It’s hard to believe that we’ve already been doing schoolwork for 5 weeks…as well as reading, playing games, volunteering, harvesting the garden, and dejunking the house.
In our homeschool…
Miss 16 is busy with her math (Singapore New Elementary Math 4B), physics (Apologia), and an online AP English Language and Composition course. Taking online courses is new for our family and is working out very well; Miss 16 is learning a lot about both writing and life. She also volunteers at a small school one morning a week, a unique opportunity to both contribute and learn.
Miss 14 has been concentrating mainly on math, but is also moving along in other subjects. After studying French is Fun in grades 7 and 8, the first BJUP French text is a wonderful review. I find that languages require a lot of review, both the formal textbook kind and the informal kind that comes from reading other material. We have a simple book about French geography and history, and both my teens are able to understand most of it as we go through it slowly and individually, paragraph by paragraph.
Miss 12 is very busy trying to manage all the learning involved in grade 7. We have not yet hit our stride, but she’s progressing well in everything except Apologia’s General Science. The first chapter, a historical overview about what science is, has been difficult for each of my children, but the rest of the book is much more manageable. We own the first edition; perhaps the revised edition has a more user-friendly first chapter. In any case, today, before she is allowed to play computer games (a weekend treat) we’ll spend some time on the questions of the first chapter.
I have been working with the girls, as I wrote in Older Students Need Attention, Too, and have not spent much time on Miss 16’s high school records which she soon will be sending to universities. Before I really focus on the records, though, I want to help her with a bit of SAT prep. We’ve found that the SAT is a good confirmation of ‘mommy marks’.
In our gardens and yard…
Most of our tomatoes are going bad before they ripen, so we are not making any salsa this year. I’m so thankful we have a lot left from last year! The squash and melon harvest was great, but the leeks all shrivelled up and only a few carrots germinated. The orchard did not produce much either. However, we have a lot of cabbage and beets, some turnips, much chard and kale, and even some lettuce. Although we had a bumper crop of cucumbers, we ended up wasting them rather than giving the excess away. I hate it when that happens.
In our gluten free kitchen…
We’re eating as much garden produce as possible. My theory is that whatever we eat does not need to be preserved or to fit into our freezers. This is the time of year when I feel the best, probably because of the huge number of vegetables. I love them so much in fact that after a meal I’ll gladly finish up the salad, the squash, the beets…. We’ve also enjoyed breads, cakes, cookies, pies, and more.
Some of my favorite things were…
- Hanging out with my family.
- Beautiful fall colors.
- Watching the kids play games.
- Our new huge, comfy couch.
Questions/thoughts I have… What do you do when the puppy trains the kids? Our puppy has taken to tapping on the window if he wants someone to come to the door…and they go, each time!
Fitness… I manage to average around 10,000 steps a day, but have let the other exercises go. Life is still getting in the way. I also need more and more sleep, often over 10 hours a day. That is frustrating, but I know better than to fight it. On the positive side, my headaches have almost disappeared and I’ve maintained my tiny weight loss.
Some of the things I’ve been working on…
- Homeschooling, obviously.
- Harvesting the garden.
- Reading.
- Dejunking the house. We have never been this successful before: 15 huge bags/boxes in the last few weeks! That resulted partly from the demise of our indoor oil tank (the technician said he inspires a lot of cleaning) and partly from the need to rearrange everything because of our new couch.
I’m reading… Hebrews. I finished The Vine-Ripened Life, The Meaning of Marriage, Honey For a Teen’s Heart (very worthwhile), and What Your Heart Needs for the Hard Days. I’m still reading The Perfect Score Project, The Stories We Tell, and On Christian Doctrine. On the back burner are Pascal’s Pensees, A Man Called Intrepid, and 52 Weeks of Family French.
Reading aloud…We read Luke at mealtimes and have almost finished Captains Courageous. I love that book, but it does have some gruesome bits that I always skip when I read it to myself; I had forgotten about them when I chose to read this.
When my husband is home for meals, we read Isaiah.
I’m grateful for …. Two functioning vehicles and lower gas prices.
Quote or link to share…. Ever since I first read How Should We Then Live? I’ve wanted to watch Francis Schaeffer’s video series about his book. Here’s a link to each episode. I’m not pleased that the blog author used my entire review without my permission, but I forgive him because he’s put up the video links.
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This post is linked to Kris’s Weekly Wrap Up and Finishing Strong.
Sounds like things are going well. Sorry about the loss of produce, that would be a bummer after all your work.