In my life this week…
We harvested. And we homeschooled. And we watched our pennies. And that’s about all we did.
In our homeschool this week…
I was too busy harvesting tomatoes and more to remember to study French with my teens. Our Rosetta French is acting up, so the Little Misses haven’t done any French for a few weeks. At least we’ve been faithfully studying Dutch
Miss 9 is doing well on her math drills. I think we’ll continue the drills for a few weeks so that her ‘normal’ math will be much easier for her when she gets back to it.
Once again we’ve noticed the importance of neatness and organization in doing higher level arithmetic and math in general. If you’re messy, you will make mistakes and end up wasting hours of time. This is a theme that keeps recurring in our homeschool.
Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
Write out math work neatly and clearly. Don’t try to conserve paper by crowding everything into a few lines or skipping steps unless it is obviously very, very easy.
Actually, at the end of the year, my own grade 11 math scribbler was only half-full of very tiny equations, approximately one line per day. Before handing me the school award, the math teacher showed the assembly my scribbler, exclaiming about how concisely I had done my work. It was neat and organized, though crowded. But, because I hadn’t gotten used to writing out my work completely, I had a very hard time in grade 12 math….
Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
We had people came to get our surplus tomatoes. And we had friends over for a campfire and a river walk. The kids went to judo, and I did groceries. In this harvest season, that was just about enough.
My favorite thing this week was…
An excellent Sunday sermon about contentment and the 10th commandment. God has given us what he has given us, and we should be content rather than coveting what others have. Wanting what others have can lead to all kinds of sin (for example David and Bathsheba and Ahab and Naboth) but even if it doesn’t lead to sinful acts, it can still lead to unhappy restlessness and devastating sadness. I had been sad about some things, but this sermon reminded me that our loving God is all-powerful, and we can trust Him in all circumstances.
Questions/thoughts I have…
What is freedom of speech? This week The Blog Prof needed to choose between his blog and his day job, presumably because he was a successful conservative blogger.
How can we preserve freedom for our kids? Prayer is first, of course. Homeschooling, especially through high school, can also have a huge effect because, among other things, it keeps our children from being indoctrinated with the public school status quo. So, fellow homeschooling moms, let’s keep right on keeping on!
Things I’m working on…
- The harvest.
- Planning, doing, marking, and recording schoolwork.
- Cutting back on grocery spending. I used to have a price book; it is probably time to set one up again.
- A bunch of reviews.
- Thinking ahead to Sinter Klaas gifts in December, and deciding how to make it wonderful on limited amounts of money, time and energy….
I’m reading…
Ezekiel, Wild Animals I Have Known, and Doing Virtuous Business for myself.
Little Women and Jan en Janneke in Canada aloud with the kids, as well as the Ambleside Online poetry collection that we should read every day but have been neglecting.
I’m grateful for …
- That sermon.
- An excellent harvest.
- Health and strength.
- Joy.
- Fall colors.
Just one picture…
Actually, it’s a video this time. Music, unexpected and magical. Enjoy!
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This post is linked to The Homeschool Mother’s Journal and to Weekly Wrap Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
Wow, you weren’t kidding about the video! That was just beautiful! 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing!
And you were also correct, unfortunately, about our freedom of speech being eroded by the day. It seems like one only has freedom when it promotes a certain agenda, certainly not when one is preaching the Truth. Sad.
I hope you have a good weekend! Enjoy the beginnings of the beautiful fall colors! I just love the brilliance of the colors.
Many blessings,
Lisa
Yes, wasn’t that video a treat? 🙂
We can still speak now, and we can teach our kids the truth. Let’s use the opportunities while we can, before it’s too late. It’s so hard to know what to do and how to do it, though.
Sounds like a good week. For my kids keeping their math neat was always a struggle. I had read somewhere to have kids us graph paper to write out their problems, it helps keep everything in order. It has worked great for my kids. And loose leaf graph paper is pretty cheap, or I’m sure you could make something similar and print it out. 🙂
What a brilliant idea! Thanks.
Annie Kate
We are just about over our mad harvest hump – I know the feeling!
Yes, that’s a good thing to call it, a ‘mad harvest hump’. LOL
Annie Kate
I enjoyed reading about your week! I teach both journalism and speech classes to high school homeschoolers one day a week. One of the very first assignments I give them is to investigate our rights and resposibilities regarding “free speech” as defined by the Constitution. Then I have them go to their Bibles and do the same thing. This exercise generates a lot of discussion about how we are to use our speech!
Wow, that sounds so interesting! Your students are very fortunate! Have you ever posted about this?
Annie Kate
I am watching the video right now! so pretty:) You have inspired me to do the homeschool journal! My week has been unfruitful and I am tired! too many obligations to wrap up–and i didn’t have a harvest! (Too many reviews right now:( Oh well-as usual, I enjoyed your post. The music is soothing!
You’re SO right! My 7th grader is doing Algebra this year in a notebook. Math’s always been pretty easy for him, but he’s getting into work that REQUIRES writing out the problems step-by-step…and his work is cramped all together and difficult to read! We’re working on WHITE SPACE, writing numbers larger and doing ALL the steps! Math won’t get any easier here on out!
I wish we’d gotten a bountiful harvest of tomatoes! We had high hopes of making sauce, but we only got a few this year! Lots of cucumber though! LOL
Oh, and I’m working on groceries too! I keep going over my budget!
All the best for a GREAT week coming up!