year and is quite happy with it.  They have a little different slant than SOS - you pay for the year and can take as many classes as you want during the year.  They have a huge selection of classes too.  I have to spend some more time looking at it but I do think it might be a good possibility and will offer some more challenging types of classes.  We still need to wait to find out what classes will be offered at the co-op next year.  Hopefully one of them is chemistry.  I think that class has to be more "fun" when you can have an interactive lab experience.  

It's always such a challenge to start thinking about what we need for next fall when we aren't even done with this year yet but it's fun too.  It's cool to see your kiddos growing up and learning to be adults!



2 comments:

OnTheBit said...

Have you guys ever tried Virtual High School? We actually use it at my school for advanced placement courses that we do not offer. I like it because they have collegeboard approved AP courses. Just a thought if your daughter wants to add an AP course or two in to her curriculum.

Linda said...

Interesting to see the plumber's math test. Who knew?":)
Since you mentioned that you are beginning to look for next year's school work, I thought I would mention Let's Homeschool High School (www.letshomeschoolhighschool.com). They have a long curriculum list and forums for both parents and students. I've found a lot of useful information regarding high school over there, lots of articles also. Happy homeschooling!