Homeschooling Connor 2/7/09

Well, I've been homeschooling Connor for three weeks now, and I feel that I should write down all that we've been doing. I have to keep careful records anyway, and this is the easiest way to write and reflect. Wow. We have done so much in three weeks that I guess I have to back-track to the beginning. First of all, I've been following other homeschooling blogs for over a year now. I spent last year calling Connor in sick at least once a week so that I could provide enrichment opportunities for him. But our one day together was almost like boot-camp because we had it so tightly packed. We had our crossfit trainer come at 7a, the sewing teacher at 9a, we'd fly over to the art lessons at 11a, and be at guitar lessons by 1p and horseback riding by 3p. Yikes! No time to actually enjoy all these extras. And I kept finding all these cool things for us to do, but we had no time to do them! Connor normally didn't get home from school until 4p, and we have a family dinner around 5:30p. No time for anything really. As Mark Twain said, we have to be careful not to let school get in the way of our education. So I took the leap. Jan 19th was our first official day of homeschooling. For months I'd been planning an elaborate curriculum. My biggest concern is that we'd kill each other in the process because I often lack patience. Therefore,the first week I just tried to take it easy and not follow a strict regimen. All the blogs warn parents not to go jumping into an overly zealous curriculum at first, because the child needs to transition. So the first week, Connor read a whole lot and we loosely followed our plan. Every day he read for at least two hours, and he completed 5 pages in the 5th grade Everyday Math book each day. Connor read The Good Earth, by Pearl Buck (12th grade level), Blood Gold, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, and The Guardians of Gahoole. He also studied Chinese, practiced guitar, played chess a lot, and went to horseback riding lessons. The second week we went to Florida to visit my dad for three nights. We went to an aquarium, the Big Cat rescue, University of Tampa, and a couple of beaches. Connor learned about (and got to touch!!) sting rays, snakes, alligators, sharks, tigers (and lots of other cats). He collected shells and we watched Xiao eat the eyes and brain of a Snapper (a fish). Last week was our third week, and much more structured. Connor wrote his California report (oh, did I mention we've been researching California?), and discovered an online geography site that has him hooked. Connor can now place all the states on a blank map in 63 seconds, and he can place 85% of the countries in Europe in 120 seconds. We will master the geography of the earth within a month. Connor also took apart our old computer on Thursday. We got a new tower, and he decided that taking apart the old one would be cool. He researched computer parts online, with screwdriver in hand. Everyday Connor suffers through his Rosetta Stone Latin program, and he scored 100% on a test I devised of 42 Latin roots. His vocabulary book (7th grade level) arrived, and he's completed unit one. We are on unit 3 in the 5th grade Everyday Math book. He's completed three "packets" that I give my college students (scoring about 85% on each) and a physical features of California map. He wrote a song about early California history on his guitar (lyrics and the written music) to perform at his Impact Homeschooling Academy on Tuesday, and yesterday he found an online penpal from California to correspond with, so that he can find out a regional dish to prepare. Ok. Now that I've sort of filled in what we've done for the last few weeks, I'll try to post everyday. I have to admit, my only regret so far is that I didn't have the guts to do this last year!! Below is the letter I sent the school district (for other new homeschoolers to use as a model).

To Whom It May Concern:

Please consider this as a letter of intent to home-school Connor Peters, age 10, effective January 19, 2009. Although we have the highest regard and admiration for the faculty of Geneseo Central School, the School and College Ability Test indicated that Connor has special educational needs as a highly gifted student. Unfortunately, academic intervention for gifted students is not currently mandated under state or federal law. After researching our educational options, including online courses through the Center for Talented Youth at John Hopkins University, home-schooling appears to be the best plan for Connor at this time.
If it were lawful to home-school part-time and provide Connor additional academic opportunities on alternate days, we would choose this option; however, the New York State Education Department does not authorize part-time public school attendance. Enclosed please find our tentative curriculum, book list, and syllabi for your perusal. We will complete the Individualized Home Instruction Plan after we receive the necessary forms from the district. Please feel free to call or email us with suggestions and feedback, as we value the input from the outstanding teachers at Geneseo Central School.




Sincerely,