About My Kids

I originally had this at the top of my Curriculum page, but decided it needed to be its own separate explanation & timeline.

My oldest (dd#1) is now in high school (time flies!). Her love of languages (started Spring of 2012), math (discovered during Winter 2013), and reading (Fall 2008) endures. She still dislikes writing, but has improved by leaps and bounds from hating it and being “allergic to the pencil.” She loves logical fallacies (thanks to the Fallacy Detective), discussing current events (CNN Student News), and country music.

My #2 child loves to draw and write. After much time not being interested in learning to read, she is finally up to “grade level” (2013) and reading some pretty thick books, although she’d rather be listening to them on audiobook. Her spelling has greatly improved (2016-2017) and her math is coming along nicely compared to where she was a few years ago. She writes & illustrates children’s chapter books. She’s my author/artist child. She has a dedication to personal fitness and lives for the pool opening each summer.
My #3 child is my “promote in January” child. She still loves to play and study snakes, but has discovered the delight of a good book (summer 2016). She still thinks she should be just as good at everything as Child #2 and tends toward perfectionist tendencies. The problem is, she is just about as good at everything as Child #2 is – except for the artistic stuff. She’s definitely coming into her own personality. One of the positive things about her is that she’s very quiet, but her biggest negative is that you can barely hear her. She’s a study in contradictions.

My #4 child (and first boy) is a natural for interest-led homeschooling (which I don’t do, but would if he was my only child). Before he was five, he asked questions like, “How do bees make honey?” or how the scab on his arm was made. He might be my most kinesthetic learner so far. He’s in love with birds of prey, but still can’t quite read well enough (Spring 2017) to get through the thick non-fiction raptor books he likes to check out from the library. He loves baseball (Summer 2015) and playing outside. When he’s inside, you might find him listening to audiobooks and drawing.

Child #5 was evaluated for (lack of) speech issues by the local school district in late 2012 after he turned three. They should hear him now! He loves all things Ancient Egypt, origami, crafts, and drawing. He’s still working on reading fluently (Winter 2017), but cruises along in math (with dd#3 as his main teacher). He’s started gymnastics (Winter 2017) and likes it so far. He still tags along with ds#1, but also strikes out on his own sometimes.