One of the great things I have found about this homeschooling thing? We can go at our own pace. If that's a slower pace, that's fine. If that's a faster pace, that's fine. It doesn't need to be steady- we can speed through the things Andy knows, slow down and take time with things he doesn't. Not feeling the learning love today? We can scrap the whole thing and try something else. As long as he keeps up with math and reading, as Virginia requires we either test those skills at the end of the year or come up with a portfolio, it's all good. We want to spend a lot of time on Colonial America? Why not? We have a lot of resources here for it. He needs more practice in multiplication, but knows his geometry terms pat? Well, let's allocate the time to what we need.
It's amazing.
When we started, I tried him in a fifth grade math workbook, and we had tears, screams, and gnashing of teeth. We scaled back a bit, then noticed we needed some other support. I put him on a computer site and had him work on that for a while to gauge where he was. The answer? End of third grade. Well, OK, then. I went out, got ourselves a fourth grade program, and started there.
As he has calmed down all-around, his math has also picked up. Multiplication remains a sticking point, as he needs to practice it. But once we plowed through and got him doing it correctly, we picked up steam.
We finished the fourth grade book today. I am totally proud of my little guy.
The plan is to focus on the multiplication and on programs such as Prodigy through the holidays, then start on the fifth grade program in January. I'm not expecting him to finish that in three months, but I think we will be fine. I may even work on some mathemagic with him, and help him understand what these skills really do.
Meanwhile, he is working on the Revolution, and reading Johnny Tremain. Oh, and we started earth science with minerals and the Moh's Scale. All in all, I don't think we are doing too badly.
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