On Monday and Tuesday of this week, we actually got a bit of school accomplished and took some trips.
Monday, we shopped for our shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. We also listened to our history chapter and read our geography chapter. I am really enjoying our geography book - A Child's Geography. Charles finds it rather juvenile, but all the girls seem to enjoy it, and despite Charles's protest, I think he's learning something.
On Tuesday, we headed out to the museum, so the big kids could see some of the new exhibits there.
Knowing that I am going to be out of commission for a bit because of surgery, I made up a two week check sheet for Charles and Kathryne, so they could continue with math practice, copywork, Bible reading, and independent guided reading on their own. I also included a self-directed lapbook for each of them. Charles is completing a Lego Lapbook, and Kathryne is completing an American Girls lapbook for Kaya. Charles is very excited about the Lego Lapbook. He got started on it right away.
On Wednesday, I went into the hospital for my surgery- a hysterectomy. I ended up not coming home until Friday, so the rest of the week was not very productive for school. I'm sure I'm going to be resting this coming up week, so Kathryne and Charles can keep on with their work, and when I feel up to it, I am going to do a bit with Ashlyne and Rachel.
So, that was our week. I'm glad homeschooling is flexible!
For more Weekly Wrap ups, check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Who I Belong To
Charles found a business card in his room that the church had made for Jason- Facilities Supervisor. He put a hole in it and threaded through a ribbon last night. He told us he was going to wear it so everyone would know who his daddy was.
Sure enough, he wore his tag to to the museum today and wore it around all day. He's very proud of who he belongs to.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Weekly Wrap Up- The What Exactly Did We Do This Week? Edition
Well, on Monday, the little girls and I reread The Little House and watched a very cool video on the phases of the moon and made the phases of the moon with Oreo cookies (which of course we ate when we were through).
That was possibly the most educational thing we did at home this week.On Tuesday, Kathryne and Charles had their second Junior Master Gardner class. This is a 4h class held at one of our local gardens. Kathryne has a good time. Charles has an okay time but is now having a better time because he has made some buds to hang out with. And, I can tell (despite their complaining about multiple homework assignments) that they are both learning something.
While they were in class, the little girls and I headed to the nature museum. We played in the river room, did puppet shows, explored the naturalist area, and played in the Tinker Tim storybook room. All in all, a very educational day- just not at home all day.
On Wednesday, we did get some "real" work accomplished. We listened to our history chapter and talked about Louis the XIV. We listened to Classics for Kids and learned more about Igor Stravinsky. We didn't do much book work that day because we headed out to play with friends for the morning.
On Thursday, we headed to the zoo! It was a fun trip. It has been about three years since we've been, so the little girls didn't remember it at all. The weather was wonderful, and we spent all day there. Another really educational day- just not at home.
Today was a vacation day for our public schools. Kathryne participated in an all day drama class at the community theater, so I didn't even attempt school with anyone else. Charles hung out with his neighborhood buddies all day, and my mom hung with the kids while I went to a pre-op appointment and ran some errands.SO, I would say we didn't get much "home" school accomplished this week, but I believe lots of learning happened. Does that count?
Next week, I am having surgery on Wednesday, so I don't predict much getting accomplished then either. I am not really planning to do much school at all for the next two weeks. This is our fall break since mom will be somewhat incapacitated for a while. Homeschool is nice and flexible that way.
Weekly Wrap Up is being hosted at See Jamie Blog this week if you want to check out more wrap-ups. Perhaps someone else got a little more done this week than we did!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Field Trip to the Zoo Today
It was beautiful fall weather here today- just a little crisp this morning, but still sunny and warm this afternoon. We took the opportunity to go to the zoo. We had free tickets from last year that we hadn't used yet, and Jason was able to take the day to go with us. It was great! The kids hadn't been since Rachel was about 2, so she and Ashlyne really didn't remember it. The big kids remembered things and had their favorites.
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Monday, October 18, 2010
Beyond the Bible in 90 Days
Having finished my second round of reading through the Bible in 90 days this year, I am now taking some time to do some more in depth Bible study. I am currently studying the book of Genesis with a study guide form Navpress. And, I just finished reading Broken Down House by Paul David Tripp.
Broken Down House is a book about living in a fallen world and how we need to approach this. Paul Tripp was the main speaker at the homeschool convention this past summer, and we really enjoyed hearing him speak. Although the whole book was very thought provoking, two things really stood out to me:
The first was the instruction to live in community. Tripp explains in that chapter how Scripture exhorts us to do much more than meet together on Sundays for an hour of "worship." Scripture exhorts us to live in community, to know each other, to see and meet each other's needs, to hold each other accountable for our actions. I don't think I am very good at this, and I hope to become better at being a part of a community of believers.
The other things Tripp pointed out that really made me think was that we are always in ministry. As a Christian, everything I do should be "ministry." Ministry is not just teaching Sunday school once a month or serving in the nursery every other week. Ministry should be our lifestyle. So, when I am in a frustrating situation in my marriage, I need to remember that my marriage is my ministry. When my kids are driving me batty, I need to remember that they are my ministry. With a viewpoint of lifestyle ministry, my reactions to the people and situations around me would be very different.
The Bible study of Genesis has been very interesting also. Here's something the study book mentions that I just never thought about. Moses wrote Genesis (I knew that) after all those things happened (of course, that seems obvious, but it made me stop and say, "hmmmm") to clarify in the minds of God's people how God had worked and was working in their lives, and to make sense in their minds of some of the ancient stories passed down at the time about creation and the flood and those major events.
Genesis, although I believe it to be the true and literal Word of God (as do the authors of my study guide) is meant to be an historical narrative showing God's work in the world and particularly in the lives of his chosen people; not a science book with exact details about the world's beginning. So, it is okay that all the details aren't there. We can trust that what God says is literally true, and I think we can be okay with not knowing all the details.
I'm enjoying my Bible studies. I am going to continue through Genesis and hopefully also complete the Exodus study this year before I read through the Bible again in the January group.
Broken Down House is a book about living in a fallen world and how we need to approach this. Paul Tripp was the main speaker at the homeschool convention this past summer, and we really enjoyed hearing him speak. Although the whole book was very thought provoking, two things really stood out to me:
The first was the instruction to live in community. Tripp explains in that chapter how Scripture exhorts us to do much more than meet together on Sundays for an hour of "worship." Scripture exhorts us to live in community, to know each other, to see and meet each other's needs, to hold each other accountable for our actions. I don't think I am very good at this, and I hope to become better at being a part of a community of believers.
The other things Tripp pointed out that really made me think was that we are always in ministry. As a Christian, everything I do should be "ministry." Ministry is not just teaching Sunday school once a month or serving in the nursery every other week. Ministry should be our lifestyle. So, when I am in a frustrating situation in my marriage, I need to remember that my marriage is my ministry. When my kids are driving me batty, I need to remember that they are my ministry. With a viewpoint of lifestyle ministry, my reactions to the people and situations around me would be very different.
The Bible study of Genesis has been very interesting also. Here's something the study book mentions that I just never thought about. Moses wrote Genesis (I knew that) after all those things happened (of course, that seems obvious, but it made me stop and say, "hmmmm") to clarify in the minds of God's people how God had worked and was working in their lives, and to make sense in their minds of some of the ancient stories passed down at the time about creation and the flood and those major events.
Genesis, although I believe it to be the true and literal Word of God (as do the authors of my study guide) is meant to be an historical narrative showing God's work in the world and particularly in the lives of his chosen people; not a science book with exact details about the world's beginning. So, it is okay that all the details aren't there. We can trust that what God says is literally true, and I think we can be okay with not knowing all the details.
I'm enjoying my Bible studies. I am going to continue through Genesis and hopefully also complete the Exodus study this year before I read through the Bible again in the January group.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Weekly Wrap Up- The Lost Tooth Edition
This was one of those weeks where I felt like I was hanging on by a thread. School is going well. Making time for everything else is hard.
In school, we had a pretty normal week except for Thursday. On Thursday, we took a great field trip to the children's theater to see Aladin. It was our first children's theater experience; although Kathryne has been to a professional performance, and Kathryne and Charles have both been to a small, local performance. This performance was a pretty big deal, complete with professional actors, special effects, and a flying carpet!
Today, we finished up most of the things we needed to finish for the week. Ashlyne lost her first tooth today! She was quite excited!
I've been recording our daily homeschool record at my Courtney Homeschool blog. I've found it to be a good way of record keeping.
If you'd like to read more weekly wrap-ups, visit Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
In school, we had a pretty normal week except for Thursday. On Thursday, we took a great field trip to the children's theater to see Aladin. It was our first children's theater experience; although Kathryne has been to a professional performance, and Kathryne and Charles have both been to a small, local performance. This performance was a pretty big deal, complete with professional actors, special effects, and a flying carpet!
Today, we finished up most of the things we needed to finish for the week. Ashlyne lost her first tooth today! She was quite excited!
I've been recording our daily homeschool record at my Courtney Homeschool blog. I've found it to be a good way of record keeping.
If you'd like to read more weekly wrap-ups, visit Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Running and Running
I was trying to think of an appropriate title for this blog post, but that was the best I could do.
I'm feeling a little "out of breath" with life right now. Homeschooling four children of diverse ages and abilities can keep me hopping. For the first year, I have all four officially "school-aged." I have a middle-schooler and a kindergartner and two in between. Just when I thought life couldn't get busier, here we go.
My problem is not so much school. Amazingly, I can juggle all four and teach them fairly well. All of us are enjoying school this year. The problem is all the other stuff. Besides school, I need to feed these people three times a day and several snacks. I want to serve healthy, less-processed food. This takes time. And cooking. I also need to keep the house reasonably clean. And wash six people's clothes on a regular basis.
I'm having a hard time with balance. I'm not a very good cook. Homemaking in general is not my strong suit. And so I'm running.
I'm enjoying what we do and I am so thankful that we do it. But, some days I am just tired of running.
I'm feeling a little "out of breath" with life right now. Homeschooling four children of diverse ages and abilities can keep me hopping. For the first year, I have all four officially "school-aged." I have a middle-schooler and a kindergartner and two in between. Just when I thought life couldn't get busier, here we go.
My problem is not so much school. Amazingly, I can juggle all four and teach them fairly well. All of us are enjoying school this year. The problem is all the other stuff. Besides school, I need to feed these people three times a day and several snacks. I want to serve healthy, less-processed food. This takes time. And cooking. I also need to keep the house reasonably clean. And wash six people's clothes on a regular basis.
I'm having a hard time with balance. I'm not a very good cook. Homemaking in general is not my strong suit. And so I'm running.
I'm enjoying what we do and I am so thankful that we do it. But, some days I am just tired of running.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Weekly Wrap Up- October 8, 2010- The One Where I Am Very Frustrated With Blogger!
Arrgh. I cannot get photos to publish on this new Blogger platform. It makes me very unhappy when I cannot put photos on my posts!
I will add an addendum that I now can load pictures through Blogger. Hooray! Perhaps the e-mail that I sent to Google had some effect.
Anyway, with no photos, or now with photos-here is how our week went:
On Monday, we had our science group meeting. We discussed the scientific method and the kids planted bean seed in jars in all directions and hypothesized about what directions the plants would grow.
The big kids and I finished reading The Magician's Nephew at the end of last week, so we are taking some time to do some of the extension activities. We read a science essay about sound this week and practiced some note-taking. We also took a look at world leaders of the 1900s and watched a Discovery Education video about the start of World War 2.
The little girls and I read Angus Lost this week and did this lapbook from Homeschool Share.
Today, we took a field trip to a kennel. We were able to talk to the owner about her business and pet the dogs there. As a bonus, we saw a mama duck and her newly hatched ducklings! Of course, I had a great picture of the adorable baby ducks, but you will have to use your imagination.
I started something new this week: a separate homeschool record blog where I am recording our daily schoolwork like a journal and where the big kids can journal about school activities and publish reports. You can visit it here: The Courtney Homeschool- just don't look for pictures!
For more weekly wrap ups, visit Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Weekly Wrap Up- A Better School Week
Well, despite starting our week with a short-lived virus, we had a much more productive school week.
On Monday, Charles woke up feeling bad. We postponed our science time that was scheduled that afternoon but managed to get through a pretty full day of school before he felt better and then Kathryne spent the afternoon feeling bad. Thankfully soccer was canceled for Monday evening due to lots of rain.
Tuesday, I decided to skip a scheduled field trip just to make sure everyone was going to feel well. We did a little school work despite some complaining that we shouldn't have to do work because we were supposed to have had a field trip.
The other days went pretty smoothly and normally. I was thankful for that because my nights have been rather rough. Besides the sickness at the beginning of the week that interrupted our sleep, Charles has been really scared at nights and going through a rough time. That means I also go through a rough time at night. I'm hoping this passes quickly.
On Thursday, we hosted our postponed science group. This week's activity was about rocks and rock types. We watched a short video on Discovery Education about types of rocks. The kids considered it corny, but it held their interest and I think they all learned something new. Then we experimented with making an edible igneous rock- rice krispie treats- and a metamorphic rock with squashed playdo rocks. We had our edible igneous rocks for a snack, and then the kids had some time to play.
Charles and Kathryne finished up The Magician's Nephew this week, and we are loving all things Narnia. I am using Further Up and Further In as a curriculum guide. We are going to hold off starting the second book for a week or so while we do some of the extension activities that went along with The Magician's Nephew.
Ashlyne and Rachel read Blueberries for Sal this week. I bought it with a set of books that I thought all went with Five in a Row volume one. However, I found out that that book was not in FIAR vol. one. So, I made up my own extension activities.
1. We talked about the location of Maine- geography.
2. We discussed the time period the book was written in (early 1940s)- history.
3. We compared the art in the book with the art from Lentil- another Robert McCloskey book we've read- art.
4. We did blueberry math using blue counting blocks to add, count , and estimate-math.
5. We discussed how humans and animals prepare for the winter (focusing on hibernation)- science.
I think we did a pretty good job covering the aspects of the book even though I didn't have a written plan.
This weekend, we are camping. Actually Jason and Charles are camping tonight. I plan on taking the girls out in the morning and staying for the day and evening. Surprisingly enough, it is not raining. Usually our planning a camping trip is enough to end the longest drought!
For more Weekly Wrap Ups, check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
On Monday, Charles woke up feeling bad. We postponed our science time that was scheduled that afternoon but managed to get through a pretty full day of school before he felt better and then Kathryne spent the afternoon feeling bad. Thankfully soccer was canceled for Monday evening due to lots of rain.
Tuesday, I decided to skip a scheduled field trip just to make sure everyone was going to feel well. We did a little school work despite some complaining that we shouldn't have to do work because we were supposed to have had a field trip.
The other days went pretty smoothly and normally. I was thankful for that because my nights have been rather rough. Besides the sickness at the beginning of the week that interrupted our sleep, Charles has been really scared at nights and going through a rough time. That means I also go through a rough time at night. I'm hoping this passes quickly.
On Thursday, we hosted our postponed science group. This week's activity was about rocks and rock types. We watched a short video on Discovery Education about types of rocks. The kids considered it corny, but it held their interest and I think they all learned something new. Then we experimented with making an edible igneous rock- rice krispie treats- and a metamorphic rock with squashed playdo rocks. We had our edible igneous rocks for a snack, and then the kids had some time to play.
Charles and Kathryne finished up The Magician's Nephew this week, and we are loving all things Narnia. I am using Further Up and Further In as a curriculum guide. We are going to hold off starting the second book for a week or so while we do some of the extension activities that went along with The Magician's Nephew.
Ashlyne and Rachel read Blueberries for Sal this week. I bought it with a set of books that I thought all went with Five in a Row volume one. However, I found out that that book was not in FIAR vol. one. So, I made up my own extension activities.
1. We talked about the location of Maine- geography.
2. We discussed the time period the book was written in (early 1940s)- history.
3. We compared the art in the book with the art from Lentil- another Robert McCloskey book we've read- art.
4. We did blueberry math using blue counting blocks to add, count , and estimate-math.
5. We discussed how humans and animals prepare for the winter (focusing on hibernation)- science.
I think we did a pretty good job covering the aspects of the book even though I didn't have a written plan.
This weekend, we are camping. Actually Jason and Charles are camping tonight. I plan on taking the girls out in the morning and staying for the day and evening. Surprisingly enough, it is not raining. Usually our planning a camping trip is enough to end the longest drought!
For more Weekly Wrap Ups, check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
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