We've had a bumpy past few months & decided that we really "needed" a serious break.  So we took off about 2 months.  We've enjoyed watching movies, reading, swimming, playing & got some good rest & relaxation in too!  We've also done alot of preserving with our garden.  We have decided to NOT do a fall garden this year.  I may end up regretting that, but we had a really great abundance of things this summer & we don't need anymore right now, or the hassle.

Now, to our curriculum choices this year.

14 year old, Hunter:

LLATL, Practical Arithmetic, Apologia Biology, Pathway reader, Assorted history/geography books

9 year old, Princess:

Succeeding at Reading, Explode the Code, Rod & Staff math, CLP nature readers, Pathway readers

 (One really special book I am hoping will be a keepsake is Home Economics for Homeschoolers.  Now, we do home ec all the time, but this books looks like it will be alot of fun.  We are going to take pictures & create a scrapbook along with this so she can hopefully do this with her daughters one day!  It is on back order at RR so hopefully we'll get it soon)

Together we'll be doing:

Write Upon My Heart --This is a character study I found through Keepers of the Faith.  I have "Cheerfulness" & "Obedience"  --We will start our day with this along with Bible reading.

We will also be doing a few unit studies mixed in there.  The first is about the United States.  Our second will be Greek Gods, Heros & Men.  I printed that book from www.oldfashionededucation.com .  --Before anyone writes me on the greek gods book, rest assured I've done alot of studying about this & have my reasons for wanting to study this a bit. --I will explain it more when we get around to it.

Our state unit study- For this I am making it up.  I have worked on it over the summer.  We will be doing a notebook/binder as we learn about this.  I've also checked out different books to read over the course of a week.  Some of the states we've already studied in the past so we are just going expand on that.  That is why some states may seem "skipped." 

At the beginning of our notebooks we will have information about the flag, seal, etc.  To begin each state they will color a page I printed from here:  http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/learn/states/

I will try to upload pictures as we go in case anyone may want to use some of our ideas. 

Alabama will be short & sweet.  My mom lives there & we know quite a bit about that state & have been there so there is not much need to get too in depth here this time.

Here are the books we plan on reading this week about Alaska:

Arctic Tundra:  Land With No Trees

River of Life

Dwellers of the Tundra: Eskimo Village

Denison's Ice Road (this one I will be reading aloud to the children)

Kavik the Wold Dog

There is also a show on t.v. called "Tougher in Alaska"  I have taped a couple of episodes so this will go along well.

One main thing we will be working on is keeping our home maintained in an organized & timely mannor.  Over the summer we have cleaned out & cleared out many unneeded things.  It has made our home so much calmer & peaceful. 

We are also working on healthier eating.  More whole foods.  ex. brown rice, homemade breads, whole grains, cutting back on sugar, more balanced meals, etc. 

There you have it.  A run down of our plans.  Hope you all will enjoy reading my blog.  If you have time, please leave me a comment & I'll visit yours.

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday with your family.