Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The Facts, Ma'am. Just the facts,

MEOW—MEOW-MEOW.

SCRATCH-PUSH-SCRATCH-PRY-SCRATH-MEEEEEOOOOOOWWWW!!!!!

4:47 AM.

Open door. Check cat’s water dish. Go back to bed.

Brian; “my alarm’s going off in about 3 minutes…..”

4:50

Get back up. Get dressed. Brush teeth and hair. With separate brushes. Feed Cat, set out Ki’s School. Drink a few swallows of Mocha Protein Drink. Check Email for an anticipated response. Make a nut,pretzel, choc chip snack for Brian. Get out paper. Pen. Book. Science study Sheet for Connor.

Write list of school for G&C.

5:10

Time to leave. Ki wakes to give hugs&kisses and walk out to see Brian off. Drive w/ Brian to airport. See all the happy people awake at 5:15. In line at Starbucks. GO BACK TO BED!!!

Drop off Brian.

Kiss Brian Good-Bye.

Drive home thinking of my schedule and debating stopping at Von’s for a banana. They look not quite open. The van seat is heated. Banana can wait.

5:45

Open House Door. See Ki on computer and send him back to bed to at least lay quietly and rest another 30 minutes or so.

Go outback to get a bucket.

Push button to start Laptop and take a shower. While waiting for water to get war, collect not-warm/enough-water in said bucket- to water ve\ggies.

6:00

Hear Connor and Ki awake. Once Connor wakes up, that’s it. No turning back.

Don jeans and a top.

Start typing up this very log you are reading. Check FB.

6:20

Head back downstairs, finish writing school stuff for the boys.

“GAVIN- are you awake??”

“Boys (K&C) as soon Gavin is up and ready, we’ll go to Starbucks for free pastries!!”

6:41- iron material for dress. All 13 yards.

7:15- Starbucks. Free Pastries. Card Game with my boys.

8:00

Home Again. Home Again. Jiggity Jig. Gave Connor a needle to pop a blood blister that didn’t need to be popped. Cut my aloe plant to ease my burn pain fro the iron.

Discussed Morning Independent school with the boys, put my hair up, curled under my bangs, burnt my forehead. It matches my finger, except it doesn’t h also have a cut.

8:25

Left house. Arrive at store. Buy breakfast goodies for Bible Study. Leave store. Arrive at churh. Set out Breakfast Goodies. Commence Bible Study. Help put away chairs

11:40

Leave Church. Pass Target. Do U-turn. Arrive at Target. Buy stuff. Leave Target. Arrive home.

Eat Lunch, water plants, spill plant, clean up plant, observe Gavin’s sniper gun thing he made on PHUN (website), check email.

1:30

Math with Ki.

Lots of fabric cutting.

Rest a few minutes.

3:15- have boys pack their class stuff & water bottles.

Cut More.

Water plants.

7:27

Home and eating a Veggie Burrito.

I'm still here!

Oh boy! I've been so busy that I haven't stopped to blog here. I apologize!

Let's see, where to start...

Well we took a little break because we had to sell a beloved pet. That was hard on the whole family.

We tried and tried to get back into the swing of things and just couldn't and didn't want to. I decided that maybe I needed to find a new way to do school. And trying not to miss an A Beka lesson is driving me crazy!

So I stumbled upon notebooking and that brought me to Kristy for lapbooking. I have decided to try both of those in our school days. Our first project was a lapbook on ants. It was a great success!! Loved by both kids and myself!

Since History is pretty much a repeat every year, and Amanda did most of the A Beka lessons, I have decided to wait until next year and restart the Story of the World book 1. We only a few lessons into it.

Today I sat down with our A Beka Science book and figured out how I wanted to do the lessons for the rest of the year. We are not doing them in order. Well, most of them we are. I got everything planned out until we start our last unit for the year on plants and that will take us into gardening. It will be a long unit. But we can work on something like that all summer.

I went through Math 1 from A Beka and did the same thing as the science. I eliminated the lessons that we don't need and wrote in the ones we did.

For now I am going to leave the phonics 1 and reading 1 the same.

Kyle is doing all of the same subjects as Amanda now except for math, reading, writing and phonics. They are doing Bible, Memorization, lapbooks studies, Science and anything else I throw in together.

I went to a cute little book store in Sumner the other day. They have lots of used books in great condition. And so cheap! I bought quite a few for school. A few old favorites like The Borrowers, Beaver Creek and a couple of new ones that are a series that I haven't seen until just a few months ago called Magic Tree House series. I bought books 1-4. I read the first one and like it. They are very simple and easy for the kids to sit through one chapter. I also bought Pilgrim's Progress for me.

For Easter studies this year the kids are doing a lapbook on Easter hymns. One by Martin Luther, one by Fanny Crosby and one by Charles Wesley. I am also going to read a book to them called Tor, A Jerusalem Street Boy. It is a story of a street boy that is blinded by Pilate. He then finds Jesus who gives him his sight back and he dedicates his life to Jesus. The poor boy then watches all of the evils that happen during the last week of Jesus' life. It's a little old for the kids now, but I plan on reading it every year for Easter and they will eventually get it! lol

Another great thing that I would like to highlight is that with the kids doing lapbooks, they have been starting to learn how to do their own research!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Just Some Goings On Around Here

Not much exciting happening the past few weeks. Trying to fit in the 3Rs around Dan's comings and goings. We LOVE having Dan home during the days, but it's hard to keep with our 'normal' routine with him in and out all the time. SO, we've focused on reading LOTS of great books, keeping up with our math and language studies and watching an educational video here and there. It's frustrating to me since I am list/goal oriented and I can see the days passing with no "boxes" being checked off, but in reality, I know that it's more important for the boys to be spending time with Dan while they can. I know that the lessons they learn about family are more lasting than a lecture plus a worksheet about decimals. I just worry about trying to explain that to 'the powers that be' should they ever demand an account of what I'm doing with the boys at home. In my heart, I know I'm doing the right things and my priorities are in the right order, but what I think and what the state thinks may be 2 very different things. Anywho, I've given that to God and am resolving to not obsess over it. They are learning, they are growing, they are happy and healthy. That is more important to me than if they can recite the Presidents in chronological order or alphabetical order, be the next Einstein, or write the great American Novel. So, we'll just keep doing what we've been doing and that's enough for right now. Pat did request a certain copy work book the other day and I am waiting anxiously to get that for him. David is still really enjoying the MFW curriculum although I don't think it's challenging enough for him. I'll need to start adding some of the 'extra projects' to keep him engaged for the rest of the year...but I'm fine with that. He needs to start REACHING for things in school instead of waiting for them to be handed to him. It's time to teach him how to do Internet research for school projects, how to master the outlining process and how to write a 'proper' essay. More things to put on my to do list, I suppose. As of tomorrow, we are back to our original schedule for school, now that Dan is working once again (thank you JESUS) so these things will hopefully fall back into place. The 3Rs and MFW are on the agenda for tomorrow, plus some quiet reading. Chores will be done BEFORE school so we can focus, plus no TV before school either, as an enticing reward after school is done. I need to print out the Free St Patrick's Day activities ( http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=28526(1)1&it=1 ) so I don't forget about them until too late, like I always do....LOL!
I am just re-reading this...sorry if it seems a bit random and all over the place. : ) Guess I just needed to work out some of my thoughts on paper. Time to dig out my lesson planner and my homemakers binder, I suppose. And with that thought...I'm off to find them! Thanks for listening, ladies!!
Blessings,
~K~

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

The Homeschooler' S Christmas Wish List~ Funny!

OK, this is a little tongue in cheek, but it's also kind of funny. Please enjoy! ~K~ **I found it on another homeschooling Mama's blog. Just wanted to give credit where it's due : )

The Homeschooler' S Christmas Wish List

From Secular Homeschooling Magazine, Issue #1

1 Please stop asking us if it's legal. If it is — and it is — it's
Insulting to imply that we're criminals. And if we were criminals,
Would We admit it?

2 Learn what the words "socialize" and "socialization" mean, and use
The One you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now.
Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun.
Socialization Means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and Pleasantly. If you're talking to me and my kids, that means that we
Do In fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on
The Planet, and you can safely assume that we've got a decent grasp of
Both Concepts.

3 Quit interrupting my kid at her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir
Practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music
Class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever
Gets To socialize.

4 Don't assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for
The Same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.

5 If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV,
Either on the news or on a "reality" show, the above goes double.

6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you
Know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by
Homeschooling. You're probably the same little bluebird of happiness
Whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature
Labor By telling them every ghastly birth story you've ever heard. We all
Hate You, so please go away.

7 We don't look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear
They're in public school. Please stop drilling our children like
Potential oil fields to see if we're doing what you consider an
Adequate Job of homeschooling.

8 We didn't go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing
Of Options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling
Just To annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored
To The specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being
Homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own
Educational decisions.

9 Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my
Credentials. I didn't have to complete a course in catering to
Successfully cook dinner for my family; I don't need a degree in
Teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in
The kind of chew-it-up-and- spit-it-out educational facility we call
Public school left me with so little information in my memory banks
That I can't teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and
Dearest, maybe there's a reason I'm so reluctant to send my child to
School.

10 If my kid's only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can
Possibly teach him what he'd learn in school, please understand that
You're calling me an idiot. Don't act shocked if I decide to respond
In Kind.

11 Stop assuming that because the word "home" is right there in
"homeschool, " we never leave the house. We're the ones who go to the
Amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in
The Off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and
Holidays when it's crowded and icky.

12 Stop assuming that because the word "school" is right there in
Homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every
Day, just like your kid does. Even if we're into the "school" side of
Education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can
Burn Through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don't
Have To gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.

13 Stop asking, "But what about the Prom?" Even if the idea that my
Kid Might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced
Revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to
School Don't get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I'm one of them. I
Might Still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.

14 Don't ask my kid if she wouldn't rather go to school unless you
Don't Mind if I ask your kid if he wouldn't rather stay home and get some
Sleep now and then.

15 Stop saying, "Oh, I could never homeschool!" Even if you think
it's Some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you're horrified. One of
These days, I won't bother disagreeing with you any more.

16 If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class,
you're allowed to ask how we'll teach these subjects to our kids. If you
can't, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn't possibly do a worse
job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.

17 Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child's teacher as
well as her parent. I don't see much difference between bossing my
kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about
everything else.

18 Stop saying that my kid is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious,
quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud
because he's homeschooled. It's not fair that all the kids who go to
school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as
representative of anything but childhood.

19 Quit assuming that my kid must be some kind of prodigy because
she's homeschooled.

20 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I
homeschool my kids.

21 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I
homeschool my kids.

22 Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won't
get because they don't go to school, unless you want me to start asking
about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you
went to school.

23 Here's a thought: If you can't say something nice about
homeschooling, be quiet!The Homeschooler' S Christmas Wish List

MFW Creation Book









This is our Creation Book. Each day has a number and description to correspond with the picture. We're going to make a cover page and take it to Kinkos and have it bound and laminated. :) I love the art work my kids have done in this. :D

This is such a FUN curric and I'm so glad we went with it! :D Yay!!! Thank you, Kristy!!!

~*April*~

Creation





Hello, All! It's been a while since I've posted - unfortunately, that means that it's been a while since we've schooled... soon that will change, though. A new and productive schedule is upon us. :D

We finished the first 7 days of our My Father's World curric. - our 7-day poster and Creation Book are complete. So, I thought I'd share the pictures. :) The 7 numbers - if you look closely - have each of the creation events in them. I'm having a hard time with the pictures of the creation book, so I may put them all together in a different post.

This has been fun and it makes me sad it took us 3 months to get through it. I'll have more pictures and updates as we go! :)

~*April*~