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Accountability thread for week beginning 31 August 2014


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We were going to start this week and then ... my married daughter showed up unexpectedly this evening and 12yo went home with her for a few days.  We didn't even start and I've already had an interruption.  sigh.

 

Edited to add something positive so I don't sound too much like Eeyore.  I'll have a few more days of summer vacation. ;)

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We have difficulty getting going by eight am. It was flowing fairly well until Dh brought germs home from school. After two days of feeling off and the weekend to try and kick it, we will hopefully be up and going tomorrow at the normal time!

 

Digital schedule with OneNote is rocking our homeschooling socks off! More is getting done, in less time, and I get to stay out of it other than for great discussions. I should probably not be this excited to get a big part of my autonomy back, but I am. Ds has been working for half the day without needing me to intervene. Totally diggin' it!

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I have 3 pencils laid out, books for each kid laid out... still need to print our schedule. I'm waiting for DH to wake up, since the laptop is in the bedroom. He got in late from a trip last night, so I'm being nice and letting him sleep. Kids should be coming down any minute though, which means he won't be able to sleep. :lol:

 

We'll start with breakfast and Bible, then have the kids wash the dining room table off and do school there. I was going to use the school room, since desks were cleared off Saturday, but someone played in there yesterday afternoon, and I didn't realize it until bed time! Dining room table it is...

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I'll join in!  This week is a crazy week, with dh being home today due to the holiday.  We're still schoolin', though--I need to take advantage of his help, especially in wrangling the little boys!  I have a funeral to attend today, too.  My goal this week is to figure out a way to manage our Sonlight schedule.  I'm NOT loving it.  All those books--broken up over days and days--just not our MO.  I also want to figure out a way for my girls to have more output in regards to what they read.  I'm off to figure that out now!

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We're one week in (today we're off since dh has off due to the markets being closed :)).

 

Going well:

We're easing into a full schedule. Dd's been working on AP Human Geography (sm group led by me and dsis) and an AoPS online class since July. Her online English class began last week, and we began chemistry last week as well. This week we'll add ancient history, along with starting her M-Sa ballet schedule (:eek:). Next week she begins her online Arabic class, and she'll also start the intro to archaeology class I designed for her.

 

She did a good job last week dividing up her assignments into daily chunks. I noted on the chemistry syllabus how many days each chapter should take (so we can hit the midterm before Nutcracker tech week) and helped her split up the first chapter. I sat with her while she did the same for her other classes and gave feedback when asked. I expect I will sit with her each week while she does this, at least for a month or two (though I will definitely check her planner as I'm doing four of the subjects with her and need to be prepared :lol:).

 

Needs work:

Getting up and moving in the mornings! I am dragging with the 6:30 alarm. But I have some coffee (decaf, alas) and change into my workout clothes by 7:30, do a quick prep session for the day, and wake dd at 8 (she asked me to, as she has issues w paying attention to her alarm :rolleyes:). She takes an hour to get through her morning routine, but we still didn't begin until 9:30 last week. That was fine because she had no time limit last week. Once ballet begins tomorrow dd will have to finish school work by 4 in order to have a heavy snack, get changed, do her hair, and drive to the studio.

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We have four four-day weeks behind us and we took off for a week at the beach.  We studied tidal pools (reading Pagoo, Life in a Tidal Pool, and the Burgess Seashore book) in those four weeks, and now the kids are exploring real tidal pools, seeing the animals and plants they just read about.  It's so cool.

 

Thanks for starting these threads; I look forward to participating!

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We aren't starting until tomorrow and I am already feeling thrown off kilter. We have a crazy busy schedule that I have been finessing all the details in order to make things work. One of our outside commitments notified us last night about a new location which is further away, making what was a 45 min drive now over an hr b/c the new location requires negotiating traffic as well. I am annoyed and in a bad mood about it since we were supposed to start tomorrow afternoon. Dd is disappointed b/c at this point the only option is to drop it.

 

I still have a small amt of planning I need to finish. We have spent the past few days rearranging rooms since ds left for college. It looks great, but it was a huge amt of work. We also went to our storage unit and pulled out some of the toys that had been stored since we didn't have the space in our new location. We got out the Playmobil and I am hoping that that will help our 4 yr old adjust to self-entertaining. Having our grandkids live with us for 11 weeks (our oldest granddaughter is our 4 yod's best friend) and then the constant stream of friends this summer has left dd needing to be re-trained in self-entertainment.

 

The next 2 weeks are going to be bumpy trying to fit everything in and deal with attitude readjustments and new sleep schedules, but that is pretty much been the norm for the first couple of weeks of school for the past 20 yrs. :) I just want to make sure that when I get up in the morning I feel on top of what I need to have under control.

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Hugs and good luck to everyone!

 

Since we thought we were moving and I spent the bulk of the summer getting the house in the other city prepped and getting our house prepped for a move that isn't happening (at least not right now) we are behind the 8 ball.  So as not to start off on a bad note or overwhelm anyone this week will be prep and planning until Thursday.  We will start light school Thursday and Friday.

 

Goals for this week prior to those days:

DH and I are building my bookshelf

I am selling off a lot of old curriculum

Trying to find some extracurriculars for the kids to make up for what they aren't getting to take where we were moving to

Lesson planning

DD will work on learning how to use Inspiration software

Prep the new room we will be doing school work in (relocating to make some things easier)

Get everyone into better sleep/wake up routine (we aren't terribly off, but it needs tweaking)

 

Thursday and Friday:

Do math assessments to see where we need to review, review of Barton lessons to see if some things need to be retaught, start typing lessons again, DS will start up his self-paced online history class again, read, 

 

Good luck everyone!  Best wishes

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This will be kind of a weird week for us - we're off today, we take school holidays when dh is off work on mondays so the girls have time to hang out with him.  And we're going camping next week.  So this week is kind of a finish stuff up week, I'm not starting brand new units or topics till we're back from camping.  We also have 2 Coursera classes ending this week or next that we need to finish before we go camping, so that will be a focus.

 

What's gone well - starting early, we've already gotten 26 days of school in.  This will give us flexibility for the times when I will need to work and the kids will be either out in the field with me, or working independently.  This was my big goal this year after feeling super stressed in the spring when my work schedule got heavy.  So I'm happy about that.  Morgan's work & schedule are flowing very smoothly.  Shannon's schedule will be shifting a bit when we come back b/c with the Coursera classes over, we'll be starting to focus more on reading and notetaking from challenging texts and TC lectures.  That will be good for her, but it will add a new level of challenge and more work to the day.

 

The main struggle so far has been getting it all into a reasonable day length.  Shannon tends to sleep waaaayyyy in.  Last week I started waking her at 9.  I'll do that this week too.  When we get back from camping I might bump it up to 8:30.  The problem with starting late is that it makes my school day bleed into my cooking dinner and chores day such that I get zero break and time for self-care, and that's not working for me.  I've not been able to exercise consistently since we started school.  So I have a new morning schedule for myself, starting tomorrow, which will be get up, coffee, light breakfast, a little forum time while it's digesting, then go for a run, then back and shower before school.  We'll see how it goes.  It means getting hustling earlier in the morning, but it's the only way I'll get exercise in consistently.  We'll see how that goes this week!

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Started some Latin review with the boys, but they have a friend next door who is in PS, and he's off today, so when he's off, they play. I hadn't planned to do much today anyway, because of the holiday and DH having that off.

For me, I'm stocking my new bookcase. I finished wrestling my old pantry into submission, fixing it to the wall, and repairing the baseboard. There's still some trim work to do, but the doors will be on tonight.

I also am emptying some old bins for the boys to use for their work. They both wanted, and now will have their desks for individual work. Had to swap some furniture around, but it will be worth it. I hope.

 

If I get time later today I will sit down with the history books and figure out how I want that to work. Maybe science too. Both those subjects are going to be pretty intensive for me to keep up with as they are not open and go in any sense. Unless it is open and go nuts.

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Spending today prepping the office and decorating for a re-start tomorrow. We've been schooling lightly for 3 weeks, but hoping to up the ante to a full schedule and include younger ds in the mix, so making a "big deal" of it. Co op starts this week too, so busy week! I'll be happy with 3 full days and co op, that's my goal for this week.

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Going well:

 

* We started our year on Aug 11, so we already have the first three weeks of a 6-week term completed.

* DS is doing a better job of cooperating with school time, but we did have a potty accident/bath right in the middle of history today  :willy_nilly:

* DD is really improving with her narrations.

 

Needs improvement:

 

* We're not getting started in a timely manner in the morning, and it starts with me.  I've really been slacking about getting up and doing my devotions/exercise/shower before the kids get  up, and it's making everything late all day.  I need a kick in the backside!   :ohmy:

 

My goal is to get out for a nature walk this afternoon.  The weather is looking iffy for the rest of the week, so it needs to happen today or tomorrow.  Today is supposed to be lower 90's, while tomorrow is forecast to be upper 90's...

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After DH helped with a printing fiasco (I could not get the laptop to recognize his printer for the life of me!), I finally got the kids started. Had everyone round robin read Matthew 1 and 2. So proud of my 7 year old for reading most of it without help! He needed help on words like "betrothed", but he did so much on his own. I'm in shock. He was reading from the English Standard Version.

 

My 5 year old is done with school. 7 year old has done phonics and part of math. 10 year old has done Latin (ran into technical issues there... he needed to refer to vocabulary words from a previous lesson and then wanted to practice them online, but I had trouble getting Java to update so he could do the game he wanted... finally got that working). He still has math, spelling, and writing to do when they get back from lunch with DH, who is off today. Thankfully, DH's office is in the garage, so he has left us alone all morning, except making the kids pick up around the house while I showered. ;)

 

Oh, and we did history today!!! Had some good discussions, and the kids were happy. :D

 

I ordered erasers and toner off Amazon today. DH is picking up ink for my color printer at Staples. So I will be able to print this afternoon, and by Thursday I can use my laser printer again. Pencils and extra lead are being kept in a little metal pail ($1 ones from Target), and I made the kids return the pencils when not in use. ;) We're doing school at the dining room table, which means they'll have to clean the table off for dinner. That also means my table got washed this morning before school. Win-win!

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We're starting tomorrow so today's stuff involves getting the house clean, food organized, shopping done, and schedule finalized.

 

Going well:

 

- I have chronic illness and am feeling better than I have in the last couple of weeks.

- I have done a lot of work organizing our resources into HST. I didn't realize we had so much to use until I listed the stuff we own, the library lists, Audible books, and my Netflix queue into one place.

- I have ordered everything I'm going to need and have received what I need to start.

 

Needs improvement:

 

- I need to get up at a more consistent time.

- We need to get DS's music practice into a habit at the same time each day.

- I need to talk to the neighbor's kids and explain we're going into school mode so they stop dropping by during school time.

 

 

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We started first grade today. Overall it went well, though he was clearly getting tired by the end. The thinking putty was a hit, as were the paper Egyptians from Famous Figures of Ancient Times for him to play with while I read from SOTW. I'm glad I put in the planning time to get the subjects in an order that made sense.

 

Needs work:

1) He's gotten into the habit of playing before school, and that is not going to work with this schedule.

2) Stamina. We are going to start full Spanish lessons soon, not the couple of minutes that we're doing this week.

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We started three weeks ago with a light schedule - just a couple of subjects. It's not been a great start.

 

Cons: My daughter figure skates, and while I moved all her lessons to early morning this year, we still aren't leaving the rink until 10:00 some mornings. There have been mornings where we haven't started school until 11:30 am. I am really struggling to work my 1st and 2nd graders into the mix. I have had to work so hard to get my 5th grader to do her work over the years, I feel as though they have gotten lost in the shuffle.

 

Pros: The awesome and amazing thing is that my 5th grader has made a miraculous turn-around. For the first time she is working hard at school and at skating. She seems to have finally learned that getting her work done means that I can make her brother and sister do more work (she is always jealous that they have so much less) and that she has free-time. I guess that summer of catching up on homework must have done her some good.

 

Needs work: Everyone needs to know what time school starts - myself included. I need to be ready to start at that time so I don't lose anyone. I need to dedicate more time to my 1st and 2nd graders. I need to help them to understand that they have a certain amount of work that has to be done before they have free-time. I need to get my workouts in again. Morning skating has killed my workout routine. I need to start school on time, so I can have my me time in the afternoon before dinner.

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Well, we actually got in a full days school here, quite unexpectedly as dh is off, he had to make 2 trips into town for some building supplies. We got our 3Rs done in the first trip and then took a break for lunch and when he left again we did our reading for history, science and lit. Now I can still go to our playdate on Friday, weĂ…â€¢e scheduled for 4 day weeks but I had forgot about dh being off and I was trying to figure out how to squeeze in that day so we could still have off on Friday. 

 

Today went really well, after the last few weeks being a bit too busy I worked on tweaking the schedule. We have set aside Paragraph Town and Practice Town until we finish the grammar portion of Treasured Conversations (next week), because we did Grammar Town last year weĂ…â€¢e still easily on track to finish Town Level this year. I also decided we will not be doing the rest of the writing in PT, we will be doing TC at least through Section 2 and finishing Narrative 2, that is sufficient. Ds will likely be doing some of the Bravewriter exercises with dd as well(modified a bit- depending on what I think will be useful and interesting) so he will be getting plenty of writing in this year. Also, I dropped Websters and McGuffey, he needs reading practice but adding one more thing was too much. So, I'm having him do bits of our read-alouds to practice. 

 

I gave up trying to do anything too formal for dd for her science, my head was about to explode trying to coordinate it all together.  She will follow along when she is able and otherwise we will read science books and explore as we want a few days a week. I got my next two weeks for history lined up and scheduled. I'll be working on finishing up Lit this evening. This should have already been done but we started this year, imperfect as my preparation was. 

 

We are on week 6 this week, we are taking a break after next week, perhaps by then we'll have the kinks worked out :) I plan to schedule out our readings for history, science and lit while on break for the next session. Hopefully by the end of the year I'll have it down pat :) It has been an adjustment this year, this is ds' first year doing more formal content (we've done short programs and bits here and there but not to this level) and this is the first year I have to track dd's hours. I am still miles away from doing this as I want but I have to start where I am at and work on it until I get better. Doing pre-fab programs don't work for me so I might as well dive in and figure it out myself. 

 

I went through the math and pulled out lessons for dd to work on and we did some of that today and it went really well. Well, dd had a bit of a meltdown when we started. We had been reviewing some things in the K book and today I had the 1st book out and she was all upset about going up in levels. Sigh. Most kids want to be moved ahead, not her! I just started it and worked through it talking out each step as I went while she sat there annoyed and after a while she took the pencil from me and finished it proclaiming how easy it was. I'm sure I'll go through the same meltdown when we get the 2nd grade book in, she doesn't do well with change and hates anything remotely resembling a challenge.  I need to make some more copies this evening of subsequent lessons that I think will most help us practice where we need to work so we can start her 2nd grade books as soon as they come in the mail. 

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Hugs and good luck to everyone!

 

Since we thought we were moving and I spent the bulk of the summer getting the house in the other city prepped and getting our house prepped for a move that isn't happening (at least not right now) we are behind the 8 ball.  So as not to start off on a bad note or overwhelm anyone this week will be prep and planning until Thursday.  We will start light school Thursday and Friday.

 

Goals for this week prior to those days:

DH and I are building my bookshelf

I am selling off a lot of old curriculum

Trying to find some extracurriculars for the kids to make up for what they aren't getting to take where we were moving to

 

Hugs! I know the feeling, it will be ok. I hope this week is productive for you.

 

 

The main struggle so far has been getting it all into a reasonable day length.  Shannon tends to sleep waaaayyyy in.  Last week I started waking her at 9.  I'll do that this week too.  When we get back from camping I might bump it up to 8:30.  The problem with starting late is that it makes my school day bleed into my cooking dinner and chores day such that I get zero break and time for self-care, and that's not working for me.  I've not been able to exercise consistently since we started school.  So I have a new morning schedule for myself, starting tomorrow, which will be get up, coffee, light breakfast, a little forum time while it's digesting, then go for a run, then back and shower before school.  We'll see how it goes.  It means getting hustling earlier in the morning, but it's the only way I'll get exercise in consistently.  We'll see how that goes this week!

I hear ya, my ds likes to sleep in too, what I started last year was working with dd1 right after she got up since she was up first we could get her math done while the house was quiet, that at least made me feel better as the time wasnt wasted. WeĂ…â€¢e taking longer here as well and I guess that is just par for the course, weve had some days drag onto dinner time as well (with breaks and interruptions in between). We've had some that have really went well though and we get everything done in half the time (like today). Hopefully as the year goes on will be able to have more of the good days and less of the bad! I'm hoping that scheduling out our lit more specifically will help as part of the problem as I have a tendency to want to read more and more, however if I've got it planned out I can feel confident we are doing ¨enough¨ to get get it all done for the year without going overboard.

 

 One of our outside commitments notified us last night about a new location which is further away, making what was a 45 min drive now over an hr b/c the new location requires negotiating traffic as well. I a Dd is disappointed b/c at this point the only option is to drop it.

Ă¢â‚¬â€¹That is a disappointment :(

We got out the Playmobil and I am hoping that that will help our 4 yr old adjust to self-entertaining. Having our grandkids live with us for 11 weeks (our oldest granddaughter is our 4 yod's best friend) and then the constant stream of friends this summer has left dd needing to be re-trained in self-entertainment.

Trying to work on that here as well, dd3 is just getting able to entertain herself but it still a big work in progress and it is often kind of chaotic.

 

 

 

We have four four-day weeks behind us and we took off for a week at the beach.  We studied tidal pools (reading Pagoo, Life in a Tidal Pool, and the Burgess Seashore book) in those four weeks, and now the kids are exploring real tidal pools, seeing the animals and plants they just read about.

Sounds like a wonderful experience, what a great field trip.

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We start tomorrow.  DD's school started last Monday, but I am having trouble embracing the end of summer this year.  I have cleaned, printed schedules, done a meal plan and generally tried to get as organized as I can before we start.  I enjoy the optimism the first day of school brings - well laid plans and the illusion that we will joyfully complete assignments each day, happily marching through our plans in perfect order with an enthusiasm and joy of learning that exceeds expectations.  Ha!  Not once has that ever happened, but every year I think this might be the one.  I can't say the boys are excited but I am hopeful for a strong start.  DS1 is taking a WTM Academy writing class that starts on Thursday and I am anxious to see how that goes.  For tomorrow as long as the coffee pot keeps working and everyone gets out of bed with a decent attitude I will call that a success.

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We took the day off.  However, I am determined to spend less time on the Internet while we school tomorrow, and to not be derailed with begging, whining and negotiating from the dear children.

 

Both boys have a list of their 'required subjects' and a journal/calendar for writing down what they finish.  I hope I can keep it up - giving them a list of required work.  This is our first week of online classes, so I am not sure how we will do history, spanish and science.  

 

That is OK.  If we get all required subjects down every day for just one small week, just 5 days, It would be a huge success.  It is just 5 days - I gotta be strong!

 

I cleaned out the tupperware drawer, and match all containers and lids this morning - I think this means it has to be a great week.  If I was patient enough for that - surely I can handle 2 charming yet strong willed little boys.

 

I am the tupperware wrestler is my motto for the week!

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We started last week with some classes, but co-op doesn't start until next Monday. I'm making some changes to the way the English materials are presented, so that it minimizes having to flip back and forth between computer pages. Hopefully that will give her the big picture view she wants and help speed up her writing. She had a lot of work she didn't finish last week that had to be completed over the weekend, and I'd like to avoid that. This is her first big high school class, first time in this new part time online program with the school system, and first time dealing with the faster pace of a block schedule (finish a year's worth of work in one semester), so it's going to take a bit to get into a good working rhythm. It doesn't help that the school system program is only in its second year, with more than double the enrollment this year, so there are a lot of kinks being worked out on their end as well in getting us support materials. I understand, but it's a bit frustrating.

 

We started using OneNote for scheduling last spring, and I love it! Now we just need to find a way to balance a full high school schedule of co-op and online classes, working backstage at the community theater throughout Sept (play opens next week), aikido 3 days a week, and having downtime for her to do her creative writing, drawing, and just relax at home or with friends. It will come, but not without a lot of kvetching and drama, if previous ramp-ups in work level are any indication. Thus is the life of the parent of a teenager! :)

 

 

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Tomorrow, I have to call American School and let them know which electives ds14 wants to take this year. His biology lab kit arrived on Friday and it looks pretty cool, but we haven't received his textbooks yet. (I only ordered them in the middle of last week, and even though they usually ship orders lightning-fast and they use priority mail for things like the bio kits, they use either ground shipping or media mail for the big boxes, so it can take several days for things to get here.

 

We're not planning to start school yet anyway, but I still get excited about box day, even after all these years. :)

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Ok, no school today because of the holiday.  And Wednesday morning we are meeting friends for brunch for a not-back-to-school breakfast and then Thursday morning ds has an orthodontist appt.  Leaving the house in the mornings tend to throw the whole day off, which is fine for Wed & Thurs *but* my goal is to NOT let that affect Tuesday and Friday.  Having a light week because of Mon, Wed, and Thur is not an excuse to slack off on Tues and Friday.  If we can put in a decent effort those two days, I will be happy.

 

Jennifer 

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Sigh...

 

Went to bed at 11:00 and set the alarm for 7:00. Gave up trying to sleep at 1:30 am, got up and puttered around until 3:30 am. Finally fell asleep and was woken at 4:30 by my daughter yelling, "I had a night-mirror!" (This is one of the last two things she says incorrectly, along with "apposed" instead of "supposed" and I don't have the heart to tell her.)  :001_wub:  I got up at 7:00 and am running on 3 hours of sleep. I also had a medical thing come up and have to head to the doctor.

 

Looks like our first day is going to be doing our checklist, but 1/2 time for all subjects.  <_< Not the plan.

 

On a brighter note, I got stuff scheduled into HST, although it's going to take me time to get the resources in. I got far enough that I was able to print out an automatically-generated schedule and chore list for each of the kids.

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Sigh...

 

Went to bed at 11:00 and set the alarm for 7:00. Gave up trying to sleep at 1:30 am, got up and puttered around until 3:30 am. Finally fell asleep and was woken at 4:30 by my daughter yelling, "I had a night-mirror!" (This is one of the last two things she says incorrectly, along with "apposed" instead of "supposed" and I don't have the heart to tell her.)  :001_wub:  I got up at 7:00 and am running on 3 hours of sleep. I also had a medical thing come up and have to head to the doctor.

 

Looks like our first day is going to be doing our checklist, but 1/2 time for all subjects.  <_< Not the plan.

 

On a brighter note, I got stuff scheduled into HST, although it's going to take me time to get the resources in. I got far enough that I was able to print out an automatically-generated schedule and chore list for each of the kids.

 

Morgan called washclothes "cloth-cloths" till she was at least 6.  I forbid anyone to tell her otherwise because I loved it so much!  :001_wub:

 

Miraculously, my kids woke up at 8 and 8:30, by themselves this morning! While I was working out!! That's a good sign for the day.  :cheers2:

 

ETA:  or not  :glare:   Shannon totally hit a wall with math - Alcumus proportions & AoPS Square Roots.  Maybe she should have slept longer.  :huh:

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We started last week.  Did great, got everything done, and I hope the system continues to work.  I learned I can't just rely on DD to choose what to do or else she'd leave everything for Friday except math, spelling and handwriting and then I'd have a dramatic meltdown every week over getting it all done or not doing the evening activity.

 

Anyway, this week is not off to a great start and it is going to be a busy week.  We hit the water park for the last time on Monday and came home early because DD got sick.  Today we are taking a "sick" day.  Tomorrow we start co-op and then Thursday my grandson starts his mothers-day-out/preschool program. 

 

Stefanie

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Sigh...

 

Went to bed at 11:00 and set the alarm for 7:00. Gave up trying to sleep at 1:30 am, got up and puttered around until 3:30 am. Finally fell asleep and was woken at 4:30 by my daughter yelling, "I had a night-mirror!" (This is one of the last two things she says incorrectly, along with "apposed" instead of "supposed" and I don't have the heart to tell her.) :001_wub: I got up at 7:00 and am running on 3 hours of sleep. I also had a medical thing come up and have to head to the doctor.

 

Looks like our first day is going to be doing our checklist, but 1/2 time for all subjects. <_< Not the plan.

 

On a brighter note, I got stuff scheduled into HST, although it's going to take me time to get the resources in. I got far enough that I was able to print out an automatically-generated schedule and chore list for each of the kids.

My son still does not capitalize "I" when he is writing. He edits it later and all, but all those little "i's" still just make me smile.

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We took pictures of the Egyptian artifacts at the museum today, but then when I tried to print them out, it became obvious that we need a new ink cartridge, so that will have to wait. At least this is a fun way to start ancient history. We'll mummify an apple on Friday!

 

DS could not think of anything he wants to make/learn about/work on. I pulled out the fairy tale project from Jot It Down, and he decided to completely make a story up instead of retelling a fairy tale :/ but whatever. He almost never likes the stuff from JID. We finished school over an hour ahead of schedule.

 

Tomorrow's planned art project is not going to work, because it involves a natural material that is not in season right now. Oops. I guess I'll either find a substitute or just let him draw or paint.

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Doing well:  I got up early, did my devotions/exercise/shower, and got us all rolling on time this morning!  Yippee!

 

Needs work:  DS was pretty disruptive today.  Training him to entertain himself during school days will be a long-term, ongoing project I expect.  

 

Also, our air conditioning quit working this morning.  The maintenance guy came to investigate, gave a diagnosis, and left saying he would be back later when the unit defrosted.  It's 93 degrees, and we're in a 3rd floor apartment with a 3 year old, so I can't safely open all of the windows.  I believe that it is time to go out for some ice cream  :cool:

 

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I still haven't exactly figured out our history schedule, bit I do have our last missing book on its way via the big brown truck, so that's a step in the right direction.

 

We've had a busy two days with a funeral yesterday afternoon and co-op (+ piano lessons) today, but we've also managed pretty solid days with our lessons. I hope the rest of the week is as productive.

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We had a good day today, it is our early day for dance so I always feel a crunch making sure we get everything done but we did just fine and even cleaned up a bit before we left and I put supper in the crockpot. Both the TM and workbooks for Horizons 2nd grade came in today. As well as our review has went we might be able to jump right in, I need to look at it this evening and see where we are at. Looking at the objectives I thought we were going to have to back up much more but actually looking at the work we are better off than I thought, considering the fact that we did MIF 1 and at least 1/3rd of RSB she should be prepped but you never know with different programs having different S&S. 

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(1) Dd didn't complain one bit today! She annotated parts of Beowulf and brainstormed her next essay, two things that would have set her off last year.

 

Whew.

 

(2) I had to bite my tongue while she was scheduling her assignments for the week this morning. Some days appear to be heavy, but we'll see :)

 

(3) I have to write an AP Human Geography test this week to be given next Monday. I am taking questions from various textbook websites and prep books. I think it's important to structure the course tests like the AP exam. We're working on free-response questions as part of class right now---later tests will contain both MC and FRQs.

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What went well:

My temper is much better today. I had a bit of a rough time with it yesterday. It was Labor day and methinks I did protest too much over the labor involved. 

Latin lesson went well. We are watching DVDs for First Form Latin over the lessons we did at the end of the previous year, and both boys seem to be recalling things very well. I am going to have to review the vocabulary, but it turns out that all that chanting, reciting and reviewing with the boys helped me retain too. A point to remember when it comes to other things, I think.

I ordered the last books I needed for myself and remembered to add typing for the boys.

 

What didn't go well:

Never got to any math, science or history. They wrote all morning long, and we read, but I didn't have any energy at all today for more than that. I plan to get to bed early tonight and try to rest. I've been wearing myself out trying to finish up in my kitchen, and it is leaving me mentally drained as well as physically beat. 

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Sigh...

 

Went to bed at 11:00 and set the alarm for 7:00. Gave up trying to sleep at 1:30 am, got up and puttered around until 3:30 am. Finally fell asleep and was woken at 4:30 by my daughter yelling, "I had a night-mirror!" (This is one of the last two things she says incorrectly, along with "apposed" instead of "supposed" and I don't have the heart to tell her.)  :001_wub:  I got up at 7:00 and am running on 3 hours of sleep. I also had a medical thing come up and have to head to the doctor.

 

Looks like our first day is going to be doing our checklist, but 1/2 time for all subjects.  <_< Not the plan.

 

On a brighter note, I got stuff scheduled into HST, although it's going to take me time to get the resources in. I got far enough that I was able to print out an automatically-generated schedule and chore list for each of the kids.

  

We got everything done except science. I ended up with a medical appointment and we had to cut something.

 

It felt like a long day. Maybe we're out of shape.

I hope everything is OK!

 

Remember, your health comes first. :grouphug:

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I did the happy dance today because all of ds's books showed up at once. :party:

 

Everything looks good and I hope we will have a productive (and not too whiny about having to do school) year. :)

 

Ds still has to choose an elective, but he is having trouble deciding what he wants to take. I told him that if he doesn't decide soon, I'm picking something for him. He doesn't seem to believe me. Clearly, I need to work on my lying skills. ;)

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I hope everything is OK!

 

Remember, your health comes first. :grouphug:

 

Thanks.

 

I need to start a new medication for my chronic illness and it was just more hoop jumping/lab testing to get the go-ahead, so no crisis or anything.  I'm feeling the same as I usually do but I want to get going on this new regimen and hopefully feel better.  :)

 

Back on topic: Forgot to add DS is really excited about Getting Started with Latin. He's a very empathetic kid and I'm realizing if he connects with the instructor he'll follow them to the ends of the earth. Today he read the introduction, laughed at the joke about the "Latin police" coming to your door to arrest you for mispronunciation, and was hooked.  :thumbup1:

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We had a great day--been doing school half-speed since late July, but today we were "back to school" full force.  Three older kids started first day of community college classes and everyone else did well at home, including my late-life toddler who is finally beginning to find her place in this busy homeschool houseful.

 

Thankful!!   :hurray:

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Today was a mixed bag. I woke up late & then had a hard time getting going. The baby was happy, the house was a mess (yesterday was crazy here), & so the internet & coffee kept me stuck in my comfy chair. Then I had unexpected company, kids were sidetracked by our adorable new puppies, & baby needed to nurse & nap.

 

But when I finally got started-school was best it's been yet. I really felt good about it. We never got around to morning basket.

 

Tomorrow will be a short day since we have plans.

 

Needs work:

-I need to be more responsible & just get up & get going!

-I either have to clean before bed or accept the morning mess

-I need to do a little more prep on the weekend.

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