Aug. 31, 2009 - What's up
We are starting week 4 of school, 15 days done and 165 days to go. It has been going pretty well for the most part. Emily and I have been trying to adjust to Trisms. We have finally decided it just isn't going to work. She is going to do Abeka's World Geography instead. It is only a 1 semester course though. The question now becomes "do i go with just the 1 semester or add to it to make it a full credit?" or "maybe we gave up on Trisms too soon". Ugh, what to do!?
I have also ditched Homeschool Tracker. Instead, I found an Excel spreadsheet on DonnaYoung.org. It is great. It has 6 weeks scheduled on it. You put in the child's name and the subjects and it fills this info in on all the worksheets. Now I can just move lessons over a day or two if we don't get to it. I like how it looks printed too. I changed the color of the box for tests so they stand out. Very nice spreadsheet. If you haven't found this website and are looking for forms or ideas go to www.donnayoung.org.
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Aug. 11, 2009 - So far So good
We started school on Monday and so far so good. B loves Abeka. I was a little concerned because there seems to be sooo much work but she's doing great and not one complaint yet. Woo Hoo! E on the other hand is complaining but when reminded that she could be in traditional school for 7 hours and then have homework she stops. LOL! We finished day two of Trisms. It is an adjustment to what we are used to in that the answers are not spoon fed to her. We are adjusting and going to give it the good ole college try! Because she is able to get several credits with Trisms and the writing is already planned in, I don't want to change. I still have to add in Biology and Grammar for Emily.
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Aug. 4, 2009 - It's a new school year!
We will be starting school next week and I am so glad. This summer has not been ideal. I spent the month of June with pain in the left side of my rear and the only comfortable position was lying down. You can't get anything done lying down all the time. I spent the month of July going to physical therapy for the pain. Just when I thought it was gone, it came back (although not as bad). Now my only problem is that I can't sit without feeling uncomfortable. I guess I can never sit again. My PT time is up and even though the therapist is going to talk to my doc about extending therapy, I don't think I want to pay them anymore money to have me do the exercises on my own! Yep, I do thru the exercises all by myself and pay them for it. I can do that at home! Enough about that. Let's just say I am ready to start school.
School also gives us a routine. I get so much more accomplished, besides school, when I have a time frame. This year I am also the activities coordinator for CSTHEA.
What are we using this year?
Emily enters high school and it scares me to death! She will be using Trisms' Discover the Ancient World which will cover her history, literature, writing, fine art s (art history, music history), geography, and some other stuff; Math U See Geometry, Bob Jones Biology, Wordly Wise 3000 level 9. She will also be taking French I at Hilger. And of course, her usual dance class, which will be her 10th year!
Brooke wanted to use all Abeka this year so that's what she is doing. She is also taking Art at Hilger. She will again be playing Upward Soccer and dance.
I am going to attempt to use Homeschool Tracker for lesson planning and try to stick with it. I bought it last year and didn't use it.
Let's get this year started!
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May. 28, 2008 - Gearing up for a new year
Plans are well under way for the next school year. Of course, my girls are not as excited as I am though since we just started summer break. We are going to travel back in time to study ancient civilizations via Tapestry of Grace, embark on the Algebraic highway by way of Teaching Textbooks and many other adventures. So far, we will be using the following:
DD (8th) - TOG Yr 1,Discover 4 Yourself bible studies, Teaching Textbooks Algebra I, Apologia Physical Science and possibly Grammar Key.
DD (4th) - TOG Yr 1, Discover 4 Yourself bible studies, Saxon 5/4, Christian Kids Explore Biology along with Considering God's Creation, BJU Reading.
Now to figure out 4th grade grammar (maybe Easy Grammar), spelling and Spanish.
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May. 7, 2008 - Anticipation
It is that time of year. We are anxiously counting the days until we call an end to this school year. I am ready to put this year behind us and move on to next school term. One of the problems with this time of year is the curriculum fairs. Something about seeing all the crisp new books and supplies that can take us on a grand new adventure just makes me want to say "We are done. Let's start something new!". I went to the GHEA fair last week with a friend. There are a few things I want to change for next year. Some favorites I am considering are:
Grammar Key - what Teaching Textbooks does for Math, Grammar Key does for Grammar! We have had a horrible time with middle school grammar. This may be the "key"
Tapestry of Grace - I think we are going to go with Year 1. I have been wanting to do a literature based curriculum for history because we love reading at our house. We can do this together!
Christian Kids Explore Biology - I think I am going to use this with Considering God's Creation. B likes to learn a variety of things so we are searching for a new elementary science.
Real Science 4 Kids - B really liked this science program but I prefer the above one.
Discover 4 Yourself Inductive Bible Studies for kids - these are by Kay Arthur of Precept Ministries. E did a couple of these when she was in private school last year. I am currently doing one of Kay's inductive studies in my small group. We can do these together!
So, after gathering brochures and information, you come home and spend hours on the computer researching even more. This first fair just wet my appetite for more so my friend and I are probably going to the the MTHEA fair next week. I like to go to these early ones because my local fair is not until almost the end of July and I like to have curriculum decided on, received and planned out by then and ready to start early August.
Stay tuned for what I find at the next one!
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Jul. 22, 2006 - Our visitor
This morning we had a visit from this turtle. It was crossing the street in front of our house when we noticed it. Don't worry, we live in a subdivision on a cul-de-sac road. After watching it finish crossing and enter our yard, I decided we needed to investigate it, you know, for science. I picked it up and we looked at the underside of the shell. Suprisingly, it did not pull it's head into the shell. Being a scrapbooker, I took pictures of course. I know I have some turtle stickers somewhere. We decided it was headed to the woods behind our house so we thought we would help it out and take it to the back of our house. All this time, I was thinking about how cool it would be keep it and observe it for a continued science project. I researched turtles online and found out it is an Eastern Box Turtle and probably a male because of the red eyes.
Afterwards, Brooke says "Hey, I guess we have started school!"
