The End of Another Year

We are unofficially done for the school year. We have accomplished everything that we needed to accomplish but we still need to get a few more hours in. It's been a long school year. Annie was really good at doing most of her work alone but Noah and Clair needed a lot more help. That was challenging, to say the least, with two little ones running around. We had to try and fit a lot of work in when they were napping. Another challenge was that we had so many extra classes outside of the house this year. I think we will be cutting those down this next school year. Running here and there nearly every day was too much.
That being said, I am looking forward to next year. The twins will be 2 1/2 and I am hoping for a little more cooperation from them. I hope that is not just wishful thinking, because honestly, it seems a little like it is. We are looking to join a new co-op in our homeschool group. I think it will be really good for Annie and Noah to have someone else teaching them. Grammar is not my favorite and I notice that I do not push them as much as I should because I don't enjoy it myself.
Annie will be in 6th grade. She has done very well in 5th grade and will be skipping 6th grade math altogether and moving on to 7th grade math. She whizzed through the placement test I gave her earlier this spring. She really loves nature and wants to have a career in either conservation or state parks when she gets older. Now that we are approaching middle school and high school we will be focusing a lot on science.
Noah will be in 3rd grade. I think that 3rd grade is always the year that the work gets a little harder. It's gonna be tough for him because we are adding a lot more work and he will have to be more structured. He has done really well in his reading this last year though and I think he will be able to handle it. He took an art class this year and we really saw him shine in something that was just his.
Clair will be in kindergarten/1st grade. She has been doing kindergarten work here and there all year and has even started reading. She understood the concept immediately. I gave her a placement test earlier this spring and she placed average on math and above average in English for a child going into 1st grade. When we start the school year she will only be 4 but will be doing 1st grade work. We will still be calling it kindergarten. In church classes and other things I don't want her to be out of place. If she went to public school she wouldn't even be starting kindergarten until next year. This is just one of the many things I love about homeschooling. If Clair was in the public school system she would either be stifled or out of place. Here at home she can just be Clair, with no labels or levels stamped on her.
We are going to start some subjects in July. Every year, when the regular schools get out for the summer, I become a mean old woman. I love being able to take my children somewhere and it not be crowded by a bunch of unruly children. By starting in July I hope to be able to finish in April, giving us all spring to go places and have fun without the crowd. Also, if we get behind, we have plenty of time to finish before the school year is over.