Sunday, Monday, Tuesday & today...

We usually end up 'doing school' on Sundays, as it is one of the few days where we are home most of the day. This week, C.O. did Saxon Math lesson 8, made some number graphs, finished two pages in HWOT, 2 pages in HM Phonics, and dictated/helped to write a letter to his new penpal in Arkansas. He also drew a picture of a car, house and tree for E (penpal). We read some Golden Book stories before bed - C.O. liked the tugboat story, and C.J. loved the rabbit one. C.J. spends most of her school time coloring, though she likes the activities in her counting workbook - she correctly identifies the right group just at a glance!
On Monday, C.O. had his art class in the morning - they are doing a short unit on bears/teddy bears, so he made a bear card, and they read one of the Corderoy the Bear stories. Next Monday they are having a teddy bear party (the card was an invitation to one of C.O.'s stuffed animals). We did Saxon Math lesson 9, finished off the frog-jump capitols in HWOT, and worked on the letter N. Starfall has had some great activities for hearing letter sounds, plus it's fun! The kids both helped M make dinner... tofu-vegetable stir-fry and basmati rice. Yes, my kids eat tofu (but not all the time of course)!
Tuesday, I had to stay later at work, so we just did Saxon Math 10 (an assessment which C.O. aced!!!!) and a couple of pages in HWOT, then I let him do some coloring. We went to soccer practice, then the kids spent the night at their Nonna's house, which is always a treat for them.
Today, C.O. had his science class. Today's lesson was on the 5 senses, so they sipped different juices and water (taste), sniffed at lemon peels and mint (smell), shook jars full of dry beans (sound), played with the beans (touch), and looked at a variety of things (sight). C.O. really latched on to the ideas presented, and has been going around all afternoon discussing which senses he is using ("I can smell and taste and see and feel the olives, Mommy!") While C.O. was at class, C.J. helped my mom (Nonna) with grocery shopping. We're doing Lesson 11 in math, working on another couple of pages in Maps, Graphs and Globes, while C.J. works on groups of 7, and then going to the park before I head off to my evening class.
I got my local homeschoolers association discount/membership card in the mail today - I feel so official! We're actually planning on going to one of the upcoming field trips too, a trip to an organic farm in mid-October.

Great evening yesterday...

We went to my friend's (W) house yesterday afternoon, to celebrate his 40th birthday. The elflings love playing with him, and being in his backyard, so they had loads of fun! W's sister also stopped by - she has always been one of my best friends, since 7th grade, so it was great to see her again, and the kids liked her too, though C.J. was a bit shy at first, but that's normal and fine. I hope to see her again, if we can make it to SF sometime to go to the zoo.

We had a BBQ and spent some time around the firepit while there too. It was a nice evening, and I really enjoyed it!

Got my haircut all done...

I like it a lot, though it's shorter than it has been in years, just past my shoulders. But, it looks much healthier, and maybe it will dry faster (I hate blowdriers). M says it looks "pretty good", and the elflings said they love it.

New job is going well. I've picked up an additional 6-10 hours a week for now, until about November. I do have one very annoying coworker, but that's to be expected, and maybe she thinks I am just as annoying! I'm finally getting the hang of all the little tasks I have to do every day to make all the big tasks go more easily.

School is going pretty well. I'm doing my big English Lit project on Isabel Allende, whose books I highly recommend! I just need to space out my homework a little better so that I don't end up cramming it all in on Tuesday night (classes are on Wednesday). Next Friday, I also have another biology lecture, this one on environmentalism, so I am really looking forward to it.

The elflings are doing well - C.O. is maintaining his first grade level of work with school, so I am very, very proud of him. C.J. is learning her alphabet and working on counting higher (she gets to 14 now).

Other than that, things are going well. I am getting better at balancing things - educating my children and myself, work, home life, and even some time for myself, which may sound a little selfish, but I think it's healthier to take a few minutes alone here and there than to get overstressed.

Fun little quiz...

What Kind of Hundred Acre Homeschooler are You?
 
You are a Tigger Homeschooler. Tiggers jump into homeschooling with both feet, as a grand adventure. Everything is about learning, and their days (and houses) show it.

Met with the "teacher" today...

Not sure what to call her, since she insists she's not the teacher... anyhow, the meeting went well. She is very impressed with what C.O. has done, which is a load off my mind! I am still glad we're going through Orchard View for his kindergarten year, but am still looking forward to next year when we'll strike out on our own. She gave me some worksheets/coloring sheets to back up all the Earth studies C.O. has been into lately, and we built a fantastic volcano - I'll post pictures later.
 
I'm getting better at spreading out the workbook stuff we do, so that C.O. doesn't feel overwhelmed by it at any point. Now if I can just spread out my own homework that well! I should be playing catch up right now, but am taking a break.
 
Today we're doing some math (maybe 2 pages and building some block towers) then I'll let C.O. choose from HWOT or HM Phonics (usually he'll choose to do both). C.J. is getting better at identifying capitol letters from her coloring/activity book, and she loves to sing a mixed-up version of the ABC's. She is trying to decide between ballet classes and gymnastics - I think there's a place around here that will let her try out a lesson for $5, so I think we'll try that before actually enrolling her in either one. C.O. has decided he wants to try out martial arts or gymnastics when soccer ends in November, probably martial arts, which is very readily available around here. C.J. is also interested in martial arts, but I am not sure she's old enough for any of the classes around here!

Got a lot of schooling done...

C.O. did 3 pages of Saxon Math, 2 pages of HM Phonics, 2 pages of HWOT (the letters D & P), and 3 pages in Maps, Graphs & Globes the day before yesterday. C.J. was napping, and I guess we just got on a roll! On Monday we are planning on making a model volcano with M's help, since both kids have been very much into the Earth lately. C.O. is also drawing very complex buildings and vehicles on his Magna Doodle almost daily - I wish sometimes they were on paper so I could keep them! He did make some great glittery pictures for me to hang up at work - I'm taking the kids there one afternoon next week so that they can put a face on 'Mommy's work'.

Almost there!

One more super-crazy day to go, then the Heart Walk on Sunday (I'm working the extra hours to afford a good hair cut, which sounds really vain now that I'm typing it). Then, only 15-20 hours a week working (see below), afternoons off for the most part.... yaaaaayyyyyy!!!

I've spent a good chunk of the afternoon today cleaning out my desk here at the AHA. Feels wierd.

Enjoying my new job too. Today was the first workshop I did the set-up for, and it seemed to go pretty well. The woman running the workshop is notorious for being picky about the set-up, and she said I did a really nice job, so it must have turned out well! Not so fond of making coffee for 51 people, but I did enjoy making the flyers and signs, kind of a vaguely artsy project.

Now, while technically I am only scheduled for 15 hours a week, our senior admin is out for surgery, so I'll be picking up 4-6 extra hours a week to help out while she's gone for the next six or seven weeks.

C.O.'s first outside class...

C.O had his first 'enrichment' class yesterday - art, music, and free play... about an hour and a half long. He loved it! There were 17 other homeschooled kids there, ranging from kindergarten up to second grade. They sang a song about apples, made apple-print placemats (the kind where you cut an apple in half, dip it in poster paint & make a print), drew pictures, played legos, then had lunch/a snack outside and played in the playground. On Wednesday, it's art & science. C.O. loved playing with all the kids, and his teacher said he was really sweet!

We're having loads of fun homeschooling. We've 'studied' the planets, the structure of the Earth & how earthquakes happen, math, reading, cooking, writing, art, number patterns, suction, gravity, and more, just in the last few days... and it feels so much more flowing than school did for me. Today when I got home from work, C.O. had made a number chart on his Magna-Doodle, from 0-13, to show me - he made it all on his own, and all correctly. C.J. had made a drawing of a happy face that she said was of her (her first self-portrait).
I just hope it stays this easy, at least for a while!

5 Things...

5 Things I Couldn't Live Without Right Now...
My children laughing
Coffee, coffee and more coffee
My precious few minutes of 'me' time right before sleep each night
Milton's Granola Bread, toasted, with almond butter
My cat curling up in my lap, purring insanely


5 Things I Could Definately Live Without...
Worrying about finances
Working 45 hours a week
The kids being whiney and crabby
Me being whiny and crabby
M being whiny and crabby

Are we unschoolers at heart?

I had one of those moments this weekend... you know, those "duh" moments, where something is suddenly so obvious yet hasn't been obvious before. I spent part of my weekend devouring "The Unschooling Handbook", and realized (not sure how I missed this before), that essentially we do unschool. Until recently, I haven't done workbooks, or any kind of planned education with my kids. We just follow what they want to learn, and try to give them the tools to learn about everything. I had been worried, this year, that maybe this approach was too relaxed, but in all honesty, it's working! The kids remember all kinds of things we've talked about and/or shown them, often times surprising us with how in-depth their gained knowledge is.
 
C.O. is currently enjoying the workbooks, which honestly don't take much time, and only cover math and phonics/writing, and everything else is just an offshoot of living our lives. For example, yesterday we discussed volcanoes and earthquakes - C.O. showed C.J., using his hands, how the plates in the earth shift, which I taught him months ago after a minor earthquake. Then we dug out our fantastic illustrated one-volume encyclopedia and looked at the Earth's structure. This led to a discussion on planets, so I got out my Planets-in-a-Pouch (only mine has Jupiter instead of "The Universe", and Mars instead of Venus), and now both kids know a bit about Mercury, Earth, Mars and Jupiter. I think this subject might be something they'd be interested in pursuing further - we'll see! I am using the workbooks because I want to give him a strong foundation in math and reading skills to work from.
 
I decided to give unit studies a rest right now, unless they are truly child-initiated. I asked both elflings what they want to learn about right now, and C.O. answered "r.c. (remote control) stuff", and C.J. wants to know about sheep and pigs. So, I guess we'll plan field trips to Hobby Town and a farm!
 
Since we do sit down to learn a little from workbooks on a regular basis (well, 3-4 times a week), can we still call ourselves unschoolers?

I can't wait for it to all slow down...

Okay, two jobs, college, homeschooling and soccer is officially too much. Only one week to go though, and some of the craziness (i.e. the second job) will be at an end. My new job is going really well - I've settled into most of my obligations (prefer that to the word "duties"), and am getting familiar with how things work there.

Had my first official meeting with C.O.'s teacher/assistant this week - go to A Homeschool For Two if you're interested in reading more about that. He's had two actual soccer games now, and stayed much more focused at the second one. Even his coach noticed! I think the problem with the first one was a lack of understanding of the game on C.O.'s part, but we (M & I) did some one-on-one practice with him, which seems to have helped.

I have gotten nearly all of the kids winter clothes shopping done! Most of it is second-hand, EBay stuff (some is new), but it's all nice, and I have spent less than $75 fitting them both out for the months ahead. For example, I got C.O a corduroy coat for under $5 with shipping, and two pairs of brand-new Carhartts pants for less than $10, again with shipping. I am still searching for some more pants for C.J., and a few more long-sleeved t-shirts for both. I did a little shopping for myself off the clearance racks - some cargo-type pants, and 3 t-shirts, all long-sleeved. One of the benefits of my new job versus the American Heart Association is that the clothing guidelines are nowhere near as formal and strict, so I can get away with cargo pants, t-shirts, and even my old Docs, as long as I look presentable, clean and tidy! Nice t-shirts by the way, nothing with graphics, tears, stains... the ones I got are plain, jewel-toned ones. Plus I have cool jewelery to dress them up with!

Besides that, school is going well so far. I get to learn about pond turtles next Friday. I found my old little tape recorder so that I can record the lectures before trying to write a paper. I missed one English Lit class, so now I have make-up work to do, but maybe over the weekend.

First, let me reassure you...

It was a tongue-in-cheek comment... I don't really think I am a terrible homeschooling mom.
 
Yesterday proved I am not. We had our first meeting with our assistant/teacher, and it went really well. We discussed what we want to accomplish with homeschooling, filled out a few (semi-silly) forms, discussed the enrichment classes, and then began going through the curriculum materials they have available. I said "no" to a few things, but did come home with an entire armload of books and supplies! C.O. is in first grade math, which I admit I am proud of! I added our supplies/resources to my sidebar. Yes, after looking through the books, we did decide to go with Saxon Math, but only the workbooks and manipulatives, not the Meeting Book and all that. I do have the Teacher's Guide, but I doubt I'll be using it too much. We're supplementing with Family Math. I thumbed through it last night, and it looks like it has a lot of great games!  We meet again on the 20th, and in the meantime, I am coming up with a unit study (mostly for history/social studies/science learning) to start with that I can email to her. We're thinking of doing a fairly short one on "Our Community" - we could make a map or collage (or combination of the two) of our area, visit the fire station, library and post office, etc. Then, maybe move into a unit on Farms, just in time for Halloween preparation!
 
C.O. did his first sit-down lesson in phonics/writing during my lunch break today, and he seemed to really enjoy it! We also worked on letter sounds in the car. C.J. drew a picture during the sit-down time, which she says is a mountain coming up out of the ocean. We really need more crayons! After soccer practice tonight, we hope to sit down to do a page or so of math. I can't wait until things are a little less hectic, and I get more time at home to actually enjoy the homeschooling process.

Oh, I am a terrible homeschool mom...

Not really, but we didn't get started today! First, work is just so hectic through the 15th. Secondly, we're not meeting with the "teacher" until tomorrow, and I want to get things figured out with her before moving too far forward on my own. So, we are postphoning our first day until at least Thursday, if not Monday of next week. Oh well, this kind of flexibility is one of the reasons we wanted to homeschool in the first place! If we had put C.O. in school this year, he'd be on his third week already, gone about 6 hours a day with transportation time, with homework still to be done each evening...
 
Next Monday will be C.O.'s first class though! Art, music, and a little story time. He wants me to pack a lunch so that he can have lunch and playtime with the other kids. I'm glad he's looking forward to it. M said he might go with him (parents are welcome) since he (C.O.) has never been to a class or anything like it where someone he knows isn't there, and we think it might ease any nervouseness if one of us is there.

Had my first day at my new job...

It went really well. I have my new work email, and I'll be listed on the website as the workshop coordinator within a few days. They held an admin meeting to get me up to speed - lots to go over since Special Ed is such a huge program. I liked how casual but busy the office is. It will take me a while to get used to the keyboard at my desk! It's one of those divided ones that is supposed to help support wrist/hand function, so it's wierd. Most of the people I met seemed really friendly and approachable too.

I also had my intro to the biology lecture series today, and it's going to be really interesting. One of the career options I have toyed with for years is marine biology, and they have a very good biology department at the local community/junior college.

Off to a three day weekend!