I'm not sure my kids have ever noticed that I always refer to it as "Spring Cleaning Break" 

Maybe they are just being polite, and not letting me know that they think I'm a dufus for not knowing the correct name of the event.   In any case, for years, I have referred to it this way, and had the policy that if we are going to take a break from school in the spring, it will be to clean the house.  Because the house will get no attention otherwise.

This week my DH is away on business and I decided we would take our annual spring cleaning break, except that I didn't think it would be wise to take yet another week off school.  So I planned a boot camp type week - Spring Cleaning and School Intensive Week.  That is kind of long.  Cleaning/School Intensive.  That's better.  Wait - CSI!!!! It's a week-long CSI Marathon!  I'm sure the kids would have been more impressed if they'd known that CSI is in fact a television show with a huge cult-like following.  I think I have watched a grand total of 3/8 of an episode myself. 

At any rate, the plan I have in mind involves spending all morning doing school, concentrating on getting every subject caught up; and then spending the afternoon or a chunk of it, doing housecleaning.  Doing some of the housecleaning chores that are above and beyond the daily upkeep.   Everyone agreed in principle to this idea. 

Today we really did make some progress in the kitchen! I have a room or a couple rooms picked out for each day of this week, to help us focus our efforts.  We cleaned out the fridge, cleaned up all the dishes and most of the countertops (the counter is MY catch-all, so my section is left for me to do), cleaned the oven and microwave, washed down all the cabinets (outside - reorganizing inside is a whole day job on its own), swept, and decluttered the phone table.  We are not finished - there's that counter section I mentioned, plus the stovetop needs to be scrubbed, and I need to vacuum behind the fridge, etc - but enough progress was made that I am feeling rather encouraged that the CSI Marathon may be successful!

I love it when a plan comes together.

Oh, that's a different show.  The A-Team.  I watched a LOT more of those episodes.

Now that I think about it... Crime Scene Investigation is a pretty apt description of a typical day here.

Friday was the end of the first quarter for our homeschool association, which means I am working on report cards.  Some homeschoolers don't like report cards - we do.   But sometimes it's hard to assign grades...  this is where I like math - the answer is either right or wrong.  I don't have to make many judgment calls to come up with a grade for Math.  I try to balance everything else - grading based on what I believe my kid is capable of achieving, and how much effort and attention was given to an assignment. 

The exercise of doing report cards also gives me a good look at how much we've achieved in the school year to date, and a chance to decide whether I need to adjust anything in the coming quarter.  I'm doing a lot of adjusting right now, because when we started the school year (and when I entered most of the assignments for the year in the Homeschool Tracker) we were planning to take Christmas vacation at Christmas time and our plans have changed.  We are now taking that vacation at the end of November. 

For Spencer, I've recorded 52 school days so far.  We're pretty much on track in Science and Social Studies, although we're adjusting as we go to account for the vacation time.  I would have liked for him to be farther along in his Math and Language Arts assignments, but we have plenty of time left.  I did remind him that we are going to hit the books HARD this week and get as much done as possible so we can have a guilt-free vacation. 

• Bible     -                       A+
• Social Studies -          A
• Language Arts -          B+
• Math -                            B
• Phys.Ed. -                     A+
• Science -                      A

Here is the drawing of a medieval period castle that Spencer did for History:

LAST Monday was Spencer's birthday, and I failed to get anything posted about it until today.   He dislikes having his picture taken even more than does Harrison, so pictures are very rare.  (Harrison lets me take pictures, but he either refuses to smile or makes a totally goofy face)

Here's the most recent birthday boy - he got the Fantastic 4 movies:

He also hates talking on the phone - or even listening! But he actually picked up quite willingly for the birthday calls from the grandparents this time.

And school... is going well, I guess.  We are struggling to keep up with the schedule I had made up since three mornings each week are cut very short because I have to take DH to physical therapy.  And personally, I am just so tired!!!!  But I think I have enough built-in "catch-up" time to the schedule that we will get ourselves back on track shortly. 

Spencer is moving on to Saxon Math 8/7!  Finally polished off those last few chapters of 7/6 so now we can go ahead with the next book.  I hope he can finish 8/7 this school year so we can stay on schedule with starting Algebra 1/2 at the start of his Grade 9 year.

I changed my categories a little bit, to remind myself to write on a somewhat regular basis about what each of the kids are doing.  I certainly don't think I'll make an entry for every child, every week, but hopefully a little more often than what I had been doing.  So this will be my first "Middle School Monday" which will focus on what Spencer is working on.  He is doing some Grade 7 and some Grade 8 work.  One of the things that I love about homeschooling is that a student doesn't need to be held back in everything when one subject is more of a struggle.  Reading, writing, and spelling have not come easy for Spencer, so that is one subject in which he is working on the Grade 7 material.  We also did an odd thing with him and with Harrison a couple years ago - we started the Alpha Omega Lifepacs for Language Arts, but not at the beginning of the school year; we started in second semester!  Needless to say, they didn't finish the entire grade level in just half the school year.  So at the beginning of 2006/2007, Spencer started with the remainder of the Grade 5 Language Arts (Unit 5 or 6 out of 10) and finished that before starting the Grade 6 material.  Therefore, this year he still has two of the Grade 6 units that he is finishing before starting the Grade 7; and I expect that we will be well able to finish the Grade 7 material units by the end of this school year.  If it goes well, I will certainly encourage working ahead into the Grade 8 books and getting a head start on that.  We're in a similar situation with Math.  He's just about finished Saxon 7/6 and although I can tell that he's "rusty" after the summer break, I am planning to give him the placement test before deciding whether we'll do all or just some of 8/7 or perhaps even go straight to Algebra 1/2. 

What We're Using:

Math:   currently finishing  Saxon Math 7/6

Language Arts:  Alpha Omega LifePacs

Social Studies:  Around the World in 180 Days

We are not doing this book in the order it's written, which could make it interesting.  I think it will work though - we started at the end of the book so right now we are studying North America.

Science:  God's Design for Heaven and Earth - Our Planet Earth

I haven't really chosen anything specific for electives or arts at this point.  Spencer, along with the other kids, is also in a 16 week co-op gym class which satisfies Phys.Ed. requirements.