The Homeschool Mother’s Journal–5/17/13

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“Monday, Monday, Monday.” –in that special radio voice… “Manic Monday, wish it were Sunday.” –by the Bangles…

(5/13) It was just another Monday. Lee had babysitting but for two hours longer than usual so I didn’t bother to stay in town. It meant two trips in the car. I had contemplated, very seriously, mowing the lawns in between car trips but I decided against it because I always worry that I’m doing something wrong with the mower. It’s a riding mower that just has a few too many steps to get it going. I can do it; I just don’t like to. I also didn’t think there was enough time. Well, my surprise when we got home and hubby was mowing the front yard. He’d worked 11 hours and then set to work on the yard as soon as he got home.

Fox and I played the challenging board game National Parks Query Quest off and on. We bought the game 4 years ago at a used book sale in Torrington,Wyoming. But it is for teens and adults and the kids were definitely not quite old enough to enjoy the game. It isn’t easy but it’s definitely educational. I see it at the site for $35+ shipping; we bought it for $2

Oh, yes, and I made some coconut/almond milk. So yummy. I am okay with the almond milk, minus the fact that I cannot strain it quite enough and always have the tiniest grittiness when I drink it. But this time, I used less almonds and some shredded unsweetened coconut. At first I tried to do it like usual: soak it overnight, then use room temp filtered water, blend, strain. Uh, the fat from the coconut wasn’t cooperating. I warmed up what little bit I had strained and started again with warm water. Much better! The almonds by themselves usually have a nice cream top (not sure what it’s called) but with the coconut there is actually the fat that solidifies in the fridge. I like the almond cream but not so much the coconut oil. I attempted to separate the coconut oil from the rest after it was cold; somewhat successfully.

Also, I’ve had some good success with gluten free sourdough starter and bread. I just need to let it rise more before baking. I’m so impatient! And I think I need to cook it longer than the recipe states. It has been too moist when ‘done’. It isn’t as light as I expect it to be, according to the recipe. The last time I fed my starter, I used garbanzo bean flour. It loved it! It overflowed the jar even though it had a good 4 inches to the top.

Otherwise in the day- I was expecting a package from Amazon for this Kindle Fire Keyboard and this glass pitcher. Neither showed up It’s going through Prestige shipping (never heard of them!). It shows that they got the paperwork for the shipment but no actual shipment yesterday. Oh boy.

Sourdough rising…

Sourdough baked…it fell just a bit.

Tuesday- (5/14) started my day with more sourdough bread. I had to clean up the overflow from Monday’s feeding of the starter before bed. I didn’t/don’t want to waste it so I went ahead and made up a quick dough to be baked today. It rose nicely. The flour I used was 2 cups rye, 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose (which has rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, garbanzo and fava bean flour…anything else?), and 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill garbanzo bean flour. It should be ready to bake around 2:30 pm…If I can just wait that long. It’s already risen an inch in 2 hours. Edited: it turned out great! I baked it after only 3 hours. It reminds me of very moist homemade whole wheat bread- without the wheat!

Wednesday- (5/15) Last night I made enchiladas for dinner. DH has a long, hard week at work and I wanted to make him some good food to come home to. Chicken enchiladas are one of his favorite meals. They smelled so good that I decided I’d suffer if need be to have two of them. Delicious, simply delicious. But I did indeed pay for eating them. Woke with terrible headache and just feeling not well. After feeding the cat, I laid on the couch for another 4 hours; oblivious to all that was around me. Finally, around 10ish, I was human again. The weather must have sympathized with me because it rained and stormed in the morning but was nice and sunny later.

And it was ‘sunny’ later also because I got my Kindle Fire HD keyboard (oh yes, and the glass pitcher ) that I was hoping for yesterday. I figured out ‘who’ Prestige shipping is/was. They are the same people who deliver a lot of our packages one day later than it says it is expected at Amazon lol. There is a mechanical pencil on the left of the keyboard, to give a bit of perspective to size.

I had to drive Fox to Young Marines and Lee and I were to go to prayer meeting but she wasn’t feeling well. We (Lee and I) stopped by the Chick-Fil-A near the armory Fox goes to for Young Marines so that she could get an application. Her first real application!? It just seems so… unreal. I helped her understand what’s what on the application and guided her through filling it out. Now comes the difficult part: turning it in.

Thursday- (5/16) Just a simple, somewhat lazy day. Kids worked on their ‘must finish’ list, then walked to the library. I worked on compiling a list of books and resources that have been used this year. It’s for the portfolio assessment that we’ll have done May 30th. I also plan on taking a printed copy of The Weekly Barden. What else to take? I’ve no idea! I’m not nervous, per se, but I guess I am a bit more than I think. I keep wondering should I take much, or not. I want the kids (and myself, I guess) to talk more about what we’ve done/learned, rather than have a lot of papers. And honestly, a lot of the kids’ work is digital, on the computer.

…And apparently, that’s as far as I made it with my weekly journal entry lol. Posting late but posting anyway!

Homeschool Mother’s Journal Week of 3/25/12

I can say that we covered days 140-144 but I am a little fuzzy on what week we are supposed to be on. I think we just finished week #29. We’ve taken a few days here and there which caused our weeks to be a little broken up. As long as we get 180 days. Actually, I think in Ohio the law is that we have to teach so many hours…not days. I figure that if we do 180 days, we’re bound to have enough hours! *nervous laughter*

In my life this week…
…uh… Drawing a blank. I’ve checked out about a million books from the library, worked for 2.5 hours (probably won’t get any more hours), started going through homeschool stuff (books to get rid of), cleaned my bathroom (and just about died from the bleach fumes- nasty- that’s why I don’t usually use it- gag), got next year’s school all planned (just need a few books for both kids), and …have been struggling with a lingering “I don’t feel good” feeling that I just can’t explain and don’t know why/how I don’t feel good.

In our homeschool this week…
…the kids have done awesome! We had a discussion about the use of ‘screen time’ becoming too much. Perhaps you saw my lamenting bit from a previous post about it. The kids were becoming zombies…and there seemed no end in sight. Fortunately, (for them lol) they understood what I meant when I said something needed to change. We’ve come up with some rules that we could agree on- and peaceably, I might add- and have them posted where all can see. Here’s what’s been done for school this week:

Lee:
Bible: Reading Joshua 20-22, Romans 12-13; verse Psalm 139: 1-8; Esther commentary
Math: LoF Advanced Alg Lessons 24-27 {she is having fun with it!}
English: The Screwtape Letters (with Progeny Press study guide) through Letter 11 {better to take it slow and ‘get it’ than rush to get it ‘done’}; Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (with Excellence in Literature, Unit 3); History of English Literature chapter 56; finished writing a sonnet {which I hope she posts on her blog}
History/Geography: Western Civilization pages 435-439 (wrote on Oliver Cromwell); read about Oliver Cromwell at AO; Kon-Tiki to page 50
Current Events: Blog post
Foreign Language: First Form Latin review up to lesson 15 {I want to get caught back up to lesson 24 next week so that we can continue on}; Greek Level 5 Lessons 31-33 {afterward, because she is like that, she wrote Latin words …in Greek}
Science: “Cells” chapter 8 questions {are they quizzes, or tests?}, chapter 9 reading
Government/Civics: Whatever Happened to Justice? chapter 40; Francis Bacon’s “Of Revenge” (rewrote it in ‘simple’ wording {would like to see her put that on her blog as well})
Ohio Study: gave Power Point presentation of Cleveland, OH

Fox:
Bible: Reading Joshua 8-10, John 15-16; verse Romans 12:1-10; Saints and Heroes, Laud; Who Am I?
Math: Saxon Algebra 1 Lessons 11-12
English: Jensen’s Grammar Lesson 28-32  and Test 6 {he hadn’t quite finished lessons 28-30…for some reason}; Bronze Bow (with Progeny Press study guide {we’re up to chapter 8, I think}); began The Iliad; Pictures in Cursive (Level E)
Science: Creek Edge Press Task Card #13; The Story Book of Science up to chapter 51; The Sciences; Archimedes (finished); The Sea Around Us chapter 3; Murche’s Science Readers VI chapter 49
History/Geography: Story of the Romans chapter 21-26 (written narration); Around the World in 180 Days questions; Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity
Foreign Language: Review (up to Lesson 15); continuing with simple/beginning German lessons
Civics: Young Marines {could count some as home ec also- he had to wash, dry and iron his uniform as well as polish his boots}

Next week was supposed to be break week (after 6 weeks, 1 week off) but we will have family from out of state the week after and we are going to one of the Carolinas for a bootcamp graduation. There’d only be one possible day for school. The kids decided that it’d be best to go 7 weeks instead of trying to cram school in with traveling and visiting. What smart kids they are, huh? heehee (they only required the littlest bit of persuasion to reach their decision)

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
…working with your kids while they do school is so much more fun than not. Unless it’s a subject you don’t get…then it’s not much fun for much of anyone. 

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
…no where and no one. We didn’t even make it to church on Sunday because we didn’t feel good. We were going to go to a metropark today but it’s a tad chilly and I *still* don’t feel good.

My favorite thing this week was…
…just the little things. Playing with the cat until she was exhausted. Cleaning off a bookshelf, moving a box and wiping down the counter- all things that make a spot look ‘better’ {regardless of the surroundings *wink*}. Really liked that the kids were well behaved this week. I don’t really have a ‘favorite’ I suppose but it was a good week, in general.

What’s working/not working for us…
…is what we are doing. Work on school first thing in the morning, work on chores throughout the day, spend the afternoons how we want.

Questions/thoughts I have…
…are about next year. I have it all planned. But the best plans…well, you know. I am again worried/thinking about sciences. I don’t dislike science but well it’s not my favorite subject that’s for sure. I’ve planned to do physical science with both kids- using a few living books for both and one more in-depth book for Lee –and keep wondering ‘is it enough?’ Neither will be science driven if/when they go to college but is that because of me? Neither seems to really ‘like’ science to the point they look forward to it- don’t think they ever have, even in public school. At least they don’t dread it. I will take consolation in that right now.

Things I’m working on…
…time management. Always. Being off-line more and focusing on my house more. I stopped grocery shopping economically (which to me just means ‘planned’) because I’ve been rushed recently. I stopped cleaning my weekly spots because I’ve been preoccupied with other things. So I’m doing the ‘time management’ …thing… again.

I’m reading…
…absolutely nothing today. I refuse to. Well, other than what I typed in this post…or what I found online to help with planning next year’s school. Oh, and I suppose there are a few books I currently have bookmarks in… but really nothing today. Nope. (you could have a look at my goodreads page to see what I’m currently reading) Although I did just receive a book in the mail from Crossway…I might have to at least browse it today. Maybe *wink*. (the book is Disciplines of a Godly Young Man by Kent and Carey Hughes)

I’m cooking…
…nada. But pancakes sound really good now.

And I suppose that is all for now. I’m not sure if I’ll get this linked up with THMJ or not but I will head over that way soon-ish to visit others. Right now, pancakes sound really good.

Week #26- Done! & Some Other Stuff

I’m using the wee little netbook to write this post and although I am still using LW (love it), the formatting is somewhat different than I am  used to! I’m being oh so nice and letting the kids use my big screen laptop- games are more fun on the ‘big screen’.

The week seems like it just was dragging but it really wasn’t so.

In my life this week…
…it’s just been…well, it’s just been! The weather is weird- cold, wet, then warm, sunny and back to snow. It’s getting me all confused. It’s raining right now but I heard something about snow on the radio.

I made liquid dishwasher detergent again and it works okay except for on plastic, like Rubbermaid containers. Some of my glass dishes (my square storage containers) also do not ‘like’ it. It leaves a film coat on these as well as pots, pans and aluminum dishes (such as my espresso scoop). It’ll work until I can buy more store-bought- I think I will quit making it on my own for now lol.

In our homeschool this week…
…we’ve been doing quite well! Only one day, Lee felt just completely unmotivated. So much so unmotivated that not even taking away her ‘screen time’ did anything to motivate her. She did finally get some stuff done but not all…and she felt just fine with that. Fox has been a trooper with every subject EXCEPT math. He detests math. I honestly have no idea what to do but just keep on keeping on. He cannot recall formulas and concepts from yesterday, last week and definitely not last year! My main focus right now, though is to help him try to have a more positive attitude about math. It’s okay that he cannot recall; we just will go over it again. It isn’t the end of the world and it never lasts long- it’s not worth letting it ruin one’s day.

Monday was testing and I finally got the previous week recorded. Tuesday and Wednesday were good and that’s where I posted about my latest dishwasher detergent. Thursday was Lee’s ‘funk’ day but today’s been good.

Here is Fox’s work Thursday and Friday:
Bible: Reading Deut. 33, John 9; verse Romans 12:1-6; Who Am I?, read 76-89, did pages 60-63 in notebook; Saints & Heroes rest of Coligny (narration)
Math: Saxon Algebra 1, Lesson 6 and correcting
English: Jensen’s Grammar Test 4 and Lesson 21; Age of Fable chapter 37 (started); The Aeneid for Boys and Girls by Church (this is for English and History)
Logic: Art of Argument pages 14-17, question set A
Science: Creek Edge Press Task Card #7 (gears and belts), activities 5-7 (PowerPoint Presentation)
History/Geography: Story of the Romans chapter 6 & 7 (written narration), A Journey Through Learning notebooking pages

And here is Lee’s work:
Bible: Reading Joshua 10, Romans 5; verse Colossians 3
Math: Life of Fred Advanced Algebra Lesson 11 & 12
English: Excellence in Literature (essay); Progeny Press, The Screwtape Letters, working on Letters 1-4
History/Geography: Western Civilization pages 413-416; Kon Tiki chapter 2
Current Events no post this week {ahem, she didn’t “like” anything that was going on and so didn’t report on it}
Foreign Language: Greek Level 5, Lesson 16
Government/Civics: -
Science: Biology, chapter 8 (reading about cellular respiration)

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
…LIBRARY! Don’t forget to use the library! OH-EM-GEE! I don’t know why I’ve not tried it more often (wait, yes, I do know why- before our library was, ahem, lame extremely small and underfunded and didn’t have much of anything). If you have the option of interlibrary loan (with out the fees) GO FOR IT! I requested a book from one of the local colleges through our public library. We used to have to pay $3 to have a book delivered from the library 10 miles away- per book- at our old library.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
…other than to the library a few times this past week, Fox will be going to a wild game get-together with another church tomorrow. He will be able to eat various wild game (he’s hoping for squirrel). He will go with our pastor and their two boys. Lee and I have opted to stay home. We also made it to the park once- it was so nice out but cooled off quickly. We had lunch at Euclid Creek Reservation.

My favorite thing this week was…
…playing with my kids. My ds is almost as tall as his sister and she is just an inch or two shorter than I. We love to ‘wrastle’. We used to do it so much when the kids were small enough that I could pick them both up at once…we do it less as they get older but when we do I love it. I love the hugs I get from them afterwards.

Oh and my new sweatshirt:

What’s working/not working for us…
…hmmm, I think things are going well. Other than math being a constant thorn in the side everything else is going well.

Things I’m working on…
…actually finally nothing! I spent all week getting some worksheets made as well as trying to figure out how to get all our review items into the schedules and now I’ve got nothing to work on :) It’s a wonderful thing. Even if it is only for the weekend.

I’m reading…
…too much! Oi vey! Here is my list: More Beauty, Less Beast by Debora Coty; By the Light of the Silvery Moon by Tricia Goyer; Light Under the House by Aaron and Donna Dawson; It Could Happen Tomorrow by Gary Frazier; Vicious Cycle by Terri Blackstock; Heiress by Susan May Warren; The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis. I finished a couple of books this week but I feel like I’m overloaded with reading!

I’m cooking…
…well this morning I made blini –a bit like crepes but supposed to be not as sweet. I put more sugar than was called for because we didn’t have anything to put on them or to wrap in them. We got the recipe out of the Who Am I? book from Apologia. They were extremely difficult to make. I’m not sure if it is because I do not have a good skillet and/or my spatula is too old and mutilated (makes it difficult to gently get under the blin). Next time it’ll be pancakes like we are used to; they’re easy. For dinner I might make burgers and hot dogs- easy.

I’m grateful for…
…so much! I was thinking today, but really all week, how wonderful God is and how my life is blessed. We have everything we need and so many things that we want. I am grateful for freedoms and privileges that are taken for granted. I’m so so grateful for my little family. My kids are the absolute best gift that I’ve ever been given and I am so thankful that they are home with me. My husband is so so precious to me. That God has given me so much makes my heart swell and brings tears of joy to my eyes. My life is so blessed- Thank you, God.

I’m praying for…
…the families affected by the school shooting in Chardon, OH, this week. Three of the five teens that were shot have died. One mother spoke about the morning of the shooting: her son was not a morning person and usually was late to school. He wasn’t that morning. She feels that God has a plan and who knows why but her son was on time to school that morning. One of the adults there that morning stayed with the kids who were shot, he prayed with them, tried to comfort them. He wiped their tears. I pray for him- God comfort him. I pray for this entire town. I pray for this country. I pray for this world. Jesus is the only answer to end all suffering.

Photos to share…

That’s been our week. Linking up with the following:

Come on over for a visit :)