This time last year I was filled up with angst because Poppy was about to go to public school for the first time. She was going into ninth grade after being homeschooled from kindergarten through eighth, and I was worried.
Turns out I had no need for concern. About that, anyway. She did really well in all of her classes, she made friends, and she loved being there.
And then in March everybody was at home again.
Poppy and Pete finished out their school years with remote learning. Poppy did fine with it. Pete had a harder time with it. But the year ended, and then we spent the summer cocooned at home as much as possible, trying not to worry too much about what the fall would bring.
And then suddenly the time for worrying about the fall was upon us. Would school return as usual? (No.) Would we feel safe sending the kids to school in any format? (No.) Should we just homeschool everyone again? (No.)
In our area, school is most definitely not returning as usual. Everyone is going to be doing remote learning to start, and then some grades are going to alternate one week in the classroom with one week online while the high school students are going to be exclusively remote.
So Poppy didn’t have much of a choice about her year, other than Homeschool or Not Homeschool. She opted for Not Homeschool, so she’ll be enrolled in the same school she was in last year. But she’ll doing it all from the dining room table. She’s not particularly pleased about it, but she was happy to find that she has classes with friends. She’s taking:
As for Pete, we don’t feel safe with the alternating-weeks plan and evidence from the end of last year would suggest that he wouldn’t fare well in an all-remote environment. So we’re going to do a homeschool / remote learning hybrid. Our school district has had a “virtual academy” option for several years, and last year they opened it up to homeschoolers as well. He’s basically dual-enrolled as a homeschooler and a public schooler. Here’s what he’ll be doing:
Social Studies
We’re using History Odyssey’s Early Modern curriculum.
Language Arts
We’re going to use Spelling Power, English from the Roots Up and a bunch of literature studies. We might incorporate Writing Strands, too. I haven’t decided yet.
PE
I don’t have a set curriculum for PE. It’s probably going to look like a daily family walk or exercise-based video game time.
Virtual Academy
I am extremely happy to tell you that Pete is going to take math, science, coding and art through the virtual academy. Coding and art are one-semester electives, so he’ll have coding the first semester and art the second.
I feel pretty good about the plan we’ve made for our household. It’s going to be a strange school year for everyone, and I don’t think any choice is the right one. We’re all being forced to compromise, and I think we’re all making what we believe to be the best decisions for our kids.