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Well it takes two people and a two dogs watching to get it done. And boy does she look sad sad sad. I would take a picture but she would break my camera. Our week is going pretty well for a second week of school. I decided we needed to add handwriting back in for the boys, they were less than pleased. OHHH well until they can write in cursive or write in not all capital letters we will have to continue. YUCK Tomorrow is the last day of this week and we are going to go swimming with DIL after we finish, dh is going to come along. he had an interview this week and it went really well. He will have to interview with the VP but the president likes him. So keep him in your prayers! thanks |
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This week we are going to be studying the Progressive and Gilded Age in history, we should be up to full speed with history adding all our components in this week. This week the kids will be responsible for doing their people to know and vocabulary plus all the reading and hands-on projects (there is nothing required for geography for the week). Math is going real well my oldest son moved up a level a couple of weeks ago and is plugging along nicely, since it is still somewhat of a review(we used Moving with Math and this is something covered) he is able to get through the first 15 lessons or so quick. My dd is finishing up the Epsilon book she has about 5 lessons left, so after doing fractions for 2 years we will finally be down. The important thing is she now knows how to do fractions. My youngest is still about 10 lessons away from finishing his book. The chore charts worked great last week so this week we will continue it, the kids will be assigned the same set of chores at least for this week if not until next. I need to make sure they are "trained" in each chore before they move on. Hopefully dad will have an interview or two this week we have someone real interested and it sounds right up my dh's alley. So if you feel led please pray for dh, the guy who told dh about the job is even helping dh with revise his resume. He is helping him put in the things the owners look for and making sure all the t's are crossed type things. Things to do this week:
- - - -unpack the one box still left in the kitchen(geez you would think this would have already been done) - -plan one of my co-op classes (let's do weather this week) -order book study (The Sword in the Tree) for co-op class so I have it in time Everyone have a great week! |
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Well we finished our first week of school and it went okay, just a little bumps here and there. MY oldest son is having issues giving a better effort, and his handwriting is still annoying to say the least(he is dysgraphic but I do know he can write better than he did this week). So is giving substandard effort and expecting to get away with it. My youngest son is doing better but had a little trouble with the literature assignment this week, honestly I don't blame him. He had to read buffalo soliders-which is not a literature assignment but a nonfiction book. But it did show me he does need a little work on his comprehension. My dd did fairly well, she really liked what we were studying this week with TOG-Queen Victoria. She had a great time she likes that kind of girly-girly time period in history. We finally got a shipping confirmation on our LArts so we should be able to start with it this next week if we get it this week. Saturday we went to my brother-in-laws house and had a great time. My sister-in-law cut the 2 older kids hair and it looks great. Thanks Susan! My dd's hair looks especially wonderful it is more of a teens hair cut. So sad when they grow up and start looking like a teen not a kid. |
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Well our first day back went fairly well we started back with everything except our LArts. I had rearranged the school room to allow for more elbow room, dh had gotten the blinds up(made a huge difference sun wise). We are starting an hour earlier than last year, we have two junior highers and I didn't want to have to do school until 3:00 so we moved our starting time up. We also started a new chore system, everyone has a list of chores they and they alone are responsible and we also have a teamwork list that everyone is to get down TOGETHER. I will give you an update on this to tell you how it continues to workout. Still waiting to get our LArts I am hoping we get it this week, of course I am keeping my eye out because I really don't want it sitting outside with all the rain we are getting. Well I am off to get it going again. Blessings! |
Let's hope it starts to come to end soon, the keep saying our rain chances are going down but no one has told the clouds over us.|
Well Monday we start back with school, we have been off since the end of May, so it is time to start back up. Barring any interruptions we will finish up by the beginning of May this next year, hopefully we will not have to move again this year. We have moved once every year for the last two years. But honestly we don't know where dh will get a job so if he gets one out of town-it is a possibility. This Monday we will start back with a new routine we are going to be starting an hour earlier-mom is not looking forward to this I am not a morning person so coffee will be a huge need. We are also adding more time, we have two junior high kids so they will be required to do a little more. My oldest is also working to earn her health credit for high school so that will be one less thing she has to do We are also starting a new LArts program, we have not yet received it they are finished up revisions and waiting to receive it from the printer. So this Monday we will start off with Math U See, Tapestry of Grace history, Logic, Bible devos and the Fun Spanish (with mom ). We also have a new chore system which includes teamwork(an area we all work on each day that is not included in their individual chores) and extra chores to earn extra video/phone or staying up late on the weekend time. So we will start off by studying Queen Victoria and Victorian England, we are starting off in Tapestry yr 3 unit 4 we will get that finished by the end of August just in time to take a week off for Labor Day. The Friday after Labor Day co-op starts and everyone takes science through co-op. We will then start Yr. 4 and will end the year on unit 3. Next year because my oldest is in high school and we want to get through all of history before she graduates we will not do unit 4 and skip to Yr. 1. |
I also wanted to try and get her civics course in but I don't think that will work out. They will also all do an informal logic program-dh feels logic is important for our kids. We feel that logic is really lacking for most graduates of ps and that it is really something that never should have been dropped for them.|
13yo dd TOG yr 3 unit 4-TOG yr.4 Math U See Zeta plus free daily review I found @ http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us/E2T2/dmr.html Rainbow Science year 2 (with co-op) and a spanish class CQLA Volume 1 level B 12yo ds TOG yr 3unit 4- yr. 4 Math U See Delta and Epsilon and daily review CQLA volume 1 level B Abeka grade 7 science (through co-op) 10yo ds TOG yr3 unit 4- year 4 Math U see finish up Gamma and finish delta and daily review CQLA volume 1 level A Some kind of science with co-op All together We will do The Fun Spanish (as a spanish fun warm up), Character Building for Families, logic puzzles plus they will be assigned logic on there own. We will also be working with English from the Roots UP, and we will be doing Harmony Arts. So this is our plan |
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Does Anybody Hear Her? By Casting Crowns She is running To me this is one of the powerful and true to life songs I have ever heard, and it is made even more so because of my step-daughter. She is grown and was taken from my dh when he and his ex divorced-she was kept from him and raised in not the best circumstances, until she sought him out when she was 20. She is a beautiful girl and very smart but did not have a Godly influence in her life in fact she had the opposite. She has been weighing very heavy on my heart for the last two weeks and I feel it is getting heavier by the day. She has done things in her short adult life that I know I could never live with, please if you think of me please pray for her. She says she believes in God but she needs to know He is with her everyday. We are stuck in a hard spot by having to do some tough love, she has done illegal things, and she shuts off the relationship if she does not get her way, and I am afraid that is what she has done. |
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Our plans for this summer is not a whole lot, dh is going to go back to work and is currently hitting the job market. Sooo we might be able to steal a couple days at the beach if not we will be going to the pool in our neighborhood as many times as possible(which we will be doing anyways). We start back to school the Monday after July 4th so we can take an extended winter break. We also this summer will be finish our current MUS books and continuing on, I have decided math does not need a break we need to keep it going. It is just too hard to get it back once summer break is over. So there is our boring summer vacation plans. |
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When I was working the booth I was asked a lot of questions on the different resources I used in my kids portfolio. So I thought I would do an entry on what some of the ones I have used. My newest and neatest find is for a Book of Centuries for the younger kids. It is $2.50 yep you read right. It is a download from Tanglewood and it is great. http://www.tanglewoodeducation.com/BOC.htm I really do like this one and it is going to be used mainly with my younger son. I have also found this one that is free and looks good with many options.http://www.notebookingnook.com/11/FreeHistoryBible.html Another neat find is www.harmonyfinearts.com this is a fellow TOG user that has developed a fine arts/music apprecitation program that coordinates with TOG year wise. I am going to be using grade 4 since we are studying the 20th century this year and it looks great. It is all planned out for me so no scrambling trying to remember to do art and music appreciation. She also schedules in drawing and painting with the kids. She uses Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes which is a wonderful book just not user/schedule friendly, well she has done all the work. She even has a great blog and discuss a lot of her nature drawings and things that she does with her boys www.homeschoolblogger.com/harmonyartmom I estimate that we will do art and music maybe once to twice a week, so it really does look easy and low mom prep.
Some of my other forms came from another user of TOG and she actually has two pages, one for Yr. 1 and one for Yr. 2. Here is the one for Ancient History http://highland.hitcho.com.au/ancienthistory.htm and here is the one for medievel history/reformation http://highland.hitcho.com.au/tog2.htm We have also used history pockets were we can www.evan-moor.com. Always check the TOG yahoo groups files I found and used so many resources, and if you are going to be using a different spine there are a lot of them listed and pages already figured out for you. The TOG groups can save you lots of time and energy. The are a great resource. Well I hope this has helped someone. |
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We have been on break for about two week now, and boy did mom need the break. I was so fried after working the homeschooling convention, this is the earliest we have ever finished with the school year. So next year I will have a 8th, 7th and 5th grader. WOW time flies! I remember when I was so frustrated teaching my dd to read and now I am getting over being frustrated with teaching my dd fractions. But she is finally getting it and we will finish up that book this summer. All my kids are working on math through the summer, it keeps them fresh. We have been anxiously waiting for the pool to open up, and it finally did last Friday. OF course that was in the middle of the rain, and it is still raining so we have made no trips to the pool yet. I can't wait I have a couple of great books to read and a couple of cd's to listen too. We have made a decision to basically do not a lot this summer. Normally we would go to VBS and dd would continue to dance. This year I am so burned out from baseball and everything ending I decided nope I am going to take it easy. We live almost 40 min from church so I am not going to take the kids to VBS, it would require far too much traffic fighting and then I would just end up having to stay there. NOPE don't think so! That is one of the downfalls of living almost out of the city. So when it finally stops raining be assured you can locate me and my clan at the pool! They will be the one playing in the pool, I will be the mom hiding from the sun in the corner. |
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We are done with school YEAH! We are going to be on break until the first Monday after July 4th. I am so ready for a break! The boys baseball is just wearing me down, yesterday I woke up at 9:00 and took a hour nap yesterday afternoon. I was so exhausted between working the homeschool conference and baseball it has amounted to long days. It is pretty sad when you hope you kids loose so you don't have to go to anymore games. It hasn't gotten that bad yet but by tomorrow it will My to do list for the weekend: -baseball games -pick up stamps -decide on language arts for certain and get ordered -wash baseball uniforms -make dogs grooming appointment that is all for right now! |
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Well it has been such a long time since I last blogged. We have been so busy with baseball, it is almost over Well I represented Tapestry of Grace at the Arlington book fair and had a great time. It was so busy and so many interested people. I meet a couple of ladies from on line and had a great time talking about our curriculum that we love. IT is really nice because we were provided with a free year plan for our service and a gift certificate based on sales. This is really nice and very helpful right now. My dd had her dance recital and she was just beautiful. She absolutely loves to dance and it is really a gift that she has. The recital was wonderful and short, they had divided it up into two groups so they only last an hour. We are winding down our school year. This week is our last week, even though the kids have to do math all through the summer. WE need to make some headway and catch up a bit. WE had to go back and do multiplication with my oldest son and that really took a huge chunk out of the school year. My dd is finally going to finish fractions this year We are basically going to take 6 weeks off and will start back up the Monday after July 4th. That way we can take off Thanksgiving to New Years. In the summer we try and work hard so we can spend the afternoons at the pool. If they ever open the pool up, yes it still probably too cool. Well I will be solidfying my hsing plans for next year and hope to post on here soon. |
I think almost every game was orginally rained out, so we have been playing the make-up game dance. But it will all be over soon and we can start our summer ritual of by the pool.|
Well baseball season has started, and since it has started we have had 2 games rained out, been snowed on twice during games (yep in Texas My dd is getting ready for her dance recital it is the first Saturday of May. She loves to dance and her costumes looked so beautiful on her. She has a lovely red and black one but it makes her look pale, you can tell the poor child has not been to the pool it only takes one trip and she tan as can be. the prettiest one she has is a pink flowing dress for her pointe piece. Let see we have started birthday week, my son turned 12yo on Wed. My step daughter turned 30 on Friday the 13th (we have a 2nd 13th bday too) and my daughter will turn 13 on the 16th. Yep she is turning 13! We have been off for school this week, I need a chance to prepare our next unit with history. We are going to be studying the civil war So our week this week looks as busy as normal. I am needing to get a couple of things done today so I will make my list as normal: -menu planning working on a 3 week rotating menu plan -start working on assignment sheet so I do not have to do on Tuesday night - -clean g.pig -clean bath tub - - -clean countertops Well that is about it! |
), and had many tears of the ball that could have been (we are very emotional about our baseball). The boys look quite cute in there uniforms, yes even at 12 and 10yo they look cute. We have been fairly pleased with the teams now! We do wish the concession stand lead more towards the family meal replacement but alas it does not.
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Well let's see since I last blogged, co-op is over for the year We are getting close to a break for a week, we have two more weeks until a break and boy do I need it now! We are trying to finish up unit 2 in Yr. 3, we started this year with Yr.2 unit 4 so we have done a lot more of history than it looks. I am still anticipating our testing scores soon, I am basically mailbox watching and waiting. So I think that catches me back up! |
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So we have moved and everything is pretty much settled down from that, and the unpacking is almost done We have 3 more weeks of co-op and we love co-op it is just I am ready for the break, even though our break week was 2 weeks ago. I think it is the combo of moving and baseball I am frazzled. So next year I am teaching 3 co-op classes-can you say ohhhh myyy! I don't mind it pretty much cements the fact I will not have to clean. It takes us 40 min to get co-op and when I have to stay and clean (which puts us coming home at 4:00) we get in tons more traffic making the trip last 1 hour. So I am teaching a U.S. Geography class for 1st through 3rd graders which will cover the eastern/southern part of the U.S. we will cover the rest in the spring. I am also teaching Extreme Weather for 1st throught 3rd grades where we will cover Summer/Fall extremes including drought, hurricanes, rains/monsoons, and the water cycle. The last class I am teaching was a late addition and I am excited about it, it is called Knights Quest it is a literature class and we will read Sword in the Tree by Bulla and The Door in the Wall. My goal is to get all of these planned this summer, the lit class will be based on Progeny press. The weather class will come from Enchanted Learning and some other books I have at home. The U.S. Geography will be loosely based of Trail Guide. Here is my to do for the today through Sunday - - - - - - - -clean guinea pig cage (supervise) -wash sheets - - - that is it!
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Very Easy Spanish Rice 2 Tab oil 1 C Rice 1/2 C onion ! small can tomato sauce 1 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/8 tsp pepper Heat oil over medium heat. Add rice and onion. Saute until rice is slightly brown. Add tomato sauce and 3 cans of water. Add garlic powder, salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Do not open pan lid. *Add browned ground beef for extra flavor.* |
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Here is my late week to weekend to do list: - - - - - - - - -menu plan -vacuum downstairs - - - |
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My to do list -menu planning
- - -church on Saturday -unpack at least 2 more boxes have unpacked one -get blinds hung in the game/education room -plan history for the week and get books - - - - - that is it |
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So in case you didn't know it is Valentine's Day we didn't do anything special except take my dd to ballet class We are gearing back up to start school full force, we have been doing school but only math and english this week. Next week we start history back up full force. The kids have had to work on homework for co-op all week, the really have a lot of work to do in their Create-a-Book but both my kids taking the class really like it. They both have had a good time but next time I think I will have only one kid at a time take it, it will be easier for me. So next week we are on week 12 of Yr. 3 Tapestry of Grace, we are going to be talking about John Quincy Adams, the Erie Canal and touch on John James Audubon. Busy Week! We also have to add quite a few states to the state cards, so I have a lot of printing to do also My goals for the rest of the week - - - - - - |