In my life this week…
This week passed in a blur of phonics, literature, tomatoes, warm weather, and more. Unfortunately we closed our pool with the first frost last week; otherwise we’d be swimming now.
In our homeschool this week…
We finished our third week, and I like to tell the children that means we’re 1/12 through the school year.
Miss 9 was taking forever to do her math pages, whining and complaining. Guess why? She can’t add or subtract without counting the numbers out! She does it quietly, so I hadn’t really noticed. And here we were trying to do multiplication! So we dropped her usual math program and pulled out our old Calculadder drill program(review next month) and Quarter Mile Math. We plan to work on overlearning her addition and subtraction facts.
Although we all enjoy poetry, I’m forgetting to fit it into our days. We used to read it after our breakfast Bible reading, but now we’re often too rushed in the mornings. That and both French and Dutch drill have all been neglected this year.
Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
Learning to understand math is a good thing, but that’s not enough for some children. Every year some of our children need to spend time doing math drill.
Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
Judo! Most of my crew is thrilled. There are some stiff muscles after the first class, though.
I actually went out for lunch with a group of friends! Only a handful of us are still homeschooling; the rest are exploring the world of grandchildren and other new opportunities. (If you wonder how someone with celiac disease survives at a restaurant: I phone ahead and ask if I can take my own food. If I’m coming with a group, I’ve never had any problems.)
My favorite thing this week was…
Picking butternuts. We actually shook the trees, like they do in books, and the nuts came tumbling down! The squirrels had taken quite a few, even though the nuts are enormous, so we’ll do it earlier next year.
Taking one tired afternoon off and reading Debt-Free U, about getting through college without debt (and without scholarships). It was fun and relaxing just to sit and read and ponder all afternoon, although I did feel a bit guilty. Note, if your family is facing college anytime soon, you must read this book.
Questions/thoughts I have…
Anyone know anything about College Plus? I’ve heard a lot about it, but it almost seems too good to be true. It is supposed to be a quick, flexible, low-cost, accredited degree program in a Christian environment. I will have to look into it. Debt-Free U didn’t mention it, nor did Thriving at College.
Should we pick and juice more wild grapes? We have enough grape juice now to make about 10 pints of jam. It’s a question of balancing work and delicious jam….
Things I’m working on…
- Preserving the harvest.
- Getting the kinks out of our homeschool year.
- Deciding whether or not to attempt novel-writing with NaNoWriMo this November. Miss 13 will be doing it again, and she wants me to join her. I would love to try to copy an Enid Blyton adventure, following the philosophy of The Writer’s Workshop, but I’m not sure I have the time. Probably not. Sigh!
- Helping my husband with a big keyboarding project.
On my bookshelf…
For myself, I’m reading Ezekiel, Science Roots, and Doing Virtuous Business. I finished Debt-Free U and The Secret of Spiggy Holes (another little Enid Blyton adventure).
With the kids I’m reading Little Women, Salt in His Blood, and Jan en Janneke in Canada, but it’s been too busy to read aloud much. We also finished the Old Testament, something we only manage every two years or so as we read our way through the Bible over and over.
I’m grateful for …
- Warm weather.
- A huge harvest.
- Energy and strength to pick and preserve it all.
- Books.
- Blogging, when I’m too tired to do much else.
- Happy kids.
Just one picture…
This post is linked to The Homeschool Mother’s Journal and to Weekly Wrap Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
sounds like you had a good week. We need to work on math facts here as well.
I think everyone does…. Sigh!
Sounds like an awesome week! I completely understand having difficulty “squeezing” everything into the schedule. Sometimes we just don’t get to something and it’s mostly because math takes longer than I though it would! 🙂
I can’t wait to hear about the debt-free college! I will look into College Plus and read the book you suggested. Our oldest is in 8th this year (and one will be entering every year after that!), but will be there before we know it!
Many blessings,
Lisa
Yes, the time will come quickly, and it is good to think ahead a bit.
Sounds like a great week. I haven’t heard about that college thing, you’ll have to let me know what you find out about it. Glad you found out the problem with math. I use Spellquizzer to help Paulie do his math drills. It works great.
When I find out about College Plus, I’ll let you know. It may work for my 13yo who will graduate from grade 12 when she’s only 17, way too young to enter the cesspool of a secular university.
Spellquizzer would work well for math. We use if for spelling, and it’s great for that, too!
Annie Kate
I think I ran across a College Plus booth at a curricula fair a couple of years ago. I don’t have details, but I am certainly going to learn about it. Our eldest is only 11 so we have a few years. I’m strongly of the view that spending a gazillion dollars, and incurring a bunch of college debt, is highly detrimental so we are going to pray about alternatives. We live close to several decent universities, though most of them are secular. Perhaps if they are at home to live, it will be Ok for them to take classes there. All of that needs pondering and praying.