Day: January 3, 2007

TEST

Last night I started getting caught up on the homeschool corrections that had gotten ahead of me over Christmas break. Both Kelly and Christian are finishing up large units of work in both grammar and math. The systems we use for each of these subject areas are surprisingly similar in the way the materials are taught. At the end of the unit, there is comprehensive testing and it is starting to get quite complex. The program is solid though, and the kids have systematically improved. It is also interesting to me that the kids generally express their creativity through writing–Christian writes computer programs and claymations, Kelly writes essays, letters, and stories. It is also interesting to me that both of the kids like to write together. In the preparation of their Kaktus Kids magazine, the work closely together. They both write and work on the more technical layout tasks. In addition, they enjoy their annual research report very much, handling the research, writing, and paper preparation with vigor. Kelly and Christian do pretty well in both math and writing, but their interests lean in different directions. It seems to be that way in real life, too. Many of the engineers with whom I work are abysmal writers. Most people I know who write fairly well are bad at math. Of course, there are a few who can do both well, but they are the exception. It does not seem apparent to me why one should not be good at both. We are going to be cognizant of this and work hard so that writing well and doing math well are not mutual exclusive in our homeschool.