Keep On Keeping On (What We Accomplished…Day #29 8/25/11- Part 2)

We went to the zoo midday with some friends today and it was great fun. There is a water park at the zoo so the kids (and moms) got wet. Good thing! It had to have been over 100*F today.

With the field trip ‘disrupting’ our day we had to start school before leaving then pick it up a bit after getting back. Today was a long day. The kids got done about 7:30pm. I’m very adamant this year with following through with our work.

I let things slide way too much last year (you know, so-and-so came to visit for a day or two at the beginning of the week, then the weather was so nice we had to be outside during the middle of the week, then we were so out of it when Fridays came around that we ended up not doing school for a week- when it was not a time we could/should have taken off). I am not a slave driver. The schedules we have are flexible. I am just firm with ‘school has to be done’.

If it takes a weekend to do a day missed, no problem (in my eyes; it’s not like I have a friend I want to spend the night with lol). If we don’t get to one “elective” subject, that’s fine- we move it to the next week. But we cannot miss an entire week at a time when it isn’t planned if there isn’t a good reason for it. Last year there was always a good reason (we wanted ice cream, so walked down to Main Street and then got sidetracked by going to the library and spent the rest of the day with reading library books [and yes, we read twaddle here –hey, no judging!]. See what I mean?

There are times it is okay to declare it an off day. Just not all the time. And I think unless it is an emergency, we are burned out, or there is a good reason, we have school. And today, since we got back so late, the kids couldn’t go the library anyway. They watched a movie and then resumed school. One thought it was ‘ridiculous’ while the other trudged through with a scowl. But it prevents them from spending their Fridays doing both Thursday and Fridays work (or *gasp* doing it on a Saturday) as well as lessening the time spent on school. At least one of them usually likes to spend time at friends on the weekend. An added motivator. Or it should be.

Anyway, I will get off of my soap box now.

Done today:

Lee:
Bible: Reading (John 19), verse (Romans 6:1-12), Mark Commentary (Chapter 5)
Math: Life of Fred Beginning Algebra (Lesson 52)
History/Geography: The Life of Christopher Columbus
Language Arts: Jensen’s Grammar (Lesson 62) –[she keeps meaning to get Roar On the Other Side in here but she feels like she has a lot to do already so I let you take it slow with that one, it is something I have planned for her to take the entire year to work on anyway]
Foreign Language: First Form Latin (Lesson 17, Quiz)
Gov’t/Economics/Civics/Logic: Utopia, - [we were going to do How to Read A Book but it got late and that is something better left when our minds are sharp, not sluggish]
Science: Biology (pages 51-54, vocabulary [tomorrow I will do review with her before her test Monday])

Fox:
Bible: Reading (Mark 12), verse (Ephesians 5:1-2), Saints & Heroes (pages 107-109)
Math: Khan Academy
History/Geography: What Everyone Should Know… (Cuban Missile Crisis, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, JFK Assassination [he’s doing make up as well as scheduled readings/written narrations]) And wanted to point out here- he has started to add in some personal thoughts in his narrations; that’s good!
Language Arts: 30 minutes of reading (Otto of the Silver Hand), Hobbit (1/2 chapter 6)
Foreign Language:-
Gov’t/Economics/Civics/Logic:- Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? (Chapter 5, narrated/discussed)
Science: Murche’s Science Reader VI (Lesson XII, vocabulary)
Penmanship: Pictures in Cursive

And I did get up this morning and make homemade biscuits and sausage gravy. It was yummy! Tomorrow I think they can have cold cereal