My Homeschool Adventure

This was a very memorable year. My Mom and I took on the challenge of homeschooling for 7th grade. I had a great hall monitor, principal, coach, and cafeteria lady. I loved homeschooling this year, it led to lots of one on one time with mom. This time last year I was doing the clap out and the wave pool. At that time I had no clue how great I would have it in 7th grade. Now as I write this the world is going crazy, but we still had a great year.

My grandpa agreed to do a shop class this year with me. I would definitely say that I am more comfortable with tools and saws. My grandpa said the first day that everything in the shop can and will kill or dismember you. This year we worked with a router. This does the job of the pretty curves you see on baseboards, molding, and tables. We also used a table saw, skill saw, radial arm saw, and the metal saw. We built a raised planter for my grandma who loves gardening. This involved “shooting grade” so it was level. One of the things I was wanting to build was a bike jump. We built a massive 8 ft long bike jump, but couldn’t start until I properly drew plans. My siblings and I had a blast with it. We built a gabion to go around the grill at my grandpa’s house. This was a good opportunity to learn how to weld. A gabion is a decorative metal cage filled with rock. We even built a dumbwaiter in his shop! I sure had a great time with grandpa.

In this homeschool year, I learned a lot, but there are some things that stood out. I learned my hardest song on the piano called “Piano Concerto No. 1.”  My teacher learned that song at age 9 with no teacher! I started a spreadsheet to document my earnings. I also learned about stocks when my dad said that I should buy some during the coronavirus pandemic, so far it has raised me $300. I also learned how to blog on learnlivegive currently, I have 7 posts. My dad and I have done a little bit of Spanish, something I would like to improve next year. This year I made my first cake, it had homemade banana pudding, salted caramel, and white cake. I have learned a lot this year! 

A common misconception is that homeschool kids don’t have a social life. For me this was not true. I saw my friends more than I thought I would. Obviously, it wasn’t like elementary school, but I still had a substantial amount of friend time.

This year our travel got cut short but we did go to a few places. The first place we went to was Flagstaff. Where we saw a volcano and went to walnut canyon. We went to the canyon because the book Walker of Time is based there. In the canyon, there are cliff dwellings where the people carved out of the walls and lived in

The second place we went to was Hawaii. We went to Pearl Harbor, and the USS Missouri. On the big battleship, I stood where WWII ended. We also went to the USS Arizona memorial. It was pouring rain. It was pretty sad to see the names of the people who died. Many documentaries were watched to learn about WWII. I loved traveling with my family. 

I think I had a great year homeschooling, but there were some things I can improve. Next year, I would like to do more Spanish with my dad. I feel like we didn’t do enough of it this year. I want to improve my cooking, baking, and piano skills. Next year I think I should do more science, and language arts. I definitely think I can improve all of those subjects. 

This year was a great one! I am bummed it was cut short by Covid-19. Thank you mom for helping with a fantastic year, let’s do it again.