The Finish Line

The end is in sight.  We are almost done with 6th grade.  I am trying to resist the urge to cram in a bunch of material that I feel like we "should" cover.  I keep reminding myself that we have managed to fit almost an entire school year's worth of material in since November 1. 

Fionn has done an entire year's worth of math since Nov. 1, a year's worth of Wordly Wise (spelling and vocab), plus worked through Time4Learning.com's Greek and Latin roots for 5th, 6th, and 7th grade. 

She has studied Plate Tectonics, Oceans and Gravity in science (as well as some science biographies).  She had already studied other topics in the two months at St. Thomas More in the fall. 

She has done 30 minutes of Rosetta Stone Spanish almost every day.  She said she wouldn't mind continuing this through the summer.

She has studied poetry (has studied 14 different poems in depth and analyzed their structures, rhyme scheme, and meter.  She has studied grammar, learned 42 different "phrases and sayings" that you hear in speech or read in literature, what they mean and how they originated. 

She has studied Ancient civilizations (Egypt, China, India, Greece, Rome), Judaism and Christianity, the Renaissance (and written a paper on da Vinci -- How does da Vinci personify the idea of a "Renaissance Man"?), the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, romanticism, Industrialism, Capitalism and Socialism.

We have casually looked at (in contrast to an in depth study) of art that corresponds to the part of history we have studied.  Core Knowledge also works in music of the time but I haven't worked it into our schedule this year.

She has studied Julius Caesar, The Iliad and the Odyssey (not full versions of these -- some audio versions and some abridged versions) and a little Greek mythology.  She is reading a complete version of The Prince and the Pauper, learning vocabulary from that book and answering questions.

She has had much more time to work on soccer.  She has team practice 3 times each week, works with a trainer one-on-one 2 times a week, has 1-2 games per week and also does work on her own on days she doesn't have team practice, trainer, or game.  Since we have been homeschooling and she has had more time to work on soccer, her skills have definitely improved.  And with less stress from school, in addition to more time to practice, her attitude has improved -- she is really enjoying soccer again.

Last, she has had time to read a huge stack of books for pleasure (She is on her 24th book in 7 months, not including books she has read for school).

Seeing it all written down like this makes me feel a little better, but I have to admit that my mind is spinning already, trying to figure out when I can fit in the units we may not get to.  I want her to have a real summer, and I'd like a more relaxed pace next year.  I found a book that Core Knowledge used to publish that lays the topics out by month.  You cover all the topics at a pace that allows you to finish during the school year and space them out nicely.  It would be a nice pace for us next year. I think I can probably make myself feel better by allowing her to cover the topics we are "missing" by just letting her do the reading, but not doing review questions or tests.  Just a quick discussion to make sure she gets it, and move on.  A quick way to catch up without using the summer or messing with our pace next year in 7th grade.