Cookin' with gas

I haven't said much about school lately. We're still doing it. Actually, this is probably the best year we've had. I took a hard look at what she's going to need to live through her Freshman year, set some hard goals, and it looks like we might surpass at least one: The Dreaded Math.

Vicky hates math. She's always had a hard time getting it. I'd get light bulb moments with everything else (I can tell how well she's gotten something by the volume of the "Oooohhh!"), but they have been few and far between with math. Then I found MathUSee. I wish I'd started her with it.

I ordered easy stuff to start with last fall because even though she'd already had most of it, I knew she was missing some things. Gaps will set her up for failure in Algebra, and she already hates math enough. I told her what I was doing and why, and she agreed. The books have 30 lessons each, and each lesson has six practice sheets, half of which focus on the new concept, and half which are cumulative. We blew through the first book in two months. The second should take us about two months, but we're taking time off for Christmas so it really will be about ten weeks. I've already got Pre-Algebra ready and waiting, and now we're talking about getting the Algebra book and going through the summer.

I must say how proud I am of the work she's doing. Her confidence grows a little every day and I'm finally starting to think she's going to be ready for high school. Maybe her Freshman year won't be as ugly as Alex's was.

Homeschooling moms, take heart. The ugly days get fewer and further between. We still have plenty of them. We still have a lot of work to do, but for the first time ever, I'm looking forward to IOWA testing.