Lynn commented that my 4th grader seems advanced, and would I please pass the medication? LOL A lot of times I feel that way, too. Like when I type up their curriculum lists and post them side by side. Anemone is one and two years ahead of where JellyMan was at her age in math and grammar, respectively. Oh, no! How did this happen? My poor JellyMan! Where did I fail him? What will people think when they see this list? Will they think Anemone is smarter? IS she smarter? Should I care? Should I push JellyMan to “catch up” even though he isn’t bothered by it? And why isn’t he bothered by it? Shouldn’t he be bothered by it? Why the hell am I bothered by it? Whew. Pass the vodka!
First of all, Anemone is one of those autumn babies. Since we homeschooled, I could have said she was in 1st grade when she turned six, even though her birthday was after the cut-off in our state. But she already had playmates going into the kindergarten class in Sunday school and the local dance studio, so I left it alone. I was always the youngest person in my class, and it wasn’t fun. The older kids always seemed to be cooler than I, plus they could register to vote during our senior year rather than take the final exam in government class. How lame is that? So, whenever I start hyperventilating about the apparent discrepancies in The Goobers academic levels, I remember that Anemone could be considered a 5th grader, depending on what state you live in.
Also, Anemone has benefited from the mistakes I made experiences I’ve had with JellyMan. By the time Anemone started school, JellyMan and I had worked out most of the kinks. We knew how to do math – I wrote about our math experiences here and here - and we knew that Winston Grammar wasn’t all that great and Rod & Staff grammar was awesome, but only if you start with book 4 and assign about half the exercises. (Looking back, I think we could have started with book 7 in grade 7 and then quit grammar for good.) Knowing these things really sped up the process. I think if I had another three children of similar ability, I would know exactly what I was doing by the time I go to the youngest! Or maybe I’d just forget homeschooling and run screaming into the night. It’s hard to say with me.
And since she is doing Saxon 7/6 in 4th grade, where does that leave us in high school? If she does the normal progression of Saxon, she’ll end up in calculus her freshman year. What’s left after that? Will the high school courses in middle school count on a transcript? Again, it depends on which state you live in, and being military, we just don’t know where we’ll be. Should we slow her down? Should we bump her up a grade? Should we send her to community college? Where’s that vodka?
As far as speeding JellyMan up goes, I’ve decided against it. He knows he is free to work ahead whenever he likes; he chooses not to. He’d much rather read and have a life, and I’m more than fine with that.
So, now that I’ve admitted publicly how deeply insecure I am about our homeschooling progress, I’m going to go cry for a little while. I’m going to have to leave the vodka alone, though. It would be unseemly to start drinking at nine in the morning. If I’m feeling saucy by ten I might make myself a Bloody Mary.
I will sit and share one with you. I know all about that homeschool anxiety. That is why they are going to school, and now I have anxiety about that. Does it ever stop? Your kids are great. They are happy. That is all you need. Right?
I have the vodka and I’m not going to share. Nope, not even a drop. You’re doing a fine job so you don’t need it as much as I do. I guess this is all from my 4th grader being a whole year behind in reading. With that said, the kids on the street turned 9 in 3rd grade and will be turning 10 sometime in 4th. My 4th grader will just be turning 9 in the fall. In retrospect, I should have waited a year in terms of how I report so that it wouldn’t be so hard for her. But, too late. The state thinks she is a 4th grader so there is nothing to do but drink vodka and take meds.
You should try some of the anti-homeschool anxiety meds. They work fine as long as you don’t compare yourself to someone else.
This mothering gig is a piece of cake with your blinders firmly in place.
(((hugs))) Melanie. You are probably feeling better by now but I wanted to send a hug your way just in case. Planning always makes me a little crazy but somehow we always get through it. I think it is a combination of the youngest benefiting from the things we learned along the way and what was important to the oldest. They may not have a matching cur. list but maybe the oldest was fostering other areas of interest that helped them grow into what was important for them.
Thank you, ladies. You’re all so nice!