The 2014/2015 School Year. The Oldest.

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Next year's stuff, waiting to go on the shelf when this year's stuff comes off!

 As we wrap up the 2013/14 school year, it's time for my favorite part!  Planning and buying and getting ready for next year!

We should all take a moment and ponder the irony of being SO. VERY. DONE. with one school year and anxious for the next one to start, all at the same time.  It's not just me - I've discovered that a whole bunch of homeschoolers are over one school year and excitedly planning the next one.

The oldest will be a junior.  My brain cannot wrap around that.  Her schedule is busy but I think we have a plan that will work well for both of us, without overloading either of us.  She will be participating in two co-ops next year, which will put her out of the house 1 1/2 days per week.  She will also be continuing both piano and voice lessons, and will still be working in the church kitchen.  Thankfully she is pretty much done with a lot of her requirements, so we're going to be able to make her schedule work for us without making either of us crazy! 

I still need to tweak the calendar some to figure out when to start, but for now our basic plan will look like this:
Monday - half a day of co-op, then geometry, writing, and Spanish.
Tuesday - co-op all day
Wednesday - geometry, writing, and Spanish.
Thursday - geography, geometry, writing, and Spanish.
Friday - geography, geometry, writing, and Spanish.

For science, she'll be doing Chemistry.  We're doing another Landry Academy Intensive so all of the labs will be covered.  She will be getting Chemistry at the Monday co-op as well, and if we need to add to that at home, we will. 

We will be splitting the geography curriculum (which also includes Bible and a study of world religions) over two years. 

She will be getting American literature at the Monday co-op, along with chemistry, a computer class, health, and citizenship. 

The Tuesday co-op, Artios Academies, will cover more history (actually it's the same history she did this year at home, but it was interesting and fun, so that's all good.)  She'll also get a lot of fine arts in the Tuesday co-op, and we're very excited about that.

The curriculum she will be using next year is as follows:
Heart of Dakota Geography (which includes SO. MUCH. MORE. than Geography!)
Teaching Textbooks Geometry
Institute for Excellence in Writing Essay Writing
Chemistry 101
Landry Academy Chemistry Intensive
Rosetta Stone Spanish

We are quite excited about next year! I put together her transcript so far and we are both pleased with all that she has accomplished so far.  I didn't quite realize how many credits she had until I started compiling it all.  She is a good student, and I think she is every bit as excited about next year as I am.

I always enjoy looking at the plans homeschoolers have for the next year, so here is ours for the oldest.  I have plans made for the middle one and the little one too.  I'll get those posted soon.

And then THIS happened.

Pin It I bragged on the middle one last week.  This week it's time for the oldest.

This girl has the strongest work ethic!  I'm not really sure how that happened!  She works hard, regularly, at lots of things. She spends half of her days on Wednesdays making meals at church.  She and her father deliver meals to a couple of homebound people every week.  She has developed relationships with these ladies and is blessed by them and is a blessing to them.

She plays piano and sings and works hard at both.  The girl seriously cannot walk by a piano without playing it.  She spends several hours a week working on various songs and styles of music.

My dad got her a gift of time in a recording studio ... so very awesome!  She mentioned to her friend that there was a song she wanted to do and couldn't find accompaniment.  Her friend said "I can do that!"  And then something magic happened.

They recorded that song.  They recorded a couple of others.  We scheduled them to sing one of the songs at church, and they did a fabulous job.


This was this past Sunday.

I love that homeschooling has allowed our schedules to be somewhat flexible, and gives these two opportunities to work together and push each other along as they grow the gifts the Lord has given them.  

(And yes, we already discussed the fact that next time someone other than me needs to do the recording, so maybe we won't miss the beginning!)

Finding What They Love and Do Well

Pin It I think it's hard to be the middle one, especially when the middle and oldest are both girls.  Especially when the oldest one has an ability that is noticeable.  I think the middle one tends to live in the shadow of the oldest one. This is really a bit ridiculous, especially in my family, because my oldest and middle are NIGHT AND DAY.  Seriously.

About two years ago, my friend suggested that we consider Taekwondo for our middle one.  Well, in looking for activities different than things her sister would be interested in, this may very well top the list, so we tried it.  I honestly did not expect her to enjoy it after the novelty of it wore off.

A new black belt!

I was wrong.

She is now a black belt.  She knows she can do something that her sister cannot.  This morning I walked into her class after it was over halfway over.  I watched, in fifteen minutes, her take on some leadership with younger kids and them respond well to her.  I watched her work really hard to learn a new skill.  I watched her fail at that skill a lot more times than she succeeded at it.  I watched her be frustrated and want to give up.  And then I saw determination.  And more hard work.

She did not master this skill today.  She did work hard, and she is planning to continue to work hard and WILL master this skill.

I love to see the pride she has in this.  She has developed friendships and confidence that she would never have had without it.

I'm not saying "everyone go out right now and enroll your child in Taekwondo!" but I am saying there is something fabulous that happens when your child finds an activity that is theirs.  Watching her work really hard to do this activity well is such a blessing!  Sure it might be easier if she and her sister were involved in all of the same activities, but it's worth the extra effort to see her shine in her own activity!

Homeschooling Elementary

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Is this not the best first day of school picture ever?

Really, he is fine with school starting.  He just doesn't enjoy having his picture taken!

A little bit better, little one!

So, in addition to my 10th grader and 7th grader, I have a second grader this year!  This one keeps things interesting.  Well, they all do, really.

We quickly found out that what worked for the girls doesn't work as well for him.  We made it about three weeks into the DVD program we were using before realizing that it was an exercise in futility because the entire time the DVD was on, I was having to try to get him to pay attention to it.  There was about an hour of DVD time, which we *crammed* into about two hours.  :-/  Thankfully homeschooling for a long time has taught me to be able to say "this is NOT working for us, let's let it go!"  So we did.  He is actually still using the same curriculum, just not with the DVD right now.  I really do want to go back and add the DVDs, at least for reading class in the future; we'll see how that goes.

He is using Bob Jones for reading and English.  English is a bit of a stretch for him right now, but really I'm okay with that.  Sometimes I still get stressed about it, then I try to remind myself that he'll be writing paragraphs again next year and the next year and for the next eight or so years after that, so it's fine if writing a paragraph in second grade is really too much for him.  Okay, I kind of have to remind myself of that daily.  He is reading well though, and actually does pretty well with grammar too.

For math, we are using CLE, but that ends this week and we're switching to Teaching Textbooks.  I have enjoyed CLE, and we may end up going back to it, but for now, my time is a priority and I think TT will be completely student driven for him, so we're going to give it a try.  He is pretty mathy, and seems to be excited about doing his math on the computer.  We'll see how it goes.

He is also using my beloved Heart of Dakota curriculum for science and history, and pretty much just enrichment of what we're already doing.  He is finishing up Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory.  I decided to make it work and to put him on the same path as his sisters, that we would do Beyond for first and second grade, Bigger for third and fourth, Preparing for fifth and sixth, Creation to Christ for seventh, Resurrection to Reformation for eighth, and then he will be on the same high school path as both sisters.  At least that is my plan as of now.  I try to be flexible ... to an extent.  I'm really not so much a flexible person, but by the same token, I don't want to have everything planned out forever. 

He also attends our co-op, and is learning about the fifty states there, along with science, literature, art, and music.

OH!  I have to show a picture of a mural his co-op art class did.  So fabulous!  They all worked together and this is the end result:

So, there is what each of my kids is doing for their schoolwork this year.  Sometime soon, I will have a post on what works for us as far as organization and planning goes! 

Homeschooling Middle School

Pin It I posted what the oldest does for school a couple of weeks ago.  I also have a middle schooler, and one in elementary, and thought I'd share what they're doing, both for my future reference, and for the fun of it!

Wow!  The middle one is in seventh grade!  Not quite sure how that happened so fast!

Schooling this one is definitely different from schooling her older sister.  The curriculum is mostly the same, but the methods are not!  She is much more hands on than her sister, and enjoys doing the projects and the more fun aspects.

She is also using Heart of Dakota.  She is just starting Resurrection to Reformation.  We do a weird one and a half year plan with her for these, mainly for my ease to make her high school match her sister's.  It's a four day a week curriculum, and we do three days usually.  She will finish this at the end of her 8th grade year.  This is covering her history and science.  We love HOD SO much!

She also uses Teaching Textbooks, Math 7.  She enjoys this and is doing well with it.

She also uses IEW for writing.  She is doing level B.  I have to say - I expected this to be more of a challenge to her than it is.  I kind of anticipated this taking two years but it looks like she will finish it in one.  I'm not really sure what that means for her writing for next year.  We may hit harder on grammar, or come up with a creative writing course or something.  (I'm definitely open for suggestions here!)

She is doing the Ultimate Grammar series as well, to hold on to the skills she already in grammar. 

Most of her real science comes from co-op, and she will be also doing literature and writing at co-op, as well as history and an overview of Spanish. 

I have a post coming about the little one, and then about how we organize it all on good days.  Maybe one day I'll post about how we organize it all on bad days.  ;)  I'll just mention that there may be chocolate and copious amounts of coffee involved.

Homeschooling in High School

Pin It The oldest is in tenth grade now.

(because what says First Day of School better than Starbucks and PJ's?)

Wow.  When we first started out and she was in PreK, I didn't really think we would still be homeschooling.  We started because she was ready for school, and yet public schooling for preK wasn't an option for us.  She had done Mother's Day Out programs, and we had recently moved, so I wasn't too familiar with the various preK options.  Plus, I had a continually sick toddler at the time, and taking the oldest to school and picking her up was more overwhelming than homeschool!  And now, however many years later, here we are.

I was so worried when high school began!  I'm a pretty scheduled, every blank filled in kind of person, with a bit of overachieving stuck in there.  Give me a transcript to fill out and suggestions of what is required to fill out that transcript and my inner drill sergeant comes out and OH MY HEAVENS we are GOING to get those boxes FILLED.

So the biggest challenge for me so far is relaxing a little.  She is never going to be a scientist, so I don't have to make her crazy and myself sick by ordering 35 little critters for her to dissect on the kitchen table.  We are doing a biology curriculum, but our real time and effort is spent on things that are actually useful to her.

We are still using our beloved Heart of Dakota curriculum.  This year she is doing Missions to Modern Marvels, and we are both enjoying it.  Right now we are on the cusp of the Great Depression.

We are still using Teaching Textbooks, currently in Algebra 2.  One of us is enjoying this.  One of us is not.  I'll just leave y'all to figure out which is which.

We are still using Institute for Excellence in Writing.  She writes pretty well, so this has been kind of fun for her.  She's doing the B Continuation.  I'm not sure where to go next year for her.

We are doing Biology 101, supplemented with the Landry Academy Intensive and co-op.  (I'll try to remember to write a review of the biology lab intensive!  We did this with a group a few months ago and thought it was fabulous!)

She is doing British Literature at co-op, and has already done a lengthy Shakespeare study.

She is getting government at co-op, and we're doing an economics supplement at home.

And of course music.  She is still taking piano and voice, and has spent sufficient time for a performing arts credit.  Also home ec, because she is a dedicated kitchen worker every Wednesday at church.  That girl is QUITE capable in a kitchen!

Because we haven't done a lot of testing, she is also taking an SAT class to help prepare for that.  I'm happy to farm that out!  We also take a PE class.

Sounds like a lot, doesn't it?  It really IS a lot.  It works for us though.  Her days aren't too long.  I think she will be well prepared for life and am content with her schooling.  I actually enjoy it most days.  I enjoy her!  When the days are long and it feels like one kid or another is needing me every single second and I want to go hide in the closet with chocolate, I can remember that I have 2 1/2 years left schooling this one.  Bittersweet.  That usually helps me make it through the day.  That and the aforementioned chocolate in the closet!

The Word for 2014 is ...

Pin It Well, actually there will be two words, because I'm an over achiever like that.  I'm only sharing one right now because the other is still a concept and I can't think of the right word to sum it up.  This is not nearly as lofty as it sounds - really it's more a shortfall in my vocabulary than anything else!  The oldest could probably come up with the right word, and the middle one could probably make up a word, but I'll just wait and see if I can figure it out myself first!

The word I do have now ... is LAUGH.  I can be a bit high strung.  Just a bit.  I like to have all of my ducks in a row, be where I'm supposed to be when I'm supposed to be there, and have everything done appropriately and cleaned up after.  My children sometimes make this a little difficult, like walking out the door and "I can't find my shoes" and "She hit me" and "I'm going to leave every one of the 237894 pieces of this thing I should not have taken out of the house all over the place so that when you're ready to leave, you won't get to because I'm going to be nowhere to be found and you're going to have to gather up all of those pieces" and the ever popular "OH MY SWEET HEAVENS, HAVE YOU BRUSHED YOUR TEETH?"

In the midst of all of this, the MOM FACE pops out more often than not.  Then I'm snapping at kids and I'm again reminded that since being in my 40's, my bad attitudes tend to last all day.  I remember Beth Moore saying "God doesn't just want to change your life, He wants to change your day" and that's fabulous but I'm JUST. SO. IRRITATED. and don't want to let go of the bad attitude, thankyouverymuch.

So laugh ...

Really I just want to try to loosen up some.  I'm always telling one of my children to loosen up, and as that child has a personality SO MUCH like my own, I have realized that I need to do it too.  I know I'm still going to get irritated when I'm supposed to be somewhere in FOUR MINUTES and there is still a child playing a video game, barefooted with unbrushed teeth, or any of the other millions of things that irritate me, but truth be told ...

... it's really SMALL STUFF, and in the grand scheme of things, doesn't really matter.

So, I'm going to try to loosen up a bit.  And laugh more.  Life is funny.  My kids are funny.  I want to enjoy that.  And maybe I'll be so busy laughing that I won't care so much if I'm a couple of minutes late.  (I promise I will still care whether teeth are brushed or not though, because that's just gross.)

Happy 2014!

Pin It Wow.  Two posts not separated by months!  I know I'm shocked; are you?

I'm not super big on resolutions.  I've been on a path to eat better and be more faithful in some areas for a while, but that's not really a resolution.  I did enjoy the "word of the year" thing last year.  Mine last year was "give".  I meant that like being willing to give of myself more, without counting the cost (or ... ahem ... complaining).  Just being available to meet needs as I had opportunity, and to see those opportunities as gifts or blessings rather than obligations and annoyances.

Did I succeed?

Well.  There was some complaining, I'm not going to lie.  There was probably some foot stamping from time to time.  There were a couple of full blown hissy fits.  Yes, although those who know me may see me as even tempered and calm, this girl can THROW some FITS when it's appropriate.  And when it's not appropriate sometimes.    

There were also some realizations though.  I guess I had some idea that if I were called to a certain task, that I would love that task and it would just be a natural outflow of me.  Well, sometimes that is the case.  Sometimes not so much though.  Sometimes it's just plain work, and it's not a bad thing to give of oneself and work hard.

I think the hard part is telling the difference between deciding that something isn't for me because I'm not called to it, and deciding that something isn't for me because it requires more work than I'm willing to put in.  I suspect this will be a life-long learning thing!  As of right now, I'm content with the tasks before me.  I'm busy - or will be next week when normal life resumes - but as the mom of three kids who homeschool and making an attempt to have a life of my own as well, busyness is to be expected.  I'm still working on enjoying the tasks sometimes though, and especially on not complaining.

So, that was my word and work for 2013.

I think I have my word for 2014.  I hesitate to say it just yet, so I'm going to wait a bit longer before announcing it publicly!

(Wow, I may enjoy blogging again!  Woot!)

Resurrection

Pin It I'm thinking that after a hiatus of about 18 months, I might resurrect my blog.  I really enjoyed blogging before, whether anyone was reading it or not.  Then it started to feel a bit like a chore, and then I felt like I should do it when I didn't really want to.  But now I kind of want to again.

I still don't have anything of importance to say.  I'm still muddling through, trying to figure out life and faith and stuff.  (I'm going to be 45 in 2014 ... shouldn't I have it all figured out by now?  HA.) 

An update of sorts ... the kids are growing so fast.  We are still homeschooling and loving it.  The oldest will graduate from our homeschool in 2016.  The other two are still a year by year decision, but we're getting to the jumping off point for the middle one now.  She is in seventh grade this year.  I've kind of always viewed it as "once we start homeschooling high school, we're committed to it."  I'm sure that could change, but that's what I told the oldest and will likely tell the middle one as well.  The little one is in second grade, so we have a bit with him.

I have to say - for any homeschoolers who read this and fear high school, don't.  I absolutely love schooling with the oldest.  I'm learning so much.  I'm a math geek, so it's been fun to relearn Algebra 2, and history (sorry teachers of mine) I feel like I'm learning the first time.  We have just finished World War I and the Roaring 20's.  I think when we restart next Monday, we're jumping right into the Great Depression.  I have loved going through history with her, because not only is it eye-opening for me, I love to get her impressions on it.  Sometimes her take is completely different than mine.  It makes for some interesting discussions around here.

I will try to post an update to our curriculum choices and reviews sometime soon.  And some updated pictures! 

Right now though, I'm going to go make myself a cup of tea and try to pretend that the sink is not full of dirty dishes!  (Some things never change!)

The Latest Round of Excuses

Pin It It seems like the sole purpose of my blog lately is to list my excuses for not blogging.  It is almost to the point where I'm having to make more effort to come up with excuses than it would to just blog.  So here we go.

I remember as a kid summer vacation being literally summer vacation.  There were lazy days and no schedules to follow.  We did usually take a trip in the summer, but I don't remember at all having to pull out the calendar to pick a day to have lunch with a friend.  This is not the case with life now.  Everything is scheduled.  I have to consult the calendar for every little thing.  It is craziness, and I don't know how to stop it.

The stuff is all GOOD.  VBS, trips to visit family, camps, appointments, classes.  Oh, and let's throw a major home improvement project into the mix, because we wouldn't want to take a chance on life being boring.

Now it's the end of July.  We have one more camp to go to, plus a conference.  There are still things to be done in the house.  The calendar is jam-packed.  Oh, and it's about to be time to start school again.  Every year I say that summer is going to be easy without scheduling it to death.  And then every year life happens and I vow to do better the next year.  I think I'm going to give up that plan as I look forward to next summer.  Life is busy.  Period.  Maybe rather than complaining about the busyness and trying to avoid it, I should find a way to embrace it.  I am sure there will be a day when summer rolls around and it's quiet, and no different from every other season, and I will so miss these days of busyness.

All that said ... I really do have posts to follow.  I have pictures to share, plus some deep thoughts that are just about in sharable form. I think I've already posted about our plans for school for next year.  I really want to try to do a better job blogging about that.  We'll see how that goes!

It is today.

Pin It I remember as a kid, we drove several times between Nashville, TN and Trinity, TX.  It was a long drive, and as the oldest child, being in the back seat with the little brother and little sister wasn't always the most fun thing in the world.  The brother was a squirmy little boy and the sister was a screamer.  (Funny how my own children mimic us as children!)  I was trying to be cool - quite a task when sitting on vinyl seats in the south in the summer - haha~!!

There was this song that I remember playing.  I don't know if it was on the radio or the handy-dandy 8 track.  (Giggling at that too ... late 70's, pre-cassette days I think.  Maybe not though; I might be remembering back a little further than the annual road trips.)

Okay, whipping out Merle Haggard here.  Apologies in advance.

... someday, we'll look back and say, it was fun ...

This song would play.  And I would think in all of my pre-teen-ness "This is NOT that day."  This is not fun.  Not in any way, shape or fun.  Don't get me wrong - I loved getting to Trinity and all the visiting.  The road trip though?  At the time, not so much fun. 

Today though?  They were right.  I can look back and say it was fun.  And really?  It probably was fun at the time, I was just too cool to admit it.

I am missing my brother today.

New Clothes!

Pin It Do you like the new look?  I love it!  Maybe new clothes will inspire me to do some new posts.  :) 

Michelle did this again, you can go to the right of my blog on the bottom and click her link; I know she would love to re-do yours as well. 

We have been so busy getting our school year wrapped up.  The little one is finishing his kindergarten DVD program today and will probably finish the rest of his curriculum next week.

The middle one has finished math and reading.  She has one week of English left and a couple of weeks of her Heart of Dakota.

The oldest has finished IEW and will be finishing up math and her Heart of Dakota in the next couple of weeks.

The plans are in place for next year and the books are starting to pile up. 

I have a big picture post that I need to do.  Maybe I'll get motivated to do that soon!

The Great Toothbrush Intervention of 2012

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See anything wrong with this picture?

How about if I tell you that this is the bathroom of my children.  I have three children.  Nobody else uses this bathroom on a regular basis.  That is either 11 or 12 toothbrushes right there.  (One child uses an electric one; not sure if it's on the charger and too lazy to go check.) (Oh wait - I can see in the picture that it's not in there.)  So - there are 12 toothbrushes in my children's bathroom.

And there's a Spiderman toothbrush in my bathroom, which I can assure you is not mine, and I'm reasonably certain it doesn't belong to my husband either.

Three children.  Thirteen toothbrushes.

There is one friend who frequently spends the night, so maybe we can assume that one toothbrush might belong to her.

I am puzzled by this.

I asked the children why they had so many toothbrushes and (surprise, surprise) they have no idea.  One child told me that it was so that if they lost one, there was another one available.  Then another child told me that he just chooses one that's dry.  Okay, awesome.  And probably a little gross.  At least we now have the answer to why there can never just be one child sick at my house!

We are going to have a toothbrush intervention around here.  I think I'm going to toss out every one of these, minus the electric one, and start over.  This will be super easy because there is a package of 20 in my bathroom.

Apparently the little apples don't fall far from the tree.

But at least the ones in my bathroom, other than the one used by me, and the one used by my husband, plus the aforementioned Spiderman, are NOT opened or used!

(Oh my ... as I was typing this earlier, the little one brought me a few more that he keeps in his room.  I guess you never know when you might need to give your teeth a couple of swipes and it's too far to walk the three feet from his bedroom to the bathroom!)

Thankful Thursday

Pin It Let me just start out saying I'm not feeling so very thankful right now.

It's 10:00.  Here is a glimpse of our morning so far.  I had told the girls they could sleep in a little. 
My definition of sleeping in:  8:30.
Their definition of sleeping in:  11:00.

Mistake #1:  Not being specific as to the definition of sleeping in.

The little one is always the first of the three to wake up.  He was being sweet; we snuggled a bit, and everything was rocking along.  I decided it was time for the girls to wake up.

Mistake #2:  I sent the little one in to wake the girls up.  Oh sweet heavens, WHAT WAS I THINKING??

Now we have the middle one shrieking at the little one.  The little one is laughing maniacally.  The oldest is hollering for both of them to please shut up.

Awesome.  Just what I was going for; everyone mad within two minutes of waking up.

From there, we have one crying with teeth hurting, two fighting over waffles, one doing his best to require a visit to the ER by vaulting over his desk, and a mama who is wondering if she could fit under the desk and just hide out there for several hours. 

Things that have not worked to get our day on a better path:
~ Group hug.  Nope. 
~ Nicely saying "Love your sister" and "love your brother."
~ YELLING "LOVE YOUR SISTER!!" and "LOVE YOUR BROTHER!!"
~ Bribery.  (Hey, you gotta try what you gotta try.)
~ Chocolate.
~ Separation.  (Well, this has kind of worked.  Nobody is any happier, but at least they're not yelling at each other.)

Now I'm just trying to laugh about it.  And that does seem to be helping a little. 

I AM thankful that both girls accidentally skipped a math lesson earlier and didn't realize it for a couple of days.  I figure if they skipped a lesson and were able to move on, then they can just skip that lesson for good.  This means that being too busy to get to math yesterday didn't make us behind.  Very thankful for that.

I am also thankful that the little one already knows the blend he is supposed to be learning today, so his lesson is easy.

I am thankful that it's Thursday, which is typically a pretty easy day around here, both in schoolwork and in life in general.

I am TRYING to be thankful for the tons of rain we've had.  I am sure I said last summer in the midst of months of no rain that I would never complain about the rain again.  Really, it's not the rain that's driving me crazy now.  It's the days and days of gray skies.  No end to the gray skies.  BUT, we've had enough rain that the doors no longer stick, and that is definitely a good thing! 

Okay, maybe we can get this day back to happy!

Planning ... for the oldest!

Pin It High school?  That little (okay, in actuality not so little) baby that I was afraid I was going to break right after she was born (seriously - I was alone with her in the hospital after she was born, just before we came home.  My job was to get her dressed.  It took about an hour because I was so afraid that she would break.  Turns out she's a lot sturdier than I imagined!)  That child is going to be in high school?  Oh sweet mercy.

Her schooling plans for next year are mostly pretty easy.

We love Teaching Textbooks, so we will continue with that into Algebra 1.  That oughta be loads of fun.  (Why has nobody created a sarcasm font?)  *I* loved algebra.  I suspect her, not so much.

We just started using Easy Grammar Ultimate Series this year, and it's a good fit, so we'll continue with that as well.

She is finishing IEW B this year, so we will continue with that, although I'm really not sure what level she will be going into.  I believe I need to consult an outside opinion on that.  She enjoys writing and does it well, so this has been a good fit for her also.

Then Heart of Dakota for history and science.  This will be her third year of using HOD, and she will be going into the Revival to Revolution guide.  This will cover American history and physical science.

I think one of the best things about all of this is that other than the Easy Grammar, it's non-consumable.  I am trying to keep that in mind when I look at the cost of it.  It's not $XXX.  It's $XXX DIVIDED BY THREE because I can use it for all three!  :D

I am trying now to write a tentative four year plan WITH A CHECKLIST! (!!) to make sure all of the blocks are filled in.  I believe it's a little unnatural, how excited I am about that.  (My life is a series of checklists.  From fourth grade "Do you like Melanie?  Please check the box for yes or no." To current "Does this option include chemistry?"  To my grocery list, which is way too detailed.  It works for me.)

It's funny how much I have enjoyed her Heart of Dakota curriculum.  I started out having her do the history portion independently, but then she would talk about things she was reading and I realized that I had NO IDEA what she was talking about, so I started doing the history portion with her.  I cannot believe how much I am enjoying it.  (And I am wondering how on earth I made A's in school, as little as I currently know about history!  Apparently I became quite adept at cramming for a test and then leaving it all there.  Or maybe it's been 25 years since I was in high school.  Yeah.  Let's blame it on that.)

So ... there are the plans for the oldest, as of now, for 9th grade. 

(Oh, and as an aside ... our homeschooling has never been a WE'RE! GOING! TO! DO! THIS! FOREVER!! type thing.  She wants to remain at home, and I am happy with that.  If she wanted to consider public school we would certainly evaluate that.  She doesn't, so we haven't.)

Let the Planning Begin!

Pin It Do you watch Iron Chef America?  I feel like The Chairman.  Instead of the battle it's the planning, but I feel like it needs a big kick-off like that.

(Read this in The Chairman's voice.)
LET THE PLANNING BEGIN!

(Allez cuisine homeschool!)

Wow.  I cannot believe it is time to start planning for the 2012/2013 school year already.  If you know me, you know that this is probably my favorite part.  I feel like a big ole' nerd just saying that.  Give me paper and lists and OH MY HEAVENS a checklist and I'm a happy girl.

This year is going to be even more fun and challenging to plan because I have a high-schooler.  Did you catch that?  I HAVE A HIGH SCHOOLER.  (Or I will, in the 2012/2013 school year.)  In the span of an hour, I go from very excited about this to completely terrified, and from "we can TOTALLY DO THIS" to "oh my heavens, have I made it too easy/hard/complicated/done too much/done too little/left her completely unprepared, what in the world was I thinking trying to homeschool my children?!?"  (Add that to my post-hysterectomy psychosis mood swings, and you've got a total bundle of joy right here.  You're jealous of my family, I know you are.)

As of now, I have plans for the little one and the middle one pretty much nailed down, other than math for the little one.

The middle one will be doing Heart of Dakota Creation to Christ.  Been around for a while?  You might be thinking that you've read that she has already done this.  She has.  She did it for fourth grade, combined with her sister.  She did okay with it at the time, but I think it is so fabulous that we will enjoy repeating it.  I really want her to grab every morsel out of it, and she and I are both excited about her doing it again.  This time we will add the extensions for her, and as of now, the plan is for her to do this one and Resurrection to Reformation over three years.  (It's going to take some math and juggling to figure out how to make that happen, but I'm up for the challenge!)

She will also be continuing with Bob Jones Reading 6 and English 6, and Teaching Textbooks 6.  This will cover her needs for 6th grade.  LOVING that I already have all of the Creation to Christ stuff and Teaching Textbooks stuff.  I just need to get the student notebook from Heart of Dakota and the BJU worktexts and she's good.  WOOHOO!

The little one will be moving into Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory, also from Heart of Dakota, which we will be spreading out over two years.  He will also be doing the Bob Jones first grade Reading/Phonics/Composition/Handwriting class.  We loved this class when the middle one did it, so I'm looking forward to doing it with him.

I am not sure yet what to do with him for math.  Right now we are using Singapore math, and while it's okay, it doesn't feel like "it" for him.  I feel like I'm marking time until third grade, when we can switch to Teaching Textbooks.  (Second grade, Teaching Textbooks?  Please?)

Okay, I'm mid-post and I have to run.  Plans for the oldest coming up soon.

Gratitude Journal - 341 - 350

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341.  Maybe I should be thankful that this blog still has readers, as inconsistently as I've been posting! 

342.  For chick fil a tortilla soup!  I had some today for lunch and it was quite yummy!

343.  HALFWAY THROUGH WITH SCHOOL!!  WE ARE HALFWAY THROUGH WITH SCHOOL!!  I am definitely thankful to be where we are with this school year.  Each child is doing well and did I mention that we are HALFWAY THROUGH???

344.  I made a meal last night that everybody in my family enjoyed.  Will the wonders ever cease?  It was chicken and dumplings, which I've made before several times.  This was a new, super easy, recipe, in the crock pot, and they loved it.  It will definitely be added to our regular menu!  I love it when I make a meal that everybody likes. 

345.  We really did have a fabulous Christmas and New Year's.  We were able to spend both with my family, so it was nice to be able to visit. 

346.  For a very smooth first day of co-op, and realizing that I missed it over the break.  I also realized that I am really enjoying it this year, as are each of my children.  This is an enormous blessing!

347.  For filling out our calendar and plans for the remainder of the year, and realizing that we will be finishing right when I would like to. 

348.  For being gently pushed out of my comfort zone in some areas, and being shoved out of there in some other areas, and realizing that where He calls, He equips. 

349.  For the rain the last week.  It is really odd to have a drought here, which we had last summer and fall.  There has been quite a bit of rain over the last month or so though, which has been really nice.

350.  For this.  Adoption final for my nephews, now brother/nephews.

I will be linking up with A Holy Experience today.  Hop on over and read some more gratitude journals!

Hi!

Pin It I am still here.  :)

I actually have several blog posts in progress.  We are back in the swing of regular life around here, so maybe I'll be able to get back in the swing of regular blogging as well.  Or maybe not.  We'll see.

That's what I like best about me.  I'm consistent.  Haha~!!

I love getting back into a normal routine. 
The house has been de-Christmas-fied.
The kids are back working on school things.
The New Years resolutions are written.
The leftovers are being eaten/planned for/frozen.

That is kind of the way I like it.  I'm always anxious to get the Christmas stuff out and get all decorated, but I am equally anxious to get it all put back away and get the house back in order as soon as the last present is opened!

Ah ... schedules ... routines ... calendars ... menus ... BACK TO NORMAL!!

Blogging?  We'll see ...  :D

Merry Christmas!

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Home Again, and Giggling

Pin It First, thank you all for the concern and prayers regarding my last post.  I really am doing okay, it's just that some days are hard.  I know you all know what I mean.

We got home safely, and I really just have a minute to post, but I am totally giggling and have to share.

Our Christmas ornaments have been through a lot.  Some have been through several moves, and most were not top quality to begin with.  I started a series of Disney ornaments about 19 years ago with the intention of saving them up and then giving them to my nephew when he was old enough to have his own tree.

Not gonna happen.  Sorry, nephew.

These ornaments really were so cute to start out.  Various Disney characters, brightly colored and cheery.  Through the years though, well, they have shown some wear and tear.

My oldest commented that opening the Christmas decoration box is a combination of Christmas and Halloween all in one.  Peter Pan is missing an arm.  Scrooge McDuck is missing a leg.  The number of intact dalmations is way less than 101.  The worst off is poor Snow White.  I am not sure what the dwarfs did to her, but she is missing a head.  (The only dwarf that is still here is grumpy.  'Nuff said.)

Now I can't stop giggling at the Christmas/Halloween tree.

At least it looks really pretty when it's dark and the lights are on!

(And yes, pictures are to come.  My memory card is full of pics from our trip and I've been afraid to get them off because I'm hoping that the perfect Christmas card pic is on there, and I don't want to be disappointed!)