Then a couple chapters of Little Britches. We read the part where his father talks about character being like a house. If you take a few boards here and there to burn for your pleasure you soon won't have any house left. Food for thought.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Lincoln: A Photobiography
I began reading this to Sydney this morning and before I knew it everyone was huddled in the living room listening. :) I ended up reading a week's worth--they wouldn't let me stop!
Then a couple chapters of Little Britches. We read the part where his father talks about character being like a house. If you take a few boards here and there to burn for your pleasure you soon won't have any house left. Food for thought.
Then a couple chapters of Little Britches. We read the part where his father talks about character being like a house. If you take a few boards here and there to burn for your pleasure you soon won't have any house left. Food for thought.
MOSI Monday
It was Homeschool Days at MOSI yesterday so we packed up the van with my sister's family and headed north through the pouring rain. I was unaware that MOSI's prices had skyrocketed in the last few years to over $20 for the basic ticket and that didn't include an imax film nor the special exhibit. We figured it would have cost us nearly $600 normally for all that we took in yesterday. We paid @ $60. Not a bad deal.
We hit the special exhibit, The CSI Experience first. We perused a crime scene looking for clues and then hit the different labs, "processing" our evidence. It was fun.
Then we went through the disaster exhibits and the body section.
Then we ate lunch. Gluten Free. :-D
I wasn't feeling well after lunch (I'd picked up some gluten earlier that morning) but everyone else went to the Planetarium show and loved it. Hunter told Jerry he "saw the milky way!" The lead astronomer there was homeschooled K-12 and was cracking a lot of homeschool jokes about not being socialized. :)
The Hubble Imax was next. What an amazing movie! I think it's the best imax I've seen so far. The film of the "birthplace of stars" was breathtaking.
We finished up by solving two more cases in the CSI Experience and a ride in the flight simulator. Time to head home.
A great day!
We hit the special exhibit, The CSI Experience first. We perused a crime scene looking for clues and then hit the different labs, "processing" our evidence. It was fun.
Then we went through the disaster exhibits and the body section.
Then we ate lunch. Gluten Free. :-D
I wasn't feeling well after lunch (I'd picked up some gluten earlier that morning) but everyone else went to the Planetarium show and loved it. Hunter told Jerry he "saw the milky way!" The lead astronomer there was homeschooled K-12 and was cracking a lot of homeschool jokes about not being socialized. :)
The Hubble Imax was next. What an amazing movie! I think it's the best imax I've seen so far. The film of the "birthplace of stars" was breathtaking.
We finished up by solving two more cases in the CSI Experience and a ride in the flight simulator. Time to head home.
A great day!
Friday
Friday went by in a blur. We did some school, hit the library quickly and went to S&S's first volleyball game of the season. They won! It was fun. I was exhausted!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Momentum!
I think we're picking up some steam. We did Home Ec at the laundromat this morning and read a chapter of Little Britches while the britches were washing. ;) Then home for lunch and hit the books. Everyone did some math and Morgan is working on a new story today about our amorous cockatiels and their eggs hatching. I ran out of steam about 3pm but after a short break picked back up and worked on the younger two's RA, History and Science.
Looking for a great day tomorrow--and the girls' first volleyball game!
Looking for a great day tomorrow--and the girls' first volleyball game!
Wednesday--Forward Progress!
There was more discussion about how the Hanging Files and the PlanIts will work and finally some forward progress! Everyone but Morgan did math and Shelby did grammar, too. I don't think anyone will actually get their full week's assignments done but we're getting back into a groove.
M(9) pitched a hissy fit about doing school, citing her friends' comments that going to school was a lot more fun than homeschooling. She sat and pouted and I threatened to send her back to bed. Finally I gave her a job she'd been begging to do--labeling all of S's hanging files. That popped her out of her pout and then I remembered a book I'd seen (whilst looking for the missing Landmark :( ) that I knew she'd love to read. She is enamored with The Cat in the Hat and I saw I had The Cat in the Hat Comes Back. Sure enough, she devoured the book and then offered to write a book report if she could have a new notebook out of the box of shiny new school supplies. Hmmmm, twist my arm....NOT! Shore thing, honey-child!
She proceeded to write about 8 sentences about the book. Then she went on to write a story about her BFF. Now we have some work to do on penmanship, spelling, punctuation and capitalization but it's a start. Who cares if she doesn't want to do workbooks (well, math is non-negotiable)--she can write and rewrite.
It totally amazes me how different each child is. My first, A, hated writing with a passion. Any kind of writing. She does well now (Dean's list in college last semester and an A in Writing 101) but it was a very hard road getting her there. Now M just jumps in! Makes me glad I'm homeschooling her and we can take that kind of detour easily.
H (7) worked a lot in his Math, continuing to polish his time-telling skills.
All in all, a better day!
ETA: I forgot to add that I lost another book--Caddie Woodlawn. :( I was looking forward to reading this again and it's absent from the shelf. I saw the library has the audio on the shelf and we may listen to it while we finish cleaning the garage this weekend. Meanwhile, I moved on to Little Britches. Where are my Core 4 books disappearing to????
M(9) pitched a hissy fit about doing school, citing her friends' comments that going to school was a lot more fun than homeschooling. She sat and pouted and I threatened to send her back to bed. Finally I gave her a job she'd been begging to do--labeling all of S's hanging files. That popped her out of her pout and then I remembered a book I'd seen (whilst looking for the missing Landmark :( ) that I knew she'd love to read. She is enamored with The Cat in the Hat and I saw I had The Cat in the Hat Comes Back. Sure enough, she devoured the book and then offered to write a book report if she could have a new notebook out of the box of shiny new school supplies. Hmmmm, twist my arm....NOT! Shore thing, honey-child!
She proceeded to write about 8 sentences about the book. Then she went on to write a story about her BFF. Now we have some work to do on penmanship, spelling, punctuation and capitalization but it's a start. Who cares if she doesn't want to do workbooks (well, math is non-negotiable)--she can write and rewrite.
It totally amazes me how different each child is. My first, A, hated writing with a passion. Any kind of writing. She does well now (Dean's list in college last semester and an A in Writing 101) but it was a very hard road getting her there. Now M just jumps in! Makes me glad I'm homeschooling her and we can take that kind of detour easily.
H (7) worked a lot in his Math, continuing to polish his time-telling skills.
All in all, a better day!
ETA: I forgot to add that I lost another book--Caddie Woodlawn. :( I was looking forward to reading this again and it's absent from the shelf. I saw the library has the audio on the shelf and we may listen to it while we finish cleaning the garage this weekend. Meanwhile, I moved on to Little Britches. Where are my Core 4 books disappearing to????
Tuesday
Tuesday didn't go a whole lot better than Monday. Kept going over the schedule, did some math. The girls seem to be more curious about the PlanIt and are playing around with it.
How can I lose my Landmark History of the American People?? Spent too much time looking for it. :( I had all of Core 4 on a shelf together and now??? Not so much. Praying it will turn up.
We love that book, by the way. It has fascinating facts and analysis at every turn. I can't wait to dive back into it! When I find it. :/
How can I lose my Landmark History of the American People?? Spent too much time looking for it. :( I had all of Core 4 on a shelf together and now??? Not so much. Praying it will turn up.
We love that book, by the way. It has fascinating facts and analysis at every turn. I can't wait to dive back into it! When I find it. :/
Monday--Getting Down to Business
So, we're working on doing regular, intense school. It's been a real battle. :( But we're making progress!
Monday:
Time Management & Organization
Finished setting up everyone's assignments and going over the new systems. For S15 & S13, I'm using a hanging file system--36 files, one for each week. The goal is to empower them to focus and get it done before summer next spring! They won't have to wait for me to make a schedule every week--it's right there. I put their IG pages in there with their assignments highlighted. I also cut apart their Winston Grammar workbooks and put those in the weeks, too. If something doesn't get done it goes into the next week. But there are consequences for not being done--no special privileges on the weekends, no friend time, no sleeping in. You play; you pay. Sorry, Charlie!
To go along with the Hanging Files, I bought the middle girls (S&S) these combination
planner/organizers and book bags to keep their weekly work in. Even though this system is made for children who go to school, I think it's going to work great! There's a folder for each subject and a corresponding space each day in the planner for them to write down what they actually accomplish daily. Shelby is doing Sonlight's Core 100 and the bag is just right to put her assignments in the files and a history reader and lit reader in the front pocket. The planner slides in the back and there's no excuse for not writing it down. It even has a pouch for an iPod with an outlet for headphones--and we regularly incorporate our iPods in our school. (I love Audible--they have many Sonlight titles and I utilize them to give my throat a rest--doing 2 or 3 Cores' Read Alouds can be hard on the voice.)
So we got everything set up, talked about the new schedule and did a little math. And that's it. sigh.
Monday:
Time Management & Organization
Finished setting up everyone's assignments and going over the new systems. For S15 & S13, I'm using a hanging file system--36 files, one for each week. The goal is to empower them to focus and get it done before summer next spring! They won't have to wait for me to make a schedule every week--it's right there. I put their IG pages in there with their assignments highlighted. I also cut apart their Winston Grammar workbooks and put those in the weeks, too. If something doesn't get done it goes into the next week. But there are consequences for not being done--no special privileges on the weekends, no friend time, no sleeping in. You play; you pay. Sorry, Charlie!
To go along with the Hanging Files, I bought the middle girls (S&S) these combination
planner/organizers and book bags to keep their weekly work in. Even though this system is made for children who go to school, I think it's going to work great! There's a folder for each subject and a corresponding space each day in the planner for them to write down what they actually accomplish daily. Shelby is doing Sonlight's Core 100 and the bag is just right to put her assignments in the files and a history reader and lit reader in the front pocket. The planner slides in the back and there's no excuse for not writing it down. It even has a pouch for an iPod with an outlet for headphones--and we regularly incorporate our iPods in our school. (I love Audible--they have many Sonlight titles and I utilize them to give my throat a rest--doing 2 or 3 Cores' Read Alouds can be hard on the voice.)So we got everything set up, talked about the new schedule and did a little math. And that's it. sigh.
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