I feel like I have my ducks in a row.  We will start school on August 20th.  I am ready.  I have been working with my Homeschool Easy Records software.  I did the bulk of the data entry and I have been tweaking it here and there.  I really think this software will be *the thing* that will keep me sane this year.

This year, Sam will be joining homeschool band, to meet on Thursdays.  He wants to learn the saxophone.  Dh has already taught him to read music and play the recorder.  I think this will be really good for Sam.  He needs better self-discipline.   The (almost) daily practice should help with this.

I have signed up both boys for homeschool PE, but I am still waiting to see if it's a sure bet.  When I received the sign-up forms, there was a sticky note on them which said they would only accept 25 children.  Later this afternoon I will call to ask if they have received our forms and if we made it in.

These two things will make our schedule difficult.  Monday, Wednesday and Friday should be all right.  Tuesday is when P.E. meets.  The class starts at 1:00.  It takes 75 minutes (at least) to get there.  (Remember--we live waaay out in the country.) So lunch on Tuesday will have to be ready by 10:45 so we won't have to hurry eating.  I want to leave by 11:30.  The class goes until 2:30.  But the literature from the rec center said the gym would be held open for another hour of mom-supervised free time.  This is great  because there is still a shortage of kids coming to our church.  We now have one more kid about their age coming.  And we are so very grateful for that--for a variety of reasons.  But this P.E. course should help put them in contact with more kids.

Thursdays might take some getting used to.  If Wednesday evening church lets out when it should, we should get to our car to leave by 7:40.  And we'd be getting home about 8:00. But that rarely happens.   Sometimes the lesson goes late.  Sometimes there's a lot of visiting and fellowship after we are dismissed.  Sometimes the deacons need to have a casual discussion with my pastor-husband for a short time.  A lot of the time, any combination of these things happens.  I am not complaining---just explaining.

After we get home, I have been letting them wind down by watching TV, then bathing and getting to bed late.  That will have to end. 

Sam's band class meets at 9:00 on Thursdays, and it takes about an hour to get there.  We will have to get up no later than 7:00 and be out the door by 8:00.  Maybe Sam could nap on the way, if we have to get to bed too late the night before.

All this running around is made possible by my family.  My brother bought a new car.  Instead of trading in, he gave his old car to my sister.  She, in turn, gave me her old car.  It's a 10 year old Saturn which still runs great.  It drinks oil, but that's not hard to keep up with.  And it gets 28 MPG *with* the air conditioner running!!!

We will be doing the Konos Russia unit study on MWF.  I want them each to do math, science, and a language art every day, if possible.  (I know that stuff happens.  There will be days we won't get everything done.  But I want to try, all long as I can do so without stressing anyone out.) I have also worked an hour of saxophone practice in for Sam on MWF. 

This is the tightest schedule I have ever done.  I feel this is just practice.  Next year, Sam will be in high school.  Yes, I am still a bit nervous about getting everything in and documenting all the important stuff.  I am leaning on our Lord and hoping I don't let Him and Sam down.

I always knew that my husband and I would homeschool all the way through high school.  My confidence came from two factors: 

1. My husband.  He is smarter than I am; he is often nearby since he works at home; and he is a scientist so he can automatically answer science and math questions that I would have had to research or guide my children in researching themselves 
2. Teacher editions!!!  If I can understand it, I can teach it.

Despite my confidence that high school would happen at home, I began to get nervous.  Sam is now finsihing the 7th grade.  I feel like I have one year to make sure he is prepared for high school.

I have purchased Konos History of the World, year one.  It looks really good--as good as I thought it would.  It would be easy to get excited over it and start it sooner than later.  Although it would be a challenge for him, I think Sam will be capable of doing it in 8th grade.  But I will wait until he is in the 9th grade because I want this unit study course to go on his high school transcript.

I am reading Homeschooling High School  by Jeanne Gowen Davis.  It really seems to be a gem.  When I first received it, I skimmed through it.  I found lovely little tidbits; like getting a Bible in the foreign language your child is learning so they can read it and his English one side by side to increase proficiency.  That is something that never would have occurred to me.  Now I am reading it thoroughly and taking notes as I go.