Waiting for the New School Year

Well we had our evaluation last week, and all went well.  Caitlin now moves on to grade 10.  We have been discussing how we want our school days to flow, and we have come up with a unique plan, for us anyway.  She will do one class a day, for at least 3 hours a day.  We will start with a 4 day school week, with one day for friends, and socializing.  The second half of each day, will be for chores, PE, reading, etc.  She very much likes this idea, and though I am skeptical I am willing to try.

Since the last 3 years I have with my youngest are most likely going to fly by, I have been contemplating a lot what I want to do when I am an empty nester.  No, I don't want grand babies, and just sitting at home does not really appeal to me.  I also contemplate, as I get older, how much longer bedside nursing will be feasible.  This is one of the reasons I do not return for my RN.  I am 50, and the strain, and stress only gets more demanding.  While it is true, I am healthier now than I was since my daughter was born, I still don't want to kill my body.  So, at the end of last year, I started a Wordpress blog, for Health Coaching.  I finished the Health Coach Certification, Kidney Health Coach Certification, and am now taking Integrative Therapies classes.  I just finished, today, updating all of my available plans.  There is still a lot to learn about having an online coaching business, but the hardest parts are done, I think.  Now, I need some clients.  I will only work with 4 clients at a time, with the exception of the monthly group session plan.  If you would like to check out my new health coaching business, it is called, Health Buddy Melissa.  There are lots of interesting articles there to read, and I add new ones each week.  

Apple Jars and A Change In Plans Again

How many times have I changed the date for the start of our new school year? Good grief, it is different again. If you follow along, we have been doing Math and History, one day a week, or two over the Summer. We were officially going to start full time on Sept 15th because my FIL is coming from NY. However, I did not realize he would still be here on the 15th and that is the day my husband planned on taking him to Blue Springs. So, now Tues and Thurs of this week, we will be doing full lessons, and two days next week full lessons. Then on the 16th we will be doing 5 days a week full lessons. Whew I confuse myself sometimes. That is the beauty of homeschooling though, the flexibility it allows you to have.

I will be posting our daily activities on this blog, and my son will be keeping track of his hours on his blog. I will have to help him at first. Last week Caitlin and I, using spray paint, painted these jars, hot glued a stick to the top and voila apple jars for our Fall table. I have the Fall decorations out, but have not yet had time to rearrange and get them all out. This week, hopefully, we will get to that.

The End Of Summer Nears

The days are getting shorter. The evenings just a little bit cooler. The end of summer is near. We dont officially start back homeschooling, until the day after Labor Day. We go a few weeks later, than our public schools do. I am actually looking forward, to getting back into a school routine. My kids are already sleeping later, in anticipation of getting up at a set time. We have already planned one field trip, to the Ocean. We will be going the same week, that we do the Ocean Life theme for science. I found a ton of Virtual Tours, and they are great for homeschool field trips. I will be sharing them here, on this blog, so keep watch. 3rd grade, is really just a repeat of 2nd grade, with some new material added in. Division, will be the biggest addition this year, to our curriculum. We touched on it, at the end of 2nd grade, but will dive right in for 3rd grade. This one has me a little nervous. I know how to do division, and math was one of my favorite subjects, but teaching it is completely different. We had a great summer. Swimming every day, trip to chuck e cheese, fireworks, birthdays, but now I am ready to get back to school. When do you start back to school?