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!

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~