These are all the awards that the two younger boys won at the awards ceremony at school. Luke completely caught up and exceeded all his goals. He and Evan were both on the honor roll all year. Evan was considered and granted permission to go into the gifted program next year. I am very proud of him, but I am not sure I want him in the program. There is tons of projects and more work. Coming from a homeschool perspective, I do not think that all the extras are worth it. They do enough work at school and I am not interested in us spending our evenings doing loads of homework or science projects, so we shall see how it goes. Austin was on the honor roll as well and received an award for having the highest GPA in math. All 3 of the younger children will be in school again next year, while it looks like I will be homeschooling Austin even though he is begging me to let him go to the middle school, but that is not happening. I will look into another christian school that is closer than the one he went to last year and see if that is a possibility.
I thought that since the kids all completed a year of school away from home I would give my most honest assessment of their time away. I loved it and I make no apologies for that statement. Evan thrived, and all I saw was good things for him and our relationship. Going to school changed his and my dynamic. I became the support and encourager rather than the enforcer. It was a much needed change for us. Austin did very well with the change and it was incredibly good for him to be accountable to someone other than Mommy. He had to grow up and take responsibility for himself and his work. I saw no negative effects on him. Luke pushed himself really hard and became even more driven than he was. He took his work seriously and overcame some of his academic hang ups. I have noticed that the social environment had an impact of him. Of all the kids he is the only one that seems to have picked up some unpleasantness from his peers. He made some "enemies" on the bus, and his mouth was sassier, if that is possible. It was nothing incredibly alarming, but enough that I had to wonder if it was his age or his peer influence. Dania was not is school long enough to see any changes, good or bad. I will say that since she spent most of her life around people, she seems to really thrive in that environment. She will not be happy home with me all day, and I don't think at this point that is best for her. Overall, I am so grateful to God for this past year, so many good things happened and God's grace was with our family.
6 comments:
Very encouraging to hear that they all had such a good year in school. Andrew is going to public high school this fall; he seems excited, but I am apprehensive about it. It is a great school, but still...it is good to hear such a positive report. I think that a change in our relationship from enforcer to supporter/encourager will be a good thing for us too. Can't wait to see you in a couple of weeks!
I'm glad the kids had a good year. I think you're making the right call about not letting your son go to public middle school.
Middle school is in most ways, worse than a public high school. Way worse. In high school, if you're a decent student who takes things seriously and makes good grades, you will placed in classes with kids of the same vein.
My kids enjoyed elementary school a great deal. I'm not surprised that you all had a good year. There are lots of opportunities for growth and learning in elementary.
My child had no choice but to do public schools all her life. But she was also a kid who stood bold in middle and high school because of her spiritual maturity.
She refused to participate in stuff that other kids did that you would not believe, refused to be "quiet" on Celebrate Gay Pride day, she stood up to science teachers for her beliefs in Creation and so on.
As I have reflected on her last 12 years, were I a better parent and had the opportunity, I think I would have been a heavy favorite of home schooling, but God used those environments to grow her as a believer.
Its a rough world out there in public schools. I don't envy anyone who has to send there kids into that if they are not prepared to constantly come along side and be involved as a parent.
The good news is you and Nate are already that and I think you will be surprised how much that makes all the difference -- GODLY PARENTS!!
Congrats on all the successes of your boys and love your honest assessment of how you loved the freedom :)
So excited and proud of your boys and girl for doing so well in school. They must have worked so hard! I think it is a good idea to consider the 'gifted' placement carefully . Sometimes, when things are going well it is not the best decision to push the envelope. "Gifted' program stressed me out as it was a pull out type of class (many years ago : ) and I always felt like I was 'missing' what happened and was being gone over in the regular class and playing catch up all the time. If he really wants to do it, I would tell him to do it for a trial and then stop as soon as it gets to be too much if he finds himself overwhelmed. I will say that I loved the gifted science program because we got to dissect real animals like frogs etc... and that was very interesting to me. Anyways, Congrats to the Brock Kids:)!!!
I really appreciate your review of the year, Catrina. We're hoping to homeschool starting next year. I think one of my REALLY needs it, but I'm not sure if it's best for the others. I just need to keep praying! LOL
Really glad your school year went so well. Quite an eventful year for you guys.
Stop by sometime and let's visit. Would still love to meet Dania.
Mrs. O.
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