First Semester Progress?

[Mandy in TN]

I am in TN where I need to log 4hrs/day and 180 days/ school year.

We go to a tutorial one day from 8:30-3:00. Another day the little guy has art and drama classes from 9:30-12:30. My goal was to have Doodlebug finish 36 T4L login days during our second 9 week quarter.

As of last night, he has 30 days of logins averaging 1hr21min/ day! I am pleasantly surprised. I had no idea that he had completed that much. So, to have his 9wks at 4-T4L days/ week, he just needs 6 more days. It looks like we will be able to officially wrap up first semester on 12/16 with the parent performance of the drama class play.

Doodlebug will definitely do work after 12/16. I only plan to do nothing 12/22 to 12/26 while we are at my mom's, but even then I may bring the violin. Also, I still need to see how many T4L activities he has completed, because the time spent this semester may not correspond to approximately half of the program and I may need to adjust to finish by the end of the school year.

I have not felt good about Doodlebug's education this second quarter. I am in a personal slump where I feel like I am just going through the motions. However, I was pretty jazzed when I ran his attendance report.

Is everyone else satisfied with their progress?
Mandy

[fairylover]

We have had a very slow year. We were behind from last year so that hasn't helped. But we finally finished third grade social studies this week. I'm excited about that. If we ever get through science, (did I tell you how much I hate science.) he will be doing all fourth grade work. One thing that has helped me when I am feeling far behind is to mark the halfway point for each subject. When we start the year I print out the lesson plans for each subject. Then I look at the total number of activities, tests, and quizes for that subject for the year. I then count through the lesson plan to find the halfway point. I write "halfway" on the lesson plan. That way it is easy for me to look at the lesson plans and see how close we are to the halfway point. Each day as he does his work I mark the grades on the lesson plan sheet. This gives me a solid idea of where he is for the year.

[Mandy in TN]

I figured the percentage complete.
LA- 54%
LAx- 61%
Math- 43%
Science- 50%
Social Studies- 57%

We switched from 3rd to 4th grade math, so we are a little behind 50% in it, but everything else is at least 50% complete. I still have the getting-my-second-child-off-to-college-is-stressing-me-out-and-we-have-too-much-going-on blahs, but stepping back for a minute and running the giant 9wk report turned out to be a positive experience.

Mandy

[fairylover]

That sounds like you're doing great. For many people the year isn't half over until some time in January. So you are pretty far ahead of the game.

[Mandy in TN]

My umbrella school officially ends its first semester on 12/22. However, even if I didn't have that guideline, I would still like to get in 18 weeks by winter break. I do this because spring is so crazy with stuff going on that I want to get as much done in fall as possble!
Mandy

[Dinomom13]

We just started right after Thanksgiving, so we're not far along yet. So far, so good, though, and my daughter is completing her lessons independently (which she wasn't able to do with Tennessee Virtual Academy). I think she'll be able to finish one year of lessons by June, but we'll see how things go as the novelty wears off.

[fairylover]

I think she'll do fine. Time4learning has a way of keeping the kids involved. My son loves to do school most days.

[Mandy in TN]

We just started right after Thanksgiving, so we're not far along yet. So far, so good, though, and my daughter is completing her lessons independently (which she wasn't able to do with Tennessee Virtual Academy). I think she'll be able to finish one year of lessons by June, but we'll see how things go as the novelty wears off.

My ds doesn't love school, but as far as curriculum goes he likes T4L just fine and as we are wrapping up the first semester he is still moving through it fairly independently. (I do sit by him through many, if not most, of his quizzes/tests.) I love planning and I love books, but I am so thankful that this year while we have so much going on that we have been able to use a program that will allow him to move forward without prep on my part. I was so absolutely correct when I looked at our schedule and felt like Doodlebug's school work would not be done. If all the prep had been on my shoulders, I am certain that we would be terribly behind at this point.
Mandy

[fairylover]

Like I said, my son loves school "most" days. He does have his days though. I am so glad to have a curriculum that is all laid out for me. I wouldn't survive if I had to plan curriculum every day. T4L is the best.