Year One in Review (July 2010-July 2011)

Trite as it sounds, I can hardly believe it was a year ago that I sat down at the kitchen table and began teaching Henry how to read, which was the advent of our home schooling. All things considered, we’ve had a wonderful ride on the home schooling roller coaster this year. All of us have learned much!

Perspective is a wonderful thing, really. When I take into consideration the fact that none of my kids knew the sounds the letters in the alphabet make a mere 365 days ago, it is a marvelous feeling of accomplishment to know that today, all four of them can tell me the sound any letter makes. Not only that, but Henry—and Samuel—and even Kate and Becca (if you count the capital letter magnets) can read. A lot can happen in a year.

What began as Henry’s Kindergarten year in July found us adding the start of Samuel’s Kindergarten year in January, and Kate and Becca’s preschool in April. We’ve gone from putting the girls down for afternoon naps and having two hours to quietly work on school to having Mom tutor each child in turn for most of the morning. We’ve gone from two kids with library cards to four kids with library cards…at two different libraries.

So yes, looking back, the feeling of achievement is terrific. Did we accomplish anything in a year? Here’s the list, in brief:

Henry:

• Completed “Hooked on Phonics,” Kindergarten level
• Is nearly done with RightStart Math Level A (will finish before we start our next school year in October)
• Completed Getty-Dubay Italics Handwriting Book A; is making good headway in Book B
• Completed “Explode the Code” Book 1 and 2; is halfway through Book 3
• On Lesson 62 (of 231) in “Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading”
• Completed numerous science and art projects
• Completed “Hooked on Spanish”
• Nearly finished our social studies book (“Children Just Like Me”)
• Memorized three poems and several Articles of Faith
• Logged HOURS of reading time, including 8 classic read-alouds
• Began piano lessons

Samuel:

• Learned his alphabet and the sounds the letters make
• Read through the first set of BOB books
• On Lesson 51 (of 231) in “Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading”
• Completed “Explode the Code” Book 1; is halfway through Book 2
• Halfway through Getty-Dubay Italics Handwriting Book A
• Completed “Hooked on Spanish”
• Completed numerous science and art projects
• Nearly finished our social studies book (“Children Just Like Me”)
• Memorized three poems and several Articles of Faith
• Logged HOURS of reading time, including 8 classic read-alouds
• Is begging to start math and piano lessons

Kate and Becca:

• Learned their alphabet and the sounds the letters make
• Completed a workbook on shapes
• Completed a few art projects
• Memorized two poems
• Logged HOURS of reading time

I’ve learned a few things along the way, as well, no surprise. Mostly, I’ve been pleased to discover that the reasons we gravitated toward the home education option are better in reality than in theory. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed the flexibility home schooling gives us. Flexibility to start and stop as needed. Flexibility to try new curriculae or approaches or even put something away until the time is right for that student. We love being able to do school in the morning or the afternoon as the day requires. We love traveling in the off-season, and schooling during the blasted hot summer. I’ve loved discovering how much I enjoy teaching things to my kids and am excited to keep learning things right along with them. I’ve been surprised at how frequently questions or problems I’ve encountered have taken me to my knees. And I’ve been really grateful for the answers I’m led to. I’m grateful for growth.

All in all, I’ll call our first year a grand success. It’s been a good one. Sign us up for another year!