How is it possible that it is June 1 already?  Really?  It really makes me wonder if I am truly redeeming the time.  I am constantly overwhelmed by the many options facing me from day to day.  It is hard to stay focused on a daily basis. One of the many things I took from my years of being in the real estate business is that one question looming in the back of my mind - am I doing the best possible thing I can do with my time right now?  Every year I would set goals for my business:  How much money do I want to make?  How many houses must I sell based on the average home price in my area to meet my goal?  Finally how many clients/customers must I "touch" by way of phone, emails, face to face contact to generate a closed transaction?  I haven't sold a home in over 4 years and that formula still rolls right out of my head.


I wish I could find a similar formula for homeschooling. How do the daily activities I undertake help me to reach my goals?  First, what are my goals?


To raise confident, God-fearing woman in a culture that seeks to steer them otherwise.   I want my girls to leave my home having placed their faith in Jesus Christ and armed with the tools needed to live a life for his glory.


I guess that is more of a mission than a goal.  What goals feed that mission?


1.  Spiritual preparedness by way of biblical steaching & apologetics
2.  Academic preparedness by way of challenging curricula that meets their needs to think critically and communicate effectively.
3.  Practical life skills to know how to live independently and interdependently with others.


What drives these goals?


1.  Curriculum choices.  Do they allow me to reach my goals while catering to the learning styles of my children?
2.  Extra curricular activities.  Do they allow my kids to learn skills that are in step with my goals?


So what choices am I making everyday that hinder my ability to accomplish my goals?
The one thing that comes to mind is T.V.  It is a complete waste of time in my opinion.  With the exception of the news and shows that are historical or scientific in nature, what is really the point?  I have really been contemplating whether or not to cut it out all together but I just can't bring myself to do it.


I really could break down these goals into daily tasks but I would make everyone absolutely miserable trying to follow them.  However, these tasks could be a benchmark to see where we are more so than a schedule to follow.  I'm really trying to sell this to myself because I am trying to figure out why we didn't accomplish all the things I set out to accomplish this year.  For now, I think I'll end on a more encouraging note and focus on what we actually accomplished this year (with the younger two):

• 10+ writing assignment on various topics.  Grammar and Style improvements through the revision process and concentrated grammar instruction in specific areas (pronoun/antecedent agreement, proper comma usage, varying sentence structure, summaries, constructing narratives, organizing from brainstorms, etc.)
• novel completions (Almost Home, Amos Fortune, Mary Jones and Her Bible, Tom Sawyer, Bound for Oregon, William Carey, many personal pics)
• Poetry study
• Lots of bible reading and prayer
• Math skills progression (multiplication speed drills, fractions, decimals)
• Garden planting
• Improved spelling skills
• new friendships & maintaining fellowship with those friends
• Science knowledge, lab reports, and experiments
• Science Wrap-Up with Disney Imagineering Videos (all 11 of them!)
• Music study / one great piano recital

• Drama production (stage presence)

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Strawberry Picking & EOY Testing

This week was spent during our state mandated end of year testing.  Because coop is over and the testing is over my kids think the school year is over.  Uh...no.  I had to make some adjustments to my lesson plans b/c if we stay the course we will never be finished.  I just don't know how the weeks got away from me.  Maybe I took too many detours.  Not sure.  One thing I do know for sure is that we will be continuing with Math & Reading throughout the summer.  I feel sad that we probably won't finish all of our history studies but Math is more important IMHO. 


No matter what I have planned for school I couldn't pass up an opportunity to go strawberry picking.  The weather was so very nice this week.  We've never been picking before so I had to go.  To my surprise is was a lot of fun.  We were joined by a few friends which added to the experience.  The atmosphere in the "country" is so very different from the atmosphere in the 'burbs.  Wide open spaces, slower pace of life, I don't think anyone wanted to leave.  The farm at the strawberry patch had a nice market with homemade goods including ice cream and organic meats.  I purchased a sample of steakburger that I put on the grill - yum.  I want to purchase a side of beef to freeze but it isn't cheap. 

Other happenings this week included being accepted for the summer TOS product review crew.  I've already been approved to do my first review.  So look for that review mid June.  In the meantime check out this giveaway at fellow TOS crew member's blog.

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This week was the last week of our co-op.  The kids are so sad.  Monday is their favorite day of the week because of co-op. Now they say Mondays will be boring.  Imagine that...the kids love Mondays!

How sad for them they have to endure the summer until coop starts again in August.  Their academic year culminated at the Co-op showcase which included drama productions for NuNu and Pumpkin.  Pumpkin was a counselor to the Queen and NuNu was the accountant to the Queen.  They never miss an opportunity to be in the spotlight.  Princess didn't have anything to showcase because her classes were all academic in nature this year.

This week also marked end of the year testing.  Princess takes the Stanford Achievement Test and the younger take the CAT exam through Seton Hall Testing.  I was glad to hear that Princess thinks the test is pretty easy.  She says my grammar reviews were very helpful in helping her on the Language Arts sections.  Now you know how that makes me feel. 

I applied to be part of the TOS crew.  I know pretty ambitious.  But nothing beats a failure but a try.  I think it would help if I had more followers but I'm new at this so I guess it takes time to build up a following.  I had to write a sample review for my application.  What do you think?

We have been using Beautiful Feet’s Geography Guide to Literature for Holling C. Holling’s books Paddle-to-the Sea, Tree in the Trail, Minn of the Mississippi, and Seabird.  Since reading the very first book, I have been hooked.  This isn’t just a geography curriculum.  It includes lessons in history and science.  I learned so much about the life cycle of the snapping turtle, the industries supported by the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, and the Indians of the Great Plains. The simplicity of implementing the guide with the books makes it a joy to work with.  My daughter and I snuggled up on the couch and read 2-4 chapters of the book 2-3 times a week.  She does the corresponding map work on the maps provided by Beautiful Feet and we are done. 

Initially, I was going to use 8.5 x 11 paper maps but I’m so glad I invested in the maps Beautiful Feet provides.  It really makes a difference in the joy that my daughter feels in completing the assignment on these heavy stock visually appealing maps.  In my opinion, the maps are central to the success of using the guide.    So much of what my daughter has learned comes out in our history studies.  This is great for comprehension.

I used an older version of the guide but according to the website www.bfbooks.com, the newer guide contains discussion questions, vocabulary, and activities.  No doubt these editions make the program even better.  The guide is targeted to 3-7^th graders and is sold for $12.95. The guide divides each book into 9-10 lessons which can be completed within one academic year.   The four maps are sold separately for $16.95 or you can purchase the guide, the maps, and all four Holling books for $63.95.  To save a little money, I chose to use our public library for the Holling books.

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Boy these weeks just fly by.  I am feeling the end of year crunch.  I'll be finished by the first week in June with Pumpkin and NuNu if I keep to my plan.  We took a break from our normal schedule to see a string group at the Kennedy Center today so I rushed to get all our work done by Thursday.  The show was absolutely awesome!  Black Violin is the name of the group.  They blend classical violin/viola/bass with Hip Hop beats.  Just delightful.

Remember the fact that Pumpkin likes to bake?  Well no trip to DC is complete without a trip to Georgetown Cupcakes a.k.a DC Cupcakes.  Such a small, quaint place with a huge impact in the area and on TV.  The owners, Sophie and Katherine, were so very gracious to come out and take pictures with the girls.  And the cupcakes?  Absolutely delicious.  Expensive, but delicious and worth every single dollar. The icing is starting to melt (in the picture) as we walked from the shop to our car a few blocks - DC parking!

What else went on in our home school this week.  NuNu's soccer team made their very first goal of the season.


 

And....we are in Week 24 of MFW Explorers - 1850, learning about each state as they entered the Union.  We are also learning about each president in order.  I admit that I am a TWEAKER.  Instead of using the president notebooking sheets included with MFW, I decided to use the student sheets that are a part of BrightIdeas press, All American History.  My kids have done so much summarizing and outlining for History and Language Arts that I just wanted them to have a "fill in the blank" type of sheet.  The All American History sheets fit the bill.  I have this curriculum on the shelves for my high schooler for next year so I broke it out a little early for the youngers. 


Princess is in Week 25 of her MFW WHL.  We looked at Pride & Prejudice this week as she just finished the book and is preparing to write a paper on marriage.  I can't wait to read it.  Now my younger kids are walking around the house saying "make haste, make haste" with a British accent.  We just love educational,  history movies.
 
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So I finally got a new camera and with it a renewed sense to blog. In our homeschool we are plugging along in school and will probably finish our scheduled lessons sometime in June. There are no huge exciting activities or aha moments this week but I have found a way to veer off of my MFW lesson plan grid to make things a little more interesting. I'm including a lot of my own notebooking pages for the people we study. This week we did - Antoine Lavoisier, Eli Whitney, and Robert Fulton. With every reading assignment the girls have to outline the text and then summarize on the notebook page ala the Writing With Skill way. I am working from a 20 week sample Susan Wise Bauer so generously gave customers. The skills the girls are learning are carried across the curriculum especially in History. The outline/summarizing combo really helps with reading comprehension and I hear the girls telling Dad when he gets home what they learned. Yep, mission accomplished. There is some learning going on here.


I wish more curriculum providers would be generous with their samples. It helps the consumer to get a feel for how a piece of curriculum will work on a day to day basis in the homeschool. I do plan to buy the WWS at the convention so obviously giving generous samples work.  I hear from the WTM forums that many homeschoolers working from the sample plan to buy the hard copy. If we like it enough and it works well for us we will buy the whole kit and kaboodle. When will the curriculum publishers get that?? Another example, I won a copy of All American History I from BrightIdeas press. I studied it and like it enough that I purchased the 2nd part to use with my high schooler for the next two years. So because of a freebie they got a purchase from me that they otherwise would of never received. So if you are listening curriculum providers - we need more complete samples.


On another note here is what I am most proud of in my school year. The artwork my kiddos produce, not under my instruction mind you. I outsource Art. Here are their projects:




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Hop over to Beautiful Feet Books to learn about their giveaway!
If you heard about the give away from me be sure to enter my name (listed in the 'About Me' section) so we will get an extra entry!

Best Wishes

IHOP Pancakes ...Oh my!

The highlight of the week was attending a one hour program at IHOP. The staff took the group through the IHOP kitchen where the kids got a chance to flip pancakes on the grill and learn about the way the IHOP kitchen works (no, I didn't get pictures but I'm waiting for the restaurant to send me the pics they took). Then the kids made their own pancakes with all the fixins on an electric grill set up in our sitting area. The girls got a chance to socialize with their best buddies at a booth of their own. The moms had their own social hour at a booth of their own. Best of all, they get a button that entitles them to a free kids meal every time they visit our neighborhood IHOP until the age of 13. Awesome! They left with goodie bags containing coupons, nick nacs, and a coveted IHOP mug. I'm excited to drink coffee & tea at home in an IHOP mug. It's just the little things that make life grand.

What else got done this week? Hmm...let's see. Sent off two applications for a Math & Science summer program. The application required a 200 word essay from my 9th & 7th grader so that counted as Language Arts. Princess is working on another application for a summer program at my alma mater. My fingers are crossed for this one. It's one of the cheapest summer programs I've found for high schoolers and she gets to take a Math, Science, and History class. I don't believe its too early to be thinking about these types of programs as I want to make her transcript attractive for college admissions. Making sure she is rich in outside academic experiences is a top priority. I can't believe so many of these programs are $1500+. I'm going to have to start saving now for next summer. I also gave her a sampling of 7 PSAT questions dealing with sentence errors from this site and she didn't fare well. Obviously, there is a lot of work to be done at home as well. This site was helpful to me as well in understanding testing strategies. I know it is technically two years away but it's never to early to start preparing, right?

One last thing. I was suppose to load a photo of DD10's project from her Engineering for Kids classes I mentioned in the last wrap-up. Well a robotic arm was the final project. Here it is:

Well that about wraps it up for us around here. We are still chugging along in our curriculum; still behind but I'm making adjustments. How was your week? Join the weekly wrap up by visiting the weird, unsocialized homeschoolers blog and sign up and see what other homeschooling families have been doing this week.