Occasionally, I read about strangers in the grocery giving pop quizes to kids once they find out they are homeschooled. This happened to Will today when we went to watch Maggie's preschool class give their Thanksgiving presentation. "Oh, so you are in 3rd grade? What is 9 X 3?" Will said that he hadn't started multiplication yet so the conversation went into a different direction. However, it made me start to worry if he is learning everything he needs to this year. Luckily, I am enrolled in an established program so I feel confident most of the time that both children will exceed what is learned in the public school system. Even so, sometimes it is necessary to stand back and reflect on what our homeschooling has achieved. I tend to get mired in the day-to-day tasks of pages done, books read, and book reviews written and miss out on the bigger picture.
In the past 10 weeks Will has mastered up to 4 digit addition and subtraction, become more comfortable with reading and writing, learned many spelling rules, learned 100 new vocabulary words, learned many new concepts and songs on the piano, started diagramming sentences, and memorized the 10 commandment catechism questions. He has worked hard in swimming and being an altar server, and is slowly becoming a helpful and polite boy.
Mary has mastered 2 digit addition and subtraction, improved her handwriting, made strides in learning spelling rules, learned many parts of speech, memorized the 10 commandment catechism questions, and has developed into a phenomenal reader. She is also working hard at swimming, and is keeping up in her Little Flowers group. She just started riding lessons this week and seems to be enthusiastic about it. She is becoming more helpful to me and is willing to try new things. Her drawing skills and writing have expanded and she loves making gifts for people.
They have learned stuff, become more social creatures, and made the world a little brighter. We will get to the multiplication tables soon enough.
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