A Quiet Week

It has been a quiet week, this week.  No Run Club, because it was raining, and then medical appointments, so we got quite a bit of school in.  Today was the last day of Bio-fuels class, for DJ, and they finished their project books.  This was done through 4H. 

DJ had his first real paid job this week, also.  He got to detail my mother's car.  Now if you think big deal, he worked for his grandmother.  His grandmother is not easy to work for.  She is a perfectionist and she expects things done the right way.  He did very well, and earned 50 dollars.  We do not have much time left before Summer break.  Like six weeks and that is it.  We are right on track and I am so happy with that. 

Yet, I am antsy.  Antsy because DJ will be in High School next year, and Caitlin will be going into Middle School.  I think I have DJ pretty much set up with his curriculum and choices of class for next year.  Just have to plan out how the day will run.  Caitlin is a different story, however.  I have decided to focus on Reading, Writing and Math and that is basically it for her.  She will get Science through 4H, and she is doing Geography over the Summer months withe her brother. 

I am really leaning towards Life of Fred, and the Abeka Math book we already have.  There is a Language Arts Life of Fred also.  It is new, and I had no idea.  It is for high school only.  DJ did 9th grade Math this year, so he won't do a formal Language Arts next year, but in 10th grade, I am considering Life of Fred.  I really love, My Father's World, but I can not see me ever paying that much for a curriculum no matter how much I love it.  I also really like Learning Language Arts through Literature, and that is always in the back of my mind.  DJ is also using Free Rice, to strengthen his vocabulary, and it helps feed the hungry.

Caitlin, for the past two weeks, or so, has been using Easy Peasy Homeschool.  I have noticed that it is very boring for her, and she does not particularly like it.  So, we will be phasing that out, though I really like the format.  For the remainder of this year, Caitlin will be using the websites below, for learning games, and her two Math workbooks. 

We will also be making some other changes, next year.  I love Run Club, but it just eats up too much of the day twice a week.  So, we will cut back to once a week.  Also, we are at the end of our second year running Earth Kids Club.  I run the club, and meetings.  This too has become too time consuming, and we only have four active children.  I will be changing it to a Facebook group only, with maybe a field trip here and there.  We have 19 members on the Facebook group, and hopefully they will be able to be more active. This is completely free, and a great way for your kids to learn about the Earth and living creatures on it.  You can find the group page by clicking here.   We would love to have new members to join us.

http://www.math-play.com/

http://www.abcya.com/fourth_grade_computers.htm

http://www.turtlediary.com/grade-3-games.html

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/

http://writingfix.com/traits_primary.htm#forkids

http://www.storyit.com/Starters/ststart.htm

http://www.manythings.org/

Painting and Drawing Penguins

Today was the kids first day back to Art class, with me. I continued to paint over the last couple of months, but they wanted a break. Caitlin picked the penguin, as her bird of choice. Caitlin and DJ opted to draw their penguins, and I painted mine onto a gift bag. You can see the results below. It was finally nice enough outside, to restart our Run Club as well. The kids are at the end of their mileage sheet, and are ready for the 5 Points of Life Kid's Marathon on February 15th. Tomorrow is a regular full day of school, with no outside activities. Tuesday is the only day we have no outside activities, lol.

First Day of New Run Club Year

After taking the Summer off, our Run/Walk Club started back up this morning.  There was not a whole lot of running, lol.  Most of us walked, with the kids running a little bit.  It is still quite warm this time of year, and the kids and I were more than happy to jump in the pool when we returned home.  We do Run Club twice a week.  On those days our schedule changes just a little bit. 

They both do Science and History for 30 min before we leave for Run Club.  Caitlin skips Language Arts, and DJ makes his up after lunch.  Then Math after lunch with Spelling and Vocab.  This worked real well doing it this way today, so I don't see any issues in getting behind with our school work.  Because I make classes one hour long, when most public school classes are forty minutes, it makes up for the days that the lessons are shorter at the end of the year. 

Tomorrow is a full day, with testing on material learned.  We probably will get done a little early, which is always nice. 

Park Day!

We have not had a park day in a while, but today we did.  It was beautiful weather, though a bit warm in the sun.  Thank goodness for shade.  First we did our Run/Walk group.  I ran the other day on Monday some, and I was paying for it.  I am almost 44 and my body was revolting.  I think I better remember to stretch if I am going to run rather than walk.  Wow!  After we went to the park, where we meant a new member to our little group, and they were very nice.  We did not traditional school lessons today, but tomorrow we are back to the grind.  I hope the weather is getting lovely for all my cold weather friends.  I am working on a field trip to a place called Millhopper, and a butterfly farm I believe for May. 

Back To Homeschool and A New Adventure Too!

It is funny to me how one thing falls apart and a new one grows instead.  Today, we were back to school from a lovely, and much needed break.  It was sluggish and slow at first, but we finally got into the groove of things.  As always, we didn't take an absolute complete break from schooling, but only two days a week, an hour at best.  So, basically no school.  We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year, as I hope everyone did. 

We were going to join a bowling league, but that fell apart when the person doing it became ill.  So, I was kind of bummed for her and for us.  The kids were really excited.  But, then a member of our homeschool group decided she wanted to start a run/walk club, with the goal being that the kids run a 5k race in early Summer.  DJ jumped at this chance, and even Caitlin is excited.  DJ loves to run.  Now he is not a long distance runner, and he thinks he has stamina.  I guess we will find out, lol!  I will not be running.  At the age of 43 I would like to keep my knees in the same good health they are currently in.  However, I can tell you, being that I am short, I mean vertically challenged, and I get with people with longer legs I get a workout just trying to walk with them, LOL!  We start tomorrow!  No rest for the wicked.  We will also have to keep up with our studies, if it interferes with school I will have to make them stop.  That is usually motivation enough.  Plus, we still do 4H and Earth Kids. 

I have evaluated our school lessons, over the break, and made a few changes.  DJ will be finishing up Science on FLVS, he is about half done with segment 2.  And today, he started Language Arts and Photography.  The Photography will go well for him, because he is finishing up the last book from 4H Photography, and he really enjoys it.  By grade 9, I want him to be doing 3-4 classes on FLVS.  This was a hard decision for me, but I think in the end this is what will be best for him in the long run.  Because, he wants to go to college, and it will assure he gets all the credits he needs to graduate with a diploma without added expense.  Caitlin can not start FLVS until 5th grade, and that is another thing I want to stress.  Her work is way too easy, and I need to really challenge her the second half of this year.  DJ doing FLVS will alleviate some of the time I have to spend with him, to free up time for Caitlin to begin much harder Math, and Writing.  Two very important subjects to me.  DJ will continue his Social Studies curriculum, 4H books, Reading, and Writing.  I am also switching him from Saxon Math, to two online Math programs.  One very challenging, that is basically Algebra, and one that is at the pace he was currently doing Math.  Again, this is to free up time for me to work with Caitlin more on Math, and the instructor online can do DJ, and the grading.  Grading takes up so much of my time.  Of course I will continue manage and evaluate their progress, plus keep all record keeping in line.  I am looking forward to the second half of our school year.