First Day of School

So, I wasn't as organized as I wanted to be since we still had bathrooms & bedrooms to put together yesterday. We also spent awhile shopping for a craft desk, which I promised my 5yo daughter we would buy when we got to the new house. It's all my little girl does - constantly doing some sort of a craft. So, instead of having ripped pieces of paper ALL over the house, we decided it would be a good idea to give her a space. Of course, it is for all the children to do crafts at, but we all know who will be there the most!

Anyway, so... I decided to make today a fun day since it is the first OFFICIAL day of school.

8:00 - wake up, make beds, pray & get dressed.

9:00 - Some together time, read bible & discuss the day.

10:00- Head out the door. First stop - Jack in the box for 99 cent breakfast!

10:30- Eat & play at the PARK!! :o)

11:30 - Shopping - getting some school supplies on clearance. ;o)

1:00 - Littles in the pool while Superkid & I pick up the house a bit.

1:30 - Math, handwriting & a few other school things...

3:00 - DONE!!

There is something really nice about rejoicing in our freedom to homeschool! I love taking the kids to the park when no one is there. It's so nice to run around the whole place and not have to fight with the other kids.

Overall, a lot really got done but it was a nice relaxing day. I love to start the year out like that!!!!

Thank You God for homeschooling!

Reading R'iting & R'thmetic

That's it again this week. And maybe (probably) next week. We've got quite a bit going on. Every single night last week we were gone, the same has been for this week. EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Even Sunday, we had planned to just take it easy (you know - rest!) but when we invited someone out to eat they wanted us to go to "the big city," so before we knew it - the day was GONE again! Life is just a bit busy. So, we're doing light work.

On a positive note, this week we should be getting some things in the mail:

Finally getting SOW volumes II-IV!!

Titus2.com, Managers of their homes, chores, school & the meek & quiet spirit book (whatever the name of it is). It was a bundle, so next week I'll be working those out trying to see if we can get our schedule, etc. nailed down. That's partly why I'm making next week light too.

Professor B math - praying it will help my oldest not hate math anymore

Handwriting for both my ker and 4th grader, Masterypublications.com - happy handwriting & cheerful cursive.

And, I also bought a unit study by Amanda Bennett for Christmas. She was having a good sale $6 including shipping, so I couldn't resist. I've never done any of her unit studies before, but we'll try it out. I like to have a loose plan for our christmas month.

I've also found some good deals at the thrift stores around here. I LOVE LOVE LOVE buying books at the thrift store! I can find so many really good books for cheap! I got a book called "The Everyday English Handbook" for our English. It looks like it will work instead of buying R&S's.

I'll try to give a review on some of these after we've used them for a bit. I might chime in and do a review of some of the things I've used if I get some quiet time sometime here too.

We'll be back by the 15th of February for sure!
See ya!

I should have known...

After homeschooling for a few years now, I know when we do best & what times during the year we struggle. We do better in the warmer months than we do in these colder ones. I don't know whether it is the holiday's or what, but we are distracted much more. I started an extra week early, which was helpful. I think I also put in an extra week in February too. My point is, we're going light week this week. My brain is swirling with so many things that are going on all over the place & I need to just take time to do the important things.

There are a few things hindering us in the school department too. I need to put the firefighter bible on our mp3 so that it is easier to get to. We are also (surprise, surprise!) behind on some of those projects. Problem with this is that we tend to get only half of the supplies so they hang over me. Oh well...I'm sure that we will get to them. Superman has been working on the side to help with some of them, but I get anxious & want to stay on schedule...so, we'll wait. ;o)

In the meantime, we're doing light work: Phonics, Math, Bible, Prayer & Misc. Study

By the way, April & June are all scheduled as "light days." So, it doesn't put us behind in SOW, it just confuses my plan a little bit. Next year I will expect to have more light days in Jan / Feb.

For some reason there is just a lot going on & I'm just trying to take in that this is the year 2010 now!! Also, it's tax return time. We tend to buy new school supplies so I'm thinking & planning that out. It happens every year, I just get into shock I think & something in me gets all confused about what I'm doing. I need time to get my mind in order and yet, life keeps moving. So, I'll just have to get back to you after a bit when my head stops spinning...

I declare today a PLAY day!!!

Sometimes you just need a day to laugh!
Today is just one of those days.

Recently we have been VERY busy.
We've had a lot going on in every area.

Woke up and that's when it hit me...
My anniversary this next week - no gift yet.
THANKSGIVING next week - not really sure what is really going on.
AND since thanksgiving is here...CHRISTMAS is not far away!!!!!!

AHHHH!!! How did this all sneak up on me so quickly?

Add to alll of that stress the fact that my oldest son has been going through a lot. He's been working through a few "character issues" lately. Stuff that causes a mom to get on her knees, if you know what I mean.

That's why I decided to just have a bonding day.
I just wanted to laugh and have a good time.

It has been a really nice day. We had a good breakfast, cleaned up and went outside to play for a few hours. We're planning to watch a movie on space and hopefully play a board game this afternoon too.

Notice how I snuck a little school in there. Hee hee hee. I didn't mention that this morning we spent time looking over some of the space books from our book basket. See we're still studying, but it's not forced. We actually took out our mini planetarium that we have. (It's like a globe that shines the stars on the ceiling) and started to set that up too. We couldn't find the 5 aaa batteries that we needed though. OH well.

It has just been a nice day!

It's been fun...

I think one month is perfect for a summer break! It was enough time for us to have a great time - lots of swimming, park trips and even a day camp for a few days. Lots of DS playing, reading books and playing with one another. Not to mention all the time playing outside and the fact that Papa even stayed with them for a whole week! :o) One month really is plenty long. I think we're all ready to get back to the books. Really.

So, I'm all planned up. The first six weeks we're not doing any SOW...for several reasons. A big one is that we don't have money for new books yet. Another is that we still have some books that need to be finished. So, I figure while we're waiting for the funds to get the new books we'll go ahead and finish the old ones. Makes sense, eh?

For the month of August and maybe into Sept a little it will mostly be the following daily:
Math, English, Spelling and Art.

Superkid didn't get a lot of phonics when he learned to read. I'm finding now that phonics is pretty important to help learn to spell. His spelling isn't so hot. He can sometimes spell some really difficult words, but some of these really easy ones he struggles with. I think it's because he needs some work decoding instead of just doing it by sight. So, we'll be working with that this year a lot.

I can't believe he's going into 4th grade!!! He's growing up so fast. ;o)

Little bear will continue working with Little Hands to Heaven until we finish the book. Well, we'll probably stretch it out until January. That's going to be a big time. I'm expecting that we will spend that much time from Sept/Oct time until Christmas on Geology in SOW. Then in January we will switch into Astronomy. I'm planning to bring Little bear in to begin SOWing with us then too. She will almost be 5 (in April) and so I figure we can start a little phonics with her then. I'm going to do the phonics thing with her - now that I've learned my lesson with my first. Live and learn, eh?

So, that's the short long term plan. We'll be continuing to take SOW slower than it says, especially since I'm adding a spelling program. I think I'll be able to do the SOW spelling program with Little bear when it comes time, but since Superkid didn't do the phonics program I'm going to do a little remedial work with him.

I probably won't update much during August since it's going to be a busy month for us and school is just the boring books stuff. I figure sometime in September I'll be back to give a report on some things.

See ya then!
All of us SOWers

Lots going on...

Still no SOW. I haven't gotten my curriculum back from my friend. I would go get it, but we're out a car...again. Oh well...

We're catching up on math, which is good. That's the main thing we're working on actually. I didn't mention, but last month I finally broke down and got Math U See. I don't know why I stayed away for so long. Maybe it was the initial cost which seemed so high or it could have been that I really didn't like those comb binding books. (especially when you are paying good money!) Anyway, we finally did it. I may have bought too easy, but that way Supekid gets used to the curriculum and he gets some extra drill practice in the meantime. I'm really ok with that. I'm making him do all of the worksheets. Basically he is doing a lesson in two days (3 worksheets per day.) Considering there are only 30 lessons, I figure we should be done with the book by the end of summer. That's my goal.

Anyway, I'll let you know when I get back to SOW. I'm anxious, but I don't want to move ahead until we have the curriculum back. Whenever that is...

It works out, because May has been VERY busy and June is looking the same.

In case you're wondering, yes, we'll be working through the summer. I like to do that anyway since we can do school at the park and such. It's much more fun to be outside while working, don't you think?

Taking Breaks

Something that I learned (not only from the SOW teachers manual, but through SOW users via the yahoo group.) is that breaks are vital to SOWing. I really understand why, but I have had trouble sticking to the plans I've made. We certainly took a lot longer than I really expected. For our home (and just for Year 1) I expected us to be slow and really slower than average. I still expect that, but I'm trying to learn how to anticipate when our breaks should be. By making goals I feel like I am better on track when I can actually accomplish them. :o)

So, I am expecting that 1 week should take roughly 3 weeks for us. Then, we'll probably take a week off. (And, by "taking it off" I don't mean no school, I mean do something different for school.) For instance, this week we had finished 1A4, but life happens. I had loaned out my SOW notebook to someone looking into homeschooling, so I don't have it to look at. Which means I'm not feeling confident moving on. We also have had a lot going on this week & it's been busy. But, it just so happens I have a lot of dinosaur resources, including a mini unit study. So, we've been looking through those things & kind of doing a "catch-up" or more in depth study of sorts. What I'm trying to say is even though we are breaking from SOW, we are still on track. It helps to give us a little breather from the more "heavy" schooling, if that makes any sense.

It's always said that the curriculum is not your master, but that you have to make it your own. That's how I feel about it. As I've mentioned we are slower, but it's because we take time to soak it all in. We're in this for the long-haul. The kids will learn exactly what they need. I figure Superkid will get to go through it one time thoroughly and then we'll do an apprenticeship of some kind in high school along with a individualized education to whatever he's interested in. My other two (especially little bear) I figure she'll be able to go through it two times & by then I'll have the whole thing down! ;o) All of this depends, of course, if Jesus still hasn't come &/or if the Lord wills. My job is just to try to plan & be open to be led.

Anyway, I just thought I'd mention the importance of breaks.
...stay tuned. I'm going to try to post some pictures here again soon.

The Plan:

I'm starting to feel like we're ready to get back into the swing of things.

It's about focus, in the midst of doing what we need to do. I just need to keep in mind what's truly important - my beautiful kids! And, showing them who Jesus is.

So, we'll continue to work for this week on the "sword fighting" book, millers, etc. then start next week back with SOW. I think this occasional break is actually really good. We'll probably take a week or two every once in awhile doing this same schedule. The truth is, we still get to the three r's. Reading (psalms), Writing (the memory verse), Arithmetic (We're in the process of doing Mastering Mathematics). So, even when we're breaking, we're still schooling. Don't tell the kids that though. LOL.

Just thought I'd let you know, we're planning to get back to the original plan here soon. It HAS been refreshing. We'll be doing this more often, I'm sure.

In the meantime, I have been keeping up on that blog: A Holy Experience. She has a great perspective. I remember a LONG time ago stumbling across this blog thinking it was just too deep for me...maybe things have changed? Like, possibly -my heart?? My husband says she's too emotional (I can see that), but either way there are some great gems in there.

Unless something worth writing about happens, I'll probably wait until next week to check in.

See you then!

Remember when I mentioned how SOW gives room for breaks?

I'm sort of having a "God break" in our homeschool.

And, the more I think on it, the more I realize I need to just "go with it" for a little while.

SO...in light of all the changes happening, we will be taking a little break to just build up our relationship for awhile.



How long?

I don't know. But, I do know that I have 18years to train up my children until they are legal in the site of the law. These years are SOO important in building our relationship. And...I can't get these years back. The older they get the more independent they get. If I can win their heart while they are young, I will be able to influence them when they are older. :0)

So, here's what we'll be doing.

-We will read a psalm a day to start our day.
-We'll be working through "Sword Fighting" which I highly recommend. We did this a few years ago & we still remember many of the verses we learned.
-Each day we'll read a story from "The Miller Family" series.
-He'll do his math work and penmanship on his own.

Then we'll all work together to keep the house clean & spend plenty of time playing & enjoying each other. Eventually we will get to the rest of the "To Do's" for school, but it really is amazing how much learning God brings your way...if we are open to it & willing to seek those moments out.



We are just setting SOW aside. We will continue when the time comes.

You know...so many parts of me are yelling out saying "you're going the wrong way!" and "you've tried this before!" but you know what...

I'm obeying God...one step at a time.