It has been a while since I updated on our homeschool life here. I spend so much time writing about it at the Seton blog and speaking at conferences that I forget to do a nitty gritty kind of post here.
So here's some nitty gritty.
As you may remember our Katie has graduated and is happily attending college in New Hampshire. We miss her like crazy and she will be home for Thanksgiving next week (YEA!) and the kids have a list of things to do with her. She's going to be making lemon squares and playing lots of games according to Bridget.
For right now let's talk high school.
Dave and I are firm believers that high school should be the time the young people explore their interests and talents and try to discern what God has planned for them. College is not where this should happen and, in fact, people should not go to college until they have a clear idea of how college will benefit them in their career path. The world is too full of well educated baristas who can't get jobs in their field of study. We are very open to our children taking a gap year to work if that is needed or to train for a trade rather than waste time and money floundering in college.
We also believe that field of study should actually be something you can make a living doing, no women's studies majors here, thankyouverymuch.
Erin has been kind of easy in this regard since she is a very talented musician. She plays the flute, piccolo, and piano as well as being a vocalist. You should know she did not get any of this talent from me.
So the focus of Erin's high school is music. She is working with her private instructor, with whom she just celebrated a ten year anniversary, toward taking the Music Theory AP exam this spring. She is the first chair flutist at her orchestra as well as being in their majors program asnd the wind ensemble. She plays at church in both the band (piano and flute) as well as cantoring. I have also asked her to teach a twice a week chorus class to her brothers and sisters. She's enjoying doing that and I hope giving paid lessons is shortly in her future. She spends a few hours a day on her craft, it's where her gifts lie and what she is passionate about. We are happy to provide as many opportunities as we can to help her acheive her goal of a music program and someday playing in an orchestra.
Erin is in tenth grade by the school calendar. She is also taking two challenging courses at Homeschool Connections including King Lear taught by Joseph Pearce and The Rending of Christendom taught by Phillip Campbell. She's working hard on both courses and doing well. She recently completed a writing course there as well. Erin finished up her language requirement last year and scored honors on the National Latin Exam (which made us very proud). She's taking a bio class taught at a nearby library with a bunch of other homeschool students. Again, it's a lot of work but she is handling it, not loving it but handling it. She's taking geometry here at home with Teaching Textbooks and doing very well with that as well. All of this coupled with a hefty reading list assigned by me and she's pretty busy.
So that is how high school looks here right now. Erin is our only high school student at this time and her high school is very different than Katie's was, and that is they way it should be as far as we are concerned. Each experienced tailored to help each child acheive their post homeschool goals.
How do you do high school?
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