I'm really trying not to stress the fact that my ds is starting high school next year. I'm struggling to balance the freedom we homeschoolers have to direct our child's education and gear their course of study to their interests and God-given talents with . . . ok, college entrance requirements. There, I've confessed it. I by no means want college admissions officers to dictate what we do in our homeschool. Having said that, I also feel I need to equip him with the education that he needs to obtain a college education should he so desire.
Now, knowing my ds the way I do, I suspect that he may not go to college, but may simply enter an apprenticeship or certificate program. His heart's desire since he was 8 was to be a pilot -- either a missionary or rescue pilot (but not military, I think). He's often said he wants to take supplies to missionaries and provide transportation for them. His love of animals also factors into that a bit as he'd love to be able to transport animals in some manner, possibly as part of a rescue team or something.
We've looked into Missionary Aviation Fellowship, and a couple universities that offer aviation programs. There is one nearby, as I suspect he would not be very likely or eager to attend school far away from home. He could attend the one nearby and live at home. Or he could attend a private flight school, but I'm concerned about cost for that option. Though I think a certificate (non-degree) program would not qualify for scholarships, either. I'm not sure.
Anyway, here is what we have planned for this year:
Bible: "Discovering A Christ-Like Character" (Deeper Roots Publications)
Language: Winston Grammar Advanced & Writing Strands
**writing is an area that is a huge struggle, and he is being tutored this summer by his uncle in the hopes that he will make great improvement
Math: Saxon Algebra 1/2 supplement with D.I.V.E. video instruction
**I wanted to start with Algebra 1, but just don't feel he is strong enough.
History: Medieval, Reformation and Renaissance History (Beautiful Feet)
**This follows the Ancient History we did this year. We love Beautiful Feet, but when unpacking the books, I was a bit overwhelmed and the "heavyness" of many of the texts. Not being a really strong reader, I will likely be reading a lot of this aloud to him. (To help with the reading, I'm hoping to do a speed reading course this summer.)
Science: Exploring Creation through Physical Science (Apologia)
Health: Switched on Schoolhouse Health
Foreign Language: Latin American Spanish I (Rosetta Stone)
It seems a lot to me. I looked at the 28 credit hours suggested for high school, split that by 4, which means 7 periods a day. Yikes. I thought, and a friend said, "That's like being in regular school." That's exactly my struggle. But he and I talked about perhaps doing either Spanish or Health in the evenings after dinner, to not make the day so long.
Later on, in perhaps his junior or senior year, I'm looking at two online aviation courses that will also qualify for college credit, so that should be exciting.
For our 7yodd, the following is planned:
Bible: Explorer's Bible Study
Math: Horizons Grade 2
Language Arts: Learning Language Arts Through Literature (finishing red and proceeding through yellow at her own pace as she is advanced); supplemented with Draw, Write, Now and/or A Reason for Handwriting for penmanship (which is pretty awful at the moment!) and Explode the Code for spelling/phonics
Other: Five in a Row
This time of year is so exciting, but also a serious responsibility, as we seek to lead our children in the path God has planned for them.
In Christ Alone,
Barb
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