Another year bites the dust

(written yesterday morning... for whatever reason it didn't actually post... hmmmm.)


Scoop and drop.

Scoop and drop. 

I'm standing here in my kitchen with my iPad making special sprinkle pancakes for our last official day of school. Jake and the Nederland pirates is playing in front of me as it entertains my boys so I may be able to accomplish said pancakes without much interruption. On the other side of the wall behind my daughter practices her spelling words on SpellCity for her test today. I wish I could say she does this all the time, but sadly some weeks it's like pulling teeth to get her to study. 

Gasp!
A homeschooler that loathes study time!? The horror but its true. She is not a big fan of studying. This 4th grade year has actually been very eye opening for her. It's the first time parts of her school work hasn't just come very easy to her. The last 4 years of school were super easy. This year she actually had to apply herself more, so that switch was something that threw her for loop. In a good way. Now is the time to grow from it and work on setting up habits that will still help her in the times she has to apply a little more of herself than others. 

With each flip of the pancakes I am thinking of all this summer break will bring us. Lots of homemade prep for the beginning of school and fall. Moving midyear and my desire of all things homemade didn't mesh very well with trying to stay on top of schooling as well. I am really hoping to get some actual organization completed in our short 6 week break and get some homemade mixes and freezable items ready for easy access. 

I really need to get back to making out a monthly meal plan and planning accordingly. We've been so busy that has totally slipped off and knowing it will get busy again soon I really need to get a handle back on it again so the next semester of busyness won't be as broke (cause we all know it killed my budget), and will cut down on the stress of figuring something out. 

God has been laying on my heart, heavy, about my husband and I getting our house in order. We need to bad and it's a going back to basics for us. This last year we have let the world take root in some of our thinking out of convenience and it's wrecked havoc on so much that used to be us. 

I think that is one reason I am so amped for our new school year and approach. It's very God lead and we can't wait to see what it does for our family. Strengthening our foundation so we can be affective disciples for the Kingdom. 

Gideon had to start from him and his family before leading out... Nehemiah had to pray internally and start in him and his focus and be sure of his calling before moving out. 

We are to do the same. 

It's so comforting to know we won't be moving this year (unless God knows something we don't) and that we are home. That we can start something within responsibilities and such knowing it won't be put on hold for a season because of packing or anything else. This year was full of so many blessing but it was also really hard. The hardest yet if I can be completely honest. Parenting was harder. Teaching was harder. Life was messy.

Lots of praying will be taking place in the "downtime" for myself. For my family. Not to quit homeschooling but how not to homeschool like we did this year. Just another area of needing to get back to how it was before we made a big journey to our new state. We all desperately need it.

I plan to do a post shortly about my organization plans for school and home up soon. I am waiting for some of final details to be complete so I can finalize them, but I have definitely already started prepping for next year.

It's going to be a great summer and an even better next school year!!

Happy Summer Y'all! 

Our GREAT First week of the 2012/13 School Year

This week we officially started back to school.

Full load.

Fully schedule.

The whole shebang!

I didn't start with a light load or ease into it because frankly we have missed school so much that I truly didn't see the point. So here we are. Lessons and units completed and checked off. Plans written out and smiles on all of our faces. This week has been great! I pray the momentum stays the year through and not just the "newness" of the year and it fizzles out.

This week I did learn though that the beginning Kindergarten lessons for my little man are way too easy for him and were completed way too quick. So I am now on the task of finding lots of supplements for him to make his days more meatier and chalked full of fun and more learning. He was very bored this week. He wasn't a big fan of reading through our material. He begged for more worksheets though. He loved worksheets. Each day he would proudly ask to hang it up for Daddy to see. He also celebrated his 5th birthday midweek. While time schedule was off we still completed the days work. It was great! Even our littlest guy (3yr old) took part in phonics sounds and repeat after me parts. It was another glorious moment of the soul.

Here are some pics of our fun this week!! (I really hope that I can stick to use the camera on either my phone or regular camera to keep tracking our days. I always slack on it and kick myself for it. Here's to hoping for change.)

I am like the lamest parent ever too by the way. I haven't gotten first day of school pictures yet. This is all I have. Our immediate surroundings are less than inspiring so I have decided to dress them in the same clothes tomorrow and go to a nicer location and take pictures then.

It still counts... kind of?

Right?

Hard at work...

Monday we scored an awesome calendar set up for $5 (Thank you Mardel) and some cute cups for the kids for $0.25/each. Owls are huge around here.

See... ;) 

We drew during reading class and learned some awesome new vocabulary words...  

For Geology chapter 1 talked about the layers of the earth. Thanks to Pinterest (linked to actual post) we tried our hand at the play-dough layers model. Our play-dough... no joke... was cheap, and so didn't cut as clean or mold as well as we had hoped. The kids still had fun though. We may be making this one again with better play-dough just because later.

We celebrated a special day...

And I wrapped up the week with inspiration from one of best friends back home. They are starting their year next month and she set up a spreadsheet for yearly lesson planning based on weeks. I loved her layout and my OCD begged to join in on the fun. So I too started making up our yearly lesson plan layout. I {heart} an organized school year. 

Oh yes, and LOTS of Olympics have been watched and rooted for as well!! This is my daughter back during the Parade of Athletes going through her Countries Flag book. She located the flags and countries. She literally was giddy to do it A-Z. It was an awesome moment!

{Sorry for the poor cellphone pics... only camera I have that has a wider lens. 50mm is just a little too close sometimes. *wink*}


That wraps up our week. How was yours? Did you start back to school too? How was it? I'd love to know!!

Here is to a great new school year!! 

Homeschool Mother's Journal - Are We There Yet?

In my life this week... 

It honestly felt like nothing happened. Tensions have been tight the last couple days as we are trying to wrangle in a very self-willed, ok I'll be honest, demanding in all areas of the word 2 year old. Two nights ago I promise it looked like a scene from Nanny 911.

Not.Pretty.At.All

Mix that with late nights every day this week and yeah it hasn't been a fun place to be.

I may jinx it but last night was much smoother in that area, but there is a ton of work to do with this little guy. I need a vacation.


In our homeschool this week...

Last week, we took a break from our regularly scheduled school work to focus strickly on the Titanic. It was awesome. This week has been a pushing papers kind of thing. I loathe weeks like this though. It is mundane and we all are off. It feels more like we are just checking off the list more than anything. A few weeks ago I figured out an end date for us and since we took last week off I'm not sure we will make that date. We should be done in May I hope. Some could go a week or 2 into June. I'm ok with that.

Our History though... ugh another topic! Since we switched curriculums a while back we technically should be done with it already BUT... ugh isn't that an ugly word... I really want us to understand the little lessons so it's dragging them out. We will probably be doing them all summer. It's bittersweet really.

Are we at the end yet????

My favorite things this week was... 

Yesterday afternoon actually. I was tired of the snapping at each other so I said forget it and brought out vinegar and baking soda. We watched our cups "explode" and I made slime. Everyone sat around the table laughing and peaceful. It was the first part of homeschool bliss we've felt and had in a way. Sad but true.

Things I'm working on...

The C words... Curriculum Choices.. for next year. Oh man this seems more daunting than last year. I am looking at so many options and thinking long term and wondering what I should switch up. I get lost in the school mentailty lately honestly. No we can't do this because we need to see we are doing subject x,y,and z. Does that even make sense? It stinks.

I am also trying to figure out which curriculum will offer a wide range to teach and mold for the different ages. I will have a 3 yr old, Kindergartener, and 4th grader next year.

A dear friend and I are also trying to piece together a Science for her kiddos and mine for next year. I honestly am feeling overwhelmed right now but I know more prayer is needed. I think the OCD in me is dying for it to be laid out and figured out. I also may include what we were wanting to do before this came up cause my daughter really wants to learn about swimming creatures. I like her deciding what she wants to learn it makes the learning time so much more fun.

I'm praying for... 

Peace in our household. Plain and simple. It needs to come back... badly. It's been so off since moving and we all miss it soooo much!

Homeschool Mother's Journal - Light At The End Of The Tunnel

In my life this week...

I have been busy working on getting myself in shape. After 3 kiddos my body isn't what it used to be and I'm tired of not doing anything about it. I am one day away from finishing C25K Week 2 Day 3 and I'm doing Nike Training Club workouts. I'm seriously loving them both!! My body has been sore but a happy sore. My calories have been low and I'm feeling good. :) I'm excited!!

In our homeschool this week...

We hodge-podged around doing formula's for Area, Perimeter, and Volume. Dividing with remainders for the first time, and learning about the parts of a tree... heartwood, sapwood, vascular cambium, inner bark, and bark. We talked about the Indian Wars and the Gilded Age. Worked on Verbs and Spelling words. We also continued our work on building a Biblical Worldview.

I also decided instead of dreading how far behind we really are in our curriculum to sit and write out the last of our lessons to see how much longer we actually have till the end of our school year. I WAS PLEASANTLY SURPRISED!!! When we first moved 4 months ago we were W....A....Y... behind! My daughter has been working her tail off doing double work for months now and has cut her time left for this year to actually finishing early vs working all summer. I am SO stinking proud of her!! I want to make the end of this year BIG for her! So much has happened through this school year and she has kept her head up. All A's but one class that ended at an 88%. Next school year marks another milestone for us. We add another student full time... Kindergarten for my middle child... so I want the rest of this year to be extra special for my hard working student. I was certainly renewed this week for our love of homeschooling!! Bring on 4th grade and Kindergarten... We're ready!

My favorite thing this week was...

Hmmm... I think other than what I mentioned above would have to be diving back into blogging and Twitter. Actually taking pictures and I guess getting back to me. I have felt the Lord more clearly this week and all around super happy with ME. It's been awhile since I have felt like this. It's a good feeling. :)

I'm reading...

Other than curriculum for next year... I picked up Reshaping It All from the sidebar over there again. I can't remember why I never got to finish it before, but I am determined to not let that happen again. God speaks to me through it and I can't wait to reshape everything the way HE wants me to. It need it I know it. This is a new beautiful season for me. It's going to be great!!

I'm grateful for...

God. All of you. My family and friends. My church and Bible study group. Everything. I'm seeing things in a whole new light and the growth God has me in right now is something more than awesome and definitely something to be grateful for. A cry of my heart this week too...

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

A photo(s) to share...

We got hit this week (Monday) with a crazy rain, thunder, and lightning storm. It was talked up so much with not much to show for it for so long I never thought it would show up. Then it did... Full force! It was AWESOME!! I love a good thunderstorm. The left over clouds this week have made for amazing viewing material.

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Homeschool Mother's Journal - My First of 2012

In my life this week...

We enjoyed temps we aren't used to for winter time. However, this change in weather for us though brought the opportunity for our children to ride their new bikes from their Uncle. This time also provided an opportunity for our 8 year old to actually have time enough to ride on a flat surface to learn to ride without training wheels. Yes I realize she is a late learner but if you saw the hill we just moved off of you would understand. We lived on it for 4 years. :( Poor kiddo. 

In our homeschool this week...

We successfully accomplished our 3rd full week (of also doubling up all of our work) back. It feels SOOOOO good!! 

My favorite thing this week was... 

Watching the smile on my 8 yr olds face when after one day of trying she mastered her brand new bike all by herself. It was amazing and simply... priceless! 

Things I am working on... 

Figuring out some new curriculum for next year. Just when I think I have found the "IT" one I find 2 others I think I like more. Oh the choices. 

A photo, video, link, or quote to share... 

My daughter riding her bike. Watching her do this... yeah she grew up in light years this week.  We also worked on her "fuel pack" for Sunday School. This new church offers this great weekly devotional for the kids K-5th grade. They earn fuel points for completely it and memorizing Bible verses during the week. I love how they are working towards keeping the kids in the Word between Sundays. They also firmly believe it's the parents that help building the foundation during the week and they are there to help. I think we are really going to love this church!! 

Homeschool Mother's Journal - Week 3

In my life this week...

We came back from being at grandpa's house and started right into school. Truthfully the first 3 days went well... the last 2 days... not so much. I was really feeling the pull of being tested and really just felt like I wanted to put my life on hold till the answer came. Here we are Sunday afternoon... still no answer... but I am starting to feel better. We need to get working and live our lives no matter the outcome.

This was also our first week of Co-Op. Friday was a lot of fun. Busy from 9:10-1:05 but all in all it was smooth. My middle guy, that I was really worried about, whimpered and was sad when I first dropped him off, but was like "see ya mom" when I had to drop him off after lunch. The craziness of how fast the day goes is going to take some getting used to but I think it will be great.

My middle guy came out of his preschool class saying "Mommy I made friends today!" That alone made everything worth it!

In our homeschool this week... 

We didn't accomplish much as I mentioned above. The words are getting more difficult in our Total Language Plus workbook this session but I think it'll work out great. At Co-Op my daughter began a loom knitting class. They will be knitting a hat for the homeless. To say she is excited would be an understatement!

My favorite thing this week was...

Definitely the end of Co-Op and hearing all about the kids day. How excited they were by some of their classes and how amped they are for next Friday.

I am praying for...

The Lord's guidance on what he started working on this week for our potential future. The silence after that first day is killing me, but as I mentioned below I know God is in control. He has something planned one way or the other. I know this and believe it. I am just praying I stop trying to figure out all of the details before he has even fully set others in motion.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share... 

Here are some pictures from around our Co-Op... all taken via my phone...

Part of the Preschool Room

The Nursery

Where we have worship before we start the school day

Working on her loom knitting homework

Homeschool Mother's Journal - Our last week of Summer '11

In my life this week...

Not too much went on. We kind of just vegged as our last week of Summer vacation draws to an end. We enjoyed daddy's day off by going back to Mount Rainier. It was gorgeous and the kids did the Junior Ranger packets and earned their badges. We absolutely love the Junior Ranger Programs. Have you ever taken part? You totally should.



In our homeschool this week...

I finalized our schedules and writing out the week's lesson plans for my 3rd grader's student planner. She loves being able to check off her work and seeing what needs to be done for the week. I only have to fill our weekly boxes this weekend and we will be set to go come Monday morning... WOHOO!!!



I am inspired by...

Truthfully all you homeschooling moms out there who have already started this year and those who haven't yet. Your words and posts are so encouraging. I am so thankful for all of you!!! Thank you for the inspiration and sharing with us all.

I am also inspired by Pinterest. This has become one of my favorite sites for many reasons but I love all the school pins that are on there. My "want to accomplish" this year list is long thanks to Pinterest. I am excited!!



My favorite thing this week was....

Just simply the joys of watching my kids enjoy our adventure back to the mountain. The joy and excitement that pours out of them on these adventures is indescribable. I wish we could do these things every day just to enjoy those moments and for their learning.



I'm praying for...

The East Coast for one as Hurricane Irene nears. I have family in NC and lots of bloggy friends I read over there. Praying for all of their safety!! I am also praying for our upcoming Homeschool year. I am determined to not be a stickler for schedules if we are off a little it. I am determined to have more fun this year and to laugh a lot more. I want to do things differently this year and I am feeling good about the changes. I am just praying to not drift back to the "brick and mortar" lifestyle of... this has to get done now! I want to explore every tangent that the children want to while digging deeper into our lessons. If that made any sense at all.



Things I am working on...

Me. All around me. Me and God. Me and my family. Me.



A photo, video, link, or quote to share... 

This was our view of Mount Rainier this week when we did a little one mile hike near the visitor center. What is so awesome about this picture is we were able to watch the mountain act like a magnet and pull those clouds in to circle around the peak. It was the most amazing weather experience I have ever witnessed. You could see the clouds circling and watch the line of clouds being pulled in. It was awesome.

Homeschool Mother's Journal... Summer Is Still Here

In my life this week... 

First week in a long time we didn't have anything going on. It was so very nice. Well, we had our normal activities at the community center but that is it. Sadly only relaxing happened around the apartment too. It is in dire need of some TLC. This weekend we are dog/house sitting for some friends so some fun in their backyard is in our future. This is going to be so needed and treasured. Should be tons of fun!! We are very thankful.

This week as well was also the first week my 4 year did get in his sports class at the community center. The first week all summer there were no tears and no asking to go home the whole time. It was great!!

In our homeschool this week... 

We seem to have to keep pushing our start date back and back. I really wanted to start on the 10th but couldn't. Then I thought we could start the 22nd, but that is the day after a 3 day camping trip we are taking. Would I be crazy to come home from a camping trip and start school the next day!? I'm not 100% I'd be mentally ready. ???? So the tentative start date has now been pushed back to the 29th. I am not one that likes starting in the middle of the week, but truthfully we are chomping at the bit over here to get started!!

When are you starting your new year? Have you already started?

I am praying for...

Our future.

This week the Lord was very loud in saying something is coming. Coming soon. We are not sure what that could be, but we can't argue with how loud it has been. We have been told to keep doing what we have been doing (which that alone was nice to know), but change of some kind is coming. We are anxious and trying to have faith and eyes like a child. The Lord is faithful. No doubt about that.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share... 

Yesterday morning we made a mad dash to the grocery store for much needed supplies for the house. We went to our local Grocery Outlet and filled the cart. We were a little nervous about the cost as we have at least 1 more store we need to hit up. We felt so much better after seeing we saved about what we spent... with NO COUPONS. Score!! It proved to be a fantastic way to start the day.

Homeschool Mother's Journal... VBS Week

This week in my life...

This week was our church's VBS. For the little guys it is only 4 days long. I got to help out with our Pastor's wife in the crafts area all week. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed getting to chit chat with her all week too. We really don't get a chance to talk on Sunday's during the hustle and bustle of the morning services.

Our theme was Saddle Ridge. This was so perfect because my middle guy LOVES cowboys and anything western, and this was his first year being able to take part. It was awesome! He was a little shy starting out but by the end of yesterday he was singing along and laughing with everyone else.

Things I'm working on...

I am trying to finalize our start date. I was hoping to start in 2 weeks, and technically still can, but just found out our August is going to be busy too.  I honestly can't wait for school to start so that way we will have routine again. Our family dynamic definitely needs it.

I am also researching resources for our "Person of the Month" we are adding to our homeschool this year. I'll touch on this more later. :) We are all very excited about the addition.

I'm praying for...

A more grateful heart. Lots has gone on this week to spark jealous and the anger "When is it my turn" nerve. I'm not happy about that at all, but if I am being honest about my heart that has definitely come up. I am very happy for these people, but my heart is hurt and angry. Plain and simple. I am trying to be patient but 2 friends coming up to me this week telling me all about their exciting changes was a bit much for my heart to take at once.

I'm also praying for my family's dynamic to get back to what it used to be. I'll touch on more of my heart on this later.

I'm linking up with Sue @ The Homeschool Chick for this week's Homeschool Mother's Journal.

Homeschool Mother's Journal - First official week of summer break

{It's been so long since I have linked up. :( I have missed this journal and you all so much! Thank you Sue for creating this. I am hoping to not miss any more.}


In my life this week...

We enjoyed some my laid back fun. We started the week, on Sunday, with a sleepover at our house that resulted in some much needed mommy hang out time when it was time to pick up. We then just hung out the rest of the week. It was glorious to do nothing honestly. My husband and I enjoyed a trip the dentist on Wednesday and last night there was a birthday party to attend. As well as some adult hang out time with friends. Where I should add the kids did fantastic together even though we left around 10pm.

We have also been working on reorganizing all over our house and gearing up for next school year. Working on our budget and cash envelope system as well.

It's been an awesome week.

My favorite thing this week was...

That we completed even all of our Science mini-books as review. Even though we finished school last week we wanted a quick refresher before we gave a little brain break.

So ready for the break now. ;)

I'm reading...

I am reading Candace Cameron Bure's new book Reshaping It All. I am loving it so far but really I wish I had more down time to just curl up and get lost in it.

I'm cooking...

Ummm.... Tonight I am making Fish Tacos. The last 2 weeks I did not stick to my meal plan whatsoever but am hope full for these next too. I plan on posting my planner tomorrow.

I am grateful for...

Honestly as corny as it may sound... my family. There is just something about this week that has seemed to take the ordinary "I'm grateful for them" to new exciting heights. I guess you could say it has just been a period of wonderful growth for us as God revealed more of his will for us this week. A renewing love and appreciation all the way around.

A photo, link, or quote to share...

This week since I didn't pick up my camera at all, except for my Sweet Shot, I have a quote to share that struck me this week.

"Sometimes God redeems your story by surrounding you with people who need to hear your past so it doesn't become their future." - Jon Acuff {a member of the Dave Ramsey Team}

I have found this to be so true in our own story. Such true true words.

Hope you have had a fantastic Summer so far!!

Click over to Sue... The Homeschool Chick... to link up and share your Homeschool Mother's Journal.

Dare I say... We are near.... {The Homeschool Mother's Journal}

{I know I didn't follow the format this week. I'm sorry. It's just been so long since I have linked up and last week we took vacation to be with visiting family. So much to share than just a week. Forgive me?}

THE END of our 2010/2011 year!?

Oh yes I must declare we surely are! Can I get a Woot Woot!?

I can not believe how fast this year has gone. In the same token I can not believe how long this year has been?

I also can not believe how long it has been since I have posted about our homeschooling! Wow... I'm so sorry!

In the last couple weeks we have finished our Phonics, Language Arts, Handwriting, and Spelling. This week we are posed to finish Math for the YEAR!

Yeah baby!!

We still will have Bible, History, and Science to do for a little while but the big bulk of the school work is finished! I based my daughter's grades this year off of her tests and my DD finished Phonics/Lang. with a 89.8% and Spelling with a 91% (or right about there. I have two last tests to input for her final grade but that is where she is at right now).

In Math right now we are working on fractions of whole numbers. I have to be honest with you when I first saw these coming up in lessons I got nervous, but you know what my daughter (as usual) surprised the heck out of me with how much fun she had with them. That's right you read it correctly! She has FUN doing them!!

She rocks my socks off!

This is just one of the problems she has been doing. They have gotten harder and she still whizzes right through them.

This year I have noticed I may be a little hard on her to do her best. Which she does in everything but even though I may have been tough she totally has surpassed all that I ever could have expected. This first year of doing it 100% on our own (well with God's help of course!) has been phenomenal!! I can not wait till next year!

OOoohhhh speaking of next year.... I am soooo stoked about our new added feature to our homeschooling week! So are the kids. On Friday I got to sign them all up with a local Co-Op. They have never been and they can't wait! September can not come fast enough in my house. To make matters sweeter or more nerve wracking I am teaching in the Winter/Spring session. Yikes! Honestly I am totally amped to be doing so, but being as I have never gotten up in front of other students to teach I am a little nervous. I am teaching safety to Kindergartners and First Graders. It will be fun!!

My oldest guy has been asking more and more to do school as well. It warms my heart when he says "Can I do school like Sissy?"

We've been working on color sorting and math with M&M's and Skittles. He loves it. His favorite letter to write right now is the letter M too. It's cute because for Mother's day he spelled "MOM" all by himself on the coffee mug he made me. Talk about melting into a puddle of goo. It was awesome!

Heehee and yes I am aware that the instructions on the page here to the left asks for him to draw rectangles he has found, but he wanted to work on his M's some more and I didn't want to tell him no. He has been doing such a good job with them. So I let it slide. :)

All in all I have been really pleased with how this year has gone. Although I have to be honest we have pushed History and Science off most days just to get more of our core subjects done ahead of time. I am looking forward though to enjoying the projects and experiments more now that the core subjects are completed and we can just focus on them.

So maybe pushing them off wasn't so bad!? ;) Hey I have to try to soak up some of that mommy guilt right? Who am I kidding I have so realized I need to figure out a better schedule for next year because 3 active kiddos and 2 schooling next year... It's going to get interesting. But worth it.

If you homeschool more than one who do you get it all done? 

{Also sorry for the poor quality of some of the pictures. They were taken with my cell phone.}

The Homeschool Mother's Journal {Take 2}

In my life this week...

Things went pretty well this week. I actually beat the laundry monster that was living on my bathroom/laundry room floor! BAM! Take that laundry! Oh snap that reminds me I have another load to move over. Must get to that next. We... ok I... survived our second week of 2 dance classes. One day of which was me solo with just my boys. Thank goodness for tickle tortures and strollers. I am telling you my 18 month old never sits still!! Ever! Not even for stories. I may have my hands full with him.

In our homeschool this week...

We continued wonderfully in math... minus our time in clocks... moved through our spelling list, and phonics beautifully! History we managed one of the two chapters scheduled and tomorrow we are planning on tackling Lesson 7 in Astronomy. During nap time. I hope! Bible this week my daughter was learning which books of the Bible were the Books of History, Books of Law, and Books of Wisdom. It was really great to get into. We are moving so much slower through Science and History than any of us like still. I still really need to find a way for this to stop happening!

Places we're going and people we're seeing...

Hmmmm... We may go somewhere on Thursday after dance, but that isn't 100% yet. I sure would love to just take off on an adventure though! No where in particular just go. Yes... yes... that would be nice!

 My favorite thing this week was...

Oh I think I have a couple this week. One would have to be the moment my daughter surpassed her pledged reading goal by... 200+ pages and is still going strong!! 3 more days left in the month and the book she is reading now could easily put her over 900 pages. So stinking proud! We seriously are planning a cake and balloons celebration for her at the end of the month. It's a big deal and we're proud!

The second would have to be when we were learning Roman Numerals this week and I got a ... THIS IS FUN... comment after one of the sections. She has so much fun learning she seriously makes my job easy!

I pray my boys will be the same. My middle one is {3 yr old} and this week he sat at his desk all nice and prepared... pencil in hand... and looked at me and said "Can I please do some school like Sissy?" He melts my heart!

What's working/not working for us...

A Reason For Spelling for us has really been great this year. We love how they give a story before the weekly lesson and each week the lesson is based on the same Bible verse throughout all the other subjects on the same level. For example we are using book B for Spelling and Handwriting the same lessons coordinate the same Bible verse this week was Matthew 28:20. My daughter loves that! I do too! We are looking forward to continuing with them next year as well. I highly recommend them.

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...

This year we haven't done much of a reading curriculum. We've been reading don't get me wrong, but just random books here and there. I am wanting to get a reading curriculum. Maybe a language curriculum that has the reading assigned with it. Maybe even correlating work for the reading. Does that make sense? Any recommendations at all?

A photo to share... 

Oh please no journal jail I used one of these pictures for the Hop earlier this week. lol But these are close to the only ones I got this week. Isn't that sad!? Here are my two students busy at work this week.  I love them. :)

Hope you had a great week too!! I'm excited for next week!! Want to see other Homeschooling Mother's Journal Enteries??? Head on over here to Sue @ The Homeschool Chick where she has the link up.

Happy Homeschooling!

The Homeschool Mother's Journal {Take 1}

Yesterday Sue @ The Homeschool Chick started a way for her to write about her week in homeschooling. Her format was beautiful and she has been kind enough to create this cute little button here and open it up as a link up. I love this oh so much! I have been wanting to share about our homeschool week but have lacked the creativity on how to share it without it being long and boring. So if you would please join me as I journal our week down to share the triumph or tears... as well as a beautiful record to look back upon for myself and my family.



In my life this week...


This week was busy for us. It was the first week that my daughter would now be taking two dance classes during the week. That being said, and us only having one vehicle, the kids and I had to take my husband to work one of those days. It just so happened to be a night he was closing. That means we have to go pick him up at 10pm {with school and a dance class the next day}. All things considered I think we survived pretty well, and we are actually elated she is able to dance in both classes. This also means come spring she will have 3 dances to perform at the spring recital.

My husband and I also worked on our weekly dare from Love Dare day by day. This week was to pick a project around the house and work on it together from start to finish. We choose a couple things, but one thing we have completed was to order updated pictures for a new collage frame he bought, and other frames we have. We rearranged the frames and ordered the pictures. Oh it looks fantastic! It's times like these I wished I shared pictures of us and our home on here. I think you guys would love it too. There is a nice new feel in the house with new pictures around.

In our homeschool this week... 

We have accomplished all of our core work this week. Yay! I am still trying to find the balance with all the kids to accomplish History and Science without her just reading the textbooks herself and doing the work. There is something about that, that just makes me feel like she is teaching herself. Does that make sense? While she seems to retain it a lot more when she reads it herself vs being read to I just don't feel comfortable just assigning the reading and the journal work and "walking away". I need to find the balance so it stops being pushed off "till tomorrow".

Does anyone else have this problem? No? Just me?

Places we're going & people we're seeing... 

We have no trips planned as of right now. This too seems to be an area I am lacking the follow through on. We have gone on one field trip so far this year. How sad is that? The kids have no complained but I have! I must research what might be going on around us and would go with what we are learning. We must do a trip soon!

My favorite thing this week was... 

Math this week! Yep math. We are still working on multiplication {which she flies through the 0's, 1's, 2's, 3's, 5's, & 10's} after only a few short weeks doing it. It has just clicked with her, but we also started back up with fractions as well. She totally remembers {after a little review} what we did in fractions last year and is flying through them as well. Friday we were also working on money. Like you have $0.38 how many of each coin do you need/have to make the less amount of coins in your pocket to equal this amount. After the set of problems was done she literally said "ugh there are no more on the paper." :( I love love love moments like this in our day! It makes it so much more fun when she is having fun doing her work.

What's working/not working for us...

A timer for each section for math!! We do it game show style and she gets so amped to try to beat her time and try to get less wrong each time. Easy to do when she is averaging only 2 wrong on an entire paper! She loves it... that means I love it!

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...

How how how can I get Science and History in everyday... every other day... every week with a 3 year and a rambunctious 18 month. I feel I am gipping my daughter on the subjects we love the most! I am looking into maybe implementing a daily schedule it just gets hard on days daddy has off. We have been treating them as our Saturday and Sunday. Since he is here to be with us. I want to do do these subjects justice.

A photo to share... 

This is my daughter working on the money section I mentioned above. Not only was she writing out the subtraction of each coin she was using she also asked to use our "play" money to visually see what coins she was using. She had so much fun and didn't miss a beat with it.

All in all our week was fantastic! All finished up with brand new custom made desks by grandpa... special delivered today! To say the kids are excited would be an understatement! It'll be nice to do school at our new desks on Monday!! The kids already have all their little cubbies and shelves filled with all of their school stuff. They loved putting all of their things into their desks. It was like Christmas in here this morning!

How was your homeschool week? I'd love to know!

Be sure to link up over here to join in to The Homeschool Mother's Journal