New School Year

So most things have started up now, so I thought it would be good to document what we're doing for school this year.

• Nathan is taking calculus at the community college.  It seems that he has a good teacher, so hopefully that will continue going well.  His class is the same time and days, and is right next door, to Isaac's math class, so that has been really nice.  They can even carpool and only get one parking pass!  Nathan is taking AP literature, AP world history, and AP macroeconomics at Rivendell, as well as anatomy & physiology.  He's doing an Intro to Java course through homeschoolprogramming.com, and he is really enjoying that so far.  He is also going to take physics from derekowens.com, so we'll see how that goes.  All he has to do now is actually start the course!  Right now he is pushing to get everything all together to mail in all the nomination packages next Monday.  He also is hoping to take the CFA (fitness test for the academies) next Sunday, which is the last big thing for his academy application.  Then it will be on to ROTC applications . . .  Hopefully he will be less busy after Christmas!
• Luke has an incredibly busy year for a sophomore.  He'll be taking the 3 AP courses at Rivendell like Nathan, and he's also taking AP Spanish through pottersschool.org.  That was not something we were really planning on at all, but then Christine found out about the "AP International Diploma program", where you have to take AP classes from all these different areas and score a 3 or higher on all of them.  By taking AP Spanish this year, he'll only lack AP biology, which he should be taking next year.  So that is going to be crazy, because the AP language tests are really weird.  Luke is also taking A & P from me, as well as an Intro to Computing class at Potters, and Algebra 2 at home (although Christine is going to help keep accountable by giving him dates to turn in tests!).  He's not looking forward to this year!
• Caleb has hit the big time--he is now at Rivendell on Tuesdays as well!  He has life science with me, as well as logic, literature, and history.  He'll also take Latin with me on Wednesdays, and he's doing Algebra 1 with Christine and Daniel McC.  This year will be a lot busier for Caleb than ever before, but I know he can do it!  
• Jonathan has one more year left at TNT, but he is also taking lit and history at Rivendell on Tuesday afternoons. Since we're restarting the 4 year cycle with the ancients this year, it made sense to go ahead and include him and Lily C., both of whom are 6th graders.  He'll also be in the Latin class on Wednesdays.  He's doing CLE math, language arts, and science this year, so we'll see how that goes.  So far I like it, and it's nice to have the smaller "light units" to work through, instead of a bunch of big texts.  He and Caleb are both going to take an art class over at Christine's house this semester once a week, and they both are really looking forward to that starting up.  I'm so glad we live close together!
• Anna and Grace are also using CLE this year, but just for math and language arts.  I started them back in July, which turned out to be good, since we're not getting much formal stuff done together during the week, with all my appointments.  They can both work independently, though, and they are zipping right along through the light units.  We haven't done much memory work, character stuff, or even Story of the World, like we usually do during our school days so far though.  That should get better after the baby comes. Three more weeks . . . They are starting up gymnastics again on Monday, which makes them both very happy!
• Faith is definitely getting the short end of the stick, as far as dedicated school time, right now before the baby comes.  She needs the most hand-holding, since she isn't reading incredibly fluently or anything, and I just haven't had the time.  She's got a good head for math and phonics, so I am sure she will leap ahead once I have the baby and don't have to spend so much time exercising and driving to and from Bethesda.  In the meantime, she helps keep Micah and Drew occupied, as they fuss over duplos or whatever the other person is playing with, LOL.  She is going to do a special little co-op Thursday afternoons with some other 4 and 5 year olds, focusing on science and art.  I'm leading the first science lesson next Thursday afternoon, on trees.  I think she is really going to enjoy the time socializing--she is such a little social butterfly! 

So that's an overview of school for us this year.  It definitely gets busier and busier as the kids get older!  We'll see how the juggling goes, especially once I add a nursing newborn to the mix.  That's the thing about having a baby in September--you have the baby, and you still have practically the whole school year starting down at you!  What terrible timing!  Thankfully I don't have to do it on my own--the Lord is my strength, and he has also provided wonderful friends to walk this path alongside us!