Accountability- Holiday Edition 2014/15

[Soror]

Alright, I know most of us are taking it easy but I thought I would put up a thread for updates. I know some of us are planning on doing some planning during our down time so if nothing else we can talk about that. 

 

Critterfixer- I'm working on writing and grammar for dd1 and I've been thinking of you, although our work is pretty basic :) I was going to do WWE with her but I just decided to make my own, we're starting with picture books and doing Sentence Family alongside it. Sentence Family is more of a teacher's guide than anything else though. I've typed up our copywork and narration sheets for our first 6 week term so far, which is all I'm planning to do until our next break. 

 

I decided to keep a bare bones schedule this week, just for the sake of trying to keep the kids in the groove, but that will only be on the days dh is not home, Monday and Friday. Ds will have math and grammar practice for 10 min each and reading, dd1 will have math and reading practice for 10 min each.

 

The following week will still be pretty lite, I'm still working on details, dh is off again for 2 days and I need/want some chill/family time so it will be similar to this coming week.

[Tawlas]

Morning Soror :) What time zone are you in? You are either Eastern, or a real early riser lol. I'm an early riser, but Western time zone, so still late to the game lol.

 

I'm dying to plan and organize for January but I'm trying to hold off until after Christmas. My dsd8 will be gone for a week or so, my ILs will be here and they usually shoo me off after a visit in the morning so I can "take some time for myself" and they keep an eye on the kids and cook all the meals, and I won't be neglecting Christmas in my research and paper-shifting.

 

We're not doing anything this week, except for some Christmas read alouds. We have interior decorating (tree, mantle, etc), grocery shopping and baking. Today, tomorrow and Wednesday. Perfect, right? I hope so lol!

 

Anyone who'd like to chatter about planning (it was mentioned last week), I'm all ears, and I'll be on next week with planning talk too!

[Critterfixer]

Wha? Who? I'm up! I'm up!

But I'm not awake-not until I get my first cup of tea. 

 

Yep, will be doing planning today. I opted to take our regular school hours (9-3) and use them for planning and writing, although at some point I've got a roast in the kitchen that needs my attention for dinner tonight. I have work tomorrow, but Wednesday will be some planning and a little baking. I got roped into doing a pecan pie and a few vegetable things for Christmas.

So no schedule today beyond tea after lunch as usual. The boys are coloring a bunch of pictures for their grandparents, and they haven't stopped work on their stories, so I'll probably be listening and giving feedback on their writing during break. I got asked by one child to read some of my story that I've been working on.  :blushing: They are most concerned that the character I talk so much about gets a happy ending.

[Sahamamama]

Goals for this week:

 

Monday:

Finish wrapping all gifts (nearly there)

Clean rabbit cages; powder room; kitchen; whatever else needs help

Sweep, mop & vacuum (again!)

 

Tuesday:

Host brother-in-law & his family on Tuesday (taco salad) -- A lovely time was had by all.

 

Wednesday:

Relax -- maybe do something creative or crafty with the girls? The craft didn't happen, but we still had a great day. Instead of doing crafts, we snuggled and talked. I think we needed that more than anything else.

Regular chores, laundry & meals

Christmas Eve service at church

 

Thursday:

Christmas morning at home in our PJs

Host my parents on Christmas afternoon/evening (ham dinner)

 

Friday:

Relax -- maybe play some of the games the kids get on Christmas day (it's a game year)

Regular chores, laundry & meals

Family hike -- Nope, didn't happen.

 

Saturday:

Go to my parents' house for the day

 

Sunday:

Go to church (missionary from Zimbabwe) -- Didn't happen, but we had a lovely day at home.

 

That's our week! Hmmm.... I don't see any school work in there, but we may fit something in. I'm not worried if we don't, though. We're in a good place in our school work, and Christmas comes but once a year.

[Soror]

I'm in the Central time zone AND an early riser, a bit too early these days, I was happy to stay in bed until 5am this morning (its been 3-4am lately). 

 

Sigh.. the to-do list is beautiful, I could use one myself. The aforementioned sleeping issues are kicking my butt and my brain and I'm drained. I'm thinking about a nap :)

 

Tonight I need to grocery shop and do some odds and ends for Christmas, I'm thinking about making candy, which I haven't done in a few years.

 

Tomorrow we're going to the city for ds' Cogmed appt and that will pretty much be an all day affair. 

 

Dh will be off Christmas and Christmas Eve and we have various places to visit.

 

I've been thinking about dd1 and planning for her as of late. She is so different than ds, she wants to be so independent and seems to thrive with it and even though I'm more like that myself I tend to prefer teaching the way my son likes to learn. It doesn't help that the more conceptual curriculum is boasted as more rigorous. Anyway, I need to get over that. I ordered R&S spelling for her today. I planned on her using it next year but looking at samples it seemed good to go ahead and have her go through 2 now so she'll be ready for 3. I had planned on switched her to CLE Math in 4th but now I'm considering it in 3rd. She has been enjoying Horizons but there are a few reasons I don't want to stick with it, IMO the Teacher's Manual is seriously lacking. I also believe she will like the fact that CLE is written to the student, I actually considered it briefly but before picking Horizons but as ds was using Horizons I was familiar with it. My only worry is that the increase in pages will be troublesome, despite the fact that it is not an increase in problems. Unlike my son she likes seeing more problems on fewer pages. I need to print some pages for her and have her try them after we finish our current books. I'm thinking for 3rd she'll continue with R&S Spelling, Horizons or CLE Math and mom made writing/grammar for fall/writing and WR for spring.

 

I'm even thinking about dd1, who officially starts K in the fall :) I'm for sure using LoE Foundations, I already have it and love it. I think she will be doing MiF for math. Its pretty gentle and think she'll blast through the books, in which case I do have Horizons K-Book B, but I don't want to start with it. I had played around with just doing games and such but thinking more she enjoys workbooks like her sister, although her personality is generally more like ds. I want to try her on BA come 2nd grade, which should coincide with her 2nd grade year, and I think bouncing back and forth between MiF and Horizons will be a good prep and I think I'll end up needing extra for her. She seems to have an incredible attention span and with her birthday being when it is she'll be starting later than dd1 did.

 

Yep, I'm rambling again. I need to plan ds' reading for History and Science but I have to make up my mind first. I'm thinking about letting him try an Intelligo Unit study, although I'm hesitant as he generally prefers books for schooling, maybe we could split our time between that and books. There are also the books I have requested and I have no idea when they'll be in, which makes planning with them quite difficult. I might have to wait on planning science. I've got some books on history and I did get those organized but we might need some more to flesh out our studies. As we've dove into the year I've been trying to get more biographies in there than I originally planned.

 

I need to go, my brain hurts :)

 

[Critterfixer]

Didn't do a whole lot today except for track down a book that I want for a funny example of the Revenge Plot in fairy tales, and I picked out a few more examples of other plots that I want to use. Also started another read aloud with the boys for the two weeks we will be off.  

The boys are already bored and growling over how their lives should be more full of adventure and magic. Good thing I don't have to listen to it tomorrow. :glare:

[idnib]

I kept a list of work missed when DS was sick in October and we're making it up this week. I'm a real meanie. Not really though;  it's only taking a couple of hours day, plus DS's music practice. 

 

I've decided to spend part of the break doing this 1,000 most common words spelling thingamajig to get a bead on DS's true current spelling level. I fear I've spent too much time in fear of missing a spelling rule, allowing it to get too easy for him.

 

 

[Tawlas]

Well, I spent all day in town yesterday. Thought I was done! Got home, checked the mail (it doens't arrive until 2 pm or so) and i need to go *back* to town and pick up a package!! Brother. It's an hour long drive to town! So today is baking day, then tree and house decorating day. I guess I'll bake all morning, decorate for a few hours?? (I'd like to make a table centerpeice and decorate the mantle and hang our snowflakes from the ceiling) then check the mail before I go to town late this afternoon and pick up the parcel. I hope it's what I think it is!

 

Tomorrow, we'll tidy up loose ends, decorate baked cookies, make the breakfast casserole and try and chill :)

[Sahamamama]

:lurk5:

[Critterfixer]

Worked all day yesterday, got home with a horrible headache that wasn't responding to multiple doses of Ibuprofen or Tylenol, but did eventually respond to a good nights sleep facilitated by some Benedryl. I don't think I moved all night. Never even heard the DH come to bed. 

Anyway, I'm a little better this morning. I think it is my sinuses acting up. I feel like someone put a balloon in my forehead and inflated it. 

The boys are enjoying their break. They are listening to Hank the Cowdog, How to Train Your Dragon and playing a lot. I've got a Maple Pecan Pie in the oven (per MIL request) and will be making some Glazed Carrots and something with corn that I'm inventing. I don't figure I can go to far wrong oven roasting it and serving it with herb butter. We'll have some of the vegetables with a Maple Pork Loin this supper (since I've got the maple syrup out). I promised Salerno Spaghetti for lunch.

 

Not a whole lot of planning going on today I don't believe. Just some cooking, writing in between and resting.

[Soror]

I'm supposed to be cooking today but I'm feeling blech. I did get some science planning done yesterday while driving. However, since I'm planning from a kindle book it is really, really hard for me to judge pacing. I'll guess we'll just have to try it out and see. We decided to go ahead and start Cogmed for ds, so by the time we start back with studies Jan 5th he'll only have 3 weeks, during that time I told ds he could take a math break since it will be so intense and during the usual time he does math. So, with that schedule he'll only have 2 regular days of Math and then very quick reviews on the other days.

[Critterfixer]

Christmas Noise

By DS

 

T'was the night before Christmas,

All throughout the house,

Every creature was stirring.

 

The chickens were squawking at their hot, red light.

The dogs in the office were having a fight.

The two boys in their room were having a pillow fight,

And Mom and Dad were trying to sleep through the noise of the night.

 

Mom moaned and Dad groaned

Mom's hair was ruffled and uncombed

And finally Mom rose and let out a growl

No dog in the world could howl that loud.

She sat up in bed

And wrathfully said,

"If all you people don't quiet down on the noise,

Then you'll all be as lifeless as your stuffed toys!"

 

The house was silent and quiet.

The next Christmas night would not be a riot.

 

The End

 

Whether I killed them all is left up to the imagination. :D

[Sahamamama]

Critterfixer --

 

Did one of your boys write that poem? He is hilarious!

 

She sat up in bed

And wrathfully said...

 

:lol: Are you sure he was describing you and not me? My hair is ruffled and uncombed! :lol:  Tell your boy he made me laugh. Merry Christmas!

 

I received an early Christmas present today. It's a "coupon" from one of my twins, nearly eight, and it says,

 

This coupon is good for: However many snuggles you want. :001_wub:

 

 

[Critterfixer]

 

Did one of your boys write that poem? He is hilarious!

 

Yes, he did. Ain't he sweet? The muddy one in the used-to-be green shirt. He obviously knows me well and my desire to sleep late on Christmas morning.

 

 

This coupon is good for: However many snuggles you want.  :001_wub:

 

Awwww...now that's sweet!

[MotherGoose]

New curricula came Monday, finally got to see it today. (CLE LA). Hoping it will streamline things for us. There has been no "official" school here for about a week, but we need the break. Have been doing some planning. Hope to continue with that in the next week. Thanks DH for the laptop that makes it easier!

[Critterfixer]

Merry Christmas everybody!

Got three new writing books on Plot, Building Conflict and Setting from DH and a whole sketchbook and more of dragon pictures and circuit board drawings. Added three new little dragons to the "story"-Saltus (a sea dragon), Quintus (a hydra with five heads) and Frosty (an ice dragon). They join a good many more--what does one call a large group of dragons? A cataclysm of dragons? 

So a good Christmas was had by all, and if I get my aft section off this chair and go make the herb butter now I'll have a good two hours to work on my story!

[Soror]

Belated Merry Christmas to you!

 

Well, no books in my stockings:)

 

So far this break I've accomplished some planning and family time. The house is still a wreck, perhaps worse from Christmas craziness and the whole family taking turns being sick.

 

I think I've got most of scheduled now, although I'm not 100% certain on our upcoming science readings. I think I might have scheduled too little reading but we're going to try it out. I still need to figure out religion, thinking.

[Sdel]

Ugh...we've been sick.....

 

DD has been playing with the Magformers she got for Christmas, and the Pokemon game and the card game....

 

I at least got English/Math planned for the next 8 weeks.  Now to seriously look at history and science.

 

I have a referral out for OT to look at sensory issues for DD and I've been researching some things I can do on my own until then too.

 

Stefanie

[Critterfixer]

I worked yesterday and today despite being a little sick from Christmas dinner. I think I got glutened slightly--that tends to happen if I don't take my own plate and own food with me to these holiday dinners. I tried to avoid everything, but my extended family are marvelous bakers...so chances are pretty good there was a bit too much flour wafting around. So next year I've been told that I can take my own plate with food I have fixed at home without seeming rude. I hope that gets remembered for next year.

 

Boys have been reading and enjoying read aloud books at night. Both are continuing to write, but they see me do it so often that it's just sort of something you do in the evenings. Or in the day. Or when you are supposed to be folding clothes. I picked up a much needed book of fairy tales at the library today that has the number one story I want for the Revenge plot--one of the few that doesn't end badly for anyone. 

I have about three days to plan, then I have to work again.

[idnib]

We're still plugging away at the make-up work from October when DS was sick. 2-3 hours/day plus music practice. We should be getting it done on time.

[mama25angels]

Well, I'm embarrassed to say that I have done nothing, nada,zilch! I'm going to honker down over the course of the next week and get as much planning done as I possibly can. Does anyone in this thread use AO? Also, I got an under the counter CD player, I've wanted it for years so that we can listen to our SOTW CDs during breakfast. The best thing is that I can hook my other devices to it and stream our classical music and folk songs.

[serendipitous journey]

... I picked up a much needed book of fairy tales at the library today that has the number one story I want for the Revenge plot--one of the few that doesn't end badly for anyone. ..

 

oh, please tell: WHICH ONE??   :bigear:

 

 

.. Does anyone in this thread use AO? ...

 

I started this year with AO4, and have used bits of it in the past; but the worldview differences did me in this year (plus, Robinson Crusoe was just not working for the boys).  But I'm trying to restart our Y4, with modifications, next week.  Sort of. 

[Critterfixer]

 

oh, please tell: WHICH ONE??    :bigear:

 

The book is Tales from the Welsh Hills by Ellen Pugh, the story is Six-and-Four, in which a student of magic gets his revenge on an prejudiced innkeeper and both live to enjoy the consequences. 

[mama25angels]

oh, please tell: WHICH ONE?? :bigear:

 

 

 

I started this year with AO4, and have used bits of it in the past; but the worldview differences did me in this year (plus, Robinson Crusoe was just not working for the boys). But I'm trying to restart our Y4, with modifications, next week. Sort of.

Thank you! I'm thinking of using AO1 for my 1st grader and TQ for my 6th grader since we are in the Middle Ages time period and I know that he couldn't possibly handle AO7 and AO2 is too young for him. I will probably pull in some of the AO2 books for him to read on his own perhaps? I just know that I need to work history into our day somehow.

[Tawlas]

Well. I haven't done much yet either! Boxing Day my oldest daughter (20 years old) left for her home 5 hours away :( and my in-laws arrived a few hours later :). We had a "second Christmas" last night and today we dropped of my dsd8 at her dad's for the next week.

 

Tomorrow, I will divide my time between my new water colour paints and book, my new printer, planning the next six weeks and my dsd new sewing machine! Sounds like a rough day lol. Looks like I'll need to figure out how to teach dsd sewing when I don't really sew and when and where to fit it in our day. I'm also thinking I'll print out the first book of Math Mammoth for my Ker. He's so far past kindergarten math it's just a waste of time really. I'll see how it goes, anyhow. And figure out our extra curriculars. Older DS wants to join the archery club, DSD would like choir and an art class, gymnastics doesn't end until the end of January and they all should do a term of swimming lessons soon. We're an equal hour out of two towns, so some coordination is required!

[Soror]

I've looked at AO from time to time and sometimes have a longing with how well and complete it is but it just doesn't work for me; the schedule is too much little stuff and the books are generally not for us. We actually enjoy the classics for literature but generally speaking their non-fic selections are a bad fit.

[mama25angels]

I've looked at AO from time to time and sometimes have a longing with how well and complete it is but it just doesn't work for me; the schedule is too much little stuff and the books are generally not for us. We actually enjoy the classics for literature but generally speaking their non-fic selections are a bad fit.

I understand! I've wanted to try it for years though and have finally decided to give it a go because well, I have nothing better to do, lol. Seriously though I'm hoping that with trying it I'll either love it or it will quell my desire to use it forever and ever.

[Soror]

Yes, sometimes you just got to give it a go. I tried an AOish schedule before, specifically Mater Ambilis (sp? too lazy to look it up!) but it was just a flop. I do better picking out our books and making my own schedule. Even if it doesn't work you might find some bits that do work for you.

[Critterfixer]

I like the idea of AO, but it just is way too much reading for my group. And it's the type of reading that all three of us have difficulty with when it comes to the non-fiction selections, narrative non-fiction. I hate scanning through it to find the important things for retention and for thinking about. We toughed out four years of SOTW, and it was a breath of fresh air to go to History Encyclopedias this year. 

We like stories around here, but we don't like The Story of..(insert non-fiction topic here).

 

And yeah. There's probably that rebellious streak in me that says I want to pick my own books and do my own thing with them. That gets in the way a lot. :laugh:

[Tawlas]

Phew! Big day of organizing here! Our Quiet Time closet has been upstairs, but now all three older kids' bedrooms are downstairs (which is where they spend quiet time). And their craft stuff had been in the downstairs walk in, but the craft stuff has been strewn, wasted, wrecked, spilled, shredded and ALL of it laying on the floor down there, so I traded the two. I also hauled ALL the toys I'd put away for a while out into the playroom so I could really see what we have.

 

I've given away/thrown away about 1/3 of them. I've put a bin of preschool stuff away for my youngest in a year or two. I hauled the craft stuff upstairs, the quiet time toys down stairs and I sorted all the toys left over into four groups to rotate on a weekly basis (a playset with accessories, some trucks, some weapons, some dress up/pretend play each week). Except for stuffies, trains and tracks, hot wheel tracks and cars and unit blocks. Those four things get daily use and I think they are excellent toys :) so they stay out all the time. Also, I'm letting them keep their new Christmas toys in their rooms until I can't stand it anymore. Then they'll find their place.

 

It's now 630. The kids ate cereal for supper lol. The baby is eating leftovers. I'm drinking a Palm Bay. I think I figured out a rough schedule for the next month that incorporates craft/sewing time into each afternoon. Once their gymnastics ends at the end of the month, things will change a bit as they pick up new sports/classes but I'll deal with that then! there are a lot of really terrific options coming up so I think we need to sit down with our two olders and see what their priority is.

 

Tomorrow I'll order in books from the library, sort through the week's work and put it in binders and make a shopping list for upcoming art, science and history projects. I'm hoping to get a chance to set up some toddler activities upstairs much the same as I've done for the big kids' play room downstairs. Rotating boxes, maybe one for each school day? And a few new busy bags. My neghbor is loaning me her playpen to try that for many-piece activities. I'll see if I can get her to like that so she can use those things I usually find strewn from one end of the house to another lol.

 

Tomorrow is date night! Need to check in and confirm the sitter. Really looking forward to getting all dressed up and going out :)

[Critterfixer]

Had a good day planning. Took apart the quest plot and found three fairy tales to pick from, organised them from least complex to most complex, and oddly enough, the shortest one might well be the most complex. 

The quest plot is different from the adventure in that there is a clear goal that the hero is reaching for (it is the thing that is needed to change his life), the hero must change during the journey, the episodes in the journey teach the hero something about himself and contribute to the overall quest, and the hero goes home in the end, wiser for his journey.

 

The selections are The Firebird and Princess Vassilissa from a collection of Russian Folk Tales; How Ian Direach Won the Blue Falcon from Lang's Orange Fairy Book (this one has been a favorite of mine from childhood); and the most complex and shortest, The Lad and the North Wind. 

In classic literature the Quest plot is as old as Gilgamesh. I will be pointing that out and breaking that one down as well. 

For movies, I believe we could do worse than watch the Wizard of Oz again. (I like having a movie to show at the end of a discussion on plot when I can.)

So that's Quest down, and heading on to Pursuit. (Which isn't quite as easy as it sounds to find in fairy tales, but I've tracked down two: The Gingerbread Man, and an odd one from the Gray Fairy Book called The Sunchild.

 

ETA: Also considering Prince Alun and the Cannwyl Corph as an example of pursuit. It's a little dark and odd, because the pursuer is Death, and the story revolves around the Prince's attempts to prevent his own demise. Needless to say, he doesn't win that chase!

[mama25angels]

Ok, found a copy of MOH2 on my shelf that was gifted to me so I'm thinking of using that for my 6th grader. I'm also thinking of teaching it in our spring co op, maybe that we'll stay on track better. I know the co op won't do it justice, but I'm hoping to have some excellent discussions for him.

[Tawlas]

Mama25angels, I understand how teaching something to others would help you stay on track! I began teaching my step-daughter last January and it sure has helped us! Why is it that it takes other people's children to make us more accountable lol?!

 

Gah. I feel like a gerbil on a wheel, I'm working and working and working but just not really getting anywhere. Nearly-two-year olds are hard to work around anyhow, plus my 5yo was sick. Hope he feels better now! And today we have a New Year's turkey dinner with neighbors. We're hosting but it's basically pot luck so we're only worrying about turkey, mashed potatoes, stufing and pie. Although I'll probably clean the upstairs a bit lol.

 

Usually, when I plan out science, I have the books I could potentially use sitting rightin front of me, but I'm not that organized lol. We're starting our rock unit. There are a couple in the library from ES that she recommends, but I'll have to come up with a few others from their stacks on my own since there's not enough time for an inter-library loan. I should look on our picture book shelves first lol!

 

I'm starting Math Mammoth 1 with my Ker. Hope that's not a mistake. I'm going to do the K review first (chapter 0 lol) then move on with 1 page a day. I don't *think* it will be too much for him, but I feel like just because he can do it, he should, you know what I mean? But if we do it at this pace, we'll get about 100 pages done by the end of the year and that gives us more leeway in the future if he needs more time for a new concept or if he needs to focus on a different aspect of school and put math on the back burner. I keep telling myself it's not unchangeable.

 

Finally, I think that I've figured out how to integrate some sewing for dsd into our week. WE've got about an hour of time in the afternoons that we're home. I think the best thing would be to set up her sewing machine in the family closet, which is next to the hall craft closet and across from the school table in the kitchen. We could just have a family project/craft time in which I could spend some getting her set up and the boys could spend some time creating their own things in the kitchen. It might work? Plus there's a door on the family closet to keep the littlest monster out. Now to get dh to set up more shelves in the family closet so we could move the dresser out and make room for a small table!

[idnib]

.

[Critterfixer]

 

For review I gave DS some worksheets on stuff I thought he might be rusty on. That resulted in tears and frustration.   :(

 

This is going to be me on Sunday. No review, just full-speed ahead with my algebra and hope I don't tear my hair out. With the boys, I can be fairly sure that any memory loss is just memory displaced. With me I'll probably have to relearn it. :huh:

 

Nothing much today. I worked this morning, did a little shopping in advance of rain and sleet (a nightmare) and fixing to serve pizza, the frozen kind, for dinner. I'll motivate tomorrow. After a good night's sleep.

[mama25angels]

Nothing much for us either unless you count the fact that we're reading "Little Britches" for our bedtime read aloud. I'm terrified of what Monday is going to bring! The most excitement we've had is some I could've done without, our van quit running today, leaving me stranded, thank goodness it wasn't far from home and Dh was able to come and pick us up. He thinks it's the transmission, not looking forward to that bill, but so happy we're safe, and thankful we'd gotten off the highway when it decided to give up the ghost.

[Tawlas]

Happy New Year! Im pretty sure my patience will be tested to the max on Monday as I usually jump in full speed ahead as well. Need to remember to keep it all in perspective. Like critterfixer, it's usually just misplaced memory - not completely gone.

 

We received an iPad mini so my goal today is to get it set up with school stuff so I can delete it from my personal iPad. Finally I'll be able to put some of what I *actually* want on my iPad lol. Other than that, just need to gather up materials well be needing for history and science activities and maybe do a bit of proactive school time planning for my toddler lol.

[Sahamamama]

Happy New Year! Our first week of 2015 is shaping up to look like this:

 

Thursday, Jan. 1

Do school work with oldest daughter for a bit -- I could not bring myself to make her do school work on NY's day.

Teach kids to play our new board games -- check, Yahtzee is a big hit, Battleship is even better!

Make & eat Seven Layer Bean Dip -- check, yum

 

Friday, Jan. 2

Take oldest to my parents' house for a sleepover (hubby) -- check

Do school work with twins for a few hours (me) -- we had a fantastic school day! :)

Family hike? (four of us) -- didn't happen, hubby & girls took naps, I watched The Gathering Swarms. So much for exercise.

 

Saturday, Jan. 3

Wish my twins a Happy 8th Birthday -- Where did the past eight years go?

Get a meal ready for Sunday

Get all presents & cards ready for Sunday

 

Sunday, Jan. 4

Go to church (parents coming with my daughter)

Host my parents for Sunday dinner

Celebrate twins' 8th birthday & parents' 52nd wedding anniversary -- A lovely time was had by all. :)

 

Monday, Jan. 5 -- Are we ready for this?

Back to regular routine with school

Regular chores, laundry, meals

Early bedtime for children (to compensate for the past few weeks of less-than-optimal sleep)

 

Tuesday, Jan. 6

Regular routine with school

Regular chores, laundry, meals

Early bedtime for children

 

Wednesday, Jan. 7

Regular routine with school

Regular chores, laundry, meals

Church mid-week starts back up

 

Thursday, Jan. 8

Regular routine with school

Regular chores, laundry, meals

Children's choir practice starts back up

 

 

That's our first week in the New Year. :) Hope all is well with you and yours.

 

 

[nobeatenpath]

Currently going at two gears here with planning - there is the 'what are we doing January - March' planning, which I think is pretty much done.

Then there is the future planning - we are moving to Istanbul in April. We will take two weeks or so to drive there, so I have to think if I want to do 'car-schooling'. Then there is the fact that most of our belongings might not turn up for up to 9 weeks after we arrive, and I don't know how long it will take to get a decent internet connection, so I am trying to figure out what limited resources to take with us in the car to have there. And of course I have no idea what my husband's leave, and therefore our holiday periods, are going to look like.

ETA - Oh, and I am trying to order what I can while I still have an address where it is easy to get overseas (e.g. US) orders delivered and not have to pay customs.

 

But hey, we have the next few months organised :lol:

[Soror]

Welcome nonbeatenpath!

 

I'm in the midst of planning here. I ordered some books for religion, which should start rolling in tomorrow, still formulating a plan on how I want to schedule. I'm also deep into planning for next year, which seems to be coming together nicely but I'm trying to keep the budget lower this year, which will require some more planning on my part.

 

I should be cleaning but I'm not :) I'm sleeping better than I was but my energy level is still not great so working on the mental stuff is easier right now.

 

I see you ladies have been terribly busy, with all your planning, organizing, cleaning and list making. I think we might have a bit of a rough go of it monday when we start back but we'll do our best. I need to re familiarize myself with my plans for the rest of the year, I've been so deep in the future I'm a little rusty on the present.

[Critterfixer]

Well, I'm up and working. Got the tree down, things put in boxes for the attic, and I'm fixing to clean the living room, move a desk back in there, and get as much done as I can in preparation for starting back on Monday. I slept well, but I didn't get up early. I was completely worn out.

I'm cleaning up and doing a little cooking, since I'll be working the next two days. I haven't even got around to deciding if I have any personal resolutions on the year. I might just take all January to come up with them. :D

The boys and DH are going to go pick up some firewood later, so I'll probably get out my basket of filing and get it all taken care of. I'm so popular in my house today! I retreat to one room and five minutes later I'm surrounded. So no planning or school stuff is going to get done until I boot all the male things out the door.

[Penguin]

Welcome, nobeatenpath!  I hope you share more about homeschooling in Turkey with us :)

 

We took the tree down and put the Christmas decorations away. I started cleaning up the bookshelves, but became overwhelmed.  I really need to get rid of some books, but I want to feel good about it.  I have to hunt around for a recycle shop (genbrugsbutik) that will actually want my English-language stuff.  And I am going to talk to the library as well.

 

Our college boy has been home (yeah!) and he is quite the film buff.  I love watching and discussing movies with him. :001_wub:

 

Younger son really likes to play board games, and there has finally been ample time to do so.  We have two new ones (Set and Carcassone) and some old favorites.  Another win.

 

The only concrete thing I have done this week is organize our studies for the National Latin Exam.  DS is going to start prepping on the Culture and History sections. 

 

 

 

 

[Sahamamama]

Well, I'm up and working. Got the tree down, things put in boxes for the attic, and I'm fixing to clean the living room, move a desk back in there, and get as much done as I can in preparation for starting back on Monday. I slept well, but I didn't get up early. I was completely worn out.

I'm cleaning up and doing a little cooking, since I'll be working the next two days. I haven't even got around to deciding if I have any personal resolutions on the year. I might just take all January to come up with them. :D

The boys and DH are going to go pick up some firewood later, so I'll probably get out my basket of filing and get it all taken care of. I'm so popular in my house today! I retreat to one room and five minutes later I'm surrounded. So no planning or school stuff is going to get done until I boot all the male things out the door.

 

I have three girls, and they follow me around wherever I go. There is no escaping.

 

My husband is the one who has more time to himself. He shuts the bedroom door, and no one ever bothers him while he's "showering" or "checking work emails" for 2-3 hours. We all know the truth of things. :toetap05: He's not fooling anybody.

 

It's sunny and cold here today. All the small females just got booted out the door. The large male will not go out. It's too cold for California Boy.

 

But I have things to do. I have to work around being so popular. :lol: :lol:

[Critterfixer]

I fussed at the boys yesterday when they would NOT STOP TALKING. I said I'd been talked to all day and I just really needed a little quiet, at what point my little poet said "Mom, everyone wants to talk to you because everyone loves you."

I could do with a little less love sometimes!

 

The DH took off with the boys, and I think they won't be back until supper. I've got a lovely, hot fire in my fireplace, my rooms are clean, stew is percolating gently on the burner, all the laundry is done and I'm surrounded by blessed quiet. Ahhhhhhh...

 

Time to get some work done! Filing is next, then copying, and I'm going to try to get this whiteboard hung up so I don't have to prop it in the window anymore. Then I'm making another cup of tea and writing until it's time to make cornbread at five. 

[Critterfixer]

I have reached an important conclusion after almost six years of this homeschooling thing.

I am the wrong type of woman to keep notebooks a la' WTM.

Either I've got to resolve to always file papers when they are done, and to always buy the same size of letter paper and reinforce the holes in that letter paper OR

I have to ditch the binders and do something else. 

This is REE-diculous.

[Tawlas]

Critterfixer, I've just started thinking maybe I should try doing the notebook thing. I have a stacked file with folders for each kid where I empty out the weekly binders. After six weeks, I sort through those folders and decide what to keep and what to recycle. I don't keep much except for history and science narrations - even then only if they have nice illustrations or something stand out about them or a really nice sample of copywork/printing. I don't do math tests yet, there are some art samples. But it's mostly just for me, no provincial requirements. But the other day I was thinking it might be nice to have a "look where you started and look where you are now" kind of book. Maybe I should reconsider lol!

 

As for the NON STOP TALKING I know exactly what you mean! I have FOUR non stop talkers including the nearly-two-year old who makes no sense whatsoever :) Not only do we have a nap time where the big kids go play oustide, we also have a quiet time that overlaps nap time so I get a few uninterrupted hours. Otherwise mom goes a little nutso lol.

 

Sahamama, seems like a pretty good plan! I just decided this morning to add in Artistic Pursuits. I have book 1 and book 2 of the grammar stage and my kids all like picture studies. In the winter, when it's -20 C or colder, we need a few more structured things to do. Maybe we'll even get to two or three lessons/week and finish this book up a little quicker. I may be seriously over-estimating my patience lol!

 

I got the tree and decorations down! big win! Plus gathered all the materials for science and history in the next five weeks and sorted out some toys/activities for the toddler. Oooh! And cleaned up the crawl space! Go me! Now I'd really like to sit down and read or try out my watercolours but I betcha anything the little one will wake up the second I settle in ;)

 

But not done yet on the iPad mini . . . it's taking FOREVER to update to iOS 8!

[MotherGoose]

I fussed at the boys yesterday when they would NOT STOP TALKING. I said I'd been talked to all day and I just really needed a little quiet, at what point my little poet said "Mom, everyone wants to talk to you because everyone loves you."

I could do with a little less love sometimes!

 

The DH took off with the boys, and I think they won't be back until supper. I've got a lovely, hot fire in my fireplace, my rooms are clean, stew is percolating gently on the burner, all the laundry is done and I'm surrounded by blessed quiet. Ahhhhhhh...

 

Time to get some work done! Filing is next, then copying, and I'm going to try to get this whiteboard hung up so I don't have to prop it in the window anymore. Then I'm making another cup of tea and writing until it's time to make cornbread at five.

DD8 said "Mama I thought you didn't want me to talk." I said that sometimes she talks too much but I love to talk to her :( Poor extrovert, how to get her to understand that sometimes Mommy needs some quiet?

 

Otherwise, I've been planning, have looked at CLE and have sorted it out (I think) and have fixed a new schedule for the New Year. What I really need to do is to do less and to do IT well.

[Tawlas]

Well. Here we are, a full two, three days before school starts up again and I think I'm done! I'm sure I'll come up with a few more odds and ends, like learning how to sew lol, but the planning part and the prep part is done. Now if only I could find the interlibrary loan book that seems to have gone missing . . .

 

Oh. Hang on lol. I just remembered I need to look through all three reading/phonics programs to see what's coming up! Knew it was too good to be true! Will only take a few moments at least.

 

DSD8 is back tomorrow. Need to be on top of the kids when there are four of them or the bickering gets out of control. Considering picking up tomorrow since weekend stuff is pretty light and mostly fun. We'll see how it goes!

[Sdel]

Well, I'm done with planning for LA and math for the next 8 weeks.  I've decided to ditch Spanish outside our weekly co-op class until I can work on attention issues with DD.  We do good just to get to Sci/History and I really need that 15 minute Spanish block for that.  I have to go way back and rebuild some routines and basics so we'll be focusing on that too.

 

I'm almost done with science.  I have 5 weeks of astronomy planned.  I am also planning a concurrent mini unit on the mythology of the sky to go with the astronomy unit. Then I need to figure out what is next.  I have three weeks to fill the gap before a week long break.  I'm leaning towards either a health/body unit that we can finish up in the next 8 week block, or a 3 week mini unit on a biome/animals.  Then go into health body or some other interest subject.  Also, need to streamline 8 weeks of history still.  

 

DD is off at a winter day camp.  DH is taking a nap, baby is currently playing in his room.  Today will be a good day to plan.

 

Stefanie

[Critterfixer]

I worked today, so I just had time to think about a few things.

 

I have opted to do CW Homer using my models.  :scared:  I have to. I just can't face changing the fun, enriching, rewarding experience we are having with writing right now to let that go. I had planned to use the student workbooks, because that program is so...not complicated, exactly, but there's a lot more in Homer than in Aesop. All I can figure is to work a week or more ahead of the boys, using my models, formulating my own work for those models, and making sure that I cover what is important to me as a writer. The good thing is that I've already sort of been following the pattern for a while, but boy! I'm intimidated. I'm intimidated enough that I'm changing my housekeeping schedule to try to give myself an hour or so in the late afternoon to do my homework.  Good thing I stocked up on yellow legal pads recently.

 

The boys and I have discussed the schedule for the remainder of the year. We will be putting up our large calendar so that the schedule is visible to everyone and we will know when our next break will be. This is the first year they have been involved in how I schedule school. I'd like to get them more involved in their weekly schedule eventually.

 

I have also suggested to both boys that we begin training for a 5K that happens in early May. I've run this course, it's a good one, well attended and easy for spectators (like the beloved grandparent cheer squad) to move around the course on foot. Both boys are good runners, but need work on pacing and endurance. So we will be adding in some formal sport training later this month after we get back in a good school rhythm.