Hi, this is Missey's husband Tom. I just wanted to let everyone know how much your prayers, words, and cards have meant to us. We are getting stronger with your help. Your kindess to our family truely has been (and is) the glue to help our broken hearts be put back together. Baby Missey Kate is doing fine, she has already past her birth weight and eating well. There is so much I want to "say" to all of you but time is short, I must get back to packing. Again, I want to say Thank You and may God bless you the way he has blessed me. I do hope to post again soon to tell you what it was like to have Melissa as my wife.
God bless you all,
Husband to Melissa, Tom Gray
This is Misseys husband Tom. I'm new at this stuff so forgive me if I'm not quite right. I wanted to let you know how much you people made my missey happy. All she wanted to do was help someone else and when someone told her that she had been helpful to them it would make her day. Thank you.....all of you , you all brought happiness into her life. I am a blessed man having her for a wife, a wife far more than I ever could have hoped for or ever deserved. By the way, duct tape does not help a broken heart, but your words telling me and my children how she may have helped you mean more to me than you could ever imagine.
thank you and GOD's Love be with you
Sincerly, Tom Gray ... husband to Missey
I have another ultrasound, dr. visit, and non-stress test today so I will update y'all this evening.
So far things have been going well. I've been getting plenty of rest (dh is very insistent on it!!) when I'm not running back and forth to either my dr. or the kids' dr!! I had to take ds in to the dr. again yesterday because he had a nasty rash all over his body, HUGE red welps! The dr. said it was hives but that he couldn't say what caused it. He told me to give him Benadryl and to try to do a little detective work to see if we could figure out what he could have reacted to. We suspect it might have been the yellow dye in dd11's SpongeBob birthday cake, but we don't know that for sure yet. He had also had a rash before that, but it was a different kind of rash so I'm thinking that we have more than one type of allergy going on here. I'm thinking that the earlier rash may have been due to a different soap or shampoo that we had used briefly. So now I'm only using a Cetaphil cleanser on Nathan until we get this all figured out. Dh thinks he might have reacted to a different brand of wipees we used for awhile. Oh, the joys of trying to figure it all out! LOL!
But the good news is that ds' hives do look a bit better today. And his lip is healing nicely. Hmmm.....how many of these gray hairs can be attributed to THIS BOY?!!! LOL!!
His dr. said (in a friendly, joking manner) that he was "really impressed" with the extent of the hives covering ds' body and I replied, "Yeah, this kid doesn't do anything halfway!" He agreed and we shared a good stress-reducing laugh. :-D
Well, I had a dr.'s appt. on Tuesday and he ordered another ultrasound so he could check on the placenta previa. The ultrasound was done on Wednesday as well as a Non-Stress Test. The placenta is completely blocking the cervix and the amniotic fluid is low. So I've been put on bed rest. He also ordered me to come in twice a week for Non-Stress Tests. I have one scheduled for tomorrow. He scheduled another ultrasound for next Wednesday as well as another NST. Needless to say, not a whole of school got done this week.
The girls carried on somewhat with their independent seatwork (MUS, ETC, & handwriting), but I did not do any read-alouds or any individual lessons with them. They have been helping me with the housework, cooking, taking care of the toddler, etc. so I have let them have plenty of free time to play outside (the weather's been nice!).
I think it would be nice if I had kept up at least one read-aloud but I just haven't felt up to even that this week. Thankfully, the girls have spent plenty of time doing free reading of their own. They've also done their Picture Study and Folk Song for this week. And they've played educational computer games and watched videos. And dd10 has kept up with her AO Year 4 readings. She did that all on her own. She got my binder out, looked up her reading assignments, and did them w/o me telling her to! All in all, I think they've done enough "academics" for the week to still count this as a school week. It's been more of an unschooling week, but at least I know their little brains are still being stimulated. :-)
Oh, by the way, ds is supposed to get his stitches out tomorrow! :-)
Again, this was a very light week.
All:
-
Bible:
-
Sarai gives Hagar to Abram - Gen. 16 & 17
-
Story of the World 2: A Tale of the Diaspora (ch. 20b)
-
Burgess Animal Book: ch. 6
-
Exploring Creation with Astronomy: "Creation Confirmation"
-
Folk Song: "Billy Boy"
-
Picture Study: Vermeer's "Art of Painting"
Dd10:
-
finished MUS Beta; started MUS Gamma
-
Reason for Handwriting Level D
-
Explode the Code 6
-
One written narration
-
Reading:
-
George Washington's World: p. 91-103
-
Kon Tiki: p. 36-45
-
Kidnapped: ch. 9-10
-
Physics Lab in the Home: p. 35
-
This Country of Ours: ch. 45
-
Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution: ch. 6
-
Trial and Triumph: ch. 32
-
Miscellaneous free reading
Dd8:
-
Math-U-See Alpha
-
HWT Printing Power
-
Explode the Code 3
-
Wrote 3 original sentences.
-
Reading:
-
Young Reader's Bible
Dd5:
-
Reading Made Easy: Lesson 17
-
copywork from RME
-
Explode the Code 2
-
HWT preschool workbook
We had to make a run to the ER last night to get 20-month-old ds' lip stitched up; he tripped over some toys and fell into one of those oil radiator-type heaters (it wasn't on, thank goodness!), leaving behind a gash in his lip that required three stitches. Yes, this is the SAME son who had cranioplasty surgery at 6 months and a nail removed from his scalp at just over a year old. This kid is contributing too much to my prematurely graying hair!
While we were checking into the ER, ds was curiously but calmly climbing all over the furniture. The nurse commented that he didn't seem to be in much pain. My reply? "Yeah, he's one tough kid!" And, now with his stitched-up lip, he looks the part. Pictures coming soon, so stay tuned. :-S
Last week and, so far, this week, we have slowed down a lot. I am trying to get ready for the baby so the dc are doing mostly independent work. I have really slacked off on the read-alouds these last two weeks.
Here's what last week looked like:
All:
-
Bible:
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Civil War in the Jordan Valley - Gen. 14
-
Lot Taken Prisoner - Gen. 15
-
-
Story of the World Volume 2: The Scattering of the Jews
-
Exploring Creation with Astronomy: Solar Flares and Sun Spots
-
Picture Study: Vermeer's "Woman Holding a Balance"
-
Folk Song: "Billy Boy"
Dd10:
-
Math-U-See Beta and Singapore 3A
-
Reason for Handwriting Level D
-
Explode the Code Book 6
-
two written narrations
-
QuarterMile Math
-
Reading:
-
George Washington's World: p. 75-91
-
Kon Tiki: p. 32-35
-
This Country of Ours: ch. 44
-
Physics Lab in the Home: p. 34
-
Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution: ch. 5
-
Kidnapped: ch. 7-8
-
-
Free Reading: I didn't keep track. I hope she remembered to write it all down for me. I haven't even checked her reading log to see if she is keeping it up! :-S
-
Timed reading drills from Victory Drill Book; her top speed on one of the last lessons in the book (multi-syllabic words) was 85 words per minute. Just for comparison's sake, I timed myself reading the same page and I read it at a rate of 113 words per minute.
Dd8:
-
Math-U-See Alpha and Singapore 1A
-
HWT Printing Power
-
Explode the Code Book 3
-
three creative writing assignments
-
QuarterMile Math
-
Reading:
-
The Young Reader's Bible
-
The 18 Penny Goose
-
-
Timed reading drills from Victory Drill Book; her top speed on CVC and CCVC words was 28 words per minute.
Dd5:
-
HWT Preschool workbook
-
Started Explode the Code Book 2 (skipped Book 1 as it was already too easy for her)
-
Some lessons from The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (she didn't like this as well so we are back to using RME this week)
-
Timed reading drills from Victory Drill Book; her top speed on CVC words was 12 words per minute.
In our house, daily drill with QuarterMile is not optional and I wouldn't let the dd's stop doing it if they didn't like it, BUT....
I just asked them if they like it and here's what they said:
Dd10: Yes!
Dd8: Sorta.
Dd10 (clarifying for dd8): She gets frustrated when she doesn't know the answers.
Mom (to dd8): You'll get better with practice.
I needed something for daily drill that they could do on their own and that would be at least "semi" fun. I don't really care if they LOVE it or not. Drill is not optional. I don't expect them to LOVE daily drill work, but I do expect them to "put in their time." IF QuarterMile made them cry, then I would find something else, but if they are merely ambivalent (which seems to be the case with dd8) then I still expect them to do it and just get it over with for the day.
I also feel that persevering and sticking with the daily drill actually contributes to it being more fun in the long run. It gets "funner" every day because they get better every day. :-)
Overall, I have been very happy with this purchase. I think it was money well-spent. The dd's will readily admit that they like this form of drill better than pencil-and-paper drills or flashcard drills.
My philosophy in a nutshell: if you just gotta have daily math drills (and *we* do...dh considers them a MUST), might as well use the "least" painful method. LOL!
All:
-
NKJV Bible:
-
The Flood: Genesis 7 and 8
-
The Rainbow: Genesis 9
-
The Tower of Babel: Genesis 11
-
Abram is called to leave his home: Genesis 12-13
-
Poetry of Eugene Field:
-
"The Dinky Bird"
-
"Little Blue Pigeon"
-
"The Duel"
-
"Good Children Street"
-
"The Bottle Tree"
-
Folksong: "Billy Boy" (both American and English versions)
-
Watched "The Servants," an episode of The Beverly Hillbillies where Granny and Jed sing the American version of the folksong "Billy Boy."
-
Picture Study: "Woman Holding a Balance" (Vermeer)
-
Read from:
-
Parables of Nature
-
Understood Betsy
-
Burgess Animal Book
-
An Island Story
-
Story of the World Volume 2
-
"Rowed" a FIAR book (I was feeling nostalgic and wanted to do this for dd5 who doesn't remember much of our FIAR studies.): The Story About Ping
-
Topics covered:
-
Literature: Fiction
-
Literary Device: Repetition (Dd8 and dd5 both wrote stories using repetition.)
-
Art: Drawing Water (Dd8 and dd5 drew pictures with water in them.)
-
Math: Adding up the list of Ping's relatives
-
Science: Reflection of Light (off mirrors, water, etc.)
Dd10:
-
Math-U-See and Singapore
-
Reason for Handwriting
-
Explode the Code
-
QuarterMile Math
-
dictation: some sentences from ETC and some Bible verses from Susan C. Anthony's site
-
Rod and Staff English 2: Unit 4, Exercise 11
-
Independent Reading:
-
NKJV Bible
-
Poetry of Emily Dickinson
-
George Washington's World: p. 59-74
-
Kon Tiki: p. 25-31
-
Kidnapped: ch. 5-6
-
This Country of Ours: ch. 43
-
Physics Lab in the Home: p. 32
-
Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution: ch. 4
-
Free Reading:
-
Continued reading the COFA series
Dd8:
-
Math U See and Singapore
-
HWT Printing Power
-
Explode the Code
-
QuarterMile Math
-
dictation: sentences from ETC; words from Spelling Plus
-
First Language Lessons: lessons 1-6
-
Read to Mom from:
-
The Young Reader's Bible
-
The 18 Penny Goose
Dd5:
-
HWT preschool workbook
-
Reading Made Easy: lessons 14-16
-
copywork from RME
-
Chose the following for Mommy to read aloud:
-
Barbie Fashion Fun Show
-
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow
I've created a links page on my site with all of my favorite resources for Bible study. With all of the links on this page, you ought to be able to come up with a dandy Bible study program (for you AND the dc) that won't cost you anything more than just the expense of printing out whatever resources you want to use. Enjoy!! :-)
It wasn't the "free" healing I had been praying for, though. Oh no, this healing cost some big bucks and took three Dell technicians two day-long phone sessions to fix, but it was worth it because I was able to retrieve my files and pictures and burn them onto CD's before having to go through a complete restore/reinstallation of the OS. Now, my computer is "like new" which has its pluses and minuses. On the one hand, it is a fresh, clean slate, but on the other I am having to spend an inordinate amount of time reinstalling my favorite apps and getting all my files back in place, etc. But, again, I say, it was worth it! Now I have a "new" computer AND I have five precious CD's: four of family photos and one of my documents and favorite freeware/shareware programs' set-up files. I should have burned all that onto CD's a long time ago, but I was lazy and just never got around to it. Nothing like being unable to access your important stuff to make you realize how urgent it is to get all that stuff saved in back-up copies somewhere.
Moral of the story: Back-up your important stuff TODAY!!! :-)
For those of you who already have a copy of my AO Book Chart, you may want to replace it with this revised version. The content is still basically the same, but the format is slightly different (and, I hope, better!). :-)
New in this version:
-
Checkboxes so that you can check off the books as you acquire them.
-
Less timeline info for a more streamlined look.
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Books used in multiple years listed across the bottom, again for a more streamlined look.
-
More white space to make the chart more user-friendly, easier on the eyes.
You can download the new chart here: AO Book Chart
Ok, I'm going to have to try this since I can't keep up with my dd's reading log all by myself anymore.
http://homeschoolblogger.com/hsmamato2/75318/
We began our second Term on January 2, at which time I bumped my 10-yo dd up to doing Year 4 independently. She has been following the schedule for Year 4, Term 2 fairly closely since then. I do not yet own a copy of Kidnapped by R.L. Stevenson (of Treasure Island fame which dd loved, by the way, when I read it aloud to her last year) so I've been printing out the two required chapters a week until I can purchase a copy.
Dd10 did not like this book at first and she let me know about it in no uncertain terms. :-S I just smiled :-) and reminded her that she didn't have to like it but that she would still read it anyway. So she has dutifully read her two chapters each week. Last week, after finishing chapter 4, she turned the page only to find that I had not yet printed out the next chapter. She looked up at me and said, "No fair! Where's the next chapter?" I said, "I thought you didn't like this book." She replied, "I didn't...at first. But now it's getting good and I can't wait to read the next chapter!" :-D
Ahhh! This is me with the biggest Cheshire cat grin spread across my face and the A-Team's Hannibal's famous line running through my head: "I love it when a plan comes together!" :-D
All:
-
NKJV Bible (supplemented with some discussion ideas from Greenleaf's Guide to the OT):
-
Cain and Abel (Genesis 4)
-
Adam's Family (Genesis 5)
-
Judgement and the Flood (Genesis 6; 7:1-5)
-
-
Plutarch: Lesson 4
-
Picture Study: Woman in Blue Reading a Letter (Vermeer)
-
read one devotional from Stepping Stones to Faith for Little People
-
read one devotional from God's Story and Me
-
Story of the World Volume 2: John Lackland, ch. 19b
-
An Island Story: John Lackland and the Magna Carta, ch. 36
-
Parables From Nature: Knowledge Not the Limit of Belief (ch. 4)
-
Burgess Animal Book: ch. 3
Dd10:
-
Math-U-See Beta
-
QuarterMile Math
-
Reason for Handwriting Level D
-
Explode the Code Book 6
-
dictation: 10 words and 3 sentences a day
-
Independent Reading:
-
George Washington's World: p. 45-58
-
Kon Tiki: p. 18-24
-
It Couldn't Just Happen: ch. 5
-
Kidnapped (by R.L. Stevenson): ch. 3-4
-
Physics Lab in the Home: p. 28, 31
-
Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution: ch. 3
-
-
Free Reading:
-
finished a few more of the COFA series (I can't keep up with which ones she has read now so she is keeping a list for me in her binder.)
-
Dd8:
-
Math-U-See Alpha
-
QuarterMile Math
-
HWT Printing Power
-
Explode the Code Book 3
-
dictation: 7 words and 1 sentence a day
-
Read aloud to Mom from:
-
The Young Reader's Bible
-
The 18 Penny Goose (an I Can Read book)
-
Dd5:
-
HWT preschool workbook
-
Reading Made Easy
-
copywork from RME
-
Chose the following books for Mommy to read aloud:
-
Shark in the Park (an Usborne easy reader)
-
Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse (again!!)
-
Jamberry by Bruce Degen
-
For "the Three R's" we are using the following:
| Dd10 | Dd8 | Dd5 | |
| Reading | All of AO Year 4, except Madam How and Lady Why and Age of Fable (which I read aloud to her) |
The Young Reader's Bible; and the I Can Read series |
Reading Made Easy |
| Handwriting | A Reason for Handwriting cursive | Handwriting Without Tears printing | Handwriting Without Tears printing |
| Spelling | dictation: 10 words and 3 sentences per day from Explode the Code |
Explode the Code | Explode the Code |
| Math | Math-U-See; QuarterMile Math |
Math-U-See; QuarterMile Math |
For everything else we are using selections from Ambleside Online as well as Story of the World Volume 2, Exploring Creation with Astronomy, God's Story and Me, and Penny Gardner's list of Bible "episodes."
January 16-20
Week 3 of Term 2
All:
-
Recitation: Ten Commandments in Verse
-
Devotional: God's Story and Me
-
Bible:
-
Genesis 1:1-31
-
Genesis 2:1-10; 15-25
-
Genesis 3:1-24
-
-
Picture Study: Vermeer's "Woman in Blue Reading a Letter"
-
Plutarch: Poplicola, Lesson 3
Dd10:
-
QuarterMile Math
-
started Singapore Math 3A
-
started back up with Math-U-See Beta
-
Reason for Handwriting Level D
-
Explode the Code Book 6
-
copywork from the Bible
-
Read from:
-
The Bible (NKJV)
-
Egermeier's Bible Story Book: Cripple at the Pool of Bethesda, several sections on Esther
-
Poetry of Emily Dickinson
-
George Washington's World: from "England vs. Spain in the New World" through "The King of France and His Subjects"
-
Trial and Triumph: ch. 31
-
It Couldn't Just Happen: ch. 4
-
This Country of Ours: ch. 41
-
Physics Lab in the Home: pages 24-25
-
Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution: ch. 2
-
Kidnapped: chapters 1-2
-
Kon Tiki: pages 11-17
-
-
Listened to Mom read from:
-
Age of Fable: ch. 2
-
-
For free reading, chose:
-
Childhood of Famous Americans: Susan B. Anthony
-
Dd8:
-
QuarterMile Math
-
Singapore Math 1A
-
started back up with Math-U-See Alpha
-
HWT Printing Power
-
Explode the Code Book 3
-
Read to Mom from:
-
The Young Reader's Bible
-
The 18 Penny Goose
-
-
Listened to Mom read from:
-
Poetry of Eugene Field
-
An Island Story: chapters 34-35
-
Burgess Animal Book: chapters 1-2
-
Dd5:
-
finished Get Ready for the Code Book A
-
started back up in HWT Preschool workbook
-
did some lessons in Reading Reflex
-
started doing some lessons in Reading Made Easy
-
Chose the following for Mom to read aloud:
-
Cross a Bridge by Ryan Ann Hunter
-
When the Rooster Crowed by Patricia Lillie
-
Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionni
-
I'm not sure what I'm going to do for dd5's reading lessons. She was doing fine with Reading Reflex, but I felt like I wanted to go back to Reading Made Easy. I just love it so much! She likes them both. RME is more warm and cuddly, though. When I started her on RME this week, we dropped the RR lessons. I am not trying to do them both. I'm just switching back and forth until I find the right fit for her. I really, really prefer RME. The only thing I don't like about it is that there is still more phonics to teach after they've completed it. It only gets them up to about 2nd grade reading level. Well, we'll keep playing it by ear till I figure out the best approach for dd5.
About the math for the two older dd's: we are using both MUS and Singapore. I like them both. MUS is great in all areas, except that I think it is a tad bit weak in the "problem-solving/word problems" area. That's where the Singapore comes in. Singapore is VERY strong in this area. I don't know how long I will keep using both programs. MUS is actually supposed to be our main program and the Singapore is supplementary. I'm trying to be very selective about what pages I have the dd's do in Singapore, choosing only those pages/problems that I think they can benefit from so as to eliminate any busy work. So far this system is working out fine. Dd10 is regaining her enthusiasm for math! Yay! And dd8....well, she never lost her enthusiasm. In fact, I had completely stopped doing formal math lessons with her for a time and she missed the lessons so much that I've allowed her to start back up. She really loves the MUS. I don't think I will have her do much with the Singapore after she finishes the current book she is in. MUS is enough for her. Dd10 needed both because she needs to exercise her "thinking skills" more and Singapore forces her to do that.
Some things we didn't get to this week that I had wanted to do:
-
Hymn: "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing"
-
Composer: Henry Purcell; I still don't have a CD of his to listen to.
-
Folksongs: I still don't have the Homestead Pickers' CD and I didn't get around to listening to any folksongs online.
-
Shakespeare: Merchant in Venice
-
Nature Study: I had thought we would spend this term on Rocks and Minerals, but we didn't do anything other than the spontaneous studies that come up with the wildlife in our area.
-
Handicrafts: I want to work on simple sewing, but we haven't gotten to it...yet.
-
SpongeBob Typing: The dd's have lost the CD so we haven't been able to have daily typing practice for about a week-and-a-half!
-
Writing/English with dd10: I have it on her schedule that she is to do something written each day (besides handwriting). This can be an entry in her Book of Centuries, a written narration, a dictation lesson, or a Rod & Staff English assignment. The only written work she did this week (besides handwriting) was two days of copywork from the Bible.
Ok, I think that's it. :-) I'm closing up my homeschool binder now and putting it on the bookshelf for the weekend. We are having a Movie Night tonight, with popcorn, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, chips & dip, etc. I just hope that dh gets to stay home and enjoy it all with us. He is "on call" this week. :-S
Have a great weekend, y'all!
Friends, pray for healing for my laptop, ok? My kids want *their* computer back. LOL!
But seriously, I have tried fixing it myself and I guess I have to admit now that this is beyond my meager computer skills level. I am going to have to call the fee-based Dell line and it's going to cost a whopping $99!!!!! Do you know how many books and curricula I could buy with that??!!! ARRGGHH!!!
BUT I do NEED this laptop!!! It has almost as much of my "curricula" on it as my bookcases do!!!!! Plus, it has all of our digital photos from the last two years. I know, I know....I should have burned them onto CDs long before now, but it was one of those things I kept putting off. Now, when I get this computer fixed, the FIRST thing I'm going to do is burn my whole "My Pictures" folder to a CD!!! Hold me to it, OK?!
So, I'm facing a day of being on the phone with Dell support. I don't know how long this is going to take. Send out a search party if I'm not back online in a reasonable amount of time. LOL! :-D
Looking back at what we covered in Term 1 (which I will post as soon as I can get my laptop fixed), I see that we didn't get in any: Geography, Nature Study, Art, or Music. Well, we did listen to some classical music CDs that I own, but that was "free listening," not something I actually scheduled. And we did sing hymns.
Nature Study is something I've not fretted about because up until April 2005 we lived on a small farm and nature studies happened EVERYDAY spontaneously. But now that we are temporarily away from the farm, I feel like I should do something. The dc do feed the birds and play outside. They've explored the creek that runs through our yard. We now have a salt lick and a mineral block to attract the deer that abound in this area. So I guess they are still getting their natural, spontaneous "nature study" this way. I still want to make a more concerted effort, though. I'd really like to make use of Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study that I paid $18 for, you know? LOL!
Geography has always been rather hit and miss. We have maps and globes and we casually look things up when the need arises to clarify something. We actually did more actual geography studies when we were doing Five in a Row. Dd10 has read the Komroff Marco Polo book that is used in AO Year 2, but I didn't make her do any map work with it. She is now reading the Young People's edition of Kon Tiki. I still haven't made her do any map work yet, though. :-S
So, these subjects -- Geography, Nature Study, Art, and Music -- are going to get more attention this term. As well as Shakespeare and Plutarch. We've started Plutarch finally. I have yet to start Shakespeare, though. We have also picked back up with Art studies which we haven't "officially" done since last school year.
But I'm getting there. We are slowly adding things in at a pace we all can handle. :-)
Well, dd5 is asking for another reading lesson, so I'm off. :-D