Induction

15 yrs ago today CP and I made our way to the hospital to await our induction into the exclusive club called Parenthood. Approximately 4:30 that afternoon, a very special young man arrived to bestow upon us the names Mom and Dad. It has been one of the best clubs we have ever joined. It is filled with highs and lows but I wouldn't trade my membership in this club for anything in the world! Happy Birthday, JA!

College - Part 3 - Updated!

I have updated this (and posted today) with links and more info that a friend pointed out that I forgot to include...

Wow!  What a ride it has been.  Trying to sort out all I need to do for JA to ensure that he is well prepared to tackle college as a pre-med student has been very time-consuming.  But he's worth it!

Here is what we have finally settled on:
He has finished 9th grade! This was a surprising discovery while working through all of this.  Our local high school has 7 periods a day for 7 credits each year.  That equates to 21 credits in 3 years and in reality, he only needs about 24 credits to "graduate"  I realized that since he is finishing up Algebra 1 that this counts as a high school credit.  I also realized that I can give him high school credit for English since his writing skills are already high school level (verified by our next door neighbor who teaches English at the local high school).  So I really only needed to "find" one more credit for him.  And then I realized that his work on obtaining his Star Scout rank in Boy Scouts could count as an elective.  Voila!  He's now a rising 10th grader.

So, here are our plans for 10th grade

Science:

We have used the Robinson Curriculum (RC) for the last few years and I really like it, but it didn't have a strong biology component.  So I went on a search for a solid Biology curriculum.  My plans to let him do a killer science project went by the wayside when I realized that I needed to guarantee (as much as possible) that he'll be able to get through the freshman pre-med weed-out class of Biology in college without much struggle.  I also got more scared when another homeschooling friend told me that her daughter (a Biology major) got a C in her freshman biology class at a nearby private university.  When I found out that they used Apologia, I started looking for a tougher curriculum.  What I finally settled on is BJU with the DIVE videos.  We'll be following the Honors track for this.

English

I started with RC as my base reading list and planned to continue to use Jensen's Format Writing .  I was going to have him use the free study guides to the various books I found on the internet to make sure he was really grasping the content/meaning of the books.  However, I began to wonder "how much was enough" to be able to give him Honors credit.  In my searching on the internet for an answer, I came across the Excellence in Literature curriculum.  After looking over the books for the course  and her sample unit  I realized she had already put together what I was attempting to do.  So, since she has a 5 yr course and I could download it and re-use it over and over (for at least 4 kids!),  I decided to buy that. He'll be following the Honors track for this as well.

US History

I realized that RC seemed weak once you got past the Civil War.  So I began looking for extra books.  I ended up settling on the following:

• Eyewitness to America will be our "spine"  

This will be accompanied with some of the following books (some from RC and some I chose on my own): Of Plymouth Plantation, The Crucible, Johnny Tremain, Journals of Lewis and Clark, Life on the Mississippi, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Lincolns Speeches and Letters, The Life of Stonewall Jackson, The Memoirs of William Tecumseh Sherman, All's Quiet on the Western Front, The Autobiography of Theodore Roosevelt, Speeches from American History, Diary of Anne Frank, The Grapes of Wrath, The Chosen,/The Promise, To Kill a Mockingbird, Autobiography of Chuck Colson, Autobiography of Ronald Reagan, Miracles in American History.  I think this is probably too much reading, so I will probably have him choose some books to read and others we will either listen to as audio books or will watch the movie.  These will be supplemented by the various Ken Burns' Mini-Series and the Drive Thru History series, as well.   In order to give him Honors credit for this, I am also going to require a Google Earth project showing significant locations/dates in American History as well as a research paper on the topic of his choice.

Foreign Language:

He will be taking Chinese 1 through Florida Virtual School

Christian Living (Elective)

For this, I am having him focus on himself for 10th grade.  The plan is to have him also do this elective in 11th grade with a focus on Jesus and in 12th grade with a focus on others.  So, the plan is to have him read the following books:  The Mark of a Man by Elisabeth Elliot, Do Hard Things by Joshua and Alex Harris, Boyhood and Beyond by Bob Schultz, I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris, Created for Work by Bob Schultz and Boundaries in Dating by Drs Cloud and Townsend.

 To round things out, he will be participating in a Summer Youth Band (1/4 credit)  which he will do for 4 summers for a total of 1 Fine Arts credit, Swimming on the local High School swim team, working on his earning his Life Scout rank in Boy Scouts (1 credit in Leadership) and volunteering at the local hospital.

For my next post, I'll post about our plans for BG for 10th grade.

High School for an older international Adoptee

BG will be entering 10th grade this upcoming school year after having only been in the US for 2.5 yrs. For the upcoming year, BG will continue doing most of what he was doing last year (post here and here ) with some tweaks.

His math will be Saxon Algebra 2 and he will continue his reading with Grandpa.  However, I am going to replace his random video watching with a more structured approach. 

For science, he will be watching the DIVE Biology video with JA and then watching supplemental Biology videos from Khan Academy, Netflix, Education Portal, LearnersTV.com and iTunesU. 

For History, he will be watching the supplemental videos that JA will be watching and listening to the books that JA will be reading. 

For English, I will have his also listen to the books that JA is reading so that they can discuss the books together.

I will continue to have him write about the videos/books and I will help him with correcting his grammar.  I have also toyed with getting him a more structured grammar book, but haven't made a firm decision yet.

In addition, I want him to choose 2 electives from a variety of video sources to round out his day.  We are also trying to get him a job at our local supermarket.  If that happens, then I'll back off of the electives.  And of course, he'll continue to play basketball for our local Christian school.

Hopefully, this will keep him busy during the day while pumping lots of information into his head!

College - Part 2

The best laid plans....

I had a long chat with another Boy Scout mom last night.  She worked at one of our local private schools and was a wealth of information about what colleges are looking for and what they aren't.  On top of that, her oldest son just finished his 4 yr degree and applied to Med school.

What she told me is that despite the fact that Med Schools may say that they accept credit for any accredited institution, that in reality, there are so many solid applicants that they choose NOT to accept any students with their pre-requisites at a junior college.  :-(

In addition, she explained that even though her son had received a full-tuition scholarship from the Armed Services to attend medical school, he did NOT get accepted at any of the six to which he applied.  In addition, she explained that most med schools do NOT like to accept anyone younger than 22.  I poked around on a few Med School admissions pages and discovered she is right.  They want an "experienced, mature" candidate.

So, I guess I go back to plan A for JA - which was to work through our Eclectic mix of classes and seriously  consider early admission.  In reality, I like this plan as it leaves our schedules flexible rather than having to conform to the school system.  I also like the flexibility of allowing him to pursue his passions rather than learning from a book.  For example, my plan for him for Biology next year is for him to do a killer science fair project.  He has already picked the topic and I think it is a great one.

As for one comment about really knowing if he'll like being a doctor -  We have that one down.  We have a very good friend who is a surgeon.  JA has been able to shadow him twice already and has watched about six surgeries including laparoscopic and robotic surgeries.  He even has held a gall bladder!  The hospital where he does this is small, so they don't have a neurosurgeon now, but one is coming in the fall.  He is a friend of our friend and we are planning for JA to shadow him some as well.  In addition, he hopes to begin volunteering at one of our local hospitals soon.

College - ALREADY!?!?!??!

Wow!  I can't believe I am looking at College (and beyond) for one of my kids.  It seems so far off, yet so close.   BG is in 9th grade, but since he just came home two years ago, my goal is to prepare him to pass the entrance exam  so he can attend our local community college.  He is doing fine with his math, it is the reading that we are working on so diligently.

JA will be entering 9th grade in a few weeks (since we school year-round).  And what I am discovering is O-V-E-R-W-H-E-L-M-I-N-G!!!  In many ways, I am thankful.  He is a bright kid with a bright future.  I just didn't realize how much planning for his future I would be doing when he was 14.

You see, JA has decided he wants to be a doctor.  And not just any kind of doctor, but a surgeon.  And not just any kind of surgeon, but a neurosurgeon.  And hence, my dilemma.

You see, I have looked into my crystal ball and here is what I see:

4 years of high school
4 years of college
4 years of med school
7 yrs of residency

19 years from now, he will begin practicing as a neurosurgeon (assuming he stays on this path) with T-O-N-S of debt (unless I can help him change the odds)

So, my dilemma is to figure out the best way to help him achieve his goals in the shortest time and at the lowest cost.

I have looked into a variety of ways for JA to complete the next four years.  I like the Robinson Curriculum and am convinced that it is sufficient for a college preparatory approach.  However, I had been branching out some and taking a more eclectic approach for high school - including ways for him to earn college credit while still in high school.

Many high school students take Advanced Placement (AP) exams to earn college credit.  However, the exams are pretty difficult and many schools only grant credit if you earn a 4 or 5 (out of 5).  The cost is $89, so it does reduce the costs of college as most are worth 3 college credits.

Another way to earn college credit is taking CLEP exams.  These are exams that a student can take after studying material and get college credit for passing the test.  A passing score is usually around 50.  This is a very inexpensive way to earn college credit as each test is approximately $80 and most get you 3 college credits.

Another way we have of earning college credit is through dual-enrollment at our local community college.  The state of Florida (and many other states as well) allows high school students to take courses at the local college.  In Florida, this is FREE (except home-schoolers pay for books).  The student is allowed to enroll in 10th grade and so has 3 years of high school to earn 2 yrs of college credit.

These are GREAT ways to eliminate two years (or more in some cases) of schooling and reduce the cost of college by anywhere from $8000 (community college cost for 2 yrs) to $40,000 (state university cost for two years).  However, I discovered that many Medical Schools do NOT accept CLEP credits for the entrance requirements (i.e. Freshman Biology, Freshman Chemistry, Sophomore Chemistry, Freshman Physics, Freshman English, College Math), so that rules out that option for us.  Some med schools do not accept AP credits (and some do), but finding a class would be necessary - and personally, I think these tests are harder than they really need to be.   So I had been seriously considering dual enrollment for JA.

However, I began to read that many Med Schools won't accept "junior level" college classes for your entrance requirements.  So, I started re-thinking the possibility of trying to earn college credit early.  This led me to consider the possibility pursuing Early Admission for JA (i.e. going to college during his Senior year of High school).  This would help with the time in college, but wouldn't help with the cost at all.

FRUSTRATION!

But I started doing more research on the acceptance of Junior College credits.  I began to discover that some Medical schools (particularly the State Medical schools that also have matriculation agreements with the state community colleges) DO accept Junior College credits.  In addition, since JA would be taking these classes as a High School student, I think this shows advanced ability to do college level work.  Finally, JA is seriously considering a major in Biology.  This will require many Senior College level science classes so he can easily demonstrate his ability to do well at the College level.

Finally, I had my answer (or so I think) for how to plan the next four years of his education.

Whew!  Of course, I need to discuss this option with him and make sure he is OK with it.

TJ - 12 and 2

I am FINALLY finding some time to post about TJ's second anniversary with us - and his 12th birthday!  Unfortunately, since he doesn't like his picture taken, this is what you get to see of him.

(I think I'll nickname him "Wilson")

You're stuck with pictures of the rest of us.

Celebrating as usual with our donuts

Tim actually wrote out a lengthy list of items that he wanted for his birthday - in English!  He got a couple of his wishes - money, a new MP3 player and a trip to see the Oklahoma City Thunder play the Orlando Magic.  

As for his second anniversary with us, he has become very thoughtful lately about this anniversary.  He is truly processing a lot of issues related to his adoption and to being a part of our family.  As is characteristic of an older child adoption, some parts are easy and some parts are difficult.  Overall, though, TJ is adjusting very well.  He is doing great in school.  He played basketball with one of our local Christian schools and did very well.  He also is reading his Bible a lot and recently asked to start attending the Chinese Bible study again.  He still struggles with the boundaries/limits placed on him since he had so much freedom in China, but he is learning.  Many of the sibling struggles we had early on are rarely seen now.  TJ even asks a lot about when JA and AT will be home when they are gone somewhere.  

I'm so glad we ventured into the unknown territory of older child adoption.  I encourage everyone to at least consider it and see if it is right for your family.

The Basketball Boys

My guys hang out with another teen friend.  The other day, they were all over at his house and his mom was able to take these photos.  She even managed to get TJ to look at the camera!  Just don't tell him I posted these.  

In the Heat of the Night

This year for Christmas, we got the kids 3 gifts each.  One gift was "Something Fun to Do".  For BG, JA, and TJ, we bought them tickets to see the

VS.

The Heat is BG and JA's favorite team (and used to be TJ's favorite team until the Oklahoma City Thunder started winning)

We drove over to Orlando on New Year's Eve for the game.  We had nosebleed seats, but with the jumbotron, it was easy to watch the game.  We could still hear the squeak of the shoes from the floor though which was neat.

TJ ended up getting a free T-shirt when they fired some into the stands.  He wasn't paying attention and it literally dropped into his lap when the people behind him knocked it down.

It was an awesome game - it ended in a tie at the end of regulation.

And the Heat won the game in Overtime!  

The game was over by 8:00 pm so we left and had dinner at Steak and Shake before heading home.  We were home well before midnight.  All my kiddos were safe at home at the stroke of midnight (which is something I can't say about my 80 yr old dad!!!!)

Christmas at Our House

Lessons in Safety

Today we had lessons in safety.  This morning, we learned about safety at home - specifically in the kitchen.  You see, one of our children put some water on the stove to boil - and then walked out.  What they didn't realize is that a towel was sitting very close to the eye.  A few minutes later, one of the other kids asked me why it smelled like a campfire.  I responded that it was the heat (it is the first time we've turned it on).  A few moments later, the cooking child heard the timer go off and went back to the kitchen.  That was when the child found the flaming towel.  I happened to be following said child into the kitchen and spotted the towel as well.  The child did knock some of the flame down by smothering it with the other end of the towel.  But I ended up grabbing the towel and tossing it in the sink where I had some meat thawing for dinner.

Needless to say, we had a discussion reviewing the rules about NOT leaving the kitchen when you are cooking.  I have also hung the towel on the stove as a reminder for the next week.

Then this evening, we learned about safety away from home.  The four boys asked to walk to the W*lm*rt which is about 1 mile from our house.  We allow them to do this on occasion, but only if they go together (never alone).  They also take a cell phone so they can call if the need arises.  I called them about 5:10pm and asked if they were on their way home.  I wanted to make sure they would make it home before it got too dark.  They said they were still at W*lm*rt because they had forgotten to buy something we asked them to purchase.  I told them to hurry home and call if they weren't going to make it in time.  About 20 min later, I got a phone call.  One of the boys said he got cramps and the rest of the boys didn't wait for him.  I decided that I was going to teach them a lesson.

I went and picked up the lagging child (who fortunately had the phone) and drove him home.  I let the other three continue their walk.  About 5:50, I was ready to head out the door to go pick them up when I got a call from them.  They couldn't find their brother and had walked all the way back to W*lm*rt looking for him.  I played it to the hilt.  I went and picked them up and started drilling them.  They readily admitted that they had left their brother behind, though they claimed to have been looking back for him every 30 seconds.  I asked where they had seen him last and we drove there; they were noticeably concerned.  I made them get out and look in the stores (it was a small strip mall) for him.  Of course, they didn't see him.  I continued to drill them about where they last saw him.  Then one of them asked if the "missing" child had called home.  I stalled.  I finally pulled over and told them the truth.  I explained to them how I had picked him up and they hadn't even noticed.  I pointed out that I could have been anyone and who knows what might have happened to their brother.  I believe that they all learned a hard lesson and I hope they will never leave a sibling or friend alone again.

Once we got home, they all apologized to their brother and we discussed safety even more.  Hopefully, they will never need to put to use what they learned today.

Love Your Neighbor

Yesterday, we had a different Thanksgiving.  The kids and I got up early (like 6:30am!) and went to church. We helped prepare Thanksgiving lunch for the residents of a local mobile home park.  This particular mobile home park is very run down.  Many mobile homes have been removed due to being uninhabitable.

The kids became the "Mashed Potato Crew".  The night before, others had peeled and cut up a TON of potatoes.  When we arrived, the kids loaded the potatoes into steamer trays and then loaded the trays into the steamer.  Fifteen minutes later, they took the trays out and dumped the steamed potatoes into the mixer.  They then put the next load of potatoes in the steamer.  While the first batch was steaming, I heated the milk and butter to be ready for mixing.  We kept up this routine for probably a good hour and a half!  There was a LOT of mashed potatoes when we were done.  In fact, they had so many potatoes, that they decided to use some of them for Wed night chicken pot pies in the future.  BUT, they needed the potatoes cut smaller.  I volunteered TJ as he is excellent with a knife and routinely helps me cut up veggies at home.

The girls and I made lemonade; AT helped with making tea while BG continued to monitor the potatoes.  (We left JA and CP at home due to their injuries!)  Then it was time to start loading up some of the food so the boys helped load a number of pies, cakes, and bread to take to the mobile home park.  CP showed up a little later with JA and Grandpa and took the kids to the park.  I stayed behind to finish cutting up the turkeys.

We arrived at the MHP and had a wonderful Thanksgiving Lunch with the residents.  I met two people:  Robert and Amber.  Robert is probably in his mid to late 50s and has lived a hard life.   Right now he doesn't have a job and spends his days playing with his dogs.  Amber is probably 18-20 and lives with her grandparents.  She is trying to get a job, but is finding it difficult.  She told me she called 34 places last week and only 5 suggested that she come in and put in an application. However, she doesn't have a car, a bicycle or any money for the bus to get there.  Even if she was able to get the job, she wasn't sure how she would get to and from it every day.

As I was telling a friend about this, he commented that there is a critical level of resources needed here in the US (including transportation) that once you fall below that level, it is very hard to climb back out.  Even if she had a bicycle, if it rains on her way to work, I'm sure they wouldn't be happy to have a soaking wet employee on the job.

Last night, we enjoyed North Carolina Bar-B-Q that Grandpa brought home from his trip.  The meal was completed with Brunswick Stew, brown and serve rolls, homemade cole-slaw, boiled potatoes and pumpkin pie.

I think it was one of the best Thanksgivings I have ever had.

Some Days

Some days I have so many thoughts in my head that I want to put on my blog but very little time to do so.  On rare occasions (like today) I actually have some time, but for some reason, my mind is blank about what to put on my blog.

There has been much going on at our house so I'll just recap some:

Saturday we had our Championship Swim Meet.  It had been postponed due to Sandy the other weekend.  Unfortunately, AT already had other plans so he wasn't able to swim, but SG and JA finished off the season in style.

SG finally got first place in one of her heats!!!! Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of it (despite being the team photographer) as I was busy with JA at the time.

JA did great as well.  He finally beat the one boy who was strong competition for him in both the freestyle and the backstroke!  However, in doing so, he slammed his head and arm on the side of the pool during the backstroke.  He finished the race, but grabbed his head when he surfaced.  He didn't want to get out of the pool and his coach told him to just stay put.  They called the lifeguard who assessed the situation.  He finally agreed to getting out of the pool and we went over to the office area.  The lifeguard continued to evaluate him for about 30 min.  JA wanted to swim his last two heats, but we told him that he was done for the day.  I ended up taking him to Urgent Care where they diagnosed a mild concussion and a contusion (no fracture) on his arm.  After a 2 hr nap, he was feeling much better.  His neck is still stiff and sore, but the chiropractor is treating him for that.  

BG and TJ are now playing basketball for one of our local Christian Schools (the same one the kids swam with).  Since there aren't enough middle schoolers, BG (9th grade) gets to play for both the middle school and the high school team!  Both boys started the first game last week.  Unfortunately, they played a school where the kids have been playing together since 3rd grade so they lost - by a lot!  They get to play them again this Thursday.  

SG and HJ went on their first camp out with the American Heritage Girls two weeks ago.  SG was able to go since Sandy postponed the Swim Meet.  They had a great time learning how to play volleyball, tie-dying shirts, canoeing, doing a ropes course and having a campfire!  It was their first time away from home without Mom or Dad and they did great!  

We are on our 2 week break from school right now, but we'll be back in the swing next week.  I plan on posting more about school soon.

Radical Ideas on Schooling - Part 1

We have been walking this road called Homeschooling for almost five years now.  Our road has had many twists and turns in it and as a result, I have come to some conclusions that many might consider somewhat radical. 

A little background on our homeschooling adventure:

Students:
BG:  ESL learner - K-7th grade in China; 7th grade - 9th grade homeschooled
JA : gifted learner - K-3rd grade Public School; 3rd - 8th homeschooled
AT: gifted learner - K-2nd grade Public School; 2nd - 7th homeschooled
TJ: ESL learner - K-2nd grade in China; 4th-6th grade homeschooled
SG:  average learner - K-4th grade homeschooled
HJ:  challenged learner - K-3rd grade homeschooled

Curriculum's we've used:
Online Charter School using Calvert
Calvert for K
Robinson Curriculum
Eclectic

Radical Idea #1:  Don't worry about what your kids are learning until they get to high school
===========================
Yes, I really mean that with two exceptions:
1) Teach them to read - and I have some odd ideas on this one
2) Teach them math (though this may not be as critical as we think)

Kids don't need to learn history, social studies, science, etc in the early years.  Why?  Because they will have every bit of it again in High School!!! Think about it - what do you remember from elementary school in these subjects?  Probably not much.  And what you do remember is probably fairly useless in your daily life.  (I remember a unit we did on weather and I can name the different types of cloud formations - not that anybody has asked me about them since 5th grade)

When I was first introduced to Robinson Curriculum, I was intrigued by the idea of only teaching Reading, Writing, and Math.  Leaving out all of the other subjects didn't sound right, but the more I read Art Robinson's ideas, the more I became convinced he was right.  Even this very science oriented engineer agreed that teaching science in the early years really wasn't that important.  Why?  Because science in the early years only barely scratches the surface.  Each year, you scratch the surface a little bit deeper.  Why bother?  Your child can learn all they need in-depth in high school (or heaven-forbid - college!) 

I was talking to JA about this the other day.  He said he didn't like science in public school and I asked him why not.  He said he didn't understand why he needed to know that rain falls from the sky, runs into a lake/pond, and then evaporates into the sky again.  He became convinced that he wasn't good at science (a quote from him before taking the science portion of the standardized test we gave in 6th grade) because he didn't like it.  Funny thing is, he has now decided he wants to be a doctor.  He is working through a life science curriculum and still isn't convinced that he likes science because of his previous experience. 

The same idea applies to history, social studies and all of the other subject areas.  This material will be repeated in high school at a level that the kids can really grasp.  Focus your (and your child's) efforts and energy learning in high school.  This is what they will remember and carry forward in their adult life. 

I finally was totally convinced of this idea when I began figuring out what I needed to teach BG for high school.  As I looked at the requirements in FL for a HS diploma, I realized that it covers all of the same subjects/topics that many parents stress about in the early years.  He hadn't "lost" all those years of learning (even though he was blessed to be in school in China) and I didn't have to cram 12 yrs of school into his brain in four years.  I just had to teach him at the high school level.

Also, as I delved into the idea of Credit By Exam for JA, I began to wonder what really differentiates a middle school class from a high school class from a college class.   For example, Biology, most schools teach Biology (or Life Science) in middle school, then again in High School, then it is taught in College.  What is the difference?  I'm not sure.  But I imagine if I take a High School Biology class then I will learn the same things I learned in middle school Life Science.  Then why bother taking the Life Science class?  Just wait until your child is able to handle the high school level material (which may be at an earlier age than "typical" high school students) and teach at that level. 

What's interesting is many packaged curriculums these days actually leverage this principle.  They use the same base information and just have the younger kids do one thing, the middle school kids something else and the high school kids even more.  Why teach the same thing to your kids 3 (or more) different times?  Just teach it to them once in high school. 

I know, many people will have a hard time accepting this idea because it doesn't fit the norm of what we grew up with in school.  I am going to challenge you to really think about this and come to your own conclusions.  Besides, that's what homeschooler's do best.

*** One caveat:  Some of this doesn't necessarily apply to our challenged learners.  I'll address those issues in a later post.

High School - Part 4

So, in summary, for GW's 9th Grade Year:

English - Reading, Listening, Writing
Algebra 1
History
Typing
Personal Finance
Basketball

Next up, is JA.  Right now, he is in 8th grade, but I'm already thinking ahead for him.  In the state of Florida, any high school student (including home school students) are able to dual-enroll at the local community colleges as long as they can pass the entrance exam.  The cost for this:  FREE!!!!

As a result, we will be strongly encouraging/requiring JA to enroll and spend his high school years earning his Associates in Arts degree.  Once he earns his AA degree from the community college, he is automatically accepted into any of the Florida state universities.  Total savings on a college degree:  $8000 (the cost of 2 yrs at the local community college if he attends after the age of 18).

We have also considered having him CLEP out of part of the AA degree since our local community college will accept up to 45 hrs of credits by exam towards the 60 hrs required for the AA degree.  There is a cost to this, but there is the potential for saving a lot of time (i.e. it may take less time studying for the CLEP exam than he would spend in the class)  This would free up time for him to volunteer and get a better idea of what he wants for a career.  It would also keep him away from the philosophies/ideologies that are polar opposite to what we believe that are so prevalent in colleges these days.  We haven't made a final decision on this as of yet.

In the meantime, here is what is on his plate for 8th grade:
Jensen's Format Writing
Saxon Algebra 1
American Heritage Series (AHS)
Life Science (yes, I know it's 7th grade, but he hasn't had this yet)
Financial Peace University (FPU)
Additional Reading:
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?
It Couldn't Just Happen
TBD

He also must attain the rank of Star Scout.  He has everything for this except for 3 Eagle Required Merit Badges.

A note about the Life Science JA is taking.  This is a FREE course available in iTunesU.  While having an iPad for this makes it easier, it is not required.  You can download iTunes to your computer and access all of the courses there.  There are a TON of FREE courses available from Kindergarten up through College level classes (including MIT, Harvard, Stanford and others).  If JA doesn't end up taking advantage of the free AA degree, I will probably pull some of his coursework from iTunesU.

Now, a word about Robinson Curriculum.  I still LOVE Robinson Curriculum and will continue to use it for the other kids.  (and I am essentially using it for Ben, it's just he is watching videos rather than reading the books).  For JA, I changed the writing portion to Jensen's Format Writing because JA really needs a "tell me how to do it" writing curriculum.  This got really good reviews (especially for reluctant boy writers) so I chose it.  Then I changed his reading portion.  A few months ago, he had the opportunity to shadow a friend of ours who is a surgeon.  He was able to sit in on three surgeries and came home saying he, too, wanted to be a surgeon. Knowing what a commitment this is, I wanted to expose him to the type of material he needs to know as early as possible to gauge whether this is really something in which he is interested.  Hence the Life Science course.  I also wanted him to be able to do the FPU and AHS courses with GW, so that is why he is doing those.  I have just added on the two books to help fill out the 36 weeks of class work that we try to squeeze in each school year.

Swim Meet

Now that three of the kids are participating in Swimming, our Saturday mornings are full of either practice or a meet. Yesterday, they had their second meet. They all improved on their times which is really the goal. Here are a few pictures:

Unwilling Participant in History

Today, I was an unwilling participant in history.  You see, I was stuck in traffic with two of the kids for close to one hour waiting for a very important person to pass by.  This very important person requires over 100 police officers on motorcycles to escort him wherever he goes.  The motorcycles are followed by a cavalcade of Suburbans and full size vans.  This cavalcade is then followed by 3 full size buses - one of which supposedly carried this very important person.

The most frustrating thing was all I needed to do was cross the street and I would have been happily on my way home from church.  As it was, I sat 4 cars from said street for an HOUR while waiting for this very important person to finally go speeding down the road at 60-70 mph.

I did try to turn lemons into lemonade.  You see, while we waited, we discussed the following:

the very important person,

his special group of law enforcement officers (they are a very secret bunch),

why security is so important,

methods of protection for this very important person

four former very important people who were assassinated

the people convicted/charged with their assassination

attempted assassinations on these very important people

So, I figure this counts as 1 hr of American History for our high school curriculum.  

Shark Bait

CP, BG, and JA had the opportunity to go Shark Fishing with our church youth group last night.  They had a great time (with the minor exception of when BG got sea sick).  About 27 guys and dads went on the trip.  Almost everyone caught a shark.  Some were kept and some were thrown back.  The best part of all was some quality time the boys had with their dad.

Toot your own horn

This summer, three of the boys were blessed to be able to participate in a summer youth band program.  For FREE!  The only reason all four boys didn't participate is that the program was only open to 6th through 9th graders.

BG chose to learn trombone; JA chose to re-learn drums; and AT chose to learn to play saxophone.  They were also joined by a friend from church who is learning to play clarinet.  They practiced two hours a day, four days a week for four weeks.  At the end, they put on a concert for the public.  They played four songs - London Bridge, Early Bird March, Eagle Summit March, and Mouthpiece Waltz.  Mouthpiece Waltz is a special arrangement of the Blue Danube Waltz using mouthpieces.

Here are two pictures of our musicians:

If you can't tell, they are each "playing" their instrument.  We forgot to bring the camera so these are the only pictures we have.  They did sell a DVD which I purchased, but haven't received yet.  Hopefully, I can get some more pictures off of the DVD.

Scout

Tonight was TJ's first Court of Honor for Boy Scouts.  He was officially admitted to the troop as a Scout.  While he was proud of his achievement, he still does NOT like his picture taken.

JA and AT were recognized for achieving the rank of First Class.

and were also awarded a few merit badges as well as the snorkeling patch.