Caitlin's Junior Year of High School in Review

This post is for her Junior year Homeschool evaluation, but I will add a couple of other topics as well towards the end.  As always I will post what classes she will be taking for her Senior year in a future post.  

Caitlin had a very good year, despite Covid and all that went with that.  She got her vaccination as soon as her age group could and I give her credit for her maturity.  She was able to continue to volunteer and socialize as long as there was no known infection and she followed smart practices.  She did lose her beloved cat in April of 2021 due to what the vet thinks was a rattlesnake bite.  He died peacefully, and without pain in her arms.  Again, she was so mature and held him the whole time.  She planted a Hibiscus tree in his honor.  

These are the courses she completed and the grade she received.

1.  English segments, 1 and 2 on FLVS.  Grade A and C respectively.

2.  Criminal Justice segments, 1 and 2 on FLVS.  The grade received an A for both segments.

3.  Math.  We used Aleks as always and she finished Algebra 1.  Aleks does not give a grade you do the work until you can complete the assignments with an acceptable grade.  She then moved on to Geometry and will complete that in her Senior year.  More about that in the future post.

4.  African American History.  Please see the post I did on this topic if you wonder how we did it.  A lot of it was videos, reading, and then conversation.  This topic is hard because a lot of it is hard to watch and read about.  She got an A in this course.

5.  Nutrition.  This was not a traditional Nutrition course.  It was based on an ethics college book that my son used in one of his college courses.  My main goal was for Caitlin to learn about Nutrition in Western society mainly in regards to the topics of poor nutrition of fast food and processed foods, animal cruelty, sustainability, and so forth.  She did not read the book but instead watched movies and videos chosen by me based on the topics from the book, with in-depth conversations after.  We made some healthier versions of her favorite fast and processed food items.  I wouldn't say she even changed her mind after this course, but I certainly did.  I have slowly been modifying our eating lifestyle over this year.  Grade A

6.  Biology.  She finished it and the labs.  Grade B minus.  She didn't put a whole lot of effort into this course because she literally hates Science.  

7.  I gave her one credit for PE and 1 credit for Kennel Care and Management of Shelter Dogs.

8.  Drivers Ed.  She got her learner's permit in 2020 and drives regularly.  I think I would like her to take a car maintenance course, and possibly self-defense.  

Total Credits:  7.5

I still have to put everything together to see exactly how many more credits she needs before graduating in 2022.

The books she read are as follows:

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Hiroshima by John Hershey

Shade by Pete Souza

What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz

She actually enjoys reading now.  3 out of those 4 books she picked on her own to read.

Now for the extra stuff.

This will be my last year of homeschooling.  So, I have been thinking of what I want to do with myself once I have an empty nest.  I of course have several options.  I am still a nurse, working part-time right now, and I have my Health Coach business, which really has not taken off mostly because I need to advertise it better.  I also am a board member and volunteer at Williston Animal Group.  I think I might take some courses that I have been putting off.  I also enjoy crafting and used to run an Etsy shop.  I think I might get back into that some even if it is to clear out stuff I already have made.  I also need to decide what to do with this blog.  It has been here since I pretty much began way back when my son was in the second grade.  He is married and in college now.  That is a lot of blogging, lol.  I think I might start adding new posts for others who want to homeschool and maybe monetize it a bit.  I used to make money off this blog, but that has gone by the wayside through the years of High School.  

I think people think blogging is easy.  It actually takes a long time to put a good blog post together.  I think most of the pictures on this blog, of years ago, have disappeared because Google changed their picture storing option.  But, the posts are still relevant and good.  Well, some aren't so good, I wasn't the best blogger in the beginning.  I may start by revising and revamping some of those older topics.

If you found this blog because you are a homeschooler, and you are looking for volunteer opportunities for your kiddos, check out Williston Animal Group.  You do have to be 16 and with a parent.    If you can drive yourself speak to the Volunteer Coordinator to see if your parent must be present.  We always have 2 adults on duty at the kennel.  If your child does more than just play, or walk dogs, you can count kennel care as a credit on your transcript.  My daughter has been doing it for 2 school years now.  She walks, cleans, scoops poop, learns about how to care for a kennel dog, helps feed, helps put on medicine, groom, and whatever else she might be asked to do.  One of our favorite things to do is to get cute pictures for their adoption pictures on Petfinder.  If you do not live in the Williston, Florida area see if there is a dog rescue near you.  You can call 352-528-9888 to learn more or make an appointment to visit the rescue.  

Starting the New School Year With A Bang!

 Over the Labor Day weekend, we took a family day trip to St George Island.  It was our first time visiting the state park there.  Our son, his new wife, and their new baby puppy was also able to join us.  St George Island is very pet friendly.  We were able to take the puppy into the restaurant, though we did eat outside on the screened-in porch, which was perfect for us anyways.  They gave her a big bowl of cold ice water, which she was bewildered by, lol.

The state park was not packed, and there was plenty of room to social distance even if it was packed.  Such a beautiful beach and the seashells were amazing.  They have the largest sand-dollars I have ever seen, though I could only find broken ones, no whole ones.  

The first day of Grade 11 started for Caitlin on Tuesday, Sept 8, 2020.  She got into her FLVS Language Arts class, but not the Criminal Justice.  She was accepted just waiting for a seat.  Hopefully, this week she will.  We are still volunteering every Tuesday morning at WAG.  We have been taking a dog to the park on days that it doesn't rain.  Last week, Panda got to go.  She loved the park and what a sweet dog.  Not a bad way to start the first day of school.  Caitlin was not complaining.

Physical Education: Preparing for the Physical Fitness Test to be A Cop

 In one of the previous posts, I laid out what Caitlin would be doing for PE in grade 11.  The goal is to prepare her to take the Physical Fitness test to be a cop which is her desired profession.  The part for 11th grade is only the first part, and not nearly as intense as the second part will be.  If she masters all the steps before the end of 11th grade we will move on to step 2.  We had planned on buying a treadmill, but that has not yet happened because of our AC decided to die.  So, I went on the hunt for some indoor running videos for her to start working on towards the goal of the 1.5 miles run in 15 minutes.  The video below is the first one I tried.  I am not sure if it is 1.5 miles I will have to track it next time I do it, but I think it is more like a mile.  Eventually, we will run outside, but it is simply too hot for that right now.

Grade 11 Homeschool for Caitlin 2020-2021 School Year

As always our new school year will begin the day after Labor Day.  For the Summer Caitlin continues to work through Algebra 1. 

For the 11th grade school year, these are the classes Caitlin has chosen.

1-  Language Arts 3.  This year she will be doing Language Arts on FLVS.  She does much better with writing when I am not prompting and teaching it to her.

2-  Algebra 2.  We are sticking with ALEKS.  It works for both of us.

3-  PE:  PE for this year will be in preparation for the Physical Fitness Test required to be a Cop.  I will be posting what our routine will be probably next week.

4-  African American History.  This is a 1/2 credit elective option.  I will be posting our curriculum choices soon.

5-  Nutrition.  This is also a 1/2 credit elective course.  I will be putting this class together for her as I want her to focus on other Nutrition info than just a basic course.  This course will be completed after she finishes the History course.  So in the second half of the school year.

6-  Criminal Justice.  This is a FLVS course and a full credit elective course.

World History: Armenia

Before I start the bit on Armenia, I would like to mention a few blogposts coming up within the next week. 

1-  What I have learned about maintaining a swimming pool.  I read an article about a woman who was very frustrated after buying a pool that she thought would be easy to maintain, and affordable.  I will give my top tips on how it is easy and while not really affordable, it can be manageable.

2-  Our vacation.  This one is a trip, LOL pun intended.

3-  Updates to the grade 10 portfolio for Caitlin.

4-  There will be posts mixed in as I start to research African American History.  As I stated this will probably be her 11th-grade History, topic, probably a 1/2 credit, and then she will do the World History in 12 grade as that one is taking much more time to prepare.  In Florida, a student only needs 3 credits in History, but it is an easy way to get in interesting electives.  Which reminds me I have to really take a look at what she has done so far and what she needs for electives.

5-  I also need to start creating a PE year-long credit course for her to prepare for the physical fitness test to be a cop.  She will repeat it in grade 12 as well. 

So, now to Armenia.  As I stated before I really need to pick up the pace of the number of countries I get ready in a week.  Right now I am only averaging one, as we are crazy busy this Summer with wedding preparations and a 3 week-long vacation.  I hope to get back to a more regular blogging pace. 

Of course, there is always the virus to worry about, and it is exploding in Florida.  With 15,000 new cases yesterday, ugh!  Anyway, back to Armenia.  For now, I am posting just videos, and reading material.  As I decide what other activities we will do I will update each country.  Right now cooking a traditional dish, is what I have decided on. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia

This video titled The Land of Noah is a full documentary on Armenia.

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World History: Argentina

Happy Saturday!  I am still on vacation, though our vacation plans changed dramatically, more on that in a different post.  Also, I believe I will do a half-year credit of Black  History, probably in grade 11, as World History is taking me some time to put together. You will see videos, and lesson ideas.  I am only in the country of Argentina, lol.  Caitlin quite likes to draw, to my amazement, so I think I will add some art into each country as well as the cooking of a traditional dish.  There are a few videos below, and one reading link.  You can always add more or less to each country.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina

World History and Geography: Angola

I better start posting faster, or it will take me forever to get through all of the countries in the world, lol.  Today, Angola is the topic.  Another very cool place with a pretty interesting History. 

This post may contain affiliate links.

Algeria!

Next up in our World History/Geography tour of Algeria.  There is a ton of history in Algeria, as well as wonderful and beautiful places to see and learn about.  I have shared some videos, books, links to learning more, and a whole Pinterest page of Algerian recipes.  I think we will try to definitely cook something from each country.  We have used cooking in our History lessons before, and it is a fun way to learn about other cultures.

https://www.pinterest.com/edwinarich/algerian-recipes/

https://www.britannica.com/place/Algeria

Albania for Homeschoolers

On to the next country, Albania.  I would really love to visit Albania someday.  It is such a lovely looking place, and it doesn't appear most tourists know much about it.  I am sure they have a busy season just like any other travel destination, but the quietness of this place is a huge attraction to me.  Check out the videos, and links.  This post may contain affiliate links.  Leave me a comment, especially if you have visited this amazing country. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albania

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albanian_cuisine

Afghanistan

So, I decided to go country by country in alphabetical order just to keep it easier, as I find videos, books, etc for our World History and Geography classes.  There are so many cool things to see in the world.

There really is not much as far as videos to choose from on Afghanistan, for obvious reasons.  This UNICEF reporter, below, has some really cool videos on Afghanistan.  He has also great videos, in other countries, that I will surely use at different times.  You need to click the playlist to see all the videos in this series. This post contains affiliate links.

I hope you enjoy all the video choices I have made for you.  The last one on food is amazing!

Civics and US Government Final

I made a final test for Civics and US Government, and Caitlin received a 91 on that test.  She was very pleased with that grade.  She received a 0.5 credit for each class.

I have made her Oceanography final, and she will take that next week.

I still have to average her grade for Sign Language.

That leaves just Math, and Language Arts, her two least favorite classes.  She is in the harder parts of Algebra 1b, so I will have her do it over the Summer, just an hour a day a few days a week, because she will be taking the PERT probably in August, and I want her to do as well as she can.

I have already started thinking about next year, actually, I am a little late on this.  I will be posting videos and books for a World History/Geography class.  I am not sure yet if I will have her do this her Junior or Senior year.  I am leaning more towards Senior year.

I will post other items once I decide for sure what she will be doing in her Junior year.

I picked New Zealand to start with because I was curious about New Zealand.  The book below, may, or may not be the one I choose to use.

Wacky Wednesday Homeschool Item

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I know my kids hated learning to write in cursive.  The item below combines cursive writing with silly, fun, sentences.  Hopefully, your kids will get a kick out of this as they learn cursive writing.

Check out my other blog https://healthbuddydotblog.wordpress.com/

Almost To The End of 3rd Quarter

You may have noticed I have not been blogging as much.  I am a little stressed out about all of this Coronavirus stuff.  We already homeschool, but I am still working, as is my son and my husband just started working at home.  I am a nurse, by trade, and I have kidney disease, so I am stressed, to say the least.  I don't want to not work, but I am scared of catching it as people are dying of kidney failure.  I have created a Family Care Plan so they know the steps that need to be taken to care for me should I get sick.  My son works in retail, and they just started limiting the number of people in the store, and I am grateful they are doing that.  I am disinfecting my house daily with alcohol, hydrogen peroxide or bleach, whichever I can find in the stores.  I am also crocheting face masks for my family to use at home if needed and if it comes to it in public as well. 

We are coming up on the end of our 3rd quarter the week of Easter.  I did give Caitlin a week for spring break, as her friends were out of school.  She only got one, though, they got 2.  We are limiting friend time to only outside, in groups no more than 3 and with strict social distancing.  If we start seeing cases in our county that too will end.  She has finished her Sign Language course, so I will be signing her up for Driver's Ed if I can even get her in it due to all the new homeschoolers.  She had also moved on to Algebra 1B and is doing well with that.  Everything else is the same, though History is definitely morphing into learning about being a good citizen and staying home to protect other citizens.  I had her watch the youtube video below on the Spanish Flu so she could see how awful a pandemic can be when people don't do as they should.  Also how our local, state and federal governments are dealing with the Pandemic. 

I am irritable and grumpy but trying to keep life as normal as possible right now.  I have started a Mindfulness course to learn about it and implement it for me and anyone else who needs to relieve stress, which might be everyone right now.  I also think I am going to write a book on homeschooling.  I will use the info I have collected over the years in this blog and other places. 

I hope everyone who reads this is well.

Music on Monday: Learn to Play the Ukelele

As I stated before, Caitlin has been asking for a Ukelele.  I think she has decided she will buy one if she gets birthday money.  Of course, she will need to learn to play it.  Below is a beginner learn to play the ukelele video.  There are tons of these types of videos on Youtube. 

I hope everyone has a great home-schooling week.  The weather is beautiful for this week and I intend on doing lots of gardening and yard work, as well as outdoor walking.  I would love to get in the pool to get the leaves out, but the water is only 60 degrees, brrr. 

The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

Well since this week has mostly been about Impeachment in Current Events, that is what I shall discuss.  I am recording a little bit each day of the trial of Donald Trump for Caitlin and me to watch together.  But, I wanted to cover the other Impeachment Trials in USA History first.  There are two videos in the series, both about an hour-long.  We will be watching these tomorrow after we go check out a dog rescue to volunteer at. 

This is part of Civics and Government courses for homeschool high school purposes.

Travel on Tuesday: Virtual Tour of The Statue of Liberty

Hello, again!  This Summer we are going to NY to visit family and we decided to spend a night in NYC on the way up to our cabin.  There are 4 of us and with the limited time, I hope we can all agree as to what things to see and do.  If we decide not to visit the Statue of Liberty, Caitlin and I will view the video below.  It is a walking virtual tour of the Statue of Liberty.  There is no talking at least not in the first few minutes, except for people in the background.  There are so many cool places to visit in the USA, not to mention the rest of the world.  I could do a blog post every day just on this topic.

Visit my other blog Health Buddy Melissa. 

If you have not heard yet Microsoft is no longer servicing Windows 7.  I have a dinosaur PC, ten years or more old, and of course, it has Windows 7 on it.  I looked at buying Windows 10 but it was almost as expensive as a new laptop.  So, I am working on getting 10 years worth of data and images off the dinosaur PC, so it can be moved to the grave.  This could take a while, lol.

Wednesday A Week of Current Events

Well, for whatever reason the debate only recorded for 1 minute last night.  So, I had to adjust our day by watching clips and post-debate shows.  This was actually quite boring, lol.  I also had Caitlin follow the candidates on Facebook plus a few news organizations.  Each week she will have to go through her feed to see what topics they are all talking about and discuss with me.  The first primary votes are less than 3 weeks away.

Next week, and possibly longer, we will be recording and watching the Impeachment trial of President Trump.  I forgot to add one important event to the list below.  The whole Russian Government just resigned after President Putin attempted to make changes to the Constitution.

Travel on Tuesday: The Continents

Travel to all 7 Continents with BBC's new documentary on Jan 18, 2020.  See the trailer below for more information.  I will be recording this series to see if it will be useful to me for Geography next year.  If you have Directv Channel 264 is what you need.  Dish Network channel 135.  I love BBC so I am sure I will like this even if I can't use it for schooling.

A Week of Current Events

I was supposed to have posted this yesterday, but I had it all ready and then I didn't hit publish.  So, it is a day late.

Use these topics to discuss the week's current events and how they affect our society.  You can approach it any way you see fit.  I try during discussions to not try to sway their way of thinking, especially politically.  It is much better in my opinion for them to make up their own minds on various current event topics.  Tuesday is the last Democratic Debate before primary voting begins.  I will be recording that and watching it with Caitlin on Wednesday.  Now is when the real fun begins, lol!  Tomorrow, I work so there will be no Fitness on Friday post.  I will sneak one in the following Friday.

My other website Health Buddy Melissa

Music On Monday

First off, Happy New Year!  I have been battling this cold.  I have kidney disease so I can't really take anything to make the symptoms better.  So, I just suffer from a cough which can be exhausting.  I am feeling much better now, though.  One of the things I absolutely love about homeschooling is the flexibility it affords me.  I have decided to take this week off as well since I didn't actually get anything accomplished.  I will just cut days from our spring break if I feel we need those days back.

Caitlin got a keyboard for Christmas a couple of years ago, and while she has played around with it I really would like her to learn something from it.  She now has an interest in a Ukelele, but right now that is not in the budget.  So, I will encourage learning the piano.  She also can sing quite well and I hope to get her to practice some singing lessons.  We love Youtube, use it all the time for all kinds of great resources.  Below, is a beginner lesson in learning to play the piano.  There are more in the series and you can just follow down the list.

DJ loves playing guitar and singing.  He is the leader of the Youth Praise Band.  I am hoping to foster her love of music a little more too.