Baker Family School

Feb. 16, 2007

Friday Summary

We've had a pretty nice week as far as school goes. My kids are all paired up for research projects. Kelsea-Joshua (working on crystals and other gems) and Zerrick-Ishmael (learning about black widows). I work with my 4yo who always chooses dinosaurs. This time I made him choose a type of Dinosaur (one we've never learned much about before) he chose stegosaurus.I figure we'll have gone through several different species before he's done with this stage. It's been a good way to get them more familiar with the non-fiction section in the library. Jeremiah knows right where to go get his dinosaur books anyway

.

I have some materials to pick up this weekend for science experiments. Some are related to their research projects and some are not. I love doing the experiments together. It's better than baking cookies ;-).

We are doing great in our other subjects as well.

• Comments (3) • Permanent Link

Feb. 14, 2007

Happy Valentie's Day

Today we are going to relax and enjoy eachother. I plan to bake cookies with the kids, cook a good man lovin' meal, and make valentines.

My youngest is so excited about today. He snuck into my bed and played with my hair and whispered "Happy Balemtime's Day Mama! You are the bestest Mama."

The kids have their math, writing, and reading done for the day. We will probably snuggle up in the living room to read Tom Sawyer and enjoy cookies and hot cocoa.

• Comments (0) • Permanent Link

Feb. 13, 2007

Reading and expecting shipments

We are currently reading Tom Sawyer. It took some doing to find it at the library. I had to go to the adult fiction section. (What's up with that?) The kids are enjoying it though. I knew they would

. We are also memorizing the Beatitudes. We are studying a new one every day and having some cool discussions about them.

I'm waiting on a couple of packages. I ordered some bibs for a friends baby gift. I also ordered my daughter and myself some Crocs. I can't believe I actually ordered the ugly shoes but they are sooo comfortable. I am only going to get away with wearing mine when I'm not out with dh.

The other package I'm waiting for is the free samples from Rod and Staff. I'm thinking of using their readers and may look into a few other things as well. I'm looking into simplifying my life a bit next year.

I can't wait till spring. I'm going to have a yardsale and have junk piled high in the sunroom. It is irritating me terribly. I want the stuff gone but we could really use the money. So I'm holding off on the household purge till spring. I do so want my sunroom back though.

• Comments (0) • Permanent Link

Feb. 9, 2007

Tax Time

Means time to plan next year's curriculum. This is as far as I've gotten:

Kindergarten:

2nd Grade:
Math: Saxon 2
Reading/Phonics: Library
Bible: Rod and Staff

3rd Grade:
Math: Saxon 3
Reading: Library/ Rod and Staff 5th grade reader
Bible: Rod and Staff
Grammar: Easy Grammar 3/4

7th Grade:
Math: Saxon 6/7
Reading: Library
Science: Apologia's General Science
Grammar: Easy Grammar (red book)
Writing: Write Shop

8th Grade:
Math: Saxon 7/8
Reading: Rod and Staff 8th grade Reader (child does not like to read so hopefully this will keep us going)
Science: ??
Grammar: Easy Grammar (red book)
Writing: Write Shop

I'm still deciding on history for all of us. So far we've just been following a timeline. I think I'd like something more structured and disciplined. Maybe Mystery of History?

For the most part I like to keep it simple. We do alot of other subjects together as a family. We love going to the library. We all read a ton of books except my oldest who would rather "do" than read. Even he reads a fair amount. I may add more or realize I'm forgetting something as I go. This is always a work in progress.

• Comments (2) • Permanent Link

Feb. 8, 2007

Thursday

This week has been pretty good for math. I'm impressed with my 7yo--who has a memory like I don't know what. He has already memorized a large chunk of his multiplication table.

I just feel bad for my 6yo who has a hard time and feels he has to keep up. He's gotta learn to fly his own ship some day.
Today is errand day. I don't want to go anywhere. I wanna stay home and dig up some good books. We will probably go to the library today so that, at least, is some compensation.

• Comments (3) • Permanent Link

Feb. 2, 2007

One Night with the King

The kids and I have been studying the book of Esther. It is a fantastic story to read as a family. My daughter has been enthralled with it and is reading it over and over. She thinks it's better than any ol' Cinderella story 'cause it's REAL.

Anyway, we've read several Bible translations as well as several story book versions. So of course when One Night with the King came out on DVD we HAD to rent it. Dd was very dissapointed that it wasn't more true to the Word. Poor girl. It was still a good conversation about Hollywood glitz and glam. She did think the came up with a beautiful Esther!

We've had alot of fund discussing possible beauty treatments and use of myrh. It's been so much fun. My daughter is 12btw.

The boys enjoyed this story too. Alot of action that they have been acting out in their play. My insightful 13yo did notice that the king is very unsure of himself (in the movie version). He didn't like that Esther kept questioning him. "That's not how it really was. Nope the real king wouldn't have stood for THAT!"

Ahh a house of boys...gotta love 'em.

Otherwise...I liked the movie. It was entertaining

.

Schoolwork wise. My 13yo is finally getting where he is supposed to be for Math. My daughter? Not so much.

My other guys are too young to worry about "where they are supposed to be".

• Comments (1) • Permanent Link

Jan. 31, 2007

I'm a sport

I just saw that Bev tagged me on January 17. I'll try to come up with something...even though I DON"T think I'm weird ; ).

I was tagged by BevG.

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the 7 weird things about you. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 7 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 7 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says you are tagged in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

1. I eat Ketchup in homemade tacos. Actually I prefer to have just a plain fried corn tortilla shell w/ ketchup-YUMMO!

2. For fun, we put on fake tatoos as a family...and I LIKE it!

3. I'm excited that Growing Pains is playing on tv again ~I cried during one episode recently.

4. I change my socks 4 times a day.

5. Yahtzee is my favorite game.

6. I can play the game boy for hours!!! I mean HOURS and not get bored-I play it more than my kids.

7. I enjoyed childbirth. Of course I've never had any complications so it's easy for me to say that.

• Comments (0) • Permanent Link

Jan. 30, 2007

Ahhh peace and quiet

We've had a rough day. I had a ton of work piled up (papers to grade, bills, record keeping, etc) and the kids were restless. I really should have just let them outside to play. I was determined to get our school work done today. Oh well, next time they go OUTSIDE!!!! BEFORE they drive me crazy.

Later in the afternoon I had to carpool and then take my kids to Awanas. I am really enjoying the evenings to myself! The house has been quiet and I've gotten so much done. I rearranged some closets and cleaned up my paperwork. I still have quite a bit left but I've made such good progress.

I really need the new start on organization. I was living in chaos before my brother in law passed away. That week really through us for a loop and before I knew it EVERYTHING was in complete and utter chaos. It has been terrible. I can't focus and don't know one end of the house from the other.

Now, I have all my homeschool stuff organized in bankers boxes (the big white cardboard ones with lids) and on the shelf in the laundry room. I tossed so much junk out. I also threw a bunch of stuff in the sunroom for a possible yard sale this spring. This freed up the entryway closet for my scrapbook stuff. Which then freed up the space in my living room where it was being stored. So as a result my livingroom is less cluttered. HA! It feels so much better around her already.

Anyway, I've been busy and am amazed at how much I can get done while the kids are gone for 2 hours! I was in a much better mood for them when they came home!

• Comments (0) • Permanent Link

Jan. 29, 2007

Calm Day

We stayed up really late last night playing games together. I think the kids went to bed at 12:30 and dh and I went to bed at around 2am. So, we all slept in late this morning. I woke up at 9 and didn't wake the kids till 10:15. I figured they needed the extra sleep and I got to get in a workout child-free this morning. It was nice.

I don't think we actually started school 'till after noon. We have been having a nice day though, in spite of the late start. We had our Bible study and I've been making time for them to study their verses and pledges for Awanas.

Speaking of Awanas...I did the program as a kid. I had alot of fun and all. However, as an adult I've become less and less thrilled with "child evangelism". Especially when they are targeted in the lower class communities. I believe it's the fathers who need to be equipped and saved so they can then lead their family into salvation. "For if I am saved my household is saved". I have always seen Awanas as such a program. Anyway...stepping off my soap box...I recently let the kids join a club. They are having so much fun!!! It really requires me to work with the younger guys and the older kids can work independently. I do help them with their drill but otherwise they are studying on their own.

While I still haven't completely changed my mind about child evangelism, I am seeing Awanas as a tool.

• Comments (0) • Permanent Link

Jan. 17, 2007

Catching Up

It is 9:17 and the kids are just finishing up their math. We had company over earlier and went for a 2mi walk this afternoon. Afterwards we all took a 2 hour nap. Then of course dinner and clean-up took about an hour. So here we are just getting our math work done. Well, the youngest is playing with the V-Smile.

It's been a peaceful evening. The kids are all working on their own and I'm free to be on the computer. The house is relatively clean. We will need to pick up just before bed but otherwise it's in good shape. Dh will be home soon and we'll have a brief prayer time before I send the kids off to bed. Afterwards dh and I will have the rest of the evening to ourselves.

• Comments (1) • Permanent Link

Jan. 14, 2007

In mourning

My brother-in-law died in a fire on January 5, 2007. It was a tragic loss for our family. We buried him on Saturday. This week we will be picking up the pieces of our lives and moving on. We will need to catch up on all the school we missed. Although, the kids did stay with another homeschool family while dh and I were away this past week. My friend included them in her school day with her own children. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful friend. Still, we are behind on our own lessons.

Anyway, I may or may not be able to blog. It depends on how busy we get : ).

• Comments (0) • Permanent Link

Jan. 5, 2007

Looking forward to next week

Yesterday went okay. We finished some school work at least. I don't know what it is. I can have the best of intentions and have everything planned. When dh is home we don't get anything done. At least never near what I plan to do and probably just enough to count it as a school day. We have fun though so who can really complain?

I'm going to give the kids their Latin quiz this evening. We get to start next week off on schedule. That is such a good feeling. "On schedule"...sounds like music to my ears.

I'm also looking forward to doing more Bible study with the kids next week.

My older ones are really growing in their personal study. Kelsea's been spending alot of time reading her Bible lately. She will start reading Beautiful Girlhood sometime this month. I've not found anything that I like as much for Zerrick yet. I'm still looking though. In the mean time I will have him keep up his journal as he reads on his own.

I've downloaded the Homeschool Tracker for the 3rd time. I've lost it a couple of times in computer crashes. The last time it kept having a bunch of errors. This time maybe I will get it to do what it's supposed to. I've thought about buying the upgraded version but am afraid of spending $40 and it not working. I do have a teacher's planning notebook. It just doesn't cover everything that Homeschool Tracker did. This time, hopefully, it won't let me down.

• Comments (0) • Permanent Link

Jan. 4, 2007

Ten More Minutes...

...till school starts today. Dh is home today. It would be nice for him to see what we do on school days. Some how we always end up playing when he is off. I do plan to get our math, reading, writing, and grammar done for today. Then we will review for our Latin Quiz tomorrow. I want to set Zerrick up for science. I bought him Apologia's General Science on cdrom and then my computer shut down. Hopefully with a new computer he will be able to use it. I'm thinking maybe I should have bought it in book form.

• Comments (0) • Permanent Link

Jan. 3, 2007

Holidays were crazy, now I'm sick

Ugh! I've been running a fever of 103 all day today. It's gone down to 99 now so I'm feeling a little better. Tomorrow we step back into full swing. Today we did literature. That's it. Literature. Which means we listened to The Return of the King on tape. Oh well I'm trying. I have been cleaning stuff out as I can. I'm a trooper. I figure dh goes to work whether he's sick or not to support us. I can work through being sick and at least go through stuff. It doesn't require much physical work. Who's gonna rest with the kids running around anyway, right?

I will probably start grading papers, for a co-op, tonight. I do have another week and a half before they are done. I worry about procrastinating to the last minute though and not having them done at all. So if I only get to look at one paper tonight it will be better than nothing at all.

Other than that? Nothing has been going on here. We basically cut out any extras for a few weeks and focused on the necessary. The holidays went well but man! time flew. We didn't do a whole lot of projects like dd would have liked to. We did bake alot of cookies though. I think there were just too many people to shop for. I liked it better when I made gifts for everyone. Though I don't think some of the people were as thrilled.

I needed that break from school though. I feel so much more motivated to get stuff done. I think it came just in time before burn out kicked in.

• Comments (0) • Permanent Link

Dec. 6, 2006

Back to Normal (almost)

I'm slowly starting to feel like we can have our "normal" days back. We did get up and starting school at our regular hour. It was great. Then I sent the kids outside to do yardwork and play for a few hours. We are doing our math right now.

I can see why I love homeschooling my kids so much again.

• Comments (1) • Permanent Link

Dec. 5, 2006

Tuesday and Feelin' Good

We got a bit of work done yesterday. The older kids started wrtiting their papers and they all completed their math. I need to get the basics done and out of the way this morning. If I can contain the excitement long enough.. My girlfriend is coming over with her kids! We always have lots of fun.

I don't know what it is but I have slipped into a crazy funk. I just can't seem to stay focused and I'm having an even harder time getting organized. I have 3 boxes worth of paperwork to sortt. It really isn't anything else. Just the paper work that is bogging me down. With it hanging on my shoulders I can't seem to focus on anything else! I don't want to start pulling it all out while the kids are needing my attention (It could be dangerous to walk away from a pile of important papers). Oh well, I plan to get it done today!!! I promised my husband

• Comments (0) • Permanent Link

Dec. 4, 2006

Losing Focus

We have been crazy busy around here lately. I can hardly keep up anymore. I'm so unorganized it's not even funny. Today the house is a mess from our Christmas decorating this weekend. I'm really not feeling the holidays this year. I just want them to be over so I can get back to "real life".

We will be doing a real day of school today. I have got to get us back on track!!!

On a good note Jeremiah is now writing the #5. Joshua read the screen in church on Sunday, Ishmael is as smart as ever. Kelsea and Zerrick are both doing very well in their writing classes. So I guess I'm not doing so bad.

• Comments (0) • Permanent Link

Dec. 1, 2006

First Blog

Hello, I'm Amanda. I homeschool my 5 children, though not formally with the youngest yet.

It's almost 1 in the morning and I'm setting up this blog. Can you guess how many cups of coffe I've had this evening?

I'm up and running on the internet after 5 months sabbatical. (Not by choice!!!) I wish I can say that I got my life in pristine order during my time off but I can't. I can say that I did survive! I can live without the internet! I just don't want to. I am so much better organized when I have a computer.

I took the kids to Pizza Hut for their Book-it pizzas. It's funny how excited they can get over a little bitty pizza. I'm glad they enjoy it. Actually my oldest phased out of the program this year and my youngest is still too young. I like all of the characters they came out with this year. The kids are having fun with that.

I'm very pleased with homeschooling this year. I am much better at managin 4 grade levels than I was last year. Next year I get to start all over when I add in my fifth child.

I'm taking part in a co-op for the first time this year. Everyone is taking a math class for the first hour (the gracious ladies have even taken on the preschoolers). My older kids are taking a writing class. The youngers are in a food study class. I have to say I've never enjoyed anything more than being a part of this group. It's just a handful of moms working out of a church together. Everymom who has kids participating must vounteer. Still at times it feels "short staffed" as most of us have at least 3 kids. The fellowship I'm getting out of this is far worth any amount of work I could put in. Not to mention, my older kids are really getting good at writing.

Anyway, It is late and I should really wrap this up and go to bed. Good night!

• Comments (2) • Permanent Link

About Me

sharing how Christ is blessing our family with others