School, that is.  Between remodel errands, working part-time and watching three small children a couple of times a week, our school times have been hit and miss.  But today was a good day, so I'll go to sleep with that thought to comfort me!

In Bible, we're currently in Joshua 2 reading about the spies and Rahab.  With Weaver, our other studies correlate and have included communication and espionage.  So part of our school time yesterday included a trip to the mall where we trailed an unsuspecting shopper, trying to get information, such as what they were shopping for, apparent moods, etc.  The kids had a lot of fun with that.  Then today, K's writing assignment in Writing Strands had him hide and watch while someone did a good deed, then prepare to report on it in writing.  I had dh help out with this by putting away the clean dishes.  It seemed to go right along with our spying activities.  We've also discussed communication, and will have some fun with codes in the next day or two.

Dh's near and dear cousin is in the hospital following surgery for a brain aneurysm.  Your prayers are appreciated. 

The back house should be completed in about two weeks, hopefully in time to get my mother moved in before Thanksgiving.  I'm sure she'd like to be settled in her own place by then. 

Tomorrow's plans include more remodel errands - buying the last of the light fixtures, Art at the Library program with a couple of other homeschool friends, karate in the evening, and whatever school we happen to get to.  I want to make sure we get in the three R's and Bible if nothing else.

I'm looking forward to an extra hour of sleep this weekend?  How about you?

I'm not nearly as creative as many others in the workbox craze, but I do like that it helps my children do a portion of their work independently.  This has been a big help on days when I work outside the home, or even when I'm working from home with pressing deadlines.  So tomorrow's workboxes are planned as followes:

K - 3rd grade

1.  Bible time with Mom - We're in Joshua ch.1 

2. Learning about the earth's hemispheres. This one will involve paint and a styrofoam ball. He should enjoy.

3. Math - Tomorrow he'll cover two lessons, since much of this is still review from what he learned in Saxon 3.  He does this work independently, leaving me time to work with C.

4.  Handwriting - just a sheet from a generic cursive writing book. Tomorrow's letter of emphasis is J

5.  Spelling - a couple of exercises in his Spelling Workout D workbook

6.  Reading - Make a paper bag puppet for one of the characters in a book he just finished (Ralph S. Mouse) then tell the main points of the story using the puppet. - He doesn't enjoy writing, so a formal book report doesn't work well yet. Hopefully this will also help him with his presentation skills.

7. Working on an exercise in Writing Strands.  We're only on our second exercise so it's hard to tell if this book is going to be a good fit for us through the year.  It's started very gently, which has helped with K. I can see improvement in his writing from last year, but know we're not yet up to par.  Funny that he's such a reluctant writer, considering that I supplement our income with writing.  Doesn't look like C is going to have the writing bug either

8. Journal - free writing time. 6 minutes.

9. Keyboard practice. He's doing pretty well with this so far this year.

10. First Language Lessons Grade 3 - Tomorrow's emphasis is on narrating a passage I'll read aloud.

11. UTAWG - Uninterrupted time alone with God. This has been very informal and unstructured.  I turn him loose with his Bible and a journal.  Lately he's been reading in Genesis and is up to chapter 24 I think.

Lots of workboxers do a better job of incorporating fun into their workboxes than I do.  Right now he gets plenty of "fun" outside of school time and I really need to emphasize their true subjects.  We miss days or subjects often enough with other commitments that I want to "hit the books" when we can.

 

And for C - 1st grade

1 and 2 - Same as above.

3. MUS - Working on <, > and =.  It's always a struggle with C. She says she doesn't get it, but does fine on the problems when she puts effort into it.  The problem is she'd rather moan and groan than just do it.  I pray for her regularly! 

4. Reading - reading aloud from an Abeka reader that I stumbled across. I'd like to have more of these, but not willing to pay the full price from Abeka. I can always find something else for her to read aloud from. Also will review some lessons from Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading making up silly sentences using recently learned words.

5 and 6 - Pages in her phonics (Horizons) and Spelling (Spectrum) workbooks. 

7 - Journal - Free writing, though lately she's taken the lazy way out and has chosen to write "I don't know what to write" over and over. I'm hoping this is a fad that will pass.  Refer to her #3 above!

8. UTAWG

9. First Language Lessons - 1st grade. Learning about common and proper nouns.

10. Writing - Learning about sentences and writing some sentences.  I use a workbook for this, though I don't remember the publisher off the top of my head.  I think that if I have two reluctant writers, I'm not presenting it well as the teacher.

11. Let's Play Library - she set up a bookstore in the living room today, allowing customers to purchase from her stock of books. So since all the stuff is out in the middle of the room anyway, thought I'd take advantage of it and let her play with a library set I printed up from http://homeschooling.about.com/od/freeprintables/ss/library.htm

We'll probably also babysit for our neighbors who are trying to learn Mongolian as they will be relocating there within a month.  And hoping to squeeze in a trip to the library.  Hubby is traveling this week, so we're able to school into the evening if needed. 

Thanks for reading along!

 

When posting about our recent projects, I forgot to include our windsocks.  We've been learning about explorers and how they used the wind to help navigate their routes.  Windsocks seemed like a fitting project. 

Now, off to get in some math!

Our core subjects haven't gotten as much attention as I'd like lately, but we've gotten in several art projects lately.  I had intentionally wanted to increase the number and scope of art or arts & crafts projects this year since that is something C enjoys so much.

C's Self Portrait - I have a friend that does art projects in the classroom for her PS daughter.  She wanted to share this with my kids, so we went over to her house today.  Before completing their portraits, they studied a self-portrait by Van Gogh, one by Kahlo, and a couple of others.  She and K really enjoyed this project.

K's Self Portrait - His is as if he's standing in front of our house.  The house is behind him, along with a tree in our back yard. The brown on his face is a Band-Aid, due to a recent run-in with the fence.

  

The kids participate in an Art Around the World project at the library each month. September's project was bolo ties.  I never would have come up with this one on my own!

Then on our own we did these offsetting striped pictures.  K's is a dinosaur, while C chose a fish theme.  They liked how these turned out.

 

And finally, a couple of weeks ago we did seasonal trees. C's are on the left and go in order - spring, summer, fall and winter.  K chose to do some modern trees (pink, purple and striped) and his are spring, autumn, winter, summer. 

 

If only they enjoyed the core subjects as much as art!

Today was a reasonably good day. I haven't been anywhere!  No errands, no outside classes, no working outside the home.  And it feels so good to just stay home!  I babysat for the neighbor for a couple of hours (friends who are headed to Mongolia to live in about 5 weeks) but we had managed to get most of our schoolwork done before they came over.

We are continuing to do a modified version of workboxes around here.  It's allowed me to have the kids work through a few boxes while I'm at work, so that not everything is on hold until I get home.  I still need to be more intentional about including fun boxes and hopefully this will come with practice. My creativity has been a bit slow in recent months!

We went to the State Fair on Monday. Dh and my mother were able to go with us. Here they let homeschoolers choose a day to attend, notify them ahead of time, and admission is free. Yay!! I forgot to take the camera and it's been so long since I've included photos in a post.  Add that to my "must do soon" list. Then on Tues & Wed I worked a few hours at the office.  Not many, but combined with all the remodel errands, it seems like there's never enough time to do everything I want us to do for school. So though I had planned to work a few hours today, it seemed more beneficial to stay home and have a real school day.

K's workboxes for the day included Bible study (a review of Deuteronomy with me), spelling test on the computer (100%!), journaling, exercise in Writing Strands (his writing skills are below where they should be), Saxon math 5/4 using DIVE CD (day 2 of this. So far, so good, but I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop), reading Ralph S. Mouse, UTAWG (Uninterrupted time alone with God), handwriting (learning cursive), our first ever hymn study and P.E. (trampoline time). We still have a couple of things on the agenda for this evening while Dh is at church teaching.

C's workboxes also included Deutronomy,  spelling and phonics worksheets, journaling, her first lesson in MUS Beta (attitude issues with this today), reading alone and with me, sequencing events in a series of pictures, UTAWG (she wrote out a really sweet prayer!) and a couple of lessons from Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading.

I plan to have them both work on latchhook projects they have in progress while I watch  Survivor tonight. Yes, now you know one of my main vices. There's very few redeeming attributes to the show, though I understand there is a Christian in the cast. Not sure which one she is or how her beliefs will play out.

Dh brought home our annual sack of green chile. I think he got 20 pounds already roasted.  We then just freeze it in smaller bags so it will be ready when needed throughout the year.  The smell of roasted green chile is heavenly to this NM gal.  Wonder what smells we'll have in heaven?

And can someone clue me in?  I'm pretty technologically illiterate. What is an ipod vs  an mp3 player? Which one is the most beneficial to the homeschooling mom and family?

Thanks for your input

Robin 

Wow, the first few days/weeks are tough after taking most of the summer off.  K, who has a naturally ability with math, is really struggling. Multiplication and division just aren't becoming automatic yet.  I have to come up with another angle to present this material so that he can retain it and understand it better.  Funny, he can figure out a division problem such as 648 divided by 4 in his head (slowly) but can't do it using the algorithm and putting pencil to paper.  And his mind wanders so much when he does his fact problems.  He does better if I say it out loud, have him repeat it, then give me the answer. But to simply look at the problem and write the answer is enough to have me pull my hair out!

C, I think she does need review of the end of MUS Alpha, but her's is less about not remembering how, and more about a lack of diligence and effort. She'd rather say she can't or give the wrong answer rather than just get it done correctly.  She's a perfect example of "stubborn to her own hurt." Can't imagine where she gets that from!!

I think the workboxes will work ok for us once we get in the swing.  But this week, I've worked every morning, usually have an errand or two in the afternoons, so we're starting schoolwork so late that our focus isn't what I'd hoped. But next week, I won't be working as dh will be traveling again. So we'll be able to have school in the mornings with fresh minds and hearts.  Hopefully it will be just the ticket to get our year rolling.

I have incorporated a few more fun things so far - a benefit of the workboxes. I've tentatively planned out the boxes for the week considering how many days for spelling, vocab, math, etc. Then I've purposefully left some of the boxes empty in my planning, specifically to insert fun things.  And I'm working on implementing more arts & crafts for my dd - playing to her strengths and weaknesses. 

I still (and will probably always) struggle with feelings that I am neglecting my kids when I spend time helping my family, working outside the home, working on the remodel, caring for other children, etc. I would love to be able to simply sit at the table or the sofa or the floor for uninterrupted days of focused learning. But it doesn't appear that's the life God has called me to  - at least not at this season. So instead, I pray to make wise use of the blocks of time we do have. God knows the futures He has in store for my children, so I am trying to trust Him to prepare them for those futures. 

They are such a blessing. I cannot believe that God would love me so much as to give me the gift of caring for these children, watching them grow and learn, giving and receiving love.  It's overwhelming to me, a sinner like Paul - even a chief among sinners.  So off I go for more hugs and kisses.

didn't look like most of our weeks will, hopefully. We had one "formal" day of school, complete with workboxes. Then an errand & travel day, followed by a few field trip filled days. 

We managed to take in:

Tucson Children's Museum - the kids enjoyed, but not as much as the Baltimore Children's Museum last fall.

International Wildlife Museum - I liked this one. Over 450 stuffed animals, some pictured in their habitats. Very informative, plenty of hands-on, and reasonably priced.

T-Rex Museum - K liked this one. It was a bit hokey and too evolutionistic for my tastes, but we met another homeschool family while on the tour and had a nice conversation about what our follow-up conversations with the kids would be about evolution vs. creation.

Reid Park Zoo - A small zoo in Tucson, but very well kept.  Their animals seemed much cleaner than the ones at our local zoo.

Tombstone - There was a special Rendezvous with the Gunfighters weekend going on. Unfortunately, we were pressed for time and didn't get to take in all the activities. We were able to see a short funny gunfighting skit with a couple of bumbling bad guys and an over the hill sheriff.  The kids enjoyed that. I hope we can go back sometime and stay longer.

Extended P.E. - Hours spent in the hotel swimming pool

Social skills - Met up with friends of my dh's and a friend of mine from high school. Kids got to play with other new children, and spend time patiently waiting for the adults to finish up our catching up.

Life Skills - I think anytime we travel we develop additional lifeskills - from ordering meals at restaurants, to navigating the maps of the various museums we went to, to budgeting the limited money they brought along for souvenirs.

We'll take tomorrow off to regroup, catch up on laundry and plan the week. Then back at it on Tuesday. 

Hope your week was one filled with learning and loving!

Lots of extra stuff going on. Computer issues, vehicle issues, remodel issues, and the never ending "too much stuff on my plate issues." Ok, done with the whining. On to other things. Looks like we'll only get in one "formal" day of school this week. I had hoped to get some additional bookwork in tomorrow before heading out to join hubby i Tucson for a few days, but tomorrow looks pretty well shot, due to the aforementioned "issues."

The kids did reasonably well, today.  Of course, we've forgotten what math even is, much less how to actually solve problems. But attitudes were ok, and we worked through our workboxes pretty much as I had anticipated. C seems to have misplaced her "Yes, I can" attitude, substituting it with a "this is too hard" one instead. Hopefully, we'll switch back to the better one soon.

A friend came over to pick my brain as she and her husband are considering homeschooling their 1st and 4th graders. Good thing she didn't stay for the whole day. She might have run screaming and pulling her hair!  The good in today?  I wouldn't trade learning with my kids for anything in the world. They both enjoyed their time reading their Bibles. K's journaling went ok, and we had a good trip to the library. I can only imagine how difficult it must be for a public school teacher who has 25 of these kids who've forgotten everything they ever knew, and must be retrained over the course of the next few weeks. I think our re-training period will be much shorter than many of our PS counterparts. At least I hope so!

Blessings to you. Looking forward to a new day tomorrow. So glad His mercies are new everyday!

Looks like we're actually going to start school tomorrow.  I've spent much of today preparing and organizing and am looking forward to getting back to a routine.  Only for a couple of days though as the kids and I will join dh in Tucson on Wednesday.  He's teaching a class there, so we'll go and play tourist while he's working.  I think it's the closest thing we're going to get to a vacation this year.  I, of course, plan to throw in a couple of educational activities or stops. The kids are simply looking forward to enjoying the hotel's swimming pool.

We still have a few things straggling from last spring that we didn't finish, so we'll start with those and a fairly light load.  We need to finish up a lapbook on the book of Numbers, and K needs to complete his last 5 lessons in Saxon Math 3 before we move on to the next level. We will be attempting to implement the Workbox system that's all the rage these days.  (As a non-conformist, it's difficult to accept doing what everyone else is doing!)  I think it will help me with scheduling, making sure those once a week areas of study actually get included, rather than left out.  And I'm hoping it will increase self-motivation/independence in the kiddos.

While nothing is set in stone, these are the curriculum choices we're currently anticipating:

K-3rd grade

Bible, science and social studies - Weaver Vol 3 - American Revolution through the Civil War

Math - Saxon 5/4 with DIVE instruction.  I'm concerned this will be too much for K. While he will "get" the concepts, I think the computer presentation and expected work level may be too much for him.  We'll slow it down though and take it at his level.  He's working a year ahead of grade, but of course, his organizational and concentrational skills aren't a year ahead! - (Yes, I know concentrational isn't a word. Couldn't think of one more appropriate.)

Language Arts - a combination of First Language Lessons 3, Wordly Wise, Spelling Workout D by Modern Curriculum Press, Writing Strands and Wisdom Words. My concern here would be with Writing Strands. We've not used it before and writing is K's weakness. We'll supplement with other things as needed,

Spanish - various workbooks, games, etc, but I'm really hoping to get he and C into a local Spanish class for children. Waiting on a call back.

Life Skills - Contenders for the Faith

Other items will be added from time to time, including art, keyboarding, karate and piano.

 

C's curriculum - 1st grade

Bible, science and social studies - Weaver along with her brother

Math - MUS, finishing up Alpha and planning to start Beta within 2 weeks.

Language Arts - Again, a variety. AOP for phonics, Spectrum Spelling and whatever on-hand resources I have to strengthen skills.

Life Skills - Keepers of the Faith. Also planning some regular craft time with Goggy (my mom) since she will be living nearby in a few weeks.

C will also be involved in Spanish and art, and probably piano.

 

Listing it out it all seems pretty simple and easy to implement. So why is my dining table covered with additional programs and resources?!! Ah, one of the joys of homeschooling - adjusting to meet the needs of my children as individuals.

Hoping your school year is off to a great start! And if you haven't started yet, I hope you are looking forward with anticipation!

 

I had hoped to use this past week to get prepared to start school on Monday, the 24th.  Instead my stepfather passed away somewhat suddenly on Wednesday, so I've spent several days in Las Cruces helping my mother.  Though I came home today, I will return in a couple of days for the funeral services, to help with odds and ends, and to help her finish packing.  We will be moving her here to Albuquerque as soon as the services are over, as we will have lots of help on hand.

We had begun remodeling the 2nd house on our property for she and her husband to move to.  It won't be ready yet for several more weeks, so until then, she will stay with my sister's family her in Albuquerque. 

Lots of changes, but not much school happening.  The kids are still learning though.  We spent the day on the NM/Mexico border yesterday, a small, hot border crossing at Columbus, NM / Palomas, Mexico.  They've gotten to see a bit of what happens when someone dies, learned about family dynamics and relationships, etc. I look forward to when we will have structure again, but not sure when that will be.  We have decided to forego co-op this year, just to spend more time at home, focusing on the areas I believe God would have for our family.

Looking forward to church tomorrow.  Can't wait to spend time worshipping the Lord with my Christian family.  Praying your time in church is filled with wonder and awe at who He is!

Saw this over on my friend Pam's blog  http://momsmutterings.blogspot.com/  and had an extra 90 seconds (or so) on my hands...Me in a nutshell:

Age:  44 - today!  It's my birthday.

Bed Size: Queen

Chore You Hate: Dusting

Dogs or Cats: Dogs - we have two.

Essential Start Your Day Item: Lately it's been exercise via www.albuquerquebootcamp.com  But check out Pam's.  Her's sounds yummy! 

Favorite Color: Green. Also my answer to red or green (chile)

Gold or Silver: Either

Height: 5'5

Instruments You've Played: Piano, trumpet and French horn years ago.

Job Title: Jack of All Trades, Master of None.  

Kid(s): 8 yr old son, 6 yr old daughter

Loud or Quiet: I prefer quiet. Too loud and I seem to get sensory overload!

Married? How long: Yes, 12 years.

Nicknames: Mom, Missy (one I also call my daughter), Hon 

Overnight Hospital Stay: Only when both kids were born.  It was kind of nice to have full control of the remote!

Pet Peeve:   Too many to list!

Quote From A Movie:  Tombstone, Sam Elliot:  I still got one good are to hold you with, Vera.  And various from Gone with the Wind: I don't know nothin' bout birthin no babies, Miss Scarlett!  As God as my witness, I'll never be hungry again.  Tomorrow is another day. 

Right or Left Handed: Right

Siblings: An older brother and a younger sister.

Time You Wake Up: lately 4:30am for the bootcamp and around 7 on the weekends.

Underwear: Yes

WHAT HAPPENED TO V?  OK, I'll make up my own.  Vice(s) - I love sweets, especially soda and chocolate. 

Ways You Run Late: Not often - usually when other family members are involved (no names to protect the innocent!)

X-Rays You've Had: Only dental.

Yummy Food You Make: Denver Biscuits, yum. 

Zoo Favorite: Okapi.  Thanks to the Baltimore Zoo for introducing this one to our family.

 

If you participate, let me know so I can get to know my blogging buddies better!

Things continue to be busy, and this post will be brief.

We're beginning another remodel.  Doesn't seem like that long ago since we finished our own (10 months ago, but it seems to have flown!)  Now we're completing the mother-in-law quarters on our lot in anticipation of my mother moving here in about 6 weeks.  The exterior is done, but the inside is a total shell.  The same guy who did most of our house is doing this one too and he and his crew began today.  First comes the demolition.  They're ripping up old floors, will have to tear off old plaster, frame a couple of walls, etc.  Plumbers start on Monday, installing forced air heat and refrig. air.  And I need to figure out cabinets and get them ordered soon so we won't have to wait on them.

I had hoped to start school on Aug 17 but think we'll wait til the 24th.  I have my bi-monthly editorial deadline this week and will need the following week to finish planning/prepping for school.  So not ready!

We have friends headed to Mongolia soon, so we had their reception at church last week.  DH and I were in charge of the food.  The entire reception went well, but I am glad that it's done.  Still juggling too many balls in the air.  Looking forward to the normalcy and routine that should come with school.

Hope all is well for those of you reading along.  Blessings to you and your families!

A quick note:  What I'd like to be doing:  Finishing school planning for the year.  I'm about 3/4 through our Weaver planning, but want to finish it, then add in all the other subjects.  It's amazing to think that we're planning on starting up again in just a little over a month, and I am NOT YET READY!  I'd also like to be doing more "just hanging out" with the kids.  Seems like there are too many other projects taking up our time!

What I am doing:  Several writing assignments due.  One completed, one in the customer review phase, and one major project still to be written with a due date of Friday.  Most of the interviews are complete, just need to pull it together and do a bit more phone and internet research.  Also in the process of planning a reception for friends who are headed out to the mission field.  I'm in charge of the food, for an unknown number of guests.  The reception is only 2 1/2 weeks away, so off I go to make plans, phone calls, etc. 

I do hope that many of you reading this are finding your summer much more relaxed and less deadline oriented than ours is currently!

 

A couple of weeks ago, our pastor gave a sermon on soul-winning.  He gave an analogy of a group who had formed a fishing club.  They met and talked about fishing constantly.  They talked about the best fishing holes, their preferences for lures and lines. They organized committees to send others out to fish, they read books about fishing, etc.  But they never fished.  (The analogy was much longer and more memorable!)

I could see this happening in home education also.  There is so much information available.  Wanting only the best for our children, whether in curriculum, methodology, philosphy or whatever, we can continually seek additional information.  I am on a couple of yahoo groups and the number of emails I get for these two groups is amazing - almost to the point of frustration.  But I hate to not look at the emails, because what if there's a new idea, a different way to present a troublesome topic, a cool website I knew nothing about.  So I gather and I glean and I file away ideas and I try to weigh which of these ideas to use in the future and which to forego.  But at some point, I must stop looking at ideas and fish.  Or teach, as my case may be. 

I've begun the planning process for next year, trying to figure out how many days a week we need to do the various subjects, which ones are once/week, which require everyday increments.  I'm trying to list out all the things I want us to cover this year, then figure out how to schedule it all appropriately.  I'm having a bit of a mental block, because our Fridays are going to be so hit and miss.  Between co-op, Keepers/Contenders and my agreeing to work two Fridays a month, we'll pretty much only do our structured time 4 days per week.  I know lots of people do this, but I'm having a hard time adjusting my ideas to a 4 day week.  There's so much good stuff I want us to cover.  Do I try to cram 5 days of stuff into 4?  Do I plan on us taking more than the typical 36 weeks for school, just to get it all in?  Should I skip stuff to get finished in the 36 weeks?  If so, what do I skip?  Don't worry, these are all rhetorical questions.  I'm just thinking through my fingertips.  And praying for wisdom.

K will be a third grader.  Seems like it's time to get serious about his education.  It's easy to think of the areas where we might not be as far along as we should be, or about the things he doesn't know yet, or opportunities we've missed - where I didn't present the information as well as or, as in depth as, I could have.  I don't want to get to the end of our homeschool career and think "I wish I'd have......"  Then with C, it's too easy to let her fall through the cracks, to not be as intentional about her studies as about K's.  With K, I see his strengths and weaknesses more easily, so I can figure out how to deal with them.  C's are less visible, or I am more blind!  I want to find what she loves and emphasize that with her.  Probably artsy type stuff, possibly domestic skills, and hopefully writing.  We'll test these waters with our toes this year and see how it goes.

Are you doing your planning yet?

Robin

"Retired teacher-books, school materials... " I don't often go to garage sales. But the kids were in VBS this morning and I didn't work today, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to go browse.  And here are my treasures:

 

 7 National Geographics, .10/each.  I only had 70 cents change on me!  The kids will enjoy the organizational caddies and the blank receipt book.  They love playing restaurant.  A few books for reading, including a Boxcar Children book, Ramona the Pest and two Encyclopedia Browns.  Some stickers, a book on totem poles, a set of sentence cards for puntuation and capitalization practice, and workbooks for cursive writing, 2nd grade spelling, art activities for K-3, math, rocks & soil and indepedent reading suggestions.  And a human anatomy coloring book, with pretty detailed drawings. And none of the workbooks have been written in.  Grand total?  $6!  Then tomorrow is our monthly library sale.  We may go there and see if there's anything else to supplement next year's planning.

As I mentioned in a prior post, I've gone back to work part-time back in the title business.  I'm fortunuate in that I've been able to set my own hours.  I do miss being with my kids when I'm at the office.  But I promised the kids that with my first paycheck, we'd go shopping for something they didn't really need but wanted.  C wanted a new dress and K wanted new shoes.  I'm posting these pictures primarily for dh who's traveling.  This way he can share in the moment!

 

 

We've taken a couple of weeks off from any kind of structure.  I'm hoping to get a little structured learning in this next week.  We started using Sue Patrick's workbox system in late May, so I'm hoping to get that going again.  I'm hoping we can finish up a couple of things that we didn't finish in the semester, and use the workboxes for some fun things and to review other things during the summer.  Sunday is our co-op's recognition night.  We, (I mean I), were so disorganized this last year that I'm not really sure what to showcase at the event. 

The kids had a blast at VBS this year - our first year to participate.  We attend a very large church, and I wasn't comfortable letting the kids go on their own.  K has now said he wants to go again next year and every year until he's 15!  I explained that they only go to 12

I'll spend most of the next week working on my bi-monthly editorial project.  And enjoying the kids, too.  I am blessed beyond measure!

K turned eight on Friday.  We had a couple of his cousins stay over for two nights and all seemed to have fun.

 

He was so eager to ride his new bike that he didn't even give me time to take off the tags! We spent most of the day at Hinkle Family Fun Center. Here's a shot of the family waiting in line to get on the bumper boats. The boats had squirt guns on them and they had a great time soaking each other.

Daddy and C in the boats. He tossed his shirt to me to keep it dry while he soaked the kids!

They had a community fair going on with lots of booths on various organizations. This go-cart was sponsored by the police. The kids drove around the course once normally, then a 2nd time wearing some goggles designed to impair the driver as if they had been drinking.

Blowing out the candles...

And a final shot before taking the cousins back to Santa Fe.

I feel like I should write something memorable about K, some kind of tribute like my friend Julie at Forty Acres, A Husband & Three Kids does for her kids' birthdays. Maybe another time. It's getting late and still much to do. Suffice it to say that I love K very much. He is a delight to parent. The only real problem is that he is growing up too quickly for my preferences.

He was planning to test for his yellow belt in karate on his birthday, but it was postponed.  Probably will test in a couple of weeks.  Hubby is out of town for a few days.  VBS this week and a writing project next week.  Then after that things should slow down a bit.  I'm looking forward to having a few lazy summer days! 

"Are these your grandchildren?"  (No, they're not.  We just got a late start.")

 

"You must be a better mom than me because my children make me nuts." This said by a co-worker when I commented that I was looking forward to quitting time so I could spend time with my family.

 

Tomorrow is the last of our required 181 days.  We're kind of ending with a whimper instead of a bang, but it's ok.  I've worked a few more hours this week than I typically will, as it's month end, the busiest time of the month at a title company.  So the kids have had to do some schooling on their own.  DH is in the middle of a major project so his days have been filled with proposal writing.  So in an effort to foster a bit more independence, we started using Sue Patrick's workbox system last week. 

Now we aren't using it to it's full potential and I hope we will make better use of the system once we start up again in the fall (and perhaps even for some summer learning also)  But I have been able to leave some fairly simple things in their boxes for them to complete when I'm not home.  C can do her MUS worksheets on her own, but K can't do all of his math because of the new skills introduced in each Saxon session.  I had him do some skip counting practice and he's played Timez Attack on the computer.  He can do his phonics worksheets on his own, though C cannot.  I leave various handwriting or copywork projects, some assigned reading, working on their latchhook projects, Bible time with Dad, etc.  Yesterday I asked them to make a diorama in a shoebox based upon our recent read aloud Cricket in Time Square. 

Next week we have various graduation activities for dh's niece in Santa Fe and then K's birthday is Friday.  He will be 8.  I know it's silly but I already get bummed out thinking about how we only have approximatley 10 years left before he'll leave home! :{

I think we'll be fairly busy the next three weeks, but then hope to slow down and enjoy just vegging a little!  Hope your summer is off to a great start!

 

It's been a while since I've posted any photos, so thought I would tonight:

 So here's C doing a bit of silent reading today.  The current story is about a dog, one of her favorite subjects.

And K learning division with remainders. He didn't really enjoy math today, and the light bulb never officially went off, but he seemed to vaguely understand. We'll see if he still remembers tomorrow!

Laying the walkway between our small garden plots a couple of weeks ago.

K was acutally working pretty well, while C was really just posing for the camera and playing.

She did enjoy planting, and most of her plot is flowers.

K planting a strawberry plant.  The sweet potato vine was planted next.  Unfortunately, the dogs got into the garden not long after this and some of the plants didn't survive or are still suffering the trauma.

And a couple of weeks ago, they wanted to do some of their school work in the jeep.  This isn't a very good picture, but surprisingly, C got most of her bookwork completed.  K spent much of his time helping her, so he had to finish up his work after they came back inside.  But I couldn't really fault him for being such a little helper/teacher for his sister.

And more Jeep work.

We refinanced our home last week to take advantage of the fantastically low interest rates.  While there I ran into my old boss when I was in the title business.  Turns out she could use some part time help, so I start on Monday.  Primarily it will be for approx 3 days at month end, the busy time for closings.  I'll proably also work 10 hours or so the other weeks of the month.  Hubby's business has slowed a bit, so it's a way to help make progress on some outstanding bills.  I've also picked up some more writing assignments and may start to keep another little girl a couple of days a week. 

The bottom line:  it is doable, but I need to get more organized around here.  When hubby travels I most likely will not work at the office, but when he's home and I need to go in, I need to have it so he can do school time with the kids.

Also, I've cancelled the surgery.  Our share of the cost was going to be too much for what I felt the benefit would be.  As self-employed, our insurance isn't as good as when we had employers, so we are much more careful about how we use it!

Hopefully I'll update with a schoolish post later this week.  Praying your Sunday is filled with God's glory and goodness.

I have an idea of what I'd like life to look like around here.  But it's like a vapor, hovering just overhead.  I can't quite grasp it and find the vapor slipping through my fingers, leaving my hands empty and disappointed.

I didn't have the surgery last week after all.  I'm in the middle of changing insurance and doctors, so they wanted additional testing completed.  As it is, I've been rescheduled for next Thursday, the 20th.  I'm frustrated with the health issues and the associated expenses.  Self-employment, while it offers great freedom, makes it difficult to manage the day to day issues that weren't so difficult with an employer.  Seems a shame, huh? It often seems like we're swimming upstream, and not really gaining ground.

So sorry for the melancholy.  It's just been a week where everyone seems to be standing with their hands out wanting more money. 

When I count my blessings, first of course comes an awesome God who allows me to come into His presence.  He knows me and my failings, yet loves me anyway.  High on the list after that comes my husband and kids.  Hubby's first Bib'e study with his former Foundations class went well.  Hubby is very even-keeled, usually extremely patient, and rarely over emotional about anything.  But you can see his heart when he's leading or participating in a Bible study.  This is his passion.

As for the kids, the reading assessment provided by dh's niece indicated C is reading about a year ahead of her age/grade, while K is reading at least a year ahead.  These particular tests, however, also tested his writing ability as it should correlate to his reading.  No surprise to me, but his writing skills are very low.  He doesn't enjoy it and I haven't emphasized it yet.  However, our plan, even before the assessment were to hit this area pretty hard next year.  (Correlating to third grade)  I'm considering using Writing Strands.  If you've used this program and have any comments either way, please let me know.

We're winding down with school.  In theory, we have 13 days left on the calendar, so we should be able to finish up at the very end of May.  But I have a couple of things that I want to finish this year, so we may have to go a few days beyond.  For K, I want to finish his Saxon Math book.  We only have about 17 more lessons.  I've gotten him the DIVE CD for next year with the hopes that he can watch the teacher on the cd, then do the work himself, a bit more independently than we've been this year.  I'm also trying to finish up our current Horizons phonics book.  We have about 20 lessons left in that, so we're doubling up from time to time.  We don't do all the exercises, just those that I think we need to.  We're also reading a condensed version of The Little Princess with it and I don't want to stop the program until we get to the end of the story!  And finally, we have about 9 more lessons in the 2nd grade level of First Language Lessons, and I do want to finish that before we stop for the year.

As for C, nothing that I'm really feeling pressed to finish, though we are on track to possibly finish MUS Alpha level with her in the next couple of weeks.

The fun things have been put on hold recently, but I hope to be able to get back to them soon.  A lapbook on the book of Numbers, and some Gardening Unit Study activities.

For the summer, I hope to continue math a couple of times a week, and do lots of reading.  Perhaps some emphasis on missionaries, keyboarding practice for K, swimming during the month of July, and whatever else catches our eyes.  I'd like to spend some concentrated time on Spanish too. But I plan to take the month of June off from most "school" activities just to breathe, clean out and regroup.  I'm looking forward to a month of not feeling guilty about what we're not getting done in school!

We were able to go to a local amusement park yesterday with some other homeschoolers.  It was fun and a nice year-end treat for the kids. 

DH is in Baltimore overnight for a meeting, trying to convince a certain committee to use our training services.  If you think to, please pray that he will find favor among the decision makers.

Thanks for reading while I vent.  Hopefully the next post will be much more uplifting!