Jan. 9, 2009 - Wow!

Has it really been that long since I've posted?  I mean, I knew it'd been a while but I didn't know it had been that long!  Anyway here is our life lately.

 

I'm loving Bob Jones Science, although we did end up skipping the section about moon and stars because neither of us is really into it and it was a struggle to just pull the book out.  Gotta love homeschooling, we just breezed right on to the next thing! :)  We aren't as far in the book as we should be because we spend a lot of time skipping the curriculum in favor of other things but it's never far from my mind and lots of things that we do are worthwhile and educational.  As a former preschool teacher I'm really big on teachable moments and if one comes along it just might sweep us up for the rest of the day! :)  Or couple of days even. 

 

We are doing 1st Grade Saxon math and it's soooo boring to me and a little to her too.  So I stopped for a bit in favor of games and just taking a break from math and yesterday was trying to do an adding game with her that didn't have things for her to add up (basically, asking for her to answer mathproblems orally) and she couldn't do it.  So I guess even though we are a little bored with it, it's the basics that she's missing so we'll probably just cut out the boring parts and do 2 lessons a day to get the basics down. 

 

Spelling is going awesome.  Jillian is getting very good at reading and spelling, though I can't convince her to spend more time with chapter books.  She's still wanting to read books that are easy for her which is ok with me so she can build up her confidence.  I do wish she'd challenge herself a bit more.  I guess that will come with time.  We;ve been using the Dolch words as a basis for her spelling and I'm so pleased to note that she knows 173/220 sight words of the Dolch words charts which according to that system is through 3rd grade!

 

I haven't really done much in terms of social studies other than learning the meanings behind all the holidays we've just come off of.  But this week and next I am doing a family tree unit with her which will involve creating the actual "tree" with leaves, interviewing family members for their information (birth dates and maybe some other tidbits and favorites), writing out the info and laying out the leaves connected like a family tree.  I printed out a sheet from www.enchantedlearning.com that has names of family members and their definitions.  Anyway, I better wrap this up sine I've been working on it off and on all day.  Hope to post more often!!!

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Sep. 15, 2008 - Finally in the swing of things...

Finally, we are started!!!  We "officially" started back in August simply because we had the materials and Jillian was raring to go.  But then after one day of lessons our month blew up.  She had Daisy camp for 3 days, then my live in aunt was admitted to the hospital so we spent a chunk of time every day up there.  She's fine, thankfully.  Then a tiny respite in drama and my nephew was born (that's good drama! ).  In between and after all these events I had every excuse in the book, mostly that the classroom was a mess and I can't clean it.  Well, frankly there isn't enough space in there anyway so we made some plans to stick to a more regular schedule and I hope it'll stick!  Here goes: I gave up on the classroom.  We keep all the supplies in there and things we don't use on a regular basis.  Her desk is available for working alone, homework, small games like learning palettes or anything extra.  But primarily we work on the kitchen table.  This is good for many reasons but mostly it feels like we are working together, sitting near each other instead of me in front of her at her desk like a traditional classroom.  Also I can give Allyson and the girl I babysit something to do at the table to keep them occupied for at least part of the lesson work.  My other big step that has made a difference is planning the curriculum on Sunday evenings for about an hour.  I know me, and I won't get to it every day.  Sitting down and figuring out what I need for the week is much better for me.  I swiped 5 hanging file folders from our file box and sorted out the pages for each day for math, science, phonics and writing.  Tomorrow will have spelling as well.  Last week was a fun week and I'll post more another day.  It's almost 1 here and I still have some stuff to do before bed.  OH and I got Jillian an American Girl book from the library.  We are starting with Kaya.  I hope she enjoys it!!!

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Aug. 3, 2008 - Personlity test

Swiped from Missy :)  Fairly accurate, although I don't know that people would call me gushy...unfocused, yes! lol.

 

You Are An ENFP

The Inspirer You love being around people, and you are deeply committed to your friends. You are also unconventional, irreverent, and unimpressed by authority and rules. Incredibly perceptive, you can usually sense if someone has hidden motives. You use lots of colorful language and expressions. You're quite the storyteller! In love, you are quite the charmer. And you are definitely willing to risk your heart. You often don't follow through with your flirting or professed feelings. And you do break a lot of hearts. At work, you are driven but not a workaholic. You just always seem to enjoy what you do. You would make an excellent entrepreneur, politician, or journalist. How you see yourself: compassionate, unselfish, and understanding When other people don't get you, they see you as: gushy, emotional, and unfocused

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