Finally some good days

The last couple of weeks my main focus has just been to hold it all together and get through this series of migraines. The kids have been wonderful, and just generally cooperative. The weather change at the end of last week to cold and drizzly did not help matters. So, by yesterday when the sun came out and the temps warmed up we took a much needed outside field trip.

We went back to one of our favorite places, the education forest at Lake Jordan. It was interesting to see what the shore line looked like after a summer of rising and falling lake depths.

The kids found a lot of animal tracks down at the water. The identified a family of deer and a raccoon that had been there as early as that morning.


We also collected a bunch of rose quartz rock that we will use for some craft project.
It was just a beautiful day to be down on the water.

Being in the trees wasn't too bad either. This area of the forest had recently undergone a controlled burn by the forest service and new growth was beginning. It was interesting talking about what had burned and what had not, and also how burns can help a forest.

We came home for some lunch and a little rest before our evening activities kicked off. Katie's drama class was wrapping up their first quarter with a little play for the families. Katie's group was doing a play based upon the Aesop Fable "Belling the Cat". Katie was the cat and spent most of the play showcasing her snoring ability.


After the play Katie told me that she LOVES being in front of everybody and performing. I really thinks she does.

After the play we had to do a quick change to take Katie to her Brownie meeting where they were being invested as Brownie scouts that evening. I dropped her off so that they could have their meeting beforehand and I could grab a quick dinner. Came back just in time for the ceremony to begin.



My camera's battery lasted through the first part of the ceremony, but died just as I was taking a picture of Katie being pinned.

Next week Mary has her investiture ceremony, even though I am leading I am hoping to get a photo of her. After that I will have to take a photo of the two of them wearing their vest, they look so spiffy.

We are still managing to balance all the evening activities. It is a good thing the kids don't have to get up in the morning to meet a schoolbus or do all that homework, they would be burned out...or I would. Tonight we will be having a "family dinner". Mary is helping me plan and cook the meal, and we will sit down to catch up and enjoy our time together.

Peace,

Amy

New and old learning techniques

Back when I was a newbie to homeschooling I fell in love with The Well-Trained Mind and Charlotte Mason. It was the education that I wanted for myself. Unfortunately, the approach did not mix with Mary at 6, or 7, or even 8. She wanted to DO, to be on the go and of course her reading lag did not help. So, we fell into a mix of materials and a lot of child-led activities. By mix and blending; sometimes pushing and sometimes waiting Mary, and then Katie, have grown and learned.

Ever the optimist, I planned out to start this year trying out a literature-based approach to history, a blend of living books for science and keep my fingers crossed. And, wow, at 9 & 7 they are really enjoying learning this year. I'm enjoying teaching this year. Add in that they LOVE Math Mammoth and the style it is presented so far...and I am almost giddy.

Today, we finished with school by 1:30pm but the girls were so into the the books we are reading that we kept going until just before 3pm.

Yesterday I found out something nifty...I could download You Tube videos to our mp3 players. Which means Mary can listen and watch videos such as these as often as she wants.





And, yes, she just about has the Presidents all memorized.

Homeschooling is FUN!!

Peace,

Amy

The Miracle Fish

Last week Mary used her money to add another member to our family, a betta fish she named King.

On Monday, unknown to the rest of the family, Robbie managed to sneak in her bedroom. Inquisitive 3-year-olds and fish do not generally have happy endings. At least 30 minutes later (Robbie had had a bath and eaten) Mary realized that her fish tank was empty. We searched her floor and the table it was on...no King. When Robbie was asked about it he pointed to one of the kittens. We figured that King was no longer with us. Mary was heartbroken that she wouldn't even be able to bury the poor creature.

When Mary went to her bed to mourn, she found King on her comforter still flopping around. We quickly got him into some water and three days later he is still swimming and looking stronger every day.

So far, he is our miracle fish.

Peace,

Amy

Reading Day

Woke up this morning to the third consecutive day of heavy, gray clouds and drizzle. Combine that with generalized depression from the migraines and I really wasn't looking forward to another day of table work. Checking emails this morning I was reminded we have books due on Saturday...so today became reading day. We have read about early settlers, pilgrims, volcanoes, trains and firetrucks. We have read three versions of The Little Red Hen, "Click Clack Moo" and another chapter in "The Magickers".

By the time my voice gave out the sky had cleared and the temperature was perfect to be outside. The wind had even died down enough that we might not even get beaned by the gigantic acorns falling.

The big girls wanted to help plant our fall/winter garden.


At this point I'm just going to try to grow some cabbage and broccoli. Two crops that I have never had much success with, but am always up for the challenge.

The peanut gallery watched from a safe distance until they figured it would be more fun to play on the swing set.



The kids are off playing with friends, since it is early-release Wednesday and I am enjoying a small bit of quiet in the house. A pot of Brunswick stew is simmering on the stove, made from the leftover pork roast from last night. Later tonight after a good dinner we will pull the books back out and read some more.

Peace,

Amy

Another picture-heavy post

Last week was basically a sane-normal week. Or, would have been if not for the attack of cluster migraines. Basically sharp, intensely painful migraines that hit suddenly and last for 45 minutes-2hours, one or two times a day for a period of weeks. After they pass I can function, but feel like I have been hit by a truck.

It was all about making it until Friday for Robbie's birthday. I can hardly believe that he actually turned 3. Has it really been three years since all the chaos that surrounded us at the time he was born. My mom came up for the weekend and our planned field trip to the zoo. With my headaches I bowed out of the zoo, not wanting to disappoint the kids by a sudden attack. DH was able to take the day off and go with my mom for crowd control.





While they were gone I was able to bake his cake and get some well-deserved rest. Wow, a day of quiet will do wonders for my spirit. And, I was ready to do some three-year-old partying.




With mom here over the weekend we could get some much needed shopping done. I found a winter coat for all four of the children. The long-range forecasts are calling for an actual winter this year and I want to be ready for it in case we have another surprise ice storm in early December.

Sunday, of course, was another trip to the soccer fields. Mary's team did okay. Not as sharp as last weekend, but better than the week before.



Back to the grind today... school was done well (lots of good job stickers handed out today) and the house is a mess. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to sit outside and watch the kids play this afternoon between rain showers. Paper airplanes and gliders have been made in bunches Sunday and today. This afternoon was time to see how they flew.






We will just have to see what the rest of the week holds for us.

Peace,

Amy

Busy and mostly fun

It was a busy week to follow a busy weekend. Monday was the relaxing day promised by the empty box on the calendar. We did go out and buy the Girl Scout uniforms and patches for Mary and Katie so that I could spend Monday afternoon figuring out how to use the iron again ;).

Tuesday was the first day of scouts for Mary and my first day leading a troop. It went well, considering only three girls made it to this meeting. The next meeting most of the girls should be there. Working with a bunch of 9 year old girls wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. It was pouring down rain, so Mary's soccer practice was canceled and she didn't actually miss anything - bonus.

Tuesday, Katie also had her drama class. This session they got their scripts for the end-of-session play. The theme for this session is Aesop's Fables and Katie's group is doing "Belling the Cat". Katie was assigned the Cat role. She is so excited and has already memorized her lines, now she is working on everyone else's lines.

Wednesday we met a friend of mine from high school at Marble Museum so that the kids could blow off some energy. It was nice catching up with her, even though the two of us had to keep chasing after our youngest. We will have to do it again soon.


Thursday, Emily had Kindergym and Mary had soccer practice in the evening. DH had a pool to close for the season, so I had to take Mary to practice and stay after for the parent's meeting. I think he just wanted to miss the parent meeting. I don't blame him...

Friday I had another dentist appointment where I found out that I will have to have a crown completed next year. They stabilized the tooth for now since my dental insurance is totally used up for the year and there is no extra for a $1000+ crown out of pocket. Mary had a skill training practice for soccer in the evening and DH worked late.



And, yes in between all that there was time for lessons, reading, and general silliness. Schooling is still going better than I imagined for this year. We still struggle with everyone wanting my attention at the same time, but everyone seems to be enjoying their books this year (at least compared to other years). The History Pockets are a huge hit!!

This weekend is not as busy as last. DH is working today and I have errands. We still need to take Katie to the mall to get her ears pierced for her birthday. Tomorrow Mary is playing in a tournament about an hour away. Which means that we will only make the children's choir practice at church before heading out of town.

This morning I woke up to a flat tire on the van, which DH changed and put on the full-size spare. I just hope it isn't an omen for the rest of the weekend.

Peace,

Amy

Weekend Pictures

Katie had her "kid" birthday party on Saturday. Complete with the pinata (a shark) that she "had to have". She did not need a party, just a pinata. She and Mary worked together and made the invites on the computer. We bought cupcakes and pre-made 'kool-aid' because I was feeling lazy that way. I set the kids up outside on a sheet in the front yard and they had a blast.




Sunday was a long day. We had children's choir followed by Sunday School at church. I had to wake the girls and get them moving a bit earlier than normal and post-sugar rush. It worked out, but later in the day at Mary's soccer game all of us were dragging.

The game was a tough one. All the girls on the other team were large - tall and broad. It was physical on both sides, but our girls are looked half asleep and unsure of themselves. A complete 180 from last Sunday's game. I hope they wake up before this coming weekend as we have an all-day tournament.

Outside of all that...DH took Mary and a friend to a semi-pro soccer game Friday night, My SIL took Katie & Emily to the State football game on Saturday after her birthday party, DH then took Mary & Robbie to the Legion baseball tournament our nephew was playing in Sat. night while I stayed home and worked on Girl Scout stuff. After church my other SIL came by and picked up Katie for her birthday "afternoon out" while the rest of us went to the soccer game. I have to say both DH and I are thrilled there is nothing on the calendar for tonight.

Peace,

Amy

The week that wasn't

Everyone woke up under the weather on Monday. Wednesday we had the day off for Katie's birthday. Thursday my mom was still here for the morning so it made sense to use that time to go shopping for church shoes for the three girls when I didn't have to chase Robbie. Today, we have a long list of errands including the library to look for books and get Katie her own library card, party shop for Katie's pinata (for her birthday party tomorrow) and groceries...it is payday after all. While we are already out I should probably get the van inspected since it was due in August and I need it for my registration renewal at the end of the month.

So, we had one "school" day this week. It is all good. The kids have been spending their downtime reading, counting Katie's birthday money and figuring out what they can buy, my mom brought new puzzles she had found for the little ones, and I have been trying to to finish up plans for next Tuesday's scout meeting and trying to make sure we have all the supplies. We have almost finished reading Thurton Burgess' "Whitefoot the Woodmouse", which was good timing since my Dover order arrived yesterday afternoon. In addition to some Christmas presents it included three more Burgess books.

The one good thing about being "unproductive" this week is that I don't have to spend much time lesson planning this weekend. We will just recycle last week's plan.

Peace,

Amy

Seven it is

Today is Katie's birthday, so she got to decide what we do today.


Do they make t-shirts that say I survived Monkey Joe's with 4 kids.

Peace,

Amy

Homeschool Hymn

I am more spiritual than religious. My main beef with religion is what organized religion has done to the spirit of God. So many separate God and religion from the real world or in fact try to create a world vision that is at odds with Jesus' teachings. But, sometimes I will come across something during service that just really speaks me. This Sunday I had that experience.

During our Education Liturgy, yes a church service focused on educators, students and all those who continually learn throughout life, we sang the following song:

HYMN FROM EDUCATION LITURGY (p.132)

God of wisdom, truth and beauty, God of spirit, fire and soul.

God of order, love and duty, God of purpose plan and goal:

grant us visions ever growing, breath of life, eternal strength,

mystic spirit moving flowing, filling height and depth and length.

God of drama, music, dancing, God of story, sculpture, art,

God of wit, all life enhancing, God of ev ’ry yearning heart:

challenge us with quests of spirit, truth revealed in myriad ways.

word or song for hearts that hear it, sketch and model forms of praise.

God of science, his t’ry, teaching, God of futures yet unknown,

God of holding, God of reaching, God of pow’r beyond each throne:

take the fragments of our living. Fit us to your finest scheme.

Now forgiven and forgiving, make us free to dare and dream.

It is sung to the tune of "Ode to Joy".

As we sung it the song just spoke to me. I knew that this song needed to become a part of our homeschool.

Peace,

Amy

Week 4 begins

We had another busy weekend around here. Saturday I went shopping with Mary for Katie's birthday presents. She doesn't have much on her list, which has made it a bit difficult. Katie wants her ears pierced. Mary had hers done on her 7th birthday, so that is Katie's big gift from us. But, I needed to find something for her sisters and brother to give her also. And, to have something to actually open with her cake on Wednesday. In the end Mary decided to give her some earrings for when she can change her earrings, and some pretty headbands. I found some more "Fancy Nancy" books for the little ones to give her.

Saturday night DH was given free tickets to the State football game and took Mary with him. I stayed home with the others and let them have friends hang out at the house and eat dinner with us.

Sunday morning we actually went to church. I *knew* it was Education Sunday, and that the 2nd graders were receiving their Bibles...but I totally flaked on it being the first day of Sunday School. But, we made it too church. For the rest of the fall we will probably only make it to Children's choir and Sunday School since Mary's soccer games are so early Sunday afternoon and we will have to travel 30+ minutes for most of them.

Katie received her Bible and with it the "privilege" of sitting through an entire service. Let's just say that Katie really didn't perceive it as much of a privilege. She really enjoyed Children's Church. Emily also officially moved from the rolls of church nursery to Children's Church. As Emily normally is, she wasn't very sure of this new change in her life. But, when we picked her up afterwards, she loved it.

The soccer game this week was a late one, 4:00pm. Which gave us time to come home, have some lunch and relax for an hour before packing the cooler, rounding up the children and driving out to the fields so Mary could be there by 3:15 for warm-ups.


The game went really well. The girls looked so much more together and team-like than even two weeks ago at the tournament. They moved the ball well and backed each other up. Their goalie was out-of-town visiting family, so Mary played the first half in the goal. She only let one really hard shot past her...not many goalies in her age group would have been able to do much more with that shot. In the second half Mary played front wing and took all that energy she had been saving up in the first half out on the field. They pressured all of the second half and took a 1-1 tie at half time to a 5-3 win. Mary did score once, although most of her job is to get the ball into the attack and pass.

Sunday night I realized I had printed off materials for school this week, but never gotten around to doing the weekly plan for Mary & Katie. I got it done, but I still do not feel ready for today. I need another weekend day. On top of that Robbie woke up with a runny nose and fever this morning, so I am on febrile seizure watch.

Off to finish organizing...

Peace,

Amy

Procrastination

I'm sitting at my computer where I have a clear view of the kitchen counter which is cluttered with dishes from lunch and this afternoon. It is waiting for me to empty the dishwasher for a second time today...and I just cannot get motivated to do it. My house is still cluttered from our school day as I have been on the run since 3:30 when we finally finished. Where oh where are my little household elves?

**Updated while I am writing this the children have volunteered to empty & reload the dishwasher so they can have some ice cream. Wow!**

We had a good school day, just prolonged thanks to the link someone sent me regarding the "Time for School" documentary on from Wide Angle/PBS. Once we watched one episode we had to watch the others. What an eye-opening experience for my children to see other cultures and their educational systems.

I did get to meet with the new co-leader for the Junior troop this evening. I think she will be a good co-leader and seems very with it when it comes to kids. She did say she has a tendency to take-over...but I doubt I will be complaining too much about that. She has done scouts before and that will be great for a newbie like me.

Tomorrow is Friday!!! Yeah this week will finally be over. It is also test day for several subjects. Chapter tests are new to Mary, so this will be a good learning experience.

Peace,

Amy

Wobbly Wednesday

We all woke up this morning feeling a little shell-shocked from our first chaotic Tuesday evening. We survived it with me only forgetting one thing, Katie's t-shirt to paint at Brownies. Thankfully, the meeting place was only a couple of miles from the house so I could run back and get it before they started the project. I did manage to remember to bring something for Katie to eat in the car between Theater class and Brownies - so some mommy points for that.

Being a little draggy today, I decided some morning exercise was called for and we took a bike ride. Can you tell I am still excited about Emily being able to ride her bike. It is up there with only having one in diapers still, and only one I have to buckle in the car seat. We took the greenway to the little neighborhood park to play for a little while. On the way home we stopped by the library and dropped of some books I forgot to take on Saturday.

It was lunch time when we finally rolled back into the driveway and everybody was feeling a bit more refreshed. I set Mary and Katie up at the computer to watch President Obama's indoctrination speech school speech. They weren't real excited about it, but after reading the text, I really thought Mary would benefit from hearing it and it gave us something to talk about over lunch.

Then Mary watched a video on Jamestown on the computer while I worked with Katie on Math. And after that it was the normal shuffle back and forth between the two, while they reminded me numerous times that today was early release for their friends and I reminded them that I could give a flip about when the public schools let out. Our day wasn't helped by some sort of competition between those two over who could drop their pencil most often or lose their book (which was sitting right in front of them 2 seconds ago) most often.

Sometime in the afternoon we finally finished. I was dragging and a little blurry-minded by this time, so I'm not sure when we actually closed the books and called it a day. Mary quickly hurried out with a pile of books to show her friends a new game she had created last night. You know, when she was studying her spelling and science for tests on Friday.

I promised her that I would download "The Marvelous Land of Oz" to her mp3 player, and while messing around on the computer found the Adobe Book Reader and then spent a long while perusing free books from Project Gutenberg now that there is a decent way to read them. What a way to blow an entire afternoon.

Speaking of books, I think our evening read-alouds have gotten a little crazy. We currently have three read-alouds going...and I find myself reading from all three each night. The first is "Homer Price" by Robert McCloskey. It was to be our lunch time reading, but that never seemed to work out and the kids really like it. Of course they like everything we have ever read by McCloskey. The second one is Thornton Burgess' "Whitefoot the Wood Mouse". This is a Katie choice. Mary never got into the Burgess animal books as part of our curriculum, but Katie loves them. Thankfully the chapters are super short and easy to read. Finally, we are finishing up the Little House on the Prarie series. I was going to skip "The First Four Years" since the writing is a little different - more raw and un-prettied since Laura never actually edited the story. But, once Mary heard there was a last book she insisted we read that. We are almost done with Homer Price, but it makes me want to pull back out our McCloskey collection and introduce Emily and Robbie to all those wonderful stories.

Our evening read-alouds are on-top of the school day reading which includes picture books for Emily & Robbie, Katie's science and Mary's history. Is it any wonder that by evening my throat is so sore.

The noise level is telling me that it is time to settle everyone down and start reading...I'll be done about midnight.

Peace,

Amy

Why I write on my calendar in pencil

After finally getting all these plans together at the end of last week to move Katie to a new Brownie troop, meet with my new co-leader, get Mary to soccer...and so forth, I get an email from Katie's troop leader that they will be having a meeting tomorrow night. Arrrgh! I cannot meet with my co-leader and also be at a Brownie meeting where I need to drop off multiple checks and the registration. Yes we will need to take out a loan just to get the girls going in their troops.

Another flurry of emails today, and I have not heard back from my co-leader about moving our meeting back a couple of days. Fingers crossed it will all work out. Meanwhile, I feel so behind the 8-ball when it comes to this troop. All the troops are already signing up for troop activities in the Fall, and we probably won't even be starting until October at this rate.

Our plans for today ended up being rained out. We didn't get out for the bike ride. Instead DH headed west, away from the rain and took Mary to play some golf with him. I stayed home to watched the others play in the rain puddles and clean up the house some before another week begins. Maybe later this week we can sneak away for another bike ride.

Let's just say we are all learning how to be more flexible.

Peace,

Amy

Family Bike Ride

This afternoon while I was working on the computer trying to print off all the various worksheets for next week, Katie came running inside telling me that I needed to come out and see something. That something being Emily riding her bike...really riding her bike. No more push and glide, but pedaling and braking.

I hugged her and congratulated her for sticking with it and learning all by herself. And, in Emily's own way, she told me that she was proud of herself too. Then she asked me to go on a bike ride with her. The weather was great, the computer could wait...so why not. I pulled out my bike and found helmets for Robbie and I. Then Emily, Katie, Robbie and I headed off for what I thought would be a quick spin around the block.

As we headed back home we saw that DH had unburied his bike and pumped up the tires. He and Mary were riding out to meet us for a family bike ride. Off through the neighborhood, to the greenway and all the way up to the library and back home. Well over a mile. Emily was awesome!!! None of the other girls have done so well on their first rides. She rode the whole way except for the really big hill that I got off and pushed my bike up also. And, she did all this on the tiny 12-inch bike. Tomorrow I am going to encourage her to give her 16-inch bike a try...

We have been so busy for so long, that when we have down time...we have down time. No energy normally to hop on a bike or drive somewhere for a hike. We've missed these fun, family times. Somehow we have to recapture these times, especially as the kids keep getting older.

When we got home DH grilled the steaks for his birthday dinner and we had a wonderful dinner, followed by very chocolaty brownies. He loved the Orioles baseball cap the children picked out for him.



Tomorrow is his actual birthday and I don't know what his plans are yet. If the weather isn't too bad maybe we will take the bikes down to one of the paved trails to ride. One way or another I am going to take advantage of one last family day before all the kids activities begin and we start going in four different directions.

Peace,

Amy

"B" is for Brownies

Tomorrow is DH's birthday, he is lucky this year because he gets his birthday off and no extracurricular activities are planned for the day!!! Still, we decided to have his birthday dinner tonight. Mainly, because the girls cannot stand waiting any longer to give him his birthday present.

DH doesn't like cake, which is a good thing since "C" week doesn't begin until next week. Emily helped me make his "B"irthday "B"rownies. Properly informing me that both those words begin with a "B".

She was very helpful...especially when it came to cleaning the bowl.















Peace,
Amy

"B" Week

Emily is doing a Letter of the Week curriculum this year as part of her K4 year. So isn't it just dandy that she decided to give riding a two-wheel bike a go this week. Emily is my "I do it myself" child to the extreme...which means the standard way of teaching how to ride a bike (hold onto the back until they build up speed and let go) was meet with glares and a loud no. Probably a bunch of stomping and screams too, but I am slowly learning to tune those out and only remember the good things. Anyway, I remember reading somewhere that someone's child learned to ride by using a too small bike that the child could firmly touch the ground with their feet. By learning to push with their feet and glide they quickly moved to peddling, all without someone else having to help.

So...




She is slowly getting it...on her own. Although there have been a few meltdowns. The best was when the postwoman stopped and told Emily to never give up and that she was doing a good job. It gave Emily the biggest smile to hear that from someone other than me.

Now to just find a self-teaching curriculum for Emily to use for the next 13 years.

Peace,

Amy

Glad it is the end of the week

It has been a good week, just really busy...and it is just getting started. We've been doing our lessons with a good amount of calmness. I added Latin back into our day and both Mary & Katie are getting a kick out of doing Latin. I think it is mainly because we have been doing it in the car while running around. They don't have to do anything but listen and recite back...and it entertains them while being held hostage.

I think the whining is going to kick my butt sooner or later. I've put my foot down about it and Emily & Katie are getting whiplash from going back and forth to their bedroom so often. I am just not going to deal with it this year. Nip this attitude in the bud.

Mainly, this week it has been organizing activities that has gotten to me. Still trying to get the Girl Scout troop up and running. My co-leader moved away in the middle of the summer so I have been waiting for a new one. Got an email at the beginning of the week that they found a co-leader. Then trying to find a day other than Tuesday or Thursday to hold the meeting...which didn't work. So, then in contact with Mary's soccer coach to find a way for her to make-up the 2 practices a month she will be missing to attend scouts.

Then find out that Katie has been assigned to a Brownie troop that will be meeting on the same Tuesdays at a different church...across town...at the same exact time. Which meant more emails to move her to the Brownie meeting at the same church Mary's is, just on the different weeks from Mary's.

Now, I've actually got to meet with the co-leader and plan our troop and get it going. And, I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Katie had a Daisy scout meeting to finish up a project from last year this week and Emily started her Kindergym class today. Mary has a birthday party to go to this weekend and we also have to plan and shop for DH's birthday on Monday. At least he gets the day off for his birthday.

I have to say our diet has been horrendous this week and I am paying for it. I'm not sleeping and my stomach is all upset. I have to do some planning and figure out how we will eat healthily for the next 7 months.

So, that is my wrap-up. Life is crazier and going to get crazier. Eventually I will get used to it...I hope.

Peace,

Amy

First soccer tournament of the season

Today was the first day of the first soccer tournament of the year. It was sooo hot and of course our age group was lucky enough to play the fields that were a hike from the parking lot and port-a-potties. But, the grass was really nice!!!

The girls played well. They tied the first game against a team that really punished them last year...which was nice. The second game was a 6-4 loss against against a really tough team we had never played before. Mary scored twice in the second game, came close a couple of other times and had numerous assists.

The team is half made up with the girls from last year and half new recruits. I'm hoping that the new coach is just seeing how the girls really play and best positions going forward for the season. Because I don't know how many games I am going to be able to stand if he keeps playing so many girls out of position. And, as un-PC as it is...at this level of play every girl does not need or deserve the same amount of playing time. I really like the coach, and I am just hoping that he is just seeing how the girls mesh for later on down the road and will play the girls to the best advantage during the season.

We'll back back out there tomorrow morning for the last game...although there is an outside chance the girls could make it into the finals Sunday afternoon.

Peace,

Amy

End of week round-up

On a scale of 1-to-10 this week falls at about a 7.5. The week went really well for a first full-load week. Everyone seems to be settling in well, especially after I made the change to Katie's math. Thursday was the first balky day we had from Mary, in that she really fell apart over the writing. But, we worked it out (after much gnashing of teeth) and came back in much better moods this morning.

Some areas that need to be improved on are:
1. Being able to get each one the hands-on, mommy-time they all want without all the interruptions. I'm having to constantly remind each one to not interrupt when I am in the middle of a lesson with one of her sisters. Some more quickie activities in their boxes for the wait time would be helpful. It is just going to take time to get them used to not interrupting as I have been way to lax in this area.
2. Emily needs more in her box. I'm not going to add to her curriculum, because I like it and feel like it is just right for us this year. But, she wants more to do...alone. She wants more workbooks like Mary & Katie that she can just pull out and go to town on. I've added a couple cheapie maze workbooks, but need to print off a few more things from Enchanted Learning for her folders. She loves to go to her box and just pull out something to work on.
3. Work with Robbie more to do his things on the floor of the family room while we are at the table. He has his box, but wants to do it at the table with us which is a huge distraction. Of course the older ones want to build with the blocks or play with playdoh.

All-in-all the week went really well. Mary and Katie finished off the week with A's on their spelling tests. Really proud of Mary's hard work and surprised by Katie's natural spelling ability (did not inherit that from DH and I). We tried something new for Mary; having her listen to her spelling words on her mp3 player. It seemed to work for her to listen to it every evening before bedtime. I have already loaded next week's words for her to listen to over the weekend.

Mary is having a good time with her math so far. She has learned several new mental math techniques that really make sense to her. And, today's activities with Pascal Triangles were fun for her!

I did sign both Mary and Katie up for a Wilderness Survival course through the NC Wildlife group. It is a free class and will be held in November. They were both excited to find out that the class was being offered this semester.

Besides school Mary has spent the week getting ready for her first soccer tournament of the year this weekend. When she has had the time she has been outside working on ball control. She is very excited about this soccer season and loves her new coach. Of course DH and I are less than excited about having to have her out of town at the fields by 8am and be there all day long. Sunday, at least we don't have to play until noon. Though, we are ready to see how this team does. About half the girls on the team are from last year's team and half are new girls to this level of play.

I went to the first leadership meeting for Girl Scouts this year. What in the world have I gotten myself into? I came away from the meeting more loaded down with books than I was in college. Wow, a lot of stuff to work through. Not to mention we are still on a hunt for a new troop co-leader. I did find out that one of the leaders for another troop is the mother of Mary's new friend she met at Girl Scout camp this year. She has been a leader for 5 years. Can anyone say "new bestfriend"?

Time to get busy for next week. Sometime this weekend I need to go to the library, but first I need to figure out what I need.

Peace,

Amy

School is in session

We've been cruising along for a few weeks, but this week have brought our lessons up to full-tilt. Things seem to be going really well so far, even as concerned and anxious I was about it. I have to admit I was really kind of dreading homeschooling this year. I wanted to, but at the same time I was feeling so burnt out.

I cannot praise the new addition I made to our organization process this year...hanging file boxes. $3.50 each at Walmart, and well worth it. The three girls each have their own boxes which holds their books, folders, worksheets, flashcards, games...whatever for the subjects they are studying. They keep their weekly "to do" lists and have a folder for completed work for me to grade or file. I let them decorate their box and they are responsible for it. I've never seen them take such ownership of their school work before. Plus, planning and organizing each week is a snap.

I'm still trying to get a handle on having preschool and elementary ages going at the same time. I didn't really do preschool for Katie since she had no interest and was much more content to develop her skills through independent play and her creative outlets. Emily, on the other hand, is so excited each day for whatever her new lessons are going to be. Everyday when she finishes she is disappointed she doesn't have more. Robbie, being Emily's shadow, of course cannot be left out and has to have something to do too...at least when he isn't hanging from my leg saying "read book Mommy."

I've had to adjust Katie's math program and step back a level. Grade 2 Math Mammoth moved way too fast for her. We are going back to Grade 1 and am going to work to really cement her facts and build up confidence. The math is in her head. I've seen her use it, but she lacks faith in herself. If nothing else, I have learned that it is more important to build a strong confidence base rather than trying to keep up with the "Jones". Otherwise, for being the first year that I am asking Katie to do a full load each day, she is doing really well.

Mary is great. She is adjusting to the larger amount of writing and independent work I am expecting for her 4th grade year. She doesn't like it, but she is doing it. We still are running into her perfectionist issues which are really at odds with her impulsive, gotta get this done as fast as possible attitude. But, I guess she will soon learn that you can't have it both ways.

DH has been a life saver and very involved when he comes home. Working with each of the two older ones at night on at least one subject. Whichever one seemed to be the most difficult that day. It is really good for the kids to get a different perspective on their lessons. And, a break for me.

Today was the first day for public schools in the area, so we packed up and went on a field trip. This summer a dinosaur exhibit opened at the Museum of Life and Sciences, but we had not made it out there yet. The exhibit was really nice and ended with a a fossil dig. Except for the fact that I think every toddler and preschooler in a 50 mile radius was there, we had a lot of fun.




Since there were so many other "little" ones around we left the museum after a quick spin over to the sailboats and a stop by the Kapla blocks for Mary. The kids were really excited for our next stop...a picnic at the river and a chance to go swimming.




I think the kids enjoyed the first "official" day of school.

Peace,

Amy