Help! How Can We Finish Our School Before Summer?

We are not as far along as we would like this year. How can we finish our school before summer?

Homeschooling gives you a lot of flexibility to speed things up. Remember that even in brick-and-mortar schools, not every book used is finished.

Also, most likely the concepts that you are teaching at the end of the school year will be reviewed at the beginning of the next year. Ultimately, you are the teacher. If you decide to call it “done,” that’s your decision. However, if you want grades and a transcript from Seton, you will have to turn in the “Seton graded” assignments.

If your children are doing well in most of their assignments, here’s how you can speed things up a bit. My suggestion is to work backward.

Take a look at your MySeton page, or at their Quarter Report Forms for their subjects, and see what work needs to be sent into Seton for grading. Look at the parent-graded section and see if there are any assignments there that you want them to do.

From this information, looking at their books and lesson plans, try to figure out what they need to do in order to do well on those assignments. Sometimes, it might not be much at all.

Some Simple Steps

Take Spelling – if your student is generally good at Spelling, you might give him a pre-test for each lesson, and if he aces it, skip the daily work. Have him study the words for the quarter and give him the quarter test.

In History, if there are chapter review questions in addition to the tests, you might read the chapter together and do the questions orally. This way, you will also be able to gauge his readiness to take the quarter test. If he’s ready, let him take it without doing the written assignments.

In Mathematics, if your daughter seems to understand the lessons well, have her do only some of the exercises. If she gets them all correct, move on to the next lesson.

In Reading, let them work on their book reports at the beginning of the quarter, skipping the readers, and using the discussion questions to get them thinking. After students have written their book reports most grade levels have a reading comprehension test which they can do next. The rest of reading is usually optional. You can always assign their Bible History, Science or another subject as their Reading for the day.

– Laura Clark, Elementary Counselor

I want to start school in August when public schools start. When is the best time for me to submit my Seton enrollment?

Seton accepts enrollments all year, so you can enroll on any day you wish. Even in our busiest August enrollment season, we are able to ship out materials very quickly. We do try to make updates to courses or release new courses around the beginning of May each year, but sometimes it takes a little longer. This year, we have a number of courses revisions planned, especially for 2nd Grade which is getting new Phonics, Spelling, and Geography, and 11th Grade which will hopefully have a new American History course and Church Fathers course.

I recommend June as the best time to enroll. That gives you a couple of months to review the courses, but should also ensure that you have the most recent course improvements for the next year.

To help encourage families not to wait until August, we give students who enroll in June, July, and August the same amount of time to complete their courses as they would have had they enrolled on Sept 1.

We will be including more extensive information about our curriculum changes this year in the next two editions of the Seton Magazine, so keep your eyes peeled for more updates.

– Draper Warren, Director of Admissions.

My eighth grader is a good student but struggles with his Reading course. Could Seton’s Special Needs Team help us?

Yes, we can help you with that. We have found that sometimes changing a single subject such as reading to a Special Needs adapted curriculum can be the key to keeping the student moving forward and succeeding.

If you are fully enrolled, we are happy to exchange one standard course for the special needs version of that course. There is no change in your tuition for this benefit. Don’t hesitate to contact our Special Needs Department for details.

– Stephen Costanzo, Director of Special Services.

With Spring coming, I find my kids (and myself) looking out the windows daydreaming! Do you have any tips for staying on task?

Why fight it? When the sun finally comes out, I want to take full advantage! (I am writing this on a dreary winter day, with rain turning all the snow to slush and mud.)

And that’s where homeschooling is perfect! Pack up your books and a picnic lunch, and head off to a nearby park or nature center. Let your children run around for a bit, then come back and work on a subject while the toddlers play.

“Workbook” subjects (such as Phonics, Spelling, English, Math K-5) require only the book and a pencil. They can work on a page or two, then run around again.

Even high school students can bring along their book analysis book and read in the sun, or a textbook if they’re so inclined. Notebooks can be brought along for journaling, sketching, creative writing or other “extra-curriculars.” Remember to rejoice in God’s creation!

– Laura Clark, Elementary Counselor