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Weekly Wrap Up: Peaceful, Predictable, and Pleasant

In my life this week

Homeschooling, cooking, reading aloud, laundry, sleeping, getting up, and starting all over again, with occasional pieces of chocolate.  Peaceful, predictable, and pleasant.

Yesterday morning I looked around at my family, scattered around our living area while the wind howled outside.  Everyone was busy, peaceful, and content:

  • Miss 10 at the living room computer with Quarter Mile Math, racing through her multiplication tables.
  • Miss 12 on the living room couch, reading The Fallacy Detective for logic.
  • Miss 15 at the kitchen table, taking another practice Cayley math test.
  • Mr. 17 at a small table in the living room, studying Summa Theologica with Omnibus.
  • Daddy studying in a corner by the fire, working from home for a day.
  • Mama at the kitchen table, marking Miss 12’s grammar test.

In our homeschool this week

I’ve done the planning for Mr. 17’s final half year of school, and Miss 15 won’t need a new weekly list for a little while.

The kids worked hard this week, reading, studying, learning. Sometimes I’m overwhelmed at how much learning goes on. It was a good week, and Miss 10 is finally succeeding with her multiplication tables.  I love Quarter Mile Math (link to my review).

Work on Mr. 17’s records is continuing.  During his grade 9 I was so ill that all I did for record-keeping was to store all his papers.  Grade 10 was only slightly better.  That means a lot of work for me now, but it’s coming along.  I’m so thankful that I’m able to keep up much better with Miss 15’s records now.

Some of my favorite things this week were

  • Peace, quiet, and predictability.
  • Smiles from my kids.
  • Developing a recipe for whole grain, gluten free crepes.

Questions/thoughts I have…  I am so thankful for God’s weekly gift of a day of rest!

Things I’ve been working on

  • Homeschooling, planning, recording marks.
  • Organizing non-traditional schoolwork into ‘standard’ courses.
  • Remembering to walk, eat well, and relax adequately.

We’re watchingVictorian Farm.  There’s a lot of simple, everyday learning in those movies, and we love them.

I’m reading… I Kings.   Currently I’m still reading 10 Christians Everyone Should Know, but it’s an ebook and I really don’t want any extra time at the computer.  I’m still slowly drifting through Winter Solstice and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and one tired evening I whizzed through a large print version of Gail Sattler’s funny fluffy novel, Head over Heels. I recently read The Narrow Path and loved it, too.  Sattler’s books are totally fun, relaxing, clean, and upbuilding.

Reading Aloud… With the kids, we finished Ralph Moody’s Riders of the Pony Express and started a mid-20th century pioneering story, Snow, Stars and Wild Honey by George Morrill. For Dutch reading, the Little Misses and I started an old schoolbook, Gertje.  We sure have an easy life nowadays!  Mr. 17 and I finished Le Mystere des Faux Billets amidst gales of laughter.

When my husband is home for meals we’re reading Hosea.  Almost finished.

We’re memorizing… Psalm 2, slowly, and also reviewing the 10 commandments.

I’m grateful for … Peace, predictability, staying home, warm fires, good food.

Quote or link to share… A retired homeschooling mom, Annegret Hunter writes “On the Joys of Losing a Career & Gaining a Calling.”

This post is linked to Kris’s Weekly Wrap Up and to HomeSchool High.

5 Comments

  1. Jenn says:

    I love your blog title this week. These are the best kinds of weeks for sure. Have you received much snow? We are in a warming trend, so we are getting rain.

  2. JoAnn says:

    Sounds like a good week. I like the title of your post too. 🙂

  3. Annie Kate says:

    🙂 Thanks!

    We had about 6 inches of snow yesterday, Jenn, and that was just the right amount. My husband worked at home, no one had to go anywhere, so we could enjoy Friday, and the shovelling this morning was manageable.

  4. Kristie says:

    Hello,
    As a fellow Canadian I am also writing up my sons transcript (in a hurry) with a lot of the information stored up in my own brain instead of on paper!

    I wondered where you had found help with writing a transcript for Canadian admissions- things like how to list Apologia Science when Canadian highschools usually have them all divided up?

    Good Luck!
    Kristie

    1. Annie Kate says:

      I use the Home Scholar’s Comprehensive Record plan, but it is not specifically Canadian. It includes a transcript as well as a detailed explanation of what the student studied.

      The goal is to translate what your son did into language that admissions officers are familiar with.

      For Apologia biology, chem, and physics, it’s easy: I just list the table of contents in the detailed explanation. If you’re using physical science for a credit, I’d just list it on the transcript as ‘Physical Science’ and then put the table of contents in the detailed explanation.

      To get a feel for detailed course descriptions, I picked up a few course catalogues from various highschools nearby. That will help you determine what to call your course as well.

      I hope that helps, Kristie! And blessings to you, too, as you work on this big job.

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