Mid-March

Worksheets were a great way to get back into the swing of things.  But.  Since they don't align with any curriculum we use we often come across things 11yo hasn't been taught yet.  They are becoming more of a frustration than a help.  For now we have dropped reading comprehension and grammar minutes.  We'll probably use them again next year in preparation for testing.

The overall goal right now is to plod along.  Just do it.

We are getting close to the end of Rod & Staff 3.  Love their Science lessons.  And, I will love shipping off another set of books.  R&S is great when money is in short supply but boy does it ever take up room in the house.

We are back to full blown math lessons.  Blarh!  They take forever.  11yo dreads them so she drags her feet.  Can't convince her to pick up the pace and get it over with.

Playing Animal Jam has definitely helped with spelling.  We've been reviewing past lessons and are ready to move on.  Still tempted to switch from AAS to Logic of English.  However, I already own most of the AAS levels and from what I can tell the phonograms are slightly different.  I don't want to confuse her.  And then there is the argument that we would be able to move through LOE more quickly.

Rambling. :)

Surgery

Surgery for my inguinal hernia was postponed due to having a fever.  I finally had the surgery on Feb. 8.  I thought I might bounce back as quickly as my husband did from his knee surgery.  Not so.  Abdominal surgery isn't the same.  Coughing is almost impossible and sneezing is a killer!

Here we are trying to get back into the swing of homeschool with 10yo.  She is totally into National Geographic's Animal Jam which has its pros and cons.  She would rather spend her entire day playing the game BUT her spelling is improving.

What we're working on:

Reading
Evan-Moor's Daily Reading Comprehension grade 3

Math
Math Minutes grade 3

Spelling
reviewing AAS level 1

English
Grammar Minutes grade 3
R&S  English 3 (Unit 2 reviews)

Writing
starting IEW next week

Latin
just started learning vocabulary B in Lively Latin Big Book 1

Christian Studies
haven't restarted yet

Greek Myths
Read about centaurs, Chiron, Asclepius, the nine Muses, and Orpheus this week

World History
Beginning SOTW Ancients....again

Geography
Memorizing states and capitals together
Memorizing North American countries with an emphasis on Central America
Started filling in CK "Rivers of the World" charts
Trying to finish Evan-Moor's Beginning Geography

Science
R&S Science 3 Unit 4 Heat and Cold
Magic School Bus DVDs

Visual Arts
?

Music
CK Preschool/K Music CDs
Brahms Cradle song
Bizet's Carmen overture - listened to and watched Arthur's episode about opera

Dec 2-8

Wondering  what happened to November?  Yeah, me too.

We have a few activities that are winding down for the holidays.  Gymnastics is finished for the term.  14yo put in almost 20 hours of service participating in a puppet show right after Thanksgiving.  We were spending 40 minutes driving her to and from the church building where it was held.  I'm glad she did it.  I am glad it is over.

This weekend the choir 17yo sings in will have two performances then she will be finished for the year too.  We will be seeing most of her doctor's over the next 4-5 days.  Assuming we won't need to see any of them any time soon, we should have at least a month's break from doctor's appointments.

The 14yo and 17yo are keeping quite busy with their TJEd co-op classes.  We are forever trying to find the time to study biology and they seem to daily have their noses in books for their leadership and American History classes.

10yo on the other hand had a lot of down time during November.  I was spending so much time going to the dentist (broken tooth and then a crown), doctor (inguinal hernia), and chauffeuring sisters that it was easy to let her education move to the back burner.  We have actually done school this week for which I am thankful.  It's hard to face up to how much time we lost, but all we can do is move forward.

For my birthday back in the spring my family gave me a few Amazon gift cards.  I found a great deal ($30) on a set of eight Magic School Bus DVDs.  Only a homeschool mom would spend her birthday money on educational materials, right?  10yo and I are enjoying watching them together.

I'll have surgery for the inguinal hernia in January.  I am nervous!  I have a feeling we'll get quite a bit of homeschool done with me stuck in the bed for a bit.

October 21-27

Fail.  That is the word for this week in terms of productivity.  I accomplished almost nada.

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you were trying to run but you actually didn't go anywhere?  That was my week.

We did do one itty bitty thing this week that was fun.  The girls poured old food flavoring extracts into a metal mixing bowl and set the liquid on fire.  Due to the shape of the bowl and the wind, the flames kept dancing in a circle.  That was cool!

This next week has to be better.

October 7 - 13

The dentist told me a few years ago that I had a cracked tooth and that it would eventually break.  Well, this was the week.  Last Saturday a small corner broke off and then Monday a larger piece fell out.  Thankfully I wasn't in pain.  Wednesday morning I went to the dentist.  From what I can tell, he ground off a big portion of the half of tooth that was still there.  I now have a temporary aluminum crown and will have a new gold crown in about a week.  Thank goodness for dentists and modern dentistry!

Before I went to the dentist Wednesday morning I had the "privilege" of attending early morning seminary on behalf of my 17yo.  My husband attended class for our 14yo.  I usually wait for my girls in the parking lot while they attend seminary, but this gave me an idea of what my girls experience.  I got to hear about the goals the teachers have for the senior class, and the parents got to share what we would like to see our kids get out of seminary.

My big focus this week has been helping 14yo read through her Biology text and come up with ways to study the information so it will stick.  I'm totally enjoying it, but this is a big change for 14yo.  There is so much new vocabulary.  Learning how to pronounce the words is a feat and then she has to learn what the words mean.  It is going to be a challenge.

September 30 - October 06

The highlight of the week - a tour of the Yamasa soy sauce factory.

 Yamasa Corporation USA 

Now to reality...

Phew!  I'm still trying to find the balance between school, family responsibilities (meals, laundry, chauffeuring), and getting enough sleep.  Hence, I am sleep deprived.  I don't know how other families do it.  I personally have never been able to do as much as other mothers.

Here's an example of one day:
5:45am - alarm went off
6:25am - left for early morning seminary
8am - home, school with 14yo
11am (approx.) - school with 10yo
shower
cooked supper
2:20pm - drove to town for orthodontist appointment (17yo)
went to the grocery store
3:30pm - home, ate a taco
4pm - left for gymnastics (14yo)
continued to homeschool 10yo in the car
10yo got to play for 10 minutes at a park
6pm - picked up 14yo from gymnastics, drove to church
sat in the parking lot doing more homeschool
7pm - 14yo went in to church youth activities and 10yo stayed with dad while he waited for the teens
7:30pm - home, gathered my science supplies and cleaned the microscope case
10pm - collapsed into bed

The next day was even crazier.  The teens started attending a co-op and some of us toured the Yamasa soy sauce factory.

Co-op classes:
17yo - TJYC (Thomas Jefferson Youth Certification) and Biology
14yo - Key to Liberty and Biology

September 23-29

We added Wednesday afternoon gymnastics for 14yo this week.  It was kind of crazy.  I had to have supper cooked by 3:30pm.  No easy feat for me when it comes to my procrastinating disorganized self.

Friday we took the day off from school to go camping at the coast.  Let me say that I don't care much for camping or the coast.  Just being honest.  Camping means being cold and smelling like campfire smoke.  And camping at the coast adds in wet, foggy, and windy.  BUT, this time was different.  It has been very dry here and it was SUNNY!

We camped at Nehalem Beach.  We witnessed elk grazing on the dunes.  My husband used a magnet to pick up iron ore out of the sand.  10yo decided to body surf the dunes bringing home lots of sand in her clothes.  The second beach, Indian Beach, we visited was more typical of the rocky Pacific Northwest coastline.  The actual beach was small and surrounded by rocky cliffs.  17yo enjoyed rock collecting.  14yo was able to find an intact sand dollar and a few jellyfish.  10yo enjoyed dancing in the waves.

September 16-22

Another full week of early morning seminary.  I was dying by the end of the week.

14yo has already passed off eleven scripture mastery verses.

17yo finished knitting her first vest.  It fits her nicely.

Both girls are blessing us more and more with their cooking skills.  17yo recently made eggplant parmesan and coconut/chocolate/almond extract cupcakes.  14yo made rolls and snicker doodles. 

The highlight of school this week was a field trip to Cascadia Cave to view petroglyphs made by the Kalapuya Indians.  It was an all day event with an enthusiastic tour guide/archaeologist.  Our girls were the youngest participants. "The cave is an 8,000 year old American Indian petroglyph site considered to have the largest concentration of rock engravings in western Oregon."

After the hike, we received some exciting news...our son-in-law passed the bar!

Today was a tough day for me.  My parents permanently moved out of our duplex.  They have spent their summers here for six years. I can't imagine summers without them.

Life with teenagers will be back in full swing by next week.
17yo - choir
14yo - gymnastics
both - early morning seminary and weekly co-op

Homeschool goes better when...

My efforts to homeschool actually go better when public school and the local private school are back in session.  There aren't any friends to play with so 10yo attends to her school work rather than thinking about what she is missing out on.  Add in our return to early morning seminary this week also and life felt comfortably routine.

Okay, so .... it didn't last long.  Lol!  I had a meltdown Friday morning when we returned from seminary.  The kitchen counters and dining room table were so loaded with junk that it made me want to cry.  I was so mad about living in a pig sty that I decided dejunking should trump academics.   I know it isn't the way to handle a very REAL problem (level 2 hoarders?), but at the time it was an emotional emergency.  Today I decided (again!) that doing a little dejunking each day will be better than losing an entire day of school.

Saturday the family attended a Renaissance Faire.  This is the 3rd(?) year my 17yo has attended with her best friend.  In the past she has worn one of her friend's dresses but this time she made her own.  I'm so proud of her!  My mother mentored her through the pattern fitting, cutting, and sewing process but she tried to let my daughter do the work. 

Back to the Faire.  There were a lot of vendors and my husband commented that he couldn't believe he had paid money to enter the faire just so he could spend more money ;)  Overall, it was enjoyable and I think it will make our history studies more meaningful.  People watching and jousting were probably our top activities though we enjoyed the music and crafting also.

Planner Love

I can't plan worth beans.  I have these vague goals rolling around in my head, but I can NOT seem to get specific plans on paper.  It works out in a "do the next thing" kind of way.  We do stuff for school and then I record what we did in an academic Monthly/Weekly planner.  The problem?   Things fall through the cracks if I don't have a to-do list in front of me.  Whole subjects have been forgotten for weeks at a time.

This school year I am trying something new with my ten year old.  It is so simple and yet it works!  It is like a combination to-do list and log book.   Here is a short YouTube video demonstration for My Student Logbook. 

You can find more information by checking the My Student Logbook Facebook page.  There are pictures of the different covers, etc.  Be sure and click on the "about" page for details and ordering information.

~ A Happy Customer