Last Day of School!

Today we wrapped up another great homeschool year, and now we officially have two third graders and a second grader! {queue the Mama tears}

Eli has worked really hard this year, and he has really started to push forward into more independent work. Math continues to be his strongest subject, as he pretty much breezed through his curriculum. The only reason I didn't accelerate him was because I was having to focus so much attention on the other two. Thankfully he wasn't bored, but I will have to watch that. He made great strides in reading and spelling, and even though he said grammar wasn't his favorite, he did really well with it. While Spanish was his least favorite, he really enjoyed history, geography, and earth/space science this year.

Maddie was a little hesitant with having to repeat 1st grade math this year, but once she started understanding the concepts, gaining more confidence in her math skills, and seeing the progress she was making, she actually said out loud, "I LOVE math! Math is my favorite!" I was dumbfounded haha, and I tried not to let the shock show on my face. She worked so hard and was so proud when she got to start her 2nd grade math book in the spring, and I was so proud of her. I also looked up one day and realized how easily she was reading everything. Another subject that was hard fought and came with a lot of tears. We still had hard days, but overall, I found her saying she LOVED varying subjects that she had previously thoroughly disliked, so we had many wins this year. On any given day, she LOVED history, science, math, grammar, geography, Spanish, reading, Bible, spelling, and manners. Writing was consistently not her favorite, but she really does well with it when she can focus enough to actually write :)

Aiden asked every day, "Do we have to do school?" Haha. Sweet kid still just wants to play. School just isn't his thing, and that's ok. Because he still works hard to get his work done, so that he can go play! He also did really well with a refresher on 1st grade math and he still keeps up with his brother and sister on most other subjects. We did have quite a few tears this year over reading and spelling; it reminded me a lot of Maddie, though I am wondering if his struggles are different, so we will be spending some dedicated time this summer to focus on reading. I'm hoping that without all the overwhelm of his other subjects that it will help him feel less pressured and, therefore, less frustrated. He did love history and science and geography this year, so I am hoping to tailor more subjects for him next year.

We have our state-required evaluations next week, and then we will be ready for summer! We will take some time off, but will still pick back up a little summer school. We will keep up our reading and math, as well as finish out our history chapters, and we will also be adding an art class. When I was describing our summer to someone the other day, they said it didn't really sound like we took a break haha. I promise that we do! Even with our "summer school schedule," the work itself doesn't take that much time. Reading with Aiden might take the most time, simply because we're trying to bring up his skills. But math is more of a review, and history is just listening to our chapter and completing a coloring page during the summer. And art class is fun! There will still be plenty of time for the pool, hikes, VBS, time with friends, and lazy days of summer  :)

I'm so thankful for another successful homeschool year!