Where to start?

The biggest thing on my mind is organizing what we'll be doing with math going forward. While we've always done something with math, I've never been over organized with it. I blame my children. We'd start a math book with good intentions...only to find out after explaining the basic idea, they intuitively understood all of it. What do you do with that?

Anyway, Youngest is doing Singapore Math and seems to be happy with it. He'll sit and do ten pages one day and the not touch it for a week or two and that's fine with me. I'll probably stick with Singapore for a while though I'm sure he'll jump in spurts like the other two did.

Middle is doing Geometry with a mix of books because I've yet to find a Geometry book I like. Even when I taught College Geometry, I couldn't find one book that had everything - all the basics as well as constructions and proofs. He's done with the basics and now we're working on constructions. Life has been made a little easier in this department with this website that covers exactly what I usually teach. I'm considering combining his proofs with a whole logic type of course for our homeschool group in late spring or summer.

What to do next? I suspect he needs some review of Algebra before moving on to Algebra 2. If we do a review of Algebra then an easier version of Algebra 2 then Precalculus, this will put him roughly on the same path Oldest did. Sigh. Maybe I'll have it figured out by then. Regardless, I'll need to dig through my stuff to see what I have for some Algebra review. If anyone has any suggestion of how to stretch it further without stopping entirely, I'm all ears (eyes) because Calculus at 12/13 isn't the easiest thing to deal with...

This brings us to Oldest. She's finishing Precalculus now. She did Algebra 2 and Precalculus which is kind of redundant being mostly the same material, but she's doing a harder version now, so I guess it's kind of spiral-like and she is definitely more confident with it. My thoughts had always been that she'd probably want college credit by the time she got to Calculus, but now we're facing this at 12 years old. She's not ready for a college setting. She would feel self-conscious and put too much pressure on herself, like just about any 12 year old probably would. She's ready academically for AP Calc AB, but again, the pressure of ONE big test, her being the youngest...I think it would not go well.

I'm thinking about having her do regular Calculus through FLVS so that she gets used to the setting and sees that she is capable (because Mom telling you means nothing, of course) and then have her take AP Calc BC the next year. After that, we will have to go the dual enrollment route if she wants to continue in math, but she will (hopefully) have proven herself and she will be 14, almost 15, and blend in a little easier with the older students. The only downside is being locked into the FLVS schedule all next year. Maybe I can convince her to work ahead? Ha!

Welcome to our crazy life

I know. I am a few years late into the blogging scene, but the older I get, the more I forget. I am hoping this will help me keep track of all the things the kids and I do and what works and what doesn't.

We've covered everything from pre-K through high school over the years and now I'm starting all over with my 4 year old. Rather than reinvent the wheel every few years, hopefully I can use some of my wisdom (cough, ha!) gained from homeschooling the older two.

It's also getting towards the end of the year, so I am looking forward to organizing for next year...as organized as I ever get. More about that later, I think!