Meet the Students, 2020
Here we are at our annual tradition: meet the students in our (home) school. This has been a wild year, for sure. And with our oldest daughter's college classes moving to an all online format, you might say she's "homeschooling" college too. (We are all hopeful that it's a temporary thing but she's been 100% online since March so...)
As always, all interviews were conducted in person. Answers are shared with permission.
Child #1: First daughter, Elder Statesman, The Boss
Age: 18, 19 in December
Grade: College Sophomore
Favorite Subject: Biology
Least Favorite: Psychology ("...but only because of the professor.")
Favorite thing about college: meeting new people
Thing she misses about homeschooling: having 100% control over deadlines
Skills in: knitting, crocheting, painting, talking, taking charge
Strengths: Focused, self-motivated, good at balancing her schedule
Weaknesses: Procrastination (according to her. This is less obvious to me!), perfectionist in some areas, doesn't like answering the phone or composing emails
Favorite book: Les Miserables (favorite of all time), or North and South
Favorite movie: enjoys most movies, especially historical dramas and documentaries about history
You can find her: at the library, spread out downstairs surrounded by books, computers, and yarn
Looking forward to: Halloween (a chance to dress up)
Wants to be: Librarian (she’s currently an English Major in pursuit of this goal and working as a Library Services Assistant).
Worst part of 2020: uncertainty and fear about getting sick (earlier in the year), not being able to work for several months
Best part of 2020: more time at home, more online meetings and online classes
Child #2: Daughter #2, Pursuer of Justice and Fairness, The Conscience
Age: 16
Grade: High School Junior (11th grade), Rhetoric stage
Favorite Subject: Photography / Yearbook (co-op class)
Least Favorite: Algebra 2 and probably Advanced Math (she's finishing one Saxon title and moving on to the next right now. And while I think she has impressive abilities in this area she still assures me that she loathes it)
Favorite thing about homeschooling: flexibility
Skills in: singing, drawing comical penguins, understanding complicated concepts
Strengths: logical thinking, determined
Weaknesses: temper, impatient, prone to negative thought patterns (she's working on it!)
Favorite book: The Incorrigible Children series
Favorite movie: Wall-e
You can find her: on her bed, behind a camera, or practicing driving
Looking forward to: getting her license
Wants to be: Radio personality (The "person who talks between songs and tells random stories about her life")
Worst part of 2020: co-op play being cancelled in the spring
Best part of 2020: learning how to drive
Child #3: Daughter #3, Ballerina Extraordinaire, The Heart
Age: 13 (14 in February)
Grade: 8th-ish, Logic stage
Favorite Subject: Ballet and other dance classes
Least Favorite: Math
Favorite thing about homeschooling: less time spent sitting and doing book work
Skills in: dancing, playing guitar, taking care of the dog
Strengths: creative, friendly, connecting to others
Weaknesses: emotional, gets "bored" easily
Favorite book: Lunar Chronicles
Favorite movie: movies about princesses
You can find her: at the ballet studio or playing with her dog
Looking forward to: homeschool skating days starting back
Wants to be: work at Chick fil A, fashion designer, stay at home mom on a farm with chickens and dogs
Worst part of 2020: friends not returning to homeschool co-op
Best part of 2020: spending more time at home with the dog
Child #4: Daughter #4, Life Enjoyer, The Smile
Age: 10
Grade: 5th-ish, moving into logic stage
Favorite Subject: History
Least Favorite: Math
Favorite thing about homeschooling: being at home
Skills in: singing, playing chess, making stop motion Lego movies
Strengths: generally cheerful and willing, picks up ideas quickly
Weaknesses: temper, impatient especially with her siblings
Favorite book: Marie-Antoinette, Princess of Versailles (she's been devouring this entire series this year)
Favorite movie: if it can be found on Disney+, she's probably a fan
You can find her: making Lego movies at the dining room table, playing outside with neighborhood friends
Looking forward to: more places opening up
Wants to be: a mom ("Like you, mom. But I don't want to give piano lessons.")
Worst part of 2020: everything being cancelled (camp, VBS, co-op for several months)
Best part of 2020: more time with sisters
Child #5: Son #1, Master Builder, The Comedian
Age: 7
Grade: 2nd, Logic stage
Favorite Subject: Marine Biology (co-op class)
Least Favorite: learning to read (he's a late reader and it's been a challenge but we're seeing progress, though not as fast as he'd like)
Favorite thing about homeschooling: going to co-op
Skills in: building Lego creations, drawing intricate drawings, making people laugh
Strengths: friendly, enthusiastic, curious
Weaknesses: impatient, precocious verbal skills tend to get him in trouble
Favorite book: The Pigeon books
Favorite movie: all of Star Wars
You can find him: building elaborate Lego structures, playing outside with neighborhood friends, asking a lot of questions, trying to get more screen time
Looking forward to: going to a corn maze in a few weeks
Wants to be: a Scientist
Worst part of 2020: too many school days (this homeschool boy feels he did not get enough time off compared to his public school peers)
Best part of 2020: events starting back again
Child #6: Son #2, Fearless and Loving, The Exclamation Point
Age: 5
Grade: Kindergarten
Favorite Subject: gym (co-op class)
Least Favorite: "first class" (this is a co-op class where, he says, "You have to write your name and stuff.")
Favorite thing about homeschooling: getting done with "work" quickly
Skills in: doing puzzles, setting up games, he says he's a good "draw-er and color-er"
Strengths: this boy is Bright and when you pair that with his leadership skills: look out
Weaknesses: following directions when he doesn't want to, has trouble with wanting to be first
Favorite book: Elephant and Piggie books, Little Critter books
Favorite movie: Monsters, Inc. and Monsters University
You can find him: getting out board or card games, trying to get more screen time
Looking forward to: having another birthday (which he's convinced should be soon...but it's really not until next June)
Wants to be: wants to own a hotel and "live on the top floor"
Worst part of 2020: coldness (???)
Best part of 2020: leaves are falling (he's been asking about when it will be fall for several months. On the first day of fall he ran outside to see if any leaves were falling yet. Explaining that "fall" is a season, not a day was a bit tricky.)
Bonus student:
Our Amazing Junebug (better known as Maizie) turned 1 in June and we celebrated one year with her on 9/28.
Maizie is...not really a good dog. She eats things she shouldn't. She has NO CHILL. There has not been a single day where she was content just to snooze on the couch or floor. And she's fast. Like, really, really fast. Her favorite game is "escape the humans and run around like a fool until they catch me."
But we (well, most of us) love her anyway.
She is primarily Daughter #3's dog. And said daughter handles most of her care, with some assists from the other adult and adult-ish people in the house.
Sammie the kitty still lives on our deck too. (Along with a variety of less wanted creatures - raccoons - who sometimes show up uninvited for meals.) There are some rumblings that one daughter may "need" her own inside cat at some point. Which might be tricky due to family allergies. But we didn't think we'd be one of those families with a cat AND a dog, and yet here we are.
We're homeschoolers, so I guess we can call it nature study.