Saturday 15 February 2014

What will This year entail???

What will our school year look like this year?
Now that is a question I need to answer.
Brid is old enough now to contribute to the planning of her School week.
She has done it for years, but not by herself.
She actually enjoys planning her week.
I wrote out what areas need covering and what books etc we might use, and she did the rest.

As most are aware, Brid is working toward full time ballet in the next year or 2. She is at present doing 21 hours / 5 days a week.( Tuesday -Saturday).  Therefore, her lessons need to be tailored to her Ballet days
.
Now you would think that Ballet training would be all practical wouldn't you? Well when they start at a Full Time school, there is theory as well as the need to learn about there bodies and nutrition, ballet history and various other topics.
So our aim over the next 2 years is to further ground her in the areas she'll need for academic study of Ballet.
This year she is working through-
 Life of Fred- Algebra.
Elegant Essay- IEW. Last year, Brid worked through Australian History -IEW. She was pleased she did as the elegant essay is definitely more challenging
Chemistry- John Hudson Tiner(reading mostly and notebooking when needed). Then it will be time for Apologia Advanced Biology- The Human Body.Its an excellent course and one I am pleased she will study.
Brid and I have sourced various Literature books to read.
Ballet Studies and Irish History. ( these are 2 areas Brid has chosen to study herself). Brid is looking at various Ballets, dancers, choreographers, companies and general history. Irish History is something we are putting together ourselves. I wrote out a few topics she might like to cover and she will gather her own ideas as well. Whatever she does it will be unique and her style.

We discussed each subject and how it would work with the Ballet hours she is doing.
It's not only the hours, but the time it takes to get ready, drive there, arrive half hour before class to warm up and stretch. Therefore, her school day on 4 days is just 2 hours. She well and truly makes up for it on Mondays as she has the whole day to get her studies done.
So all this needed to be considered when Brid planned her school week. We are working slowly as Ballet is quite strenuous and needs lots of energy and stamina.

The curricula we have selected is aimed at assisting Brid in her further studies: for example, Anatomy and Physiology will be great grounding for further studies, as will The elegant essay. She should be able to write a well set out essay as required in her Full Time years. Her Ballet Studies will be part of the folder she will put together for further reference.

It is quite exciting preparing Brid in these latter years of her schooling. Its more than just academics, Its socially, emotionally and spiritually supporting her and preparing her.

Brid as the lead butterfly in the Garden scene -2013 concert.










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