Thursday, September 26, 2013

Fifth Week of School --Autumn 2013

Here i sit, eating my lunch of chips and salsa, deciding what to tell you.....Lots of things happen here everyday. We generally get up, take care of pets, and drink coffee. Breakfast is sometimes served before devo time, sometimes it is left on the table and grazed upon all morning. The oldest two start school and I work with the three youngest. I sometimes jog before devo, sometimes not. Around lunch we break for some tv and food, do some exercises, and do some cleaning up. Then the afternoon begins. Rotation skills for the younger three, the older ones do homework for co-op classes, and we prep for supper. Our afternoons also consist of various outside activities. Mondays we have ballet 3 and teen ballet, and an occasional cooking night for the youth group at evangelism. On Tuesday we have ballet 1. Wednesdays we have piano, voice (that may be short lived), sometimes regroup with the youth, and bible class. Thursdays we have tap 3 and tap 1 (though the tap 1 kid is thinking of dropping), and high school bible study. After that we load the van for Friday co-op classes...lots of chemistry stuff, sewing machines, fabric, irons, etc. Fridays we go to co-op at 8:30 and get home around 12:40 if we don't have extra radio drama practice. Then there is theater 2 class after supper. The weekends we spend with family, catching up on shopping, working on projects, visiting friends. We still haven't started driver's ed, partly because I forgot to enclose the check to the DMV. Maybe that will arrive soon and we can get the ball rolling. Still, with the cost of insurance, I doubt he will get to test for a license until he is employed next year. I hear it can run $100 per teen driver, per month. OUCH! You can drive when you can cover your insurance cost. I'd rather pay for your cell phone! We have some new favorite shows that we watch this year...Once Upon a time, Agents of SHIELD, and Sherlock is coming soon!
But alas, that is all I can write at this time. I have laundry to finish and some sewing to attend to, while Jacob works with our preacher to get Life Chain commercials finalized, before we swing into the afternoon activity rush.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Best of LateSummer 2013---Photos

 Summer passed too quickly. The kids grew too fast. But we had fun. Life with five is busy and wonderful. I would miss so much were it not for homeschooling.
 Go skating


 Life is fun. Enjoy family and friends.
 Have a party

 Take time to be still
 Have some fun.
 Enjoy the chaotic times--like when all the furniture is moved for flooring installs. Makes for good memories.

 Build stuff. Make films.
 Dress up.
 Play games.
 Pet the dogs.
 Be with family.
 Rest.
 Put God first, with excitement!

 Ride together

 Love one another.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

One Down, 35 to go...

First week of school is complete. It went very well. It is amazing how much can get done by independent workers, and how much each one has grown over the summer. They are reading and writing better, working on math well, and getting along far better than normal.

Right before we began school, we had a sit down discussion of what was expected from them in their character traits. I think it has made a HUGE difference in the family dynamic. Kids are working together on radio drama and crochet projects and even helping out each other with schoolwork. We started doing some family evening walks a few nights each week. Sometimes it is just Clay and me, but last night we all went, and even ran races together for 2 miles. It was lots of fun. We have been ending our evenings with Once Upon a Time or Warehouse 13. Friday School co-op is planned and is going to be awesome! Dance classes are in full swing. Youth group activities are going strong.

But we have had our glitches....The wood laminate flooring did not get completely installed, so we are still waiting on 2 transition strips, and have yet to completely set up the main computer desk, though the computer is up and running. Everything we need is on a nearby shelf so that has not been an issue, really. One of the bookshelves is precarious due to missing an anchor bolt---it's broken and we need a new shelf soon. One of the laptops overheated and basically died. It has about 6 months of family pictures on it, 5th grade math, and my other email access. I have to get that info off the computer and ready to store elsewhere in the next 7 days. What I really need is a usable third laptop. One of the other laptops is missing the spacebar key...that's fun to work with. My oven is not working well. If the internal temp gets above 370F the whole thing locks us out. Cooking is quite the adventure when you cook, let the oven cool, cook, and repeat until done. Takes much longer, but hopefully that will be repaired by Friday.

But as far as actual schooling, we are in the middle of week 2, everyone is getting their work completed nicely, and choosing fun activities in the spare time.  I suppose chemistry is going well. i am leaving that one to co-op this year. Elementary physics math seems to be going well for Em. Kim is reading nicely, and Jordan and Elizabeth are coming along on their writing. I like to see the dancing, lego building, crocheting, video editing, and bike riding going on.

So, that is just a quick recap. I would post pictures, but the laptop with photos is dead, as I said before, and the desktop won't support my HDSD card, so I have a month of photos still on the camera that I can't unload until the laptop issue is resolved. Maybe soon....if cash allows.
Happy Homeschooling!