Hi everyone,
Yesterday after I dropped my boys off at school I was heading home up our winding two lane road. Cars coming at me were flashing their lights which meant to be careful because something out of the ordinary was up ahead. Well what I saw was a school bus broken down on the side of the road which was mostly in the lane it was driving in because there is no where else for it to go. I also saw my daughter and her classmates sitting on rocks up and off to the side of this broken down bus. Oi vey. I didn't know if I should wave or keep going. I slowed down, talked to them and decided to head up to the school since cell phone reception is sketchy on our road. No police or security were there to direct traffic so I knew it had just happened. I drove up to the school to alert them. The school admins knew and were trying to get the proper people to help the kids. The kids were on their way to a field trip when liquid started leading inside the bus and then something exploded or popped from what they described. They were stuck on the side of the road for an hour and a half. Poor kids. They did continue on to the field trip, just really late.
When I got home I ended up sorting through our curriculum cabinets which are in our garage. There was a used curriculum sale today with other home schooling people so I had several motivations in getting this done. The cabinets just needed to be cleaned up, sorted through, and organized. As I was cleaning and sorting I had to figure out what I really didn't want anymore or that I knew I wouldn't use. I then took my 2012 A Beka catalog and inventoried what I have on hand so I could figure out what I needed to buy. Of course the A Beka curriculum I have is not current, but usually not much changes except the cover. When I organize my books I put them in subjects and then grades. Also my elementary is separated from my upper grades too.
I found I had sold my fourth grade curriculum a few years ago when we were fundraising. Now that the girl I was fundraising for is home, and in need of some school books I need to buy some; preferably used.
We had Awana Awards last night at church. This year I was the slacker mom. The mom whose kids didn't finish their books. This is the first year since 1988 that none of my kids have not finished a book. We dropped the ball. The big Awana ball. Next year we'll have to be on top of this. No more "Participant" after our name!
At today's curriculum sale there was not much to pick from. Most people are not using A Beka anymore so there is not that much to buy. I did find some from someone with older kids, but not much from anyone else. I picked out two items from one mom and went to my van to get money to pay her. I must have gotten distracted because she came to me a long time later (like 45 min) and reminded me that I had not paid her. Her car was so close. How could I have been so distracted within minutes to forget to go pay her. For the love. I am losing my mind. Which is not news to anyone who is around me on a daily or weekly basis. Most people would tell you I lost my mind a long time ago.
We then went to Michael's and picked up two presentation boards. The two middle school boys need them for their science fair projects. The boards had to be the one that has the three different sections to it. Never easy there were two choices. I can't stand making decisions for people, but calling home and talking to my son about what and why it was needed was like talking to a brick wall. I decided to get a larger board; just to keep it on the safe side.
Went to Target and bought some hair color. I've been in hair turmoil for two years now. I want to stop coloring my hair and let the natural white/gray take over, but I don't want to go through the process. Who does? I lightened my hair two weeks ago and bought an even lighter shade this time, but I want someone to help me blend it in since I do have some growth and want the colors to blend nicely. I also bought some groceries for lunches.
Since we were having carne asada and pollo asada tacos I decided to stop by the little market here in town. They cater to a Mexican population and always have delicious salsa, chips, and guacamole as well as cotija cheese. When we were at Costco last time we bought some uncooked corn tortillas. I cooked the asadas on my giant skillet (Steve was painting so no bbqing) and fried some red peppers and onions to go on the tacos. Heated up those corn tortillas and we are talking quite a feast. It was delish. Those tortillas are a must. I.must.have.them.with.my.meal.
Now the girls are in bed, high schoolers are at youth group, middle schoolers are doing school work, and we're relaxing. Steve has been painting the ceiling in our living room which is two stories high. There is a beam with tract lighting that needed to get done so he was working on that.
Tomorrow Jesse comes home with Sage and Jaidyn! The last time I saw my granddaughter she was just hours old. Can't wait to love on her!
Showing posts with label Homeschooling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homeschooling. Show all posts
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Legoland!
We went to LEGOLAND with our homeschool group this past week. It's the only way we can afford to go to such places.
We were able to take five of our girls, our daughter-in-law Arianne, and two grandsons. We had so much fun together. I enjoyed holding Stephen while his mom went on rides with Scott or the girls. I went on one ride, the little rollercoaster and thought I would die. I have no idea why since I love rollercoasters.
This is Addis. Aren't those Lego alligators something else?
Adah and Addis
Anna, Scott and me
Steve made the two oldest go down the slide together.
Our granddaughter Makenna
On our way out. Thank you LEGOLAND!
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Homeschool or Not to Homeschool?
I have been preparing all summer to school my three youngest girls at home. We did well on Tuesday, our official start day. However, my face froze up (I'm guessing from stress) and my 2 1/2 year old grandson wasn't real keen on the idea of keeping quiet during school (I was taking his playmates away.)
A few of the girls came with me to pick up their older sibs from school, and well the enticement of friends, fun, and so-called freedom won over. We enrolled them the next day. Except.....the classes were now full and my second grader needed to go back into the first grade class. One of my girls was repeating first grade anyways, but in many ways she does better than the one who was promoted to second grade. My girls were not happy campers.
A few days went by and by Friday two of the girls withdrew from school. Two second graders sitting in with first graders was NOT going to cut it in their book. Then the third grader (the one who really needs to NOT be in a group setting) wanted to withdraw also. This week they're all three home.
We received permission from our church to use a classroom during the day so we could have somewhere quiet to go. Except two mornings a week BSF is there, which means we shouldn't be.
I'm tired. Do I REALLY want to do this all year long? I've done this for twenty-five years now. These girls put a different spin on it though. All three are high-maintenance and low tolerance for each other which are two reasons I did want to keep them home this year. The bonding. Between them. Between us for the third grader. She is absolutely a different child when she is not in a group. I thought about this yesterday and it could be that the classroom setting takes her back to her time in the orphanage, and there was where she was criticized and had to look out for her self.
We're trudging through our A Beka readers, our Saxon Math, our Rod & Staff spelling books, and loving our Blessed Heritage history.
A few of the girls came with me to pick up their older sibs from school, and well the enticement of friends, fun, and so-called freedom won over. We enrolled them the next day. Except.....the classes were now full and my second grader needed to go back into the first grade class. One of my girls was repeating first grade anyways, but in many ways she does better than the one who was promoted to second grade. My girls were not happy campers.
A few days went by and by Friday two of the girls withdrew from school. Two second graders sitting in with first graders was NOT going to cut it in their book. Then the third grader (the one who really needs to NOT be in a group setting) wanted to withdraw also. This week they're all three home.
We received permission from our church to use a classroom during the day so we could have somewhere quiet to go. Except two mornings a week BSF is there, which means we shouldn't be.
I'm tired. Do I REALLY want to do this all year long? I've done this for twenty-five years now. These girls put a different spin on it though. All three are high-maintenance and low tolerance for each other which are two reasons I did want to keep them home this year. The bonding. Between them. Between us for the third grader. She is absolutely a different child when she is not in a group. I thought about this yesterday and it could be that the classroom setting takes her back to her time in the orphanage, and there was where she was criticized and had to look out for her self.
We're trudging through our A Beka readers, our Saxon Math, our Rod & Staff spelling books, and loving our Blessed Heritage history.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Ordered my Curriculum
I decided to go ahead and order the Robinson Curriculum CD's. I've printed three of the books off Book Depository. The books I've printed are The Tale of Solomon Owl, The Tale of Chirpy Cricket, and the Tale of Jolly Robin. These books are written by Arthur Scott Baily of whom I had never heard of until I saw the Robinson Booklist which you can find here. www.robinsoncurriculum.com/view/rc/booklevel.htm
A little write-up on Arthur Scott Bailey on Book Depository:
Arthur Scott Bailey (1877-1949) was the author of more than forty children's books. Bailey's writing has been thus described by the Newark Evening News: "Mr. Bailey centered all his plots in the animal, bird and insect worlds, weaving natural history into the stories in a way that won educator's approval without arousing the suspicions of his young readers. He made it a habit to never 'write down' to children and frequently used words beyond the average juvenile vocabulary, believing that youngsters respond to the stimulus of the unfamiliar."
My printer has a booklet option, but only prints on one side which makes the books bigger since I need to use more paper. I used a laminated cardstock cover, staples, and some duct tape and bound my "book" together. I'm stalking Rose Gate Harbor because she gives very useful tips http://users.gobigwest.com/rosegate/index.html and why re-invent the wheel?
We priced laser dual side printers last week and decided we were going to check prices at some other stores. Well wouldn't you know that they went on sale this week at Office Depot? We scored! It was $80 the regular price making it $199 and if you bought toner at the same time they took $20 off the toner and they included a free label maker as part of the deal. After it's set-up I can print to my heart's delight! We decided on the color one because it has wireless ability and even though I wouldn't know how to use it now, it's nice to have the option. I will still use my ink jet printer for general use, but use my laser printer for printing the books. The laser printer also prints dual sides automatically so that will be a big timesaver and paper saver.
The first level readers are the McGuffey Series so I found a set on Ebay and ordered those which came to about $39 and they are in pristine condition. I've never used McGuffey's or even been exposed to them. I've homeschooled for twenty-four years and I don't know why I've never come across them, but I haven't. This set didn't come with the Parent-Teacher guide so I ordered that off Amazon. The set I bought are the reprints from Mott Media.
http://www.mottmedia.com/pages/publications.asp?Pub=McGuffey
On the Blessed Heritage side of the curriculum I have been browsing and buying some of the readers recommended. I found that I have a few of them, but need more. I went to the library bookstore and found a younger children's version of a book about Duke Ellington. I bought two books on ebay, one on Phillis Wheatly and one on Benjamin Banneker. I found a nice thicker book on famous African-Americans.
I have been busy and we are excited for our next year. We're trying to finish out the school year at the little charter school they go to. For our two oldest girls the social drama makes it tough, but we know we only have another month to go. If they said the word they would be out of there in a heartbeat, but for now I'm letting them work it out as long as they're comfortable with doing that. I've had enough kids to know I can't fight their battles for them, I can be their advocate, and I can stop them from being exposed to others, but they're learning to speak up for themselves and at this point, that is a good thing for them to learn.
A little write-up on Arthur Scott Bailey on Book Depository:
Arthur Scott Bailey (1877-1949) was the author of more than forty children's books. Bailey's writing has been thus described by the Newark Evening News: "Mr. Bailey centered all his plots in the animal, bird and insect worlds, weaving natural history into the stories in a way that won educator's approval without arousing the suspicions of his young readers. He made it a habit to never 'write down' to children and frequently used words beyond the average juvenile vocabulary, believing that youngsters respond to the stimulus of the unfamiliar."
My printer has a booklet option, but only prints on one side which makes the books bigger since I need to use more paper. I used a laminated cardstock cover, staples, and some duct tape and bound my "book" together. I'm stalking Rose Gate Harbor because she gives very useful tips http://users.gobigwest.com/rosegate/index.html and why re-invent the wheel?
We priced laser dual side printers last week and decided we were going to check prices at some other stores. Well wouldn't you know that they went on sale this week at Office Depot? We scored! It was $80 the regular price making it $199 and if you bought toner at the same time they took $20 off the toner and they included a free label maker as part of the deal. After it's set-up I can print to my heart's delight! We decided on the color one because it has wireless ability and even though I wouldn't know how to use it now, it's nice to have the option. I will still use my ink jet printer for general use, but use my laser printer for printing the books. The laser printer also prints dual sides automatically so that will be a big timesaver and paper saver.
The first level readers are the McGuffey Series so I found a set on Ebay and ordered those which came to about $39 and they are in pristine condition. I've never used McGuffey's or even been exposed to them. I've homeschooled for twenty-four years and I don't know why I've never come across them, but I haven't. This set didn't come with the Parent-Teacher guide so I ordered that off Amazon. The set I bought are the reprints from Mott Media. http://www.mottmedia.com/pages/publications.asp?Pub=McGuffey
On the Blessed Heritage side of the curriculum I have been browsing and buying some of the readers recommended. I found that I have a few of them, but need more. I went to the library bookstore and found a younger children's version of a book about Duke Ellington. I bought two books on ebay, one on Phillis Wheatly and one on Benjamin Banneker. I found a nice thicker book on famous African-Americans.
I have been busy and we are excited for our next year. We're trying to finish out the school year at the little charter school they go to. For our two oldest girls the social drama makes it tough, but we know we only have another month to go. If they said the word they would be out of there in a heartbeat, but for now I'm letting them work it out as long as they're comfortable with doing that. I've had enough kids to know I can't fight their battles for them, I can be their advocate, and I can stop them from being exposed to others, but they're learning to speak up for themselves and at this point, that is a good thing for them to learn.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Education With a Twist
I wrote in a previous post that I was looking into the Robinson Curriculum. I couldn't put my finger on what wasn't clicking for me. The books in the curriculum are written for the Caucasian homeschooler. Well, that would have worked for my eight bio kids who have ancestors from England, but why would these books be of interest for my girls from Africa? They have a history, they have a heritage, and it's not the one form England.
On the other hand, their heritage is not the one that African Americans have either. My girls are African, Ethiopian to be more precise. I'm entering into an area I don't have experience in, but I'm willing to learn right along with them. I've always been interested in Harriet Tubman, Amos Fortune, Sojourner Truth, and others like them.
In my research I came across Blessed Heritage-Educational resources to foster understanding of the spiritual and racial heritage of children of color.
I've ordered:
Nuturing Christian Character Through the Black Experience. http://www.blessedheritage.com/christcharacter.html
Our Story, His-Story
http://www.blessedheritage.com/elemhistory1.html
This Far by Faith
http://www.blessedheritage.com/midhistory1.html
I've also gone to paperbackswap.com and ordered a few books that I found in Great Books for Girls by Kathleen Odean.
I'm looking forward to walking this path with my girls. If anyone knows of a child's study of Ethiopian history I would LOVE to know about it.
On the other hand, their heritage is not the one that African Americans have either. My girls are African, Ethiopian to be more precise. I'm entering into an area I don't have experience in, but I'm willing to learn right along with them. I've always been interested in Harriet Tubman, Amos Fortune, Sojourner Truth, and others like them.
In my research I came across Blessed Heritage-Educational resources to foster understanding of the spiritual and racial heritage of children of color.
I've ordered:
Nuturing Christian Character Through the Black Experience. http://www.blessedheritage.com/christcharacter.html
Our Story, His-Story
http://www.blessedheritage.com/elemhistory1.html
This Far by Faith
http://www.blessedheritage.com/midhistory1.html
I've also gone to paperbackswap.com and ordered a few books that I found in Great Books for Girls by Kathleen Odean.
I'm looking forward to walking this path with my girls. If anyone knows of a child's study of Ethiopian history I would LOVE to know about it.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Confessions of a Homeschooler
I came across Confessions of a Homeschooler website a few months ago. I love her curriculum! What caught my eye the first few visits are her USA and World Geography lessons. You can find them here. USA and World Geography I'm going to use one or the other next year with my girls.
She also has Preschool and K4 curriculum available. Since I have my three year old granddaughter throughout the week here and there I though she might enjoy the Preschool lessons. She'll do school like the big girls and start learning her letters and other big girl stuff.
She also has lessons for Art, Science, Composers, Literature and more. Go check out Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler.com if you haven't already met her. She has wonderful ideas!
She also has Preschool and K4 curriculum available. Since I have my three year old granddaughter throughout the week here and there I though she might enjoy the Preschool lessons. She'll do school like the big girls and start learning her letters and other big girl stuff.
She also has lessons for Art, Science, Composers, Literature and more. Go check out Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler.com if you haven't already met her. She has wonderful ideas!
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
The Real Mother Goose
I used to read this book as a child over and over again. I loved the nursery rhymes and didn't mind reading them over and over again. I found this the other day at the thrift store so I bought if for myself. Rhymes are good for children and my older girls missed out on this in their education so backtracking can't hurt.
Cock-a-doodle-do!
Cock-a-doodle-do!
My dame has lost her shoe,
My master's lost his fiddle-stick
And knows not what to do.
Cock-a-doodle do!
What is my dame to do?
Till master finds his fiddle-stick,
She'll dance without her shoe.
The Pumpkin-Eater
Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater,
Had a wife and couldn't keep her.
He put her in a pumkin shell,
And there he kept her very well.
Monday, October 15, 2012
To homeschool or not to homeschool?
That is the question.
My girls go to a small school two miles from our house. It's ideal as far as the location and the smallness of the school. However, my oldest girl is different enough that she is not wanted at the lunch table with the other girls her age. Hmmmm...they talk to her as individuals but not as a group.
These same girls come up to her and want to know why she has her hair up in a ponytail and not down like them. She explains to each of them that her hair is different and she prefers to keep it up. They then proceed to try and touch her hair and she tells them 'NO' and they do it anyways.
Then comes in girl number two who was in tears today at lunch becauseher friend a girl was calling her a "B" and spreading a rumor that she liked a boy and then other kids were telling other kids. This is a girl who is eleven or twelve in her body, but four or five in her concept of such things. She doesn't understand such things. In Ethiopia if they treated each other this way the offender would get whipped and made to apologize.
My youngest two have been wanting to come home since school started, but I really like their teacher and frankly, wanted the break this year to get my house and head back in order. I've home educated twenty-four years and I thought a break would be great to help me get things in place. They don't have issues with the learning and educational part of school, they have issues with the social aspect. Boys throw pencils at them, push them, etc...they're really just being boys, but they're girls and they don't like it.
So I ponder and pray. They'll go to school tomorrow, and I really hope everything blows over and their life is wonderful and full of roses, but for some reason I don't think that will happen.
Tonight I will peek through the Sonlight catalog and see if it will work for us. I believe God is telling me to bring them home and use Sonlight. Why Sonlight? I have no idea. I'm a true blue A Beka gal, but maybe my girls need Sonlight and the closeness it requires of us as a family. Meskerem is settled into our family enough that I could educate her. My Bell's Palsy is getting better, enough that I could teach them without the sounding out of words becoming a problem.
And by the way my boys got an A+ and an A on the cell project they did. Good job, guys!
My girls go to a small school two miles from our house. It's ideal as far as the location and the smallness of the school. However, my oldest girl is different enough that she is not wanted at the lunch table with the other girls her age. Hmmmm...they talk to her as individuals but not as a group.
These same girls come up to her and want to know why she has her hair up in a ponytail and not down like them. She explains to each of them that her hair is different and she prefers to keep it up. They then proceed to try and touch her hair and she tells them 'NO' and they do it anyways.
Then comes in girl number two who was in tears today at lunch because
My youngest two have been wanting to come home since school started, but I really like their teacher and frankly, wanted the break this year to get my house and head back in order. I've home educated twenty-four years and I thought a break would be great to help me get things in place. They don't have issues with the learning and educational part of school, they have issues with the social aspect. Boys throw pencils at them, push them, etc...they're really just being boys, but they're girls and they don't like it.
So I ponder and pray. They'll go to school tomorrow, and I really hope everything blows over and their life is wonderful and full of roses, but for some reason I don't think that will happen.
Tonight I will peek through the Sonlight catalog and see if it will work for us. I believe God is telling me to bring them home and use Sonlight. Why Sonlight? I have no idea. I'm a true blue A Beka gal, but maybe my girls need Sonlight and the closeness it requires of us as a family. Meskerem is settled into our family enough that I could educate her. My Bell's Palsy is getting better, enough that I could teach them without the sounding out of words becoming a problem.
And by the way my boys got an A+ and an A on the cell project they did. Good job, guys!
Monday, October 8, 2012
What I've done the last 24 hours.
I took the girls to a birthday party at Pump It Up. They had a really fun time jumping around on the jumpaleens as Adah calls them for about an hour and a half. Then they had pizza and ice cream cake before we went home.
I asked the girls on the way home when the last time was that we had washed hair. We remembered that we had gone to a birthday party last Sunday so we didn't wash it then which meant it was hair washing night. I take the little girls one by one and wash their hair twice and then put conditioner in and we leave it in for twenty minutes. While this is sitting in their hair I put them in the bath and start on the next one. I bring them back into the shower where we wash all the conditioner out and they're able to rinse all the bathtub yuck off of them. This method works well for me since they're not old enough to wash their hair themselves. Thankfully Addis & Abi are able to wash and style their own hair.
This morning all five girls were to school by 8:00. Addis does their hair in the morning for me while I prepare lunches and breakfast. After I drop them off I come home and pick-up the lunch and breakfast mess, get a load of laundry going, and do some type of cleaning or organizing.
Today I organized my coupons. I have been cutting them and filing them which takes a lot of work. The way I'm going to try it is file them by date and/or coupon publisher. I have Red Plum, Smart Source, Proctor & Gamble. I took it a step further and put my grocery store ads in a file and then also one for other stores. I use www.grocerysmarts.com which tells me what coupon to use for a particular item and the coupon source.
After getting that accomplished my jr. high boys needed help with math. Those pesky uncommon denominators were getting the better of them. They also had a three paragraph essay due on a Mark Twain story called The Californian's Tale. http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/mtwain/bl-mtwain-cal.htm I read the story to them since they weren't getting the gist of it. They wrote out their summary and I'll look over that tomorrow. I had never read it before and was taken aback by the ending.
In between all that we were also working on their 3D animal cell project that is due this week. We got the idea for the project from YouTube.
http://youtu.be/HhtkCYqRIFg
Last week we took our coupons to Michael's to buy the supplies for our animal cell project, and bought the styrofoam balls, white foam sheets, and some other things. We used some black spray paint that we had, and Steve brought home some wood from work for the base. I did most of the cutting because I didn't want them to get hurt cutting out a piece from a 10" styrofoam ball. I used my serrated knife for most of it and it was challenging. Our nucleus accidentally got thrown away so the boys used the end of a badminton birdie.
This is John's finished project.
After we did that I did a few pick-ups from school. Some of the girls like to come home after school and a few like to stay for the after school program. I let them stay and play a few extra hours. I only allow it a few times a week because of our schedule and they get so tired.
Steve & I went out for dinner and let the kids fend for themselves. They had leftover chicken from our dinner on Friday when we had company and James made rice and biscuits to go with it.
We're home now and I'm chatting on fb with my daughter. I have one son at soccer practice. One is sitting behind me trying to download iTunes to a new computer, one is working on schoolwork, three girls are in bed, and I don't know what the other three are doing, but it's quiet. Which is always a good thing.
I asked the girls on the way home when the last time was that we had washed hair. We remembered that we had gone to a birthday party last Sunday so we didn't wash it then which meant it was hair washing night. I take the little girls one by one and wash their hair twice and then put conditioner in and we leave it in for twenty minutes. While this is sitting in their hair I put them in the bath and start on the next one. I bring them back into the shower where we wash all the conditioner out and they're able to rinse all the bathtub yuck off of them. This method works well for me since they're not old enough to wash their hair themselves. Thankfully Addis & Abi are able to wash and style their own hair.
This morning all five girls were to school by 8:00. Addis does their hair in the morning for me while I prepare lunches and breakfast. After I drop them off I come home and pick-up the lunch and breakfast mess, get a load of laundry going, and do some type of cleaning or organizing.
Today I organized my coupons. I have been cutting them and filing them which takes a lot of work. The way I'm going to try it is file them by date and/or coupon publisher. I have Red Plum, Smart Source, Proctor & Gamble. I took it a step further and put my grocery store ads in a file and then also one for other stores. I use www.grocerysmarts.com which tells me what coupon to use for a particular item and the coupon source.
After getting that accomplished my jr. high boys needed help with math. Those pesky uncommon denominators were getting the better of them. They also had a three paragraph essay due on a Mark Twain story called The Californian's Tale. http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/mtwain/bl-mtwain-cal.htm I read the story to them since they weren't getting the gist of it. They wrote out their summary and I'll look over that tomorrow. I had never read it before and was taken aback by the ending.
In between all that we were also working on their 3D animal cell project that is due this week. We got the idea for the project from YouTube.
http://youtu.be/HhtkCYqRIFg
Last week we took our coupons to Michael's to buy the supplies for our animal cell project, and bought the styrofoam balls, white foam sheets, and some other things. We used some black spray paint that we had, and Steve brought home some wood from work for the base. I did most of the cutting because I didn't want them to get hurt cutting out a piece from a 10" styrofoam ball. I used my serrated knife for most of it and it was challenging. Our nucleus accidentally got thrown away so the boys used the end of a badminton birdie.
This is John's finished project.
After we did that I did a few pick-ups from school. Some of the girls like to come home after school and a few like to stay for the after school program. I let them stay and play a few extra hours. I only allow it a few times a week because of our schedule and they get so tired.
Steve & I went out for dinner and let the kids fend for themselves. They had leftover chicken from our dinner on Friday when we had company and James made rice and biscuits to go with it.
We're home now and I'm chatting on fb with my daughter. I have one son at soccer practice. One is sitting behind me trying to download iTunes to a new computer, one is working on schoolwork, three girls are in bed, and I don't know what the other three are doing, but it's quiet. Which is always a good thing.
Friday, October 5, 2012
We Give Books
We Give Books is a resource every parent should utilize. Just by joining (free) you have access to online books. Last night I personally read about a ficitional book about a boy who lived in Haiti during the recent earthquake and found a soccer ball of source of happiness not only to him, but to other children as well. My six year old daughter saw one with a gymnast so we looked at that and now she is ready to do gymnastics when she gets home.
This is a great website. All the books are FREE!!!!! Grab your kid and go read a book together. It's a win-win situation.
http://wegivebooks.org
This is from their website:
We are dedicated to delivering award-winning books empowering you to read and share beautiful stories with children in your life. With age-appropriate content for young readers, our goal is to create memories that will last a lifetime.
Books are right at the heart of this program — books for reading and books for giving!
All of the books available for online reading are children's picture books appropriate for children through age ten. There is a mix of fiction and nonfiction, a range of authors, and an equal balance between read-alouds and books for independent readers. We'll be adding news books every month, together with special seasonal offerings.
The We Give Books team works upfront with each non-profit literacy partner to identify the kinds of children's books that best fit their program needs. Some of the same great books you can read online will be donated to our charity partners through your reading efforts. We also donate others they request specifically for the young people they serve.
This is a great website. All the books are FREE!!!!! Grab your kid and go read a book together. It's a win-win situation.
http://wegivebooks.org
This is from their website:
We are dedicated to delivering award-winning books empowering you to read and share beautiful stories with children in your life. With age-appropriate content for young readers, our goal is to create memories that will last a lifetime.
Books are right at the heart of this program — books for reading and books for giving!
All of the books available for online reading are children's picture books appropriate for children through age ten. There is a mix of fiction and nonfiction, a range of authors, and an equal balance between read-alouds and books for independent readers. We'll be adding news books every month, together with special seasonal offerings.
The We Give Books team works upfront with each non-profit literacy partner to identify the kinds of children's books that best fit their program needs. Some of the same great books you can read online will be donated to our charity partners through your reading efforts. We also donate others they request specifically for the young people they serve.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
What's been going on over here?
I know you're dying to know what we've been doing in the past few months since I've posted.
We had four birthdays in the family.
Our youngest two girls have been in our family for five years now, we brought them home August 2007.
We celebrated our 32nd year of marriage. The picture was taken two years ago on our 30th anniversary.
Nine kids started school away from home. That was a first! One is back home using Switched On Schoolhouse and he seems to love it. Two of our boys are a charter school and attend only two days a week. So it's on me to help them with their middle school work when they don't understand it. Some days we're at the table A.L.L. D.A.Y. and others they need no help at all. For some reason I only got pics of the girls. Bad mom.
We're letting our hearts heal after not bringing home our Little Miss A from Ethiopia. It's surreal because she would be in our home now, and yet she isn't.
We've started counseling for our newest to make sure that there isn't something we're supposed to be doing. We're on track and came in with a RAD diagnosis. The last diagnosis was Adjustment Disorder with Disturbance of Conduct. (same thing?)
I watch my 14 month old grandson every day, and sometimes my two year old granddaughter is here as well.
I'm attending BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) once a week.
I had my annual endocrinology appt and am still cancer-free. I had thyroid cancer back in 2005 and had my thyroid and some lymph nodes removed.
I'm still couponing when I have time. (when would that be?)
We're all in AWANA and we the parents are Jr. High Leaders.
I'm planning/organizing the Fall Festival for church.
I'm throwing my daughter a baby shower for her baby girl. She's due in December with her second baby, first girl.
Giving a listening ear to other adoptive parents when they need to vent or giving advice when asked.
Shopping at the thrift store when I can get an hour or so to myself.
Wearing chip clips in my hair and having it announced on the radio with my full name none-the-less.....
I found this doll which reminded me of Adah. Of course, I had to buy it.
Took two of my boys to a Shakespeare play which was a first for all three of us.
Had entirely too many frozen chocolate yogurts with granola.
Enjoyed the beach and the sand.
Yelled too much at my kids. Tried to balance it out with an equal amount of hugs and kisses.
Two sons went to Mexico, and one went to Alaska.
I'm hoping this season will slow down a bit, but with eleven people in the house and many more coming and going, I don't think so.
From my house to yours,
Vikki
We had four birthdays in the family.
Our youngest two girls have been in our family for five years now, we brought them home August 2007.
We celebrated our 32nd year of marriage. The picture was taken two years ago on our 30th anniversary.
We're letting our hearts heal after not bringing home our Little Miss A from Ethiopia. It's surreal because she would be in our home now, and yet she isn't.
We've started counseling for our newest to make sure that there isn't something we're supposed to be doing. We're on track and came in with a RAD diagnosis. The last diagnosis was Adjustment Disorder with Disturbance of Conduct. (same thing?)
I watch my 14 month old grandson every day, and sometimes my two year old granddaughter is here as well.
I'm attending BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) once a week.
I had my annual endocrinology appt and am still cancer-free. I had thyroid cancer back in 2005 and had my thyroid and some lymph nodes removed.
I'm still couponing when I have time. (when would that be?)
We're all in AWANA and we the parents are Jr. High Leaders.
I'm planning/organizing the Fall Festival for church.
I'm throwing my daughter a baby shower for her baby girl. She's due in December with her second baby, first girl.
Shopping at the thrift store when I can get an hour or so to myself.
Wearing chip clips in my hair and having it announced on the radio with my full name none-the-less.....
I found this doll which reminded me of Adah. Of course, I had to buy it.
Took two of my boys to a Shakespeare play which was a first for all three of us.
Had entirely too many frozen chocolate yogurts with granola.
Enjoyed the beach and the sand.
Yelled too much at my kids. Tried to balance it out with an equal amount of hugs and kisses.
Two sons went to Mexico, and one went to Alaska.
I'm hoping this season will slow down a bit, but with eleven people in the house and many more coming and going, I don't think so.
From my house to yours,
Vikki
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Another school year
Yesterday marked the start of my 23rd year of homeschooling. It didn't go as smoothly as it could have, but we did okay. Anna & Adah started Kindergarten and we're using My Father's World. I usually use A Beka for phonics and math but I'm mixing it up and trying something different. Our first lesson was on Creation: Day 1 and the letters A & B.
For the older kids 3rd grade & up (academically) we're using Teaching Textbooks for math. They love it, I love it. It takes the stress off me needing to sit and teach four different students math. Abi Mulu is using Horizons Math which is new to us too. Teaching Textbooks is a software program that they use on the computer and it teaches the lesson, gives them practice using what they've learned, grades it for them, and shows them how to do it correctly if asked. Can't beat that! I did have a problem with the 5th grade because we borrowed it and the activation code wasn't working. Apparently each program is alloted so much usage and when that is used up the user needs to call and get a new code. Because it's an older program I wasn't able to set the program up on one computer for two users. One has to use the laptop and one uses the main house computer. The number was busy all morning which put us behind, but the boys each did two lessons and love it. Yay!!!
I did get a little frazzled when teaching phonics and my 14 year old son said, "Mom, are there __ digits in 20,000,000,000? I look at him like he has a third eyeball because really?! Like I know that off the top of my head?! I had to write it down and then count. One of the hardest things for me with homeschooling is switching my brain from Kindergarten or First grade work to Jr. High or High School and do it in such a way as to make it believable. I'm getting older and my brain just isn't that quick, never was and never will be. I know my limitations and accept them, so I look at my older kids as though they're weird when they ask me such questions when teaching Kindergarten.
We're trying Lifepacs for Language Arts this year, but unfortunately one was in tears on the first day so not sure how long this will last. I really wish there were a language arts program like there is for math with Teaching Textbooks. Abi's first Lifepac was backordered and is on it's way, but it's not here so we had to improvise and do something else. Her first math book wasn't here either, but it came in the mail later in the day.
After all that was done we got together and learned some Bible and Science with My Father's World Countries & Cultures curriculum. For Bible it had us look at the book Windows on the World and talk about prayer. Science we used a great book called Properties of Ecosystems from Answers In Genesis. Great book from a Christian perspective. Since we live on four acres we have lots of ecosystems. It will be good for me too as I'm very non-scientific and I look forward to learning with them.
James my high schooler is using Apologia's Physical Science, Teaching Textbooks, A Beka Geography and Themes in Literarture and Easy Grammar Plus. He's taking Physical Science Lab with our co-op, Biblical Manhood, Geography, and Volleyball. My other high schooler goes to our local public high school (gasp!). He does well but doesn't recommend it for his brothers or sisters.
On co-op days I'm teaching Geography and Christian Missionaries and Heroes. My students will be 7th & 8th graders with some 9th graders sprinkled in there. This week for geography we'll learn about Maps and how they work. Missionaries & Heroes finds us learning about Harriett Tubman. We have 18 class days for each class day and there are two so I'm teaching every week but repeating the second week what I taught the first week. I'll post what we're doing each week and the resources we used.
Some of the classes the other kids are taking are chess, cooking, scrapbooking, Boys Adventure, PE, and Nutrition.
For the older kids 3rd grade & up (academically) we're using Teaching Textbooks for math. They love it, I love it. It takes the stress off me needing to sit and teach four different students math. Abi Mulu is using Horizons Math which is new to us too. Teaching Textbooks is a software program that they use on the computer and it teaches the lesson, gives them practice using what they've learned, grades it for them, and shows them how to do it correctly if asked. Can't beat that! I did have a problem with the 5th grade because we borrowed it and the activation code wasn't working. Apparently each program is alloted so much usage and when that is used up the user needs to call and get a new code. Because it's an older program I wasn't able to set the program up on one computer for two users. One has to use the laptop and one uses the main house computer. The number was busy all morning which put us behind, but the boys each did two lessons and love it. Yay!!!
I did get a little frazzled when teaching phonics and my 14 year old son said, "Mom, are there __ digits in 20,000,000,000? I look at him like he has a third eyeball because really?! Like I know that off the top of my head?! I had to write it down and then count. One of the hardest things for me with homeschooling is switching my brain from Kindergarten or First grade work to Jr. High or High School and do it in such a way as to make it believable. I'm getting older and my brain just isn't that quick, never was and never will be. I know my limitations and accept them, so I look at my older kids as though they're weird when they ask me such questions when teaching Kindergarten.
We're trying Lifepacs for Language Arts this year, but unfortunately one was in tears on the first day so not sure how long this will last. I really wish there were a language arts program like there is for math with Teaching Textbooks. Abi's first Lifepac was backordered and is on it's way, but it's not here so we had to improvise and do something else. Her first math book wasn't here either, but it came in the mail later in the day.
After all that was done we got together and learned some Bible and Science with My Father's World Countries & Cultures curriculum. For Bible it had us look at the book Windows on the World and talk about prayer. Science we used a great book called Properties of Ecosystems from Answers In Genesis. Great book from a Christian perspective. Since we live on four acres we have lots of ecosystems. It will be good for me too as I'm very non-scientific and I look forward to learning with them.
James my high schooler is using Apologia's Physical Science, Teaching Textbooks, A Beka Geography and Themes in Literarture and Easy Grammar Plus. He's taking Physical Science Lab with our co-op, Biblical Manhood, Geography, and Volleyball. My other high schooler goes to our local public high school (gasp!). He does well but doesn't recommend it for his brothers or sisters.
On co-op days I'm teaching Geography and Christian Missionaries and Heroes. My students will be 7th & 8th graders with some 9th graders sprinkled in there. This week for geography we'll learn about Maps and how they work. Missionaries & Heroes finds us learning about Harriett Tubman. We have 18 class days for each class day and there are two so I'm teaching every week but repeating the second week what I taught the first week. I'll post what we're doing each week and the resources we used.
Some of the classes the other kids are taking are chess, cooking, scrapbooking, Boys Adventure, PE, and Nutrition.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
John and Basketball
John and Coach Conover
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