Blog Feed: Ramblings to answer the eternal question...what do you do all day?
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Changes part 2.
Published on 2012-02-18 12:51:00
So my son has expressed a desire to do his schoolwork without his sister's interference. He also expressed interest in Teaching Textbooks for math, LLATL for language arts and Spelling Power for spelling.I mentioned all this to Big Daddy and he merely shrugs his shoulder's and says "switch him!" So we did. I also split of the kids in content subjects. Sam gets to continue his Apologia Astronomy and Story of the World without his "talks-a-lot-about-random-stuff" sister's input. Charlotte gets to [..] > read more
Changes......
Published on 2012-02-04 20:56:00
I spent some time rearranging our book closet. Our book closet is really the size of a small room and holds 18 years of books and curriculum. As I was sorting and moving supplies around, Sam joined me. He had an agenda. Sam, "Do I have to do school with Charlotte?" This took me a bit by surprised. I have been working towards having the kids work separately during skill subjects then working together during contenct subject. Honestly, I thought it was going quite well. Sam did not. His main compl [..] > read more
Year 4.5
Published on 2011-11-10 19:02:00
We made some drastic changes since September both to our content and to our schedule. We are actually spending more time with schoolwork but enjoying our day much more. Sometime in the afternoon, it stops being schoolwork, and it becomes fun stuff that we do as a family. We do our skill subjects separately and in the morning. This allows me the time to work with each child individually without feeling rushed. We have plenty of time for discussions, and I am able to add in a little extra to their [..] > read more
We gotta do school today?
Published on 2011-09-17 19:10:00
That whiny voice isn't the children. It is me. I'm burned out!I took most of the summer off by default; so, that isn't the problem.I went to my local homeschooling conference, and I got refreshed and excited about this year; so, that isn't the problem.My curriculum choices are working well for my kids; so, that isn't the problem.So what is the problem?It has been a really, really long time since I been in this state of burn out. In fact it has been a decade (!) since I've experienced this level [..] > read more
The disappearing classroom....
Published on 2011-08-16 20:14:00
This summer we relocated our classroom from an upstairs spare room back down to the dining room. For years and years, we had school in the dining room and I used to say that our home was decorated in "Early American Homeschool". We were used to the homeschool clutter......bookshelves with crates and papers, stacks of books on the dining room table, maps and posters on the wall. No more! I really liked having my dining room look like a dining room, and I have no real desire to return to "Early [..] > read more
Bummer Summer
Published on 2011-08-06 18:33:00
We were off to such a great start! Big Bro' came in for a visit the first two weeks of May then the bummer summer started.The rest of May and June were dominated by illness and family visits. Urgent care visits, weeks laying around on the couch with sick kids. It's all a blur. We had company the few weeks that everyone was feeling well. Very little school happened in May or June.July started well and then I got sick. My second ER visit of the summer resulted in a 4 day hospital stay, a surgery, [..] > read more
ECC-Week 3
Published on 2011-04-27 19:20:00
This week we did our trial of separating the kids. Charlotte did K and then Sam did ECC. The plan was to start 30 minutes earlier which did not happen. I still want to get done by lunchtime but I had a hard time with breaking my usual morning routine > read more
ECC-Week 3
Published on 2011-04-27 19:20:00
This week we did our trial of separating the kids. Charlotte did K and then Sam did ECC. The plan was to start 30 minutes earlier which did not happen. I still want to get done by lunchtime but I had a hard time with breaking my usual morning routine > read more
Charlotte's Kindergarten
Published on 2011-04-27 17:01:00
We've made a change to the flow of Charlotte's Kindergarten Year. We started out the year having her tag-a-long with Adventure but now that Sam is doing ECC it is harder to combine the kids. So we will finish up the year with....Phonics Pathways-we d > read more
Charlotte's Kindergarten
Published on 2011-04-27 17:01:00
We've made a change to the flow of Charlotte's Kindergarten Year. We started out the year having her tag-a-long with Adventure but now that Sam is doing ECC it is harder to combine the kids. So we will finish up the year with....Phonics Pathways-we d > read more
Week 2- ECC
Published on 2011-04-16 20:22:00
We are getting into a good rhythm with ECC. I have been able to do each week in 4 days without any difficulty. Sam in enjoying himself!The only downside is that I'm not going to be able to include Charlotte as much as we were with Adventures. I think > read more
Week 2- ECC
Published on 2011-04-16 20:22:00
We are getting into a good rhythm with ECC. I have been able to do each week in 4 days without any difficulty. Sam in enjoying himself!The only downside is that I'm not going to be able to include Charlotte as much as we were with Adventures. I think > read more
Year 4
Published on 2011-04-10 20:45:00
Sam's Year 4- age 9MFW's Exploring Countries and Cultures.All About Spelling-currently on Level 3Math-U-See DeltaFirst Language Lessons 3Writing Strands 3Pathway ReadersLatin for Children A- We will start this after summer. > read more
Year 4
Published on 2011-04-10 20:45:00
Sam's Year 4- age 9MFW's Exploring Countries and Cultures.All About Spelling-currently on Level 3Math-U-See DeltaFirst Language Lessons 3Writing Strands 3Pathway ReadersLatin for Children A- We will start this after summer. > read more
Adventures is done!
Published on 2011-04-07 19:04:00
Sam is super proud of his American History notebook! Adventures is an awesome year and this year has been one of our best homeschooling years. I've been homeschooling since 1994 so that's saying something!To celebrate what do we do? Start Exporing Co > read more
Adventures is done!
Published on 2011-04-07 19:04:00
Sam is super proud of his American History notebook! Adventures is an awesome year and this year has been one of our best homeschooling years. I've been homeschooling since 1994 so that's saying something!To celebrate what do we do? Start Exploring C > read more
Reading.....again.
Published on 2011-02-28 10:32:00
We did a little experimenting this week. What a difference 6 months can make! Charlotte really enjoyed using the AAS board and tiles to do her phonics lessons. I had attempted to do this last fall but it was a bit messy. I've also found out that I s > read more
Reading.....again.
Published on 2011-02-28 10:32:00
We did a little experimenting this week. What a difference 6 months can make! Charlotte really enjoyed using the AAS board and tiles to do her phonics lessons. I had attempted to do this last fall but it was a bit messy. I've also found out that I s > read more
Where we are now...
Published on 2011-02-17 19:06:00
We are having a great year! Adventures has been a lot of fun. We are in a good rhythm with Sam. Charlotte is adding to the mix well.One of my goals this year was to get the kids working together side by side during school. Obviously, we have been suc > read more
Where we are now...
Published on 2011-02-17 19:06:00
We are having a great year! Adventures has been a lot of fun. We are in a good rhythm with Sam. Charlotte is adding to the mix well.One of my goals this year was to get the kids working together side by side during school. Obviously, we have been suc > read more
Update on everything else....
Published on 2010-10-30 11:30:00
I have already updated Sam's reading and writing progress for this quarter. MFW Adventures is a wonderful resource and it has been so refreshing to not have to do all the lesson planning! File folders and workboxes have made our day flow so smoothly > read more
Update on everything else....
Published on 2010-10-30 11:30:00
I have already updated Sam's reading and writing progress for this quarter. MFW Adventures is a wonderful resource and it has been so refreshing to not have to do all the lesson planning! File folders and workboxes have made our day flow so smoothly > read more
Update on writing.
Published on 2010-10-29 19:17:00
In July, we went back to the basics of copywork, dictation and oral narrations. My son had completed a written summary of George Washington that consisted of only 5 words. After 9 weeks of using WWE 2 as the backbone of our writing program, he has go > read more
Update on writing.
Published on 2010-10-29 19:17:00
In July, we went back to the basics of copywork, dictation and oral narrations. My son had completed a written summary of George Washington that consisted of only 5 words. After 9 weeks of using WWE 2 as the backbone of our writing program, he has go > read more
A day of reading..
Published on 2010-10-22 18:14:00
Our revamped reading program is working great!We do some choral reading with our bible study. He is reading with much more confidence during this time.We spend a few minutes with a reading drill with Phonics Pathway. These drills are helping him to g > read more
A day of reading..
Published on 2010-10-22 18:14:00
Our revamped reading program is working great!We do some choral reading with our bible study. He is reading with much more confidence during this time.We spend a few minutes with a reading drill with Phonics Pathway. These drills are helping him to g > read more
Charlotte and Reading.
Published on 2010-08-05 15:27:00
So I've been experimenting with Charlotte and reading.First choice was using All About Spelling and adapting it to use a reading program. The first problem.....adapting....I don't like doing it. The second problem....busy fingers + little tiles that > read more
Reading.......
Published on 2010-07-31 15:42:00
Reading has been a slow process for Sam. I have had early readers and late readers so I know the timing of independent reading is not as important as loving to read. In fact, older sis did not start reading charpter books until she was an older 8. T > read more
Houston, we have a problem.....
Published on 2010-07-24 11:14:00
Five words or less has become Sam's motto for writing. He will put up his hand and try to summarize George Washington or any subject that he thinks that he will have to write about into five words or less. His summary for the first President of the U > read more
File Folders
Published on 2010-07-08 12:35:00
I had a mountain of paper growing on my desk. I attempted to reclaim my desk with binders but then I had a binder problem. I had a binder for every child, every subject and another binder for completed work. I also had another crate full of TMs, CDs, > read more
The beginning of Charlotte's Kindergarten Year.....
Published on 2010-07-06 19:10:00
Where oh where has the time gone? Little Charlotte --whose big claim to fame at the start of the little blog was that she had just moved from her crib---- is almost 5 and it is time for the schooling to begin. She has been enjoying a long and wonde > read more
Big Bro' - Our Family's Newest Sailor
Published on 2010-04-26 10:51:00
Spring 2010
Published on 2010-04-12 11:43:00
We've been busy since January!Big sis is doing well in college and Big Bro' left in February for the Navy...Sam finished MFW 1 and has started MFW Adventures. We started using workboxes in our house and it has been a very nice addition for us.... Sam > read more