Back to School!

Hi everyone!

Phoebe started 10th grade last week, so we are officially back to school! This year, she is studying

• U.S. Government (Fall)
• Economics (Spring)
• World History--starting with the Middle Ages (we did the ancient world last year)
• Health (Fall)
• Human Anatomy (Fall)
• Biology (Spring)
• French 201/202
• Medieval (Fall) and Renaissance (Spring) Literature
• English Grammar and Composition

Her French class will be at CNU. She met with the French professor there, was placed in the 200-level class, and starts at the end of the month. After this year, we may switch to another language, perhaps German, since that will be good for anthropology.

She has been working on completing Algebra II this summer, since we had a subscription to an online place that expires at the end of this month. Rather than having it sit idle over the summer, Phoebe decided to just push right on to the next class after finishing Geometry. She has been much more successful with Algebra II than she was with Algebra I, so this was clearly a good plan. As a result, she will have a break from Math this year--working on SAT math prep and maybe doing Statistics in the Spring.

Our hope is that Phoebe will take Biology 101 at the local community college in the Spring, when we qualify for in-state tuition. If that doesn't work out, we will explore other options.

Phoebe enjoyed the World History through Film class she took last year, so we are planning to do the US version on our own. Those films will be sprinkled throughout the Fall semester.

A homeschool co-op is opening in Newport News this Fall, and I will be teaching two classes there, World History and English Grammar and Composition. Phoebe will be taking those as well. World History will be a bit of a refresher at the beginning, but the class and she should catch up with each other in December. Those classes won't start until mid-September, so she has a gradual ramp-up to her full load.

We are planning to resume piano lessons with the CNU professor we met earlier this year. He is due back sometime this month.

Phoebe is also returning to dance and will be doing the full program this year. She was placed in level 3B for ballet, which is Early Intermediate, but she is in Advanced Modern. She will attend classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday, taking 1 Modern and 4 Ballet classes each week, plus stretching and performance rehearsal classes on Saturday. She will also be a teacher's assistant in a younger kids' class. She will be spending 9-10 hours a week at the studio, so that will be a big change for her!

Lastly, Phoebe will still be a volunteer staff member in the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup on Ravelry. I took over the planning and execution of Break Month activities, so she's been helping me this month and will do so again in December. She is still a Birthday Greeter for Ravenclaw, though she is hoping to have a new position for the Fall Term, which starts in September.