A Weekly Report and Hmmpff...

Things are generally going okay. 

Notes of Interest:
M has a new job at an upscale French-style bistro, and he loves it! He started low on the totem pole, but there is definite interest in moving him up (from him, and his co-workers/bosses).
The Boy is getting ready for his last in-club fencing tournament of the season, next weekend.
Which happens to be on the same day as a fantastic vintage car show he wants to attend with his best buddy.
And The Girl's next derby bout is that evening. Thank goodness they are all at different times!
Plus, we have a birthday coming up! Yes, my boy will be 14!
Both kids are in a local parade this weekend, to be followed by short demos. I am glad M has the day off, and has offered to make sure The Boy is where he needs to be, so I can do the same for The Girl.

Homeschooling Notes of Interest:
The Boy is making great progress with Life of Fred prealgebra, and he's learning interesting biological facts along the way. He'll finish this book in the next few weeks, and will be doing the last prealgebra book at a relaxed pace over the summer. He started reading Frankenstein last week, and so far is doing well with it, especially since we found this awesome Steampunk-illustrated version!

The Girl finished Cats this week, and plans to finish Dogs and Edgewood by the end of our school ear. She too will be continuing with Life of Fred over the summer, albeit at a more relaxed pace. She's eager to get back ahead in math! She's also discovered she can spell if she puts her mind to it! Right now, I'm using a combination of books I have on hand to make spelling lists for her, but hope to use Spelling Works with her in the fall. She has fallen in love with the Oz series once more, having picked up The Emerald City of Oz last week. She also spent an hour rearranging the books in her bedroom bookshelf, and says she wants ti full by the end of the [calendar] year (it is half empty right now)!

History and science are sadly lacking these days, which brings me to my duh moment of the week...

I've been reworking my Learning Page, and just realized why our homeschooling doesn't seem as effective these days. Wow, do I ever have too many resources! No wonder I feel grumpy and overwhelmed!

So that got me thinking, what if I actually pared everything down?

What if, instead of this hot mess, it looked like this?

Language Arts:
The Boy --
Thinking in Threes (this year), followed by Fairview's Guide to Composition & Essay Writing (fall) 
Hot Fudge Monday: Tasty Ways to Teach Parts of Speech (this year), followed by Excavating English (fall)


The Girl --
Writing Skills (this year), followed by Jump In! (fall)

Homemade spelling lessons (this year), followed by Spelling Works  (fall)

Math:
Just the Life of Fred series, unless we really needed some supplementing

Science:
The Boy --
Choose ONE of three (Conceptual Physics (wants to finish this someday); Conceptual Chemistry; Exploring the Way Life Works), or spend 12 weeks working in each, and finish the books in tenth grade

The Girl --
Just selections from Science Explorers "Small" books, and her choice of titles from the
Scientists in the Field series

History:
Review [late] ancient times over the next few weeks with A Little History of the World, then in the fall, start with medieval times, using volume 1 of K12's Human Odyssey, then go right into volume 2, up through the Renaissance/exploration. Pick a few good books to go alongside (I like most of this list), add in movies/documentaries as desired. 

Geography:
Either Mapping the World with Art or National Council for Geographic Education's Geography Club activities  

Of course we could keep the Afternoon Basket, and go back to one title for each rotational day...

Simplicity... I don't know... Can we do it?