5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement:Take a Look Tuesday -at Our Homeschool Year!

Welcome to our stop on the 2018 Back to School Crew Blog Hop today!

Today is the day we get to share what is NEW or different with our homeschool this year! Course the BIG change for us was this:

SIGH....Please tell me where the time has gone!

My BABY is starting Middle School, the Southern word for JUNIOR High!

EEK!!!!!!!!!!!

Just when you THINK you've gotten a handle on homeschooling ("I got this, we're on our third year, we've got a groove"), your child keeps propelling along and you realize and the rate she's going, she's going to start High School subjects in 8th grade and graduate EARLY (and don't even get me started on HIGH SCHOOL curriculum planning!)!

ARGHHHHH!!!!!

So when MOM finally came up for air, I realized her graduating early might not be the best thing EMOTIONALLY for her, so we're taking a bit of an eclectic option this year, what we're calling a GAP year.

What that means is she still is doing the core curriculum, meeting state standards (although she tested 2 grades up in 3 of the 4 in May), and allowing her to work on her research skills, as well as to follow any trails that interest her.

So she'll be taking online courses in Engineering, Photography, and Apologetics. Which means lots of "Hey Mom, I need to take pictures for class, can we go to ____" conversations coming my way, LOL). She's already planning trips to Montana and Kentucky for us, as she wants to combine all of these interests in hands on activities. Course she didn't look at Mom's BUDGET, but we'll see how it goes...Plus she'll be adding in more adult exercise classes, to help with her Irish Dancing.

I feel strongly that this is the time to let her explore- to find what grabs her soul and makes her want to see it through. So often we wait until are kids are knee deep in High School and ask them what their goals are, and they really don't know what TRULY makes them happy. This in between time is when they start experiencing things on an adult level, but still with a childish glee in their eye. We need to hold on to that glee and see where it will lead them!

But it is also a time where she is changing how she sees school work- there will be more goal orientation and less repetitiveness, and more focus on skill level. I've already seen the changes when we're out and about- she seeks out areas she can learn about-from how to cook something, to how a wall is being constructed, to what she can take away from the experience. There is no simple walk at the old fort anymore- now she is the one telling me all about it, as she takes her pictures!