Homeschool Mother’s Journal- 1 Month Update!

I was going to call this the two-week wrap-up but it’s really been a month {possibly a bit more} since my last entry. And this is possibly in the totally incorrect order! I’m going by memory. I’ll have to check it when I put it online and link up.

In my our life this week month…July had our first ‘week’ of back-to-school {July 9-13}. It was supposed to be 2 weeks of school with 2 weeks off but didn’t work out that way. The second week fizzled and then ds and dh went on a week long trip {that was planned}. That was quite uninteresting for dd and I. Personally I stayed up way too late and slept in way too long.

Right after they got back, then dh and I went to Boston, MA, for a work related…thing {also planned}. I spent most of the time at the hotel but I did get a book finished and notes for the review I wrote when I returned home. I’d planned to write a post about our trip but I’ll explain later why I didn’t. I did take 208 photos though. Some I shared in a short post.

While we were gone to Boston, the kids attended the GLYC12 in Cleveland, OH, with pastor and his kids. The kids (and pastor) said it was great preaching and also there was lots of fun to be had.

When dh and I returned from Boston, something that’d been on my mind for awhile came to a head. We’ve instituted a strict limit on our technology for the month of August. That includes everything. Dh and I have to use our computers and the internet for our work  but otherwise we don’t use it for anything else. Phones don’t count in this because we must have those but we don’t have fancy phones –they can send/receive calls and texts. I get up early to check my email and write my blog posts before the kids are up. The kids and I also use the computer for school related things. It’s been…difficult. Not impossible. I actually wrote this on paper prior to typing it up so I’d lessen my “screen time”.

And to wrap up how my life has been this month- my dh is actually out of town once again. This has been the time for traveling. I can’t wait to be back to normal!

In our homeschool this month…How to do two weeks of school in 1 month! It was originally planned to be 2 weeks of school, 2 weeks off for traveling, then 4 weeks back to school. Well, we’ve managed the first week only and now when it should be week #3, we are only finishing #2. It’s just been difficult to get school done. As a matter of fact, we are going to be having school on Saturday because we’ve not gotten every thing done for the week. At this rate, we’ll not finish school before the next school year starts!

But here’s what’s been done {feel free to skip ahead lol}:
Both:

• Bible- reading {L: Judges 11-15 & 1 Cor 5-8; F: Joshua 23-Judges 4 & Acts 4} and focusing on Genesis 6-9 & 11:1-9 {civil government, intrinsic value, languages, God’s unstoppable plan, unified rebellion}
• Latin {reviewing Unit 3}
• Home Ec {introduction and budgeting- money}
• Ohio Study {general information}
• Plutarch {Pericles- Anne White Study Guide}
• Science {spheres and layers of Earth, plate tectonics}
• Logic {Art of Argument, basically just the introduction}
• Poetry {The Roar on the Other Side, introduction}
• Art/Music {Renoir/Schubert}

Lee: Bible- commentary- Galatians 1; Verse- Ephesians 6:10-11
History- A History of the American People, pp 79-89; Washington, the Indispensible Man, pp 1-22 {learning some things that I definitely didn’t know!}
Literature/Grammar- History of English Literature, chapters LX-LXI; Traditional English Sentence Style, chapter 1
Citizenship- Ourselves, pp 75-83
Math- Geometry review
Government- Are You Liberal, Conservative or Confused?, ch 1-2
Greek- Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! Level 6, lessons 1-2 vocabulary review

Fox: Bible- Devotion- Mere Chrisianity, Preface; Verse- Psalm 51:1-4
History- The Birth of Britain, pp 3-29; Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, Intro-ch 2
Literature/Grammar- The History of English Literature, ch 1; The Age of Chivalry, ch 1-2; Idylls of the King; Jensen’s lesson 45-46
Math- No-Nonsense Algebra, lessons 1-11 through 1-15; Pearson U1, practice 10-11
German- Mango and Transparent Language {we are trying to decide which is ‘better’- which he prefers}

We actually did school pictures today {Friday}. I edited them on picmonkey. Of course, mine are conveniently missing *wink*.

Where we are going/ who we are seeing…Other than the trips mentioned earlier {ds and dh- WI; dh and I- MA; ds and dd- GLYC12; dh- Northwest}, we’ve gone to the grocery store, library, church, Fox went to Young Marines and Lee went to her babysitting job {in Mentor}. And while I was in Mentor I found a great deal for Lee – a pair of nice pants for $2.99!

What I’m reading…

• Bible- in Ezekiel right now
• Traveler’s Rest by Ann Tatlock
• Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers by Douglas Bond
• Just finished King Alfred’s English by Laurie J. White
• Trying to really get into The Once and Future King by T. H. White
• Still reading {or trying to} books about Vivaldi, Venice, and Baroque time period
• Will need to start again with pre-reading books for kids’ school

What I’m praying for…Cleansed heart; my family- that we continue to grow in Christ and lean towards Him when we are strained; more insight into what I’m ‘supposed’ to be doing; my family in general

What’s working/not working…I want to say less technology isn’t working but actually it is going well. Since curtailing it we’ve all been more physically and mentally active, as well as doing more together.

Thursday just isn’t working. I think on every single calendar I should name Thursday, “Monday #2”. By Thursday our get up and go and done got up and got. Not that it is Thursday’s fault. Our mind set is just against that day. Other than ‘just do it!’ I’ve not figured out how to fix it.

Thoughts I have…I’ve had quite a few review items. You can always see them on the right side bar. I say “I’ve” rather than “we’ve” because for some reason they’ve been quite difficult to integrate into our day. Some I have honestly had to try myself {as if I’m the student} to be able to do my review as thoroughly as I’d like. Some of my reviews aren’t done as well as I think they could have been. I see this as something that may be coming to an end soon- even if only temporarily.

With the internet, my ‘circle’ has definitely widened but at the same time, the wider that circle, the less time I actually have to visit with those in my circle. I find that although I have had access to a plethora of other people {via blogs and other social media}, I didn’t really interact very much. Now that I have limited that access, I find I am missing what I didn’t even really do. I used to, when my circle was smaller. I think I like a smaller circle.

Jeanine, if you read this- I keep meaning to write you an email!

What I’m cooking…I made chicken enchiladas on Tuesday for my dh’s bday dinner. Lee made pancakes on Wednesday and Fox made muffins on Thursday. Saturday I get to make French Toast. We actually planned our entire week’s meals, including snacks.

What I’m working on…I’m not really working on anything but school and daily life. And a few review posts.

Quote I’d like to share…There are actually two-

“In every poem there is some of the substance of God.” St. Augustine

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle

Eventually I hope to link this up with a few places. If/when I do, I’ll make sure to include the buttons/links

ETA: Well it looks like THMJ closes WAY early. So I’m not linked up with that one- which this post takes the most after lol- but I did link up with Mary at Home Grown Learners and Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.