Mid-Year Evaluation

When Plans Fail

I had it all planned.  I had what I wanted to accomplish with my fifth grader all written out. I had prayed and researched.  I knew my ten year old wasn't ready for the writing in Heart of Dakota's Creation to Christ.  I wanted to give her a chance to bump up her writing level, while exploring and reading.

Life doesn't often go as planned.  I may want it to, but these past few months have been challenging and full of unexpected crisis moments.  One daughter has been in the ICU twice, for over a week each time.  Another daughter has battled some health issues that require treatment.  My college classes have been more demanding than I anticipated, with project after project.

Re-evaluating

And so, it is about this time each year where I reevaluate what is working and what is not working.  Usually, this is simply a curriculum thing.  Is the child succeeding with this curriculum?  Do I need to switch anything?  Do I need to slow down or speed up in any area?

This semester, to some degree, has felt like a lot of work and little progress for my fifth grader.  The things that need to change are not simply a matter of curriculum.  I need to carve out more time.  Things like read-alouds have been pushed to the background because of my work load and stress level.  Even more, I don't feel like my daughter has improved her writing the way I wanted when I began to plan.

Looking at next semester, I am struggling to find more time. I am planning to drop my class load to part-time.  When I went back to college, I had this idea in my head that I could work when my children were working.  That has only somewhat worked.  I am still needed for my ten year old.  She is growing in independence, but not quite at the rate where I can spend hours on something else.  And so, I am determined to find a compromise so that I can continue my education, even if at a slower pace, and still be here for her.

We have made some headway.  In her dictation level, she has advanced forty-seven passages.  She tends to get the majority of them on the first try, repeating maybe one a week for errors.  She is looking, at this rate, to be well into level four by the next school year.

Plans From Here

Taking a look at different categories of studies, this is the plan for the rest of the year:

English - My fifth grader will continue with dictation daily, to improve writing and spelling skills.  She will slowly do a Word Building program over the next few months to help with handwriting and reinforce her spelling.  She will finish a couple of the workbooks for English that she has, because they focus on writing.  Then she will begin Rod and Staff English.  Rod and Staff emphasizes writing more than our current program, and is wonderful for leveled learning.  She is also slowly going through the McGuffey Reader, which combines reading with writing and vocabulary.

Reading - My fifth grader will continue to read slowly through the reading list I have for her.  She is currently reading through Clara Dillingham Pierson's Among People.  This will take her to the end of the school year, at one chapter every other day.  She is enjoying this series.  She is also going through Literature and Creative Writing, and is currently reading North to Amaroqvik.  She will finish this book and read Heidi before the end of the school year.  She has also started Drawn Into the Heart of Reading (DITHOR).  She is currently reading Fanny Crosby.  Also planned this year is Noah Webster, Kitten's Tale, and Riding Freedom.  She is only working on DITHOR every other day, alternating with the Pierson stories.  Megan is also alternating Abeka readers with her McGuffey Reader. 

Bible - Megan will finish her Christian Light Education workbooks studying the New Testament.  She will then begin Heart of Dakota's Bible as planned in Creation to Christ.

Social Studies/History - Megan is currently finishing some workbooks studying Christian leaders and missionaries in American history as well as Biblical heroes.  After this, around February, she will begin Heart of Dakota's Creation to Christ at half-speed.

Science - Like with History, Megan is finishing up some science workbooks.  In February, she will begin Creation to Christ at half-speed, where she will begin a study of Land Animals.

Math - I have bounced around in math this year, attempting to cement math facts and skills before the math becomes much more challenging.  After some trial and error, I have settled with Singapore math mixed with Life of Fred.  I have Meg reviewing skills until after Christmas.  I like that Singapore is also leveled, and my child can master skills before moving on.  I have scheduled it strangely, however, bouncing between a couple levels at this time so that she is reviewing more in a spiral approach.  However, that stops in a few weeks and she will begin normal plans and working straight through the textbooks and workbooks for Singapore, with a chapter of Life of Fred every couple days. Math is one area where I feel it is okay to slow down and make sure the foundation is solid before moving on to more advanced concepts.  If the foundation isn't solid, the child will not be able to grasp the more advanced concepts.

My high school senior is staying with the plans I made for her.  Unless something is completely not working for her, she won't change.  She is working for credits, and needs to be pretty consistent. She graduates this spring.

It may seem as if my fifth grader is doing too much, but many of the plans spiral.  This means that she may only work in an area every other day or a couple times a week.  When we begin Creation to Christ, she will be working at half-speed because my plan is for the level to last her through sixth grade.  She will begin next year at half-speed also, with some subjects being done daily, such as math and English.  This allows her to focus on core areas, advancing in her writing, so that by the end of Creation to Christ, she is definitely ready for Resurrection to the Reformation and the skills needed at that level.

Over the years, I have often felt that I wasn't doing enough, and I pushed my older children too hard.  I have learned to slow down, to use their natural skills to reinforce areas where they are weak, and to take things a day at a time.