CTC Math (A Schoolhouse Crew Review)

You may remember that last year we reviewed a new program from CTC Math.  At the end of the review, I was trying to decide what we were going to do for math this year.  Inertia won out, and we continued using CTC Math because we already owned it.  I am happy to say that when Crew members were asked to review the program again, I was quick to raise my hand for their 12 Month Family Plan.   Our family absolutely loves this program.

What CTC Math is:

CTC Math is an online math curriculum that provides lessons for all ages - from newly minted Kindergarteners to upper level Calculus students.  Each lesson starts with a short tutorial video and continues with a practice session to help hone skills.  Created and voiced by a homeschooling dad, Pat Murray, this is a program for homeschool and in-school students alike; everyone in our home has used CTC Math.  The bulk of this review is going to be on Jude and their third grade program as a homeschool curriculum, since that's what we used during the Crew review period.  (In other words, instead of meandering through the year, I actually had a focused plan so I could share specifics about the program.)  However, I want to back up for a moment and share how this helped Celia - my in-schooler - since the last review was shared.
  

Last September, she was accepted into the accelerated math program at her school.  In order to end 8th grade with the knowledge to pass a high school Algebra 1 exam, this year was a warp-speed journey though 5th and 6th grade maths.  There were times when she came home frustrated, and said, "I understand what Mrs. N wants me to do, I just can't get it back out."   Her grades were adequate for staying in the program, but she wasn't happy.  She decided to use CTC Math to help her.     Being able to move between two or three grades (fifth, sixth, and Basic Math/Pre-Algebra) made things clearer for her. Fractions made sense.  Equations balanced themselves.  Her early math grades kept her from her goal of being on her school's honor roll, and her post-CTC report card came with an certificate for Second Honors.  She was thrilled. CTC Math's short lessons (under 10 minutes) and worksheets never felt like "another math class" to her; sometimes, they took less time than the homework she was assigned!  Being able to move between the levels was key - because she was learning concepts simultaneously, she need to be able to move between units.

What CTC Math is NOT:

Common Core aligned.

Ok, that's a politically loaded statement, I know.  My personal feeling is that a common core isn't a bad concept - given how much Americans move around, there should be some sort of framework to ensure a child who moves from Anaheim to Annapolis is at about the same spot in his studies.  However, I think how it was implemented has been an absolute disaster.  Because CTC Math is an Australia-based company, it is totally removed from the whole CC debacle. It's not concerned with being all things to every child -- it just teaches in a way that founder Pat Murray has had success with for over 17 years.  If it's not broke, why fix it?

Because it is not CC aligned, it doesn't have all of the "excess" practice that I have found CC programs to have.  With CTC Math, the subject is presented in a clear, straightforward manner, the student learns the concept, and then practices it in a practical manner.  The sequence is layered that rather than spending three weeks learning (for example) how many ways you can get to the number ten, you work on problems that ask you to add 5 + 5, 3 + 7, 8 + 2, 10 + 0.   The student's skills grow with real use, not pages of "academic exercise."  This was a real draw for us with Jude, and probably the biggest source of my inertia. We had used another program with Jude before last year, and he got incredibly frustrated with doing pages and pages of the same thing. This year, he actually asked to do math, rather than dreading it, because he knew if he could show he knew something, he could move on...not do it again tomorrow anyway.

Using CTC

During last year's review period, Jude started working on second grade math.  He meandered his way through it, and we did take a break from CTC to work on concepts he needed extra help in.  (He will be brilliant at balancing his checkbook, but heaven help him if he needs to put change in a soda machine.)  By the time this year's review period came around, he was ready to move on to third grade.

We started with the Numbers section.   I purposely stopped before multiplication, because I wanted to explore other areas for the review.  Multiplication is something that is a base for nearly everything he'll do from now on, so I want to be able to have an open-ended timeframe for that.

However, the addition and subtraction were not a simple review.  They did begin with some familiar things - carrying and borrowing, for example - but then added the hundreds column and needing to borrow "twice" when subtracting.

Jude flew through these sections, but I wasn't surprised.  He's been doing a daily practice sheet of adding and subtracting, so this wasn't particularly hard.  We moved on to the other areas.

On one hand, the beautiful thing about CTC lessons is they are only about 5 or so minutes (often less; upper courses still don't exceed 10 minutes), followed by the worksheet.  If you have a child that really isn't into math, it's a short time to "get it over with," and move on.  However, Jude couldn't understand that math class was only 10 or 15 minutes, especially when language arts could take up an hour and a half between phonics, spelling, reading, etc.  He'd say, "just one more...just a one more..." and next thing I knew, he was asking me to help print his certificate.

Now that we've had time to use this with several levels, I wish the awards were separated by grade instead of medal color, or at least identified within levels.  Jude knew what level his award was, but there were times he'd look and say "Which one is the new one?" 

This leads me to something I'm struggling with.  Jude has completed three of the four sections - Measurement, Space and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability - as well as half of Numbers, Patterns and Algebra in less than a month.   Yes, he's a bright child, and every mother thinks their baby is a genius, but in all seriousness, I find myself second guessing that it's enough.  

(Like the grade chart? It's a downloadable file from the parents' section of the program - it lets you see your child's grades at a glance, and all you need to do for record-keeping is average the grades.)  

It seems like you could take a whole year IF you did one lesson (2-5 min video + 10 min worksheet) daily, and then factored in for days you didn't do math.  I'll admit, this seems kind of comparable to a regular classroom - each lesson takes longer just because there are twenty kids instead of one, and math doesn't happen all 180 days because of assemblies and other schedule overlaps.  It took Jude a full calendar year to complete second grade, but again - that factors in vacation time, only working on one lesson at a time, and a break for CTC to work on skills he wasn't grasping (like coins and their value). I've given him some printable third grade worksheets I've found online (for fun!), and I sit with him when he does the lessons.  I am sure he does know the material.  Finally, I went back and checked the program against the Common Core standards, to make sure that there wasn't anything "missing."  Nope, everything a third grader is expected to know is there.  (The only thing I think I may need to add in is English measurements, because CTC teaches only using the metric system of meters and centimenters, not feet and inches.)   We'll be taking six weeks off over June and July, and getting back to school in the beginning of August.  Even with a big break, I think it's entirely possible that he will be ready for fourth grade math by Thanksgiving, if not Halloween. Watching him plow through third grade,  I'm sitting here thinking, "Is it enough? He's done 40 lessons in 15 days, and is carrying a 99.2 average.  Second grade seemed like enough...was I wrong?"

So, I started to look back at what he had worked on.

Location and directions are covered, both in left-right and compass directions.

He thought "Never Eat Soggy Worms" was a much better mnemonic than the one I learned - Never Eat Sour Watermelons.

In addition to straight borrowing (CTC Math calls it "trading"), Jude learned how to "borrow and pay back", creating a less cluttered working space.  He decided he preferred to stick with borrowing, but for some kids, adding ten in two places makes more sense.  He understood the algebraic concept, but found in practice, borrowing was easier.

The geometry is intense.  First is a study of parallel and perpendicular lines.  At first, it took Jude a bit to grasp the ideas.  I asked him, "What are PQ and RS?"  His answer: "Um...Consonants?"  After a little practice, he got the idea, and now is identifying parallel lines (the decking boards on our porch) and perpendicular ones (the rails and balusters in the fence) in his life.

The program also teaches "regular" vs. "irregular" shapes, and more "advanced" polygons such as parallelograms and trapeziums (trapezoids).

 Numbers are represented in many ways.  They can be in blocks, or on an abacus.  The third grade program introduces the concept of the "hundreds place."

 It also reinforces written vs numeral figures.  Jude was incredibly excited to be able to do this one without any help.  Last year, I would read the words, and he would either write the correct numerals, or choose the correct words from what he heard.  Since then, he's learned how to read, and he was able to complete this unit completely independently!

In addition, he is putting other concepts into practice.  For example, he needed to compare the areas of five shapes. He decided to create a graph of the shapes and their areas so he could do this much more efficiently. 

One of the "new" things we tried this year was the Speed Skills area.  I think having a this within the same program makes it less distracting to the student - he can log in once, work on his assigned lesson and speed skills, and then be done.  However, for Jude, the Speed Skills were a huge source of stress.  That pesky timer!

I was able to solve the "problem" -- by covering the timer with my finger, he was able to focus on the math portion, rather than being distracted by the timer.

This smile was because he beat his goal for the day.  It's still a very stressful thing for him, and we may actually skip this going forward, and go back to our "daily problems" sheet for repetition practice - the more he does, the faster he will naturally get, rather than trying to cram as many problems as possible into one minute.  There is another speed program, called Shoot 'Em Up, that helps reinforce time tables; I think Jude may like that one because it is more of a game than a drill.  We'll give that chance once Jude has more experience with multiplication.

Overall, I'm very pleased with CTC Math.  Celia plans to continue to use the program for helping her to clarify what is going in school.  She's hoping that this year will move a little slower, because they'll be back on a "one grade per school year" pace, but if things still get away from her, she's prepared. Damien has been meandering his way through kindergarten this past year (he started working during last year's review), but this fall will bring a more focused schooling experience.  We have been working through the Kindergarten level bit by bit, and I find it to be well planned for young child - short videos and tasks that challenge but don't overwhelm. For Jude and third grade, I'll add in a unit on English measurements, and make sure his multiplication skills are solid before moving on, but in looking at CTC Math and comparing it to other programs, but I think Jude's speed is a reflection of his grasp, not of any program shortcomings.   The younger boys' math program for next year is set...now to just organize the rest of next year!

Click the banner below to read more Crew reviews, or follow CTC Math on Facebook.

©2012- 2015 Adventures with Jude. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://adventureswithjude.com

Dynamic Literacy: WordBuilderOnline (A Schoolhouse Crew Review)

We have reviewed a lot of vocabulary programs that are geared toward older students prepping for "big tests" such as the SAT or ACT.  I was intrigued by Dynamic Literacy, a program that takes my favorite way to learn vocabulary - blending prefixes, suffixes, root words with critical thinking to create a wide mix-and-match vocabulary - and focused on younger students.  Rather than playing "catch up cramming,"  Dyamic Literacy begins with elementary students.  Crew members reviewed three programs from Dynamic Literacy: workbook programs in both the Foundations and Elements levels, and WordBuildOnline - an interactive, web-based program for students. 

The Foundations level is designed for 2nd through 5th grade (or 5th-9th for remedial work) students who have mastered phonics and transitioning to comprehension/spelling programs. The Elements level takes the program into grades 6-10 for mainstream/grades 7-12 for remedial students,where decoding academic texts becomes a focus.   Lessons focus on root families and give students the skills to decode words based on their prefixes, suffixes and roots.  This program is also appropriate for ESL students who may be older but still need to develop a stronger skill base in the English language.  Our WordBuildOnline subscription was to the Foundations level, and we received a two-student subscription to WordBuildOnline for Jude (2nd grade) and Celia (5th grade) to use.

All of the programs are designed to be used for a maximum of 15 minutes per day.  The idea is to not make vocabulary a long, drawn out process, but something that can be easily managed by even a young student.  Four lessons and a review each "week" means that a level can be accomplished in a full school year.  Because it it so short, I felt that it would be something Celia could do after her regular homework for enrichment; 15 minutes didn't seem like something too onerous.

 Lessons focus on adding either a prefix or a suffix to a word to create new ones"  If you know that the suffix -er means "more" than the root, "steep + er" = more steep, "quick + er" = more quick;  if you know that "over" means "on top of" or "too much," you can figure out that "overpaid" means "paid extra on top of the cost" or "cost more than it should have."  Lessons start by creating the word, and then choosing its best use in a sentence.

Read carefully; some of the sentences make sense if you read what you think is there, not what actually IS there.

Other tasks include practicing putting the words together:

 Matching definitions:

Using the words in a sentence:

I liked the premise of the program.  However,  I struggled to like the program for our family.  First, it suggests 2nd grade to be starting point.  Jude's cognitive language skills are on par or slightly above expectations for his age, with his expressive language skills lagging.  He's getting better with lots of practice at reading, but he's not a very strong reader yet.  I found that while he did well if I read everything to him...I had to read everything to him.  He just was too slow of a reader to work independently in the allotted time. (We won't talk about his panic attacks over the countdown timer in the corner.)  This program is not good for novice readers unless they have assistance.

At the opposite end,  Celia found the program to be incredibly easy.  While the creators believe that it should take less than 15 minutes per day, Celia was finishing in less than five -- sometimes in under one minute!

 Finally, I asked her to just spend 15 minutes working, and do as much as she could. Often she completed an entire week's worth of activities in that time. WordBuildOnline sends you a notification email when your student has completed an activity.  My phone has an email app, and it was chiming almost constantly when she worked.

A good feature of the program is its parent dashboard.  It's very easy to keep track of the progress of your student(s).

Another was the "skateboard" that filled in.  After each activity is completed, the student earns another pawprint.  When the board is filled, that lesson is complete.

Jude is going at the one-section-a-day rate.  I'm impressed at how well he already knows the words in the program.  For example, often he could use words in their proper place (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) and context in a sentence.  However, he often struggled because he couldn't necessarily define the word when asked "Tell me what you think this means."  Celia isn't sure how much further she will continue with the program.  Level 1 contains 25 units, working with the most commonly used prefixes and suffixes.  She told me she would probably finish it since she's more than halfway done.  When I asked her how long she thought it would take her to complete, she responded "probably a couple hours...it's kind of boring because this is like what I learned in maybe third grade?"  I'm curious how she would do with the Essentials level, but after seeing bottom-of-the-level Jude struggle, I'm considering waiting until 7th or 8th grade to move her up.  I'll definitely be checking out the other reviews to see the content of that level.  You can read them, too, by clicking the banner below.

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 ©2012- 2015 Adventures with Jude. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://adventureswithjude.com

Apologia Field Trip Journal (A Schoolhouse Crew Review)

When you read about something in a text book, it often has a "remote" feeling, but going and visiting can really make something come alive.  Sometimes, you also learn things you never knew before - things that aren't deemed "important enough" to make it into books.  For example, did you know that Hannibal Hamlin, Abe Lincoln's first Vice President, spent the summer of 1864 helping defend his home state during the Civil War?  We didn't know this either -- we learned it when we visited Fort McClary in Kittery, Maine.  It's easy to read about Gettysburg, but it takes on a new meaning when you stand at the edge of Pickett's Field, imagine the last-ditch surge of fighting that came at the end of the three days of battle, and really feel the history in your soul. To encourage learning through hands-on field trips, Apologia Educational Ministries has created a special resource, the  Exploring Creation Field Trip Journal.

This 64-page spiralbound book is a fantastic addition to your field trip.  It's perfect for homeschooling trips, but it also can be a planner and journal for a non-homeschooling family who enjoys traveling.  The book is divided into 9 sections, to make both planning and recording your field trip easy.

One of my favorite sections is a two-page spread with 100+ field trip ideas.  It divides field trip ideas into "categories," - beginning with broad topics - plants, animals, history, culture, etc. - and then sub-divides these into places that are great for learning about them.  Of course, you have the obvious suggestions, such as museums, aquarium and zoos, but they are followed by some ideas that you wouldn't have though of - or at least that I hadn't thought of!  For example, a trip to a garden nursery.  It sounds more like an item on a to-do list, but it is a great place to study different plants in person.  Many small nurseries also will pre-arrange a short tour of the grounds so you can learn about native and non-native plants, or you can check their webpages to see if they offer specific classes.  We have a local nursery that does offer monthly classes about plants, but in the spring, the owner also offers classes on Pisanki (a Polish Easter egg dying technique.) The journal also suggests some that seem really "out there" -- literally!  How about a trip to the International Space Station?  Ok, so maybe you're not ready to hop a space shuttle, but you could take a virtual tour.  A virtual field trip can be just as exciting!  Also included in the "Trip Prep" area is a web link to some fantastic resources and ideas for trips.

Next, there are two maps - one of the United States and one of the world. When we got our book, we decided to color in each state we had visited. 

We started counting back to all the states any of the kids have been to.  Luke holds the lead with Hawaii, which we visited on our way back from Aunt Jo and Uncle Brendan's wedding in Australia.  We marked our first trip visit to a particular state.  (Living in NJ doesn't mean we get that one for free.)

Thinking back on on the places we had been to on our "first trip" to a state was a nice trip down memory lane.  In 2004, we visited New England for Luke's birthday, and the 2005 states were added during another birthday trip.  The 2006 trip was mainly to Ohio to see doctors for Celia, but we always laugh how the one day we had off from appointments and decided to go to Indianapolis.  We got there and decided we didn't feel like going to the children's museum, so we decided to go to Illinois for lunch, just to say we had been there.  A couple of wrong turns later, we found an overhead sign that said "To Chicago."  Neal and I looked at each other, shrugged and said, "Let's go get a pizza!"  With nothing better to do than sit in a hotel room and wait for morning and more doctor visits, we drove to Chicago, ate a pizza, and drove back to Cincinnati.  Between other visits, we went to St. Louis, MO and went up into the Arch and got some pretty good BBQ.  When we realized the US Skating Nationals began the day we were supposed to leave Cleveland, we just added a day to our trip so skater Luke could experience the men's short competition.  He got to meet one of his heroes - a very gracious Brian Boitano. Admittedly, it was not a fun reason for a trip (we visited two different hospitals), but it's not the hours in hospital and waiting rooms that we really remember -- it's the time we spent together.

There is also a "World Traveler" Map. 

Luke got to color in the countries he's visited.  Matthew added in the Caribbean countries he has been to (he may have been a baby, but his passport is stamped, so they count!).  This page would be fantastic for a military or other expat family stationed overseas, where visiting different countries is not uncommon.  Someday we will add some more - Jude wants to go to France for a field trip.  (He's not settling for Epcot, either.)

We're planning a ginormous field trip this summer, and we've titled it "The Great American History Tour - Round Two." Last year, we took two shorter trips - first through Central MD and Central/Western PA, then to New England - spending about 10 days on the road.  Even when we hosted our Aussie family, we never spent more than a week away from home.  This year, we are taking a big plunge and doing one ginormous three-week trip.  When Neal asked me where we were going, I said, "Monticello, Virginia...via San Antonio (Texas)."

It makes perfect sense, doesn't it?  It started out as "We're heading to Kentucky for Abe Lincoln and to see Jude's friend Isaac.  We might as well see some other stuff while we're out that way..." and morphed into "We're only two hours from where Abe grew up... and a couple hours from Memphis. Jude fell in love with Elvis when we went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so...and oh, look!  It's only three inches on a map from Memphis to Houston...and by then, we're practically around the corner from the Alamo!"  We're getting really excited.  We are planning to use this as a journal as a daily log for our trip.  We've already begun setting up some of the "Specific Trip" pages:

Of course, with five opinionated siblings, not everyone is going to love every stop.  However, we tried to include enough so that each person has something he or she "chooses" every few days.  What I did was ask each child what she/he wanted to see at "his/her" stop.  Luke chose his must-sees for Allegheny Portage/Johnstown PA, Matthew chose the Adena Burial Mounds as a must-see, and Celia wants to go back to the Cincinnati Museum Complex.  She has been asking to go back since we were there in 2009, and really - we have so many museums here, there's no reason to drive all the way to Ohio.  However, since we need to pass through Cincy to go to visit Isaac, we're making a stop.  She can't wait, because not only is her "wish coming true," but she's getting to learn about Cincinnati, the town where (American Girl) Kit Kittredge "lives"! We are waiting to fill out our pages for Kentucky, because Jude wants to wait to see what Isaac wants to do with us, and will continue filling out pages for later stops after that. 

At the back of the book is the section called "As I See It." It's a way to informally document something.   Maybe you haven't gone to a big destination, but your "field trip" is a nature walk and you'd like to draw what you've seen.  There are several pages with theme prompts such as "Reflections and Shadows," "Predators and Prey," and "Heavens".  There are also several blank pages where you can draw with your own inspiration. 

There are two ways to use this book.  The first would be as an individual student journal, which would be good if your family does the occasional trip.  The retail price of this book is $22.00, so if you're going to use it for a full school year or beyond, it's a worthwhile investment.  However, since getting each student a book is a bit more than I'd like to spend, we're going with the "use it as a family" plan, and each person will get to add their input for each stop.  (We may have to have a designated writer in order to fit ideas.)

As much as I think we will enjoy this book, I see a few shortcomings.  First, I wish this had a way to add extra pages for more trips.  Even as a shared family journal, we are going to need two more journals to be able to log everything on our trip.  I know that a giant trip with nearly 30 places to visit in one month isn't the norm, but if you're a family that likes to do a lot of traveling, this book will fill quickly.  Many families I know do one field trip each week; even at a one-trip-a-month pace, the book may not hold a year's worth of memories.  It seems a waste of paper to get a new journal with hints and preparations pages when all we really will need are the trip pages - a 3-ring binder and refill pages (like a Dayplanner style) would be more practical if you go on frequent field trips.  I also wish there was some sort of envelope/folder so the student could keep mementos (entry tickets, etc.), or a third page for each trip for pasting tickets/photos.  There is ample room on the page already provided for if you have a student who wants to write a paragraph or two about the trip, or for a younger student to place a picture or two in response to the prompts, but not for both.

Overall, we like this journal.  We wish it had a bit more room for more frequent field-tripping, but if you take field trips only once in a while, it could last an entire school year.  Until now, we hadn't really considered keeping an "official" field trip journal, but I think it's going to be a fun addition to our trips!  We're looking forward to writing about what we've seen, and coloring the states we haven't yet visited. 

Where is everyone traveling with their journals? Click the banner below to read more Schoolhouse Crew reviews, or follow Apologia on social media:

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©2012- 2015 Adventures with Jude. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://adventureswithjude.com

Will It Sink or Float?

 Matthew is 1 for 1 in not blowing the house up in the name of science, so he got the green light for lab project number two.  This time, he decided to lead "Will it sink or float?"  Of course, being Matthew, he decided to put his own twist on it.  Why use the tap to fill the water bowl when you can just collect rainwater?

An hour later, he had a bowl filled with four quarts of water.

While the bowl was filling, he gathered his materials and created a chart. (Note: The pencil part is the pre-lab chart.  The green marker was from during the experiment.)

Materials:

large measuring bowl filled with water
small items to test if they will sink or float

Procedure:

1.  Fill the bowl about ¾ full.
 
2.  Decide if an item you will put in will sink or float. Record what you think on a piece of paper.

3.  Put the item in and see if you are correct. Mark the chart.

4.  Remove item from the water.

5.  Repeat until all items have been tested.

6.  Pour out water. Dry and put everything away.

There's no set "list" of things to test.  Matthew chose a cork and marble, things that he knew would float and sink.  Other than that, it was a guessing game.  Jude chose to test out representatives of each kind of Power Ranger toy he had in his room.

Our list:

cork
marble
plastic Power Ranger figurine
plastic Power Ranger disc
Power Ranger dino-zord part
pencil
lego brick
full drink box
empty drink box

One of the "specimens" we tried was a drink box.  It was actually two specimens - one was full, and the other was empty.  What is part of what makes an object sink? Mass.  What makes it float? Less mass.  Here, having air instead of a beverage inside the box makes a big difference.

 The boys enjoyed this one.  They liked guessing if something would sink or float, but mostly I think they liked the water fight when they were "cleaning up."



©2012- 2015 Adventures with Jude. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://adventureswithjude.com

Hints for Homeschooling High School

When we started homeschooling Jude, the general plan was to take it year by year. I wasn't stressing over "What about when he gets to high school?" because he was only in preschool.  Yes, I knew it would be here sooner than I imagined, but I really thought we'd make it through second grade before thinking about high school.  IF he was still home.  Back then, my delusion was he'd catch up by first grade and be back in school with his siblings.

And then God said, "HA! You have planned, so I shall laugh.  Ha ha ha ha!"

Suddenly, I had a high school sophomore in need of a school, because his was closing.  My head was spinning like a tilt-a-whirl. Could I homeschool a high schooler?  Logistically, it made sense, because our "first choice" school for him was too far to be practical. Academically, it made sense, because we had determined we weren't enamored with the schools that were closer.  It was an amazing blessing to be part of the Crew with Jude, because I just said to anybody who would listen, "HELP!!" Thank God, they did!

The Falciani Homeschooling High Schoolers

When we decided Matthew would be coming home for high school, it was for many of the same reasons.  After having one year of high school experience, I wouldn't call myself an expert, but at least I had some ideas (and Pinterest boards).


Follow Meg @ Adventures with Jude's board Homeschooling High School on Pinterest.

In the end, we decided to bring him home for 8th grade., so that was had a bit of a "trial" year to see where he was at and how he learned without having "this counts for graduation credit" hanging over us from the get-go. It's a lesson we learned with Luke, but it's a different experience planning from the pool deck than the deep end.  

One of the things a bunch of friends and I realized was that while we definitely aren't alone in homeschooling high schoolers, it feels that way in the blogging universe.   So many blogs focus on younger kids and what they are doing, and it seems that high schooling parents are much quieter.  It's for a variety of reasons.  Our older students are more private, and we try to be respectful of that.   They're also independent workers with incredibly varied interests.  Finally, our day-to-day essays and papers just aren't as exciting to blog about as arts and crafts.  There are a lot of us homeschooling high school, but we just don't know what the others are doing.

Hence, this blog hop series.  For the next six months, we are going to talk about high school works in our homes.  It looks different for each of us - not just in each family, but sometimes from student to student.  Luke and Matthew are very different in their learning styles and interests, making it challenging to teach the same things in ways that spark their enthusiasm.  I hope you'll join us for the series and discover how exciting and rewarding homeschooling high school can be!

Upcoming dates and topics:

June 24 - Planning for High School
July 28 - Electives that Inspire
August 26 - Math and Science Choices
September 30 - Language Arts
October 28 - "How am I going to teach ... on a high school level?"
November 25 - Fitting It All In
December 30 - Graduation

Now,  my hints for homeschooling high school. 

1.  Network.  Ask for help from other homeschoolers, even if they're not experienced with high school yet. You'd be surprised what networking can spark. 

2.  Be prepared to learn alongside your student, but you'll be surprised how much you remember from your own high school days.

3.  Academic discussions with high schoolers are fantastic. Sure, it's amazing to watch reading and writing click with a younger child, but now you're watching the dots connect between ideas.

4.  Understand that your teen is gaining independent opinions, and you're exposed to all of them, from what topics he wants to study to how much work he thinks is reasonable.  Some days, this is good.  Sometimes...you'll have a new appreciation for your own parents.

5.  Just breathe.  You CAN do this. 



Come share the journey with us!

Chareenfrom Every Bed of Roses - Introducing the 2015 Homeschool High School Blog Hop
Jennifer from A Glimpse of Our Life - Meet The Bloggers of The Homeschooling High School Blog Hop
Cristi from Through the Calm and Through the Storm - Some Homeschooling High School Friends  
Debra from Footprints in the Butter - My Three (Homeschooled High School) Sons
Leah from As We Walk Along the Road - Are You Really Homeschooling Through High School?! The Homeschool High School Blog Hop
Michele from Family, Faith and Fridays
Lisa from Golden Grasses  
Wendy from Life at Rossmont - Introducing High School Homeschooling ... {A Monthly Blog Hop}  
Gena from I Choose Joy!  
Kym from Homeschool Coffee Break - Meet the Homeschooling High School Bloggers!
Debbie from Debbie's Homeschool Corner - Homeschooling High School  
Carol from Home Sweet Life - Homeschooling High School ~ What is it REALLY like?  
April from ElCloud Homeschool - Introducing Homeshooling High School
Erica from Be The One - Homeschooling High School
Laura from Day by Day in Our World
Tess from Circling Through This Life - Introducing the Homeschool High School Blog Hop!
Dawn from Double O Farms - Tapping into Great Resources for Homeschooling High School




©2012- 2015 Adventures with Jude. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://adventureswithjude.com

A Helping Haircut - Donating to Wigs for Kids

I am so proud of Celia, I am fit to burst.

Let me back up a bit.

Nearly four years ago, my mom was diagnosed with cancer for the second time.  When I asked her what I could do to help, she asked me to help her pick out a wig.  As a natural redhead who wore her hair short almost my entire life, we joked that if she wanted to look like Rapunzel, here was her chance!  In the end, she decided to keep her "usual" style.  I met her at a local wig shop and helped her choose her "new" hair. We were really surprised how well we were able to match her "normal." In the end her insurance would pay for one prosthesis, and my father decided to purchase two others for her.  We laughed how she now had her simple wig for "everyday hair," a more coiffed 'do for her "formal hair," and a fun, slightly edgy "party hair."   I'm sure for them (on a fixed pension, with lots of extra medical expenses), two extra wigs were a stretch, but my father decided that his bride of nearly 40 years deserved a choice of styles, same as she'd have if her natural hair was still on her head.

Mom and her "Dressy" Hair, 2012

We never really talked about Grammy's wigs, but the kids knew Grammy had been sick and wore a wig because the medicine to make her better make her hair fall out.  A friend of Celia's had waist-length hair cut to a bob, and told everyone she had donated her hair to be made into a wig.  Putting two and two together, Celia said, "Like Grammy's wig?" and I said yes, there were charities that you could donate your hair to, and they would have wigs made for people with cancer.  She decided that was a good idea, and even if she couldn't really help Grammy get better, she could grow out her hair and donate it so others could have wigs. 

About two years ago, we saw a child at the hospital undergoing chemotherapy - or at least, we assumed so because she had no hair and was pushing an IV around the cafeteria.  Celia asked me why the girl had no hair. I reminded her of when Grammy was sick, and had to have really strong medicine, and her hair fell out. I said that girl probably had cancer, too. Celia decided then and there that she wasn't donating her hair just anywhere, it had to go to somewhere that gave wigs to children.  I'll never forget her saying, "Having a tubey is hard, but at least I'm not bald.  People don't see my tube right away, but everybody can she she doesn't have hair.  That's not fair."

As Celia's hair got longer, we started researching charities, and found a few that would provide "prosthetic hair for pediatric patients," but they all made the parents pay for them.  My little spitfire was beyond indignant.  She was flat out hopping mad.  "Sick kids are expensive! I should know!  Parents don't have that kind of money!  They need to pay for medicine, not a wig! That's not right."  Back to the internet we went, and we found Wigs for Kids, a charity dedicated to not only making sure children who lost their hair got a prosthetic, but that they didn't pay for it, either.   We pulled out our ruler, but Celia's hair was still too short.  Instead of the 8" minimum that most places had, Wigs for Kids requests donations be at least 12", so that girls can have long hair wigs. 

She had waited until she had enough left so she didn't have a super-short style once it was cut.  (Her own bit of vanity made her want to make sure she had enough hair left for her sparkly Lilla Rose clips.)   Many "Is it long enough YET??" checks later, we went off to the salon. In the end, Celia had sixteen inches of hair cut off to donate.

Celia loves her new cut, and is planning to keep it for the summer.  She said after school starts, she'll start growing it out again.  I take no credit for any of this, because if you ask me, a kid who spent most of the time between her first and third birthdays in the hospital and more time since than anybody should deserves to keep her hair.  Rarely does she have a "Woe is me!" day, even when her friends are talking about their favorite pizza topping or ice cream flavor, and she's grateful for sugar cubes not making her sick.  I'm so proud of her for not just growing and cutting her hair, but for making sure that it goes to another child.  When I told her this, she just shrugged and said, "Why? Nobody can fix that I can't eat, but I can fix that they don't have hair, so I did."

©2012- 2015 Adventures with Jude. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://adventureswithjude.com