First day report

Pin It Flexibility.  A skill I'm working on.  A skill I currently do not possess.

I believe I'm going to need to change a class for the oldest.  I know, this is not really a crisis, but I've had everything laid out - either physically laid out or laid out in my mind - for months now.  Realizing on day 1 that a change will very likely be necessary has me a little stressed.  It will be fine though.  It's a class at which she excels, so it will be fine to change everything up at the last minute.  Right?  RIGHT??

Other than that, day one went smoothly.  The middle one had the easiest day.  She finished early and enjoyed everything she did.  WOOT!  The oldest one had a long day.  I guess that's to be expected.  (At least the change mentioned above will cut a bit of work out of her day.  I think.) 

The little one cracked me up.  A fair portion of his curriculum consists of me reading to him.  He was flipping all over here and there.  I asked him what he did last year when Mrs. Russell read to him and he said he sat on his mat like he was supposed to.  Um.  Not sure if I should go get the boy a mat or what.  hehe ;) 

First day of school pics:

MY BABY!!  How could he be in kindergarten already?

My sweet 5th grader.  I hope today was a preview of a great year for her!

The oldest, saying "I cannot believe my mom is making me take a pic with this dorky sign."

One more thing ... it's not only public school moms who cry on their baby's first day of kindergarten.  :-}  I just can't figure out how that happened so quickly.  It really does not seem possible. 

And so it begins ...

Pin It The 2011/2012 school year that is! The home construction is finished just in the nick of time. There is still work to be done, but at least all of the furniture is (mostly) where it belongs. We have discovered that I have very expensive taste so the decoration of both bedrooms will likely take a while. I'm okay with that. Mostly. We are cash only and intend to stay that way, and let me tell you, that is sometimes TOUGH with two who enjoy instant gratification! Pics of the redo will come eventually, but I want to wait until it's done. Right now both rooms look like big ole' messes with really pretty walls, trim, and doors.

Oh wait. This post was supposed to be about school, wasn't it?

I am so glad to be getting started. I think every one of us will be happier with a normal routine and schedule. Or at least I will. And if *I'm* happier, everyone else will be too. :-P

I know I posted our curriculum choices already, and I really want to commit to a weekly wrap-up, both for my benefit for future reference, and to connect with others doing the same things. I don't think I've posted our schedule for the year though. I'm sure there will be some tweaking required because I don't know exactly how long our Heart of Dakota curriculum(s) will take. I know how long it took last year, but I'm not sure I can use that as a basis for this year because that was two kids together and a third one not in the mix. I had to have a plan to start with though, and here it is.

8:30 -- oldest does English with DVD
9:15 -- oldest moves to computer to do math
middle starts Reading on DVD
little one starts Heart of Dakota with mama
10:00 -- oldest starts Heart of Dakota independently
middle one goes to English on DVD, then to Heart of Dakota reading
little one does math with mama, then playtime
11:00 -- oldest works on writing (Institute for Excellence in Writing) with mama and does dictation for spelling
middle one moves to the computer to do math
little one moves to the DVD player to do his phonics

12:00 -- hopefully all of the above stuff is done and we have lunch

1:00 -- everybody goes to Heart of Dakota. The little one might be done now, I really don't know yet. We might do our read alouds all together at this time, or just see what works. Looking at this, it looks like the two younger ones will need me at this time if the little one isn't already finished, so we'll see how this works. The middle one will be doing her history and/or science projects at this time, and when those are finished, so is she.

2:00 -- everybody should be finished by this time except the oldest, who hopefully will just have some independent reading left.

So, this is clearly very much a work in progress. That's okay, we have a plan to start with and can adjust as we need to.

I went through and looked at the school room posts all around the blogosphere. To be honest, I was so envious of all the gorgeous dedicated school spaces I saw! We don't have a dedicated school space. We have the family room, the kitchen, a bedroom, and the living room. I remodeled my house (AGAIN) in my mind to carve out a space. It was gorgeous. It had a DVD player, a school computer, maps on the wall, a humongous bookshelf, and comfy chairs. It was so fabulous.

Then I remembered my children. Have you met them? Miss "please leave me alone because I prefer complete silence while I learn." Miss "I am so easily distracted I need a room with nothing moving around." And of course Mr. "I am a loud noise covered in dirt and my favorite thing in the world is annoying the snot out of the middle one."

Our school space is perfect for our needs.

They all move around from one room to the next, they all have their space, and distractions are at a minimum. As much as I would love the school room I daydreamed about, it would likely be an exercise in frustration for all of us.

Giggle ... I realize I have barely blogged all summer long and then made it up all in one blog post!

YAY for the first day of school!

Homeschool Mother's Journal 8/5

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I've seen this link up here and there and haven't ever participated before.  But now, I'm sitting here avoiding the laundry and sink full of dishes, and proud that I accomplished something homeschool related, so I want to shout it out!  LOL

In my life this week…
There has been much chaos. LOL Redoing a bedroom, a spastic refrigerator, and nothing in its usual place. This is not good for for my mind, which operates so much better when there is not clutter! 

In our homeschool this week…
We are getting there! I came back from the conference, as always, all inspired but with the realization that some of the inspiration was a little idealistic. It's good to be aware of that now! I have gotten our schedule put together and the first six weeks planned out. I'm DELIGHTED with this! 

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
This is a very practical tip, but it has helped me. Take your worktexts that have tear out pages to an office supply store. For about $3 per book, they can spiral bind them and VOILA no more loose pages covering every flat surface in the house. At the end of the year, you've got a nice completed book to file away. 

I am inspired by…

Remember I just got home from a homeschool conference. Right now I am inspired by Sally Clarkson. I bought a few of her workshops on CD at the conference. She just encourages me so much! 

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
The main place we are going these days is Lowe's. I think I have used an entire tank of gas going to Lowe's and back. It will be awesome (and oh yes, there will be pictures) when it's done! 

My favorite thing this week was…
Last night. I looked at my planner and saw plans written through all of September. Makes me so happy!  And I'm also going to have to throw in that the meal I had last night for my birthday might have been my other favorite thing.  YUMMY~!!

What’s working/not working for us…
I am loving Heart of Dakota curriculum and it worked so well for us last year. 

Questions/thoughts I have…
How on earth am I going to take the curriculum that I loved so much last year for two children and split it into three children doing their own? We'll see ...

And the mail just got here and it's time to pick up my daughter and I suppose I shouldn't avoid the laundry any longer because I think it's giving me the evil eye, so I'll close for now!

"Not" Back to School Blog Hop: Curriculum Week

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I thought maybe I'd ease into blogging again by joining this blog hop.  We loved all of our curriculum choices last year, so we're continuing on with them this year.

The oldest:  8th grade
She will be doing Bob Jones Writing and Grammar 8 this year.  She is actually just going to be doing the grammar portion of it this year.
She will be completing IEW, which we started last year, for writing.
She will be doing Teaching Textbooks for math.
She will be doing the Resurrection to Reformation study from Heart of Dakota for history, science, and Bible, with a lot of extras thrown in (like poetry, art, and spelling).  She did Creation to Christ last year, and OH, how we loved it!  I am very excited to see what this year is going to hold!
She will be doing Switched on Schoolhouse Texas History in the spring as well.

The middle one:  5th grade
(Let me just take a moment to GASP.  Eighth and fifth grade?  Wow.)
Her plan is pretty easy this year, and I am anticipating a good year for her.
She will again be using Bob Jones for English 5 and Reading 5.  She is well familiar with these, having used them since first grade.  We are former homesat customers, and have DVD's for classes from K4 - 8th grade. 
She will again be using Teaching Textbooks for math.
She will be doing Preparing Hearts for His Glory from Heart of Dakota this year.  She actually did Creation to Christ with her sister last year, and I know it's weird to go down a level, but she is not ready to go up a level, and I would actually like her to repeat the Creation to Christ curriculum when she is in 7th grade, so I think it's going to work well to have her do Preparing spread over two years.  This will cover her history, science, poetry, art, Bible, and spelling.

And, the little one:  Kindergarten  (also unbelievable.)
His plan is very simple this year.  He is ready to learn and asks me two things just about every day.  1. Can one of his friends come over, and 2. Is it time to do some school.  I'm anticipating a fun year with him!
He will be also doing a Heart of Dakota curriculum.  His is Little Hearts for His Glory.  (Yes, I am a bit nervous about running three HOD programs at the same time.)
He will be doing Bob Jones K5 Beginnings for phonics, reading, and handwriting.
He will be doing a Singapore Math workbook.  I'm really not sure where we will land for math.  I'm really not sure exactly where he is now, so this is the one area that might change quickly.  We may end up starting Math U See Alpha pretty quickly, or sticking with this workbook, or really I don't even know.

Okay, so that's it for our curriculum choices.  It looks so overwhelming to see it all written out here!  (No, it REALLY looks overwhelming now that it's all sitting on our bookshelf!)  I am very excited to see what this year holds for us though.  :)

I will be linking up with Heart of the Matter today and plan to join in with all of their August blog hops as we get ready for NOT back to school!

**NOTE -- I would love a "buddy" who is going through the same HOD curriculum that we are, so please be sure to leave me a message if you are!  Especially the RtoR.  I'm a big fan of comparing notes and sharing ideas along the way!

Gratitude Journal - 281 - 290

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Still on something of a blogging break ... but gearing up for back to school soon and will likely be posting regularly again.  In the meantime, I remain thankful ...

281.  RAIN!!  We've had a lot of rain recently and the grass is green, the burn ban is lifted, and it feels back to normal around here.  I'm sure we're still way under the amount of rain we need, but it's nice to not be walking on crunchy grass and worrying so much about a stray cigarette thrown out of a car taking out a whole neighborhood. 

282.  For days like today with nothing on the calendar.  Friends are going to come over for lunch and playtime and we have just an easy day today.

283.  The smell of cookies in the oven.

284.  That the oldest and her cousin had a fabulous time at camp.  I was a little worried because the cousin didn't know anybody other than the oldest and sometimes they're the best of friends and sometimes notsomuch, but it could not have gone better!  The cousin made some new life-long friends, and the oldest also had a fabulous time!  :)

285.  The National Guard "two weeks in the summer" is over.  We only had one bad day here with Daddy gone, so I'm calling it a success.

286.  For a fun family day on Saturday.  (And for being reminded that I am officially old now.  We went to an army "welcome back" type party ... and OH MY at the young army families there.  I really did leave feeling old ... but thankful because I'm not sure I would really want to be in my early or mid twenties again!)

287.  For the fun the girls and I are having planning their new bedroom!  Walls are coming out very soon and new walls coming in ... and then the fun begins!  I'm very excited to give them a pretty bedroom!

288.  For a great time the two little ones had at VBS at my friend's church last week.  (Although I think I have heard enough of the "b-b-b-b-b big apple adventure" song!  Ha!  No seriously - I'm glad they learned the songs and go around the house singing them.)

289.  For a great weekend visit to my parents last weekend.  The oldest sang in their church and we just had a great visit.

290.  And for a huge big enormous praise ... which I already mentioned in another post ... but have to shout out again:  my mom is DONE with cancer treatment.  AWESOME!!

I will be linking up with www.aholyexperience.com today.  Feel free to hop on over and read other gratitude journals, or start your own!

I really am still here.

Pin It I didn't leave the country or anything.  We have just been so busy!  So much for lazy summer days.  (Although - there have been some of those ... and on those days, I've even been too lazy to do any blogging!)

I did have to come on today though, and post for those of you who aren't on my facebook.

My mom FINISHES her cancer treatments today!  Like within the next hour she will be ringing the bell and will be D.O.N.E.

I know many of y'all have prayed for and with us and I certainly would love for you to share in the praising now that it's done!

Thank you all for your kind words, prayers, and encouragement through this!  :)

Gratitude Journal - 271-280

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271.  For my sweet little one, who greets me every morning with hugs and snuggles and gives me kisses and hugs before he goes to bed each night.

272.  For lazy days ... when, even if I wake up early, I can be lazy and lay around in bed and snuggle with small children.

273.  For cold sweet watermelon on hot summer days.

274.  That the surgery recovery, which started out at record pace seems to have slowed down.  This is a good thing because it's forcing ME to slow down and enjoy some quieter moments with the family.

275.  For a family who hasn't grown completely tired of doing just about everything for me.

276.  For a sweet memory of being a little girl hanging out with my grandmother as I made purple hull peas the other day.  Oh my, yumminess.  Next time I will by them unshelled so that I can have the kids help shell them and tell them about my Mema teaching me how to shell peas!

277.  For a fabulous VBS program, complete with a family night at the pool, which my son declared "the most fun EVER." (and MAYBE this week I will finally upload the pics from my camera.  I have REALLY slacked off on the pictures lately.)

278.  For having our 2011/2012 homeschool stuff all organized and ready to go.  Everything is on its proper shelf and looks nice.  It will look this nice until the moment school actually begins.  haha

279.  For finally having a "book club" buddy.  The oldest is reading some books I have enjoyed and it's been really fun getting her take on them.

280.  Did I ever even post about the middle one's birthday party?  That is definitely a thankful list item.  Great group of girls, fun girly stuff, no sleep ... and the middle one loving her party and feeling like a princess.  :)