Checking In- First 'School' Post of the Year

Midway through week 2 of the second half of our 2013/2014 school year. I'd attempted this post the first week but eh, it is here now. After 5 weeks off of school, 2 1/2 of those on vacation {a literal vacation!}, it has admittedly been a little difficult to get back into our groove.

But here we are, finished with the third day of the second week. And we survived. Math didn't make it in the 'schedule' for the day. I'm not too upset and the kids certainly aren't crying over that.

Round Table is/was the most difficult thing to get back into. The first week we skipped it with the understanding that we would start again this week. Being concerned that the day would get away from me before we got it done {and honestly if it gets put off until later in the day, it just doesn't get done}, I set out to make an agenda for us. Agenda, schedule, whichever. 

Here's our plan:

Mom up- school- 6:30 to 8:30

Kids up, breakfast, Bible reading- 7:30 to 8:30

Round Table- 9:00 to 11:00 

Break {bike ride}, lunch- done by 12:30

Jeff's time with mom- 12:30 to ?

Lee's time with mom- after Jeff to ?

School done by 4:00 

Mom school- after kids' school until 6ish? and again from 7:00 to 9:15

I also now have a box that now has our Round Table books and papers. I put the items in the box when Round Table is done so that I make sure I know where they are when I need them next morning. So far, so good. Our Round Table for the week thus far has included:

• Hymn
• Verses
• German phrases
• Sign Language
• Memorization/Recitation
• States/capitals
• Presidents
• James study {Tuesday}
• Chemistry {Tuesday-Thursday}
• Logic {Wednesday -Art of Argument from Classic Academic Press}
• Music
• Prayer

We missed The Attributes of God on Monday so we'll pick that back up next week. We have Science Matters on Friday. And that is how homeschool is going.

*My* school is going as well. It started Monday and I have assignments due every week. There is a lot of reading involved and many papers. Lots of information to synthesize. Speaking of which, I have to get off of here and get some of it done. 

Mid-Week & All Is Well

I woke up about 30 minutes early this morning but the day seemed to 'get away from me' still. Our Round Table time took about 2 hours (?) today. But...we did get a lot in it. 

• Hymns- "He Hideth My Soul", "I Know Whom I Have Believed", "In My Heart There Rings A Melody"
• Folksong- On Ilkley Moor Baht 'at 
• Memorization- Preamble to the Declaration of Independence (Lee), Gettysburg Address (Fox); Bible verses; Foreign Language (German this week); Presidents {all works in progress}
• Poetry- "If" and "If for girls", read and compared and discussed
• Logic- Art of Argument lesson
• Chemistry- Exploring the World of Chemistry (ch 5)
• States and capitals
• Talked about things they need to be aware of that they need to work on today and this week.
• Prayer

Our morning was a little off so RT happened at least an hour later than usual. In all reality, the total time wasn't that much different than usual but I think because we started it later, it left the impression that it was dragging out.

They did chores and went back to work on school. I took that opportunity to run errands. It only took me about 30 minutes; felt like much longer! 

I was informed today that next week is exam week. I. am. not. ready. I thought it was the last week of this month. I know what I'll be working on the rest of the week! I tried to convince them that bumping it to the following week was a good idea. They weren't convinced. Lee is actually looking forward to exams. I think Fox is as well because the school days are shorter during exam week. 

We won't get another 'break' until we take off for Winter Break, the week of Thanksgiving. 

This weekend Lee has a practice SAT to take. She noted that this week seems 'heavy' to her. Well, that's what it's like to be an 11th grader!

To see my other posts pertaining to the 2013/2014 School Year, click here.

Silver Linings in Difficult Days {Homeschooling}

Some days are just...difficult. Today was one of those. Fortunately, it did end well.

I actually made our week's menu and the kids and I went grocery shopping on Sunday. Today's breakfast was a treat: apple cinnamon brown sugar scones. I had cut up an apple to add to the scones. I can't {well, I don't} eat them because of the sugar and wheat but know the kids love them. 

The scones took my entire 'me' time to prepare, and were ready to come out of the oven right as ds' alarm clock went off. Perfect timing.

Round Table was a little strained. The kids are still slightly sick so we only sang one hymn; "Love Lifted Me". I do like that we have at least one person who can hold a tune *wink*.  

• We read The Apostle's Creed, The Creed of Nicea, and The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed. We talked about some of the wording, comparisons and differences of each, and our thoughts about them.
• I read aloud {the plan is to have them read aloud some things as well} "Weathers" by Thomas Hardy. 
• We listened to Пусть всегда будет солнце {May There Always Be Sunshine} a few times and {some of us} tried to sing along. 
• The Foreign Language Memory Box came out for the first time this morning. I got the idea from the Bible Verses Memory Box at Simply Charlotte Mason. Well, truth be told, I got the idea from Silvia. We did "wie heißen Sie?" {what's your name?}. I have a few from Spanish and Latin as well. 
• Next we went through the first 10 Presidents. A miscommunication between the three of us caused tensions to rise, and omission of a President. We got it figured out and put Martin Van Buren back in the line-up. We also dealt with the attitudes.
• Habits- one of the three is doing quite well with their chosen habit. The other two still have some work to do {I will admit, I am one struggling with my 'bad' habit}. And because of the little flare-up above, we talked about a habit we all have that we need to work on now. 
• We closed with prayer. We are praying for a local family that is headed to Israel, an online friend who is in the hospital because of mitochondrial disease {her birthday is today!}, each other and unspoken prayer requests. 

This is where the first difficulty arose. My habit is follow-through. Last night I'd written on the very large, takes-up-a-wall whiteboard things that needed to be done today, and some for the rest of the week. The first thing was that after Round Table, chores were to be worked on. It's in nice bright orange. It was 'missed'. I allowed the kids to go off and do something else after Round Table. I realized, rather late, that I did not make sure the chores were done Sunday, either. 

I had errands to run and that took another 45 minutes to an hour out of the school day. After we got home it was lunch time so I made homemade mac-n-cheese. I can't {again, I don't} eat that because of the cheese and wheat noodles. But the kids both really like when I make it for them.

This is where things really started to go south. Attitudes were sour and the complaining and whining started. We had not done our science experiment last week because we didn't have what we needed. We picked it up when we did errands, so we were good to do the experiment. Rather than get farther behind in our science, I just tacked it on to today. We have less today scheduled. It's written on the very large, takes-up-a-wall whiteboard. In bright orange. 

One kid got huffy; the other got huffy. Then we did our science; both were smiling at the end. I missed the huffiness at the start {possibly even at Round Table this morning!} and should have addressed it then. Since I didn't the next thing was pretty much to be expected. 

An assignment that one didn't like led to a very poor attitude. Poor attitudes get screen time privileges taken for the day. It escalated to one being sent to their room for quite a while. Voices were raised, tears fell, and then quiet. 

One of the injustices that had been done {or so the feeling was} is that some of the family members do not listen to the other. We don't take the time to hear what the reason is or what would be better, in their opinion. So I did just that; I listened. 

The silver lining in all of this? Lessons learned. Discussions that reach to the heart. At least I hope.

Every day is a learning experience. Even the difficult days. *The things we do in this life are not to be done for acknowledgement. They are to be done because it is the right thing to do; it is our duty.

*I will add that I emphasized somewhat the things I'd done today in terms of 'sacrificing my time' for a reason. As mothers there is so much we do that is not acknowledged. It doesn't need to be. It shouldn't need to be. One of the issues being dealt with today with one of my kids was that "only the bad things are acknowledged." To which I replied, the good things are our duty; the bad things are in need of discipline and correction. That's why they get noticed so much quicker than the good. 

When is a Blog a Plog & Our School Day

No, I don't think Plog is a word. Web-log=blog. Photo-log=Plog. That's my thinking. And along those lines, I was just looking around to see what I could photograph to include in my post. There's the crockpot, cooling with homemade turkey broth. Or the large stack of library books sitting on the kitchen table, waiting for our trip to the library. Or there's the backyard, with the flattened, reclaimed garden area. Ooh, I could grab a photo of the notes I took at Round Table this morning.

And then I had to stop. I don't want a photograph. I don't want to take the 'perfect' photo for the this post, then upload it to Picmonkey so I can tweak it more to make it better. I'm sure I could pin the post if I had a photo, or those on Facebook might get more interested in reading it if they see an image attached to the link. But, honestly, I don't really care. 

I seem to be digressing in this technologically advancing world. I want more simple. My cell phone {yes, I still prefer a cell phone to a land-line} doesn't even have a camera. It is a cheapo flip phone. And it suits me just fine. 

Someday I won't even have internet at home {gasp!}. Someday.

But for now, here's my post on our school day. I record it for my benefit and for those who care to read or those who are looking for ideas or assurance that they aren't the only ones {"only ones" that good, bad, or otherwise things happen in their school day}.

Round Table! I like, I like! I won't say it's become habit yet because I'm sure there will be a day that I just won't want to make the kids gather at the table. Will they be there on their own? I don't know. No, it's not a habit yet.

• Hymns- We sang only parts of three because Lee and Fox have sore throats {Fox is actually 'sick' but Lee has a new molar causing some discomfort}. "I Will Praise Him", "More About Jesus", and "Rock of Ages"
• Folk Song- On Ilkla Moor Baht'at. Lee has to keep us in tune. I'm still looking for another one; one that is connected to one of the time periods being studied by at least one of the kids' for school. 
• Presidents- got through the first 7 {of which I personally at this moment can only name 5- George Washington, ?, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, ?, Andrew Jackson} edited: I just had to look; I missed John Adams and John Quincy Adams! 
• Reading of the Declaration of Independence. We read the rest of it and talked about those who signed.
• Fox shared a drawing he did and then talked about how he draws hands. Lee has always struggled with drawing hands and feet. 
• Habits- I think we've done well. Fox 'tested' me yesterday to see if I would check on his work and not just assume it was done right. I passed *wink*. That is one thing we've been working on. They must do what is expected, and I must check to make sure they have. Otherwise, they don't always do what they are supposed to and I don't make them since I don't check!
• Closed with prayer.

Since it is Wednesday, the kids' schedules are a bit lighter. Fox has Young Marines and there is prayer meeting on Wednesday's. I'm not sure if either of those will happen tonight since none of us are feeling quite well. They worked well on their independent subjects {which I'm not going to record this post} and we worked outside earlier in the day on reclaiming the garden area. We finished our together subjects of Chemistry and ASL, and then the school day was finished. Chores and all were done by 2 pm. It just occurred to me that today was about 6 hours of school. The kids get up at 7:30 and start their 'school day' really. They read their Bible, which for us is a school subject. We went right into Round Table, which covered other areas that fall under 'school'. Then they did their other subjects -including Home Ec- and were done by 2 pm.

In between 'teaching' times, I've been working on the Term 1 exams for Y8 and Y10. Since I wiped out all the files, other than what I thought to save, from my computer, I don't have any Y8 exams from when Lee went through that year. I'm very appreciative of AO! On the website are complete exams but also on the forum is a spot for asking questions about exams, offering suggestions, and other questions to put on the exams. 

I might share the questions for the exams here, if they are different than what is on the AO site. 

And now, I must go deal with the cooled turkey broth in the crockpot and then start dinner. 

Sharing Some of Our School Day

Ilkla Moor Baht 'At, a Yorkshire folk-song. It took us a couple times listening to it to 'get' what they were saying. We especially like that version because it's fun. Here's another version, little less eccentric *wink*. Oh and here's one that Lee especially likes: Star of the County Down

Round Table lasted about an hour this morning. Here is how it went, but not necessarily in this order:

• We read more from the Declaration of Independence (the grievances of the king against the colonies). We talked about some of those grievances and how they relate to today, with the government shutdown. Also talked a little about what we think might happen with the bullying going on from Washington, D. C. Yes, I said bullying.
• We also looked at a list of all the Presidents and are in the process of memorizing all of them (we got the first five this morning). They both were given the task of finding a 'personal' piece to memorize. Lee wants to do the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence; Fox is looking at The Gettysburg Address.
• Habits: the day before we seem to have forgotten to pay attention to them; works in progress. 
• I asked if there was anything they wanted to share- drawings, poetry, etc. They said no. Someday they will -I hope. Lee did her narration on her Bible reading.
• Hymns: "Since Jesus Came Into My Heart", "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder", "When We All Get to Heaven"
• Prayer

Otherwise the day has been fairly smooth. I got up around the same time as the kids; an hour late for me. They got their breakfast and their Bibles. Fox did his written narration for the day on his Bible reading. Then we did Round Table. 

After RT was right into school. It was almost exactly 9:00 am; that's when school is supposed to start! Lee's worked on math, Latin (First Year Latin), current events/Weekly Barden, health (THM), Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, and artist study (Degas), which she chose to do a written narration. Fox did math, biography (Galileo's Daughter) and narrated, current events/Weekly Barden, nature study (Rural Hours), German (Babbel app *affiliate link, but it's free), artist study (Degas), recited his verses, and he read James 1:5-8 for our Bible study that we'll do in a little bit. Together we went over chapter four of Exploring the World of Chemistry (and were so extremely excited when oxygen was discovered!). 

All together we still have to do ASL and James "commentary"/study. Lee still has geography (Eothen), government ("The Law"), verses, economics (Economics 101) and literature (Les Miserables) to finish. 

A little later, after school is all done and maybe after they've had their screen time, we have to do some work in the backyard. We are pulling up the garden and pretty much filling it in and smoothing the ground for grass to take it back. The garden was a failure this year. 

Round Table, Take One

Monday may be the best {or worse} day for Round Table. I'm still undecided. Here's how ours went this morning with myself, Lady Blossom the Resourceful, Miss Lee the Wise and Sir Fox the Witty. Of course there's also Sir "Warden" the Warden {*snicker*- sorry, that's classified- ahem} but he wasn't there for the morning time. All names courtesy of Fox. 

Monday may be the worse day because we leave for Lee's babysitting job at 1:30 and don't get home until 5:00. If our Round Table takes 2 hours {which it didn't -not quite}, the kids worry they won't get school done 'on time'. But the thing is, school is never done 'on time' on Monday. That could make it the best day for Round Table. 

Anyway, this morning we covered some things I had on my list. Totally forgot about verses, though, so we'll cover those later. 

Hymn- we sang "I Will Sing of the Mercies of the Lord" and "My Country, 'Tis of Thee"

Poetry- "If" by Rudyard Kipling and "If for girls" by E. P. McEvoy (I think)

Reading/Memorization- Preamble to the Constitution (just read part of it today)

Habits- we talked about and decided on one personal habit to work on.

Prayer

Next time I would like to figure out how to make it less of a humorous occasion and more focused. I don't want it to be a time of no smiles or laughter at all. It's good to laugh though and enjoy each other's company. But we laughed more during the time than anything else. 

Circle Time... Er, Round Table Planning

After a week off of school, we'll be back at it tomorrow (actually in just a few hours since I'm still up and it's technically 'tomorrow' already). It's always nice to take a break but I like to get back to our schedule and routine. 

Since I posted a week or so ago about implementing our Round Table, I've been thinking more about it. Going off of Cindy's post, I came up with just a few things I want to start with on Monday, in addition to our usual Bible reading and prayer time. 

• Verses
• Poetry
• Hymn
• Habits
• Memorization

For verses we are still going through "100 Verses in 2013". 

I have two poems that I personally would like the kids to read and possibly take to heart. If by Rudyard Kipling and If for girls by McEvoy (the first name escapes me at the moment). 

The hymn we will chose from the hymnal we've borrowed from the church. I don't know if we will focus on one particular hymn or just sing some as we want. I like that idea.

Habits will be some things to work on individually. We all have some ones we need to break.

I'm not quite sure on the memorization yet. Perhaps we'll work on the Gettysburg Address. I memorized it in elementary school and it's stuck with me all these years. Well, the beginning of it anyway. {Four score and seven years ago, our forefathers brought forth on this continent...or something along those lines.}

I think it's a good start.

Circle Time...Not Just for Littles

Okay perhaps I wouldn't call it "Circle Time" with my kids. Although I'm not sure they know that's what it's called in elementary school. When we get together as a family for thanksgiving and prayer, hubby calls it "Round Table". {I like that.} 

The first time I can recall really paying attention to another homeschooler's "Circle Time" was through Cindy Rollins posts about their Morning Time. Reading her posts are always encouraging. I read her posts but, uh, I'll admit I don't pay attention to her posts. Does that make sense? Much like I read Charlotte Mason's books but don't pay attention. If I paid particular attention, I would think I'd have the little seeds planted in my brain, ready to bring forth some sort of fruit. I must pay some attention though, because I keep thinking about this thing Cindy calls Morning Time. {And of course I pay some attention to Charlotte Mason *wink*}

We've started something in the mornings that I would like to expand more into a "circle time". We {the kids and I- hubby is off to work hours before we get started} begin our day with prayer. Actually it goes breakfast, Bible reading and then prayer. We are still a little disconnected when it comes to when we do these things. I eat at 6:30, Fox eats at 7:30 and Lee eats about 8:00-ish. Bible reading is done while eating breakfast. The reason for that is that we are all in different places in our reading. We are all following different schedules. {Note to self: might be a good idea to get us all on the same schedule next year.}

Our prayer time is spent praying for our family, individuals we know and prayer requests that have come to us through our church's prayer bulletin. I've found it has really made a difference in our days. We miss our together time at least once a week, unfortunately, and those days just seem to go poorly. 

I want to include more in our Round Table time. More of the things that, as Cindy points out, I want them to not miss. I can't honestly say that I know that CM talked about a morning meeting but this comment has me wondering if I've just missed the references:

"...as a result of my early home school adventures and the reading of For the Children’s Sake (Susan Schaeffer Macaulay) followed by The Original Home school Series by Charlotte Mason, I began a morning meeting with my children as a way to incorporate subjects that were important to me but easily lost in the shuffle of conventional schooling."

I've read Macaulay's book, but it was a library book with a short loan time. I may have read it faster than I would have liked. I have not read all of CM's works either. They are always in my 'currently reading' pile.

I don't know yet what I will include in our Round Table because Cindy's list looks so long and daunting! She does say though that she's built it up to 2 hours. My kids are clockwatchers *sigh* and if our Round Table {read: prayer time} takes 30 minutes they feel it's been a long time. There's a reason they are clock-watchers- they are also addicted to their screen time {ah, as am I}. When school is done, they are allowed to play their video game. Something to work on...living life not playing video games or living in the virtual world. 

Well, this is something I'm going to be thinking more about and probably {hopefully} posting more about. I sure do wish I could have homeschooled from the start but I am so very glad that I can do it now.