Reflecting

Many moons ago when I was an elementary education student I was required to keep a reflection journal.  Hated it!  Well, the truth is it is a good idea.  When you sit down and ponder what is working and what isn't you are able to make the changes (or not) necessary to provide a better education for your students.  

This evening while writing about our school day I realized I had to make a change for 9yo.  I had to admit the grade three Daily Reading Comprehension passages are just too hard for her.  You can't practice comprehension skills if you can't read 15% of the words.  Tonight I put on my big girl/teacher undies and bought the grade two book.  I'll admit I was a bit disappointed.  I was hoping she could step up to the 3rd grade level, but she can't force her brain to do something it isn't ready for.

I have to continuously remind myself to relax and work with her where she is.  If we are consistent she will progress.  Really. 

This is work!

I am putting together a loop schedule for 13yo and realizing that trying to individualize education is work.  No wonder I like textbooks.  You open up the textbook and start where you left off.  I like that.  It makes planning easy.  Now I'm trying to plan around what I perceive as her gaps.  Instead of "doing the next thing" I am thinking about what she needs.  This kind of planning takes more effort.

The loop:

1. French
2. History/Geography
3. Core Knowledge
4. English
5. Art/Music
6. Christian Studies
7. Latin
8. Writing
9. Science

Daily:

• Math lesson 
• Latin vocabulary
• Memorization
• Handwriting
• Spelling
• Typing Instructor
• R&S Upper-grade review flash cards
• French flash cards

Tomorrow?

Last Tuesday, 13yo dd talked to me about having "holes" in her education.  I decided that using Core Knowledge would be a great way to fill some of the gaps.  When I tried to suggest it the next day, she gave me a hard time and I was quite mad about it.

Tonight (Christmas) I was sitting in a recliner feeling drugged from all the food I had eaten and 13yo asks if we are doing school the next day.  I could tell from her tone of voice that she was actually making a suggestion.  In my brain I was thinking, "What?  I don't want to do school tomorrow!"  We spent the next hour or so talking about the changes we want to try.

Tomorrow she and I will ease into a new school schedule (The Loop).

Nancy Larson Science

Woo Hoo!  I am SO excited.  I just received my Nancy Larson Science 1 kit via FedEx.  The box was packed with amazing goodies (butterfly garden kit, ladybug land kit, x-rays, insect cards, field guides for kids...everything you need for 71 scripted science lessons.)

I used Saxon Math K-3 with my now 16yo and from what I can remember this seems to use the same format.  I will admit that I did not continue to use Saxon Math with my younger children due to the fact that I was overwhelmed with life at the time, but my 16yo has fond memories of her math lessons.  I think Nancy Larson's Science will be an even bigger hit with my 9yo.

Wait?  Did I say 9yo?  Yes I did  : )  Their website states, "Nancy Larson Science 1 is recommended for ages 5-8 and is appropriate for older children with limited science experience."  We definitely qualify since 9yo has had very little formal science instruction.  I am choosing to start her with Science 1 to make sure she has a good foundation to build upon.

Most of all, I'm looking forward to having fun with my daughter.  That is what happens to older mothers.  They realize that being uptight didn't get them anywhere with their older children, so they might as well have some fun.

Filling gaps

It drives me crazy when people act "shocked!" that my kids don't know (fill in the blank.)  All they accomplish is making my children feel stupid.  And yeah, it is usually a family member.  Come on, people.  Everyone has gaps. 

For some reason my normally confident 13yo seems to be the most susceptible to these attacks.  She thinks she's dumb and that other kids her age know so much more than she does.  I can't change how my relatives act, but I will do the best I can to help my daughter with her academic self-esteem.  I think reading through the Core Knowledge series, What Your nth Grader Needs to Know, will be a good place to start.

Week 1

Kiddo dragged her feet today even though she didn't even realize that it was Saturday.  I pushed her because I needed to go Christmas shopping.  It took us two hours to do:

• hundred number chart (by 1's, 2's, 3's, 4,'s, 5's, and 10's)
• count by hundreds to 1,000
• calendar (sing days of the week, sing months, Today's date is...)
• flashcards (addition, multiplication, general math)
• R&S Math 2 lesson
• R&S Math 3 lesson
• R&S English 2 lesson
• R&S Reading (two stories a day and two sets of flashcards)
• Daily Reading Comprehension worksheet
• Grammar Minute 2 worksheet
• Beginning Geography worksheet

 She is doing better with her math facts, especially multiplication, than I expected.
multiplication: x1, x7(3), x2(7), x10, x11
addition: doubles, +0, +1, 3+2, 8+2, +10, 11 and it's parts

It certainly hasn't been fun, but it has given me hope.  As long as we remain consistent I now believe that she might pass the test.

Commence operation "Drill and Kill"

I introduced 9yo to multiplication (repeated addition, groups of) this morning and have added the x1 flashcards to her pile.  She now has double addition cards and x1 cards.  I'll add some geometric shapes, etc. type cards soon.
She's already finished her four grade 2 math worksheets and it's not even noon.  I hope to split the grade 3 math over 3-4 small work sessions during the day.  Don't want to fry her brain. : )

Edited to add:  Long day.  But, by the end of the afternoon I think she enjoyed having time with Mom. 

Teaching to the test

Yes, it is true.  I have every intention of teaching to the test.  Between the 9yo's delayed time line and my slacker personality, we have a mess on our hands.  We are required by the state to have her take a standardized test before August 15th and she isn't ready.  At all.

The overall plan?  Be consistent.

We will be doing test prep (drill and kill) six days a week until the test.


Reading

• Daily Reading Comprehension

Language

• Grammar Minutes

Math

• math facts
• math lesson

First Day was...um....disjointed but good.

I don't know why, but I decided to start school today.  I wasn't prepared.  Hubby was home sick.  Regardless, it was a good day.  We didn't accomplish much, but it was still a good day.  The girls balked a little.  The balking was expected.  The "little" amount was a good thing.

This afternoon I bought Halloween stickers to encourage 9yo to use Miracle Music in the morning.  She colored a page showing the basic parts of a plant.  I know, I know.  It was way beneath her ability, but she enjoyed it.  We did two lessons in 100 EZ Lessons (79 & 80).  Gosh, I can't believe we are reaching the end of the book.

16yo and I were up early this morning to get our bodies ready for seminary (5:45am for me and 6am for her).  Hopefully Thursday morning won't hurt so bad.

13yo started her daily checklist (handwriting - The  Living Christ, chanting Latin, typing, etc.).  I read about the beginnings of the Byzantium empire to both her and 16yo.  Together they chose to watch a Teaching Company lecture on Shakespeare.

A relaxed start : )

A month later....

I posted on a message board almost a month ago that we were going to start school.  Hmmm.....  What happened?  Summer.  Summer finally arrived in August and I decided to let my kids (and myself) enjoy the rest of it.

Never fear.  School starts with a BANG! this Thursday.  First, is early morning seminary (6:45am).  At 10am we have a co-op(?) meeting.  Shakespeare Conquest will begin at 11:30am for the 13yo and 16yo.  Piano lessons with Grandma are at 2pm.  Pizza for supper (Thank goodness for "take and bake").  And the last activity of the day will be the youth group at church from 7-8:30pm.  Then we get to collapse into bed.

No matter what my girls do in life, I'm almost sure that they won't be able to afford a maid and/or cook.  The older girls have been assigned a couple of nights a week to cook with me, my mom has been teaching them to sew, and they plan to  ride the bus (public transportation) to town once a week.  Life skills are easily forgotten in our quest to share "the great conversation" with our children. 

Files vs. Notebook

I noticed last year on the message board I haunt that many moms jumped on the filing bandwagon.  The way I understand it - you assemble all worksheets into 36 file folders.  If you are in your 12th week of school, you pull out the worksheets in folder #12 and do them.  It helps you stay on track. 

But, life happens and sometimes we get off track in one subject or another.  Then what?  You would need to refile all of the worksheets for that subject or skip some to catch up.  Some moms/dads came up with the idea that you could instead put the worksheets into one notebook by subject and take out what you need as the year progresses.  All your worksheets are together and ready to be used but it allows for a little extra flexibility.

I know me.  Filing would fail me within the first week (we have frequent bumps and learning plateaus).  I've decided to try THE NOTEBOOK (in caps because the thing is a monster).  I thought today would be a good time to start filling it, so I've spent a good portion of the day copying Core Knowledge worksheets.  For now I think I'll leave bound workbooks...well...bound.  I think.  We'll see what works.

Why do I do this to myself?

Yep, I'm going to complain about science one...more...time.

I can't find a science textbook that I love, so I decided to pull info from several difference science books/encyclopedias.  Of course, the order is different in each book which has me flipping all over the place.  I'm making this harder than it needs to be.  Shoot me!

Books I plan to use:

• What's Science All About (Usborne)
•  The Concise Science Encyclopedia (Kingfisher)
• The Usborne Internet-Linked Science Encyclopedia
• The Kingfisher Illustrated Nature Encyclopedia

I guess I will eventually drag in the World Book Encyclopedias and our Core Knowledge books too.

Why am I making this choppy, "all over the place" study of science?  Because, I thought Rod & Staff's science textbook was ... too choppy.  LOL!

It has all fallen out of my head.

My brain is apparently a sieve.  I went on a road trip with my parents for 10 days and when I came back I could barely remember how to play my favorite game (Runescape).

And then there is homeschool...it feels like something I may have experienced in a past life.  LOL!  It seems like a distant memory.  How in the world am I supposed to jump back into planning for this fall when I can't even remember what we were doing prior to our summer break?  Thank goodness I can look at the sidebar on this blog to jog my memory.

It has been a week

I had my cat euthanized last Wednesday.  I sobbed all day that day.  My guess is that the stress of that day did a number on me.  My head felt weird and I was very tired on Friday and Saturday.  I slept quite a bit those days because I also had a hard time thinking clearly.  Reading was out of the question, so I slept.  My head is back to normal, but now I don't have any desire to do anything.  My daughter's 16th birthday was this past Monday.  I thought I was fine until after dinner was over and everyone was gone.  I started feeling anxious.  I couldn't understand how that could happen after the party.  I felt anxious the next morning too before we went to a doctor's appointment.  I've been wondering if being forced to make a life and death decision about my cat sent me into a slight depression.  We had him for almost 14 years and he annoyed the heck out of me.  But gosh!  I miss that cat!  I'm pretty sure I would feel a lot better if he were sitting in my lap right now begging for a scratch.

Science

My recent hang up is science.  I have enjoyed using Rod & Staff's grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 textbooks.  I was disappointed that their new grade seven textbook seems so choppy.  It just doesn't flow.  I was planning to switch to CPO science for 13yo but it sounds like some of the supplies are spendy. 

Last night I cut and pasted (that sounds weird) the Core Knowledge K-4 science sequence into a document to use in planning for my 9yo.  Maybe this is what I need to do for my 13yo too?  We could use the Rod & Staff grade seven science textbook as a resource along with the Core Knowledge Sequence.  I feel a mish-mash science study coming on. 

Money

Yeah, it takes money to homeschool.  I purchase things as "needed" and don't have a budget.  It has been nice though I do have to rein myself in occasionally.  I've often wondered how we would continue to homeschool if money became tight.  A couple of years ago I thought that time had arrived, so I made sure we had the basics from Rod & Staff (Math, English, Science, and History).   Add in the library and our set of World Book encyclopedias and I hoped we would be able to do it.  Well, I think the time has come to test it out.  We had some unexpected bills and we need to start saving money for maintenance (house and vehicles).   I'm a little scared to tell you the truth.  Making your own plans is time consuming.

Planning Core Knowledge

Or, why I like planning textbooks.

I always wondered why I like textbooks.  I think I've got it.  They are easy to plan.  Count the number of lessons in a textbook, divide it by the number of weeks you intend to school, type the lesson number under the appropriate week, and BAM! you're done.

Core Knowledge Foundation

Then, there are things you want to use, like the Core Knowledge "What Your ___Grader Needs to Know," and planning can turn into a messy venture.  That's where I am.  I've planned subjects like math, English, and our history text.  Now, I'm faced with CK.  I know, I know.  Just pick it up and read when it fits in with whatever topic you are covering, right?  Well, in my case that means it will be forgotten.  Experience has at least taught me that much.

So, here I am today trying to pump myself up to even start the process of planning CK for my 9yo.  I think this would be a lot easier if they had their planners online like I saw announced last year.  I wonder what happened?  Maybe if I wait a few more weeks....nah, I might as well get started.

BTW, did you know the Core Knowledge Sequence is free online?

French

Why do kids tend to choose a foreign language that you have zilch experience with?  Yep, that would be French.  I can NOT pronounce it ... at ... all.  I bought Le Francais Facil (The Easy French) for 13yodd and thankfully she has been exploring it on her own.  In order to get something out of it, it is time to do more of the program.

The Easy French

She has been listening to and parroting the story, going through the vocabulary along with the CD, and practicing the phonograms with the CD (10/36 lessons).  The plan now is to switch to the independent learner track and do it over two years.  That will be one lesson every two weeks.  And, it means more involvement from me.  I'll have to read through each lesson to find out what she should be working on and then make reasonable assignments.

I'll also plan to have her use Carnegie Mellon's Open Learning Initiative French course to help with auditory exposure.

Another possible resource: TV5MONDE

Part 4 of The Human Odyssey

13yo and I have read the first three parts of The Human Odyssey, Volume 1 covering pre-history through the fall of Rome.  I spent yesterday evening dividing the chapters of part four (A.D. 500 - 1400) into reasonable daily chunks.  It was slow going, but it was also exciting to see the topics that we'll be covering.  The first chapters will be especially fascinating (the Byzantine Empire and the rise and spread of Islam).  It's so tempting to start right now!  But, July is going to be super busy.  Patience, I must have patience.

Combining R&S English 4/5

My 13yo has a hard time wrapping her head around grammar (just like her mom).  We have started/stopped/started it many times.  My latest "stab" at it has been to combine two levels of Rod & Staff English.  We do a lesson in level four and then a corresponding lesson in level five.  It isn't a perfect system, but it seems to help when we cover the same concept at a easier level before jumping into the level five textbook.  This can be a planning headache as the books don't match up exactly.  Yesterday I matched up lessons for the two books along with their workbook pages and it took me hours (weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth).  I'm glad it is done, as it will make using two textbooks easier in the long run.

(I took down the document because of possible copyright infringement)

Saving the Desk Apprentice

 Desk Apprentice

Small house.  No home for the lovely Desk Apprentice.  It has been living on my bedroom floor in front of the closet.  I was going to give it away when a thought came to me.  If I moved the rocking chair out of the corner of my bedroom and put a 2 drawer file cabinet there instead, I could set the Desk Apprentice on top of it.   Well, it didn't quite turn out that way.

I went shopping for a 2 drawer but they were all too deep.  I didn't want a deep file cabinet in my bedroom.  The only thing the store had that was 18" deep was a three drawer.  It isn't as sturdy as I had originally wanted, but...we now own a three drawer.  It feels a bit flimsy, so I'm not sure we'll be able to keep the heavy Desk Apprentice on top.  Hmm...wasn't that the point?

Office Max

Another one bites the dust!

Rod and Staff

13yo and I finished up R&S's grade six science text yesterday.  I liked it and she did well though she moaned and groaned about it every time we cracked open the book.  I'm not sure what we'll do for science next year.  We own the grade seven book, but I think it is choppier. I'm considering CPO's Life Science.

 9yo is on lesson 75 of 100 EZ Lessons and we finished reviewing unit 1 of R&S's BNRS (Bible Nurture and Reading Series) grade 1.  So far it has been smooth sailing.  She is flying through the BNRS unit 1 sight word and phrase flashcards.  The first 13/30 lessons in unit two should be review also.

9yo is exceeding my expectations with R&S English Grade 2.  This kiddo is not gifted in language, so I've been pleased and relieved with how well she has been doing.  I was prepared to bang my head up against the wall.  My only problem is forgetting to do English with her.  We need to make it a daily habit.

The Human Odyssey

Good sigh.  13yo and I finished history yesterday.  I'm sorry that it is over until the fall because K12's The Human Odyssey vol.1 has been a wonderful book.  We stopped at the fall of Rome, so we'll restart with "The Medieval World."  I have enjoyed this book so much that I've already ordered volume two.

Decluttering Pain

My girls (9yo and 13yo) want their room back...especially the 13yo.  Their room is so full of books and textbooks that they don't have room for their own things.  Their stuff ends up in the floor.  It gets to the point where you can barely walk into their room.  I'm trying REALLY HARD to dejunk and I just keep walking from room to room unable to let go.

Okay, back into the battle......

Five in a Row

That was really hard :( 

I just gathered up my FIAR homeschool manuals to donate to the Book Samaritan.  I realized that my youngest has passed the age to use them.  Sadly, I never did FIAR.  I tried.  I just couldn't get the flow.   My kids have a special attachment to many of the picture books.  Those we will keep.

Hours of Instruction

Rabbit trail - It has been a beautiful summer day today.  Sunny warm days are a treat here in the PNW.  This spring has been a long one with lots of gray wet days. 

The sunshine has prompted me to rethink the amount of hours I'm willing to keep my kids indoors.  When there are only a few good months out of the year it seems ridiculous to keep them inside for several hours of school.  I started to wonder how many hours of school we need?  This sent me on a rabbit trail trying to find out how many hours of instructional time are required in various public schools and home schools.  It varies widely.  Thailand reports 1200 hours per year while some states require approximately 775 hours.  Many states don't require homeschoolers to track days or hours (our state falls in this category).

While searching for this type of information I actually came across a homeschool book, Homeschool Odyssey, where the dad reports that they only required an hour a day with arithmetic, grammar, and spelling.  What?!  An hour?  Honestly, I believe my kids need more than that.  I've skimmed the first third of the book and it seems like their children attended public/private school here and there.

Then, there are the Swann's.  Their kids homeschooled year around from 8:30-11:30am.  None of my kids are independent, so I don't think that would work here.  It would be great, but...

I guess I feel pressured to spend more time on academics because my younger two are already "behind" their age mates (the youngest significantly so).  I hate playing catchup.

I've spent the afternoon trying to whittle down 13yo's subjects into a reasonable amount of time for the summer.  She needs the daily review, but she also needs to hang with her neighborhood friends...I think.   Shall we say 1 1/2 - 2 hours of school a day?

Defeat

Summer isn't officially here and I am admitting defeat already.  Wah!  I don't want to do school.  Wanting to be outdoors in the sunshine is not my problem.  I simply don't want to do school every day all summer long.  I don't want my days to be one check-list after another and that is basically what it is feeling like right now.  

But, but, but....my youngest two need the consistency of daily review or by autumn it will seem like we are reinventing the wheel.  

Suck it up!  Put on your big girl panties.  You can do this!

Deep breath.  How am I going to survive the summer without feeling like a martyr?  15yo - Recordkeeping.  13yo - drop History and Science?  Stick with the three basics of arithmetic, Latin, and writing.  9yo - daily math, reading, and maybe her grammar book done during several short periods during the day.

I think I might survive...maybe.

Two Down, Two to Go

Our high school age child attends an early morning (6:30am) religion class which follows the public school calendar.  Tomorrow she will finish her second year.  Two years down, two more to go.  Goodbye 5:30am wake up time.  I'll see you in September. : )

This child has been the hardest to nail down with academics.  I'm a procrastinator. She's passive aggressive.  We've spent the past three years battling her depression, anxiety, and sleep problems .  Lots of issues have combined to make it easy to put academics on the back burner.  Major guilt!  Thankfully we've had one thing going for us ... early morning seminary.

 Recordkeeping for Christian Stewardship

As good as that has been for us both, I feel like she needs something more on her records than attending four years of religion class and earning a 99 in cooking and fire making on Runescape (I love Runescape too : ).  I wanted something she could use.  As I was perusing the Rod & Staff Publishers catalog, I spied their recordkeeping course again.  Being a practical person (or so I think I am), I decided that this would benefit her as she becomes an adult and will hopefully give her a few job skills.  She has now finished her first week of the three part course (personal recordkeeping, business recordkeeping, and business accounting).  She has studied diligently which I so appreciate.

Rod & Staff English 2

 

Rod & Staff Grade 2 English

My youngest is nine years old.  My guess is she is academically 2-3 years behind other children who are finishing 3rd grade.  When I compare her to children her age I feel discouraged.  You may have heard the saying "comparison is the death of contentment."  But, when I think about how much she has improved over the past few years, I'm motivated to keep pressing forward.

It is the desire to help her move forward that convinced me to try Rod and Staff's Grade 2 English textbook with her.  This kiddo is not gifted in language, so I approached the first lesson with fear and trepidation.  What was I going to do if she couldn't grasp the difference between a phrase and a sentence?  She did well.  Phew!

Of course, that was only the first lesson.  The real test will be if we last another three months. ; )

Summer's Stumbling Block

 
The first stumbling block of "summer school lite" has arrived....private school is out.  That's the negative perspective.

Let's rethink this.  My two younger girls are going to be motivated to get their school work done early so they can play with their friends every day during the summer.   Yeah, that sounds better. : ) 

A Tiny Change

Routine is good for me.  It ensures that what needs to get done happens.  Since I am naturally a procrastinator, it is vitally important for me try and establish routines.  (My husband would laugh if he read this.  Her?  Have routines? LOL!)  I'll admit that I struggle with actually sticking with them even though I know they are good for me.

At the same time, you can become so dependent upon routine that you get stuck in a rut.  For example, 13yo does not like math.  As part of our routine homeschool day, we do math first to get it out of the way and over with.  But, it was causing a problem.  It made our day start with a feeling of already being stuck in the mire.  The day seemed to drag on.  Plus, I never felt like I had enough time with the other girls once the 13yo and I finished her school work (no, my kids aren't independent).

Today we tried something different.  Mom picked out the order of subjects and left Math for last.  We were playing a mental game, but I believe it worked.  By about 10am we had covered most of what we needed to do together.  She did have work to finish (kind of like seat work/homework) to do, but it freed me up to work with someone else.  It told my mind that we were finished.  Usually we plod into the afternoon which leads to discouragement and mentally slowing down even more.

Usual sequence:

• Math
• Grammar
• Latin
• History/Science

Today:

• Grammar
• Latin
• Writing
• Science
• Math 

Say-It-Again Series

My 9yo is a struggling reader.  She is at that stage where she can read a wee bit but not enough to take on your average book.  While looking through the Rod & Staff catalog I came across a series of books that I thought might be on her level.  I decided to take a chance and order them even though I had never actually looked through them.  Our Rod & Staff order came today and I am so pleased.  These are exactly right for her.  I had to help her with a few words, but she was able to read most of it without help. 

Say-It-Again Series

These storybooks have short sentences and much repetition. Large, easy-to-read type and simple, basic words help children to grasp the facts and to begin reading for themselves. These make interesting storybooks for any young child. Many large illustrations. (from the Rod and Staff Books website)

Side Bar Curriculum Lists

Okay.  I 'll admit it.  All of the curriculum in the side bar, it's just for looks.    Who am I fooling?  We don't come anywhere close to doing that much.  But, having it there is actually a good thing.  When I visit the blog after long periods of absence, seeing those beautiful lists jogs my memory that we ought to be getting back to some of it.  

It makes me sad sometimes too.  For example, when I see the plans I had for 15yo and realize that we aren't accomplishing ANYTHING from that list.  Somewhere along the way we fell off the wagon and have never been able to regain our footing.  When she was in 5th grade we read Homer's The Odyssey (Butler trans.).  Later we read The Iliad (Fitzgerald).  Then...depression at 12 years old.  My goal became to get her out of her bedroom, take her to dr.'s appointments, and to try to find medication that helped.  Once we found a groove battling depression, we took on her sleep problems.  She became "addicted" to an online game (Runescape).  It has become a great way to practice social relationships and a way for us to connect (I play too).  In all of this, academics was not only pushed to the back burner, it was shoved off the stove top altogether.

It has been three years and I finally felt like we were coming out of the deep dark woods into the light.  She recently tested positive for an anti nuclear antibody test.  It may mean  that she has an autoimmune problem, and it may not.  We've started the process to see if it is a possibility.  What does that mean for homeschool?  Recently, she started seriously studying for the GED.  I never imagined that I would be happy to see one of my kids wanting to take the GED.  I think the truth is I'm happy to see her pursuing her education with determination whether it is to be classically educated or to obtain a general education diploma.

Current side bar:
15yo

• Early Morning Seminary
• Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1
• Key to Algebra (+online)
• First Form Latin
• R&S English 6 (grammar only)
• IEW's Phonetic Zoo (A, B,and C)
• Spielvogel's Western Civilization
• DK's History: The Definitive Guide
• Biology (Prentice Hall)
• Guten Tag!
• goPimsleur German

13yo

• Rod & Staff 7 Arithmetic
• Key to Fractions/Key to Online
• Lively Latin 2
• Writing With Ease
• R&S 4/5 English combo (grammar)
• IEW's Phonetic Zoo (A)
• K12's The Human Odyssey: Prehistory Through the Middle Ages
• R&S 6 God's Inhabited World (science)
• Le Francais Facile
• MP's Christian Studies Vol.1
• Discover the Old Testament (older)
• Handwriting Without Tears
• Typing Instructor

9yo

• R&S Math 1
• Singapore Math Practice 1A (Frank Schaffer)
• 100 number chart/Calendar
• Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
• AAS's Beehive Reader 1
• Oral Language Lessons (Abeka)
• First Language Lessons
• All About Spelling 1 CD
• Handwriting Without Tears
• Story of the World Ancients
• R&S Science 2
• Christian Studies (Memoria Press)
• Discover the Old Testament

Push the reset button

My oldest child and her family have been living in the other half of our duplex for a couple of months.  When they first arrived I tried to continue homeschooling but there were too many interruptions.  I lowered my expectations for what we could accomplish but I kept trying to do a little something.  Halfway into their stay, my daughter gave birth to baby #3 (3 babies in 3 1/2 years).  All efforts to homeschool ceased as we attempted to help with the little people.

We're trying to get back in the groove this week and guess who is the problem? ME!  I feel agitated.  And, it isn't helping that my right hip and ankle are annoying me.  Apparently those body parts don't like homeschooling on my bed anymore.  I also haven't had much patience with my younger two.  Their math brains apparently turned to mush during this break.

I would like to pat 15yo on the back.  She has been consistently studying for the GED.  Self-motivation...I love it. : )