Second Semester

Tomorrow marks the end of our second homeschool semester. This would not be significant except for the fact that our school year began in July! We have had a number of hiccups in our school year, including our second state-to-state move in a year. I am actually amazed that we have managed to complete two semesters. I have avoided the winter homeschool blues, if only because of the incredible pressure to complete this semester.

This weekend I will work on report cards, a first for me, and try not to have a biased view of my children. In eight years of homeschooling I have never kept grades for our kids. I just didn’t feel that grades accurately reflected what our kids were learning. I have one child that could score an “A” on any multiple-choice test even if he didn’t understand the material; he is just a good guesser. I have another that would have trouble scoring well on any test that wasn’t math because he has a slew of learning disabilities.

I believe grades aren’t important, it’s their understanding of the material that matters. Now we live in a state with strict homeschool laws and grades are required, so I will grudgingly comply while dreaming of the day that we move again and regain some of our homeschool freedom.