Possible 7th grade year for Sean

Sean complains of being bored.  He said:  why don't you have us do more things like other kids so that I'm not hanging around the house all day trying to think of stuff to do!  Well, I know he thinks that way when he's in a 'down' period, but he loves his freedom when he gets fired up about something and can pursue it at his leisure.  So it is always a delicate balance between having that free time yet also having structured activities that get him up and going.  However, next year his big brother, whom he adores and spends a lot of time with will be away at college.  It's going to be a painful adjustment for us all and especially for my sensitive Seano.  So I feel we have to plan out stuff to make sure he's got stuff to keep him occupied and engaged.

So we brainstormed.  I told him that next year the three things that I, as his mother, would like him to do:

1.  Saxon 8/7 so he can be prepared for Algebra I in 8th.  All my kids have wound up doing it this way, so I'm thinking along the same lines with him.  As Sean really doesn't mind math and sometimes even enjoys it, he doesn't have a problem with this.

2.  Keeping a reading log - I want him to continue to read and to glean at least some of his books choices from lists for 7th graders.

3.  Latin - I'd love him to continue in Latin for Children at his own relaxed pace.

Other things:   Confirmation Prep - our parish let's us prepare for this Sacrament at home, but we have to keep records and report to them as well as participate in some of the parish activities that are geared for confirmation candidates.  We are not sure how we'll do this.  Maybe an on line course, maybe from books at home.

The other thing I suggested was that he could take classes at the same place where Josh will be taking pre-calc and writing classes.  Sean is interested in two of them - one is a drawing class and another is a writing class.

I also showed him some of the stuff at Angelicum.net which lately has been fascinating me.  The only thing though that he liked was the Critical Thinking program.

I'd also continue to read aloud things dealing with history and science.

He's open to staying in 4H next year, so that would be another thing to keep him busy.