Rome to the Reformation (RTR) Week 6 cont

Our week went pretty well.  It still felt like we had A LOT of reading to do, so I am not sure how we would have accomplished it all in one week.  The downside of our 2 slow weeks is that now the kids are back to not wanting to do much.  They forget what a full day is like and I had some complaints this week.

Also this week we started going back to the park for our weekly play date with homeschooling friends.  We have not gone all summer because of the heat.  We currently meet in the mornings so Friday afternoons are difficult for us to complete our schoolwork.  It's not just the kids that have issues with motivation on these days.  Normally our curriculum does do light Fridays, but because of Co-op on Thursdays we had to move our Thursday assignments to Fridays.  I think I am still trying to do too much on some days so I may try to space out all our language arts assignments.  Do the rest of you do spelling, English, reading and writing all on the same day?  We don't always, but usually are doing 2-3 every day.

Positives
- Tyler actually did his writing strands on his own this week without me having to walk him through each step
- Maggie was motivated and finished her school work early every day (except for the joint activities)
- the kids both are enjoying the Spanish lessons in Co-Op

Rome to the Reformation (RTR) Week 6

This past week and our upcoming week are full of lots of activities, so I actually have broken Week 6 into a two week period.  This week we still did all of our English, Math, etc with the exception of writing.  I felt we needed a small break so we will start our writing again next week.  The kids were fairly cooperative this week, but many of the days we only were focused on 1 or 2 things before we headed off to an activity.

Monday:  We were supposed to go to a friend's house, but they ended up with the stomach flu so we stayed home and did a full day of curriculum.

Tuesday:  We had a full day planned, with a break at 11 for my chiropractor appointment.  I drove the 30 minutes to my appointment, waited 30 minutes and then the assistant came over to apologize and let me know my visits had exceeded the allowable benefits.  Bummer!  I am glad that they are so nice to me there or I would have been super mad.  It was unfortunate that I wasted part of my day for nothing, but I let it go and headed back home to finish our day.

Wednesday:  Our local homeschooling group had a "Back to School" party today.  We gathered at a clubhouse for some snacks, outdoor play and swimming.  It was pretty hot but the kids had a good time and we ended up meeting a couple new families.  I did make the kids do a few more assignments when we got home, but I knew the rest of our week was packed.

Thursday:  This is our co-op day so we only ever plan on doing handwriting and one other assignment.  For some reasons Thursdays also start off with me grumpy.  I think I need to get up earlier so I have time to sit and relax before I start scurrying around.  I need my down time.

Friday:  Today was another groups "Not Back to School" meet-up at one of the Disney Parks.  We had debated going and I finally decided to commit midweek.  We planned on meeting the group at 10am and then meeting up with one of Maggie's friends at 12:30.  We did leave the house on time at 9:30 but it took me way longer to actually get to the meetup spot than anticipated.  We finally arrived at 11 and talked to a few people.  Then the kids and I went on a couple quick rides before meeting our friends for lunch.  I had not told M her friend was coming, and if you have a 7 year old (or close to it) girl you will know why.  She was very excited and we had a great afternoon together.  I usually can only stand to stay a few hours when I take the kids alone, but we ended up staying until 7pm.  I'm not sure who was more exhausted, me or the kids, but my legs are not thanking me today.  

We did complete about half of our core, so I will finish up next week.  DH will hopefully help me complete the big Roman bridge activity this weekend and I will post pictures next week.

Rome to the Reformation (RTR) Week 5

Wow it seems like each week we get busier and busier.  I am going to try to update a little more on our non MFW curriculum this week.  We had a stressful week with our main studies so I am going to focus on the extras.

Math
Tyler is currently using Math U See Gamma.  We used Horizons for about a year, but switched back to MUS.  After our short summer break I am having him review from the beginning of Gamma.  He actually seems to be doing much better after the break.  I found this same thing happened to him with addition.  He know how to do it, but could not come up with an answer on the spot.  Then about a month ago he started spouting off addition answers like he never had an issue.  This is a lesson in patience for me.

Maggie is still using Horizons.  She has suddenly decided she loves math.  She even asked me to give her addition problems to do today just for fun.  This is so exciting to me because I used to do the exact same thing when I was a little girl.  I guess I used to drive my parents crazy bugging them to give me multi-digit math problems.  Lucky for me we now have a computer to print those from and we also have a packet of extra math sheets just for this occasion.

Spelling
Tyler is using Spelling Power.  Two years ago we did tried to do a simple workbook style spelling program.  We did make it about half the year but the daily tears and arguments just weren't worth the stress.  Last year we didn't even do a formal spelling program at all. This year we are using the recommended Spelling Power.   I was very hopeful because DS was willingly doing his spelling and not complaining.  However this week the tears were back. I am not sure why.  The spelling program only takes 10 minutes a day, but it does require T study the words for a few minutes and apparently that is too much work!  LOL I am thinking if I switch his spelling to earlier in the day it might help.

Maggie is using the recommended Spelling by Sight & Sound 2nd grade.  I was a little worried about the program because she is not a great reader.  However she is doing really well with it and enjoys it.  Well, actually she is still missing a lot of words, but it is helping her reading.

English
I started off using the recommended Primary Language Lessons and Intermediate Language Lessons.  After only a week I realized this was a bad decision.  In the past we have used First Language Lessons by Jessie Wise.  We really enjoyed the program, so I don't know why I talked myself into switching programs.  I have already switched Maggie back to FLL which I already own.  I need to decide what to do with Tyler.  I have the teacher's guide for FLL Level 3, but I am waiting for the workbook from my friend.  Still though I am looking for T to do more independent work so I am not sure what the long term solution is.  Does anyone have any suggestions for LA?  Combined, it is taking up so much time that I am really worried about getting it all done once the baby arrives in January.

Writing
This is our first year doing a formal writing program.  I knew T has an issue with the physical writing so I have not focused on this in the past.  Last year I had the kids write blog posts, but as you know Tyler's were mostly complaints about his day.  This year we are using Writing Strands.  T enjoys the creativity of the assignments, but still is having problems physically being able to complete the assignment.  I had him do some typing the other day and I have had him dictate some while I write.  I got some advice from the MFW boards and I think we will maybe just try to do this once a week or as we have time.

Handwriting 
 We are still using Handwriting Without Tears.  Maggie is about to start the 2nd printing book and Tyler is finishing up the first cursive book.  HWOT is the first curriculum I ever bought and the only thing we have not changed since the beginning of our homeschooling.  It is simple,effective and can be done independently.

Rome to the Reformation (RTR) Week 4

I will try to make this short and sweet since it is a few days late....

Week 4 went well.  We have rearranged some of our days to accommodate our new Co-Op.  We managed to fit everything into our week.  I have broken up the reading throughout the day which has also helped.  Our biggest issue right now is just fitting in school around all those extra activities and doctor appointments.  Unfortunately most of those are necessities and cannot be changed.

Here are a few other quick updates:

Math - I decided to have Tyler review all of his multiplication from the beginning.  This was a good idea.  He seems to understand and is doing very well on his work.  Maggie is doing really well with math.  Strangely if you vocally ask her she acts like she understands nothing, but on paper she is almost perfect working alone.

Reading - Maggie is SO improved.  I didn't really have her do anything over our month break.  We are now reviewing our reading curriculum and she also does an online reading site and has a new old school Reader.  All of these combined are really helping and the reader especially is giving her a lot of confidence.

More next week...

Rome to the Reformation (RTR) Week 3

We just completed our 3rd week of My Father's World Rome to the Reformation.  I feel like we are finally making some progress and feeling more confident in our weekly schedule.  I think this is partially due to my new planner.  I am so happy to have my check list system back.  It really helps me keep track of what we need to finish because we do not always do our assignments in the same order every day.

Last week I was having issues with all the reading required each day.  It is still a lot for me to accomplish, but I took some advice from the MFW boards and I am now trying to complete part of the history read aloud in the morning.  This has helped, but my voice is still tired by the end of the day.  Several days we also have a science text for me to read to the kids.  Science is not my favorite, or best, subject so this just adds to my exhaustion.

In some ways, although the week went smoothly, it was not a great week.  I am realizing that I just really don't like certain aspects of the curriculum.  I really despise the Latin "English from the Roots Up" program recommended.  Perhaps this is because I have always hated vocabulary, but I am very bored by this curriculum and that is not a good thing.  I will admit that most of our curriculum changes have been because of me, not because of the kids.  My theory, as a reluctant homeschooler, is that I have to have something I can work with in order to make this a bearable proposition.  I do like that we are a homeschooling family, but I am not a natural born teacher so some areas are more difficult for me.  This does not mean we choose things the kids hate, but it is a compromise between all our needs.

I am also realizing that our new grammar/English Primary/Intermediate Language Lessons are a bit more writing than I had realized.  I am kind of wishing we had stayed with Susan Wise Bauer's Language Lesson program.  I have always liked all of her curriculum but I got the idea in my head that I should try something new.  I will give our current program a bit longer, but I still have the other books if I feel I need to make the switch.  I am never opposed to trying new things, which may be my downfall.

I will admit I was Internet searching alternative curriculum this week.  I will definitely finish MFW for the year.  I just wanted to know my options for next year.  There is another similar curriculum I have been looking at for quite some time.  I did not try it this year because it looked a little too advanced for what I wanted and also because of the expense.  I will continue to keep an open mind with MFW, but I am not committed to one program for our whole schooling experience.

Rome to the Reformation (RTR) Week 2

Well first let me say that we are technically 3 weeks into school, but we managed to get behind already and it took us 2 weeks to complete Week 2 of My Father's World.  I am a little concerned about how to schedule our year with doctor appointments, field trips and the occasional fun day thrown into the mix.  Last year we weren't using a true curriculum, so it was easy for me to adjust our days as needed.  We have also decided to join a local homeschool co-op that will be meeting on Thursdays.  This will basically take a whole day away from our curriculum already.  That is not a catastrophe as RTR has very light Fridays so we will just switch and do our Thursday work on Friday.  However now we don't have the leeway for the rest of the week if we get behind.  Maybe this is not a big deal to more relaxed people, but I am a list checker and I really want to check off all of our assignments each week.  Oh, what to do???

Anyway, on to our second week.  We did start a new history book Augustus Caesar's World.  It is somewhat less dry than the other books, but a little advanced for the 2nd and even 4th grader.  They are supposed to narrate the chapter back to me, and they have a hard time with this aspect.  I am hoping it is just a learning curve, although we have done some narration in the past.  Also, there is A LOT for me to read each day.  Others may disagree, but I get very tired doing read alouds and 2 "chapters" in ACW plus usually 2 other history texts and sometimes adding in a science chapter is really more than I can do in a day.  That is very tough for me and how I got behind on week 2.

On a good note I did meet someone this week who uses MFW and uses my favorite planner from last year.  I had to ordered the planner because MFW uses a grid system and I was afraid I would not be able to fit all I needed to into the planner.  I was glad to see that someone else is making it work for them.  I have been relying on the grid for 3 weeks and having a hard time with it visually.  Everything is written down, but not in a pleasant way to me, so I broke down and ordered the planner.  I received it yesterday and have already entered everything done so far and my plans for next week.  I can already see this is going to work out so much better for me.

Rome to the Reformation (RTR) Week 1

We just completed our first week of using our new curriculum My Father's World Rome to the Reformation.
In the past I have been a "piece it together" type of person working off my own handwriting lesson plans.  Using a pre-planned lesson grid has been a bit of a visual challenge to me.  It seems that writing plans out helps them sink into my brain so I am having to reread the grids and notes multiple times to let them sink into my brain.

 *** Note *** As I am writing the above sentence it occurred to me that my pregnancy fog is not helping matters with reviewing the lesson plans.  I suffer from an extreme case of pregnancy brain.  I consider it extreme because normally I am a very organized and fairly intelligent person.  I would never dream of misplacing my car keys or forgetting an important document.  However in previous pregnancies I have left my ATM card in the bank machine (mortifying to me) and didn't realize this until the bank called.  I also lost my engagement ring for several months because I decided to put it in a safe place while under the influence of pregnancy hormones.  This pregnancy is so far disaster free, but I do feel like I am living in a constant haze and I did ask my husband "What date is Christmas?"

Ok back to MFW... overall I think we had a successful first week.  I did over-schedule myself and unfortunately had to leave the house every day for field trips, doctor appointments and play dates.  This is not really doable in the long term, so I will need to adjust my schedule and try not to over-commit for the remainder of our school year.

The positives:
- my kids really liked the simple hands on projects we did this week
- I really liked the simplicity of the projects
- I also enjoy the "Book Basket" which gives me 15 minutes to regroup my thoughts midway through the day

The negatives:
- so far I find the history to be pretty dry.  Last year we used History Odyssey and our main spines were Story of the World, Usborne Encyclopedia of World History and A Child's History of the World.  We found those to be very engaging.  This week the majority of our reading came from Streams of Civilization and I find it to be written for an older audience.  My kids are 9 and 7 and the younger one, especially, has that glazed look in her eyes.  They do use more than one book for the history reading so I am hoping those hold our interest more.  We really loved history last year and I want us to continue to be excited.

“Not” Back to School Blog Hop: Curriculum Week

Since we already started school for the year, I guess I can post our curriculum choices.  I am a curriculum hopper so this year we are starting yet another new program.  I am hoping this will fit our needs and we will continue on for the future.

Maggie and Tyler are both using My Father's World (MFW) Rome to the Reformation (RTR) this year.  MFW recommends if you are new to the program, starting with "Exploring Cultures and Countries" (ECC)  However we decided to go against their advice.  First, we were studying Ancient History last year and wanted to continue on where we left off.  T was excited about studying the middle ages and I was in agreement.  Second, all of MFW incorporates science and the science included with ECC was a study of animals and ecosystems.  We did that 2 years ago and I could not stand the thought of going thru another Zoology unit study this soon.  I am a little concerned that RTR will be too advanced for M, but we will have her do what she is able and reevaluate at the end of the year.

So, here is our curriculum for the year.

• Teacher's Manual, Second Edition
• Student Sheets (purchase one per student)
• How the Bible Came to Us
• The Roman Empire
• Augustus Caesar's World
• Galen and the Gateway to Medicine
• The Story of the World, Volume 2
• Medieval World
• Trial and Triumph: Stories from Church History
• The Human Body for Every Kid
• The Body Book
• First Encyclopedia of the Human Body
• The Wonderful Way Babies Are Made
• Exploring Creation with Astronomy
• Introduction to Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven - 7 CD set
• The Story of Beethoven in Words and Music
• The Best of Beethoven: The Beethoven You Love
• The Story of Haydn in Words and Music
• The Best of Haydn
• The Story of Mozart in Words and Music
• The Best of Mozart (2 CDs)
• Read-Alouds for Rome to the Reformation
• The Bronze Bow
• Dangerous Journey
• The Door in the Wall
• Twice Freed
• Starting Chess
• Make a Castle

In addition Maggie will be using

and for Math, we will be finishing up

And Tyler will be using

and for Math, we will be continuing with

Weekly Wrap-Up: 5/7/2011

Wow I have been so bad about blogging lately.  Thanks goodness I am forcing my kids to blog as a weekly assignment or things would be dead around here!

We had a pretty basic week.  Last weekend we went to visit my Mom in Sarasota.  We went to the beach on Sunday and visiting the Goodwill bookstore on Monday.  Yes I did spend $50 at the Goodwill bookstore, but we got lots of interesting books and found a couple "Harry Potter" books for our collection.

We had a short week of school, just 3 days.  I have been trying to keep our Fridays clear since I have zero motivation after we return from our park days.  We are near the end of our year so I can do a 3 day week and still finish up all of our work.  We are coming to the end of some of our curriculum.  A few, like History and Math, I plan on continuing throughout the summer.  Tyler will finish his Language Arts this week.

I am really looking forward to the homeschool convention at the end of May.  I have several different curriculums I would like to explore for next year.  I can't wait to see them in person.

Today we are off to the community garage sales in a local suburb.  We have gone every year since we moved to Florida.  I hope I find some good deals today.

Weekly Wrap-Up: 3/12/2011

Busy, busy week

Sunday:  I met my friend N for lunch and shopping.  This was a fun and much needed day out.

Monday:  The kids and I ran some errands in the morning while J had a dentist appointment.  Then we headed to the Brevard Zoo where I, once again, forgot to bring my camera.  We had a very nice time.  We were happy that Daddy finally got a chance to go before our membership expired.  J and I had wanted to go kayaking, but my back was bothering me so J took T and they had a great time.  M and I hit the snack bar while we waited.  They got to see all of the giraffes and some wild otters while kayaking.  It was a great family day.

Tuesday:  Today we had our new Homeschool Co-Op at my house.  We had 3 girls attend, plus my two kids.  We started with a cooking lesson and made individual pizzas from refrigerated biscuit dough.  I'm not sure how good they were, but all the kids ate them.  T did not want to participate but I did make him do the cooking lesson.  I had scheduled this lesson for the first hour and it took way less time than I anticipated.  So I let the girls play for a little while before we began the second half.

Our next activity was Language Arts enrichment.  I had planned to play several sight word bingo games and Bananagrams.  This was more difficult than I anticipated because the girls really just wanted to play.  M always likes games so I thought she would be happy to have someone play with her, but that was not the case.

Wednesday:  Yeah a day at home and we didn't even have to go to Girl Scouts!  It was nice to have a relaxed but productive school day.  We are finally back to talking about the Greeks in our Ancient History so Tyler is thrilled.  I have been doing alot of personal reading which has been relaxing.  

Thursday:  Another productive day of school.  I found Tyler's missing Reading Comprehension book yesterday.  It had fallen behind our bookshelf and has been missing for over a month.  Tyler actually likes that particular workbook so he was happy to have a new story to read.  We are also finishing up 2 Harry Potter books and he got another movie from Netflix to watch today so we had plenty to keep us busy.  

Friday:  Today was a lovely sunny, yet cool Florida day.  We were able to complete almost all of our school work before we left for the park today.  It was an odd day at the park.  We had 2 new Moms come, the rest of us were in a low key "blah" type of mood and Tyler didn't have any boys to play with.  When no boys come then the girls like to tease and chase him and he gets annoyed and usually ends up in trouble for lashing out at one of them.  Hopefully next week he will have someone to play with.

Saturday:  As usual I almost forgot about dance so we were rushing around washing M's hair at the last minute.  It never fails.... After dance M had to go work at a Girl Scout cookie booth so I took both kids to lunch in between.  We got to the cookie booth only to discover we went to the wrong grocery store and so had to drive back another 10 miles in the opposite direction trying to figure out where to go.  T and I just ran a few errands while M sold cookies and now we are back home.  I will be catching up on some teacher stuff while the kids are enjoying free time.  I did make them clean their rooms first, though. 

Weekly Wrap-Up: 3/5/11

Monday:  J and I had eye doctor appointments so I had scheduled today as a catch-up day for schooling.  That ended up being a good decision because, as usual, I forgot about the numbing eye drops.  I am not sure why I blank out on this each year, but I seriously couldn't see for the majority of the day and I was worthless trying to read to the kids.  We had picked up the first Harry Potter movie and T was in agony all day waiting for our eyes to clear up so we could watch it.  This was his reward for reading the first book.  He likes to read, but he has a habit of skipping around and reading bits and parts of books.  I decided to read HP with him so that we could discuss it chapter by chapter.  That really worked and also made me a HP convert.  I can't wait to finish all the books.


Tuesday:  Today was supposed to be the first day of the Homeschool Co-Op I am starting, but all but one person cancelled.  The Mom who was coming needed a ride so I just called the whole thing off for the week.  I was very perturbed by the whole thing; mostly because of all the mental energy and stress I caused myself planning for this.  I am not a born educator so I really had to plan and prepare.  I was very close to cancelling the whole thing because it is not worth my stress but have decided instead to just not worry about preparing anything because if having something "super awesome" was that important to the other moms then it would have been more important to commit to the co-op.


Wednesday:  Yeah the kids and I were so happy to stay home almost all day today.  We needed it after yesterday.  We were able to catch-up on a lot of our work and have relaxation time.  My new chore system arrived this week and I realize I need to get paint so the kids can decorate their boards before we start using.  This means a trip to Michaels, so now I have to fit that into my desire to not shop.  Later we went to girl scouts where I accused Tyler of loosing a book when I actually carried it to the car.  Yeah, I had a bad mom moment.


Thursday:  We ran a few errands this morning.  I think someone finally wants to buy my KONOS curriculum from last year so I had to go get a postage estimate.  After that we were able to quickly finish up our school work for the day.  It suddenly feels like we are doing way less per day, but I can't figure out why.  I need to review what our weeks looked like last month to compare.  I do know Tyler switched from Horizons math back to Math-U-See and we have been doing some review in between.  Maybe he is just complaining less and that is giving us more time???  LOL  We also somehow lost his Reading Comprehension book, but I replaced it with another book I found in my stash.


Friday:  Park Day... Yeah!!!  We were all so ready to spend some time with friends today.  We managed to fit most of our assignments into the morning and then we spent 3 hours at the park.  Tyler is happy now that we have some older boys attending.  For awhile it was just him and 5 little girls.


Saturday:  Today we have dance class at 11 am then we are going to help with a car wash fundraiser for the boy scouts.  It is unfortunate that all the boy scouts events take place on Saturday when Jeff is working.  I would really rather not participate, but I was finally guilted into doing something.  Ok I am hoping not to have to do anything, but I am taking Tyler.

Weekly Wrap-Up: 2/26/11

Monday: We were invited to a birthday party today, so we did a few quick school lessons this morning and then headed off to the park. We ended up staying later than anticipated but the kids were having a great time and it is always nice to have some PE time. I also signed up for the "Heart of the Matter" conference this week. It is a 3 day online Christian Homeschooling conference. I was excited about a couple of the speakers, including one talk on "Reluctant Writers" I didn't get a chance to listen to any of the speakers today, but I will catch the MP3s later.

Tuesday: This was just a normal Tuesday for us: schoolwork, chores, etc. I did school with the kids in between listening to the online HS conference. This week I have been writing the daily chores on the white board and telling the kids to go do them. This has been working out pretty well. They are pretty good about doing their chores, but only under direction. I want them to be a little more independent which is why I recently ordered these:

http://www.accountablekids.com/

Wednesday: I had a rough morning and decided to declare an "unschooling" day. Well actually I gave the kids a choice "unschool and no Wii/TV" or "do schoolwork and Wii later." Frankly, I was very surprised they choose the unschooling without hesitation. That was a good sign since some days they both seem too involved in the electronics. I was also trying to finish up my last day of the online HS conference and wanted to focus on that for the day. So the kids spent their time making puppets, putting on a puppet show for me, watching a library video, and reading. Not a bad day. I would post the video from the puppet show but I can't figure out how to get it off my phone.

Thursday: It is a good day when the kids don't even make a comment when I say "let's start school." I have a complainer and it is starting to rub off on his sister. But today was a good day. I actually just had them double up and we completed most of the assignments from yesterday and today. T is obsessed with Harry Potter right now so he also spent alot of his day rereading the first book.

Friday: Today we ventured out to Disney for a DisneySchooling Day coordinated by a local homeschooling group. We had a fun time, but we did not know anyone else in the group. We met up with them for one group ride and the group photo. Otherwise the kids and I rode a few rides by ourselves and went home early. We only spent about 4 hours in the park, but I over-packed my backpack and I was in a lot of pain by the time we decided to go home. I talked to another family that stayed until 10pm. One time, on our first visit, we actually spent the whole day at Disney. Since then I can barely make it 4 hours. But luckily for us, the kids are actually ready to go home by then also. That is the nice part about having passes this year.

Saturday: Mommy is taking the day off from activities and catching up on some of the administrative duties around the house. Currently I am working on my budget and listening to a MP3 by Andrew Pudewa. It is very interesting take on "thinking" and "education." I am one of those people who really like conventions and speakers. The right one always invigorates my homeschooling journey.

It's a Good Day when you figure your kids out

I had a good Homeschooling Mom moment today. I have been reviewing multi-digit subtraction with T and for the past 2 weeks he has consistently been getting those wrong. He wasn't having a problem with his Horizons, but when we finished his book we started reviewing using another curriculum. I could not figure out why he was suddenly giving me such crazy answers.

Today while correcting his math worksheet I had an epiphany.... the kid was "borrowing" when no borrowing was necessary. And, I figured out why. In an effort to streamline his math problems he starts by going down the whole page and doing the "borrowing" part of the problem before he even starts the problem.

So he then gets a problem like "15-12" which does not require you to borrow from the 10s column and immediately everything is messed up. Yeah I am so happy I figured this out. I was concerned that he wasn't understanding the whole concept and now I know it is just an attention/detail issue and that is not a new problem.

Weekly Wrap-Up: 1/1/11

This was a slow week for us. I usually continue with school throughout most of everyone's Holiday break. We don't travel and there are no kids home during the day for us to play with, so I decided we might as well accomplish something.

Monday: Jeff was still home on day 3 of his 3 day weekend. We continued our Christmas celebration with a nice relaxing morning. Then we finished up a few school assignments and caught up on Maggie's reading. She is doing amazing, but it is still difficult for her to finish a lesson in one sitting. The curriculum we use instructs us to do one lesson a day and each lesson is now including a 2 lesson quick review. That is way too much for us. I think now that we have the basics down we will do a lesson every other day. We are still trying to do the grammar lessons also, so will will do the reading and grammar on alternating days.

Later that evening Daddy did a nice science lesson with the kids. I am not totally sure what they are studying, but it involves Chemistry and that is where I tend to zone out.

Tuesday: T slept in this morning which Jeff and I always know is a bad sign. That kid is an early riser and always has been. Very rarely will he sleep until 8am, but if he sleeps past 9 then he is surely not feeling well. So when he finally woke up he did not look well and told me his head hurt. I put him in my bed with my new ROKU and he spent the whole day there. He didn't eat much all day and I finally decided I would not even attempt to make him complete any assignments. I did have Maggie complete her schoolwork, but I totally gave up on completing any history for the week.

Wednesday: No one felt much like doing anything today. The kids both felt good physically, but we were all feeling lazy. I let the kids alternate between playing their new DS game (Super Scribblenauts) and doing school work with me. It actually worked out pretty well. The day did drag on a little long, but at one point T decided he wanted to play on the computer and then it was "let's finish all my work right now." The computer is my only leverage right now, but I would like to decrease the usage this year. I just need a plan.

Thursday: We had a great day with friends at the zoo today. My friend N posted a very nice blog about our trip, but since she is one of the few people who read my blog I won't go into much detail here. It was a lovely day and we were both glad to be out of the house together. Although we did realize at one point that we both wanted to cancel, but we both knew we would have fun once we left the house. N is also nice enough to always drive and we get to spend the long trip talking and catching up.

We had been secretly planning a sleepover for T and N's son, but almost as soon as we talked about it T began coughing and acting tired and even asking to go home. I thought he was completely recovered from Tuesdays illness, but I guess the zoo was too much for him.

Friday: After a few hours of relaxing in the morning the kids finally asked "Do we have school today?" I made them happy by announcing "NO SCHOOL" I had planned a day off for New Year's Eve. We had originally talked about having a kid's party and inviting some friends over. The closer it go to the holidays the less motivated I felt to plan a party. Plus Jeff always works on NYE and I knew I would be home and lonely. It was for the best anyway, since Tyler is still recovering from this cold.

Saturday: We are getting ready to head to the beach for a mini vacation. My Mom has rented a mobile home close to the beach this year and we are going to spend a few days there while she is still back in Ohio. We were hoping it would be warmer, but at least we can play in the sand.

Weekly Wrap-Up

Our week started out hectic and on the wrong foot. I spent Monday afternoon shopping for clothes and having lunch with a friend. Daddy was home with the kids. They did a little school work, but Daddy needed a break, and he deserved one. So I finished up school work when I got home. Tuesday the kids were playing a make believe game when I got up. They didn't want to stop playing when it was time to do schoolwork and, hence, we had a day full of power struggles and punishments. It was NOT a good day. DH and I spent some time talking that night trying to come up with some ways for our days to run smoother.

I actually knew what needed to happen, but I resisted it. I know that when I get on the computer in the mornings, our days do not go well. But I selfishly want to be able to do my own thing while the kids are doing their schoolwork. This does not really ever work in my house, but I still insist on trying to make it happen. So, Wednesday morning I kept the computer off and I kept the kids focused from the moment we got up. We had a great day.. We got our schoolwork done early and even had time for an extended break before lunch. Let's hope I can stay focused on this issue after I return from vacation.

T: T is still having Math issues. I am not sure why he hates it so much. I would think a person would hate something they are bad at, but he really does a great job in the subject. I am really at a loss. I don't want to spend the next 10 years listening to him complain about math. On the other hand, I cannot just let him not do it. I believe he needs to do math daily. Maybe I just need to find the right program for him. This is our 3rd math curriculum though.

M: M is doing really well this week. She is my workbook girl, you know that child who actually loves to do workbooks. I was actually like this as a child, and I really don't know why people don't enjoy workbooks. :) Teacher he about money is frustrating me, but she has difficulty with skip counting so that is part of the problem. I am putting together a couple file folder games to help her.

Mommy: I went out last week and bought myself a new Covey Planner at Target. It is working out pretty well so far. My biggest issues is all the things I think about as I am falling asleep. There is no way I am getting up to write stuff down at that point. I usually don't remember once morning hits.

Once I gave up my morning computer our week went smoothly. Yesterday DH and I went to see Dave Ramsey Live! We have seen him before, but we thought we could use a refresher. DH and I have been stuck on BS3 for awhile, so we needed some inspiration. I think we got it. We really need to finish up our Emergency Fund so we can move on to our investing. It was good because DH has been feeling badly about not investing and this was a good reminder about why we temporarily stopped that. Our temporary has just lasted longer than we anticipated.

I am looking ahead to a VERY busy week as my parents arrive and we prepare for our cruise next week. Happy sailing!

Weekly Wrap-Up

We had a short week this week since we spent Monday driving home from Myrtle Beach. I spent most of Tuesday just trying to get the kids motivated to do anything. It is always hard to readjust after a trip. T complained that he never gets a break from schoolwork, even though he just had a 5 day break. That kid would really love to be an unschooler, and he does read all the time. However he would end up being a 30 year old who couldn't add two numbers together. I know "real" unschoolers would argue that he would learn math when he needed it, but I don't function that way.

I am still trying to figure out a good formula for my weekly wrap-ups. I could go day by day, but when I tried that my week seems boring. I could try subject by subject, but again who wants to hear that we did pages 40-45 in our math workbook? I just need to remember the intention of this blog is to remind myself of the highlights and accomplishments of our school year. So here is our weekly recap:

T: T is back in a "mood" about not wanting to do his schoolwork. We really started off the year great so I am not sure what is happening. Math is always an issue, but he really is doing well with his studies. He just hates math and I am not sure what to do about it. He continues to love history and impressed me this week with some knowledge of Ancient Egyptian Gods. We also finally completed our Egyptian Pyramid and the kids really had fun with that. I am always grateful of his love of reading, specifically science and history. He does a lot of independent learning this way. I have really seen some glimpses of maturity this week in the way T speaks and thinks. That is always a fun thing. He will be turning 9 in January and is really becoming his own person.

M: Ahh M, my darling 6 year old girl. Or should I say, my Whining 6 year old girl, since that is all she did this week? It has been a week full of whining and tattling. I really need to spend some time with her working on these issues, but honestly I was too irritable to be very kind about it this week. I think this is where M needs the most work. Academically she is progressing. She is probably below grade level in a couple areas, but she has improved so much since the beginning of the year that I am confident she will catch-up quickly. This is great news because 2 months ago I was wondering if she had some kind of learning issue. We are finally seeing some real progress. The difference in her reading is amazing. She still tires easily and I need to break up most of her reading lessons into 2 parts, but she is actually READING!!

Mommy: I thought I might add a little of my own update each week also. I am always on the verge of a million goals, activities, or ideas. This week I have been in a "need to get organized" mood. I will admit that I am always on the search for a new way to organize myself and organize/encourage myself to clean. This is why I have about 4 different paper planners, plus 2 electronic ones. I am always searching for something to work for me. Actually my favorite system ever was my Palm T/X. This actually worked GREAT for me. But alas I ended up loosing it right before we moved to Florida. Two years later we found it in the hidden recesses of our couch. But, by that time, smartphones were all the rage and I just couldn't seem to make it work for me anymore. Now I have a Palm Pre which I like, but it does not run on the same software as my old Palm and, frankly, the old way was vastly superior. So I am back to the eternal search to become organized.

Weekly Wrap-Up: The Week My Schedule Fell Apart

Week 3 started out unusual for us. Monday, as I previously posted, was the day DH took the kids out for part of the day. That left us playing catch-up in the afternoon, but we got our list accomplished.

Tuesday we had a low-key day at home. This was also our first day of Science for the year. We are using a new science curriculum Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry. I do not enjoy science and I thought this was a very simple yet attractive curriculum that might help ME. T loves science so I'm not sure it matters what curriculum he uses. So far the beautiful colorful books haven't helped :)

Wednesday we left early to meet M's friends at the park. We started doing this last year after I realized most of our outings were boy centered. We created a "Little Girl's Playgroup" within our local HS group and started meeting weekly at a local park. M loves it as she is the most social member of our family. I enjoy meeting with the other Moms, but truth be told, I'd rather stay home. I see it as an interruption of our schedule. However I feel it is important for her to have the social time. No, I didn't say socialization! ;) Also, it is an opportunity for both of the kids to get a little PE time. The little girls like T to chase them and anything that gets him to voluntarily run is a hit for us.

Another new opportunity for us this year is local homeschool enrichment classes. I have a friend who helps facilitate the classes and she has been trying to get me to join for a year. I was reluctant for several reasons: driving distance, cost, and the time it will take out of my weekly schedule. She finally made me an offer I couldn't refuse and now our Thursdays will be spent with other kids learning karate, self-esteem, magic, and print making.

After a busy week, our Friday was catch-up day. Since we did not intent to be gone on Thursdays I had scheduled a full day of lessons. We did get a few things done on Thursday, but we did double up on a few lessons on Friday. We started our year slowly, so this was not a huge burden on the kids. T had lost his computer privilege for the day anyway, so this kept him busy for a little while.

Overall we had a pretty successful week. I now need to readjust my own schedule to include our "extra" activities and hopefully settle into a new routine for the first half of our year.

Weekly Wrap-Up: Week 1

I would say we had a fairly successful first week of homeschooling. Of course, how would anyone know since I haven't posted on this blog for a week! I have a mental hangup because every time I decide to post, the "photo" issues I have with blogger stop me in my tracks. My friend Nathalie posted about this last week, so at least I know I am not alone. Apparently though she actually knows how to fix it. :) I don't really enjoy reading blogs without any kind of clip art or photos, so it is hard for me to post this without an accompaniment. I will try to drown my anal retentiveness for a moment and continue with this posting.

Last week:

1. My son did very minimal complaining. If you lived in my house last year you would understand what a HUGE accomplishment this was.

2. My son did not complain when given his math assignment and actually did it!! (See #1, math being our most hated subject)

3. My idea of getting DD6 (our social butterfly) a CD player for her bedroom is working out great. When I am busy with DS and she starts getting restless I am sending her to her room to straighten up while listening to books on CD or accompanying CDs to her lessons.

4. We had a great Thursday: Our HS friends came over to swim with us and then Ts friend N got to spend the night while I got to got to MNO with my friend (N's Mom). We had a delicious steak (for me) dinner and some light shopping at Target.

5. Friday we met with our homeschooling group at a bounce house and the kids had a great time playing. Ok, it wasn't a great day for me. The noise in the bounce house was excruciating and I left with a killer headache. I am also a classic introvert, so the overwhelming chaos of the situation left me in shut down mode. I think I went to bed at 8:30 that night.

6. Saturday (our normal veg day) was a busy morning of running errands and activities. T had a horseback riding outing with his Cub Scout group. This was his first time on a horse and he LOVED it. I was surprised, since he is my child who is more reserved about trying new things.

7. Sunday I had a full day of shopping planned. I had a few items I really needed to return and I also wanted to take advantage of tax-free weekend for school shopping. I was reluctant to leave the house, but after I got started I enjoyed my day. I called a friend to meet me for lunch and we ended up spending the rest of the day shopping together. We probably bought alot more supplies than we needed, but we had a great time.

I am thankful that our new school year is starting out on a positive note. I hope we all can keep the positive attitude thru the winter.

Back to School Shopping

Today was our official first day of school for the year. As you can imagine, my kids were thrilled! (insert sarcasm)

We celebrated by taking the kids out to breakfast at Bob Evans. Then Hubby and I each took a kid and headed in separate directions. He took a quick trip to Lowes and to pick up our library reserves. M and I headed to staples for some back to school shopping. They had a few sales that were only good for 3 days and I didn't want to miss out on the copy paper for $1. We ended up with a few good deals:

Bright Colored Paper $4 a ream, regular price $14.99

Filler Paper .01 each, regular price

and this great last minute find of a desk organizer for $5.

I actually had a wonderful beautiful desk carousal I got from Michael's last year, but I finally had to admit to myself that if just wasn't functional for what we needed. It was created for scrap bookers and the sections are too deep for the supplies we use. I am disappointed to give it up, but the organizer in my will be much happier with a better functioning tool.

Then, since I left some required items at home, we had to scrap our trip to the post office and bank. We headed home to begin our schooling for the day. Let's just say I am glad I planned light because it is chaos. Even though I spent last week planning, I can't seem to figure out what I need to do next. Luckily, I know I am not alone with the first week disorganization.

Reorganization

Recently I spent about 1 1/2 weeks reorganizing my whole house. It all started with this simple thought, "Where am I going to put the new curriculum I just ordered?" Then I went crazy and started destroying my office/schoolroom.

Yes, I'm a messy cleaner. That's just the way I roll. I remember as a teenager I used to clean my very messy room by dumping everything I owned into a huge pile in the middle of the floor. Then I would piece by piece put everything away in a nice orderly manner. I get a big rush out of the sense of accomplishment. And I REALLY LOVE my new reorganized office.