Maine is calling.. but I can't go yet!

It happens this time every year, I start to get homesick for Maine! With the exception of our visit this past Christmas, all the trips I have taken up there have been some time between the end of May and the 4th of July. Our trip this summer will not fall within that time frame. We aren't going to go up until mid-July. It'll be so hard to wait that long, but it's just as well that the trip will be later. I have lots to do before then.

I am still getting together a package of Samuel's school work from this past year to send to a consultant. As I mentioned before, I am hoping to have a consultant look at his work to provide an outside opinion of his academic progress. I submit standardized test scores as proof of academic achievement for my oldest son, but will not be able to do this for Samuel since he would not be able to take the standardized test that I usually use, the CAT-5.

Upper photo: the view from Pemaquid Point on a sunny day, taken by rbglasson. Lower photo: wintery view from Pemaquid Point taken by me on our trip last December.

"End" of the School Year Approaches

Education in our household has become a year-round process. While a part of me wishes that we could take a particular day and call that "the end" and have a few months off, I enjoy the flexibility we have in working year-round. We take time off for vacations, and may have a lighter week here or there depending what is going on in our life.

One date I do have to keep in mind, working year round or not, is the August 1st date by which my state requires me to report educational progress. There are homeschooling options in Virginia which do not require reporting of educational progress, but I have selected the option under which I must report. This is going to be a very different process for Samuel than it has been thus far for my oldest son. All I have to do for him is administer a standardized test and report the results to our local school superintendent.

I will not be able to use the standardized test method for Samuel. The past week or so I have been gathering information about him and his work to send to a consultant. I plan to have her evaluate the work we have done so far, get advice on how to better teach him, and come up with an education plan for next year.

This is keeping me very busy and I haven't had much time to post or visit other blogs, but I'll try to get back and do updates of how this process is going.