Tristan graduates

How can it be, my youngest child has graduated high school and homeschooling. He's done! I'm done! What do I do now?! Truthfully I've been transitioning into more full time work all year so there is no big change but it feels different. Change can be hard, maybe that's why I waited until August to formally give Tristan his diploma! He graduated in April but I guess I wasn't quite ready for that stage of my life to end so I held on a little longer. It was time, I not only presented his diploma I then went on to clear out more homeschooling items (many I had already sold or given away) and I changed around our dining room, which was more library than anything else and made the focus more a comfortable sitting room/dining room. So proud of this young man for all he has accomplished in his years of growing up and homeschooling. You have done well Tristan!

The Nifty Fifties!

Tristan's last play with co-op, his senior year play is a really good one! The Nifty Fifties is a musical set in the fifties, it's full of energetic song and dance numbers and plenty of great acting and sets. The cast ended each night with a performance of More Than Conquerors.

Behind again but not with homeschooling just with blogging

Our final year of homeschooling is going well. I have several posts to make just haven't had much chance. Tristan is busy rehearsing for the musical The Nifty Fifties as well as finishing up any other last year homeschool things. Last week his drama group did some carolling including at the Dunkin Donuts near co-op. I wasn't able to get a photo but I know the drama teacher video-ed it and other took pictures so I'm sure I can get those later.

I've worked part time through the last 10-ish years of our homeschooling but this is the first year I've attempted basically full time work along with finishing up hs'ing and teaching a co-op class. It's been a big adjustment and I'm tired a lot and always behind but for the most part it is going well.

Hope to catch up on this years homeschool adventures here on the blog soon.

The Very Last First Day....Of Co-op!

What a day, what a year, what a decade. Today Tristan and I began our very last year of homeschool co-op. I just read my blog post about our very first day of co-op Our Very First Day Of Co-op. and have decided to  write this post in the same format, just for fun!

6:30 AM- The dogs are barking for their potty break and breakfast. I'm up already, be patient dogs!
 Let the dogs out into their yard and feed the cats. Dogs back in and they get their breakfast. I get some veggies and such for the lizards and then head out to the barn to get the day started for the chickens, ducks and rabbits.

7:00 AM- I'm glad I showered last night because my young adult daughter grabbed the shower first thing this morning! I'm also glad that I did all my prep work for the co-op class I'll be teaching ahead of time. I can read a little facebook or check my emails while I have breakfast.

7:45 AM-give Tristan a shout that he should be thinking about getting ready for co-op soon. Wake my husband since he runs errands while we're at co-op. We don't live near stores and there are a lot down near co-op. He particularly enjoys the thrift store up the road from co-op since he likes antiques and old stuff in general.

8:15 AM- I see Tristan dump out the contents of his backpack which clearly hasn't been looked at since the last day of co-op back in May! We find him a unused spare binder since last years binder is still full of old things and he puts that in his now mostly empty backpack. Tristan grabs some breakfast to bring along and we set off.

Backpack- Out with the old....is that last year's Christmas Candy??

9:30 AM- We're at co-op for our very last first day! Tristan has gifted me the opportunity to re-create the photo we took on his very first day ever of co-op. We ordered a similar outfit and he stood in the same spot. These pictures are priceless to me. Tristan is my youngest and of course it's been hard to let him grow up but he has grown up into a fantastic young person just like his brothers and sister have. I know he is anxious to be done with school and get on with grown-upping but just a little longer Tristan, a few more classes a few more credits and you are done!

September 11th 2007-1st day of 1st grade.

 

September 11th 2018- 1st day of senior year.















9:35 AM- I take all my class materials into the sanctuary where I'll be teaching. This year I'm teaching 3rd-5th graders drama class and the play we'll be producing is called Pan! A variation of Peter Pan for elementary age children. Tristan doesn't have a class this hour so he'll be one of my teen helpers along with another senior student, Brielle, who has helped me in the past. I have 27 children on my class list so having a couple energetic teens to help out is great! I met with the high school drama teacher whose class will follow mine. Making sure we're on the same page about moving things off the stage, performance dates etc.

10:00 AM- My drama students and their parents arrive. Many of the students are returning, I've had them in drama class or other classes before. Some new faces too. Some of the parents of the newest students seem so young. Some are uncertain or look confused. Some saying I have to drop off another child somewhere else or my child doesn't know where to go next. I try to be re-assuring, I've been there, I remember those feelings. Class goes wonderfully for the most part, first a short parent meeting and then I release the parents and begin to get to know my students for the year. I give out scripts and answer many, many, MANY questions from the students. Four different girls say they want to be Tinkerbell. I wants to give the children time to move about so I have them up and down a few times in seats or on the stage. We spend some time deciding what the characters Peter Pan and the Darling children might be like. One very little boy cries a bit, he doesn't want to have a turn at being Peter Pan. My teen helper reassures him and by the time we get to the next activity he is right in there as a Darling child and he does great.

10:55 AM- We took it right to the last second but I managed to finish class on time and everyone got a turn at the last activity. Tristan stays for High School Drama class and I go to catch up with parents of some of my students. Some have forgotten to pay the class fee or didn't make the parent meeting and need the information. Two students never showed up at all it turns out one family dropped out of co-op and another has a lot going on but may be there next week. I'm not irritated or upset, although I would LOVE to know all my information and it is important in respect to having the right amount of characters for the play selected (and it was selected based on how many families confirmed their child for the class) I do get it. I've been there, we've missed days and dropped co-op for a year and it's just hard some times when you have many little ones.

11:30 AM- I'm done chatting with parents and decide to sit for awhile, it is VERY LOUD in that multipurpose room. It was loud 11 years ago and it's still LOUD! I don't always do loud well. I decided to take a walk outdoors for awhile. When I returned the "big room or the gym" as it's often called, was not quite so loud with many families having left for the day after 12:00 classes. Only those with students in the older drama class are there until 1:00 when that class ends.

1:00 PM- Tristan is done with drama class and it's time to head home. Oh I got a few nice things from the "free stuff" as it was 11 years ago someone, maybe not even the same person, still brings in various breads and produce sometimes to share with the group. It's left overs from a natural foods store and a grocery store I believe. I got half a dozen blocks of organic tofu for small donation, also some maybe not quite perfect anymore produce for the chickens, ducks and rabbits. Happy perk of the co-op!

2:00 PM- We're home, I'm tired. I think Tristan had an okay last, first day. I download the photos that I took and I love them so much. I go back and read my blog post from 11 years ago. Tristan was in 1st grade and had two co-op classes. My older kids had other various classes. As I read I remember how hard it all felt and worries and insecurities that I had. It was a hard year and a learning year. The 50 states teacher that I mention Mrs. Ryan,  is a wonderful person who has had all four of my children in at least one class over the years! She's teaching High School drama this year having taken over from the long serving and beloved former drama teacher Mrs. Marquis. Oh and Colin was a handful, he really was, when second semester came along and he moved into Tall Tales class he was often under the table or escaping to the play area. Several older moms gave me great advice to let him be little and don't sweat this small stuff start worrying when it's time for high school history and such. Once he was in high school history he could sit, for an hour anyway, as Mrs. Petriel, our long time co-op friend can attest since she was his high school history teacher at co-op for a few years :-).

4:00 PM- I'm tired and wondering how I will cope when I'm subbing in the school on non-co-op days. I've worked part time while homeschooling since around 2009 but never as much as I'll soon be working. I guess it will get easier, first days are always exhausting even when you're a seasoned pro at first days, even when it's your very last first day.

The Rest of the day-  I'll get my weekly email off the the parents of my students soon. I'm definitely going to get something to eat soon. I'll see what needs to be done in the gardens and start to think about next week's class. About 7:00 I'll shut up the farm animals for the night and I expect I'll be to bed by 9:00. I'm sure that all my kids.....make that young adults, will stay up later than me.

Let's put on a show!

This semester I've been teaching a grades 3-5 drama class. The play we have been working on is called Ebenezer's Christmas Carol. Today was the big day fr our show! I won't post pictures of the children in the class since they're not my own children. I did have a good time (and an occasional frustrating time) working with the 24 students as we rehearsed and perfected the play. Some parents built backdrops and I collected many prop and costume items in the couple months before the play. I had some students who knew their lines right away, some who took until show day to learn them and everything in between. Scripts were sometimes forgotten, absences happened at inconvenient times, I had to shout louder, louder so many times I felt I should make a recording of it. In the end the show was magical and I was glad to have been teacher to the 24 young thespians and director of the show. It was a wonderful experience despite the harder aspects. Tristan was normally in a class during the time I taught drama but he took off show day so he could help me out and I was glad he did. I was so busy dealing with so many last minute details that having a right hand man ready and willing to help me get it all done was perfect and needed!  Here are a few pictures that don't contain any students who are not my own kids.

Not the best picture but some of our many costumes and props stored backstage between dress rehearsal and showtime.

Props and set pieces waiting to be used..

The stage is set!

Tristan helping me ready my script and light.

Right before showtime.

In the end the students did me proud and the show was wonderful. Now to think about next semester, another class and another show!

CSI Forensic mysteries!

In addition to teaching elementary drama at co-op this year I'm also teaching a CSI mysteries, forensic science class for teens. The class has been a lot of fun but soooo much prep work for the weekly labs! Tristan is one of my students and sometimes we check a lab ahead of time at home but usually I leave it to be a surprise for him in class. We will do a few of that labs that don't fit well for co-op at home, as well as some reading and watching some videos to round out the class for him.

Getting ready for CSI class was often a lot of work, the kittens liked to help which usually made prep work take even longer!

Kittens help me prep for CSI class.

Again kittens and cats are far too interested as I prep for a chromatography lab

Mysterious white powders lab materials for 5 groups, 18 students took a lot of work to prep!

Kittens help Tristan with his homework!

Back To Homeschool Time 2017-2018

Another homeschool year and just Tristan, my youngest remains as a homeschooler. This year he will be going to co-op for some of his classes, mostly electives, as always. He will have a good line up of at home classes too.

Here are his courses for 2017-2018

Math-Personal Finance by Dave Ramsey

Science- Forensic science  lab class at co-op, Teaching Company videos as well as some reading at home.

English- One Year Adventure Novel Module 2- Other Worlds science fiction based writing

Literature- British Literature

Art- Art History at home, various handicrafts as well as Crotchet class at co-op.

History- British History- well, it is his second culture with me being American and his dad being British!

Elective/Arts- Drama Class at co-op.

Geography- revamping a class that I have previously taught at co-op for home use. Mostly video based with Trail Guide to World History guide and workbook.

Just a few first week back photos.

Back to co-op for another year.

Science work at home with furry helpers!

Trying out some skills learned in crochet class, yet again he has furry helpers!

A Day At The Art Museum

We decided to visit the Currier Museum of Art today. Colin chose not to go but the other three were up for it. We hadn't been there in awhile and there was a special event on with activities, music and food trucks. We had a nice few hours touring the museum, saw some lovely and some very unusual art. Listened to music a bit and wandered through the outdoor stalls. We did not buy dinner from a food truck though, the lines were very, very long and over an hour wait was predicted.

Homeschool year 2016-2017-Done!

Our homeschool year is finished. it was a very good and productive year for Tristan. Colin finished up a few last things and is now officially graduated. I will order his diploma soon. Colin worked hard on Taekwondo and is ready to test for his 2nd degree black belt. He participated in Snowboarding as usual too.

Tristan worked hard and completed Intro to Novel Writing with One Year Adventure Novel. He liked it and I must admit so did I. He will go on to year 2 of adventure novel with Other Worlds next year. For math he completed Math U See Geometry. For science he did physics with Physics 101 including the labs and extras in the accreditation book. Literature was mostly American Lit. this past year with many good books and audiobooks. We delved into robotics a bit with a Robotis kit but didn't get too far with it due to buying the kit used and we kept coming across missing parts. Probably with something involving many parts and pieces it would be best to buy new. We may re-visit robotics next year. Tristan learned a lot about politics, current events and so many other things following the election.  He took a First Aid and CPR class at co-op. Finally he participated in drama at co-op. Since this year was a musical this meant classes in acting, singing and choreography. Tristan played the role of Max in Romeo and Harriet.

It is good to have another homeschool year completed. Just one more student for me now, soon I will have worked myself out of a job when Tristan graduates!

May 2017- It's a wrap for another great year of drama

This year the play was Romeo and Harriet  a Musical Tragical Comedy in 2 1/2 acts! Tristan played the character of Max, a bad guy this time!