Journey to Excellence

Dawson got his first progress report this week. He has mostly A's, with a couple of B+'s (87%-89% .. and one of those is PE for not dressing out a couple of days). His A's are in all of his difficult classes, so I am VERY proud of him! He is determined to get his B's up to A's because he wants to get all A's this quarter. So far public school has been very good for him. Dawson was so proud of his first progress report that he put it on the refrigerator for all to see! He has made a couple of good friends and even has his eye on a girl! He's playing it cool, though. Although he has not ever been one to get too involved in activities, he says that he is considering running track in the spring. I think that would be great. I am looking forward to a continued good year for him.

Yesterday we had planned to finish some things up for school. But then Dawson got a call about an application for a job that he had put in a couple of months ago. We went to do a face-to-face interview, and before we left Dawson was scheduled to come back to work that afternoon. He will be working at a local car wash. It's a great job for boys, super hard work with great pay. He was there about 2 1/2 hours today and ended up making about $10 an hour with tips. His boss told him that it's not unheard of to earn $100 in tips a day. Before he went in to work (weird to say that!), he had to go take the required reading proficiency exam for the driver's test. Since he's homeschooled, he didn't take it in 8th grade as public school students do. The test is supposed to take about 1 1/2 hours. It took him 28 minutes. And the report said, "You are eligible to enroll in any college-level course requiring college-level reading." Well ... I think he's doing o...

We took Dawson out of public school after 7th grade for many reasons. But one was because he was being bullied, and it had been going on for two years. Well, this week we learned that Dawson has been bullied again. This time by family members who don't agree with our decision to homeschool. Out of the blue on Wednesday, and I really did feel like it was out of the blue, Dawson got angry about an assignment. He stormed upstairs and destroyed his room, throwing around his clean and folded laundry and papers and yanking his comforter off his bed. A tantrum. (The last tantrum he had like this was when he confessed the bullying and fear he was having in the 7th grade.) He told me that he hated homeschooling and that he was torn about going back to school. He said, "You have no idea how torn I am about it." He was right. I had no idea. In fact, I had been noticing how much he was LOVING homeschooling and LOVING how we have the freedom for him to learn the way he best le...

Dawson received a really nice guitar from my dad this summer. And then I came upon a great opportunity for him to receive group beginner's guitar lessons, geared toward homeschool students. The cost is soooo cheap, only $25 a month for 6 total hours of instruction, one afternoon a week (instead of in the evening .. yay!). And, the lessons are at a small church just down the street from our subdivision. This is great for us because we live about 5 miles outside of town, so anything we do usually requires at least a 15 minute drive, if not more. I just felt like it was a God thing. Dawson was very reluctant to start the lessons because he was afraid he would show up and be the only 6'2" person with a group of 6 year olds. He is the tallest one there, by a long shot, and the oldest kid, but there are boys and girls of all ages and even a couple of moms. He has really taken to it! I have always felt that if my kids are involved in extracurricular activities, that I have t...

1.  We tend to start later and later every day, thus ending later and later every day. 2.  Without designated times to work with Dawson, Brynne monopolizes my time. 3.  To concentrate, Dawson needs to be in a "school" setting. Sitting on the couch causes him to think lazy. 4.  This teacher feels like we have spun our wheels all day and accomplished nothing. Unschooling could just never happen here. So, I'm going to have to find a way to use the Charlotte Mason philosophy on a schedule . That's what's great about homeschooling .... do what works for you!

We are using Saxon Algebra 1/2. Dawson used Saxon math curriculums in earlier grades and I always liked the style of it .. how it revisits past problem sets in each lesson. To me it's just a great way to build on what you are learning and not forget what you have learned. Practice makes perfect. It also helps to identify problem areas, especially when the same types of problems are being missed in each lesson. We cover a lesson each day and Dawson does it's 30 problems. I grade those problems and then he has to redo the ones he missed. He gets two grades each day. Through revisiting past problem sets I can see the areas where he is struggling. There have been a couple. Seeing that, I have been able to work on those problems with him each day. And he has started to figure them out. In public school that would not have happened. His class would have done a lesson and moved onto the next one the next day. Then he would have tested on those problem sets. And if he didn't under...

Hey, it's Dawson again, doing my weekly blog post. :( Well some of the things I enjoyed about this week are: I made a diorama of Egypt; I made tomb paintings; and, I just got to free draw one day. You can see pictures/purchase my drawings on my mom's blog. :) I also got to bake fig and date bread. Turns out I'm a really good baker. I'll ask my mother/teacher if she'll post my recipe on her blog. One of the things I'm not enjoying is ALGEBRA!!! I have to do 30 problems of questions I don't always understand! And today I have to go over the 13 problems I missed yesterday plus the 30 I have to do today!!! That's 43 problems!! (at least I know how to add). -Dawson PS. My drawings are each $49.95, plus shipping. ** To see mom's perspective on the week and get specifics about projects we completed, go here .

As you can see, he's a teenager of many words. We are using this weekly blogging tool, of Dawson writing a weekly wrap-up post (go here to read it), as a writing assignment for him. He typed it. Then he and I sat together while he looked for his grammatical and spelling errors. He is right ... he doesn't type much. So, we'll be starting his typing curriculum next Monday. This week we started our A World of Adventure curriculum and Saxon Pre-Algebra and just tried to get into somewhat of a groove. I think we were very successful at that. I posted about our first day of school here and will be posting on Monday about one of our field trips. Some highlights of the week for me were: * He didn't give me attitude about school even once ! One time, when I asked him to do something I knew he wouldn't like, he sighed. But then he stopped mid-sigh and completed the assignment without any protest. And he did it well. * I have been very impressed with the neatness and qualit...

This is Dawson. He is 13 years old and getting ready to start the 8th grade. You can go here to read about why I decided it was best to bring Dawson home for school this year. Although I have remained steadfast in my decision, Dawson has gone back and forth in his. I think this is natural. I thought the best way for you to get to know Dawson was to hear directly from him. As you will see, he is caught somewhere between hoping that this school year at home will be different than what he has experienced in public school, and fear that it won't be. Here is my interview with my newest student: What are your interests? My dog Crusoe, skatingboarding, cars, shooting air soft guns and playing video games. {I also see his interests including lots of art and music.) What are your greatest strengths in being a student? Experiments and projects. {By his individual grades in public school, this is completely true. He would get straights A's on these things and much lower grades on daily w...

Yesterday I asked Dawson what he would like his schoolroom to look like? He said "The 8 th Grade Center". He's having second thoughts. I know this is normal and natural. He's always gone to public school. The rest of his siblings are still going to public school. His friends are all in public school. But, it's not the best environment for him, and we both know that. I'll try again to get his opinion about what things, aesthetically, he would like in his schoolroom to make his learning environment comfortable. We'll get there.

We talked this weekend about what he wants to do "when he grows up." He said that he wants to teach art to special needs kids, primarily Spanish speaking. Now we have something to work toward ... teaching skills, art, Spanish. I can do that.

This week Dawson has been expressing some sadness about not seeing his friends at school every day next year. I assured him that we would do what we could to keep him involved with his friends. I was actually feeling bad for him. But, I'll be honest. I don't know his friends very well. He doesn't spend any time with them outside of school. He really only hangs out with two brothers that live in our neighborhood. This week I found some notes a girl on his bus had written him. They were filled with curse words. She even gave him a drawing of something not appropriate. I have noticed lately that his language and morals seem to be changing into something I am not happy to see. He apparently gets sent to the hall to do his school work in at least one class and routinely gets "called out" on the bus as being the instigator of trouble. He denies that it's him. However, whenever there is trouble at home he typically denies that it is him, as well. I can't say I be...

Dawson was just plain angry at the beginning of the weekend. He was really hard to get along with. After much poking and prodding, I got him to open up to me about why he was so out of sorts. Apparently a rumor had been started that a boy, notorious for fighting and currently in in-school suspension because of it, was mad at Dawson and was going to "hurt him." Dawson was reacting out of fear and stress. This boy is the same boy that bullied him all the way through 6th grade. Dawson doesn't even know his last name. I offered to call the school to notify them of this boy's threats, but Dawson told me he did not want me to get involved. So, after much consideration and prayer, I decided to honor his wishes. I want him to always feel that he can open up to me and talk to me. If I betray him, he may not do that anymore. Rick and I have discussed it and have decided that should anything happen, we will go ahead and take him out of school this year. I have told Dawson that w...

On Friday I picked Dawson up from school a couple of minutes early so that he could help me take all of the puppies to the vet. The school counselor was in the office and was the person who actually called Dawson in his classroom to leave for the day. She didn't acknowledge me at all. No big deal, you say? Well, about a month and a half ago I made a specific appointment with this counselor about the problems Dawson was having at school. I asked her to take an interest in Dawson and start having weekly meetings with him to discuss his progress and to show him that someone at the school cared about his progress. I cried in her office. For several weeks in a row I asked him how his meetings were going with the counselor and he would say, "Fine. She asks me how I am doing and shows me my grades." I thought, "I do that." I don't know how long it's been since he's actually met with her. She apparently isn't meeting with him, and doesn't care. Becau...

What if the public school system has failed your child? We are taught as parents, and the kids are taught from infancy, that it's important to be the best. It's imperative to be the best. I don't like perfect kids because, well, there's no such thing. But, there are a lot of kids who either think they are or are pursuing that perfection. And/or they have parents insisting they pursue that perfection. (I am a reformed parent. When Kyndal didn't get "chosen" to be in the honor society in 7th grade, I was offended and upset! She never wanted to apply for it anyway and could care less. But, I was almost embarrassed that my self-perceived perfect child wasn't chosen ... more because of the way I thought it made me look, not her. And I can remember sitting at the 6th grade orientation and being asked only one question by more than one mother, "What honors classes did Kyndal get into?" My response was, "Oh, Kyndal is really in this school t...