Raising Saints & Martyrs

We all have that moment where we look at our kids and say "ugh, really, Spanish?" I mean come on, we homeschool. We have the freedom to do anything. I was so in love when one daughter wanted to do 4-H photography and another decided to do cooking and cake decorating. Sweet! Interesting electives!



Entrepreneurship - Teach your children to make their own money on their own terms! This is great for the self motivated child! BONUS: Did you know, Origami Owl has a youth program? Yeah, the Owlette Program for young girls. Uh, yeah...I think this is great!!!

Photography - This is a life skill people. You need to know how to take more than a selfie at some point. Kids love to play with expensive technology, well, this piece of equipment can get them outside!

Culinary Arts - And I do NOT mean home econ...I am talking real cooking classes. Bear wants to cook, but she can already grill a steak, make homemade mac and cheese, and bake a cheesecake. SO, what should I have done? Well, for one, we use a whole lot of Netflix. She actually gets credit for watching cooking programs! She then recreates what was made, or makes something similar. She has made perfect Eggs Benedict, Gelato, Crepes, and some very delectable cupcake combos!

Creative Writing - If you have a writer on your hands, why not give her the opportunity to use that skill? Creative writing, short stories, poetry, whatever it is...just double your English time and allow your child to explore her skill set with that time. There are a ton of curriculum choices, or just wing it!

Voting 101 - It is election year after all. This is the perfect time to teach older students the ins and outs of the voting process. We can change the course of the country by empowering our children to form educated opinions and follow the vote this year!

Archery - I don't think I need to tell you why this is the coolest elective ever...do I? I mean, sharp arrows, targets, shooting things? I dare you to find a kid that say "eew, no way!"

*This post contains affiliate links...so if you like these, get them...they help me pay for my kids' school books, which is kind of important*

You see that look in her eyes...you know the one. The look that says she isn't going to do this without a fight. I see that look daily. Bear hates Language Arts. I haven't found books she enjoys reading yet. I haven't found a grammar program that doesn't make her cry. And I most certainly haven't had an amazing year trying to get this done.


Actually...I lied...I did find one curriculum that didn't make her want to kill me. That was Wordsmith Apprentice. It was fun for her. The writing was approached in a way that made it less like work and more like a fun activity. She began with filling out a job application and moved on to reading newspaper articles. This curriculum moves the child along with writing and gaining confidence without the child noticing. By the end of the semester Bear was able to bust out a great five paragraph sentence! We also used A Beka, but I wasn't loving it, and neither was she! Every day was a new fight this year. I really should I have switched gears early on, but I had hoped she would rally.

I used Wordsmith Grades 7-9 for Boo. She loves to write, so this wasn't a concern of mine at all with her. I did it in conjunction with Saxon Grammar and Writing Grade 7  and Wordly Wise 3000 Student Book 7. Boo will be using grade 8 for both of these next year at her own request. We have found a curriculum that works really well for her and plan to stick with it! She also used a literature curriculum by BJU: Explorations of Literature. I'm lucky because she loves to read and write, so none of this is wasted on her!


What made the cut for this year:

Moving Beyond the Page L/A 11-13 - This is new to us, but looks promising. Bear hates reading, writing, and grammar, but I am hopeful. She did use a couple MBTP books this year for fun and just loved them! They take a more classical approach than I am used to, but I welcome the change.
BJU Excursions in Literature - This went so well, Boo asked for it again!

I'm not going to lie here...at the beginning of the year I had this all figured out. I had my schedule set for Bear and Boo, I knew the daily routine, I knew the sports schedules, and I for sure was not going to waiver.



How, then, did we wind up here? Bear is constantly fighting me on school work while Boo just trots on by like it's the easiest thing ever. I was frustrated and at the end of my rope. I was watching as one child was falling behind because I was so determined to follow my schedule that I made. The same schedule I made without bothering to work with and consult the two people who knew best what they need: my daughters! Duh!

This week I swallowed my pride and did what I needed. I decided the best way to give my children what they needed was to talk to them. I had fallen into exactly what I do not want to be. The parent that says do the work and keep up {as a teacher, that is what I am told to do, as a mother, I know better}.

How was I able to gain control in just a week? Easy...look...

1. {ok, it was more like two weeks because I needed to plan for a week}...I followed my regular lesson plans for a week

2. During that same week, I began to just ease off and see where exactly the issue was. It really didn't take long.

3. I wrote everything down {by the way, I started the year with a time-block schedule, then swapped to a list schedule right away as both girls preferred it}. I noted what work was not getting finished, or how long each assignment was taking.

4. I read my notes and this is what I saw:
*Boo: Finished all work fast, correctly, and even early.
*Bear: Math was great, she is excelling, Latin...same, Geography is where she slows, she is bored with it. Science was going well as long as I was reading the book to her, same with History. Finally we have Language Arts...this is a disaster. Not one day resulted in finished work. She could only finish if we were doing it all verbally **ding!!

5. I called the doctor! Yes, you read that right. Now, I am not all about labels, but I am a divorced mother, so I need my bases covered. Her doctor and the specialist agree: learning disability {ps...I despise that term. These children are not incapable of learning, they just do it differently!!!} Appropriate appointments made, and school work will be done 50/50 verbally and on her own {because if we are being real...college}.

6. I regrouped: I pulled out my notebook, called the girls in and got to work!

7. The real work: I sat with each child and talked about how she learned and how she liked to break her day up. Boo really does do well with a list, so she still gets her daily task list to check off each day. Bear has a time-block schedule now. Technically both girls do, just in case Boo isn't feeling it that day, she has a time-block to get her through.

8. I went through and printed up worksheets for all missing assignments! Every. Last. One. I then filed those in a file with each child's name and class. If there is missing work it will be there. The child can go in and look when she has extra time and finish the work! I tend to have Friday as quiz day, so this is perfect for Fridays!

9. I picked up additional small unit studies for Boo. When she has nothing left, she can do some of that work. She loves ancient Greece right now, so I got two on that for her.

10. I took a hard look at curriculum because Bear was unhappy with Language Arts and was getting frustrated with the amount of time she was doing Math. For Language Arts, I got rid of a couple items, small books and stupid sentence stuff, and we no longer diagram. For Math I added Life of Fred, which we all LOVE. I am slowly beginning to rethink Mystery of History. While I absolutely love it, I am not sure either of my daughters likes the chronology. Plus, in Volume II there is a lot of anti-catholic view, which I can deal with because it forces me to teach my children the view of the Church, but I worry that I might miss something one day, What do you think? Is there a History curriculum you love?

New schedules for my girls: