Myra Turner reminded us yesterday about remembering to celebrate educational milestones while homeschooling in her article, Celebrating School Rites of Passage. How I neglected to address Kindergarten Graduation when writing my post on Homeschool Graduation, I will never know.
After reading the article, I realized that we were letting my daughter slip from elementary school to middle school with absolutely no fanfare. For shame! Not only that, but we did the same to our son two years ago. Needless to say, this weekend will be one of celebration for our family. Since our kids, will both be transitioning to a new chapter in their homeschool experiences; it is only fitting to make a big deal of it.
I may have mentioned this before, but next year both kids will be spending two full days a week in “school”. I realize this sounds odd for homeschoolers, but it is a special program for homeschoolers. The children are getting older and more independent and we feel this is a step toward transitioning into to taking college courses while still in high school which they both want to do later on.
In addition to this accomplishment, we have something more specific to celebrate. My son has been advanced in all areas except math. He has always stayed on grade level or just below. Two years ago, he struggled through an outside math course, so this past year we took a step back, and hired a tutor. My daughter on the other hand really had me worried this past year. (Oh, the secret fears of homeschooling moms!) I did my best to teach her, but I was convinced that she was not absorbing anything I said. Her argumentative nature did not help this matter. We butt heads the most during math instruction. Well, after placement tests last week for the “homeschool school”, I was pleasantly surprised. Both children took their tests extremely fast, finishing in the first half hour of the allotted 90 minutes. My daughter finished her test so fast that they gave her second a test at a higher level. The results of the tests are that my soon to be 11 year old sixth grader will be taking 7th grade math. My son who will be 13 in the fall will take Algebra 1. (I am still waiting to hear about their writing samples.)
Yes, we have much to celebrate this weekend, and we will.
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