Pace

Today we received news that Sam achieved the National Honor Roll for the AMC 8 (American Mathematics Competitions) !  He took the test, along with the rest of his math team, several weeks ago.

A couple of things this brings to mind are :

His older sister spent a lot of time helping him prepare for the test.  She is part of the High School Math Team and she tried to figure out what was holding Sam back from doing his best on these tests.  He typically does really well at home on practice tests, but didn't do as well at the actual test.  Hope decided to make the practice test look like the exact same format.  It must have helped!  I ask myself how many sophomore high school girls would spend so much effort to help their younger brother in such a way.  Maybe there are more than I think, but I am totally convinced that being home schooled together has fostered that relationship.

The other thing is that the kids can proceed in any subject as fast or as slow as they are able.  (Of course, Sam would like to proceed very slowly in writing and grammar, but there are limits mom puts on going too slow. :-))  Math, however, has been something Sam and Hope have enjoyed and they have gone at a pace that is different than they would have in a school outside of the home.  In fact, when Hope started learning math many years ago, Sam just joined us and I just let him observe and do what he could.  He kept up with Hope for several years and then slowed down a couple years ago because he needed to in order to comprehend it.  I love having this flexibility without having to deal with it at parent-teacher conferences after it may be too late!  Well - I have conferences, I guess, but they are in my own head. :-)

So - I hope this didn't come across as a brag-fest.  I believe there are many kids who could adjust their pace in any subject and, with the help of a mentor/teacher/tutor, they can speed up or slow down whenever needed in order to get the most out of their education.  It is just easier when there are no formal classes.