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High School Courses
I have two in high school this year. There are the courses they are taking.
Zarek 10th Grade
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English II - A Beka
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Spanish II – with FLVS online
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Psychology – with FLVS online
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Life Management – with FLVS online
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World History II - A Beka and Sonlight
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World Literature - A Beka and Sonlight
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Bible - A Beka and Experiencing God Bible Study
- Health - A Beka
- Chemistry - Apologia
- Geometry - Teaching Textbooks
Alexis 9th Grade
- English I - A Beka
- Pre Algebra - Teaching Textbooks
- Bible - A Daughter's Worth, Experiencing God and Precept Isaiah
- Hebrew History (Old Testament) - A Beka
- Physical Science - A Beka
- World History II - A Beka and Sonlight
- World Geography - A Beka
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History
This poor, neglected blog! I've just not been in the blogging mood, but am making myself post. So, this is probably not going to be interesting. Not that my other posts were...well, whatever.
We're studying Ancient Civilizations this year and we've been in Rome the past few weeks. I'm reading aloud to Cait and Brett from Story of the World. This week we learned about Julius Caesar. Alexis listens in most of the time because it is a good review. Cait and Brett really enjoy the Usborne Time Traverler series and we just finished this book.
 They also enjoyed this book about Pompeii 
With Zarek and Alexis I'm reading aloud from Augustus Caesar's World, which is a great book.
Zarek and Alexis are also reading The Ides of April and will follow up with the next book, Beyond the Desert Gate.
Sometime this week I'm going to Michael's to get Caitlyn and Brett mosaic kits, they're looking forward to doing those. So that's about it, we're just trying to move right along, we're on week 13 on Sonlight. Very behind. I can only keep moving forward and try not to worry about it. Spring Break is coming up soon and the kids will have two weeks off, as the next week is Jody's vacation time. I plan on having them keep up with their literature reading though.
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School
has been getting done, if a bit sporadically. Wednesday life just took over and nothing much got done other than picking up the house. I'm trying to at least keep Zarek on track since he's in high school now. Alexis is doing a decent job of getting most of her work done each day and sometimes has to catch up on the weekends. We have moved on from the Egyptians and are now learning about the Greeks. Caitlyn and Brett are still enjoying learning about these ancient civilizations. For Brett, the more fighting/warrior type stuff, the better. They're both doing a great job at remembering what they've learned and love answering the questions for each chapter for Story of the World.
Yesterday Zarek went to a friend's house to work on his biology experiements since we don't have a microscope. Today he needs to take a biology test and an algebra test. He started taking a Spanish course online and I don't think it's going to well. I'm going to let him work at it for another week and if he wants to drop it I'll let him. I think it's just too hard trying to learn a foreign language online.
This weekend I really need to catch up with Zarek's assingment and get them into HST and make up the next few weeks assignments, at least through Christmas would be nice. Next week we're only having school on Monday and the rest of the week off for Thanksgiving break, the kids can't wait and neither can I.
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Sweetness
I was reading the Usborne Time Traveler book Pharaohs and Pyramids to the children today and I had to get up to help my oldest son in another room. They just couldn't wait for me so I walked back in to see this and had to get a photo. They are both really enjoying learning about Ancient Egypt.
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McCain Rally Monday
Some friends of ours told us about the McCain rally in Jacksonville and invited us to go with them. I was so excited! We arrived at 6:15AM, the rally began at 8:00AM. We saw the Jacksonville Mayor, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and former Gov. Jeb Bush! Very exciting. All the speeches were great and when McCain came out everyone was pumped! He gave a great speech and the older children really enjoyed going. Great educational experience and a fun time.
My little Republican
John McCain and his wife.
The kids after the rally.
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Sumerian Clay Tablets
Last week we read about Sumer and Cuneiform in Story of the World Volume I. The children were very excited to make their own clay tablets like the Ancient Sumerians did.
We're going slow with Story of the World because the younger two are very much enjoying learning about Egypt, so I put several library books on hold and some came in today and we picked them up. We're going to spend another week on Ancient Egypt before we move on. There's just so much to learn and Sonlight 6 moves too fast!
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Our first day of school for 2008-2009
Look at these beautiful children hard at work! Ok, Caitlyn was sick so she is cutting out a paper model of an American Western Fort (never mind we're studying Ancient Egypt) but we'll call it handicrafts. She did do math, Bible, poetry and history/geography along with everyone else.
Brett went to a space birthday party over the weekend and I caught him doing his math with his jet pack on.
Everything went so well Monday and the children all enjoyed their day. Caitlyn especially seems interested in Egypt and even looked through extra books and did some extra work on her own. She is loving Story of the World. She likes doing the coloring page and map work and then putting them in her binder. Brett is also doing a great job with history but he's not as enthusiastic as his sister. Alexis and Zarek are listening to STOW as a review but not doing the activity sheets, instead they are assisting their younger siblings with their map work if they need it. Zarek and Alexis are both getting back into the swing of math, the last 2 days have been spent on corrections that had been neglected over the summer and finally today they are starting new chapters in their books. Alexis is finishing up her Saxon 76 and Zarek is still working on Algebra I.
I just put some more picture books set in Ancient Egypt on hold at our library and hope they come in soon. They're books I remember reading to Zarek and Alexis when they were about 7 and 8, which is when we last went through the Ancients. We're starting up our school year slowly, taking extra time this week to watch the Olympics, so we're not on schedule yet. By mid-September I'm hoping everyone will be doing every subject each day, until then we're enjoying this leisurely pace.
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Tomorrow is the big day!
Yes, the first day of school for 2008-2009! I'm kinda unprepared, but we're jumping in anyway. We're going to start slow with just the basics and will add things in throughout the new few weeks. I have all our materials together that we'll need for the first few weeks for Bible and History.
I ordered our new poetry book today so that will be here Wednesday. Everyone will also do their math, reading and a writing or copywork assignment and that's all I plan on for this week.
I hope everything goes smoothly and we have a good first day! I'll post pictures and blog about our day tomorrow.
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And the planning begins...
First of all, I went through my friends list and deleted any blogs that no one had written on in a year or more. I'm so sad to see so many blogs abandoned. :(
Last night I stayed up late waiting for Jody to come home from work, he had one of Alexis' prescriptions he had gotten at his pharmacy because the one by our home didn't have it in stock. As soon as he got home I had to give her the antibiotic so I decided while I was waiting up I may as well lug those huge Sonlight binders up on my bed and begin going through them. So...now I'm starting to panic. Why, you ask?
Zarek and Alexis are in for a lot of work this year! I'm overwhelmed just looking at it all. Alexis will have quite large increase in subjects and work load and Zarek...thank goodness he's pretty organized and on the ball because he has so much to do in a day. I'm hoping it just looks like a lot and when we actually start we'll get into a groove that will work and that we won't be doing school from 8AM to 8PM.
OK, who am I kidding, I'm still in bed at 8AM.
I did start to work on schedule last night, one I'm sure we won't stick to...but it's a nice thought. It goes something like this:
8:30-9:30AM Dress, make beds, have breakfast, personal care and be ready for school on time!
9:30-10:00AM Bible Reading, Prayer, Poetry (all four together)
10:00-11:00AM History (all four together)
11:00AM-12:00PM Zarek and Alexis, independent work (Bible, Readers, Vocab, Science) Caitlyn and Brett, math, phonics, language and hopefully Science which will be Botany
12:00-1:00PM Lunch Break
1:00-2:00PM Zarek and Alexis, independent work (math, logic, readers, typing, whatever needs to be done) Caitlyn and Brett, finish work if needed, then read aloud to me and I read to them
2:00-3:00PM Family read aloud, Historical Fiction from Sonlight
3:00-4:00PM Alexis and me 1 on 1: Language, Spelling, Literature discussion
4:00-5:00PM Zarek and me 1 on 1: Language, Spelling, Literature discussion
That's it! Whatever doesn't get done by 5PM will have to be done as homework starting at 7:30PM. Yeah, it's a long day and I'm hoping it will go faster, but we have so much we have to do together and so much they older 2 have to do on their own. We'll see... In any area we go more quickly they can move on to their independent work.
After 2 weeks of this I'll post and let you know how the schedule is working and what changes have been made. I'd love school to be done by 3PM, but the reality is none of us get up early and we'd need to start school by 8AM and I don't see that happening. We love being up at night together. That's why I love homeschooling...freedom to do what is best for us.
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Is it summer yet?
We've taken this last week off and we're taking this next week off as well. I thought it would be nice to have two weeks off before the public school kids are out for the summer. The week after Alexis is in drama camp and I plan on taking the other 3 to the beach while she's there for some beach combing. I ordered a book called Florida's Living Beaches to get ready for it. So, that may be a 3rd week off. We may do some school in the afternoon though. What basically needs to be done is math, Zarek and Alexis need to finish their Latin curriculum, and each have a vocabulary book to finish. Caitlyn and Brett have a Language book to finish as well as practice reading. I think we'll do 2-3 weeks off, then 2-3 weeks on this summer, which of course can change if it gets to be too much. I do want the children to have a good break, but there's no sense in getting bored either. With gas prices the way they are we're going to try to keep our running around to a minimum and try to stay home at least 3 days out of the week. When the summer sun really hits here, we won't want to be outside unless we're at a beach or pool, so may as well get some school done.
I'm sure the children will feel differently than I do.
Another book I've just ordered is Christian Unschooling, I'm not and never could be an unschooler, but I think the book might encourage me to have faith that my children will learn all they need to learn. I visited a Charlotte Mason blog today and it was one book she recommended highly that I didn't yet own, so I hopped right on Amazon and ordered. I am again so thankful that I was given the gift of Amazon Prime by my great friends...you know who you are! You just don't know how much you blessed me by giving that to me!!
OK, I'm off to switch laundry.
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Brazil...and other things
Tomorrow we will begin our study on Brazil. Along with reading books and making pages for our Travel Diary we’ll have our cultural dinner. This is the dinner and dessert we’ve planned.
BRAZILIAN BEANS AND RICE
1 lb. pinto or black beans
1 chopped onion
1 chopped green pepper
1 lb. browned sausage
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
Garlic powder to taste
Cooked rice
Soak beans overnight (or use two large jars of the canned, cooked beans). Drain the beans after they have been soaked. Cover with water, add onion, green pepper, salt, pepper, garlic. Cook until beans are soft. Add water if necessary. When beans are cooked make sure there is enough water to just cover them. Add the tomato paste and sausage. Cook an additional 15-20 minutes until the meat is cooked. If the beans are too watery, crush some to thicken. Serve over cooked rice. Top with molho sauce.
BRAZILIAN COCONUT PUDDING
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Coconut milk to fill the milk can
Milk in the quantity to fill two of the condensed milk cans
3 tbsp. of corn starch
Cook all ingredients together over medium heat stirring constantly until it begins to boil and thickens. Pour into a form and chill until firm. Brazilians often serve with stewed prunes along with the juice. Delicious!
Tomorrow we’re going grocery shopping and we’ll pick up all the ingredients we need.
We have quite a bit of catching up to do on our Travel Diaries so that is going to be priority tomorrow.
Zarek is finishing up his study of the Middle East. I’ve read Shadow Spinner and am now reading Seven Daughters and Seven Sons aloud. Both books are really good.
Zarek was going to start Algebra I this fall when he starts 9th grade, but as his determination to go to the Air Force Academy is getting stronger, he’s decided to start Algebra I now and finish it before fall so he can begin his freshman year doing Algebra II. We’re learning more and more about the requirements for USAFA and he’s reading all the books he can get his hands on about it. I’ve just ordered him a new one, as he’s already exhausted all of the libraries in our area on the topic. Now tonight he’s told me he wants to read all he can about airplanes. Thursday evening he should be going to his first Civil Air Patrol meeting, unless Jody’s schedule doesn’t permit it. His dad has committed to taking him each week and is letting his job know he needs to be out early for Thursdays. I hope Zarek enjoys CAP and that there is a good leader at this unit. If not, we have another one nearby we can try out.
OK, off to bed for me.
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Need to re-focus on school
For some time now I've not been focused on school. I mean, to a certain point, yes...but not really. I do believe I had a major burnout 2-3 years ago that lasted quite a while. We still struggled through with school but some days it was quite rough. Moving to the Sunshine State has actually helped quite a bit. There is that feeling we're living in Vacationland most of the time and since the sun really shines almost every single day, I feel better for the most part, and have happier days. Taking off for the beach helps too, to relax and enjoy the fact that we live so close to the ocean, that we live where people actually want to come to vacation helps me feel blessed to live here.
Back to my point...I'm seeing the end in sight for this year. Zarek is on week 29 with his Sonlight core with only 7 weeks remaining, which he'll probably finish up in 5-6 weeks because he's moving right along. The rest of the children will still have school until the end of May, beginning of June and I know of two little people who will be doing math and phonics throughout the summer as well (I'm not a slave driver, they'll get beach days off).
I'm making up a summer reading list for Zarek and Alexis, and Alexis will probably have to do her Language Arts through the summer, but the point IS I'm really looking forward to summer break and having time off to relax and think about what we're doing for fall and learning about what I need to do to get ready for high school with Zarek.
I have all these great books about high school that I need to read, I also have Bauer's Ancient History book I need to read before beginning Ancient History in the fall with all the children. Oh yes, and I have two huge Sonlight Teacher Guides to go through...literature books for Zarek that I need to pre-read and take notes on...I'll just stop there. I have a desire to re-focus on school and really throw myself into it like I did in the first few years of homeschooling. I feel like I'm just now recovering from the burn out, though I've been recovering for an entire year now really...and I'm realizing time is passing much too quickly. My little guy who began homeschooling in 1st grade will be a freshman in high school this fall...I only have four more years to teach him. There's so much to do!
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Finally! Back to school. Well, sort of.
Pretty much anyway.
After our vacation we found out that my dh's parents were coming for a visit. We did school most of last week, but took off quite a bit to get the house ready for them. They left yesterday and this morning we finally were able to get back to business. Mostly.
Caitlyn had her art class and I had to grocery shop for Easter dinner, so we all went to take Cait to art and then went to the park for an hour to let the kids play. After that we did our grocery shopping and came home for lunch. Then we got busy. At least until the neighbor kids came home from school. Then I let the kids out to play and they've been playing ever since.
Tomorrow we'll really hit the books. Ok, I plan on it at least. :)
Monday we'll really, really get down to business.
I have to figure out how to find and print the children's attendance from Homeschool Tracker so I can register with the umbrella school again.
We've been living in Florida for a year now. I'm going to stay with the same umbrella school for this year and figure out what to do next year. I may let Zarek register with the county so he can be on the school tennis team next year. That will be a new experience. At least here in Florida homeschooled children are able to participate in school sports, unlike Connecticut.
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Tuesday
The children are eating lunch, so I thought I'd write for a minute. Today I've cleaned my bathroom and am catching up on laundry.
The children are almost done with school for the day. We have two tennis lessons this afternoon, and I need to run to the post office again too.
Zarek is learning about Southeast Asia countries this week and reading The Land I Lost about a boy's adventures growing up in Vietnam.
With the other children we're still in America, taking time to get an overview of American history before we move on to Canada and Mexico.
Tomorrow we'll probably take a trip to the library.
And that's about all that's going on here!
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Ahh, Monday
Well it's Monday again. That weekend flew by. I'm trying to move the children right along, everyone has now had breakfast which was yogurt with various toppings (wheat germs, granola, mini choc-chips) and Alexis made a banana, strawberry smoothie which she was kind enough to share with Zarek.
Now everyone is either making beds, brushing teeth, getting dressed and then the learning (or crying) will begin!
Dh is working and he's doing my library run for me today, he's such a sweetie. Alexis has drama tonight and she told me she wants to quit the classes, they aren't what she wants, she wants something more serious. So, I think Feb. will be our last month with these drama classes. My problem is the closest place that has what she wants is a 40 min. drive and I really don't want to drive that.
Well I have a lot to do so I better get going...
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Friday
Well we have survived two weeks back to school so far. We have discovered the joy of the Jacksonville Library system, (at a price of $40) which is such a welcome enjoyment after dealing with the small, pitiful libraries in our county. The children are actually asking me to take them to the library. That hasn't happened in quite a while.
Alexis has discovered the Spiderwick Chronicles series (Zarek is reading them also) and she can't put them down. She's read all of them this week and can't wait to see the movie. It's nice to hear them discussing books together!
Brett is finally tying his own shoes. Yes I know he's 7. And a half. But he's the baby and we have always tied his shoes for him. I decided that he needed to do it on his own and he's finally figured it out. Never mind they are untied again 20 minutes later. At least he did it himself. Yes, I've taught him how to double knot, but it doesn't seem to matter, it still comes undone.
We're wrapping up our week long study of Greece and are now heading to the Americas. I'm going to read through A Beka 2nd grade history for Cait and Brett while we study this. It will all be old news to Alexis.
Zarek is finishing up Mongolia and moving on to Russia. I will read The Wolves of Willoughby Chase aloud to him and Alexis, as she studied Russia a few weeks ago. I hear it's a great book.
We're also reading Cheaper by the Dozen, which we love, but haven't picked up in quite a few days. We've been on the go a lot and this weekend is supposed to be cold and rainy, so I'll be sure to take advantage of that by reading aloud to them while they play legos or draw.
I'm doing a Jane Austen reading challenge and if you're interested check out my reading blog, Fond of Books.
Well that's all for now, the children just went to bed after we watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade...again.
Now it's time for me to read some Sense and Sensibility.
If you have never read the book then don't go to my friend Amy's blog. She will ruin the ending for you. I only warn you, as I wished someone had warned me.
ROFLOL. Yes Amy, I'll never let you forget. Neither will Sarah I daresay!!
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Back to school
Oh wow, I can't believe we have to start school again tomorrow! We've had almost a month off and I'm feeling quite out of it...not sure if I'm ready to start back up again, but I can't put it off any longer!
Today I've spent time putting all the weeks assignments into HomeschoolTracker, I'm not quite done yet either.
With Alexis Caitlyn and Brett we'll be starting our study on Italy. Zarek is still in his China study and has a new project he's working on, but he hasn't told me what it is yet...I need to get it out of him tomorrow and make sure he's working on it like he should be.
Today we ran to Target for some household things and we had lunch when we got home. I've decided to buy healthier food items this year, so instead of regular chips we have Baked Lays. We had a bag of the regular kind, so Zarek made a chart of the differences in the two and we did a tasting of each and everyone except Alexis likes the baked ones better.
Zarek also handed in an essay he had to redo several times. It was about our move to Florida. The boy needs to work on his handwriting! It used to be better, I think he's trying to write too quickly now. Alexis' handwriting is also terrible, I think I'm going to pick up some Italic handwriting books next time I go the homeschool store, which needs to be soon because Brett needs his next phonics book.
One new thing we'll be doing (I hope I stick with it!) is Brett and Cait have to read to me daily.
I've put it on the schedule so I won't forget.
That's about it, I hope everyone who is starting up again tomorrow has a wonderful school day!
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What's been going on here...
Well we're having some chilly weather, we've been taking Alexis to her play rehearsals, she had her birthday party on Saturday. Jody took the boys to play putt-putt golf and then to the tennis courts to practice while we had the party. She had 6 girls come over for an 80's party and they had lots of fun. She had her best friend spend the night. Then on Sunday we had a very warm day...almost 80 degrees so we went to the beach. Not to swim, although there were a few people in the water. My kids love building fairy houses...they have these little fairies they make and they build houses for them everywhere and the beach is one of their favorite places to do it. So I brought my chair and a few good books and sat while they happily played by a tide pool for a few hours. They made boats out of sticks and driftwood, some fairies drowned, I'm sad to say. They also found some hermit crabs.
The last few days have been filled with school and playing outside. Today we have tennis lessons which take up our entire afternoon until dinner.
Friday Caitlyn and I are having our day together (each of the children are getting an afternoon with me to go out to lunch and shop/run errands...it's Cait's turn) Friday night we're all going to a birthday party/cook out.
School is going well. Our last day of school will be December 12th and then we're on Christmas break until Jan. 2nd.
Alexis' b-day is the 13th and her play is the 14th so I decided to just stop school on the 12th. We are all looking forward to a nice, long break!
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Where I spend all my time now...
Here's Zarek at one of his tennis lessons. We're up there at least 4-5 times a week. Right now Jody has taken all the kids and one of Zarek's friends up to the tennis courts at his brother's house for practice. He's been taking them all to practice at least once a week which is really nice for me. I get the house to myself for about two hours.
The weather has been so nice and cool except Tuesday it was 87 so we took off for the beach for a few hours. We had a great time, the kids played in the sand mostly as the water was pretty cold. It may have been our last beach visit for this year. This weekend I need to go through the boxes in the gargage looking for jackets and long pants and shirts. It was 70 yesterday and it was cold! I think my blood has already thinned because in CT 70 would be a beautiful warm day.
School is going well, Zarek is keeping up with his Sonlight core very well and I think he's learning quite a bit and enjoying it for the most part. He has said all the books so far have only been "OK" but I'm hoping he reads at least a few that he really enjoys.
Children Around the World is going ok, I won't go off on my complaints about the program, of which I have many. We are still having a good time in spite of it. We're finishing up our Switzerland/Netherlands week and tomorrow we'll be have a cheese sampling and some Swiss chocolate after lunch and then enjoying raclette for dinner, which is a potato dish with melted cheese on top. I'll post pictures if I remember to take them :)
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Game Day!
Oh I should have brought the camera, but as usual I forgot. I had been good about keeping it in my purse, but of course not today.
The kids had a great time, our homeschool group leader has such a great house for get togethers. The kids love playing ping-pong and carpet ball, swimming, jumping on the trampoline and looking at the alligator that lives in their pond...one of many I'm sure!
They're starting to make some friends and finally Alexis talked to some girls about her age today. She's been the most mopey at homeschool gatherings, claiming no one is her age and no one will talk to her. Of course around the time she was coming out of her shell, it was time to go.
Thursday we have a field trip to a bread factory and Monday we'll be going to a corn maze.
The kids are looking forward to them...but I bet they'll miss doing their school...NOT!
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