We are back to school!  Since we take my Dad every day to the hospital for radiation treatments, and have been there daily for the last month and a half, and weekly since February of this year, the staff at Dad's doctor's office graciously showed us a room where the kids could do school work.  The doctors and nurses know our children by first names, too.  We have become "the face of homeschooling" to many people who have never met such fabled creatures as ourselves [LOL]. I'm praying it's a positive representation!

Our daily schedule looks like this:

Up at 6:30. My Bible time. Kids up and ready. Animals fed, lot cleaned, kitchen cleaned, supper started in crock pot, pack for the day.

8:00  Leave for Dad's. We do Diana Waring's history cd's and listen to Charles Swindoll.  We bought a Jim Weiss storytelling cd and the kids love it. More of those are on my to-purchase list. I'm not surprised that the kids learn history through story---I learned quite a bit of English history [not all of it is something I wish I'd read!] through books by Jean Plaidy. [In answer to the question I'm sure will be asked, NO, now that I'm a Christian, I don't recommend these for your Charlotte Mason adventures with children!]

9:00 Leave for hopsital.

10:00 Dad's treatment. Kids do math and reading.

12:00 back at Dad's for lunch.  We do our Bible workbooks, grammar, phonics/spelling, science, writing on our history timelines, and writing assignments while my Dad rests from his treatments.  For the first six weeks of Bible, we are using Josh McDowell's Beyond Belief: True or False curriculum. They are inexpensive, and provide big truths in little chunks.  

We do chores at his house, fix his supper, and then go home. It's a challenge keeping Thelma Lou's mind on school with all of Papaw's cats just outside--she's more like Ellie Mae Clampett than Thelma Lou!

Evenings are for homework , more chores, and family time. We have several home projects going on, including painting the inside, getting new carpet next week, and fixing the kitchen and bathroom floors before my surgery [ or -ies--still unsure]. Most likely, that charming experience will be after Dad's treatments are finished, but before our return to Vanderbilt for a checkup in October. 

No vacation this year, all the off time has to be used to help when I'm recuperating from surgery or taking Dad to his appointments. His facial reconstructive surgery may be this year, too, and he needs another corneal transplant. 

I had to chuckle when I got an email about field trips from a local homeschool group. Our whole school is one big trip! Yes, even in trying circumstances homeschooling is possible. The only things that we aren't able to do as I wished are the experiments with our science and our reading selections don't last long enough. The kids are already finished with books that were intended to last four to six weeks[ only in school for two weeks].  The kids get  to see much more of life than I did when their age, they meet interesting people, and they ask lots of questions. Plus, they have spent time with their Grandpa and extended family that they had never even met until this year.

So life is busy. Nothing new about that. Plus, our baby [officially nicknamed Charlene Darlin' ], will turn one year old in September!  What a year it's been!  It's all worth it.