A near miss

Today I'm driving home with my two younger kids in the car when a guy turns into my lane from a street clearly marked with a stop sign. He did not stop at all and never even looked in my direction as he nearly side swiped me. I was sure he was going to hit me as I veered into the lane next to me. I didn't even have time to see if the lane had traffic in it. I laid on my horn for a while, the guy didn't even look in my direction. The kids were a little shaken and when I got home I realized my hands were shaking. All I can say is thank God for seeing us through dangers seen and unseen.

Ok . . . what's been going on in homeschool?

3 weeks to go until the end of the "school year." I haven't stuck to my 9 weeks plan but it did serve as a great guide to what I needed to cover. My language arts plan included doing a unit study on Adam and His Kin but I just couldn't get into it. I'm thinking about making it a summer study. We did enjoy Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and followed the study with the video starring Michael Keaton, Keanu Reeves, and another famous actress I can't remember her name. Warning on the video - includes some brief back nudity that I wasn't expecting. It was rated PG-13. I guess I don't really know what that means anymore. I'm pretty much finish with LLATL so we will just read good literature and view the movie if one is available. Next pick - The Last of the Mohicans.

We are on Lesson 91 out of 120 in Saxon Math. But we have the summer to complete the book.
I have one more Unit that I can complete in AO LifePacs. We are finishing up The Earth, Moon, and Sun Unit 608 this week. Unit 609 continues with Astronomy covering stars, and the galaxy.
We've skimmed the last two chapters in our Abeka history chapters. It's just too much information so we've taken the most important information to focus on. JW did her fist oral presentation on the "technological advances of the mid 19th Century." This was an independent assignment and she did very well. She really got into the presentation and included a powerpoint slide with great graphics and a poster board display. I will upload pictures shortly. We are now in the "Education & Culture" chapter highlighting poets, and novelists of the time. This is where I got the idea of reading The Last of the Mohicans, as it was written during this time. I'm thinking of how I can lapbook this material to incorporate more hands-on activities in this study.
Track ends in a week and I think that's it. I am still preparing for next year and look forward starting summer reading and math lessons in preparation for next fall studies. That's it for now.

Lesson for the day

. . . for the gracious hand of his God was on him. For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel. Ezra 7:9b - 10.

Yes, I forever want the hand of God on me. What I've realized is how its so important to be intentional about most things. Do I want my children to adopt the Christian faith? Of course I do. Well how intentional am I in teaching them the things of God, writing them on the doorposts of my home, talking about them when we get up and when we lay down? Are we sowing the seeds of what we want to reap in our lives? In discussions about the children of Israel and thier constant rebellion against God and his Word the question always comes up "these people are punished over and over again for falling away why don't they get it?" We aren't so different. I realize I have to intentionally open that Word, remind myself of what God says and what he requires of me. Things that I know and have heard over and over again but I have to be constantly reminded. Just like our children have to be constantly reminded of things we tell them. This is part of training in righteousness. I have to train myself to do what God asks of me. The moment I don't intentionally seek him out (daily) it is so easy to fall away. Lord, help us in this flesh to go hard after you.

We've been praying about good friendships for ourselves and our children to encourage us in our homeschooling journey and just in our walk with the Lord. What I'm often reminded of is "he who wants friends must first show himself friendly." Proverbs 18:24. Ok coupled with this prayer - we got to do some friendly intentional things. Who have we extended invitations to for fellowship?

This principal can be applied to so many areas of our lives - the discipline of eating right, exercise, maintaining our homes and relationships. Things will quickly fall by the wayside if we aren't diligent (intentional) about the things we do. Some of it is making a conscious decision but not without first submitting to the grace of God to walk in these things. I'm sure I'll have to read this post over again to remind myself :).

My first homeschool conference

I think the 3 hour drive kept me from fully enjoying everything the conference had to offer but it was still worth it. The exhibit hall was overwhelming. There were so many great books and resources - makes you want it all. I did stick with the resource list I plan to use next year and was able to buy them at a deep discount. I am always encouraged by others' stories so that was an encouragement when listening to the speakers.

I purchased the digital edition of Tapestry of Grace the night before I left and read through the program while out of town. I was actually able to plan out the first 2 weeks of school for 4th & 6th grader today along with the worksheets they will need to complete the lessons. Each child will have their own 3 ring binder divided up in 36 weeks with a checklist plan for each week's reading and writing assignments, worksheets that need completing, and any supplements to do hands-on projects. If I can keep up the pace to get the first 18 weeks done by Aug/Sept that would be an huge accomplishment.

Although I'm sure the plans I come up with will not be followed to the letter and there may be times that I have to tweek things it makes me feel like I have a game plan. I did the plans in pencil to leave room for flexibility.

April 30, 2010

I can't believe tomorrow is the first day of May. It's been a pretty good week. We were introduced to Shakespeare this week in Language Arts. LLATL takes you through Much Ado About Nothing but we went to the library to check out retellings of Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo & Juliet, and one more whose title escapes me. We had a blast reading these books aloud. JW assigns voices to the many characters in these books. She wrote summaries of the books and a biography of William Shakespeare. I must say I see great improvement in her writing and that makes me very proud. I can attribute this improvement to the study of grammar and the IEW "Elegant Essays" lessons. I've purchased Wordsmith to continue building on her writing skills. This in combination with vocabulary study will make for a good high school writer (smiling). This has been one of my goals in the beginning of this journey - to improve JW's writing.

April 21, 2010

We started the standardized testing this week. One of the track moms suggested Seton Testing. I took her suggestion because of the $25 price tag. I was going to use Stanford Testing in a group setting but by administering the Seton Test I save $25 and gain some convenience. The test seems really easy. It included elements that LLATL introduced in the lessons we covered so I was very happy with that. The math sections are pretty straight forward as well.

Including this week we have 9 weeks left before the "end of school" so I looked at the lessons that we still need to cover in LA, Math, & History and divided the work up into weekly lessons through the week of June 12th. I hadn't done that before I just planned based on covering at least so many hours weekly in each subject. But since we are close to the end I thought it best to break it up to make sure we get everything in. I will continue with Math, Reading, and Writing with everyone over the summer and I'll allow JW to finish any Science lessons we don't get to. I'm still putting together all my plans for next year with great anticipation. I'll be attending the CHAP Convention in Harrisburg, PA in a couple of weeks with a good friend. I'll be taking JW along for the ride as well. I'm looking forward to this rite of passage, especially the exhibit hall which so many people warn me about. I don't plan to buy anything unless there is an irresistable deal in the used curriculum sale. I plan to use christianbook.com; amazon.com; and ebay.com for all the texts I need for next year and I know exactly how much everything should cost.

Planning for next year

Seems like I keep going back to the drawing board when it comes to planning for next year. Initially, I used TWTM as an outline as to what and how to teach certain subjects at different levels. But as I look to have more than one homeschooler it seems wise to use one curriculum resource where possible. JW will do Classical Conversations once a week using Saxon math, Latin grammar, World Geography, Creative Writing, and Newberry Literature. I'm going to add Wordly Wise to help strengthen her vocabulary. I'm expecting her to be responsible for her work and accountable to her tutor for her assignments with my oversight. She will do history as a unit study with her sisters and physical science under my direction.

My most recent find has been Tapestry of Grace. It will allow me to do Language Arts Reading, History, and Bible/Church History with all three kids using real books and resources catered to their grade levels. I downloaded sample lessons from thier website and I believe it will help make things interesting and a little easier as far as lesson planning goes. I will use Saxon for each kid for their grade level, younger two will do Apologia and Spelling Workout for Spelling. I don't have anything formal for grammar - not sure what I will add if anything for that. Seems like an awful lot to do. Not to mention the fact that I want to incorporate Art & Music as well. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out but I am looking forward to all of this being a family affair.

Spring Break

OK Spring Break is over! We didn't get to make the Buffalo head but we made a diorama of a pioneer log cabin. The fireplace came out lovely thanks to the man of the house who was an architecture major in college. We drew the fireplace but he suggested the 3D version. Yes I know the furniture isn't to scale.



Because Spring Break is during Easter Week it was very very busy. Most of the family with the exception of JW and myself were in the church's Easter Production. So the week was filled with practices and ended with three productions that took place Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Needless to say we were all exhausted.

The weather is beautiful. I look forward to the end of school so everyone will be home together. I'm planning now for all the things I want to do with the kids. I really missed out last summer as I was working full-time. I remember how sad it was when everyone went back to school because I felt like we spent very little time together. But this summer will be different. I'm looking forward to it.