The 2015-16 School Year - Here We Go

With one warm-up week under our belts, it's time for the traditional start of the academic year. Every year on the first day back to school social media is flooded with photos of all the kids in their new stuff headed out, holding signs "Some Grade" or scowling with displeasure because they are really to old for this and mom won't let go of the tradition.

I always feel a little strange on that day because we're doing the same thing we always do, and in fact, I have tried to minimize the notion that school and the life we live are separate entities. It doesn't keep me from getting very worked up about having everything cleaned up and prepped and some new system in place for keeping us organized every fall. There is still a necessary return to a routine that we inevitably lose over the summer.

But there are things this year that are different. I no longer have a child in grammar level studies. I have one middle-school girl and one high-school boy, and it seems strange even to call him a boy because he is such a young man. I have been going through books and find that toys and children's books that we have held on to and cherished have fallen into disuse and are no longer needed. I have a LOT of old curricula to sell. I figure it's a project I'll work on gradually this year, but it's time. 

Matt has exchanged legos for computer parts

The thing that has changed the most is that Matt will no longer be my student. I have entrusted him to the capable folks at The Well-Trained Mind Academy, established by Susan Wise Bauer, author of the Well-Trained Mind. 

Matt's coursework will be:

Chemistry

Rhetoric I

US History

World Literature

Math through Mr. D Math 

Latin II through Dwane Thomas (who was the creator of Visual Latin, a video-based curriculum that we enjoyed and learned of through Compass Classroom.)

CrossFit / PE

This big change leaves Molly and me on our own, and we are both excited about the possibility. Without the co-op situation we have had for so long, we have decided to deviate from Tapestry of Grace this year, while staying on course with the same time period schedule we have been on so as not to backtrack, repeat, or leave holes. We are going back to our roots and will be using Well-Trained Mind (WTM) methods for her work as well. Her workload will increase by virtue of the fact that she can't slip through the cracks, not to mention I know just how capable she is of doing more! I don't know if she's excited about that. We will still be meeting with a friend once a week for science, logic, art and lunch. 

Molly's course work will be:

Math - Math U See, Epsilon, Zeta

Grammar - Analytical Grammar

Writing - The Complete Writer and beginning Writing With Skill, writing across the curricula, some creative writing.

French - Duolingo 

History - Story of the World, beginning with the early American Republic and French Revolution through Modern Times.

Science - Apologia Anatomy

Logic - Fallacy Detective

Art - Coursework designed by Mom from various resources

Violin

And so it begins. Again.