Motivation, Or a Serious Lack of It

My motivation, my muse has flown the coop. For three days I have had a lack of motivation about everything. Wash clothes - naa, don't feel like it; work on "work" - naa, don't feel like it but I gotta do it anyway; wash dishes and fill the dishwasher - only when hubby can no longer reach the coffee pot; eat lunch - naa, eat it later (ate friday's lunch tonight for dinner).

I am going through the motions on the things that have to be done - but no real desire or burning need to accomplish anything has hit me. I have all the thoughts that I have wanted to blog, but when I have sat down and pulled out the keyboard, I am like "naa, I'll do it later." So here I am to fill you in on things from this week.

Work

Just when I thought I was going to have a break, and was really starting to get used to the idea, my boss called to tell me that he had something else come in. So, I have a new project. I have had it since Tuesday, but no motivation to actually do anything with it until yesterday. So I have really been cranking on it whenever I can. I only have one piece left for Monday. I don't know what else will be behind it, but I really am not that concerned. If there is more - great, if not that is really okay too.

File Under - What Have I Done Now

While on the field trip Wednesday I finally found someone else in our homeschool group that does SOTW. She mentioned that there were a few other families. This got me thinking on the way home that some of the crafts and things are really good for groups and wouldn't it be neat if we could get together and do the crafts since the kids are all about the same age. You see where this is going, don't you. So yep, I am planning my first CO-OP. So that I do not totally torture myself we are only going to meet once a month and it will be one ancient culture each month for a story and a craft (or food). I tried to limit it to 6 kids, but so many had siblings that we have ended up with 8. I look around my house and wonder. Our first meeting is the end of October so I have sometime to plan (and clean, and organize, and...)

Kids Say The Darndest Things

"Don't they know they are wasting our gas." Said by MB as we sat, and sat for over 30 minutes in road construction on Wednesday.

I am really glad we got to go

Today I took MB and EM (K got daddy time) to a Heritage Festival at a local lake. This event is sponsored by the state rangers an is totally, totally free. No charge for anything, including food and drinks. They had sawing contests, tables set up for children to do crafts, someone showing children how to use a bow and arrow, birds of prey, skins and mounts of local wildlife, bluegrass music and clogging, plus a free lunch of eastern NC BBQ with brunswick stew. A woman was spinning wool and showed yarn that she had made from the fur of her pet dogs (the german shepherd's was beautiful). Another man was knapping flint into knives and arrowheads and was showing how they were attached to animal bones and wood. There were also other areas we did not even get to.

I had a blast, but for MB it was over after she had done the bow and arrow. I would have really like to have the time to bring her and EM back home and head back over myself. As it was we came home with a bluebird house and a tin punch picture MB had made, and digital pictures of MB hitting the bale of hay the first time she tried a bow and arrow.

A New Math Curriculum

I have decided to go a new direction for math this year. After getting RightStart math last spring and starting it with MB, I soon realize that I had made a mistake in ordering Level A. K really enjoyed it, but MB hated it. Instead of ordering another complete curriculum this year, I thought that I could do the math program myself. Really, how hard is 1st grade math anyway. Both MB and myself enjoy math, it wouldn't be that hard. And, it hasn't. Except, I worry that holes are being created and wonder when I should move on and how much repitition is necessary. Is she really getting it?

A few weeks ago I started exploring other options. MB likes workbooks. I guess it feels more like school to her or something, anyway I knew that a good workbook math program was needed. Saxon was highly recommended and it looked pretty good to me. But, I wanted to go to the bookstore and look at a copy in my hands, as I am funny that way. A local christian bookstore that carries a large number of homeschooling supplies had Saxon, but they also had Horizons. I looked at both. I liked the spiral approach and the idea of working on multiple skills each day. I thought that this would appeal to MB. I had her come over and look at both workbooks, and when she said that she liked the Horizon book the best I figured we would give it a go. So we will begin working in Horizons Level 1 on Monday.

The drawback I see to using a canned curriculum like this is the time. It sets aside a lot of time for each lesson. Some are as long as our structured day normally lasts total. So we will have to see how it goes in that regard.

I plan to keep using the Rightstart book with K. Doing mini lessons with her. And both girls have alot of fun with the manipulatives. So that wasn't a total loss.

There is the end of my week in a nutshell. I am ready for church tomorrow and a day of rest. We will paint the bluebird house and I will organize things for this week and maybe even make a library run.

Have a great Sunday!

Peace,

Amy