Homeschooling Homestretch

[blairmacg]

When I pulled Dev out of his Montessori school halfway through his third-grade year, I had no idea we'd still be homeschooling through high school.

Now, he's wrapping up his final classes: chemistry, Italian, composition, media literacy, and entrepreneurship. (His senior class schedule was way more impressive than mine: English, humanities, drama, teacher's aide, and study hall.)

I'm putting together the last of his high school transcript for his official graduation in July. His final school project will be a portfolio giving an overview of the academic and experiential learning he completed for each subject. As we discussed it tonight, he kept saying, "This is all I have left, really?" and "Wow, we did do all that!"

This is the joyful part of homeschooling. Helping my son look back on the last four years--the years without his father, coincidentally--to assess what he has done as a primarily self-directed learner, and be proud of what he has accomplished. He will have completed the core diploma requirements, of course, and can add to that coursework and experience in business and retail management as well as archeology and anthropology. He has even earned credit for costume design and construction (aka cosplay)!

We've decided to do an open-house type of celebration for his graduation, and it'll likely come sometime in June even though we won't quite finish before July. Unbeknownst to him, I bought him the cap and gown, so we will be all official. :) Also unbeknownst, I'll be having a conversation with our karate "family" about holding a celebration at karate camp.

And in the middle of it all, while trying to juggle everything else amidst seeing him through the final months, I sometimes just have to take a breath and realize that yes, indeed, we made it through to the end.

Comments

[iron-fox21.livejournal.com]

Excellent! Congrats to both of you !

[blairmacg.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[medicmsh.livejournal.com]

"Parenting Win" would be appropriate, but incomplete... "People-ing Win"? Hm, still not quite right... Ah! "Family Win"!!! Congratulations to you both at this milestone, and best wishes for everything that lies ahead!

[blairmacg.livejournal.com]

Hee! I'll take the Family Win. :)

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

Hooray! Congratulations to both you and Dev. What a marvelous accomplishment...for you both!

[blairmacg.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I remain amazed we actually made it. :)

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Congratulations to you both!

[blairmacg.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Dev has worked really hard to make it to the end. :)

[greylistening.livejournal.com]

As a fellow homeschooler, I salute you!

[blairmacg.livejournal.com]

Saluting in return! It's quite a trip, isn't it?

[greylistening.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness, yes! I am so grateful that I had the work flexibility to do it. It has been exactly what my kid needs.

[blairmacg.livejournal.com]

Mine, too! My son's reading challenges would have kept him out of so many academic opportunities in a traditional school, and the schools would have never permitted him to take advantage of other opportunities.

Because I travel for speaking gigs and was able to take him with me, he's had the chance to spend time in Oahu, D.C., Virginia, Utah, California, Missouri, Colorado, and other places. He learned history and earth science via first-hand experiences. The schools would have considered those trips unexcused absences that counted against his academic progress. 0.0

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

Eeee, congratulations! What an amazing feeling to have reached the end of this particular journey! :D

[blairmacg.livejournal.com]

It's so... danged... close...

When he learned to drive, I was able to give up the part-time job of taxi driver. Now another part-time job will go by the wayside. I'll hardly know what to do with myself.

(Okay, so maybe I already have PLANS. ;)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I'm so impressed that he did things like Italian and chemistry! How wonderful!

Are you close with other family (i.e., will any relatives be joining you for your celebration)? It sounds like regardless, you've got a tight community of friends.

[blairmacg.livejournal.com]

He's put together a pretty interesting transcript, all told. (The Italian started before he took his summer archeology trip last year to Tuscany--a gift made possible by a generous bequeath from his godmother.)

All our family lives in Colorado, so the family celebration will happen in August.