11th Grade Mid Year Homeschool Update

With four kiddos, it seems a bit overwhelming to share a mid-year update all in one post. For both my sanity (and yours), breaking it up over a few individual posts makes a little more sense, no? 

This week I’ll be sharing a bit about each of the kids and will start off with our 11th grader, Laurianna.

There is a tricky balance in this year for me personally with Laurianna. There have been a lot of firsts: getting her drivers license just before we started school, taking classes outside the home, visiting colleges… exciting things for sure, but my mom heart is really having a hard time in some many ways. 

Watching your firstborn grow up and become independent is a hard and scary thing. On the one hand, this is what you have been wanting and praying for over the years. On the other hand, there is a releasing that is oh-so-difficult. There is joy is seeing passions develop and grow, and meanwhile the reality that there are only a few years left with her at home can quickly overwhelm. 

11th Grade Homeschool Update

Last year this time we were dealing with some major health issues with Laurianna, and the start of this year had us still visiting various specialists (it’s been the year of medical bills to say the least). Since the start of the fall, Laurianna has had a few rough days health-wise, but overall she has really been doing much better. 

And that alone, people, has made a WORLD of difference. 

This fall Laurianna had four classes on her plate. Two of those classes were completed at the local community college and the other two will carry over into the spring (math and foreign language): 

• Math: Pre-Calculus Teaching Textbooks
• Science: Holes Human Anatomy & Physiology and lab (community college)
• English: Patterns for College Writing & The Little Seagull Handbook
• Foreign Language: Visual Latin 2
• SAT Prep: CollegePrepGenius

Laurianna has really THRIVED in her classes at the community college. She has jumped in and truly applied herself, working extremely hard at all she does. 

(Sometimes to the detriment of her classes at home – just saying). 

While it’s great to see her pushing herself and excelling in her classes at college, we have had talks at home recently about not forgetting there is a balance – and still other classes that need to be completed as well. Again with the balance. 

This is where the newer independence of having a license, friends that are more accessible now thanks to said license, working, and all the fun stuff come into play and create some wonderful life lessons. 

Grades for her fall classes at the community college are in and hands down her favorite class was Anatomy & Physiology. She loved both her professor and the content, which made it a definite favorite – and she can’t wait for the second class in the spring semester. 

Her English class was honestly not well-loved, mainly due to her professor. In that aspect, she is rather thankful it was only one semester – and we have also learned the value of reading reviews of potential professors via the Rate My Professor site. While we realize some of the ratings are subjective, as we read through her current professors reviews, we definitely could agree with much of what was said for both of them. 

All that said, I am rather thankful that Laurianna had a taste of two completely different teaching styles and had to figure out how to work toward her goals for each of the classes. 

As for her classes at home (I suppose you could say the true homeschooling, eh?), she is plodding through Pre-Calculus – and I mean that quite literally. Laurianna hasn’t been overjoyed with the subject (she would rather be done with math, thank you very much), but this is her final math class for high school. 

11th Grade Changes and Updates

For the spring semester, Laurianna will have a few changes to her schedule. She has completed two college-level classes so far this year and received a high school credit for each (earning 2 credits so far). Here’s a peek at the spring classes, where she will be focusing on three more classes that will apply toward her nursing major: 

• Math: Pre-Calculus Teaching Textbooks – 1 credit 
• Science: Holes Human Anatomy & Physiology 2 w/lab (community college) – 1 credit
• English: College Composition 2 (primarily focused on Norton’s Anthology of Literature) – 1 credit
• Developmental Psychology – 1 credit  
• Foreign Language: Visual Latin 2 – 1 credit 
• SAT Prep: CollegePrepGenius

At some point in the upcoming months, Laurianna will also take her SAT test. She completed her PSAT and will be going through a prep class this spring too. 

Laurianna has also been babysitting (a LOT) and working for a local small business, both of which she loves. This summer she met a few new families and really connected with them, making it even better since they are regular jobs that help her keep up with her monthly expenses. Having your own car is great, but you need to keep it running! :) 

As for college, we do have a bit of time for final decisions, but it has been great to sit down with the university Laurianna wants to attend and also our community college to map out a plan for the upcoming years. Initially she had wanted to attend all four years at the university, but the more we have talked to both schools, the better option appears to be a few years at community college and then completing her degree at the university through a RN to BSN program the two work together on. This program will also save us a significant amount of money in the long run as well, so double win. 

One plug I will make here: don’t be afraid to contact colleges your child is interested in attending and reach out to them with questions. It can be overwhelming, but it has also been wonderfully informative. The earlier you can reach out, the better too! Talking to the colleges has given us a game plan for the remaining time Laurianna has in high school (I’ll be sharing more on that later) and calmed my nerves quite a bit! 

Stay tuned – I’ll be sharing more on the other kids in the upcoming days. :)