My big kid graduates in August and he’s finishing up a lot of loose ends between now and then. I have his transcript ready except for final grades in this year’s columns in the classes he’s finishing up. I thought some of you with graduating teens (or teens who are graduating soon) might like to see what it is we are cramming at the last minute so you can plan ahead and not end up having to cram at all. There are other projects we had on our list which I had to let go of – for lack of time (and too many video games – grrr).
The great thing is – I believe what Charlotte Mason said to be true… “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.”
Education won’t stop in August this year for him. He’s going to keep learning and create his own projects from here on out! The goal of homeschooling a child is to teach yourself out of a job – create a desire in them to love learning and to self-educate out of intrinsic motivation.
Here is what’s on my 19 year old’s plate (so if you know him personally, you should hold him to this and not text him and tell him about the pool and your vacation all day, just sayin’)…
Mandatory Assignments Prior to Graduation
Astronomy Field Trip this summer (observatory and night photography)
Finish Government Tests, grade and turn in – plus final exam
Finish reading for humanities/religion class
Finish Geometry/Trig/Calc class from Videotext online
Finish reading bible, suggested reading books (many are listed below), MOH IV suggestions, and textbook for Biblioplan Modern History
Finish Dave Ramsey’s Personal Finance
Creative Writing final assignment
Put together portfolio/display for graduation
Finish reading Java Textbook for Computer Science class
Finish reading Economics Text and final exam
Get reference letters from teachers, other adults he’s worked with over his high school career
Count up and document all volunteer and service hours
College entrance research, planning, and applications sent (plus essays if required)
Take SAT (will happen later in early fall)
Final review and grade for Social Media/Study Skills elective
Fill out FAFSA online
Course Descriptions written/gathered for each class on transcript, plus book lists
Portfolio binders organized
Thank you cards sent to friends and family who have mailed graduation gifts and cards
Mandatory Reading
Last of the books for American Lit. credit…
Last of the Mohicans
The Scarlet Letter
Three Musketeers
The Story of Liberty
Common Sense
Pride and Prejudice
The Constitution of the United States
America’s Providential History
Little Women
Free Again
David Copperfield
Frankenstein
The Great Gatsby
Swiss Family Robinson
The Hiding Place
Schindler’s List
1984
Fahrenheit 451
Last of the books for humanities/religion credit…
Mere Christianity
The Case for Faith
I Believe Because
Optional Assignments/After Graduation Assignments
Create a Time Capsule and bury it
Extra credit Astronomy assignment/s (Astronomy Essay)
Finish writing one of the books he’s been slowly writing over the past couple of years (I’m dreaming, I know)
Extra credit essay for Government
End of Year party for Homeschool Co-op at the park
Get a job/Purchase a vehicle to drive to work and college (this will probably be later in the fall after graduation)
Save money for college and vehicle
Apply for scholarships/college funds through savings plans, gather info
Books left to read before college in January (plus many fiction books he’s got on his own list)…
A Streetcar Named Desire
End of the Spear
Abraham Lincoln’s World
George Washington’s World
Gods and Generals
Great Expectations
The Old Man and the Sea
The Secret Life of Bees
The Call of the Wild
Death of a Salesman
Cold Mountain
A Tale of Two Cities
If Beale Street Could Talk
Go Tell it on the Mountain
He’s planning to just keep plowing through them until he goes away to college in the spring semester of 2017. By then he should have most of them finished. We have so many great books on our shelves, that I couldn’t let him get away without a final push to read a few more. He’ll be busy in college and then at work one day, so I want him to get a final taste of great literature before he “can’t find time” to read.
He also has some more modern fiction books he wants to finish prior to leaving for college, but they aren’t on this list.
Everything else is done. Transcript complete. Just waiting on the final grades for the stuff above. Can you believe it?
In creating this post, I took the time to scour the shelves and re-organize my history books by chronology. Leave it to a homeschool mom to get sidetracked by books and book-case organization. This year I’m going to try something different and use tags to mark books I want to read with the boys by the end of the school year rather than move them off the shelf into another room. I had to break my back trying to fit all the American history books back into their original shelves today.
Earlier this week we had a mom’s fellowship at my local homeschool co-op also, and I was really inspired looking at a friend’s new school year planner for 2016-17. This year is going to be a blast with my little busy boys; full of field trips, Charlotte Mason transition, and Konos unit study fun.
You want to know what’s amazing? My senior told me he plans to tag along to all our field trips just for old time sake – until he goes to college in January. A kid can graduate from a homeschool, but the homeschooling experience never grows out of the kid!
The awesome thing about home schooling is that hopefully, your kid can continue to school themselves at home for the rest of their lives!
Education really is a lifestyle.
Girl, you’ve got it together! That reading list is amazing!