I have a minute this morning so I decided to drop in here and let you all know how the first semester has gone here at Blueberry House. As in any other year there have been false starts and finding out that a book or program is just not going to work the way Id like it too. But that is just par for the course. If you are a new homeschooler and that is happening to you, take heart. Even us seasoned homeschoolers and teachers get it wrong sometimes.
Peter has evolved through the last three months to where he now is doing everything but Math in Christian Light Education. He has a huge three ring binder that has file tabs in the right cover. Each one is labeled with a subject from CLE. His Lightunits (same thing as the old Paces) fit perfectly in the pockets. I broke down and bought the actual goal charts from CLE when I could just have easily designed my own but why reinvent the wheel? Right? I hole punch his goal chart and put it into the binder and off he goes. He can work almost independently. I have him read to me every day; one day he reads his Reading story and the next he reads his Social Studies to me. He reads all vocabulary words aloud to me and then he is on his own!
Tink is struggling. I am not so happy with how things are going with her. I need to just figure out what is most important this year and let the rest go. Her three most time consuming things are her orchestra classes, her volley ball and a writing class that she is participating in at the Charter School. I really wanted to focus on reading vocabulary this year and so far I have but she is really struggling with it. I have to figure out a better way to introduce it - a better way to fit it into her schedule.
She is now complaining about Teaching Textbooks. She claims its too hard. Did I make a mistake when I let her skip TT Grade 6 and go straight from Grade 5 into Grade 7? She tested at Grade 7 with there online tests but maybe with her processing problems I shouldn't have let her skip. I plan on taking the Christmas break to figure out what to do with her Math.
The Grammar Keys arent working for her like I'd hoped either. I have a little cricket on my shoulder that continues to chirp even though I try to kill it. What is it saying? Well listen. Here is what it says, "Tink has reached her limit. She cant learn any further. Nothing is working because she cant process more. She is academically DONE!"
I refuse to listen but I have niggling doubts that maybe she is reaching her limit with English Grammar. She wrote a novel for NaNoWriMo this month. She ended with 7,612 words and ten chapters. It was required for her writing class. She got an A+ for this semester but mama definitely had to take over the editing to keep the story on track. Now that the deadline has been met my goal is to take paragraphs for her own unedited writing of that story and use if for Writing Mechanics. There's nothing like fixing your own mistakes to speed up that learning curve.
So life goes on. I have 13 students now. I plan 60 lessons a week. I have 2 students in first grade, 2 in second grade, none in third, 3 in fourth, 1 in fifth, 3 in seventh, 1 in eighth and 1 in ninth. There is never a dull moment!
Tink has an all day volleyball tournament Monday and Tuesday. I am looking forward to taking Tuesday off to go watch her play.
So how does your first semester look in retrospect. Have you found something that is working great? Is there anything that hasn't worked? Share it with us.
Showing posts with label Daily Homeschool Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daily Homeschool Life. Show all posts
Friday, December 3, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
School Blitz
We have a long weekend ahead because of Veterans Day. That means I have a four day weekend. I'm planning a 4 day marathon in my school room. I have so much to do but I'm looking forward to it. I have also attended a teachers conference this past week and hopefully I will be able to post my notes from that conference here on my blog before the weekend is over. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Good Study Habits Need to be Taught Early
I love teaching. I use to think I liked teaching older kids better than younger ones. The older I get the more I ponder that. I think I would still enjoy teaching literature or history at the high school level again but otherwise high school would not be something I would enjoy. That leaves the division between the older grade school kids and the younger grade school kids.
Most of my students fall into the upper grades of elementary school. I am just no longer finding it as enjoyable as teaching the first through third grades. My favorite grades to teach use to be grades 3-5. I ponder why that has changed. I really think the answer lies in the children's attitudes. The little ones just accept that what the teacher says must be obeyed. I hate it when teaching becomes a police job.
The older grade school set has also been able to develop a lot of bad study habits. If I get the children from first grade and teach them how to write their letters properly, how to narrate and write stories, how to study and when to play it just makes such a huge difference in what is accomplished in a days time.
I think the older I get the less energy I have to spend on fixing old problems that have taken root in the older children. Maybe it's not even so much a matter of having less energy. It may be more correct to say that I am less inclined to want to spend my energy in that direction.
My dear son, Peter, went to public school in the first and second grades. As a result nobody corrected his handwriting. I am just worn out with the continual struggle to get him to write neatly. I am amazed when I see how some of his letters are formed. He doesn't even know the correct way to write some of the letters and as a result he has been forming them however he sees fit!
I have no choice but to back up and to teach him to print neatly. Last year I noticed his sloppiness and tried to correct it. I naively thought it would right itself by the end of the year, but alas, it didn't! I've been trying to move him on to cursive and I'm still going to do that but now I realize he will need cursive and printing practice simultaneously. This is so frustrating, largely because it seems there are already too few hours in the day to accomplish all that needs done.
Homeschooling parents, you can give yourself a huge break for the later years if you teach your child good habits now. That does not just apply to shooling as we all know, but right now I'm speaking of the academics. As a teacher and a tutor for over 30 years I wish I could tell every parent of young children how important it is to teach good habits from the very first year of school. Here is the list of habits that your child must be able to do with ease by the end of third grade.
Your child must learn:
If you can teach this and if your child can learn this in the first three years of school you will save yourself a lot of frustration and headaches. More importantly, you will have given your child the tools to be a success not only in academics but in life in general!
Most of my students fall into the upper grades of elementary school. I am just no longer finding it as enjoyable as teaching the first through third grades. My favorite grades to teach use to be grades 3-5. I ponder why that has changed. I really think the answer lies in the children's attitudes. The little ones just accept that what the teacher says must be obeyed. I hate it when teaching becomes a police job.
The older grade school set has also been able to develop a lot of bad study habits. If I get the children from first grade and teach them how to write their letters properly, how to narrate and write stories, how to study and when to play it just makes such a huge difference in what is accomplished in a days time.
I think the older I get the less energy I have to spend on fixing old problems that have taken root in the older children. Maybe it's not even so much a matter of having less energy. It may be more correct to say that I am less inclined to want to spend my energy in that direction.
My dear son, Peter, went to public school in the first and second grades. As a result nobody corrected his handwriting. I am just worn out with the continual struggle to get him to write neatly. I am amazed when I see how some of his letters are formed. He doesn't even know the correct way to write some of the letters and as a result he has been forming them however he sees fit!
I have no choice but to back up and to teach him to print neatly. Last year I noticed his sloppiness and tried to correct it. I naively thought it would right itself by the end of the year, but alas, it didn't! I've been trying to move him on to cursive and I'm still going to do that but now I realize he will need cursive and printing practice simultaneously. This is so frustrating, largely because it seems there are already too few hours in the day to accomplish all that needs done.
Homeschooling parents, you can give yourself a huge break for the later years if you teach your child good habits now. That does not just apply to shooling as we all know, but right now I'm speaking of the academics. As a teacher and a tutor for over 30 years I wish I could tell every parent of young children how important it is to teach good habits from the very first year of school. Here is the list of habits that your child must be able to do with ease by the end of third grade.
Your child must learn:
- to study quietly
- to stay at his work until it's done
- to work through distractions
- to read the directions
- to figure out what the question is asking
- to answer the question in a complete sentence
- to form letters correctly
- to write words neatly
- to not disturb others
If you can teach this and if your child can learn this in the first three years of school you will save yourself a lot of frustration and headaches. More importantly, you will have given your child the tools to be a success not only in academics but in life in general!
Monday, October 18, 2010
A Birds Eye View
Monday morning...I have an ADD first grader that wants to do everything except his Math, a 9 year old that just wants to play the piano and not do his work, a 13 year old that is more worried about the alignment of her ponytail then reading, another 13 year old who sits here studying through the chaos and an 8 year old that wants to jabber on and on about her day! Is there any better profession than teaching? I dont think so.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Should you or should you not use homeschool co-ops
You will not have to read long here at Blueberry House to discover that I am not a lover of Science! I buy Science from Christian Light Publications because it has a box that you can get with every grade that has everything you need to do any experiments in their books. Each grade has its own box and the box has stuff in it right down to the soil and the paper cups, the beakers and the slides. Its wonderful...well it would be if I used it more often.
Even with that convenience I find myself dreading Science with the kids. Tink doesn't care about Science, but then she doesn't care about anything other than her friends, her violin and her volleyball. Peter on the other hand, loves Science and all that goes with it! Poor kid, his mommy is Science challenged! I've just never been big on Science.
Don't fall off your chair when I tell you that I really don't care why something works, as long as it works! Last week Tink had to write a science concept paper in her Writing class! Now I can't imagine why someone would pull Science into such a beautiful class as Writing, but the teacher thought it was a good idea. Tink was told her paper had to be on the Generation of Electricity. What a bunch of hair pulling and teeth grinding that was!
I had to help with her with the large majority of the assignment and I realized anew how much I hate Science!! Just let me turn the lights on, don't tell me about the electrons that bump into each other and generate electricity. I dont want to know about magnetic fields and turbines and such. I only care that electricity is there when I need it. I know, I know, that is so shallow of me, but I do not love Science!!!!
I have finally given up on teaching my kids any sort of formal Science. I understand that kids need to know a bit about how things work. Science is probably a very necessary class. Because of this supposed idea I have hit on the perfect plan.
For the last couple of years I have made sure that my kids get their dose of scientific information without any pain on my part. Yes, you guessed it. They now get all their science from homeschool co-ops or the charter school. I hate science! Did I say that already? Peter is taking an animal science class at the charter school. He loves it and so do I...for different reasons, of course. Tink is doing Life Science here at home through a lyrical music program. She learns the vocabulary through songs set to popular music. It's all pain free for me.
I'm really sorry to have broken that perfect homeschool image that blogworld so often portrays but I believe in telling it like it is. If you don't like a subject the kids aren't going to enjoy it. Find someone who loves the subject you hate and have them teach it. Peter is loving Science and I'm afraid he wouldn't if I was his teacher. I would end up killing all his joy. The experiments are the worst! Ach, how I hate experiments...and the mess that follows!
As for history. Ah, now we're talking! I love history! I am passionate about History. I teach it by book, by movies, by field trips, and by any method I can find. Tink is in two history classes this year because her mama loves history!
Okay, I better not get started on my love of the past. The whole point of this is to tell my readers that it's okay to not like a subject. It's okay. It doesn't make you a bad parent or teacher. It's okay to not understand a subject, such as, upper algebra. That's alright.
Don't sweat it.
Just find someone who is qualified to teach it and have them teach your child. The homeschool world is filled with woman who have teaching degrees in all subjects. Many of them offer classes in their specialized field. A good way to find these teachers is to join up with a yahoo homeschool group in your area or a homeschool forum that is localized.
Dont feel bad about needing outside assistance. Homeschooling can be fraught with unnecessary guilt! Free yourself and make use of those co-ops!
Even with that convenience I find myself dreading Science with the kids. Tink doesn't care about Science, but then she doesn't care about anything other than her friends, her violin and her volleyball. Peter on the other hand, loves Science and all that goes with it! Poor kid, his mommy is Science challenged! I've just never been big on Science.
Don't fall off your chair when I tell you that I really don't care why something works, as long as it works! Last week Tink had to write a science concept paper in her Writing class! Now I can't imagine why someone would pull Science into such a beautiful class as Writing, but the teacher thought it was a good idea. Tink was told her paper had to be on the Generation of Electricity. What a bunch of hair pulling and teeth grinding that was!
I had to help with her with the large majority of the assignment and I realized anew how much I hate Science!! Just let me turn the lights on, don't tell me about the electrons that bump into each other and generate electricity. I dont want to know about magnetic fields and turbines and such. I only care that electricity is there when I need it. I know, I know, that is so shallow of me, but I do not love Science!!!!
I have finally given up on teaching my kids any sort of formal Science. I understand that kids need to know a bit about how things work. Science is probably a very necessary class. Because of this supposed idea I have hit on the perfect plan.
For the last couple of years I have made sure that my kids get their dose of scientific information without any pain on my part. Yes, you guessed it. They now get all their science from homeschool co-ops or the charter school. I hate science! Did I say that already? Peter is taking an animal science class at the charter school. He loves it and so do I...for different reasons, of course. Tink is doing Life Science here at home through a lyrical music program. She learns the vocabulary through songs set to popular music. It's all pain free for me.
I'm really sorry to have broken that perfect homeschool image that blogworld so often portrays but I believe in telling it like it is. If you don't like a subject the kids aren't going to enjoy it. Find someone who loves the subject you hate and have them teach it. Peter is loving Science and I'm afraid he wouldn't if I was his teacher. I would end up killing all his joy. The experiments are the worst! Ach, how I hate experiments...and the mess that follows!
As for history. Ah, now we're talking! I love history! I am passionate about History. I teach it by book, by movies, by field trips, and by any method I can find. Tink is in two history classes this year because her mama loves history!
Okay, I better not get started on my love of the past. The whole point of this is to tell my readers that it's okay to not like a subject. It's okay. It doesn't make you a bad parent or teacher. It's okay to not understand a subject, such as, upper algebra. That's alright.
Don't sweat it.
Just find someone who is qualified to teach it and have them teach your child. The homeschool world is filled with woman who have teaching degrees in all subjects. Many of them offer classes in their specialized field. A good way to find these teachers is to join up with a yahoo homeschool group in your area or a homeschool forum that is localized.
Dont feel bad about needing outside assistance. Homeschooling can be fraught with unnecessary guilt! Free yourself and make use of those co-ops!
Saturday, October 9, 2010
The First Month of School Review
September is over and we are now well into October. I love this time of year! I get excited about all the possibilities. The kids curriculum and classes are working out really well. September always is the month of change and tweaking for me. After all the years of teaching I know what I want for the backbone of our curriculum but there's always a few things to fine tune by the time October rolls around.
His history is working beautifully. He loves the map study. I ordered the loose leaf maps that match the fourth grade history lightunits. He is filling those out to have his own atlas at the end of the year. He is also making a salt clay map of the continent of North America. Unfortunately, I didn't stick to just salt clay. I added the oil in like I do for play dough so the map has been in the drying process for a week now. The middle of the US is still doughy! I'm going to have him paint it Monday regardless of the swamp conditions in the Midwest!
So this now finds us neatly tucked into the month of October! I couldn't be happier with September's results! So how are your plans panning out? Any glitches? Any changes? What are your thoughts as we move into this second month of fall schooling?
One of those is Peters Spelling. I had pulled him out of Sequential Spelling for a number of reasons. Now I am putting him back in the program. The Christian Light curriculum is working very well for him. I'm moving him at a fast rate through the Language Arts program. I actually placed him at a 2nd grade level to catch the little nuances in the program and the vocabulary that the curriculum uses that may be different than other curriculum's. As a result of being placed so low and because we started in August he is now half way through the LA 2nd grade year. It was good for me to place him that low. It firmed up some missing areas, mainly the one of punctuation and capitalization. His third grade books are ordered and on the way. I will move him through those quickly too with the goal to be in the fourth grade books by February. Then we can slow down to a normal pace.
His history is working beautifully. He loves the map study. I ordered the loose leaf maps that match the fourth grade history lightunits. He is filling those out to have his own atlas at the end of the year. He is also making a salt clay map of the continent of North America. Unfortunately, I didn't stick to just salt clay. I added the oil in like I do for play dough so the map has been in the drying process for a week now. The middle of the US is still doughy! I'm going to have him paint it Monday regardless of the swamp conditions in the Midwest!So other than adding in some extra PE classes, a digital story telling class and Sequential Spelling things have remained almost the same with Peter. I'm also working on getting him into a geometry class during the time that Tink is in her two hour history class. Peter would love a more advanced approach to geometry than what his dear mother is giving him! Psst, I'm not good at geometry but don't tell anybody!
Tinks classes and curriculum haven't changed at all! I am proud of that! I worked so hard on ironing out the creases and rough spots in her Middle School curriculum that there really was no need of change. I did add in a history class but that was so she could fellowship with 11 other middle and high school kids who are all Christian. Most of the kids she knew years ago and we had just lost touch. So this is wonderful for her. The history is World History and the exact same years we studied last year but I'm keeping her in the class anyway for the friendships and the potential friendships that may develop from that.
(This is Peter playing cards while on a break at the charter school)
I have put pics of Peter in here but none of Tink because I havent managed to get around to Tinks classes yet and get her pics. I will be sure to include her next time!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Fall Semester Lesson plans 7th grade
All summer we have dabbled around in our books, doing bits here and there but not really buckling down and doing book work on a scheduled basis. Today ends all that because the charter school is opened today for classes.
I really struggled with the children's curriculum this year. I just couldn't quite find the right fit! Tink tested low in vocabulary and she has every year. It was time to see if this could be corrected. I searched all summer for curriculum that would incorporate vocabulary in a huge way! I'm finally happy with my final choice.
Tink has studied English inside and out. She can label and diagram sentences with ease. The problem though stems from her short term memory. I dont want her to lose what she already knows but neither do I want to put a huge emphasis on diagramming this year. The solution was found in Grammar Keys.
Grammar Keys is a software program that covers all the basics in language, and grammar and sentence mechanics. The student does the course online and also in a work book. The workbook comes on a DVD and needs to be printed on paper. It took me a bit to figure out how it all worked but when I did I was very pleased with the program. By using Grammar Keys Tink will not lose any of the knowledge she already has while we delve deeper into reading vocabulary.
I've stated before on my other blog how Tink placed at the 11th grade for Reading comprehension. Based on the test scores I also did away with the Reading book/workbook scenario. Her comprehension was at the 11th grade but her reading vocabulary was at 6th grade! This year she will be reading entire books and doing vocabulary and limited comprehension questions on each book. She will fill out a reading journal as she goes along and will write up a book report at the end.
I have chosen the book Jacob Have I Loved for the first book of the year. I printed out complete lesson plans for the book from Ed Helper. I'm not sure how much you can see on that link without a paid subscription but I'm guessing you can view the page. You would not be able to download the plans but it would still give you an idea of what it looks like.
For Science we are doing Teach with Movies. I chose this particular way of doing Science because the lesson plans were only $11.95 online and each movie has a list of vocabulary terms the children must know. Teach with Movies has movies and lesson plans for History, Science, Literature and character building.
Tink is doing United States History again this year. She didn't get it finished last year, mainly because we started it so late in the year. She is using North America Is the Lords from Christian Light Education.
Here is what the website says about this book; "North America Is the Lord’s is a comprehensive history and geography of Anglo-America from a God-centered perspective. This study credits God, the Creator, as the sovereign Lord. It describes opposing forces in history: the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. Social values belonging to God’s kingdom are upheld. This book counters the humanistic idea that we control our destinies, and that our land thrives because of our own ingenuity".
I love this book and decided it was well worth Tinks time to finish it!
Tink is doing Math from Teaching Textbooksagain. It's a good fit for her so I'm not going to reinvent the wheel.
Those are her main courses. At the charter school she is taking Orchestra classes including symphonic orchestra, a writing class for middle school and volleyball.
Once again her schedule is full but she seems to thrive on it.
I really struggled with the children's curriculum this year. I just couldn't quite find the right fit! Tink tested low in vocabulary and she has every year. It was time to see if this could be corrected. I searched all summer for curriculum that would incorporate vocabulary in a huge way! I'm finally happy with my final choice.
Tink has studied English inside and out. She can label and diagram sentences with ease. The problem though stems from her short term memory. I dont want her to lose what she already knows but neither do I want to put a huge emphasis on diagramming this year. The solution was found in Grammar Keys.
Grammar Keys is a software program that covers all the basics in language, and grammar and sentence mechanics. The student does the course online and also in a work book. The workbook comes on a DVD and needs to be printed on paper. It took me a bit to figure out how it all worked but when I did I was very pleased with the program. By using Grammar Keys Tink will not lose any of the knowledge she already has while we delve deeper into reading vocabulary.
I've stated before on my other blog how Tink placed at the 11th grade for Reading comprehension. Based on the test scores I also did away with the Reading book/workbook scenario. Her comprehension was at the 11th grade but her reading vocabulary was at 6th grade! This year she will be reading entire books and doing vocabulary and limited comprehension questions on each book. She will fill out a reading journal as she goes along and will write up a book report at the end.
I have chosen the book Jacob Have I Loved for the first book of the year. I printed out complete lesson plans for the book from Ed Helper. I'm not sure how much you can see on that link without a paid subscription but I'm guessing you can view the page. You would not be able to download the plans but it would still give you an idea of what it looks like.
For Science we are doing Teach with Movies. I chose this particular way of doing Science because the lesson plans were only $11.95 online and each movie has a list of vocabulary terms the children must know. Teach with Movies has movies and lesson plans for History, Science, Literature and character building.
Tink is doing United States History again this year. She didn't get it finished last year, mainly because we started it so late in the year. She is using North America Is the Lords from Christian Light Education.
I love this book and decided it was well worth Tinks time to finish it!
Tink is doing Math from Teaching Textbooksagain. It's a good fit for her so I'm not going to reinvent the wheel.
Those are her main courses. At the charter school she is taking Orchestra classes including symphonic orchestra, a writing class for middle school and volleyball.
Once again her schedule is full but she seems to thrive on it.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Just a little brain dump
We are half way through the summer and its time to think of curriculum! I took my kids to be tested so I would know exactly where they are. It's been awhile since I have done that and I really wanted a better feel for things this up coming year. I have been tutoring thirteen hours a week this summer so its not like I havent been in the teaching groove but there is something different about ordering curriculum for your own kids than buying it for others! Im so excited to get going with them!
I decided that this week I will tutor my own kids two hours a week. Tink hasnt done any school work so the two hour a week tutoring is going to really help her. I dont work one on one with Tink much anymore and Im hoping this month of August will give her a little boost. Im really excited about starting the tutoring with her.
I was amazed the other day when I had her do some comprehension exercises to brush up for the test. She had test taking skills down to a science. But then, why shouldn't she, poor thing! She's been tested more academically than any child should ever have to be!
I'm still not totally sure what I am ordering for the kids; not just which grade level, but also which publisher. Math is settled but I'm still sorta browsing for a Language Arts program. Tink is beginning to get into some tough stuff for her and frankly I'm not sure how much time I want her spending on dangling participle and the such. I just want her to literate and able to develop life skills that will stand her in good stead throughout life. Gerunds and gerund phrases don't seem to fall into that scheme!
Well anyway I need to run. Eventually my plan is to use this blog as a homeschool resource for others but for right now I'm just pecking away at the trivial and using it to sort my thoughts! All great things allude me! Sigh!
I decided that this week I will tutor my own kids two hours a week. Tink hasnt done any school work so the two hour a week tutoring is going to really help her. I dont work one on one with Tink much anymore and Im hoping this month of August will give her a little boost. Im really excited about starting the tutoring with her.
I was amazed the other day when I had her do some comprehension exercises to brush up for the test. She had test taking skills down to a science. But then, why shouldn't she, poor thing! She's been tested more academically than any child should ever have to be!
I'm still not totally sure what I am ordering for the kids; not just which grade level, but also which publisher. Math is settled but I'm still sorta browsing for a Language Arts program. Tink is beginning to get into some tough stuff for her and frankly I'm not sure how much time I want her spending on dangling participle and the such. I just want her to literate and able to develop life skills that will stand her in good stead throughout life. Gerunds and gerund phrases don't seem to fall into that scheme!
Well anyway I need to run. Eventually my plan is to use this blog as a homeschool resource for others but for right now I'm just pecking away at the trivial and using it to sort my thoughts! All great things allude me! Sigh!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
What are the Pros and Cons of the Courses Offered Through The Teaching Company
I've been browsing the Internet looking for curriculum ideas. Thats what we homeschoolers do best, ya know! In my search I found this post over at Two Kid Schoolhouse; Change of Homeschool Plans. She mentions the history course offered by The Teaching Company. Its a course on DVD and I am highly interested in it. Tink learns well through DVD primarily because she is at that age where mom as teacher is not as cool as it used to be! I was wondering though if any of you have used any thing from this company and what are your ideas about it. Did you like it or didn't you? I'd really like to hear from anyone who has an opinion about the DVD's.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Homeschoolers Dirty Little Secret
You all really must rush to Homeschool USA and read this hilarious account of homeschool and the competition that goes along with it! My favorite line is this one:
And speaking of homeschool, I'm still tutoring 4 hours a week and right now I'm busy testing Peter to see exactly where he stands so I can order his curriculum for fall. I wish I could say that the kids are busy reading and keeping intensive nature journals of their time spent outside but alas, nothing is further than the truth,. Peter spends all his time swimming in the pool and playing video games and Tink thinks summer is one big social hour complete with sleepovers and cozy talks on the deck in the warmth of the summer midnight!
I vacillate between making her do school work and telling myself she will only be 13 for one summer so let her live, laugh, and love and be young.
I'll be updating more regularly on this site real soon!
“I quit reading home school magazines years ago when a mother wrote in about how her 18 month old had a heart for the unsaved Asian children of the world. 18 MONTHS old! At the time, my 18 month old was sitting on the back porch picking the fuzz out from between her toes!"Its all good and so funny because of the truth of the whole matter!
And speaking of homeschool, I'm still tutoring 4 hours a week and right now I'm busy testing Peter to see exactly where he stands so I can order his curriculum for fall. I wish I could say that the kids are busy reading and keeping intensive nature journals of their time spent outside but alas, nothing is further than the truth,. Peter spends all his time swimming in the pool and playing video games and Tink thinks summer is one big social hour complete with sleepovers and cozy talks on the deck in the warmth of the summer midnight!
I vacillate between making her do school work and telling myself she will only be 13 for one summer so let her live, laugh, and love and be young.
I'll be updating more regularly on this site real soon!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Hail to Summertime
Blueberry House has closed for the summer. It was a wonderful year but boy, did I keep my nose to the proverbial grindstone! There were no unscheduled vacation days, no days when we could just sleep in, no days to relax..it was all strictly regimented by the clock out of necessity for the kids that attended my school.
Im ready for a vacation! I have several lapbooks I want to get posted on here. This year we did two of them; one on strawberries at the first grade level and one on Geography at the 4th grade level. I'll get the pics up here real soon.
I have gone through the school room and prepared it for next year. My kids are schooling through the summer but at a much easier work load. I am still tutoring through the summer too so not all school has come to a halt but the overwhelming majority of the day to day school schedule is over for another year.
Now its off to enjoy the summer ahead!
Im ready for a vacation! I have several lapbooks I want to get posted on here. This year we did two of them; one on strawberries at the first grade level and one on Geography at the 4th grade level. I'll get the pics up here real soon.
I have gone through the school room and prepared it for next year. My kids are schooling through the summer but at a much easier work load. I am still tutoring through the summer too so not all school has come to a halt but the overwhelming majority of the day to day school schedule is over for another year.
Now its off to enjoy the summer ahead!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Somethings Worked, Somethings Didn't
We're finishing up some books and others are left wanting. Part of the problem is that I switched the language Arts program on everyone along about Christmas. That means that no one is finishing their Language Arts. Other books I only meant to be term subjects so of course those books I'm not finishing.
I pulled Peter out of two different reading programs this year and finally settled on Reading A-Z. The Christian Light reading was too hard for him and the Bob Jones stories he thought were boring. I have never had a kid think BJ is boring and it amazed me. I refuse to ruin a child's love of reading by making him read stories that he isn't interested in.
So I switched the reading and now he is loving his stories. He is reading one now on how chocolate is made. It involves studying the map and coloring in the different countries that grow the cocoa bean and he loves map studies so this is working well for him.
We will not finish our Language Arts books this year but I am going to continue those in the summer. Both kids are the same as done with their Math. I plan on starting them in the next grade in Math beginning in June. That will give them a jump on the year ahead. Peter doesn't really need it but by doing this with Tink she will soon be to grade level with her Math.
Story of the World will not be completed but then again it wasn't written to be completed in one year. We will end the year at chapter 26. There are 36 weeks to a school year and we are doing one chapter a week so you can see that throughout the year we have missed 10 weeks of history. That was all in the fall term when I was undecided about what I really wanted to do and unsure of how I wanted to proceed with the SOTW. There is so much there that you really have to sort through it. It's about impossible to do it all.
Peter is also doing history in third grade Abeka and he will be finishing that in the summer too. Peter's Science will also continue through the summer because we are only about a third of the way through that. Again that's because I got a late start.
If there is one thing a homeschooling mom needs to know it is this: the curriculum you decide on at the beginning of the year is not a sure and firm decision. You may be oh so sure this is what will work but don't let yourself be tied to it when it isn't doing the job. Switch it out to something else. I do caution you though to be done with the flip flopping by Christmas. To go back and forth all year long is to confusing for the child. You will end the year not knowing where you are in the academic spectrum. As a result you may end up feeling defeated.
Today I only have three kids here. Two are absent and Tink is sick in bed. So out of the usual 6 I am down to half of that and it makes for such an easy day! Monday will be the beginning of the 32nd week of school. Five more weeks and we are on our summer program! Yeah!!
I pulled Peter out of two different reading programs this year and finally settled on Reading A-Z. The Christian Light reading was too hard for him and the Bob Jones stories he thought were boring. I have never had a kid think BJ is boring and it amazed me. I refuse to ruin a child's love of reading by making him read stories that he isn't interested in.
So I switched the reading and now he is loving his stories. He is reading one now on how chocolate is made. It involves studying the map and coloring in the different countries that grow the cocoa bean and he loves map studies so this is working well for him.
We will not finish our Language Arts books this year but I am going to continue those in the summer. Both kids are the same as done with their Math. I plan on starting them in the next grade in Math beginning in June. That will give them a jump on the year ahead. Peter doesn't really need it but by doing this with Tink she will soon be to grade level with her Math.
Story of the World will not be completed but then again it wasn't written to be completed in one year. We will end the year at chapter 26. There are 36 weeks to a school year and we are doing one chapter a week so you can see that throughout the year we have missed 10 weeks of history. That was all in the fall term when I was undecided about what I really wanted to do and unsure of how I wanted to proceed with the SOTW. There is so much there that you really have to sort through it. It's about impossible to do it all.
Peter is also doing history in third grade Abeka and he will be finishing that in the summer too. Peter's Science will also continue through the summer because we are only about a third of the way through that. Again that's because I got a late start.
If there is one thing a homeschooling mom needs to know it is this: the curriculum you decide on at the beginning of the year is not a sure and firm decision. You may be oh so sure this is what will work but don't let yourself be tied to it when it isn't doing the job. Switch it out to something else. I do caution you though to be done with the flip flopping by Christmas. To go back and forth all year long is to confusing for the child. You will end the year not knowing where you are in the academic spectrum. As a result you may end up feeling defeated.
Today I only have three kids here. Two are absent and Tink is sick in bed. So out of the usual 6 I am down to half of that and it makes for such an easy day! Monday will be the beginning of the 32nd week of school. Five more weeks and we are on our summer program! Yeah!!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Next Years Curriculum Ready to go
I've got next years curriculum almost figured out! Can you believe it? I know, me neither. I really didn't have a problem with figuring out Science or History. I am going with CLE and Story of The World again. We may just do SOTW as a story rather than using the tests and activity pages. I'm not sure about that yet.
Science was a no brainer because I hate Science. Yes, I know most homeschoolers love the Science part but I'm not one of them! With Christian Light you can order the Science kit that goes along with the book for every grade! You don't have to go looking for all the stuff to do the experiments. The books are all workbooks that are intended for the student to do on their own which is nice when mom hates to do the Science! I add library books and DVD's to the Science curriculum to spice things up and add variety.
Tink will be sticking with Teaching Textbooks for Math and Bob Jones for Reading and Language Arts.
Peter will be doing Math, Science, and History with CLE. His reading is still to be determined which means his Language Arts is still to be determined. I keep those two subjects in the same curriculum because publishers and writers usually match the grammar workbook to the workbook in the Readers.
For Spelling both kids will be doing Sequential Spelling by DVD. They are starting that this term and it is amazing! They are both doing book one so I only needed to buy the one DVD!
Music lessons and Orchestra classes will continue like this year. I am also adding a computer class for Peter and a photo editing class for Tink. The !classes will qualify as technology and therefore they will make the state happy! Yes, I try to keep the state happy and I am totally aware that it sets me apart from most homeschoolers but that's just how I operate.
So what about you? Are you thinking of next year yet? I have never had a year where it was just so easy to plan the fall term. I think it could be that my kids are happy with the work they are doing so I only had to make minor tweaks to the program.
Science was a no brainer because I hate Science. Yes, I know most homeschoolers love the Science part but I'm not one of them! With Christian Light you can order the Science kit that goes along with the book for every grade! You don't have to go looking for all the stuff to do the experiments. The books are all workbooks that are intended for the student to do on their own which is nice when mom hates to do the Science! I add library books and DVD's to the Science curriculum to spice things up and add variety.
Tink will be sticking with Teaching Textbooks for Math and Bob Jones for Reading and Language Arts.
Peter will be doing Math, Science, and History with CLE. His reading is still to be determined which means his Language Arts is still to be determined. I keep those two subjects in the same curriculum because publishers and writers usually match the grammar workbook to the workbook in the Readers.
For Spelling both kids will be doing Sequential Spelling by DVD. They are starting that this term and it is amazing! They are both doing book one so I only needed to buy the one DVD!
Music lessons and Orchestra classes will continue like this year. I am also adding a computer class for Peter and a photo editing class for Tink. The !classes will qualify as technology and therefore they will make the state happy! Yes, I try to keep the state happy and I am totally aware that it sets me apart from most homeschoolers but that's just how I operate.
So what about you? Are you thinking of next year yet? I have never had a year where it was just so easy to plan the fall term. I think it could be that my kids are happy with the work they are doing so I only had to make minor tweaks to the program.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Book Learning comes to a halt at 2 pm- Mama is unhappy!
I'm up against a real problem. I know this problem stems from the fact that both my kids went to public school before they were homeschooled but my problem is that the kids have in their minds that all book learning ends at when the school bell tolls at 2 pm.
Now I know too that I am partly to blame for this. When you operate a school from your home you have to hold to definite times for each subject and for a beginning and an ending to the homeschool day. After the tutor students leave my own children just flop! Once in a while I can get Tink to do a little more without much prodding but if I want Peter to do anything it is like pulling hens teeth!
He is not interested in book learning. He learns wonderfully from videos and real life experiences. But a pencil is like a death stick in his hand. So here comes the other problem with operating a "school" within the home. I can't let Peter learn with videos and computer because the other children think they want to do that too and the parents are not paying to have their kids learn that way.
Interestingly enough, even though they hire me to teach their kids because they cannot, most of them have very definite ideas of how they want their children taught. Because most of the kids I work with have learning differences their parents send them to me to get them up to grade level. The parents that are more into unschooling would never send their kids here because of the structure of our day.
Parents are desperate for their children to pass the state exams and it is up to me to see that they do! Videos are not their idea of learning. Bill Nye the Science Guy would not qualify for a Science program. This is very frustrating when I know my own son Peter learns best that way.
On the other hand it really isn't a bad thing to have to take the death stick in hand and learn to wield that tool. So I have decided that Peter will do lessons just like he has been doing and then after everyone leaves he is going to do learning through video and computer program and reading.
I really think that Tink set a norm here with all of her learning problems. Peter has watched her all his little life and he thinks her behavior is the way all children behave. It is so frustrating.
I feel great excitement though for this next term. Nine weeks until the end of the school year. I have great things planned! I am starting a geography program for my two oldest students using lapbooks and games. I have decided against the Trail program I was considering in the last post. I got to thinking about what Kristin said and I can see the wisdom in that!
Now I know too that I am partly to blame for this. When you operate a school from your home you have to hold to definite times for each subject and for a beginning and an ending to the homeschool day. After the tutor students leave my own children just flop! Once in a while I can get Tink to do a little more without much prodding but if I want Peter to do anything it is like pulling hens teeth!
He is not interested in book learning. He learns wonderfully from videos and real life experiences. But a pencil is like a death stick in his hand. So here comes the other problem with operating a "school" within the home. I can't let Peter learn with videos and computer because the other children think they want to do that too and the parents are not paying to have their kids learn that way.
Interestingly enough, even though they hire me to teach their kids because they cannot, most of them have very definite ideas of how they want their children taught. Because most of the kids I work with have learning differences their parents send them to me to get them up to grade level. The parents that are more into unschooling would never send their kids here because of the structure of our day.
Parents are desperate for their children to pass the state exams and it is up to me to see that they do! Videos are not their idea of learning. Bill Nye the Science Guy would not qualify for a Science program. This is very frustrating when I know my own son Peter learns best that way.
On the other hand it really isn't a bad thing to have to take the death stick in hand and learn to wield that tool. So I have decided that Peter will do lessons just like he has been doing and then after everyone leaves he is going to do learning through video and computer program and reading.
I really think that Tink set a norm here with all of her learning problems. Peter has watched her all his little life and he thinks her behavior is the way all children behave. It is so frustrating.
I feel great excitement though for this next term. Nine weeks until the end of the school year. I have great things planned! I am starting a geography program for my two oldest students using lapbooks and games. I have decided against the Trail program I was considering in the last post. I got to thinking about what Kristin said and I can see the wisdom in that!
Monday, March 29, 2010
The end of spring break
Spring break is over and it's back to school! I'm excited to be back in the saddle again. There was not enough structure over the week break and I hate not having structure. My husband took the week off and all schedules were flown to the four winds. Peter hasn't practiced his music, nor has Tink. In fact, not one child even picked up a book to read!
Well I guess that's not exactly true. Peter did bring me a book a couple of nights ago and asked me to read it to him. It was a deep thinking sort of book. Okay, no it wasn't, it was Cat in The Hat, but hey, at least we read something!
It is pouring rain here today, I mean, raining as in monsoon type rains! Tink and Peter both have classes at the charter school then it is back home for Peter and another little boy I tutor. Tink is at the charter school all day on Mondays.
Tonight Tinks youth group is taking a bus to a church meeting about 2 and a half hours away. I have mixed feelings about her going. I'm just not comfortable with buses traveling that far in this torrential rain! Maybe I will feel better when the sun comes up and I actually get into this day.
For now it's more coffee! Here's to the last nine weeks of school! Yes we are going to do a little bit over the summer but we aren't going to be hitting it with nearly the intensity of the winter days.
Well I guess that's not exactly true. Peter did bring me a book a couple of nights ago and asked me to read it to him. It was a deep thinking sort of book. Okay, no it wasn't, it was Cat in The Hat, but hey, at least we read something!
It is pouring rain here today, I mean, raining as in monsoon type rains! Tink and Peter both have classes at the charter school then it is back home for Peter and another little boy I tutor. Tink is at the charter school all day on Mondays.
Tonight Tinks youth group is taking a bus to a church meeting about 2 and a half hours away. I have mixed feelings about her going. I'm just not comfortable with buses traveling that far in this torrential rain! Maybe I will feel better when the sun comes up and I actually get into this day.
For now it's more coffee! Here's to the last nine weeks of school! Yes we are going to do a little bit over the summer but we aren't going to be hitting it with nearly the intensity of the winter days.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Sh! Class in session
This morning arrived with snow on the ground. It was just a light skiff but still it was snow! Here in the Pacific Northwest cherry trees are blooming, daffodils are up and azaleas are in full bloom. The snow looked out of place in the midst of springtime! This afternoon the air is balmy and my school room window is open to let in all the merry little breezes.
I love the school room after the busyness of the day. A mere half hour ago here is what was happening in this room. Yes, its my Story of the World class. They are listening to the book read in audio and coloring masks of King Tut while they listen.
When they are done they will do map work pertaining to the lands around the Valley of The Kings and answer review questions on last weeks lesson.
You might notice the jars of colored pencils on the table by the girls in the pic above. Tink and Peter were always racing to see who could get the most pencils from the little drawer where they are kept. I got so tired of their bickering and squabbling about who was getting what that I finally got smart and separated the pencils into jars. I needed 5 jars. Well amazingly enough I had exactly 5 sets of each color of pencil! Now when the kids come in for SOTW they just take a jar to their desk and all the squabbles are over! Its such a simple solution yet it alluded me all this time. So much of how a day goes is due to how many little arguments can be avoided and how much time I have spent in preparation.
Another way I have changed the flow of things is to buy these little TV trays. They are portable enough that the kids can move them to wherever they want to study. Peter and my student P have permanent desks in the schoolroom but they move around a lot to separate rooms to get away from the noise when classes are going on. Tink and my other teenage student study downstairs most of the time. It helps to separate the boys from the girls. There's a lot less fuss that way!
So another day is over. Hopefully I have been able to touch these young lives and leave an imprint for good. Now I'm going to tidy the school room and go out for some fresh air!
I love the school room after the busyness of the day. A mere half hour ago here is what was happening in this room. Yes, its my Story of the World class. They are listening to the book read in audio and coloring masks of King Tut while they listen.
When they are done they will do map work pertaining to the lands around the Valley of The Kings and answer review questions on last weeks lesson.
You might notice the jars of colored pencils on the table by the girls in the pic above. Tink and Peter were always racing to see who could get the most pencils from the little drawer where they are kept. I got so tired of their bickering and squabbling about who was getting what that I finally got smart and separated the pencils into jars. I needed 5 jars. Well amazingly enough I had exactly 5 sets of each color of pencil! Now when the kids come in for SOTW they just take a jar to their desk and all the squabbles are over! Its such a simple solution yet it alluded me all this time. So much of how a day goes is due to how many little arguments can be avoided and how much time I have spent in preparation.
Another way I have changed the flow of things is to buy these little TV trays. They are portable enough that the kids can move them to wherever they want to study. Peter and my student P have permanent desks in the schoolroom but they move around a lot to separate rooms to get away from the noise when classes are going on. Tink and my other teenage student study downstairs most of the time. It helps to separate the boys from the girls. There's a lot less fuss that way!
So another day is over. Hopefully I have been able to touch these young lives and leave an imprint for good. Now I'm going to tidy the school room and go out for some fresh air!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Spring Term & Restless Kids
Its amazing to see the many ways that kids can dawdle when they don't want to do their schoolwork. Peter is twisting in his chair, another student is dangling his pencil at the end of a string and watching it twirl and swirl in mid air.
I bought some wooden TV tables to use as extra desks. It's nice because they can fold up when not in use. We need them for those times when all the kids come into the same room to study. I now have 3 boys and 2 girls as day students and 2 boys as half time or hourly students.
I have three third grade boys! What a handful! It's good for Peter though because it gives him other children to play and learn with every day. Peter needs to play with other boys. Between those three and the neighbor boy he has a continual stream of little fellows to interact with. He also has friends at the charter school and at the church. Friends are important to Peter. It's also important to me that Peter relates on a daily basis with other kids. He tends to get too possessive of his things and too self absorbed if he doesn't have to give and and relate to other kids.
Spring term not only brings me a new student it also brings a new focus. I'm taking all three boys through a rigorous cursive writing program. It will be fast paced and painstakingly precise. I'm tired of the nonsense of ten year old kids not able to write or read cursive!
I'm also starting a writing composition class that again will be detailed and rigorous. Two of my students are ten year olds and really by then a child should have a fairly good grasp of the writing process. By the end of this year I'm hoping that Peter and the other two boys know all the main steps to writing a paper: brainstorming, planning with the use of graphic organizers, writing the rough draft, revising and on to the final copy.
I have a lot of work planned for the next 10 weeks of school and even though I am excited about the end I am not so burned out that I don't feel a tingle of excitement over the plans for the rest of the academic year!
I bought some wooden TV tables to use as extra desks. It's nice because they can fold up when not in use. We need them for those times when all the kids come into the same room to study. I now have 3 boys and 2 girls as day students and 2 boys as half time or hourly students.
I have three third grade boys! What a handful! It's good for Peter though because it gives him other children to play and learn with every day. Peter needs to play with other boys. Between those three and the neighbor boy he has a continual stream of little fellows to interact with. He also has friends at the charter school and at the church. Friends are important to Peter. It's also important to me that Peter relates on a daily basis with other kids. He tends to get too possessive of his things and too self absorbed if he doesn't have to give and and relate to other kids.
Spring term not only brings me a new student it also brings a new focus. I'm taking all three boys through a rigorous cursive writing program. It will be fast paced and painstakingly precise. I'm tired of the nonsense of ten year old kids not able to write or read cursive!
I'm also starting a writing composition class that again will be detailed and rigorous. Two of my students are ten year olds and really by then a child should have a fairly good grasp of the writing process. By the end of this year I'm hoping that Peter and the other two boys know all the main steps to writing a paper: brainstorming, planning with the use of graphic organizers, writing the rough draft, revising and on to the final copy.
I have a lot of work planned for the next 10 weeks of school and even though I am excited about the end I am not so burned out that I don't feel a tingle of excitement over the plans for the rest of the academic year!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Around the Homeschool
What a beautiful balmy morning! All the kids are quietly tucked into corners doing their Reading right now so I too have a quiet morning. The sun is spilling into the school room windows bathing everything in a soft glow. I love mornings.
Homeschool continues to flow at a hurried pace. Peter has about 4 books that need to be read in the next two weeks. He can't read that fast so I will be doing lots of reading to him. He is listening to Marley a Dog Like No Other on an audio book and I am orally reading Bud Not Buddy to him. In this manner we can start striking out the books on his list.
I've put Peter in Reading Detective along with his Bob Jones. Reading detective is a book of short stories and work sheets. The big plus for this book is the practice it gives the kids on pulling out inferences and information that is not written in the story. Bob Jones does that too but this makes so that every day Peter is being exposed to critical thinking at a concentrated level.
Juggling the schedule is continuing to be a challenge. Some things are ending while others are beginning. Book Club will be over in March. Volley ball will be over Monday but Basketball will just be beginning! Basketball practices are usually Tuesday and Thursday nights with games on Saturday. Fortunately the only thing I have scheduled Thursday nights is Peters viola lesson and I think we can fit both the lesson and the practice in.
This week I only have 3 full time students so I'm using the time to drill the parts of speech and multiplication to my third graders. The extra time was badly needed for the boys.
Tutoring on Fridays will end this Friday too since the state testing begins this coming week. It will be nice to have my Fridays free again. Between tutoring and volleyball games my Fridays have been eaten up without any housework or laundry or catch up stuff getting done.
Well after many interruptions I finally finish this. Reading period is over and its time to move on to phonics.
Homeschool continues to flow at a hurried pace. Peter has about 4 books that need to be read in the next two weeks. He can't read that fast so I will be doing lots of reading to him. He is listening to Marley a Dog Like No Other on an audio book and I am orally reading Bud Not Buddy to him. In this manner we can start striking out the books on his list.
I've put Peter in Reading Detective along with his Bob Jones. Reading detective is a book of short stories and work sheets. The big plus for this book is the practice it gives the kids on pulling out inferences and information that is not written in the story. Bob Jones does that too but this makes so that every day Peter is being exposed to critical thinking at a concentrated level.
Juggling the schedule is continuing to be a challenge. Some things are ending while others are beginning. Book Club will be over in March. Volley ball will be over Monday but Basketball will just be beginning! Basketball practices are usually Tuesday and Thursday nights with games on Saturday. Fortunately the only thing I have scheduled Thursday nights is Peters viola lesson and I think we can fit both the lesson and the practice in.
This week I only have 3 full time students so I'm using the time to drill the parts of speech and multiplication to my third graders. The extra time was badly needed for the boys.
Tutoring on Fridays will end this Friday too since the state testing begins this coming week. It will be nice to have my Fridays free again. Between tutoring and volleyball games my Fridays have been eaten up without any housework or laundry or catch up stuff getting done.
Well after many interruptions I finally finish this. Reading period is over and its time to move on to phonics.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Winter Showcase
The Winter Showcase of Homeschools is over. I thought I would give you a peek at the backboard I did and its spot in the fair.
Tinks violin class played music for about half an hour during the showcase. Here in the first photo she participating as a second violinist for Orchestra II. She is sitting there in the back corner on the far right. In the next photo she is playing first violin for Orchestra I.
It was a fun night. Tink had a girlfriend spending the night so she was all giddy and the last thing she wanted to do was to sit there and play violin! I picked her friend up at 2:30 pm and then she went with us to the showcase. The girls ate an entire little six piece cake I had bought them for the sleepover. I stopped at a little bakery here in town and let them choose what they wanted. Of course they wanted the cake with the name Chocolate Extravaganza!
They had nachos at the Showcase and came home and popped popcorn and watched a Nancy Drew video, then giggled until 1 am. The next day they both did their schoolwork together here. That's the joy of having friends who homeschool. You can have midweek sleepovers, roll out of bed and get right to school work!
I just bought Peter a new Social Studies/Geography book and I'm quite excited about it. I had to get him something that wasn't faith based so I had samples to give to the state. I put him Social Studies Skill Builders which is a combination of lessons from the Weekly Reader. I am loving it more than I originally thought I would. It's easy to use and so informative!
Well I've spent almost the entire weekend working in the schoolroom and now it's time to do damage control on the rest of the place.
Tinks violin class played music for about half an hour during the showcase. Here in the first photo she participating as a second violinist for Orchestra II. She is sitting there in the back corner on the far right. In the next photo she is playing first violin for Orchestra I.
It was a fun night. Tink had a girlfriend spending the night so she was all giddy and the last thing she wanted to do was to sit there and play violin! I picked her friend up at 2:30 pm and then she went with us to the showcase. The girls ate an entire little six piece cake I had bought them for the sleepover. I stopped at a little bakery here in town and let them choose what they wanted. Of course they wanted the cake with the name Chocolate Extravaganza!
They had nachos at the Showcase and came home and popped popcorn and watched a Nancy Drew video, then giggled until 1 am. The next day they both did their schoolwork together here. That's the joy of having friends who homeschool. You can have midweek sleepovers, roll out of bed and get right to school work!
I just bought Peter a new Social Studies/Geography book and I'm quite excited about it. I had to get him something that wasn't faith based so I had samples to give to the state. I put him Social Studies Skill Builders which is a combination of lessons from the Weekly Reader. I am loving it more than I originally thought I would. It's easy to use and so informative!
Well I've spent almost the entire weekend working in the schoolroom and now it's time to do damage control on the rest of the place.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
It's the little things that take the time
So much to do! I'm getting ready for a winter showcase at the charter school where my kids attend. I stayed up late making the backboard and now I have to get all the props around.
Besides all that there are papers to grade, copies to make, curriculum to buy, filing to do, research, writing...gobs of writing, tutoring, business cards to pick up, a business license to apply for, learning records to make out for the state, samples of kids school work to round up, test prep for kids and the list goes on and on!
Nothing to do but to get at it! So share with us what is on your homeschool to do list. Are you swamped with copying and grading like I am? I'm telling you I could use a full time secretary!
Besides all that there are papers to grade, copies to make, curriculum to buy, filing to do, research, writing...gobs of writing, tutoring, business cards to pick up, a business license to apply for, learning records to make out for the state, samples of kids school work to round up, test prep for kids and the list goes on and on!
Nothing to do but to get at it! So share with us what is on your homeschool to do list. Are you swamped with copying and grading like I am? I'm telling you I could use a full time secretary!
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