|
Can someone please explain Rosetta Stone to me? I've heard wonderful things about it. My son wants to learn Hebrew and they have a program for it. We went to the curriculum fair today and picked up a sample disc. I wanted to talk to the rep but it was so crowded and so hot, that I just took the sample and left.
We got home and installed it. It jumped right into pictures. Hear the word, match the picture. S described it as a "big long memory game" There are no instructions. Are there books with this? Are there any directions at all?
He said he likes it, but it got a bit tedious for him. I don't think he even finished a full lesson...but how does one know without any direction at all?
I'm quite confused. |
|
Oh wow, this week has been awesome with S's schooling. He simply loves Writing Strands. And he can't keep his nose out of The Hobbit. We've had a lot of fun doing the games in Family Math and it is helping him get some concepts concreted in his head.
As I said, he loves Writing Strands. This child keeps looking ahead and saying "OH! I can't wait until Lesson *insert lesson here*! We get to *insert task here*!" It is so awesome to see him this excited. I'm seriously considering ordering it for next year. He is just LOVING it.
Meanwhile, our curriculum fair is this coming Monday and Tuesday. Tuesdays are full with horse lessons and me working, but Monday is open, so we are going. There will be a Math-U-See workshop that we can't wait to attend. That is the math I think we're going with next year. We can't wait!! |
|
Well here we are at the end of the school year. Just, what, a month and a half to go or something? But S has been just so completely frustrated with his current curric that we felt it best to just toss it and do something else for the rest of the year. So we went to the resource room at our charter school office. They have tons of things available for check-out. I went with Family Math (which seems to be more fun stuff than an actual curric, but I'm good with that), Writing Strands, a unit study on Farmer Boy, and some DK and Usborne chemistry books. Just a basic fun intro kind of thing. We also checked out books to read. He currently has his nose in The Hobbit, which will be included in the Core we are getting from Sonlight next year, but he "just had" to read it now. LOL I figure these will give us some fun things to do and let him ride out the rest of the year. I'm thinking Writing Strands looks really good. I'm anxious to get going on that one. I've never really looked at it much, until I checked it out the other day. And Farmer Boy was my idea. It is probably a little young for him, but *I* wanted to read it, and he loves the farming way of life, so I grabbed it. I think we'll enjoy it. Maybe this will help smooth the rest of the year and make for a good transition into Sonlight for next year. |
|
I realize the "school year" is almost over. However, we have reached a brick wall. We have been using OdysseyWare, which is a public school version of Switched on Schoolhouse. We just knew we'd love it.
We were wrong.
My oldest, S, is in 6th grade and is to the point that he can't even concentrate on school anymore. It is a fight each and every day. There are many factors to why we aren't happy with SOS and I'll go into those if you really want to hear them, but the truth of the matter is that we have to find something else to finish out the school year. This is simply NOT working.
We are looking at Sonlight for next year, however, our distance learning school funds are not available until July 1. Meaning we can either order SL and start now and have the school reimburse us after July 1, or we can wait and order July 1. SL is not currently in our budget, so that first option is out. (which is why we enrolled in the distance school in the first place)
So now, for the rest of this year, here are our options...
1) Free unit studies 2) textbooks that I have sitting around here 3) curriculum that can be checked out at the resource room of our distance school.
I plan on going to the resource room tomorrow to see what is available. My son says his "ideal" curriculum would involve some reading, some activities, some arts/crafts. When we first started, I wrote our own unit studies. Maybe we should get back to that for the rest of this year. But I worry about that because when we first started, they were in younger elementary grades. I am nervous about providing everything they need for these older elementary grades on my own. I prefer a little guidance.
I'm physically and emtionally exhausted. I've been pondering, praying, and searching (therefore not sleeping at night!) for the past 3 or 4 days. Any suggestions would be most appreciated! |
|
...but to be honest, I wasn't sure I was welcome here anymore. See, we DID go with the charter school. I know that lots of people don't consider that to be truly homeschooling. But we felt like it was what our family needs right now. They pay for our curriculum, which we get to chose (within certain parameters), and we have to submit to state testing. They also pay for extra-curricular activities within a certain price range. We feel like we went with the best charter we could find. Our charter was made by homeschoolers for homeschoolers. So, while they are "technically" enrolled in a public school, all of the administrators and staff and everyone truly involved are or have been homeschoolers. They understand that we don't like being under the control of the public school and try to make things as painless as possible. It is a great fit for us.
That being said, we are so grateful to have the financial freedom to provide things for our crew that we couldn't normally. The crew is now taking horse riding lessons. This is something S has wanted for years but we could never even dream of affording. We have also been able to purchase art and music curriculums. Again, we've never been able to afford those. We now have art supplies coming out our ears, much to the delight of my crew.
We have been using Odysseyware curriculum, which is the secular version of Switched on Schoolhouse. If I'm not mistaken, they are both made by Alpha Omega. At least, the Odysseyware demo disk said AO and SOS on it. Oddly enough, much to my shock, S HATES it. He is nearly in tears every day when we begin school. It seems like there is too much information thrown at them in each lesson, they answer the questions, take the quiz, then move on. There is really no retention. At least for S. C is doing somewhat better with it.
But we will definately be getting something else for S for next school year. We are probably going to try Sonlight. Especially with their new money back guarantee. We can try it for a while and if it isn't a good fit, we'll send it back and try something else. I love the idea of having that option. We have really struggled with finding something that works for S.
On other topics, we are LOVING Alaska. We do have one minor complaint...we are READY FOR SPRING already. The past couple of days have been much warmer and we are getting excited at seeing the roads wet with melting snow and ice. We can't get over how gorgeous everything is here. And seeing moose in the yard is always a big deal. You wouldn't believe all the moose pictures we have taken, just out our windows! It is truly an amazing thing to me.
While I do get a little Spring Fever when I read other blogs, where people are having 80 degree days and planting gardens, I don't feel so jealous when I read the stories of severe storms and tornados. Yep. I'll take my longer winter if it means no tornados for me!
I hope to able to update this blog a little more often, if I'm still welcome. |
|
Hello everyone! I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up this blog. Please visit me at my other blog for a detailed account of the past month. Lots of exciting stuff in our lives!
We are now living in Alaska. Homeschooling here has a couple of options. One option is out and out hsing. There are no regulations, no reporting, no testing. Just do your thing. This is amazing.
Another option is charter school. Because there are so many children in the bush, without access to public schools, there are many many public school charter schools. The state funds these and through this option the student recieves "x" amount of money to spend on homeschool. This purchases curriculum, classes (like music or PE classes of any kind), computers, musical instruments, supplies, etc. That is an awesome deal, especially for people like us who could certainly use the help. However, with that comes regulation. The students have to be tested yearly, the parent has to check in with a teacher at least once a month and then turn in class work each quarter. Grades are issued by the charter school.
I think the charter school system here has more flexibility because the parent does get to chose the curriculum and method. (from an approved list, but the list is pretty comprehensive)
However, I don't want to sell my freedoms.
Then again, my children could certainly benefit from those music lessons and karate classes. Or hockey lessons. Or whatever. We won't be able to afford them otherwise.
We have decided to just continue on our current path for this year and continue checking into the various charter schools and such for next year. Enrollment starts in April, so we have a few months to decide. Meanwhile, I am talking with other homeschool parents in our area. So far all of them I've spoken to use the charter school systems and love it.
I think the local hs group meets tomorrow night. I hope to talk to them about it as well.
As it is, I am getting pressure from my mother to go the charter school route. And the sooner the better. She does not approve of our decision to wait until next year and insists I call and get my kids enrolled ASAP so they can get started on these music lessons and a sport of some kind. She is worried that we aren't active enough. While I agree that we need more physical activity, I'm still not convinced I want to sell my freedom to gain it.
Please pray for us that we'd know what God's will is on this. Thank you! |
|
I have been sitting on some big news. I was waiting until I talked to my workplace before making the announcement, but I think I'll spill the beans now. I hope to talk to my boss today or tomorrow anyway. Since none of them even know about this blog, much less read it, I will take the chance. ;)
Our Little Slice of Heaven will not be in Kentucky after all. In fact, we are eyeballing a snowy little slice far away in the Great White North. Yep, we are moving to Alaska!
We are so excited. The plan is to stay with my parents for a short time while we find jobs. We are also scoping out some land to build our cabin and live out our dream. Of course, I'm sure we will have to do a little urban homesteading before we can fully afford our land, but I'm ok with that. As long as we are taking steps to get us out there. Interestingly, most of what we are finding is only accessable by boat or plane. My hubby is all into that. I'm a little leery, personally. But God will work it all out, I'm sure.
We will wave goodby to our "old Kentucky home" and fly the friendly skies on Oct 3. My crew has never been on a commercial airplane so this will be quite the experience. *I* have, but neither my hubby nor my kids have. They have flown in a "puddle jumper" but never a big one. They are excited and a little scared.
I will be sure and keep everyone posted as we start this new journey. Perhaps we will finally find our permanent Slice of Heaven and be able to settle down for a while. We would appreciate your prayers. |
|
A few years ago I ran across Ambleside Online. I decided to go with unit studies instead, but constantly felt drawn back to AO. This year I broke down and showed it to my hubby. He immediately fell in love with it. So, here we are.
This is Day 4 using AO and I am amazed. My oldest son (who "hates school") has told me each day how much he loves this "new school stuff". And my hubby said he has told him the same, as well.
I am shocked at how much they enjoy it.
I haven't joined any lists or anything for it, we just have too much going on and I don't want to be overwhelmed. We are doing great thus far on our own. But I just have to say WE LOVE IT! |
|
Anyone here use Ambleside Online? This is something I've looked at occasionally but wasn't sure if it would work for our crew. However, DH and I looked at it today and he REALLY likes the look of it. I think we are going to give it a whirl.
So, have you used it? Please give me the pros and cons as you have seen them. |
|
My youngest sister is here visiting from Alaska. I haven't seen her in 2 years. We are having a good time. I just wish I didn't have to work so we could spend more time together. Ah, well. She came up and had lunch with me today. It was fun. :)
Anyway, the point here is this...
We haven't seen each other in 2 years and yet we have SO much in common that it is scary. I mean silly little stuff that we never thought about. Yeah, we are sisters, so we are a lot alike anyway, but this is wild and wacky stuff.
For instance...
Turns out we have the same model and brand of cell phone, except hers has a camera and mine doesn't.
We carry the same notebook in our purses.
We have the same purse, except mine has Cinderella on it and hers has Tinkerbell.
I've been wanting to try some new make up. I found the website and said "Hey, Ash, I want this make-up." She looked at it and grinned and said "Here ya go." and handed me her make-up bag! She had that same make-up! And I don't know anyone else who has even heard of this stuff!
DH says we are twins separated by a decade. LOL (I am 11 years older than she is)
Love it! :) |
|
Good morning! Just thought I'd add a further update on us.
We are still trying to find our way back into more simplicity. I'm a little frustrated because this trailer came with all utilities already hooked up and running...including cable TV. We can't disconnect cable b/c the internet is through them, too. So, we are desperately trying to get an even balance. At first we were all sucked into that stupid black box every waking moment. Now we are doing better.
We are still dealing with boxes and stuff everywhere. It is hard to fit a 2,000 sq foot house into a teensy mobile home! Especially when we had to move the former tenants out before we could completely move in. So it has been interesting.
So, here we are, starting from scratch again. I guess I'm glad the garden fizzled this year, otherwise we would have lost all of our harvest when we moved. As it is, I am looking forward to taking a trip to the weekend Farmer's Market. I would still like to try my hand at canning, but not sure if I can do it this year or not. Time is getting away from me.
Working full time is quite an adjustment. At first I was just DEAD when I got home from work or on my days off. I'm doing somewhat better now. I got my kitchen all unpacked and set up this weekend, finally. We'd been living out of boxes in there. Yuck. Now it is all homey and sweet. :)
Tomorrow is my son's bday. He will be 9! Geez, where has the time gone??? We had a small bday party for him here yesterday. Just a few friends, nothing outlandish. I think it was nice. He seemed to have a good time.
My baby sister is here from Alaska! I haven't seen her in 2 years. I've missed her tons. She and her hubby are in the Lower 48 for 2 weeks, but only here in KY for 3 days. (and of course I have to work. Grrrrr)
Sounds like everyone is starting to get up. Time to go be a good hostess. Then I need to get a roast in the slow cooker. Then head to work at noon. Fun, fun!
Have a great day all! |
|
Hi all! You guys are not going to believe this. My life has changed so quickly in the past month that my head is spinning.
We wound up not moving to another state. DH got there and hated it, so he came home.
I wound up not quitting my job after all. My last day was extended until July 10 so I could help cover vacations, then we decided to stay right here in KY, so I didn't have to quit after all. In fact, I was just offered full time today! I will now be eligible for benefits in 6 mos! I've been working a full time schedule since Father's Day anyway, but now it will be official.
We did move away from Our Little Slice of Heaven. The neighbors were just too much to handle and we decided it was smarter financially to move somewhere smaller. The rent here is 1/4 what we were paying before. We will save up and buy land to build our dream log cabin home.
DH is now a WAHD. He is restarting his portrait business and will work from home while homeschooling the crew.
Our laying hens were murdered by a dog. The 3 remaining Godzilla chickens still haven't been processed and are currently acting as a petting zoo at Grandma's house. My Godzilla hen just layed her first egg a couple of days ago!! We will go process them as soon as we get a chance. We will probably have to be chicken free for a year or so. (pout) There are too many dogs around here and I am now leery after what happened to my girls. :(
I think we are just about to get settled in and used to a new routine. I am anxious to get back to real life. Going to full time and moving at the same time has been difficult. Each of these is quite an adjustment on its own, but both at once is just wild. Anyway, I am ready to get back to baking bread and cooking meals!
Our internet was just connected today, so I will be around more, I promise. :)
|
|
Sorry I've been scarce. Lots of changes in our life right now. I will update for real very soon. Quick summing up...
Loved my job Moving Must find new job in new state Last day at new job 1 week from today Hubby already in different state :( Things already being turned off for move. (such as internet...am at library) Will be back online as soon as move is complete |
|
I'm sorry I haven't been blogging quite as much. There are some things going on in my life that I don't feel entitled to share just yet and I don't trust myself to keep my mouth shut.
However, today is a new beginning of something that I can now share. As of today, I will be a cake decorator at our local StuffMart. I feel torn about this decision. I don't want to return to the work force. I feel that my place is here raising my children and taking care of our home. But money has gotten so tight that my husband has requested help to get us out of this pinch.
I don't feel confident in my abilities as a cake decorator, although I have been paying extra close attention to their cakes and realize that maybe I'm not as far away from their caliber as I thought. I am sure they will have me doing a lot of practicing and stuff before they turn me lose on someone's actual cake. I hope.
I also am just sick at the thought of my in-laws raising my children this summer. I am only working part time, but that is just how it feels to me. I love my in-laws and know they'd never hurt my children, but we don't have the same parenting philosophy and I often feel like we are in a power struggle over my children. I have recently been gaining ground, or so it felt, but now I fear that ground will be lost.
It is already a struggle for me to keep my housework up. I am not a good housekeeper, and try as I might, I fear I never will be. I worry that I will lose ground here as well. I love a clean house, but I hate cleaning it. And when I come in from work exhausted, I know I will not feel like cleaning it. Laundry is already piling up because I've been gone for interviews, drug testing, etc. If I don't keep up with it and do at least 2 loads per day it overtakes the house.
On the other hand, with me working we will be bringing home twice what we would otherwise. More, even, because I am starting at higher wages than my hubby. That means we can get out of debt twice as quickly. I will get that really cool discount as an employee. I will get to take off on a new adventure and meet new friends. (And get reaquainted with old ones...I graduated from high school with my new boss! Keep in mind we are 3 hours away from where we grew up, and in a totally different state. How weird is that??)
I am trying to keep a good attitude about this. But the bottom line is that I would really rather just continue being a SAHM. However, I will do whatever my hubby requests of me, and at this point he needs me to return to the work force. I trust in him and I trust in God and I know that it will all work out for the best. Please pray for us as we make this seemingly giant change. |
|
I haven't updated my walking in a few days because I wasn't sure how to count it. It has been much too hot to walk outside. However, I have spent ages walking around StuffMart this week. I know I walked a lot longer than it takes us to walk our 1/2 mile. I went ahead and counted it a 1/2 mile, though, since I wasn't sure exactly how much we did do. I'm going to have to start wearing that pedometer when we go out.
Anyway, my walking tracker is now up to date.
The crew and I went for our walk early this morning before it got hot. In fact, I hadn't even eaten bfast. Which isn't so smart for me. I got a little woozy and weird and am just now starting to feel somewhat better. Lesson learned.
My mother got my sons a trampoline for their bdays this year. DH got it set up yesterday afternoon so they are getting tons of exercise now! In fact, C (the one I'm most worried about weight-wise) ran the last half of the walk and jumped on the trampoline for quite a while as soon as he got back. Cool. Poor S, though, has reached the age where muscle soreness becomes an issue. He is pretty sore from jumping yesterday so he hasn't jumped yet today.
I weighed this morning and am officially down 2 lbs since I started. Whoohoo!!!
|
|
Today is our first sad day on the homestead. I went outside and found Barred Plymouth Rock feathers all over the yard. It appears that my little escape artist perfected her technique once again, but this time the dog found her before I did.
The pen and coop are both perfectly intact, so I'm certain Pooh didn't go in after her. Plus the feather trail starts over beside the coop, not in it.
However, I have always heard that once a dog gets a taste of fresh chicken, there is no going back. She followed me to the pen and seemed overly interested in nudging the coop and fence. I quickly tied her on her chain and she has stayed there all day. (plenty of water, food, and shelter, of course)
I am devastated. Not only have we lost a laying hen, but now we will also be losing a dog. She tried to nip at me when I was putting her on the chain. My son swears she was just playing with me, and maybe she was, but my emotions were rather high at the time and it seemed intentional to me.
She has never showed any sign of violence before, so maybe I was imagining it. Either way, I fear our days with Pooh are numbered.
Anyone need a big dumb dog who has a taste for fresh chicken? |
|
I orginally planned on weighing every day. However, I haven't. I forget. I have weighed once since last Wed and I was down a pound, though! :)
I haven't been walking like I should. Or eating like I should. I've been rather bad, in fact. (I had spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner tonight. Ooops. But we bought groceries before we made this decision to eat healthier. And I can't just toss this stuff out. I can't afford that.) And my excuse for walking is the rain. Lots of it. In fact, I'm ever so sick of rain. Today was nice, but we were in town all day. sigh.
I have been making small changes, though. For instance, my in-laws have taken us out a few times and I have gone for the grilled chicken rather than the cheeseburger. And I even subbed a side salad for the fries. So, I'm getting there. Baby steps are better than none! |
|
I've been reading about these Blubber Bloggers for several weeks now. Today's post on The Company Porch finally pushed me over the edge. I did it. I joined in. Gulp.
My whole family is overweight, and now my children are getting there. They aren't obese....yet. But I can see them traveling down that path. I don't want them to be as unhealthy as I am. However, I think I'll have to take it slow with them. I have been introducing healthier breads and such and I will just continue on that path. Only I will be slipping in healthier stuff a little more than I have been. Ok, maybe a lot more. Anyway, it is going to be a hard road with them, I'm afraid.
My focus will be mostly on myself. However, we are off to a decent start. As a family, we walked around the circle today. (we live in the middle of a circle.) Turns out, according my pedometer, the circle is 1/2 mile! Whoohoo! We are going to do this every day, weather permitting. Eventually we plan on expanding to more and more laps. Yay!!
I had a healthy bfast and am now chugging water. I *will* accomplish this. I lost 65 lbs a few years ago and now have gained 55 of those back. I did it in an unhealthy manner and obviously didn't make any true lifestyle changes. This time I will do it right. And this time my family is (somewhat) doing it with me.
My hubby has read a few articles on youth obesity and how it is OUR responsibility to teach them. And he is in agreement with me. This is new. It is usually just me.
So, as our crew shrinks together, I will be posting on here about our struggles and triumphs.
This morning I will list our triumphs so far...
Let the games begin!! |
|
Today is carnival day! Check out the Carnival of Homeschooling. Today the theme is Albert Einstein. They have done an amazing job of tying the quotes in to the submissions. I love it! |
|
This afternoon I was hanging out at Steve Walden's blog and ran across his series Bringing Up Boys In A Feminine World. He did an awesome job with this and it really got me thinking. His Part 3 talks about rites of passage. We have been planning on doing some sort of "ritual" or "ceremony" to mark our sons' 13th birthdays. We don't know what we'll be doing, exactly, but it is something we've been discussing for a couple of years now. In fact, S will be 11 this month and he mentioned that looming 13 just the other day. He is as curious as we are about what we will do to mark such a special occasion. This is an event that he is looking forward to with both excitement and a little trepidation. He knows it is a transition to manhood and I think he is a little nervous about the prospect, though he'd never admit it.
My crew spent this afternoon working in the yard. The boys were on the 4-wheeler hauling off logs and bricks that were in the way as my husband mowed. I went out to take much needed iced tea to my hard working men and saw a young rabbit running for its life away from the lawn mower. Because I'm not a wildlife expert, I called it a baby and wanted to pick it up. My big strong protector of a hubby stopped me, however. He reminded me that it is a wild animal and we don't want any wild animal bites. Even from a baby. Then he informed me that it wasn't actually a baby any longer. This one was just old enough to be out on his own.
This realization startled me a little. He looked so tiny and scared! But then I realized that he was doing exactly what he needed to do to protect himself. As the mower got too close to his den, he took off running. He went immediately into a tuft of grass growing at the base of our house and sat perfectly still. He didn't move a muscle. In fact, I poked around in the wrong tuft of grass for quite a while before I realized he was sitting right next to me. Still, he never moved. He blended in perfectly. We called the crew over to see. My husband finally attempted to pick him up. We were concerned he may have been injured because he hadn't moved. As soon as my hubby touched him he took off again. This time we let him go.
I couldn't help but see the parallels between my growing sons and this young rabbit. He looked much too young to be on his own, but he was doing great. He had been prepared well by his mother and the instincts God gave him. It sobered me to realize that soon my own little bunnies would be out in the world on their own. I have such a short time to teach them. I pray that God will help my husband and me to prepare them well for the journey ahead. I can only hope they will do as well as the young bunny God blessed us with this afternoon. |
