Our daughter has reached 8th grade (2023-2024 school year). She is “the baby” in the family, so this reality hits hard. How can this be? Anyway, here are her courses this year: English, Math, US History, Bible, ASL I, Performing Arts, Personal Finance, Sewing, PE.
Our daughter wanted to learn sewing so we found a friend who was willing to teach her.
For English, Bible, and US History she is taking Notgrass US History, a wonderful curriculum which offers enough content to grant three credits. That’s not just a good deal. We are very impressed with Notgrass in general and proud that they are from Tennessee.
For Math, we are combining Math Mammoth and Saxon Pre-Algebra, plus Algebra Made Easy. We just want to lay a good foundation for next year, when she will be in 9th grade and take Algebra I.
At co-op, she is taking ASL I, which counts as her first credit of Foreign Language for high school. She chose ASL herself. Like my son, she dislikes French and that just is not an option for her foreign language. We can do Romanian as another foreign language credit – I have cleared that with our umbrella school.
Our daughter on a recent hike in the National Park
For PE, we are taking hikes and walks. She gave up taekwondo last year and that is fine with me. Our daughter had reached the half red belt level and then she totally lost interest in it. My husband, who got our children into taekwondo, finds it a bit disappointing that she quit. These moments are always a bit sad, but they represent life. We amble in and out of phases and so do our children as they mature.
For Personal Finance, she takes Dave Ramsey’s Foundations in Personal Finance. It is all online and asynchronous so it works for our flexible schedule.
Yet another harp lesson
For Sewing, our daughter takes lessons from a wonderful lady who comes to our house once a week and shows her things in person. We could have taken an online course, but we prayed about it, made inquiries, and found two ladies locally. One did not work out in the end, so we ended up with a wonderful lady who jives with our daughter’s personality. Thank God for his leading and guidance!
When it comes to Performing Arts, she takes harp lessons. She will perform in church every six months and then two more times with a harp ensemble – in Maryville, around Valentine’s, and in Knoxville, for the Rossini Festival.
