Another Month...

Time sure flies by, doesn't it? I can't believe it is August already!

The Boy is really enjoying his job training program. So far, he's worked on a resume and cover letter; learned about pay checks, deductions, and budgeting; learned about employee rights; gotten his Food Handler's certificate (with honors!); and worked a shift in the on-site cafe. Next week, he'll put in another shift in the cafe, and participate in mock interviews.

The Girl has been reading Ballet Shoes and the original Winnie the Pooh book. She's working, off and on, with her dog -- training does need to be more consistent! I also took her to meet a horse!

Learning about horse care

And a riding lesson

It was a good, and fun, experience for her. Since the junior derby league has pretty much fallen apart, I am trying to find other activities she will enjoy, because frankly, she needs to be a lot more active.

I've been working, and trying to figure out fall, when I also start working as a tutor for the Writing Center at the local university. Whole Foods is okay so far. The people are nice, and all that, but it's not my dream job.

I did apply for what seems like a fantastic opportunity, as a "Literacy Paraprofessional" for a small, local, elementary-middle school district. I would love the work -- helping kids with reading -- and it would be great experience for the teaching intern program I'm applying for in January. Fingers crossed!!!

I also watched Minimalism with the kids, and we are determined to own less stuff.

Math is going well! The Boy is working through The Great Courses Algebra 1 still, and loves the professor. He says the explanations are very clear. We're still using Jacobs Elementary Algebra as additional practice. I found a geometry course for him as well, to tackle next! The Girl is back to Math Mammoth to tighten up a few loose ends, and it is working really well.

The Girl decided also to really tackle nicer handwriting, and better spelling, so I am thrilled with that. They are both working on writing, with me bringing in new elements of the Brave Writer Lifestyle bit by bit.

We're reading both The Hobbit and Homecoming (Cynthia Voigt). Two very different books, but we are enjoying both! We're watching a variety of shows: Eureka, The Flash, Sherlock, and Arrow.

I have let exercise slide the last month. I just don't have time, or energy, or even the desire really, for the intensive workouts that group of friends is doing these days, as they prepare for a physique competition. So, to get going again, I'm looking at these workouts... simple, straightforward, doable. I've also really changed how I'm eating. I stopped counting anything... calories, protein grams, etc. I'm really working at eating more intuitively. Sometimes at first, this process has meant too much junky food, but I'm feeling a desire for more healthful fare again. I am really trying to learn to trust my body. And in this process, I have gained back about 4 pounds, which once would really have stressed me out. Now though, I'm okay.

Our Gulf Fritillary caterpillars are back! We didn't have any last year (the drought?), so we were excited to see them out on the passion flower vine.

I love our passion flowers....

So that's a sort of run down as to our current state of being. Things are going along, good here, challenging there. Still a good summer though! Tonight we're going to see a free (traveling) drive in movie... The Goonies, to be specific. I'm really looking forward to it, as is everyone else. We've gone to a free concert in the park; spent hours and hours at the beach, in and out of the water; spent hours laughing with friends; played a lot of board games; and just enjoyed time together!

Hope anyone who reads this is having a great summer!

It Can't Really Be April Already!

I absolutely can't believe it is April already, and that I missed March on this blog entirely.

What We've Been Up To:

The Girl turned 14!!!

The Boy is enjoying the Big History Project. This will take us through the next year as well, since I'm adding in science, and it took us a while to get off the ground with it.

I've decided to apply for a Roots & Shoots mini-grant to help The Girl and I with our front-yard-turned-wildlife-habitat project.

The weather has finally gotten much nicer, so The Boy will be returning to his truck project.

Again, since the rains have (mostly) stopped, we can get a veggie garden going! I decided we would start relatively small this year, and add to it regularly, rather than overwhelming ourselves with another giant project at the moment.

Homeschooling on the whole is good these days! Math is going well for both, we're working on writing projects, we're reading The Golden Compass, and we discuss a lot of politics/political science.

We've also been enjoying sunny park days with friends; the kids go roller skating every week; they also visit a local teen club twice a week (most weeks) for arts, crafts, and more; and The Boy is loving his figure drawing class!

So instead of rambling on and on, here are some pictures from recent days, in no particular order...

The Girl got clay for her birthday, and is making mini sculptures

The cat loves his boy

Minecraft flower mini-sculpture by The Girl

Drawing from The Boy's art class

The view from an uphill walk I try to do at least twice a week

I love seeing hot air balloons when I drive my husband to work in the morning

Another drawing from The Boy's art class

I always see such pretty flowers when I'm out walking!

Have a great weekend and week! I'll try to check back in more regularly!

Making plans...

Backyard Farming Project Plans
 I wrote in this post about my garden planning, and then started research on building beds without going broke. I ended up finding this awesome tutorial on building raised beds with cedar fence boards, as cedar is naturally rot-resistant, rarely "treated", and fence boards are quite inexpensive overall. They still won't be $10 beds...more like $25 apiece, but that's far, far cheaper than getting them pre-made, with prices starting at $46 for something of comparable size. I'm hoping to put in 4-6 beds (leaning toward six...we have the space!), and a couple of potato towers. I know we want to grow tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, cucumbers, squash, beans, peas, lettuces, chard, maybe broccoli, etc., and I just learned about tree collards, so am fascinated with them!

I also really need to rebuild for the chickens. We want to relocate the chicken run, to free up our mini orchard space, and so I want to take my time to do it properly. Our chickens are sadly down to two in number, and have aged out of laying entirely, so I am seriously considering investing in 6-8 lovely ladies in the spring. I've been perusing Backyard Chickens for ideas in the process of designing my own new coop and run, which will all be made from reclaimed lumber, chicken wire, etc., much the way this blogger built one.

Cooking Project Plans
I've decided I need to learn how to can things. My mom does it all the time, so next time she has a canning project planned, I'll be watching and helping! I'd also like to try making cheese -- I understand both ricotta and mozzarella are pretty easy, so I think I would tackle those first. I also want a dehydrator at some point....

Household Project Plans
More decluttering really. I find more and more that we need far less stuff than we have. I'd also like to sew new curtains later this winter, as curtains are an easy way to really change up a room's appearance. So everyone will need to choose curtain fabrics for their rooms, and then I get to choose for the main rooms! Another deep cleaning is needed soon too. We have other plans for next summer, including a roof overhaul (just the addition, thankfully), and a shower wall and plumbing overhaul. I'm just glad those jobs are a ways off!

Finishing Grad School Plans
This one will take a while. I need to get the required foreign language out of the way (yes, a foreign language for an MA in English). I also need to take my GRE and write my thesis. So this is a 1.8 year plan (I'd say two, but this semester is almost over). I will continue with the jobs I have now if given the opportunity in the 2017-2018 academic year, and then graduate in summer, 2018. To keep me busy in the meantime, I have essays to assign and grade, and a 15-20 page seminar paper of my own to write by mid December.

Homeschooling Plans
We're doing much better with math these days, and have kept up nicely with history (Victorian times) and literature. Getting writing done though has been like pulling teeth, so that is the next area to tackle. I think both kids will be taking sculpture at the junior college in the spring, and I'd really love to incorporate a thorough study of biology into our next semester.

And there you have it... my current plans! Plenty to keep me busy!

What We're Doing These Days...

  ...It's a beautiful fall so far... 
lots of rain, followed by the leaves changing, and morning fog...

...We enjoyed Halloween... 
(costume pictures still to come)
We spent the afternoon with friends, then the evening Trick or Treating my mom's neighborhood

This is how you pick pumpkins from the pumpkin bin

The Girl's handiwork

And The Boy's

...We've Been Reading...

 We really enjoyed this book, and it led to so many interesting conversations about human rights versus a seemingly utopian society, memories, emotions, and much, much more. The movie, on the other hand? Ummm, no thanks. We did not care for it.

  But we did move on to the second book in the quartet, and although it seems very different in someways, it is just as gripping so far.

We're delving into Victorian Times after watching Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 

And we're reading about universal matters...

...And There Has Also Been...

Math (going well, but not nearly often enough)

Language arts games here and there, and now we're diving headfirst in to writing projects for both kids

Lazy afternoons either at the park with friends, or watching movies (we watched a lot of pre-Halloween films!)

Many rounds of Clue and Chess

The Boy loves, loves, loves his astronomy class, and is planning on taking sculpture in the spring

And cooking... soups, chili, casseroles, and, courtesy of The Girl, a lovely pear and chocolate upside-down cake...

Settling In...

Homeschooling this fall has been more about getting settled in, than it has been about starting a new academic year. I've made some more changes to my Learning page to more accurately reflect what we're up to, most noticeably, that I'm not doing formal spelling with The Girl after all, but I'll talk about that in a minute!

What We're Up To...
The Boy is well entrenched in another semester at the junior college. He's taking, and seriously enjoying, stellar astronomy. After each class, he comes to me with stories of his teacher, and what was learned, and I am thrilled it is going so well! In the spring, he hopes to take sculpture, and perhaps German.

As for The Girl's spelling, I am approaching it in much the same way I did with The Boy, which was correcting it as we go. Instead, I am having both of them participate in writing projects, even some collaborative pieces. The Girl is reading SO well now, and she's picking up some spelling just from reading, so I think this laid back approach could work.

Math is going well too. The Boy is continuing with TabletClass (algebra), and The Girl is zipping through the first book of Key to Fractions.

Still To Add In...
The Boy will be studying Big History this year, as we find it meshes extremely well with his science choices (astronomy this fall, biology at home in the spring). I haven't quite decided if The Girl will do this with him, but I think it is more likely she will have a year of naturalists and animal scientist biographies.

The Girl completed her first orientation at the Wildlife Rescue Center. She has two more trainings to go before she can start fostering young wild animals in the spring. She may also volunteer for some classroom visits with the education team.

And read-alouds... I have a list of dystopian literature at the request of the kids, so we just need to get to it! I'm also gathering a few books on various topics to rotate through the Afternoon Basket during fall.

Everything Else...
Roller derby is back in full session, so The Girl has practice twice a week. The Boy is still working on his truck rebuilding project once a week. I only work four days a week now, and love my jobs, despite the need for more penny pinching. I do a bootcamp workout three mornings a week, TRX once a week, and I run a couple of times a week too, so I feel better than I ever have! The Girl is going to train for her first 5k with me, one that involves chocolate, definitely a big motivation!

We lost one of our two dogs last week. She started sleeping endlessly, and stopped eating, so we knew she was going (she was 13 or 14). She died peacefully in our family room on the 12th, and we held a lovely funeral for her. We also gained a chicken, when a friend found one wandering down her street, and thought of us!

Hope everyone's fall is off to as good a start as ours, though maybe not as slow!

Monday Musings...

...Outside My Window...

It's been gorgeous here lately, though quite warm, with the last few days in the 80s! It is supposed to cool back down to the 70s tomorrow, and there might be some rain by the weekend. The dryness, and high pollen counts, have got The Boy in constant allergy agony, so we're going to try switching allergy meds, and taking him in for allergy testing. Poor kid.

With such clear skies though, we have seen plenty of these!

...In My Yard...

I spent the late morning/early afternoon yesterday weeding, and relocating some lamb's ear. I also finally got a gift of daylilies situated too, as well as the tiny euphorbia my mom found next to her big one, and gave to me.. M's been trying to keep up with rapidly growing grass in both the front and backyards, but with the rain, then warmth, then rain, then warmth... the stuff is growing like crazy!

...In the House and Kitchen...

I've been getting bits of the house deeply (spring) cleaned... a little at a time. I'll get it done yet! And the kids are working on choosing paint colors for their rooms for this summer's big project (besides the bathroom plumbing).

I'm getting better at planning ahead food-wise. I cook several breakfast items ahead for the kids to pick and choose from, and then they add fruit, tea, etc., and I pack my own snacks/lunch the night before. On the dinner menu this week are: turkey burgers; roasted chicken; quesadillas made with leftover roasted chicken; and probably this awesome casserole from Kalyn's Kitchen.

...In Our Homeschooling...

The Boy is starting chapter three in algebra this week, after doing very well on his end-of-chapter 2 test last week. The Girl is working on multiplication more in-depth, because fluency with it will only help her as she moves along.

In language arts, I really need to get The Boy working on his expository essay! The Girl did another 3 lessons in Spelling Workout, and will do more this week. I am also hoping to have each of them memorize a poem by the end of April (free choice of poets and pieces), and maybe do a freewrite this week.

...Reading and Watching...

A Wind in the Door is going well, though we're only a couple of chapters in so far. The Afternoon Basket is high up on my to-do list this week! On their own, they are continuing with The Martian and Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone. I just finished a very odd and intriguing page-turner.. The Children's Home. The Boy wants to read it when he finishes his current book, so we'll switch at that point.

We watched another few episodes of Downton Abbey, and will watch another couple this week. I'd really like to get in another episode of Human Planet as well. And we've been enjoying the end of Once Upon a Time's season three!

...On the Agenda...

For me, running and weight training, plus introductory karate tomorrow night. I tried, and loved, TRX resistance training over the weekend, so I really want to do more of that!

The kids have parkour/roller derby, afternoon skating tomorrow, and maybe (just maybe) a fencing session this week.

Other than that, my class was cancelled today (phew!). I do have tutoring tomorrow, and office hours at the junior college on Wednesday. So altogether, it is a lighter week than usual!

I'll leave you with The Girl's last puppy petting session for the "R" litter. The "S" litter is due in early May, so we should be playing with puppies by mid-late May!

Have a great week!!!

Where We Are, and Where We Are Headed Next...

Since we are getting closer and closer to the end of the year, I thought I would share where we are at with homeschooling, and what our next big plans are!

The Boy

He is doing so well with TabletClass Algebra as his math text/program! As he's currently on chapter 2 out of 14, I doubt he will finish by the end of June, but in September, we will just pick up where he leaves off, and move on from there.

In writing, I have sort of dropped the ball... a lot. However, I am taking steps to remedy this. I have accepted that as an English tutor/teacher-to-be, I am not good at following a pre-written curriculum. I am much better at putting together assignments myself. So I am going to just work with him on the steps of writing various types of essays, though we will continue to use books like Writing With A Thesis for examples and refining. His first essay, an expository one, will be at least 5 paragraphs, and we'll be starting that today. I plan to have him read a least one sample essay, brainstorm, work on an outline, then a rough draft, and a final draft. In between all those fun steps, he'll continue with freewriting, etc., a la the Brave Writer Lifestyle. After the expository essay, we'll move on to a persuasive or descriptive essay. 

Next year, we'll continue essay writing, with at least one research paper, and various short essays across the curriculum.

The Girl

Our current approach to math—using Math Essentials and filling in any weak spots with Math Mammoth's Blue Series—is working quite well. She likes both programs, which is a rare find here, and is making nice progress! We'll continue on with this for next year's math (pre-algebra), and then decide where to go from there. I might have her try out the free pre-algebra lessons offered by John Zimmerman, the amazing TabletClass guy. Our primary focus the rest of this year is getting her up to full speed on multiplication, division, and fractions.

She does some writing/freewriting, and I should have her doing more Brave Writer Lifestyle activities, but our main focus is spelling, since that is a major weak spot. She spells very phonetically, which can be interesting, but not necessarily easy to understand. I bought a Spelling Workout workbook at a lower level than her reading comprehension, and she's flying through it, doing an entire lesson in a day. I assume we'll slow down as she moves up through the levels. 

Next year, we'll add in written narratives, and the beginnings of essay work.

Both

Downton history, while we haven't read/watched everything on my list, has been a huge hit! That said, I think next year we'll simply aim for watching series, documentaries, and movies... a visual interest-led approach. That is because we have decided we need a year that focuses more on science, which brings me to my next point.

Science has been largely interest-led this year. The Boy is reading a couple of books on black holes, and other cosmological phenomena; The Girl has practically memorized entire animal encyclopedias. We've watched documentaries, done an occasional small experiment, but we haven't really dug too deeply into science this year. I would like to finish out the year with some anatomy and nutrition, but we'll see. 

Next year though, both kids will be doing biology, The Boy because it's a science he has not focused on previously, and The Girl in order to broaden her horizons past animals. I'm looking at either Life on Earth (which looks fascinating, but is an iBook and therefore more difficult for me to access), or something along the lines of Exploring the Way Life Works, or maybe even a (gulp) textbook (this one, or perhaps this one).

OR, we'll be doing the Big History Project with extra science, primarily biology. [Personally, this would be my number one pick]

Literature has not been great this year either, mostly because I did not put enough emphasis on it, and I failed to make it a cornerstone of our education. The kids do read a lot on their own—right now I've got one enmeshed in the world of Harry Potter, and the other one millions of miles from here with The Martian—but at read-alouds... well, I'll just say it: I've sucked this year. I am working to remedy that a bit though. We're finally wrapping up A Wrinkle in Time, and then will either read A Wind in the Door, or something entirely different.

For next year, we are toying with the idea of a lit study based off of another favorite series of ours, Once Upon a Time. We would bring in everything from Alice in Wonderland and Pinocchio, to the Grimm fairy tales, Peter Pan, the legend of Blackbeard, and so forth. 

So,  biology/Big History  interest-led science and literature would be the main focal points for family studies, bolstered with math and writing as individual activities. Plus, The Boy may well take another junior college class.

So yes, we're still aiming high, and falling a bit short. 

It's Friday! A General Wrap-Up for the Week...

I'd say this sums up pretty well how I'm feeling at the moment!

Overall though, it's been a good week. We made some good strides in homeschooling; I made it through both jobs and school once more; I didn't have a crazy appointment of doctor's visits (for my dad) on top of everything else; I kept the kitchen counters clean all week (yes, sadly that is a victory for me) and kept up on dishes; and I am having a blast planning out my front yard!

...Homeschooling Report...

This week, as part of our Downton history studies, we moved into season two, and so into World War 1. We watched half of World War 1: Cause and Effects, taking us up to 1916, which is where we are in the Downton timeline. We also read about the start of the war in The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia.

This weekend, I hope to get in one more episode of Downton, and perhaps the first episode of World War One: The People's Story.

Mathematically, we are doing quite well! The Boy completed 4 lessons in algebra this week, working with equations, variables, the order of operations, and more. The Girl did 3 chapters in Life of Fred Fractions, and two lessons from Math Essentials. 

The Boy completed lesson 2 in writing, and The Girl worked diligently on a new list of spelling words. She had to write a sentence for each word, and instead wrote sort of a This is the House That Jack Built tale (though not as long) about a chicken that went a bit crazy. 

Yesterday, I had them each read something scientific while I was at work, and then narrate it to me when I got home. The Girl talked about chameleons, and The Boy about eyesight. He and I also watched an episode of Through the Wormhole, about black holes.

Next week's plans:

More math (at least 4 lessons for each kid)

 Lesson 3 in writing for The Boy; another spelling lesson for The Girl

Some freewriting for both

Another couple of Downton episodes

More free-range learning in science, plus a (short) hands-on science lesson with a book I just ordered

More on World War 1 and the Romanovs

And finishing up A Wrinkle in Time! 

...Household/Gardening Report...

 I wrote the other day about gardening plans for my front yard, and wasn't quite sure what to do with the larger "half" of the yard, except that I want it to tie in with the smaller half, which I can already picture as complete. Then, I thought about my mom's front yard, which my sister re-did for her last year, putting in a fabulous dry stream... In case you're not familiar with dry streams, this is what they look like...

Pretty, isn't it?

So I think I will do that, kind of winding through, past the two boulders. On either side, I'll have a crazy-quilt patchwork (large-scale patches) of creeping thyme, lamb's ear, etc. Around the fenced corner of that section, I'll keep the rosemary and French lavender I have now, though I'll be removing the overgrown and shabby-looking Spanish lavender (my brother-in-law planted them, and they're not my favorites). Maybe some more French lavender, maybe some fern-leaf lavender (which I love), some bulbs tucked in here and there for spring blossoms, and a few other pretty things. 

I know it sounds like a lot, so here's my 5 minute sketch...

I think this could come together really nicely.

I hope.

And then, this weekend I'm tackling the first task in
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, which is clothing. I was going to do books first, but M will be at work tomorrow (new job!), so it seems a perfect time to drag all the clothing in the house together.

...Odds and Ends...

I need to come up with a menu plan for the upcoming week, and grocery list. I plan for Monday as a crockpot day, Wednesday as a quick and easy dinner day (stir-fry works well), and I generally do something like a casserole on Thursdays, as M or The Boy can pop it in the oven while The Girl and I are at her roller derby practice.

I'll be figuring out what to read aloud after A Wrinkle in Time.

The Girl and I will almost definitely be petting puppies again tomorrow. 

I'm going to try to get the kids out for a bike ride too. And I need to do some strength training. I'm down almost 15 pounds now! I had lost a bunch of weight a few years back, but in the fashion typical of crash dieters, I gained almost all of it back. Grrrr. This time, I'm simply eating healthfully, and exercising. What a concept!

As to M's new job, you remember he went into cooking quite some time back. And has sadly found, after several layoffs, that the culinary world is unpredictable (at least in terms of employment), and that it is less enjoyable than he hoped. He still loves cooking, at least at home, but needs full-time, steady employment. So he's returning to an earlier profession, and will start a trial run tomorrow at a wholesale nursery, working with plants, and gardeners, and the like. We are all really hoping that this works out well for him... he needs something he can depend on and enjoy! And he does miss working with growing things, and the smell of dirt, and being outside.

II think that's it for now. Happy weekend! I'll leave you with a totally random picture of one of my favorite things in my kitchen right now...

linked up over at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Monday Musings...

...Over the Weekend...

We headed to the coast for a sunset. One of my favorite things about living where we do is that the beach is only about 40 minutes away.

...Outside My Window...

It is really fall! We have bouts of rain, followed by days of clear, cold (for us) beauty. Sweaters, scarves, the occasional knit hat... all are coming out of storage at last. There is green poking up through the ground everywhere.

...In Our House & Kitchen...

I am really trying to be more on the ball with menu planning. And making good use of leftovers. For example, after our hike last week, we roasted up some turkey legs. The leftover meat went for turkey nachos after the beach visit, and then the bones will make a great stock for Friday's slow cooker soup, exact recipe to be determined.

And I'm having the kids do cleaning bursts every day. Even if they only spend 10-15 minutes at a time cleaning, it makes a huge difference. And while they're cleaning one area, I tackle another one. That reminds me, we need to clean out the rain gutters again while the sun is shining!

...In Our Homeschooling...

Yesterday we got off to a great start for the week. We read in our history book; read about the sun and seasons; and did math (The Boy got 96% on his first Teaching Textbooks test!). The Girl is making fantastic progress with Mastering Math Essentials (thank you Erin!)

The rest of this week, we plan to read another few chapters of history; start The Glorious Adventure; read some more of The Hobbit; do at least 3 more math lessons; and do some Brave Writer work. The Boy will be working on brainstorming for an essay/writing project, and he'll be crafting his thesis (I'll have him use Thinking In Threes for assistance with this); The Girl will do some copywork (probably poetry); and we'll do some freewriting. I also came across an old book in my bookshelves, called Practical Exercises in Basic English, that has some good exercises for The Girl.

...Art and Such...

Our artist this month is Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and here is what we have been looking at and/or will be looking at (as always, I just print these and hang them up on the fridge):

As far as art projects, I need to pull out a few of our instructional books, and choose something to do! I think we might make these Star Wars snowflakes to decorate the front windows for the Christmas season!

...Reading and Watching...
The Girl and I are just about finished with this lovely version of Cinderella. She's still reading The Marvelous Land of Oz, between nonfiction titles on various animals, and books of poetry. The Boy, in addition to reading his textbook for machine shop/tech, is still reading Dracula. As a family, we are reading The Hobbit, which I hope to finish in time to read Kringle before Christmas, then we'll tackle the Lord of the Rings trilogy in the new year.

We watched Dodgeball not long ago, when we all just needed something ridiculously funny. This week though, The Girl asked for the first installment of The Hobbit, "to compare and contrast it, Mom." And the kids discovered a new show on Amazon called The Olympians. Meanwhile, M and I are watching old reruns of The Practice... we do enjoy a good courtroom drama! And I am partway through season 4 of Parenthood. I only watch an episode or two a week, so it will take me a while to finish.

...Also on the Agenda...
Work, and work. No derby practice right now, so we're getting exercise other ways! The Boy is working on finishing an art project on his own for class, as well as a group project done on campus. The Girl is watching BBC videos (dinosaurs, I think) she found on YouTube (she was very proud and pleased that she found those!). I'm working on my seminar paper for the end of the semester. This week is we reach our twentieth wedding anniversary, so M and I will be heading to a dinner out!

Have a great week! And here's one last picture for you, from our hike last week...

Linked up over at the Coombe Mill blog

Our First Semi-Official Week is Done!!!

Of course, there were ups... and there were downs.

On the UP side...

The Boy finished his first project for his 3-Dimensional art class. They were to make a cube, and then take it through a series of transformations.

He'll be critiqued on clean edges (check!), and a fairly logical progression through shapes, which I think he has nailed!

The Shakespeare Stealer is a hit.

Both kids are still working on creative writing projects, making me wonder, naturally, if perhaps I really should stick with the Brave Writer Lifestyle rather than try to make them follow "programs".

Working with my new schedule also hasn't been as bad as I anticipated, at least not yet. I took them with me yesterday, for my office hours, which are held in a lovely, quiet little room at the back of the giant campus library. The kids promptly ran off to the 4th floor, where there are cozy chairs in front of floor to ceiling windows, looking out over the campus, mountains in the distance, etc. They spent two peaceful hours up there -- reading, sketching, gazing.

And M got a second part-time job! Yes, I know. We are insane to be working two official (albeit all part-time) jobs each (I'm not counting once weekly tutoring for a friend), but you know what? My second job will get me closer to my actual desired career, and his should too. And truthfully, we are tired of living paycheck to paycheck. Our house needs some repairs, thankfully relatively minor; we'd love to actually have a landscape/garden; and we'd like to build some savings.

And the DOWN side...

I am over-scheduling and over-planning again. 

What it currently looks like in my head

Back to absolute basics next week, now that The Boy's math program has arrived. I already had The Girl's math on hand. I need to nail down what we are doing for writing next week, but that's it.

The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England -- well, it is a good book, and very thorough, but not a big hit right now. I could see reading it later, or maybe the kids will read it later, but we'll set it aside for the moment.

So, coming up...

The Boy and I want to watch some more Big History. He'll be reading The Dark Side of the Universe himself, maybe a chapter each week.

The Girl and I are looking forward to the start of The Great Backyard Bird Count in November. She says "maybe we can finish reading that bird book then. It was really good!"

We might read about the Wright Brothers (The Boy's request) and then Queen Elizabeth (The Girl's request). Or we might try this book, or this one!

We will definitely keep going with The Shakespeare Stealer!

We may start back up with Richard Halliburton's travels too, or maybe finally watch some of Human Planet.

Anyhow, I hope you all have a good weekend!

Thinking, Planning, Choices to be Made... UPDATED

We're thinking about fall. A few choices have been made, but there are still some to go.

For The Boy, we know he will be:

• taking art and basic welding this fall (spring 2016 still to be decided) at the local junior college. Art is for enjoyment, and the basic welding is part of the automotive repair training certificate program. The Boy has decided that he intends to complete the automotive repair certificate program, and take all applicable tests to become a fully certified mechanic by the age of 17 or 18.
• doing an overview of world history with the Big History Project  World History: Our Human Story, as per California state graduation requirements. Not that he has to follow those, as we are a private school, but he wants to "just in case", and this seemed the easiest route.  Plus, we like the K12 books! I think he'll just be reading through it for a "survey" approach.
• reading a lot. I'm putting together a list of suggested books, mostly dystopian or sci fi, but will leave it up to him as to what he actually reads off the list, aiming for at least one book per month. He'll be listening in on family read alouds as well.
• algebra. Which program to use? He and I are looking at and comparing: Life of Fred Beginning Algebra, Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1, TabletClass Algebra, and ChalkDust Algebra. This is proving to be a difficult decision! We do like Fred, but I worry that it isn't enough.... and video lectures might be helpful. I just don't know right now.  Update: He ended up choosing Teaching Textbooks as he wants the step-by-step instruction at this point.
• he will probably be finishing off reading the roughly 3/4 of Conceptual Physics that he neglected this last year. Or ????  Science will be integrated with his history program, using additional readings and documentaries, maybe lectures from The Joy of Science if I can get it.

Then, still up in the air:

• writing. I have The Lively Art of Writing on hand, as well as Fairview's Guide to Composition & Essay Writing, and both are quite solid, but then I love Brave Writer, and Help for High School is supposed to be fantastic. He might also be doing Excavating English, or using something like English From the Roots Up, or Word Roots.

For The Girl, we know she will be:

• for science, literature, and some light history (see below too), I'm putting together a plan based off of the Scientists in the Field series, adding in either literature or biographies with each title we cover. She'll be doing hands-on science through nature studies.
• doing some light history this year, mainly through books like Girls Who Looked Under Rocks, Girls Think of Everything,  and Girls Who Rocked the World. We'll just read through a profile each week, and she might keep a notebook/timeline of some sort. I decided that since she'll be hitting high school in another couple of years, and will do world then American history at that point, we could go "light" this year.
• spelling. Her invented spelling is very, very interesting, but hard for anyone besides me to actually read. I think I've settled on Spelling Works, though I am also considering Spelling Workout, or Megawords. I'm also looking at Apples & Pears, as it is supposed to be very good for dyslexic students.
• and plenty of reading. She is finding books she really enjoys, though I will continue making suggestions, and I will be reading aloud to her, both from family read aloud books, and books she would love, but that are above her current reading capabilities.

And up in the air:

• math. Math Mammoth? Life of Fred Fractions, then Decimals & Percents (both after some fall multiplication/division review with Math Mammoth)? Saxon 7/6? She says no to Teaching Textbooks. And thank you Erin, for mentioning Math Essentials. This looks like it might be right up Cassia's alley!
• and writing. Again, it comes down to Brave Writer (the author suggested Partnership Writing to begin as The Girl has not done a lot of writing), or a more "standard" approach, with something like Jump In (although I might have to do a fair amount to "secularize" that one), or maybe Evan Moor's Writing Fabulous Sentences & Paragraphs , or something like Core Skills Writing 6?

And for both, I know we will be:

• using the old Great Books academy schedule (no longer available on their website!) of math, writing, science, and literature 4 days a week, then a 5th day with history, geography, the arts, and maybe philosophy or logic (I'm leaning toward The Fallacy Detective). Of course, our time frames will likely differ from what they have listed, example: The Boy may well spend an hour 4 days a week doing math, not 30 minutes!
• using our Afternoon Basket, though I haven't decided quite how yet. I know we want to read good books together, and enjoy some more of Richard Halliburton's travels (geography), etc., but I have to put it together.

And Homeschool Seventh Grade...

One of the things I like best about homeschooling (at least as a private school) is that I don't have to follow guidelines unless otherwise desired. So we're definitely going a bit off the beaten path this year, for The Girl's seventh grade.

Writing:

I think I'm going to go with Jump In, combined with aspects of the Brave Writer Lifestyle.

Math:

She'll continue through the Life of Fred series, using Math Mammoth as a supplement when needed.

Science:

Two choices here... either her own choice of titles from the Prentice Hall Science Explorers Small Books, OR something more along the lines of The Magic of Reality, with some supplementation.

Other:

We're doing what I am calling The Big Fairy Tale Project (named after her brother's course of study, the Big History Project). I have The Classic Fairy Tales: Norton Critical Edition, which includes variations on several themes in fairy tales, as well as criticism, to use as a jumping off point in combination with this chart. The Norton book focuses on six different types of fairy tales, which I plan to approach as block studies, to which we can add in various versions, movies, etc., although we will likely work in books from the Shakespeare section of the chart in place of Norton's "Bluebeard" section. We can also look at folktales from various regions of the world that tie in with the fairy tales.

If she should decide she wants history too, I'll probably read aloud to her from the excellent World in Ancient Times series.

Electives:

She does a lot of art on her own. I'd really like to work through something like the Sculpture Technique books (Construct and Model) with her.  She may choose to study Spanish this year, using Rosetta Stone or ???. She'll keep cooking, learn more sewing, etc.

Physical Education:

And of course, she plans to continue with roller derby!

Tuesday Tidbits... Laughing at Myself...

So at the beginning of the year, I had this whole, elaborate language arts line-up.

I should have known better. Really.

I've cut it back significantly, and yes, I have dropped a lot of it, as you can see below...

Poetry:
We were looking at using Rose, Where Did You Get That Red?, or Knock at a Star: A Child's Introduction to Poetry. But... well, we like reading poetry. The kids occasionally dabble in writing a little. We just don't care for dissecting it at the moment. So I simply choose a poet each month, and we read some poetry each week.

Grammar:
I like The Giggly Guide to Grammar, but it is actually a wee bit advanced at the moment, though I think The Boy may use it off and on, along with Hot Fudge Mondays (and I'll keep both books around for future use as well). Instead, we're actually reading Grammar-Land: Grammar in Fun for the Children of Schoolroom-shire, and yes, we're doing the free worksheets for practice. We like the storyline, and it is not too juvenile or too advanced for both kids to follow and enjoy. We also like that it really takes very little time!

Literary Elements:
We were planning to use Figuratively Speaking but it flopped. Discussing each literary element in isolation didn't and doesn't appeal so much. So what I've done is take the book, make a list of the terms, and I'm just bringing them up, and then checking them off, as we read good books. For example, yesterday I was reading The Hobbit aloud, and there was some foreshadowing, so we talked about that.

Writing:
After The Girl really started reading, I decided she could use some solid writing instruction. I debated a lot about what to use with her, but finally settled on Writing Skills from EPS. It is simple and straightforward enough that she still has plenty of time (and energy) for free writing.

And yes, after a brief -re-dabbling in Writing With Skill, The Boy is back to using Thinking in Threes most days, which I plan to follow up (in ninth grade) with The Lively Art of Writing (there's even a free workbook for this out there!).

Brave Writer:
I adore this lifestyle approach to writing/language arts. With the resources we are now using, we have a little more time for some of the more fun elements, like language arts games, poetry teatimes, and more. I get the Daily Writing Tips in my email too, which gives me a plethora of nifty ideas for writing projects, and then there are those that come up as we go, such as the complaint letter The Boy wants to write to the company that made his most recent car model (quality control was not very good).

So what have you changed this year? Did you drop something? Add something? Just shift things around? Please tell me I am not the only one that frequently over-plans!