A place that I can come to for a retreat from daily life. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Sun, 22 Feb 2009 13:59:00 -0600 Sun, 22 Feb 2009 13:59:00 -0600 Now for my daybook…. To participate in the meme is simple. All you do is answer the bolded questions with your own answers and then link yourself at the Simple Woman’s blog each week. You’re always welcome to check out the other ladies’ Daybooks who participated. This is a very sweet homekeeping meme that I’d encourage you to do as well. For Today…February 22, 2009. Outside my Window…it is still and cold. I am thinking…I need to put my gift in a bag for the new baby at church. From the learning rooms…Rebekah practicing the song she will sing at church tonight. I am thankful for…baby Emma safely entering the world--praying for her and her momma. From the kitchen…Paul and the kids debating some sort of subject. ;) I am wearing…burnt orange sweater, floral print skirt. I am reading…Created to Be His Help Meet--Debi Pearl I am hoping… to have a very productive week this week.  I am creating…a small throw blanket for Hannah and one for Rebekah. I am hearing... Paul teaching Denny. Around the house…we are preparing to go to evening service at church. One of my favorite things… hugs from my kids. I am praying for... the new baby at church born at 31 1/2 weeks gestation. A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week….school everyday this week--need to take Hannah to get her birthday pictures taken, gym and volleyball on Tuesday (also have to have Mom and Dad over Tuesday to make it possible for their carpet to be cleaned), flute lesson on Monday, piano on Wednesday, baby shower on Saturday. I accomplished since last week… shopping for a baby shower that took place yesterday.  Planned math curriculum for Denny for 2nd grade. Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you: Quincy smiling. :) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/661147/ Sun, 22 Feb 2009 13:59:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/661147/ Now for my daybook…. To participate in the meme is simple. All you do is answer the bolded questions with your own answers and then link yourself at the Simple Woman’s blog each week. You’re always welcome to check out the other ladies’ Daybooks who participated. This is a very sweet homekeeping meme that I’d encourage you to do as well. For Today…January 9, 2009 2:09 p.m. Outside my Window…All is quiet other than a slight breeze blowing the Rose of Sharon outside my window.  I am thinking…I need to round up my scattered (figuratively speaking) kids and get back to school. From the learning rooms…we had finished spelling and math this morning before lunch. I am thankful for…good friends and a loving family. From the kitchen…absolutely nothing.  We need to return to the kitchen and maybe read some history together. I am wearing…an orange top, brown fleece jacket, blue jean skirt. I am reading…Created to Be His Help Meet--Debi Pearl I am hoping… we get more snow.  Yippee!  I am creating…a few baby blankets.  We are expecting at least 3 new babies at church within 6 months or less. I am hearing... the dog scratching at the garage door.  He slipped out to the garage when I was throwing something away and now he wants back in. Around the house…Denny and Grace are playing in the basement, Hannah and Rebekah are upstairs--probably listening to books on tape or CD. One of my favorite things… spending far too much time on Facebook. I am praying for... my friend Kim who had to have their 14 y/o Rottweiler put down today.  The dog had cancer and would have lived on another 7 days at best. A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week….school this afternoon.  "Game night" with the kids tonight.  Watching Beethoven's Big Break with the kids on Saturday night. I accomplished since last week…not a lot other than packing away Christmas decorations and a trip to Creation Museum. Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you: I don't know where the picture came from.  Paul had it on our computer somewhere. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/643341/ Fri, 9 Jan 2009 13:08:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/643341/ Posted in Homeschool Memoirs Writing Assignments Assignment: This week please post what your planned homeschool routine is. This is my turn to opt out.  I covered our schedule pretty thoroughly last week. :) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/585822/ Fri, 5 Sep 2008 21:34:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/585822/ Okay, I am ashamed that it took me an entire Friday evening to make this happen.  The problem was that I wasn't familiar with the "media" and had to learn as I went.  I believe this is my fifth try (I kept going b/c I had invested so much time into it and I was determined then to finish.  I believe I shall call it "perserverance!"--My luck is that I spelled that wrong but since I have had so much time put into this project, I'm not in the mood to check my spelling!).  So with credit given to Lalaith for giving me the idea and some instruction on how to make this happen: 1. Milo, 2. Dizzyingly Delicious Kababs..., 3. Timken Senior High School Main Building (there is a whole campus), 4. gotcha, 5. Noah Wyle goes for a stroll through the streets of NYC’s West Village on Tuesday with his wife and children=., 6. the way I start my day, 7. Shores on the road to Hope, 8. coffee and chocolate mousse cake, 9. pink and green, 10. Life Passes By, 11. a family dinner, 12. Untitled Here's what you do. a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search. b. Using only the first page, pick an image. c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker. Choose 3 columns with 4 rows. The Questions: 1. What is your first name? Carolyn 2. What is your favorite food? Indian food 3. What high school did you go to? (or, What year did you graduate high school?) Timken Senior High 4. What is your favorite color? lime green 5. Who is your celebrity crush? Noah Wyle 6. Favorite drink? Chai latte 7. Dream vacation? Alaska 8. Favorite dessert? chocolate 9. What you want to be when you grow up? doula 10. What do you love most in life? Jesus 11. One Word to describe you: mom 12. Your flickr name. (kid version: favorite animal?)cj http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/585811/ Fri, 5 Sep 2008 21:15:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/585811/ To participate in the meme is simple. All you do is answer the bolded questions with your own answers and then link yourself at the Simple Woman’s blog each week. FOR TODAY...September 4, 2008 Outside My Window... the cicadas are singing.  The goldfinches are eating the seeds from the flowers planted around the deck.  The tomato plants have grown into a jungle. I am thinking... that my tomato sandwich is quite yummy!  I'm so glad I planted so many tomato plants this year! I am thankful for... my family.  I can't imagine what life would be like without a single one. From the kitchen... I hear Grace rooting for a spoon--wonder what she is up to--oh, chocolate milk, I should have known.  Doesn't everyone drink chocolate milk with a spoon? I am wearing... my favorite clothes--lime green t-shirt and denium skirt. I am creating... homemade sloppy joes per request of my oldest. I am going... to visit a member of our church who won't we with us much longer. I am reading... Revolutionary War books with the kids. I am hoping... that Paul gets to feeling better soon. I am hearing... Denny rooting around in a bookshelf looking for something. Around the house... Hannah is getting ready to study with a friend.  Rebekah and Grace are watching a movie about a composer. One of my favorite things... my downy pillow. A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: school, thankfully this week is not going to be crazy as last week was. Here is picture thought I am sharing... The girls and me at Oletangy Caverns, Columbus, OH.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/585172/ Thu, 4 Sep 2008 13:54:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/585172/ It was really fun to get to meet all of you last week, and I’m so glad you all decided to join us! I know that the Homeschool Memoirs is only going to get more exciting and encouraging as each week goes by and new homeschoolers join us! I hope you were able to “get out” and meet a few new friends and be encouraged. I know I did and found a couple interesting blogs to re-visit. THEME This week’s theme is about sharing your 2008-09 homeschool agendas and plans. You’ve been preparing your plans for sometime and you’re ready to go. Or you’re still in the planning-stage and need some inspiration or tips on what to use. Because many use different curriculum and methods there is always something new to be gleaned from other homeschoolers. It’s always fun and interesting to see what other’s are using and the WWWWH as Robin Sampson suggests. So this week I hope you will share what you’re doing this year for your homeschool agenda. Share the different curriculum you’re using. You can also include what age/grade you’re using it for, how long you’ve been using it, and why you like it. Please share a Bible verse that has encouraged you or inspired you during this planning-process, and how. Once upon a time it was no big deal how I homeschooled.  When I taught Hannah for the first year I had her in "kindergarten," I had a preschool Rebekah running around, and a baby that I nursed while reading books.  I remember I felt a little stressed at times but when I look back, it was no big deal.  Now I have 3 school age and a toddler who is a "Black and Decker House Wrecker" as she is lovingly nicknamed.  I don't by any means have the handle on how to homeschool 3 (God bless those of you who are homeschooling more than that!) but what I have mapped out has been working for us for about 8 days now.  I read somewhere that you have to do something for 21 days to become a habit--we shall give that theory a try! A few years ago I had read Managers of Their Home and it is an excellent book.  Problem was that I felt defeated because these families had 10 kids and a clean house and I had 3 kids (at the time) and felt like I could never get on top of everything that needs done from day to day AND  homeschool.  I'm still hoping to get the house management better controlled, it isn't awful but I would like to raise the standards a little more.  The gist of the book was to have everyone on a schedule and have that schedule up somewhere where they can all see it.  I gave it a try this year. Between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. I need to get up, get dressed, walk the dog, shower, eat my breakfast and prepare Paul's breakfast.  If I really would have it together, I would like to start a load of laundry and put supper in the crock pot but I haven't mastered those two extra items yet. :) 8:30 a.m. All of the children should be down at the kitchen table, dressed, beds made (in a perfect world--but at least I'm striving for that--so far one makes her bed very nicely), and having had eaten breakfast or eating.  At this time I sit with them and read a Proverb chapter (according to the date) and a few chapters from the Bible (I'm trying to help the oldest one and myself to read through the Bible). 9 a.m.  Hannah (11 y/o)  is to do math and other individual schoolwork she has to do.  I sit with Rebekah  (9 y/o) and work on Saxon Math.  I LOVE Saxon Math and only wish I would have tried it sooner.  I had several people discourage me from using it with younger grades b/c of the repetition but that repetition was the very thing my kids needed.  I just hadn't realized how much until we tried it about a year and a half ago.  Now I'm a huge fan of Saxon.  Love it, love it, love it! (**update**I'm finding that if Rebekah works on fact sheets from Saxon for the first 1/2 hour, I have time to work with Denny on his Saxon 1 at the same time.  I then spend the next half hour on the actual "homework" page with Rebekah for her math lesson.) Hannah is using Saxon Math--finishing 54 to move onto 65.  She uses Wordly Wise 6 for vocabulary.  Abeka Writing and Queen Homeschool copywork for writing.  Easy Grammar for grammar.  Abeka Language C for everything they cover. :) 10 a.m. I work with Rebekah with spelling.  If you ask me, I would think that she may be mildly dyslexic.  Case in point, she was supposed to spell stout, she spelled it the first time on the paper as tsaut.  It may have been no big deal but we have covered stout a few times now in the past few days.  She can spell out but she doesn't hear/comprehend that stout is just out with st on the front.  In a word with out in it but something else with it--she writes the out part as aut.  Interesting.  She has a hard time concentrating, is easily distractible and her retention is less than average.  I think Sequential Spelling is going to be the best fit for her, at least for now.  I like the methodical way they handle the spelling words and hope that someday the lightbulb will come on and this subject wouldn't be so hard for her.  The amazing thing for me is that she is a fairly good reader.  Not an exceptional reader but average or maybe a little better than average reader.  Fascinating.  I would think the reading and spelling would go hand in hand the way it did for Hannah.  Every child is certainly different. 10:30 a.m. Spelling with Hannah.  She does Spelling Power.  I like the built in review of frequently mispelled words.  She likes the fact that I can test her now and then to see where she places as far as her spelling goes.  It is an easy curriculum and we enjoy it.  I like that she could use this program throughout her school years.  I photocopy the pages from the back of the book so it is essentially self-contained. While I do spelling with Hannah, Rebekah is to work on her writing.  I have been told that copywork will also help with spelling so she works on Queen Homeschool copywork, copying text from a book or working in some other writing program. Best case scenario would be that Denny would alternate each half hour between doing workbook pages and playing with Grace but it hasn't worked out that way yet.  Denny basically plays with Grace and I work with him when I get a spare minute. 11 a.m.  Rebekah is to work on phonics (which currently is Explode the Code 6).  I see her spelling struggles there too so I'm thinking I will invest in some of the 1/2 books that Explode the Code offers for further reinforcement, such as book 6 1/2.  I also try to fit in some grammar with her too, I use Easy Grammar. 11:30 a.m. The big girls prepare lunch.  I should actually be working with Denny (age 6) during this time on his Saxon phonics 1 and Saxon Math 1 but usually that doesn't happen.  I work with him on these things some time after 4 p.m. 1 p.m. We have had lunch and have cleaned up the kitchen and some other little things here or there.  We sit down to read or watch history.  This year I am working on the American Revolution with the kids.  I have borrowed many books from the library and a few videos.  Our favorite video so far was a three video tape movie of George Washington.  Hannah wasn't at sure if she'd like it at first--she said that it looked old.  I told her it was from 1984 and that didn't help her opinion of it being old.  It was kind of cool because Kelsey Grammer was in it--boy was he young!  Despite being "old," the movie was quite good and all four of the children enjoyed watching it.  George Washington seemed to have such a sweet and gentle spirit about him as well as his powerful ability to lead.  I look forward to reading more about him to see what other books say of his personality. I also picked up some great video dramas of figures of history such as Thomas Edison, Mary Cassatt, Marie Curie.  They are about an hour long and are by Devine Entertainment.  All of the children enjoy these videos. I love the Mystery of History but find it hard to plow through sometimes.  We are still working on Volume I so we aren't moving very fast through it.  I have decided not to do most of the extra activities although I find them to very interesting.  That is the problem, I find the activities interesting but the other kids do not.  I don't want to bog down and spend too much time on that aspect of history so we are basically reading the sections and the children narrate back to me what we read. I'm taking those narrations and placing them into a three-ring binder in order of the years that correspond to the subject we are reading about.  Hannah does most of the pre and post tests that are offered in the book. 1:30 p.m.  We read science.  Science this year is working through Christian Kids Explore Biology--reading the chapter and narrating.  Sometimes we read Christian Liberty Nature Readers and narrate each section or read a little in an Abeka health book that I have.  I would love for us to get back to Considering God's Creation but we just haven't gotten there yet. 2 p.m. I have several easy science experiment books laying around the house so I have the kids leaf through those and come up with an experiment.  They then perform it for me and/or draw a picture of what they had done.  This time also allows me a few minutes to go outside and see how our vegetable garden is coming along. 2:30 p.m. I have wanted us to read through the Little House series for years now.  It all started a few years ago when I thought we would do Prairie Primer.  I had to keep paring it down though b/c it was next to impossible, well, for us it turned out to be impossible, for us to do.  I still think it was an excellent program and hope to return to it again someday on a different level.  I hope to take bits and pieces from it such as learning the Presidents and facts about each state.  That sort of thing.  So for now we are reading Laura's books for a half hour each day and then narrating what we've read.  We are on Little Town on the Prairie right now. 3 p.m. I plan for a half hour of biography.  Sometimes that is a biography of a missionary, but as of this year we have been reading a biography of someone from the Revolutionary War time period.  Right now we are reading George vs. George which contrasts the personalities and lives of King George III and President George Washington. 3:30 p.m.  We had been reading the book by the Mally's Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends.  It is an excellent book and I highly recommend it.  It was good for me too since I am an only child and really don't know how to deal with sibling squabbles.  I also thought some of what they suggest for living with others was good for our marriage too.  Since we have finished that book and I haven't decided a different character training book we are reading Anne of Green Gables since I've wanted to read that book aloud with the kids for a long time too. 4 p.m. I let the kids go. :)  Sometimes I will use that time to work with Denny on whatever he hasn't completed yet.  I want the girls to practice their instruments and then they can have some time on the computer to play with webkinz. You mentioned a verse that I think of in relation to our homeschooling days.  I read Ps. 118 on the day of the assignment.  The verse that stuck out to me that day was: This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Ps. 118:24  I hope that we will have a joyful year of school.  I think this schedule allows some freedom to go to Dr. visits, have gym time and other activities (since they don't happen everyday and not for the whole afternoon) and on those days when we do leave the house, we can return home, look at the schedule and pick up where we should be at that time.  Plain and simple and far less complicated than trying to decide everyday what we should be doing and when. To God be the glory, great things He has done!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/581306/ Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:40:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/581306/ One of my pastor's favorite sayings is "God is good all the time, all the time God is good!"  Today I felt His goodness.  I had been dreading today because I knew it would be one of those busy days.  If one thing would go awry the whole day could go downhill pretty fast.  I had an appointment for my Mom scheduled with her surgeon concerning her knee surgery.  I scheduled it for the afternoon (to allow time for school in the morning) but with enough time to get her home and get Hannah to her piano lesson.  That was until last week when Dad's dermatologist determined that Dad needed allergy testing and we could either do it this week or have to wait until mid-September.  Dad has really had a time with his skin as of late so I decided sooner was better than later.  He had to be to the dermatologist Monday, Wednesday, Friday.  Even worse it was going to have to be at the not-so-nice, have to park really far from the building, doctor's office.  I had Monday scheduled, not a problem, Wednesday I had to squeeze his visit between Mom's knee appointment and Hannah's piano lesson. I prayed for God's help to get through today--good thing to start off with in the day! We carried on with morning schoolwork, cleaned that up and prepared lunch.  Lunch was uneventful, thankfully, and loaded up for the afternoon.  I was sure to pack Hannah's piano books because it was highly unlikely we would be back home until after the lesson.  We picked up Mom and Dad, I arrived at Mom's appt., that was for 1:10 p.m., by about 1 p.m.  Good, I thought, I might be able to get her in and be out early so that I could get Dad in early so that I wouldn't have to sweat the time factor for getting Hannah to piano.  I scan the lobby, not so good, there was a whole lot of folks there.  I check the roster that you sign when you come in, there were at least 3 other patients to see the same doctor and their names weren't crossed off yet.  Bummer.  I sit down and knit like a mad woman, knitting is one of my therapies to cope. :)  They don't call us back until 1:35.  Ugh, but they called her back within my necessary time-frame.  I was already calculating in my head what my options were.  I was thinking of how I might have to leave Mom there and take Dad to his appointment and come back to get her.  There was also the little problem of the bridge being out between the hospital for her appointment and the hospital for his.  I didn't even have to say a thing to the Dr. about us being on a time crunch.  He examined her walking, asked her a couple of questions and released her until next year.  Whew!  Out the door we went to pile back in the van and on to our next destination. As I had said the parking lot is far from the building for this Dr., I usually have to drop Mom and the kids off at the door and go park.  I was a bit concerned about that when I pulled in the parking lot and I drove slowly by the handicapped spaces (Mom and Dad qualify for one of those handicap placards) and someone was pulling out of one of those spaces just as I was coming by!  Thank you Lord! Grace fell asleep on the way to this appointment.  I told Mom and Denny to wait in the van and I rushed Dad and the other girls to Dad's 2 p.m. appt.  I was 10 minutes late but it wouldn't have mattered.  The lobby at this Dr.'s office is pretty spacious as lobbies go (I'm quite the judge on the quality of Dr. office lobbies!) and it was packed!  Literally every seat was filled and the rest of us was left standing.  I told the receptionist that we had yet one more appointment and whether it would be better for us to come back.  I was praying, please Lord, call him back.  Again, I calculated how long I could wait before I would have to leave Dad here and come back and get him after the lesson.  Just then, they called Dad back!  I got to see the type of skin testing they were doing on him.  One spot of the possible 20 or so allergens was already raised up and pink--it looked like a mosquito bite.  I asked the nurse which allergen it was and it turned out to be fragrances.  I will have to ask the Dr. what that actually means--if it is fragrances that touch his skin or even if he is in the room with it.  Boy, that is a lot of things for him to avoid.  I'll be interested to see the final results.  He didn't need to be seen by the Dr. so we scurry back out of the building and into the van again. We hop of the highway, make it to Mom and Dad's, drop them off and actually make it on-time (Hannah said "Actually a little early") to a 3 o'clock piano lesson which was not in close-proximity to the doctor offices!  It was just evident to me that God cares about the littlest details of our lives.  He cares if you have to be somewhere at a particular time.  He cares if you really need a good parking space.  He is not a genie in a bottle, don't get me wrong, but He is sensitive to our needs.  He knew I needed His help to get through today.  I need His help to get through everyday but today was especially daunting.  He is good.  His mercy endureth forever.  He loves me.  What more could I ask for? http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/581302/ Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:07:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/581302/ Posted in Homeschool Memoirs Writing Assignments The Assignment: This week, we want to hear about YOU. The author behind the words. The Momma behind all the homeschooling kiddos. Just write up something about you, your family, and your home. How long you’ve been homeschooling and why you decided to homeschool. It doesn’t have to be anything lengthy at all, but we’d love to hear it! You might include a family photo too! Where to start?  I grew up in Canton, OH.  I went to public schools there which at the time wasn't too bad.  I remember in 3rd grade that not only did we recite the Pledge of Alligence but also recited the Model Prayer (a.k.a. The Lord's Prayer).  I did deal with stuff from other kids though.  I wasn't "popular"--we didn't have much money, I was "chubby" to say the least and my parents were as old as many of the kids' grandparents.  I was different in so many ways that it encouraged others to pick at me.  I did well in school because of my wonderful teachers.  I liked doing well because I received positive reinforcement from them.  I beamed at open houses and conferences because I enjoyed hearing the teachers say good things about me.  I was getting plenty of negative attention from the students but I was getting my emotional needs met from the teachers.  Because I did do well in school and was liked by the teachers (it didn't take much--they appreciated when someone would work hard and be polite), I had yet another reason for the other kids to hassle me.  No one liked a "teacher's pet" but that was the very thing I wanted to be. My parents didn't have a high school diploma so I was first to achieve that.  I also went on to college which was a first for our home.  I remember vividly when I graduated high school and was going on to college, how fast the time at home with my parents had went by and how once I left it would never be the same. I chose only one college to apply to, the one I was at for a leadership conference a year or two before I graduated from high school.  I remember at the orientation meeting for the freshman class.  The speaker had said to look around us that many of us would find our mate while at college and they may be sitting in that very room.  My life's love was there.  I met Paul our freshman year at homecoming.  My best friend had introduced us.  About a year later we were dating, and 4 years (almost to the day) of when we met, we married. We had our first child about 2 and half years after we married.  I never really thought about how we would educate her.  I did decide to stay home from work when she was born but I hadn't thought much past that.  I was at a ladies' Bible Study when I met the lady who gave me reason to consider homeschooling.  I even asked her the question "What about socialization?"--boy was I a product of the "system."  I met her family and was incredibly impressed by the behavior of her 6 children.  I was convinced, homeschooling was the way for us! I truly don't think the decision to homeschool came about that one day at the ladies meeting.  I think that God weaves our lives together like a tapestry.  I think the experiences I had in my childhood, the man I married, the area I live in, just every detail of my life has been carefully orchestrated by my Creator and that He uses those things to steer our lives.  For me homeschooling is a deep conviction.  I feel like Jeremiah, homeschooling is more or less a fire "shut up in my bones."  I think I would go crazy sending my kids off to school.  My 9 year old seems to understand, she likened me watching the kids learn to read and write to watching them take their first steps--that it was something so special that I wouldn't want to miss it.  I wouldn't want someone else to get to have that special memory.  She is so right.  There are days that are trying and I realize that I need to spend more time in prayer, asking for God's guidance and wisdom in teaching them.  I sometimes try to do things in my own power and that is doing things the hard way that's for sure!  I try to live my life with no regrets.  I think that if I didn't try my very best at homeschooling my children that there would be a day, probably when it was time for them to move on and start their own home, that I would regret that I didn't spend my time pouring myself into them--savoring every moment I can because their childhood flies by so fast.  Here's our family: My loving husband and best friend: This is my youngest and me at the border of Alabama and Florida--the picture was taken at the end of February so we were freezing! This is my oldest, Hannah, she is a bookworm and is the practical one in the family.  She enjoys volleyball and swimming.  She has always wanted to be a missionary.  She plays piano and is very artistic. This is my second born, Rebekah, she is high-spirited and sweet.  She is the one in the family who is the caretaker.  If you are not feeling well or need extra help like Grandma does, she is there first to lend a hand.  She is learning how to play flute (which if anyone hears of one for sale, let us know!).  She will be a great wife and mother one day. This is our one and only boy, Denny (his real name is Paul but there isn't any good nicknames for the youngest Paul in the house).  He is lively and all-boy.  He loves every sport and tries to play them all at the same time (right now he is bouncing around in my living room trying to play tennis with a paddle ball and paddle--all by himself--he plays both sides!).  He is secure enough in his man-hood to like pink--one of the side effects of having 3 sisters.  He hopes to play guitar one day--I've got to be on the look out for one of those too! This is our baby, Grace.  She is 2 1/2 and quite the charmer.  She has several of the ushers at church quite smitten with her--they all vie for her attention.  She keeps us all company and loves to be read to. I'd show you pictures of our pets (although you have already met our dog Quincy) but I don't have pictures of each of them on the computer yet.  I will try to do that soon and make an entry of just our pets.  Until then, we have one dog: Quincy, 2 cats: Pumpkin and George, and one teddy bear hamster: Road Runner Houdini. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/578837/ Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:52:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/578837/ We started "school" this week since our school system was to start yesterday.  We never really took a break this summer since our vacation was a long field trip and all of the kids participated in the reading program at the library.  We were able to make to a few Metro Park activities and threw in a session of swim lessons so it all rounded out pretty well. I decided we would revamp our schedule and see if we could do better with school this year.  A big hindrance for us is my parents' many doctor visits, I needed to find a way to get the important stuff done everyday--even the days when we would be gone half of the day. I'm trying to start with the kids at 8:30 a.m. (prior to that I take care of "my stuff" like walking the dog, taking a shower, that sort of thing).  We start out with reading the Bible.  At 9 a.m. I start Saxon math with Rebekah while Hannah works on her various independent work.  Denny and Grace play during this time or I work with Denny on some things on the side.  At 10:00 I work on spelling with Rebekah.  Spelling Power was not working for her at all last year.  She kept missing the same words over and over again even when we did the 10 step studying.  She seems to be doing much better with Sequential Spelling.  I like that she makes an attempt at the word and while it is still fresh in her mind, we review the word.  If it is right--great, if it is wrong I tell her the correct spelling and she writes it down.  That provides some extra practice on the word.  I also like that it deals with words that are related in some way.  She had agree yesterday.  She missed it so we worked on the right spelling.  The next word was disagree.  She knows how to spell 'dis' so she was able to use it and agree to get the word spelled right.  At 10:30 Rebekah works on copy work (we are using Queen Homeschool's copywork for girls).  At this time I work on Hannah's spelling.  Hannah is doing great with Spelling Power so that is what we use for her.  She enjoys competition so I plan to start mixing in words from the National Spelling Bee booklet in case she decides to participate in the Spelling Bee in January. At 11 a.m. Rebekah works on phonics--Explode the Code is still my all-time favorite.  I was practically given some Abeka Language Arts materials.  Hannah has been using them for the past 2 years but Explode the Code is much better for Rebekah.  At this time I work with Denny on his Saxon Math and Saxon Phonics. 11:30 we put all of the school stuff back and start setting up for lunch.  1 p.m. We get back to the books or we leave for various appointments we may have.  So far we have gym on Tuesdays at 1:30 p.m. so I know we will have that on the schedule.  Otherwise if we are home we spend the afternoon covering a few of various subjects such as History, reading a biography, Science, science experiments, English From the Roots Up, flashcards, instrument practice,  or whatever else we need to fit into our schedule. At least this is the plan so far--it has worked pretty well this week--I certainly have been less stressed by us getting math out of the way first thing in the day. Hope everyone is having a good start to their year!     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/578754/ Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:55:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/578754/ While walking my dog this morning I thought it would be fun to tell you about our newest family member.  He has been with us a year as of July 20th.  He turned a year old April 18th.  It was hard for us to decide to get a dog.  We had our hands full with little ones so getting a dog seemed out of the question.  When Denny wasn't able to get a brother to rough around with we thought maybe a dog would be a good idea.  We could have gotten a dachund for free but I was afraid that it would get hurt in our house.  I thought about Jack Russel terriers (I love Wishbone) but it still isn't quite the right size for our brood.  I found out from a friend about a homeschool family not too far away that had bred their Golden Retriever with a Poodle and therefore had the very trendy (and expensive) Golden Doodles.  I was sold on the fact that they are hypo-allergenic (at least that is what they think) and Golden Retrievers have a good reputation with kids. We decide to go see the one last pup this family had.  He kind of looked gangly.  He was 3 months old and was going through his "awkward, teenage years."  We loved him anyway and after a couple days of praying about it we figured he'd be our new pet.  The tricky part was that even though he was only 3 months old he was huge!  When I heard a cross between a Golden Retriever and Poodle--I thought little poodle.  I didn't think of a poodle that is 3 foot tall at the shoulders!  At least he would be durable and able to tolerate all of the loving the kids was going to give him. We had to come up with a name.  Since it was July we thought a patriotic name would be appropriate.  We already have a George in the house--our cat.  It didn't take us very long to settle on Quincy--a cool patriotic name. It was funny when I took him to the vet for the first time.  We go to an old country vet--he is down to earth and sweet in a farmer sort of way.  He takes one look at the dog and asks--"How old is he?"  I reply, "Three months the 18th."  "Are you sure?"  "Yes, in fact he is losing his baby teeth."  The poor dog already was the size of most full grown dogs. During that same visit he had been in the waiting room seated close to Grace in her stroller.  Another dog leaned in to sniff at Grace's shoe.  Quincy growled a low growl.  The owner said "Oh, look at that! He is protecting his owner!"  I was impressed and his value went up a whole lot, part of why I wanted a dog was for him to look out for my little ones when they are playing.  He also has been great when Paul travels, I don't have to lay in bed wondering if I heard something downstairs.  If Quincy is sleeping, I know it is safe for me to be sleeping.  He has been also quite useful when door to door salespeople come to the door. Quincy is a bit intimidating and they step back when Quincy and I answer the door. He's been a great pet (other than the little incident of chewing the cable wire the day before the championship football game that Mt. Union was playing--it was snowing like crazy that day so Time Warner Cable pretty much laughed at us when we called for them to repair the line.  Paul was able to patch the line with electrical tape but Quincy just about had to find a new home that day.)  Quincy is the only one in this house who is happy to see me at 7 a.m. and willing to go for a walk in our neighborhood when it is only 10 degrees out!  He walks with me everyday.  He keeps me honest, I can't skip a day b/c he will follow me all over the house wiggling and wagging excited that I'm up.  If I'm up in the morning, he assumes I'm up to take him for a walk.  Well, he is partly right, I get up to walk him every day b/c I know he is downstairs waiting for me to take him out.  It is our little morning ritual.  It gets me good exercise and time to pray and reflect on my day and it gets a little of his energy burned off.  Like I often say, "Boys and dogs are meant to be outside."  He has been a great protector and he has been a buddy for Denny.  They wear each other out.  Quincy is obsessive compulsive about tennis balls so we can easily wear him out by throwing them out in the yard for him.  He aerates the grass at the same time but Paul doesn't buy that.     He fertilizes the grass too but that is a different story altogether.  He's a good dog and I'm thankful we have him.  Here is some of my fav pics of our "lil" guy.  This is Rebekah with Quincy when we first got him in July 2007.  That is a three month old puppy sitting beside an eight year old girl. :) Hannah with Quincy in December. Grace with Quincy in December. My all-time favorite picture of Quincy.  He was catching a snowball that the kids were throwing.  They didn't start out throwing snowballs at him but when they were throwing them at each other they realized that Quincy wanted in on the action.  They started tossing them to him.  I couldn't believe I was able to catch this shot considering how bad the delay is on our digital camera. For those of you that play tennis, Quincy would love a donation of "flat" tennis balls.  I guess that is what the tennis folks call the balls when they are no longer good for tennis.  We were at a park last summer and saw a guy actually throwing away a whole bag of tennis balls.  I was apalled when I realized how happy my pooch would be with those balls that he was throwing away.  He was kind enough to give the ones he hadn't thrown away yet to me for my dog.  We were able to "recycle" what someone else saw as just garbage.  See, it was my "green" moment.  LOL Thanks for reading about my poochie.  I do enjoy him although I thought for a good number of years I could never come to love another dog after my childhood dog, Spanky, died.  I'm glad too that our kids will have great childhood memories of their dog like I do of mine.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/568870/ Fri, 1 Aug 2008 22:17:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cjfootchevy/568870/