 Back to School!
well, not today :)
although it's monday, T is still home - i'm still sick with a yucky cold or flu, baby is napping and i'm getting ready for school. I downloaded a really neat Hands of a Child project pack from www.homeschoolestore.com on Joshua and i'm planning to do that as part of our back to homeschool over the first two weeks or so.
I've got canvases for them to paint for the "back to school" project, new math books (yay! LOL!), and a lot of prep to do to have everyone on individualized language arts programs, esp now that the oldest two are not really needing phonics work everyday, but are really badly needing grammar practice and writing in general. I'd like to get back to using Excellence in Writing again, but i've got a few things that i think will be more fun for now and hone their skills before we get back into that program. I really like it bcz it lays out exactly all the skills they will need, but i find there is a little resistance to a program that requires a lot of rigidity of thought in HOW to write. Which i kind of understand. Oh well...
I've got history books to order to go along with Story of the World - i like to order a whole pile through interlibrary loan, at least enough for two chapters, if i can do that within our piddly 25 book limit, and then pick the very best ones for read alouds or for extra info sessions.
And i'm waiting on a "real" chemistry set for my oldest, and i've got a "Painless Algebra" book that i'm hoping he can just read for fun, and get. He's like that sometimes, good on concepts, even though he's not very picky on the little details (like speed! or accuracy! argh!)
We expanded our family gym a little bit, so we'll have the older ones doing a little more in there as the weather continues to cool down.
My sister recently installed a bunch of these http://www.sharmusic.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=1549WC&Cat=
in her music room, and they're on my list, too... What a great idea! Now it won't be so hard for me (i mean my children) to grab out our violins to play for a little bit - no more couch diving and pushing aside everyone else's cases. Gotta go count how many i need. I think five violins and one mandolin need to be hung up...
And then, just getting all the clothing sorting/decluttering/laundry caught up, shelves cleared and rearranged, all those things that will make less work for me in the initial weeks of homeschool. I am so easily distracted by a dirty fridge or cluttered cupboards - so i'm trying to tackle that right now while i have time.
I'm getting there! |
