Oct. 30, 2006 - An Achy Heartbreaky Day
Nothing much got done today- Charlie has a
double ear infection so first thing this morning we went to Vitamin
Cottage to get some earache relief homeopathic oral drops and some ear
support garlic/willow bark oil to put directly into his ears. We
NEVER do antibiotics for any reason. Not only do they destroy
friendly bacteria in the body, but bad bacteria is constantly mutating
to "outwit" the drugs and most strains of infection causing bacteria
muatate to elude the drugs long before you have taken the "full course
as prescribed by your doctor". Of course, any doctor will tell
you this is not true. Wonder why?
So we got back home, got Charlie fixed up with his stuff, a sippy, and
The Incredibles, his absolute favorite movie. We started to do
math lessons but Charlie just wasn't up to moviegoing and wanted me to
hold him constantly, so we put work on hold for today. Tomorrow
he should be feeling much better, and I'm going to candle his ears to
further draw out infection.
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In case you have never heard of ear-candling, here's a short
description: Buildup in the ear canal can often trap bacteria and
may lead to ear infections, so it's a good idea to candle all your
children's ears at least once a month, maybe twice a month during
cold/flu season.
Ear candles are slim strips of waxed muslin or canvas tightly rolled
into an elongated cone shape. The narrow end is gently inserted
into the tip of the ear canal (not crammed). Don't worry- your
child's ear canal is way too small to have the tip of the candle go in
too far anyway.
You should cut a small hole in a paper plate to fit between your
child's head and the candle to act as a shield- it is more relaxing for
the child if he/she can't see the flame.
You light the large end of the cone, holding tight to the candle the
whole time (NEVER light it and walk away) and have a bowl of water and
scissors handy. When it burns down about 2 inches, remoce the
candle, snip off the burnt end into the bowl of water, and replace the
candle, burning down another 2 inches at time till there's only about 3
inches of the candle left. Repeat on other ear. If your
child is squirmy/scared, you may want to do this while they're sleeping
if they sleep heavy, or have another grown up hold them and reassure
them. This is not the slightest bit painful or even
uncomfortable, but some kids get nervous about the fire part.
NOW...take the unburned portion you had left, and cut it open longways
down one side, and look inside (cue horror movie scream). You
will see a disgusting layer of putrefied brown wax that was previously
in YOUR CHILD"S HEAD!!!
This is not a guarantee against ear infections, but I recently read a
study that sais that children 2 years and up who have regular ear
candling done are 75% less likely to have an infection. I had
neglected to candle Charlie's ears before now because he was not yet 2,
but this seems like a good time to start!
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Oct. 4, 2006 - Recent happenings
Ahhh...my carpal tunnel flareup has abated and so I can type comfortably now.
I must brag on some great finds. I found a brand new, still in
the shrinkwrap 6th grade Lifepac curriculum on ebay for $20, including
teacher's manual. This would go for a minumum of $37 new on the
discount websites, and $45 new from AOP Press, befrore shipping!
Woohoo!
Today, I went to a local used kids/baby clothing and gear store to look
for maternity clothes. They didn't have a blessed thing over
Medium size (did you know that 75% of all pregnant women at any given
time are a size 14 or larger? You'd think they would make more XL
clothing) but I did find a brand new science experiment kit with book,
magnets, lightbulbs, and wiring. Amazing what you can find.
I really have to say again how valuable paperbackswap.com can be. Something that really made me happy was that you can earn credits on swapacd.com
and transfer them right over to paperbackswap.com. There were
CD's I wanted, but books I wanted more, so I transfered a bunch of
credits over and got some great books we can use for lessons such as a
children's cookbook from victorian times, a bible curriculum based on
the 4 gospels, a devotional book for families, a vocabulary activity
book for 6th graders, and a book detailing lesson plans with a
Christian theme for 3rd graders. You can browse the books and put
them in your reminder folder if you lack a credit to get them, then go
back later when you do have credits. It has become my new hobby
to trade books and cd's. It is not totally free- there's a $.40
per cd trading fee (you have to "load in" money with a debit or credit
card), plus the postage to send it. There is no processing fee
for the book site. You do have to pay media mail rate (usually
about $1.59). But STILL...$1.59 for a new book or a buck for a
CD? Worth it to me!
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The boys have been adapting well to the routine of our "school" days,
and soon I'll add in additional things and stagger the schedule a
bit. We'll be adding in Science, English & composition,
music, and phys. ed. I still am hunting for a bargain on
Zachary's science text, although we play around with some experiments
and watch discovery channel quite a bit. Both the boys' E&C
curriculum is on backorder. Dominic is beginning acoustic guitar
lessons, and Zach will be starting karate. Dominic is undecided
between archery or gymnastics.
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That's about all....nothing exciting going on here.
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Sep. 18, 2006 - Drumroll, please!
I have to keep this kind of brief because
my carpal tunnel is really acting up tonight...ouch! There are a
few things as certain as death and taxes that I can count on when
expecting a baby....
1. A terrifying and grueling 2 weeks of excruciating headaches in my 2nd trimester (all done with those, thank God!)
2. My face exploding in more zits than a high school chess team.
3. My nose ballooning up like the goodyear blimp.
and...
4. My carpal tunnel flaring up.
Ahhh...the things we endure for these sweet little people!
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We officially began our first day of lessons today! The kids were
debriefed last night about the change in schedule so they'd know what
to expect this morning. I did not get up as early as planned to
exercize because I was up til 2 am last night helping my husband get
packed and ready for his new job (he must live on the jobsite for 2
weeks at a time) and up this morning at 4:30 to say goodbye. I
went back to sleep, and while the kids and I didn't get up til 9, we
did in fact begin our lessons schedule on time at 10am.
Yay! Here's a look at our day...(or what it WILL look like from
tomorrow on)...
6:00am- Mom up for 1 hour of personal time. Reading, devotionals, bible, fresh air outside, whatever.
7:00am- Mom does prenatal exercize dvd for 30 minutes
7:30am- Mom showers and dresses. I don't bother with hair and
makeup unless we have to go somewhere. The boys love me even when
I look like night of the living dead.
8:00am- Boys up! Make beds, get dressed, feed dog.
8:30am- Breakfast and begin morning chores (dishes, vacuum, fold any
clothes, take out trash). This goes on until 10. Meanwhile,
I am doing my own housecleaning and getting things set up to teach and
setting baby Charlie up with stuff to keep him busy during our first
Lesson Block.
10am-12pm- Lessons, in this order:
Family devotions (we are using the book of Proverbs at present)
Bible lessons( using Christian Liberty Press' Studying God's Word series)
Math (using Horizons math)
History (Dominic using CLP's Story of the Middle Ages, Zachary using CLP's Our Nation Under God)
12pm-12:30pm- Lunch and begin afternoon chores (spot tidying, dishes)
then free time til 1:30 when we begin our 2nd Lesson Block which goes
from 1:30 to 3:30. Charlie goes down to nap from about 1 to 3 so
this gives us lots of quiet uninterrputed time to work. He is
SUCH a good napper!
1:30-3:30- Second Lesson Block, in this order:
Geography (both boys using the Spectrum series)
Language arts (Dominic uses Bob Jones Vocabulary at a 7th grade level,
Konos' Learn to Write The Novel Way, and the McGuffey progressive
speller. Zach uses Horizon's Spelling & Vocabulary and later
AOP Lifepac Lang. Arts.)
Health (both use Steck-Vaughn health text)
Penmanship (Zach uses horizons, Dommie just practices cursive from a practice book.
Science will get added in when we're done with the Health course, but
right now we're reading a fascinating book called Life Before Birth
available from homeschoolingbooks.com which gives kids a Christian perspective on how life begins and why it's God's plan and design. Wonderful book, only $11.
Okay then, there you have it! Of course, I mean this schedule to
be simply a tool. We will not become slaves to it and I refuse to
stress out if math doesn't get done on time or we have to take an extra
day to complete a history worksheet. Notgundoit!
I hope everyone else's school years are going swimmingly so far! Blessings!
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Sep. 7, 2006 - Happy Thursday!
Well, after several attempts at getting a new password, I am finally able to post!
Let's see, what's going on...
We are awaiting a final box of curriculum materials from
pennywise.com. I split my order between them and
homeschoolingbooks.com to get the best deals. All in all I think
I made out pretty good for my budget!
We are
still in the midst of math review which is going far better than I
expected. Dominic is thoroughly enjoying going back over
fractions. Last year we found a wonderful math website that has
awesome math tutorials, very colorful and engaging, Coolmath.. It has been the bes fractions resource ever.
Zach has been much more compliant with his math
review than I could have hoped. Actually, I attribute this change
in math acceptance to Math Wrap-Ups. You can find them at Learningwrapups.com,
and not just for math, but every subject. I got the complete math
set, plust the 50 states/capitals tool. The kids like them so
much I was able to skip much of the review I had planned, and Zach got
himself an intro to fractions courtesy of his older brother who was so
enthusiastic about the wrap-ups, too! It is just so awsome to see
Zach excited about math, which historically is his weakest subject and
ellicits the most complaining from him.
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All is encouraging on the organization front!
I finally have my long-awaited shelves in the
computer/schoolroom! That room has been full of stacks of books
and papers and all manner of junk for so long. My house is very
storage deficient, but this room had been the bane of my
exisience. I have dreamed of rows of neat shelving, filing
cabinets, color-coding, and stacks of supplies neatly tucked away in
appointe drawers. To see my house most days, you'd think I was a
sloppy housekeeper! Not So! I just have nowhere to PUT
anything!
But my 4 nice shelves is definitely a good start, and hubby will put up
4 more when he is home this week. Then, he's driving up to
Rangely to help his dad fix a fence and pick up some curtains.
His folks bought a place north of our town recently and are
redecorating. We got their lovely flowered sofa and loveseat and
beautiful coffetable, and now we get their nice green curtains.
They're a soft green color with tab tops and there's enough for the
computer room and the boys' bedroom...yay!
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Dominic just got his own e-mail address, and he feels sooooooo grown up!
I have been using paperbackswap.com
for several months now, and have used some of my credits to get board
books for Charlie, who just adores books and can name titles by sight
now. Dominic asked if there were kids books and I said yes, and
he asked if he could open his own account. We tried doing it
using my email addy but like most things, you cannot have 2 accounts on
one addy, so I decided it was time for the little man to have his own e
mail address. Technically, you have to be 18 or older to do the
bookswap, but he is only allowed to swap and receive books I approve,
and only under my supervision, so I really saw no harm in signing him
up. I agreed to pay half of his shipping costs. In case you
haven't heard of paperback swap, do check it out. There are books
of all kinds to be had, even homeschooling resources, workbooks,
cookbooks, you name it! There is also a cd swap now, too, and I
am just waiting for them to come out with a movieswap. I can
revamp my entire entertainment collection!
Zach, well, he has come a long way since last
year. He hated math, and while his reading skills were up to par,
he just did not enjoy it. That is, until he discovered series
chapter books! He is now blazing his way through the A to Z Mysteries
books. I ordered one for him through a book order form his
brother brought home a couple of years ago from school. He got to
pick a book, and picked The Panda Puzzle, I
think because it came with a toy, really. He didn't even read it
til this summer, and when he discovered there was a book for every
letter in the alphabet, he was stoked. His step-mom bought him a
few more, and it occured to me to look on ebay for more, which I found
in abundance. I could have got him the whole set new and wrapped,
but he already had half a dozen, so I got a package of 11 books he
didn't have yet, plus 2 more individually. Then, on a shopping
spree with his grandma Peggy and Grandpa Wayne last weekend, he got 2
more he needed, and now he's only lacking, let's see, 5 more, I
think. When he's done with those, he wants to start on the Magic
Treehouse series.
There will be other reading required of him this
year, of course. We are reading a select list of classics
together (we're working on Farmer Boy
by Laura Ingalls Wilder at the present) and there will be selections to
read for the purposes of working on reading comprehension, but other
than that he can devour all the books he wants! I have no doubts
that he is absorbing what he is reading. I was skeptical at first
about the technique called narration desribed by Charlotte Mason, but
it really is an effective tool to gauge whether or not your child is
learning what he is reading! Zach can tell a whole book back to
me. You won't find that going on in public school!
Stop the presses!!! While I was loooking at
the Ron Roy website just now (to link youto A to Z Mysteries) I
doscovered he has a new series out called Capital Mysteries, which
looks very exciting. The whole series is set in Washington DC and
promises to double as a great and fun historical education supplement!
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Aug. 22, 2006 - Here we go!
Well, we are not early starters this
year. I had my order all ready to go for part of the lids'
curriculum materials but had to wait another week to order. Other
bills had to be paid!
But, I made the order yesterday from homeschoolingbooks.com, and the remainder will be ordered from pennywiselearning.com in another week or so.
I'm planning on getting started with our schooling schedule the week
after the materials arrive, but in order to start clocking hours now,
we're doing a review time beginning Monday. I had good
intentions, I really did, to keep the kids fresh minded over the
summer, but I failed that one. The older one has forgotten
multiplying and dividing fractions, and the younger one needs a redo on
introduction to multiplication, for starters. Math will be the
main thing, as these are the skills most apt to be forgotten if not
used. How many times over the summer did you find a practical
domestic use for converting improper fractions?
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Then, oh joy! We ran into several people yesterday at the store and out and about, and it went like this each time...
"Well! How did you boys enjoy your first day back at school?"
"Oh, we homeschool. We didn't start school today."
"Ummm, oh, I see." Insert worried or disapproving look from nosy stranger here.
There was one lady in the parking lot of Walmart. I told her I
would take her cart because we were going in. She said, "Well,
did you two boys start school today? How was it?"
I said, "We homeschool."
She said, "Wow, smart lady!"
That made me feel good.
There have been some friends who are on either side. They either
praise me for keeping with it, or they act amused that I am "Still
going on with this homeschooling notion I cooked up." Oh well,
you can't please everyone, and I don't intend to try!
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My 11 year old and I had a discussion this morning. He would have
been starting middle school this year along with his best pal who lives
a block away. Well, the bast pal comes home from school yesterday
with tales of the cool cafeteria where you have CHOICES! and of the
tech ed shop and all sorts of stuff.
Dominic got to feeling pretty quickly that he was going to be missing
out on SOMETHING BIG in middle school. He pouted and
stomped and went on about how boring it is at home and how he doesn't
want to homeschool. I calmy reminded him that it really isn't his
choice. If he wants to return to public school for his high
school years, we'll see. But mom still knows what's best at age
11.
I went over again my reasons for choosing to do this...the leading from
God, the realization of the blatant anti-Christianity and
secularism/humanism leanings of public schools, the desire to keep the
family close.
I didn't say it to him, but the thought of him attending middle school
in particular really scared me. The one he would have to go to is
notorious for bullying problems and there is a police officer in
attendance each and every day. That's scary!
Dominic is very small for his age, and I feared he would be eaten alive
at the school. He is so kindhearted and gentle, and I feared his
delicate spirit would be trampled on. Am I guilty of shielding
him from bad? You bet, and I'll defend it to the ground.
There is no sense in throwing our kids to the wolves for the sake of
making them tougher. I don't want my sweet boy to be toughened
and cynical. I want him to remain a godly young man and true to
his age and his heart.
I also reminded him that dad has a much better job this year and that I
had in store much more exciting materials and activities. We can
afford guitar lessons karate, field trips. Videos and more
books. I assured him it would be different but I anticipate
fighting the public school envy monster continuously this year.
Well, on go the gloves. Bring it!
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Aug. 15, 2006 - Just a Quickie
Homescooling Books. com
is a great place to find big name curriculum as well as a huge
selection of living books and materials, manipulatives, bibles, and
more.
If you place an order of $200 or more, shippping is free. Thought i'd pass on that little nugget.
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Jul. 31, 2006 - Back to business!
Well, it has been a long time!
First thing's first! I recently received Dominic's test scores
from the Standford Acheivment Test he took in April, and my brilliant
boy scored in the upper 70th percentile of 5th graders in the
country! Most subjects, his performance was rated at that of a
7th to 9th grader, except in reading comprehension, in which he scored
at a 3rd grade level. Dominic! I had a feeling that would
happen. He is a very fluent and advanced reader, and on all
comprehension exercizes he did really well, but I just knew he would
gloss over the selections on the test because he was worried about time
allowed to finish. But...no matter. I know and he knows
what an excellent reader he is, and that's good enough for me.
I decided to take the traditional 3 months off for summer
vacation. This coming school year, I am going to try a different
schedule approach, mainly due to the coming addition to our
family! Miller baby #4 is due mid February, so some creative
scheduling is in order.
We'll begin earlier, probably in late
August instead of late September this year (IF I can get together all
the materials I need to order in time), take less time off in December,
and extend the learning year into July. This way, I can take a
substantial amount of time off after the baby comes. I am certain
that one or two specific people will, before too long, start quizzing
me about "just how do you think you're going to homeschool your two
older boys with a toddler and a newborn to take care of?"
Not
that I don't have moments of transient panic about being a mom to 4
kids. I have them for sure. Not just about homeschooling,
but just in general. HOW will I possibly do grocery shopping with
4 kids? HOW will I ever get a shower in the morning with 4
kids? HOW........but then I have to stop myself and think about
some families I know with more than 4 kids. It happens. They make
it work somehow, and I can, too. I think of the ways I adapted
when my second baby came along, then my third, and that's just
IT!!! You have to adapt, reform schedules and routines and your
ways of doing things.
So as far as homeschooling goes, I'm
quite sure I'll run into some roadblocks and rough days, but I hear
tell even the experts and veterans do, too. I am so very inspired
by families I see who homeschool many children successfully (Stephanie,
you know who you are). I plan to take advantage of the long
periods of sleep that a newborn goes through, and later on, the
predictable and mostly reliable two nap a day scenario to get the bulk
of our lessons done in. My husband also has blocks of time off
which will be quite helpful.
So....I have more or less decided
what programs to use for curriculum this year. I just could not
find what I wanted in an all inclusive prepackaged curriculum, so it's
a hodgepodge of things...actually, I am still fence sitting on the
language arts program, but I've got the rest pretty much worked out.
For math, both boys will do the Alpha Omega Lifepacs (Zachary is
not strong in math so he'll begin with the second grade pack instead of
the third grade and we'll see how it goes)
Science will be Bob Jones 3 and 6
Bible study will be Christian Liberty Press Bible Series 3 and
For History/Government, Zach will do CLP's One Nation Under God, and
Dominic will do the Bob Jones History Program Heritage Studies.
For geography we will use the Modern Curriculum Press' Maps, Charts,
and Graphs books for grades 2 and 6.
All subjects (except math) will be supplemented by a variety of living books and activities.
We are still deciding what elective type courses to add this
year. The boys are not very enthusiastic about learning a foreign
launguage yet so I'm not going to push it, though I thought it would be
fun to learn German. Maybe later. I'd really like to do
more art this year and get them both interested in a musical instrument
and an intensive involvment project like gardening or building
something large. To round it all out, we'll talk about and choose
a project to do all year. One idea we had so far was the
Operation Christmas Child boxes. We sent out three last
Christmas, but this year (for Christmas of 2007)we would like to
collect shoe boxes and things to go in them all year long, and hope to
be able to send out at least 50 boxes come November 2007). It
would involve the boys putting aside some money as we went along, too,
since each box requires $5 in postage.
So, yes I'm nervous about the coming year. But I am hopeful, too,
that I can put aside the mistakes and failures of our first year
and learn from them. I can't really say the year was a failure in
all, just certain things we tried to do fell flat at times. But
not being a "freshman" homeschooler anymore feels pretty darned good,
and I am confident now that it is a lifestyle we can sustain barring
any life emergencies. Onward!
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May. 25, 2006 - Sum-sum-summertime!
Well, I can breathe now. Public
schools are out for the summer, so I can let go of that semi tense
feeling I get whenever the kids play outside before 4 pm! We've
been officially finished for several weeks now.
Honsestly, I am so bad at recording and tracking things that I have no
idea how our year shaped up in terms of following our state's
guidelines for the amount of days and hours our kids must
homeschool.
I did pretty good for awhile, recording daily and accumulated learning
time in a notebook. I DID count things like sunday school,
bowling league, and field trips as academic hours. All in all, I
bet we broke about even, some weeks going really strong and doing all
kinds of extra things, and some weeks taking days off here and there.
I am pretty confident that I'll be able to better handle recordkeeping
next year. We are enrolling in an umbrella school that will
handle all that for me- all I have to do, I suspect, is call in our
weekly or monthly hours. It will also protect us from compulsory
standardized testing. I still may decide to do it, but for my own
information only.
I am going to spend time over the summer shopping and comparing
curriculum for next year. I've decided to go with A Beka for the
bulk of the material, but there are some other really great resources
for specific subjects from other publishers I want to look at, too.
Soooo....I really won't be blogging much if at all until the
fall. If you want to keep up on what's going on with me and the
family, visit my personal blog at homesteadblogger.com/MamaMiller/.
I hope you all have a great summer!
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Apr. 11, 2006 - Home Stretch Now
With testing behind us, I can see the
finish line! Just two more months to go (roughly) to fulfill our
172 day obligation to the state.
I have made the decision to continue with a very abbreviated lesson
schedule during the summer consisting of 20 to 30 minutes 2 to 3 times
a week. We'll do mainly review of concepts learned over the
school year. And of course, we'll continue to frequent the
library and check out books and educational videos. Good thing my
kiddos like to watch those...I don't have to force them to sit and
watch!
I got a new bumper sticker for my car. I ordered it online and it
took FOREVER to get here. It reads "HOMESCHOOLING: The SAFE
Alternative." I am hoping that somewhere, sometime, it catches
someone's eye and just makes them think. Plants a seed.
That's how I see myself right now, a gardener for God.
I am not yet ready to be an outspoken witness to my faith or my choice
to homeschool, and I think God is letting me know that this is
okay...that He has bigger plans for me later but for now, I am a seed
planter, and I am to live so others can see His love coming through me
and yearn for that for themselves. I feel I have a long way
to go. Sometimes I don't think I am doing a very good job for
God, but I'm always trying.
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Apr. 8, 2006 - A Sigh Of Relief!
Yay, testing time is OVER!!! I can
stop stressing about it and just breathe, figure out what needs to be
taught for the rest of the school year, and get it DONE!
Dominic indicated that the test was pretty easy, so I feel good about
it. However, I won't get to know the results until late May or
early June!
I have been pretty much doing review work with Zach during this testing
time, but I have let them both know that Monday morning we're getting
right back into a normal schedule (insert heavy sighing and eyerolling
here).
I am into the final stretch of making decisions on next year's
curriculum, and when I have it all worked out, I'll post my
lineup. I initially was going to go with A Beka for the whole
shebang, but I have since discovered some components I like better than
what they have to offer for a few different subjects. I am
fortunate to have been able to look closely at the Abeka curriculum
belonging to a friend who uses it. I wish I could just wave a
magic wand and know exactly what will work best for my kids.
Trial and error can be spendy and STRESSFUL!
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Mar. 25, 2006 - Testing LOOMS
Okay, one more week to go and it's testing
time! All next week we are doing sample tests, which have all the
little bubbles and such. We school 4 days a week and the testing
will last for 4 days, so it's perfect, althought I have NO idea how
they split the time between subjects. I'll just guess!
I am not looking forward to getting up at 6am for 4 days in a row next
week. I have to have him there by 8:30 which means I have to
leave the house by 8:00 which means I have to get up 2 hours earlier
than that to get everyone up and dressed and fed and out the
door. That's my standard calculation for getting anywhere...time
of desired arrival minus estimated travel time (I allow 30 minutes to
get ANYWHERE in Grand Junction...but my husband thinks he can make it
anywhere in 10)minus 2 hours. The more kids I have, the longer it
takes to get out of the house!
Meanwhile, I am just doing mainly review stuff with Zach. I just
cannot concentrate on keeping him current while trying to prepare
Dominic for his testing. Good thing, too, because Zach had all
but forgotten how to add and subtract with carrying and
borrowing! Yikes!
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Mar. 22, 2006 - It's taking over!
Oh my...I am finding myself trying to tame
the LAUNDRY MONSTER this week! Funny how a pile of laundry can
grow and grow and grow, until it's this entity of its own!
I have decided to just NOT stress sbout the condition of the house and
my utter lack of organization until AFTER we are done schooling for the
year. I have been beating myself up about not getting these
overhaul projects done, and I'm just not gonna doot!
Dominic has standardized testing coming up April 4, 5, 6, and
7th. He has done very well on the practice tests, so I am not
worried. I WAS worried, but then I sought wise counsel in the
form of a wonderful lady named Carolyn on the Women @ Home message
board I belong to. She operates a blog called Guilt Free
Homeschooling, and if I can ever figure out how to LINK, I'll link you
to her!
She let me know that my son would have to be a complete imbecile, and I
would have to have not taught him virtually ANYTHING during this past
school year for him to score below the 13th percentile, which is what
homeschooled kids in Colorado have to score at or above in order to
remain homeschooled. In the past, Dominic typically scored in the
TOP 5% of his class in all academic areas.
Really I guess I was having these awful visions of him accidentally
skipping an answer bubble and getting every subsequent answer
wrong...something like that. But that's me...a born worrier!
I will truly breathe easier next year, because we're enrolling the kids
in West River Academy, a private, state accredited umbrella
school. They'll keep our records, provide counseling for HS
related issues, and the best part....NO TESTING!!! Because they
are an accredited "private school" we will be out from under the
burning glare of the school district!
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Mar. 15, 2006 - Been too long!
My my...I haven't blogged in awhile!
March is upon me! Of course, with our recent snow, it has not
really felt like spring, but weather can change on a dime here, and I
see the sun shining out the window now!
It is almost time for Dominic to take the SAT as required by the
state. I have no worries. He has always been really good at
those things, always scoring in the top 5% or so in school. I
will be glad when it is over. We're enrolling in a private
umbrella school next year and will be able to avoid the testing
trap. Yippee!
So, it's Wednesday. Our day off. We do not do lessons on
weds. It's a nice little hiatus in the middle of the week, and we make
up for schooling time requirements by going longer on the other 4
weekdays. I'm telling you what...I would be so overwhelmed
without my wednesdays off, and the house would just fall apart!
Funny, I am just now settling into what works for me as a routine for
journaling and keeping record of what we do for lessons and where the
kids are. I didn't think it would take me this long. I
tried homeschool tracker, but I am just not into that whole electronic
thing. I like padding out to the kitchen in my slippers and robe
in the morning and looking over my agenda book over coffee. The
computer room is cold! Plus, I never know what rebellion the
computer is going to throw at me. Better to have it all on paper,
for me!
I have come to the conclusion that my extra weight just is not going to
come off by osmosis. I am dressed and ready for my pilates
video. It's enough already! And to think, back when I was
135 lbs, I lamented over how much weight I had gained since becoming a
mommy! Haha! Now I'm 185. What I wouldn't give to
weigh 135 again! I want so much to have another baby, Godwilling,
but I am really kind of afraid to get pregnant this heavy. I fear
gaining another 45 pounds and not losing it after the baby came, so I
have decided I am going to do something about it, instead of just
hating my body but still eating like I do. I did a 3 day
juicefast and I'm colon cleansing right now, which has resulted in me
feeling more energized and less sluggish. I feel more like
excercising now!
Now, if I could just do something about this hair...
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Feb. 23, 2006 - Graphics, blinkies, and HTML, oh my!
I just have to say how maddening it is to
try and customize your blog, message board space, what have you, when
you are totally learning with no help, just trying to figure it
out! That's all,
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Feb. 18, 2006 - Regrouping and gearing up
Spring is around the corner, and it will be
time soon for Dominic to go through state imposed standardized
testing...dastardly standardized testing! I see absolutely no
value in it. I consider myself an expert on my own children, and
I know if they're learning or not.
Not that I am scared of what the tests will show...on the
contrary! Dominic always scored in the top percentiles when he
was in "THE SYSTEM". The state just wants to be sure us renegade
homeschoolers are doing what we're supposed to be; it's their way of
keeping us in our place.
For the upcoming school year, we are enrolling ina local umbrella
school called West River Academy. It is an accredited institution
that will assist us in record keeping and other areas, but best of all,
belonging to the program exempts our family from having to answer to
the state! Which means........yup! No testing!
Bwahahahahahaha!!!!
Looking back on the past 6 months of homeschooling, I am able to see
where I made mistakes and where my triumphs have been. All the
veterans told me if I got past the first year intact, I would feel much
more confident going into the second year.
One thing that has made it tough...no formal curriculum. I know,
strictly speaking, that a written, packaged curriculum isn't essential
to homeschooling. we started out the year with Weaver, but it was
flat and boring and didn't fit us well, so I got a book on how to piece
together your own curriculum, and we've been using a hodgepodge of
different things. Part of why I did not use a curriculum was I
simply coudn't afford it. I got Weaver on eBay for a steal.
But I have felt at times very disorganized. I consult a few
different scope and sequence charts to make sure the kids are on track
(they are) but the trouble with those is that each one says this
skill or that skill is learned at different grades on each one.
So I am starting now with investigating curriculum options for next
year, and plan to put away a little money each week to offset the cost
when it comes time to order.
I feel confident that in a few years I will be adept at writing my own
curriculum, but for now, I feel I must go for a packaged curriculum.
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Feb. 7, 2006 - Strike!
No...I'm not going on strike...it's a bowling themed post!
My sweet Zachary turned 8 on the 3rd, and we had his party at a new
local bowling alley called GJ Scores. It's really cool...very
modern and fancy, neon lights everywhere...you have a lane hostess even
for just regular bowling.
We go every monday now for homeschooler's day. They get two games of bowling, tokens, and lunch.
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Jan. 29, 2006 - Happy Sunday
Well, it turned out not to be a toothache
after all, but sinusitis. My sinus cavities are so swelled and
inflammed that they're pressing on my tooth roots, now causing all my
upper teeth to throb. Ouch. Hopefully it will resolve
itself soon...seeing a Dr. is not an option now that we have no
insurance.
I am feeling better, though, and my cold is dwindling.
Such a dreary day today. I have swonrn to myself that I am going
to get a lot done today...the house has fallen apart around me while I
have been sick the last two weeks. The christmas decorations are
still sitting in their boxes in the livingroom!
You don't want to even know what the bathroom looks like.
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Jan. 26, 2006 - Pressing on!
Still not feeling 100% today...my cold is
lingering, and to top it off I have a bad toothache...that's ALL we
need right now, seeing as we no longer have dental insurance!
Chas has been off the last week due to work slowdown, but he's back at
it today. I have been grateful for his help this last week.
He took over the laundry and split the workload with me schooling the
kids. Good thing, too, cause Dominic is on to decimals and
percentages, and it was stumping me! Just couldn't wrap my mind
around it.
So, Big Daddy is back at work today, and I'm trying to muster. My head hurts and I just want to go to bed!
We just began a new bible study called "The ABC'S of Handling Money
God's Way" put out by Crown Financial. It is meant to teach money
handling along with godly priciples. The kids will learn how to
save, spend, give, and budget the way God wants us to. You can
bet they won't teach THAT in public school!
We are also entering a unit on the 50 states and the presidents.
Thursday and Friday are our new hist/geog. days, and we will start
today with Alabama and Alaska. Tomorrow we'll begin with George
Washington and John Adams. It will take up the rest of the school
year and into the summer, but when we're done, the boys will each have
a States and Presidents notebook they can refer to for years to come.
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Jan. 17, 2006 - Ohhhhh, not feelin good today!
I've had a chest cold since
yesterday. I felt the tickle Sunday night and knew what was
coming. Woke up Monday and ehhh...it wasn't so bad, but today
it's a full fledged respiratory event, complete with hacking cough and
lots of exciting phlegm! Ooooh...bet you wanted to know that,
hmmm?
Chas has been off work for a few days, so he's helping me with teaching
the boys, and that takes a load off. We had to work together
tonight on a tutorial because I was stumped not on how to convert
decimals to fractions, but vice versa, especially on non terminating
fractions, where the answer goes like 0.855555555555........
I just hope I can get to participate in a co-op where someone can
assist me in teaching math. Math scares me, because it's all
about absolutes. In high school, I managed to pass certain
subjects like biology or history because I was able to write my papers
in such a way that it sounded like I knew what I was talking
about. Basically, I was a really good bull**** artist!
Not something I want my kids doing, however, so I actually need to know
what I'm teaching, or know who to ask to teach it for me. Whew!
But...it's good for me. Relearning all this stuff just might help
sharpen the old noodle, eh? You know what they say...your brain
is a muscle, you have to exercize it!
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Jan. 12, 2006 - Sticking to my New Year's resolutions!
Wow, January 12th already, Time flies.
Proud to say I have stuck to all my resolutions so far! Of
course, I'll get back to you with that, say, in March. We'll see!
I have been staedily improving my diet, drinking more water, and
exercizing faithfully. Today it was lower body/cardio. I
walked over to the park and did walking laps around the field, stopping
at each corner to do either walking lunges or squats. Some
teenagers looked at me funny. Yeah, wait til they get to be 30
with 3 kids and a ruined body, then we'll see who's laughing! Hah!
I have also been faithfully writing and I have had the most insatiable thirst for reading my bible.
I think there's something about turning 30 that puts life in a whole
new light. Not that I think I'm, old or anything, but I thought
to myself "self, presumably, 1/3 of my life has gone by." I
thought, what have I done, and what do I intend to do with the
remaining 2/3 of my life? It kind of gives you a sense of
urgency, you know?
Dominic is working on a research paper on the middle ages, specifically
siege warfare. It's his first experience with a large scale
report of this kind, with gathering info from various sources, drafts
and more drafts, revision, bibliographies, etc. I always hate
doing it in school, but I feel it's important.
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About Me
Hi there! I am Shannon, wife and helpmeet to Charles, and proud Mama to Dominic, 10..Zachary, 7..and little Charlie, who is a precious 1 year old! Share in our days and homeschooling adventures as we live, laugh, and grow together, embraced in the tender arms of our Lord Jesus. You may find other stuff here, too!
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