Rosie Girl completed high school through twelfth grade by homeschooling and is finishing her second year at UW Stevens Point studying music. She's making all As&Bs (while being convinced that she's failing). She wants to compose and is making her first forays into composition this semester. She's also going to be taking some jazz piano lessons. And she teaches tap dance at a local dance studio. And she's now on the market for a more steady job to add to the teaching. Ah, the life of an adult.
Are there things I would do differently? Absolutely! Would I send her to full-time public school? Not unless she really wanted to go. I think homeschooling was a great choice for her. Rosie Girl is, by nature, introverted and creative. Home education gave her a great chance to pursue lots of her creative venues, including writing, poetry, drawing, and music. She played piano, ocarina, and guitar. She took and taught dance class and took piano lessons. She also took art class at the high school and was part of the poetry club. Being introverted certainly didn't mean she was bored! But, it appears that home education has pretty well prepared her for college and work.
This year, we sent Wild Man to Wega-Fremont High School for 11th grade. Can I be honest for a minute and tell you how worried I was? I wasn't worried about the social side of things? In fact, I wasn't sure he could be quiet enough to get through a class!! And, I was more than a bit stressed about the whole dyslexia thing - he reads and writes well, but not quickly.
So, he started in a pretty routine set of classes. But, for math, he was in Geometry instead of Algebra 2 because he got behind in math because we were working so hard on reading in late elementary and middle school. And, he isn't in American History since he's already had that class in homeschooling. However, he's in the National Honor Society!! He must be doing OK on the academics and social stuff and volunteer work at school! He also got the Musicianship Award for 11th Grade for Band this year! And was the lead in the school play - Pippin!! And got an Exemplary at State Solo and Ensemble for his Musical Theater Solo and a First for his Classical Solo and a Second for his Snare Solo and a Second for the Percussion Ensemble.
It's been a good year! He's thriving. And planning to study Algebra 2 over the summer so he can take Pre-Calculus next year along with Physics and AP English 12. And he has a couple of jobs. I think he'll be ready for college next year, too. And ready for the world after college, too.
But, I kind of miss homeschooling. I don't miss having to set up notebooks and make sure that the kids were actually doing the reading or watching the DVDs or lectures or whatever. I liked that they were home for more of the day with me. During practice for the play, Wild Man would get home at 8:30 or 9pm. I go to bed around ten, so we didn't get much time to just hang out. At least during the summer, even if he's working, he's at home for part of the day. We can just be with each other. And Rosie Girl will be with us again this summer.
They're getting so old and are going to start having apartments where they live all the time. And I don't even want to think about the fact that they might need to move away from here to chase their dreams. But, PWM and I have loved our children and talked to them and prayed about our choices and prayed with our children as we launch them on the world.
I think so far, the choices have worked out well. The first two years of Rosie Girl at UWSP have been quite successful. The first year of Wild Man at Wega-Fremont has been also successful. And, I should add, that PWMs year at Wega-Fremont as a math teacher has also been successful. And we look forward to a happy and productive summer!!
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