It's been awhile. Since it's been YEARS since I updated this blog, I decided to give one. I don't know if I'll continue to blog, but I'll leave my blog here. Apparently, it's still getting views. Someday, I may revamp the whole thing as a former homeschool mom and post things I did in my homeschooling journey that worked and didn't work. For now, it's just an update.
First things first. I graduated my oldest in 2019. He finished his homeschool journey using Heart of Dakota (which he used throughout high school), and he had a homeschool graduation with one other boy (they didn't know each other prior to the graduation planning). Even though it was only 2 families in the end (others dropped out), it was a really lovely graduation with a special speaker (a Missouri state representative who had been homeschooled), a homeschool ensemble for music, and video presentation, family diploma presentations, and more. He currently works as a Stihl technician at Ace Hardware (he fixes chainsaws and stuff).
I graduated my second child in 2022. By this time, we had moved to Washington and ended up in a church with a large percentage of homeschool families. She graduated with 15 other students, most of whom attended our church, youth group, or local Classical Conversations community, so she knew most of them and got to graduate with her best friend. She also finished using Heart of Dakota. Currently, she's finishing a 9-month Christian leadership training program at our church. She hopes to be a missionary eventually.
My youngest, the subject of all the Tot School posts on this blog, is going to be a senior this year! My homeschool journey is almost over. We went a different route for her high school. She's been in Classical Conversations for the last 3 years. She started in Challenge B, which is normally 8th grade, but CC levels aren't necessarily grade specific. She's going into Challenge III this fall but will graduate after that. It was hard making the decision to do something completely different, but our CC community is at our church, and most of her friends are in it. It's been so good for her, and it's such a lovely community! Even with some of the challenges (Latin being a big one), she has thrived. One big plus for her is getting to be with other students every Monday and giving speeches and presentations and participating in debates. They also do their science labs together. In Challenge B, she even got to be in a mock trial. Our region of Washington has a lot of CC communities, and they often get together for events, like an annual winter ball. For my part, I directed her Challenge I and II classes the past 2 years, and I'll be directing Challenge II again this fall, with a different class. For our family, CC has been a very positive experience.
This fall, she will be doing Geometry & Algebra II, Latin, Chemistry, Music Theory, Philosophy, Shakespeare & Exposition (with a poetry focus), American History and Debate. After graduation, she's thinking about getting her license as a nail technician and then going to college.
All of our kids still live with us, as housing costs in WA are atrocious. We love living here, though. And, despite the fact that we've moved from a tea-focused world to a coffee-focused world, we happily drink both! (If you don't understand the reference, I started this blog "Our Cup of Tea" when we lived in England, which is very tea-focused, and now we live in the greater Seattle area, thus coffee shops everywhere).
That's the update!
Debbie
