We have come to the end of the first semester of our homeschool co-op and cross-country season is finally over. The busyness of life descended upon us in late August. It has evaporated just as quickly.
The end of high school cross country
Although Rosie did not have a stellar senior year as a competitive runner, she did run every race, which was good enough for her. At her banquet, she received The Falcon Award for showing leadership, spirit, and an excellent work ethic. The award was unexpected but well-deserved. I think it might just be the impetus she needs to keep running into her college career.
Rosie was also the only senior girl on the team to receive a 4-year letter award. That means she lettered in her sport all four years of high school, and that was indeed no easy feat. I’m proud of her.
Looking ahead, Rosie has been accepted at both Walsh University and Malone. We’re waiting for her financial aid package to see what’s going to happen.
New milestones reached!
It was an interesting day at my house. Rosie’s acceptance letter from Walsh came the same day as Pete’s Medicare card! These two big events represent a change in life as we know it. It’s almost too much to take in!
Medicare truly is a big deal. I’m learning about Medigap plans and Medicare Advantage plans and the pros and cons of each of those. It sounds as if there’s not a lot of grace for picking the wrong plan, but it’s a little confusing. Luckily, we have some time before we have to make a decision.
The first semester of college almost done for Izzy
Of her own volition, Izzy enrolled in college this year after 5 years in the workforce. She is about to complete her first semester and next semester she will even get some accommodations for her learning style. I’m very proud of her.
Next semester will be more challenging for her, and for me. I’ve gotten back into the habit of correcting your papers before she sends them in. I did that for Noah all through college, but I kind of got away from it. I also had to edit a research paper for Rosie this semester. I found that it was harder and harder for me to look at the screen for a long period of time.
A quick trip to the eye doctor told me what I already suspected – my prescription had changed, big time. My eyeballs are otherwise healthy, but I do have enlarged optic nerves that she wants to monitor. My new glasses are helping and I look forward to reading work from all three of my girls next semester.
As for me …
I will be teaching Farmer Boy in Little House Literature next semester, as well as American History.
The state of Ohio oddly thinks it’s okay to only require one semester of American History for high school students and the parents in my co-op are okay with that. In my homeschool, I have had three of my kids pass the American History CLEP test after we spent at least a year studying it!
So I’ve decided that with my 12 weeks, I’m going to focus on the 12 American conflicts and use them as the touch points of what happened and when. I’ll also be touching on the key personalities and my own fascination with medicine and disease and how that has affected our history. There are only 9 kids in the class so I look forward to some good discussions.
This is also the time that I’m playing way too much music! But after the famine of 2020 and 2021, I’m not complaining – just practicing!
Now onward to Thanksgiving!
