Homeschool Mother’s Journal- 8/17/12

In my life this week…
Trying to find a ‘groove’ for doing what I need to and should do. And with as little computer as possible. It’s actually not too bad. I’m writing this on Thursday so there’s still a day left but it’s been a decent week.

Lee got the Ohio driver’s manual and has been reading that. She’s excited for next month when she will be permitted to get her permit.

In our homeschool…We’ve been moving right along. Our Bible time isn’t going very smoothly and I’m thinking of switching something up. They do reading, 1 chapter alternating between OT and NT, with narration and verse memorization. Lee also does a commentary, currently it is Galatians. That’s not what I’m thinking of changing. We’ve still been using the Judah Bible Curriculum as our together Bible study but I’m fumbling terribly with it. Just not sure what to do with that part.

Otherwise I think all is going fairly well. Science so far isn’t very fun. Here’s their work this week:
Both: Bible (we managed one day on the theme of redemption, Abraham), Latin (still reviewing- up to Lesson XXI, worksheets 4 & 5), Home Ec (using a register for savings account to balance account), Ohio Study (started to go over ‘who’s who in Ohio government’), Science (still in plate tectonics- watched a video from neok12.com- sadly it had a curse word, not recommended), Logic (still the introduction), Poetry (chapter 1 of The Roar on the Other Side); tomorrow- Friday- we have scheduled Art/Music (Renoir/Schubert) and Nature Study (hopefully going to a nature park). We will be having school on Saturday again; Lee seemed fine with it while Fox thought it shy of torture. For Saturday we will pick up the few things that were missed throughout the week for whatever reason, such as Plutarch (Pericles, Lesson 3). They’ve also been reading through Kon-Tiki (Lee) and The Sea Around Us (Fox) because we didn’t quite get them finished last year.
Individually as follows (includes what is scheduled for Friday, even if it’s not been done yet):
Lee:Bible- commentary- Galatians 2:1-10; verse- Ephesians 6:10-13; reading Judges 16-18 & 1 Cor 9-10*; The Christian Life, chapter 3*
History/Geography- A History of the American People, pp. 89-93, written narration; Salem Witch Trials; The Royal Road to Romance, ch 3 & 4; Seterra
Literature/Grammar- History of English Literature, ch LXII*; Traditional English Sentence Style, chapter 1 (still slow going)
Citizenship- Ourselves, pp. 83-86*
Math- Geometry
Government- Are You Liberal, Conservative or Confused?, ch 3*
Foreign Language- Greek, Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! Level 6, lessons 1-2 vocabulary review; Sign Language, Signing Savvy, the alphabet
Started a commonplace book
Fox:Bible: verse- Psalms 51:1-6; reading Judges 5-7 & Acts 7 & 8*
History/Geography: The Birth of Britain, ch 3*, (Personal Recollections of) Joan of Arc, Bk 1, ch 3*; Asser’s Life of King Alfred, week 3; Brendan Voyage, 1/2 ch 2*; Seterra
Literature/Grammar: The History of English Literature for Boys and Girls, ch 2*; +Idylls of the King; Jensen’s Grammar, correcting previous work; +The Age of Chivalry, ch 3*; +Ivanhoe, ch 3
Math: No-Nonsense Algebra, Lesson 1-16 through 1-19
German: Transparent Language
*oral narration; +listen to on librivox.org

Helpful advice to give…
Time management is essential to having a “successful” homeschool. Ha! mine may never been successful then.
Do school when it is needed and necessary even if it isn’t the usual time. I don’t mean to do it 7 days a week, unless you want, but don’t be afraid to toss in some school on Saturday, or Sunday for that matter.

I’m inspired by…
Can’t say that I’ve been around anyone, in real life or online, enough lately to be inspired by them. I do have a drive and an urge to read and write more wholesomely but not sure where the inspiration came from.

Places we are going/People we are seeing…
Compared to my last wrap-up, we’re being homebodies. Library, grocery store, church, Young Marines for Fox, Mentor for Lee’s babysitting job, and those are the extent. Fox has a boys only event at church on Saturday and there is going to be a kick-ball get together for homeschoolers through the church on the 23rd.

What’s not working/working…
I mentioned our Bible study in our homeschool. It started out very well but either I am reading in the incorrect place or the “curriculum” is missing something. I just can’t wrap my head around this part and the kids look like I’ve spoken Russian to them –but about something they think they should understand. Perhaps you can imagine the look?

Surprisingly, I think Saturday school is working. I put a definite stop time to our school day and what doesn’t get done gets moved either to a different day in the week when we would normally do that subject or ultimately to Saturday. Without screen time, the kids don’t think there’s anything else to do anyway lol.

Meal planning by the week is definitely working. I’ve done it before by the month and shopped once a month for the most part. This month I’ve been trying weekly planning/shopping. I’ve done it twice to see average spending. At the current way we eat, we average around $55 a week for groceries. I really don’t know if that is good or not. The first week I spent over $70 because I had to purchase soaps and such. I count those all groceries as well. The second week I spent $30.55 initially and had to make a trip today, spending just over $9.

I also switched phone providers in hopes to cut $20+ each month. It’s a small amount but it’ll be nice to be able to put that towards something else if needed.

Questions/thoughts I have…
There’s the Bible and then there’s the Science. I think last year it was math and science. I’m not sure what to do with either!

Also, Lee is using the Christian Life by Sinclair (per AO), and while I think it is a great, straight-forward book, she fumbles and struggles with it.

And not school related –I’ve been thinking that it’s somewhat silly to have a blog, for me. I write out my posts in a spiral notebook, then type it into a post. If I have it on paper, why do I need it in a post? Not yet, but I’m thinking about possibly stopping blogging. I’ve had that thought many times before though. Time will tell.

I’m working on…
My garden My FALL garden. I planted some beet seeds and need some broccoli seeds. Which reminds me, I checked out a book from the library to read on year-round gardens. Need to read it.

Also working on posts for Finding Beauty with Susan Godfrey and LinderCroft’s blog. On my blog it is easy to ramble about whatever but on someone else’s site it is more difficult, for me, to present more focused and well-written posts.

And still working with/on SchoolhouseTeachers.com work for September. I’m working on some things for Australia. And then I’m contributing to the This Day in History at the site. If you haven’t seen this resource, check it out! It is chock full of great things for homeschooling.

I’m also working on, or at least thinking about, not over explaining or interfering overmuch {Charlotte Mason, Volume 3, School Education, pp 22 & 29}. This has always been a touchy area for me. I’ve just always told them when they ask. Now they don’t seem to know how to come to the answer themselves, don’t know ‘why’, or are frequently questioning me when I tell them to do something.

Yelling. Well, not yelling is what I’m working on. Yep, I’m a yeller. I go through phases that might just coincide with my kids’ rebellious phases. Hmmm. I found a book on Amazon, when it was free, about this and put it on my Kindle. Need to read it. 

I’m reading…
what matters most by Leonard Sweet, from Blogging for Books.
Pershing: Commander of the Great War by John Perry, from Booksneeze.
Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers, from Christian Liberty Press.
And way too many library books on the shelf to recall or list.

My favorite thing this week…
Bookmarks! but not just any. These were sent to me by my sister. They are magnetic and fit over the page. Small, pretty, with Bible verses. Perfect.

Things we are cooking…
This past week it has been things such as:

• Creamed beef over rice with veggies (thanks to Lee)
• Tuna Tortillas (thanks to both Lee and Fox- we made the tortillas at the same time as the filling!)
• Pizza (with help from Fox)

Tomorrow is chicken with veggies. The kids have been making muffins and pancakes occasionally for breakfast also.

I’m grateful for…
…being able to stay home and be with my kids so much.
…having a husband that makes sure we have all that we need and much that we want.
…my wee little garden that has continued to give us yummy cherry tomatoes.
…a good church.
…freedom to read my Bible every day and to go to church.
…sisters. My sisters.

I’m praying for…
I’m praying for my friend, Christy. She is having a difficult time with the waiting on the Lord and being content with the here-and-now.
To be more like Christ in my thoughts and behaviors. I fail at this constantly.
For more “fire” in my love for Christ. I feel stagnant and know He’s not changed. His purpose is still the same but my focus is always wavering.

Hopefully I’ll get back to link this up with some others.