Catching Up & Moving Along...

Summer has flown by so quickly! Next week, we'll be back in the thick of things, though we did manage to have a lot of fun the last couple of months.

Catching Up...

There's been fishing, hanging out in scenic spots, and -- for me -- trail running:

And a day at the local fair, thanks to a set of free tickets I won from the bank! We went on some rides, ate funnel cakes, gazed at the amazing flower show, and visited the animals!

I even have a classroom now! There's been continued truck work, and some random fun moments along the way.

Moving Along...

The Boy starts a stellar astronomy class next week, so we're shelving chemistry for now. The Girl has a new volunteer orientation coming up at the local wildlife rescue center, so fall will be spent studying and rehabilitating animals.

I start my new career next week! I have my first day planned, my syllabus written, and a few writing assignments designed/under design. And I start my own classes.

We'll start our full-on homeschooling after Labor Day. Our first read-aloud for literature will be Watership Down. For animal studies, The Girl will be reading various selections from our collection of vintage books, alongside numerous library books, and I think she and I will enjoy The Tarantula in My Purse and 172 Other Wild Pets. She and I will also work on turning our habitat plans into reality.

Hope your summers have been going well!

Hello Again!

Summer is, believe it or not, starting to wind down, and I miss blogging, so here I am! We're still doing much the same as we were about a month ago, and we feel pretty content these days. However, we're also feeling that the time is coming to be ready for another year of homeschooling! I have almost finalized my plans for the year, which you can read about here. At the same time I am pulling all that together, I am getting ready for teaching.

Yes, it is official. I will be teaching sixteen college freshmen this year... English 100A (fall) and 100B (spring). So I've been working with a group of the other Teaching Associates (my fancy new title!) to create a syllabus, and engaging/challenging assignments that will help these students get up to general college writing standards. I'm half excited, and half very nervous! I'll be teaching this class two mornings a week. Two afternoons a week, I'll be back at the junior college, as a teaching assistant. AND, I am taking two classes of my own -- one is a required workshop for the Teaching Associates, the other is a British Lit seminar, with a fantastic professor (had him for Shakespeare).

While that may sound crazy busy, I'll actually have a lot more time at home, which is great, because that was one of the things that hindered us most in homeschooling last year. And for the first time since they were wee children, we can do a lot of morning lessons, and get them out of the way, instead of trying to do them during dinner preparations!

Besides that, I've been working out hard, eating healthy, and am down 34 pounds! I feel so much better in so many ways.

Anyhow, I just wanted to pop in and say hello, if anyone still reads this old blog! I am looking forward to chronicling the next year!