Accountability Thread 8/23-8/29

[Critterfixer]

Good morning, fellow Accountables! It's week one of fall term for us, so I'm hoping we can hold on to the relaxed summer feeling while upping our game by adding French and maybe some music to the schedule. I'll have a captive audience this afternoon, as we have planned a trip up to a pretty secluded creek for some water time for the boys and some sitting time for DH and myself. I might inflict my Classical music CD on everyone before Hank the Cowdog takes over. :laugh:

I also hope to get into the rhythm of adding CW Maxim to my self-education routine. That's going to be tough. I really need some thinking time to work on that. I'm planning on working through The Artist's Way as part of my Art curriculum for myself. So far, I'm staying up with my morning pages. It's helpful for me to get my whines out of the way first thing in the morning. 

 

Anything special with y'all this week? I'm hoping to really focus on increasing my consumption of beauty this term on the recommendations I've found in The Artist's Way. The recommendation indicates that if you want to keep up the pace of your creativity during an extended period of use, you must 1) take care of yourself and 2) fill yourself with the raw material for creative work, that is, beauty. So I'm really trying to surround myself with beauty this term. This week, I'm trying to spend some time out in nature. I want to have at least one or two days where I listen to music during the day. I also plan to pick out a few plants for inside the house that have interesting textures and place them where I can't fail to see them and admire them. Little steps.

[Soror]

Hello!

 

I'm thinking on ideas today, too much flying around in my head. Writing is on my brain, ds is improving but he still needs structure and I'm contemplating backing up from Maxwell to something with more structure, not sure if that will be something of my own device or another program, I hope to figure that out today. We are enjoying it greatly but I don't know that he is in the best place for it, I'm thinking we might need to wait a bit on it. 

 

Art is on my mind, I've got a couple of Klimt projects bookmarked I think the girls would enjoy. For me I think I want to look into some folk art, I'm just really drawn to the style. Good music has not been happening, I was just thinking about that, deciding if  I should put it on my to-do list or just be happy with what we are getting done. 

 

I've finished my read-alouds for the kids and I'm excited to make our next pics. I'm going with fiction for ds since we just did non-fic and another animal related story for the girls. 

[maize]

I'm here!

 

We took a couple of weeks off for family vacation, and it has taken me longer than I planned to get back into the swing of things. Last week was pretty much dedicated to figuring out the new extracurricular schedule, still have some work to do there but I kinda know how things are going to flow. Thursday afternoon is a bit crazy--I take ds5 and ds10 to gymnastics, sit and wait with the other kids, when their class is over rush ds10 and dd12 to dance, dd7's gymnastics class starts a half hour after ds10's ends so this week I left her to wait by herself while I took the others to dance; I'm a bit uncomfortable with that, I could take her with me to drop the others off at dance and then come back...anyway, after dance I drive ds10 to his French horn lesson, and after French horn we pick up dd7 from gymnastics and head home. This is all going to be harder in the winter when it is cold, keeping the littler ones happy and occupied is the challenge. These activities are all about half and hour from home but within ten minutes of each other.

 

I think I'll get the kids started on math and music practice this week, maybe get Chinese tutoring going again. Mostly though I've still got a lot of cleaning and organizing and planning to do, and my own schoolwork to focus on. It is going to be a busy, busy semester.

[OneGirlAcademy]

Critter fixer I like the idea of the plants in the house and the music.

 

No school for us on Monday, we are on a short, 3 day, family trip at Mt. Hood Adventure Park.

 

Also, the rest of the week will be very little formal school; it's my baby girl's Birthday week. She will officially be a teenager.

 

Hoping everyone will have a great week!

[Aurelia]

This week starts New School Stuff, which is kind of cool, since newer stuff is nearly always more fun than the same old-same old. Tomorrow, I should find out DD's new tumbling schedule, finally. I haven't been able to fully plan out our school schedule without it, which has been frustrating. 

 

I still have 3 more weeks left of my Coursera class, but it's been much easier to keep up with than the 2 I took simultaneously in January. I'm not doing that again. We spent all of yesterday running around, so today is a quiet day at home to catch up on chores, and I need to get my guitar practice and exercise out of the way. DD needs to do math, reading, writing and art, and clean her room. 

[Critterfixer]

We had a very good "first day". French went off without a hitch, and we all sounded pretty awful together. Latin went well, Math as good as possible, and the boys found the first story plot entertaining, and picked a variety of words for spelling this week. We started at 8:30 and were done by 11:30 with two ten to fifteen minute breaks in there for me to change books and laundry. We had our Sunday sandwiches for lunch and then went for a drive with DH. I suggested this earlier in the week as a way to aid in relaxation for the work week, and he liked the idea so he picked the drive and destination, a really nice little creek with a perfectly picturesque waterfall and a pool that takes on that strange blue quality from the mineral water that fills it. There was plenty of water for the boys to swim, and they had the pool to themselves, except for the horde of horseflies that descended! After they yowled about the bugs, I reminded them that between the two of them, they could easily dispatch enough horseflies to feed the little fish in the pool, so they set to work, and after a while, I think they were having as much fun battling horseflies as they were swimming. A good time was had by all. Then we took the long way home, dirt and gravel roads, wet with rain from the morning, on the cool side of a mountain that DH has probably hiked all over since he was small. Drove by the two solitary privately owned properties at the top of the hill and fantasized about retiring there one day, repairing the old stone wall, building a little house of stone in The Old Forest and living there with Old Man Willow and the rest of the gang. 

Just awesome. Must do it again.

[Soror]

OH, that sounds gorgeous Critterfixer. We've usually reserved Sunday for family activity day but obviously not today with dh's crazy schedule, he had to work from 4:30 to 8:30 am and just went back in at 6:30pm and who knows when he will get home, probably after we go to bed.

 

We did some art, ds drew another minecraft character and the girls painted, made collages and their Art Tango lessons. I,  painted a real picture, the whole thing. I think that may be the first time in my entire life, we did a bit with watercolors the other day but that was different I was just painting colors and it was mixed-media. I decided to look up some lessons for kids on folk art and found one on Maud Lewis with a couple of little blue birds I just found  it so enchanting, I did my own version. It is far from perfect and varies a good deal from hers but I love it anyway, I just love the colors and it makes me smile even with the imperfection. (I'm so excited I just had to share). Of course the girls are all into the paints as well with me in them and dh hasn't even complained about the ever thickening layers of paint on the dining room table.

 

Ds did get in some spelling and I studied and thought some more on writing, I have a plan for this week and then we'll see from there if that is going to work or not. I really do like Maxwell's and think it is a great program so it is hard to think about switching on the other hand I think he will benefit with more structure and scaffolding at this point. 

 

We're planning on some games this evening, good books and I think I want to do some geography, we'll see who joins me, as of now they are wrestling around and having a big time.

[Soror]

Critter fixer I like the idea of the plants in the house and the music.

 

No school for us on Monday, we are on a short, 3 day, family trip at Mt. Hood Adventure Park.

 

Also, the rest of the week will be very little formal school; it's my baby girl's Birthday week. She will officially be a teenager.

 

Hoping everyone will have a great week!

 

Happy B-Day to your baby, who is not much of a baby any more :)

This week starts New School Stuff, which is kind of cool, since newer stuff is nearly always more fun than the same old-same old. Tomorrow, I should find out DD's new tumbling schedule, finally. I haven't been able to fully plan out our school schedule without it, which has been frustrating. 

 

I still have 3 more weeks left of my Coursera class, but it's been much easier to keep up with than the 2 I took simultaneously in January. I'm not doing that again. We spent all of yesterday running around, so today is a quiet day at home to catch up on chores, and I need to get my guitar practice and exercise out of the way. DD needs to do math, reading, writing and art, and clean her room. 

Ya, new school stuff!!! 

 

I'm here!

 

We took a couple of weeks off for family vacation, and it has taken me longer than I planned to get back into the swing of things. Last week was pretty much dedicated to figuring out the new extracurricular schedule, still have some work to do there but I kinda know how things are going to flow. Thursday afternoon is a bit crazy--I take ds5 and ds10 to gymnastics, sit and wait with the other kids, when their class is over rush ds10 and dd12 to dance, dd7's gymnastics class starts a half hour after ds10's ends so this week I left her to wait by herself while I took the others to dance; I'm a bit uncomfortable with that, I could take her with me to drop the others off at dance and then come back...anyway, after dance I drive ds10 to his French horn lesson, and after French horn we pick up dd7 from gymnastics and head home. This is all going to be harder in the winter when it is cold, keeping the littler ones happy and occupied is the challenge. These activities are all about half and hour from home but within ten minutes of each other.

 

I think I'll get the kids started on math and music practice this week, maybe get Chinese tutoring going again. Mostly though I've still got a lot of cleaning and organizing and planning to do, and my own schoolwork to focus on. It is going to be a busy, busy semester.

Welcome back! 

 

Our Thursday is crazy too, technically we are supposed to be in 2 places at once. Last week I just dropped the one off early, which thankfully is ok with the dance teacher and there are moms I know there. I hope the schedule isn't too crazy for you. 

[MeaganS]

This week should be more of the same, although DH is on his last week of night rotation at work, so that will be nice. Right now, we see him when he gets home during breakfast and then for an hour after he wakes up before he has to go to work. Next month's rotation should be MUCH easier compared to this one, so we'll get a lot more daddy time.

 

Tomorrow is our second week of Co-op. I signed the girls up purely for fun/social reasons, so my expectations are fairly low. It is a fancy and large one, with tons of classes to choose from, so I hope it works out because there are some neat offerings that we might want to take advantage of as they get a little older.  My 3 year old is terribly excited to show her teacher her new backpack, so there's that. :)

 

I will be starting doing some deliberate school with the 3 year old this week. Mostly I'll be introducing c-rods to get her familiar with them, doing some counting and number activities to see what she knows already (a la Kitchen Table Math), and pushing her towards letter sound apps on the iPad to get her ready to start reading in a few months. I haven't had to drill letter sounds yet with any of my kids, and I hope I never do. I'll let the iPad and the Frog do all the work for me in that arena. It is more fun for them anyways, right? We might even do a few of the first pages in Miquon. With my older two, we did Singapore Essentials starting around this age, but I'm sick of it, so I'm going to try the more living math route with this kiddo. We'll see how it goes. 

 

I've also been pondering how to do science with my girls. I've basically come to the conclusion that most science curricula for elementary kids are a waste of time, and the girls seem to absorb the stuff we do informally. The problem is, I'm not very good at informal, so I need to be informally formal somehow? I'm thinking we'll just have 2 or 3 thirty minute science-times a week when the girls are required to do something sciency and I can talk to them to help them figure out what to do and facilitate it.  So I'll be setting that up this week.

[Critterfixer]

 

We did some art, ds drew another minecraft character and the girls painted, made collages and their Art Tango lessons. I,  painted a real picture, the whole thing. I think that may be the first time in my entire life, we did a bit with watercolors the other day but that was different I was just painting colors and it was mixed-media. I decided to look up some lessons for kids on folk art and found one on Maud Lewis with a couple of little blue birds I just found  it so enchanting, I did my own version. It is far from perfect and varies a good deal from hers but I love it anyway, I just love the colors and it makes me smile even with the imperfection. (I'm so excited I just had to share). Of course the girls are all into the paints as well with me in them and dh hasn't even complained about the ever thickening layers of paint on the dining room table.

 

That's great! Unleash the artist!

I think the last time I painted, I did a watercolor of some nasturtiums from my garden. I could have grown them this year, but it makes me so sad to see them wither up and die as soon as it gets hot. Still, maybe I should have planted some. I'll have them next year. 

 

[Critterfixer]

 

I've also been pondering how to do science with my girls. I've basically come to the conclusion that most science curricula for elementary kids are a waste of time, and the girls seem to absorb the stuff we do informally. The problem is, I'm not very good at informal, so I need to be informally formal somehow? I'm thinking we'll just have 2 or 3 thirty minute science-times a week when the girls are required to do something sciency and I can talk to them to help them figure out what to do and facilitate it.  So I'll be setting that up this week.

 

Sometimes I like to just pick a theme and let things fall into place as interest either expands or wanes. Often, one thing sort of leads to another, and you just keep rolling.

[Aurelia]

I think today was a success. DD got all her schoolwork done with only minimal grumbling, I did my guitar practice and some exercise, tidied the house, and laundry is on the last load. DD set up the tent in the backyard and is intent on spending the night out there. She's been begging to do it for weeks. She's tried it once or twice before, only to come back inside by 11PM, so we'll see how it goes.

 

The neighbor girl sent a bunch of outgrown clothes over, and DD has been gasping and exclaiming over practically everything. You'd think hand-me-downs were a dream come true, :lol: . She never gets them, as she's the oldest grandchild on both sides of the family, and all of our friends (except the one neighbor) have kids younger than ours, so it's a new experience, even though I buy "new" clothes at resale stores pretty regularly. 

[mama25angels]

Well, it seems as if my school plans have been thwarted yet again! My spares don't start school until tomorrow so, they are here and fighting already. We will still do a bit of work today and just fold them in, will check on at the end of the day. Have a good one ladies!

[Critterfixer]

Good morning, all! I'm being free this morning. I have been rushing around so that I can do my housekeeping in the morning, but I'm a bit slow at writing my morning pages and I had a rough night. So today, I have given myself permission to do Thursday's work, instead of Monday's. It isn't much, and can be done in between school, or right after school. So I've got thirty minutes before school starts to print out a few things, do a bit of copying, have a second cup of tea, and so forth. I'll get Monday's work on Thursday.

Today we have French, Latin, Math, Writing (Spelling practice with some vocabulary work, Harvey's grammar lesson, and Writing Analysis), History and Reading for one boy, Science and Geography for the other. I believe we will watch a little documentary on Rome at some point this week, and we are keeping an eye on the hurricane since that fits right in with weather study. Shouldn't be too bad. 

 

My rough night was the result of a funny accident. One of my sons kneed me, right in the mouth! I felt my jaw seize up on one side (I've got some TMJ anyway) and boy, was it sore. I could open and close, but didn't dare yawn. Better this morning, but still sore. Poor kid felt bad. Funny thing, it was the same boy who threw his head back as a toddler and got me in the mouth, hurting my jaw in the first place. 

[Tawlas]

Wow, busy thread for a Monday! We're still not starting until next week - and even that's a week earlier than the province's public schools. You know, I love that we don't have to do back-to-school-shopping. No "first day outfits" that need to be just right or indoor shoes that need to be as expensive as everyone else's. We just get to savour the last week of sunshine :)

 

Having said that, we had the tiniest touch of frost two nights ago and it killed most of my sweet potatoes :( I baby those things in the house from mid-February and I'm still not sure they're going to produce anything. Southerners? If a sweet potato plant doesn't bloom, will there be potatoes? Or is that a separate function? It was chilly again last night, need to go check on the melons. . .

 

There was so much news up thread, I know I'm going to miss a few things, but I'll take a stab at what stuck out the most!

 

Critter, I need to google your CW Maxim because the image that flashes in my brain is the men's magazine lol. Also, do you enjoy The Artist's Way? It's been on my to-read list for months. Looking forward to it! I purchased the "no excuses art journaling book" and it got me doing something creative in a small way nearly every day, for which I am grateful :)

 

Maize, that is a crazy Thursday! Hopefully that means you get most of your extra curriculars over and done with on one day!

 

OneGirl - Happy Birthday to your dd! The teen years are both awesome and terrifying :D

 

Soror - Writing is always on my mind lately. Havent' done much of it at all as my kids are still pretty young. Still, dd needs to write a standardized test this February, better get her able to write a few sentences :P (Luckily there are no requirements for certain results lol She's a smart enough kid, we've just been focusing on reading until now)

 

Aurelia, some of my kids adore hand me downs too. Easily content is lovely :)

 

MeaganS enjoy preschool! It has always amazed me what my youngers knew already - osmosis is such a great thing!

 

mama25, keep your chin up! This is *not* an indication of the year!

[mama25angels]

Tawlas--I'm not sure about the sweet potatoes, I love eating them but, I can't grow things to save my life. I hope they get potatoes though. We're nearly done with the little work I decided to do today, the boys are being rambunctious so I need to set them free.

 

Critterfixer-I'm so sorry about your jaw, I have TMJ as well and I know how painful it can be.

[Critterfixer]

 

 

Critter, I need to google your CW Maxim because the image that flashes in my brain is the men's magazine lol. Also, do you enjoy The Artist's Way? It's been on my to-read list for months. Looking forward to it! I purchased the "no excuses art journaling book" and it got me doing something creative in a small way nearly every day, for which I am grateful  :)

It's Classical Writing's "essay" level. I figure I ought to go through it, because I will probably have to tweak it for the boys. I was perfectly comfortable messing with Homer. Narrative stories are fun and I like to both analyse and write them. Essays not so much. On the other hand, it was only as an adult that I became aware that essays did not have to be dry, or dull, or painful to read. I came across a number of essays in writing books that were not only pleasant to read, but entertaining, informative and interesting. That's the kind of essay I want my boys to learn how to write. 

 

I have been enjoying The Artist's Way. I'm almost done with the preliminary read through. I've decided to let it be part of my "art" study this year, so I'll be doing the program taking about two weeks per chapter because I doubt seriously that I will have the time to get through a chapter per week. It doesn't seem right to rush it anyway. Not sure whether the morning pages are going to be more like a good shower for the brain or taking out the mind garbage. :lol:

 

I don't know about your sweet potatoes, having never grown them myself, but my understanding is that they are a long season crop. I really ought to try them in the better part of my garden. I have so much clay, though. Tuberous things just don't care for clay.

 

We've made it through French, Latin, Math, Spelling and Grammar without incident. The boys are writing a little composition for grammar about their excursion yesterday. Since we don't have a ton of writing to do for writing today, I figured they could do some theme writing during our analysis weeks. Then do their imitation work the next. That should give them time and practice in stretching their creative writing muscles while still keeping a formal program going at a steady pace.

I just thought, I haven't picked a poem for memory work for our tea and poetry. Guess I'd better go grab a book and pick one out!

 

[Soror]

So, we are again on a bit of a flipped schedule again today and are now on lunch break. It is going fairly well today, although I left ds to do some math on his own and he had a terrible time of it. I finally just told him to wait until we could do it together after I finished working with the girls. Lots of good books read today. DD1 decided she wanted to read some Beatrix Potter to us and she really did better than I expected, her reading is coming along and I just adore seeing her excited about such good stories. 

 

Ds just finished watching the first IEW- SWI-B lesson, I already own this so we are going to try this out for some structure and see how it goes. We'll be modifying and tweaking of course. I've also decided to start some Bravewriter/Writer's workshop kind of stuff, yes that is totally opposite. Ds *needs* more structure to help him with applied grammar, style, structure etc but I also want to nurture writing in a way so that he sees it can be for fun. I started us today with finding favorite quotes from books we are reading to share. Anyway, time is up trying to finish school with dd, just a bit of writing and grammar to go. 

 

This evening it is dance for dd1, planning meeting for AHG for me(we start back next week), TKD and Scouts for ds and I'll be going grocery shopping and by the library.

[MrsRobinson]

Happy Monday, everyone! And what a beautiful Monday it is here!!! I did some errands this morning and when I was done, the baby was sleeping so we went to the park and I sat in the car and read and watched the kids play while the baby napped. I am loving this weather! Can't get enough of it!

 

This afternoon we have done math and reading. They are back outside. When they come in I want to do science. Writing/ penmanship for today will be thank you cards they need to make. A family friend gave them very nice little gifts. Dd will have to write hers out but I'll let ds use the ABC stamps. They love to decorate cards with glitter pens, stickers, stamps and the like. They are usually pretty... loud, wild, intense. Not sure what word best describes them. But every time they've given their handmade cards to someone, I could tell they appreciated the effort the kids obviously put into them.

 

I read through everything up thread and all I can remember is Critter's Sunday afternoon in the enchanted forest. Sounds like it was a lovely time.

[Critterfixer]

I ought to post the boys' thoughts on the "enchanted forest"! The battle with the evil, stripe-eyed, bloodthirsty horseflies figures prominently in the retelling. I made them gleeful by suggesting that for Wednesday, they get to rewrite the story using their make-believe characters instead of themselves. Instant happiness. 

 

We are done for the day. Both snorted, threw up their heads and bucked a bit when I introduced the new material in history and science. But, it did come out to just an hour even with the extra reading I assigned. So that is all to the good. They will become accustomed to the additional writing and thinking that I will be requiring of them this year. But after the huffing and puffing passed, they buckled down and got it done. They are both playing happily now. 

We got a little behind this afternoon. I read too far in Jane Eyre. But I was hunting for a good stopping place while getting a little too comfortable lying down...I swear! :D

[maize]

No schoolwork done today. Probably related to the fact that I got maybe three hours of intermittent sleep last night.

[Critterfixer]

 

No schoolwork done today. Probably related to the fact that I got maybe three hours of intermittent sleep last night. 

 

 

I hope you got a nap!

[mamiof5]

 

Happy Monday, everyone! And what a beautiful Monday it is here!!! I did some errands this morning and when I was done, the baby was sleeping so we went to the park and I sat in the car and read and watched the kids play while the baby napped. I am loving this weather! Can't get enough of it!

 

This afternoon we have done math and reading. They are back outside. When they come in I want to do science. Writing/ penmanship for today will be thank you cards they need to make. A family friend gave them very nice little gifts. Dd will have to write hers out but I'll let ds use the ABC stamps. They love to decorate cards with glitter pens, stickers, stamps and the like. They are usually pretty... loud, wild, intense. Not sure what word best describes them. But every time they've given their handmade cards to someone, I could tell they appreciated the effort the kids obviously put into them.

 

I read through everything up thread and all I can remember is Critter's Sunday afternoon in the enchanted forest. Sounds like it was a lovely time.[/quote

Jealous for nice weather! Too hot over here :(

[arliemaria]

Sunday was a good day.  I cook once a month for our church family.  Yesterday I made two big batches of cornbread, a double batch of maple baked beans, and two cinnamon sugar apple skillet cakes.  After church I was able to take a few hour nap with the babe while my husband watched the kids.  Sunday evening we went to dinner with my daughter's godfather and my husband's godson and my goddaughter and their family.  So that is always special.  When we got home from dinner we bought DragonBox for my son.  He started playing right away and enjoyed it a lot!

 

This morning we worked on phonics.  I've been a bit anxious for Robby to read.  I plan on doing Spalding via WRTR.  I just need to write out a plan.  After our morning of multiple phonics activities my son is now listening to The Indian in the Cupboard.  I ordered Robby and Helen LL Bean boat and tote medium tote bags with their names embroidered.  These will be their outing/library bags.  I held off for a long time because I thought it was going to be way too much, but after looking at regular backpacks I decided these were actually a good value.  Hopefully they will last forever!  I started writing out the Lego Quests in a notebook for Robby so he can work on those while he is at his grandmas.  We keep all Lego there so I don't have to stress about the baby chocking on one.  My husband picked up a framing job at Michael's.  It was actually framed upside down.  I called and the framer said he would fix it at no cost.  I just need to drive back to Michael's.  Maybe tomorrow.  I still hope to get some math done today.  My mother-in-law got home today and has a bunch of clothes for the kids, but think I'll just go get them tomorrow.

 

Goals for tomorrow:  Cleaning.  I have a friend coming to help me clean tomorrow.  Errands.  I need to take the painting back to Michael's.  Stop at Office Max and pick up the sale items.  I need to mail a thank you card and a get well card.  School work.  Math, Phonics, Read Aloud.  That's enough.

[Soror]

maize- I hope you are sleeping in today :)

 

arlimarie- the reading will come eventually! Some kids pretty much teach themselves and for some it is a long slow process, some just click at some point. I'm hoping I get one who teaches herself at some point :) My son was 9 I think when it really clicked, or was it just turned 8, I can't remember! DD1 is coming along pretty well but that wasn't really until right around the time she turned 8, it was very incremental until then(she also got reading glasses then so I'm not sure how that played into it). My dd2 turns 6 in Nov, unfortunately she hasn't taught herself yet :) We just started reading lessons last month. I would bet your tote bags will get much use, we've wore out a couple here and are onto some canvas ones we were given.

 

We got everything in yesterday, ya! Everything but cleaning house! I was too tired to do much when I came home(we left at 3 and got home at 8) and we didn't have that much time before we left except for a 5 min pick-up. Oh, well! I got a new load of books, movies(picked up some Bill Nye physics ones for ds) and audio books. 

 

I'm *planning* nature study today, we're going to try it again before lunch time since that worked so well last time. I have a wind sock project for the girls to make that they didn't do yesterday- they were too busy playing games- I'm not going to complain about that!!! I wanted to make kites but my wooden sticks are gone and I forgot to pick some up yesterday, I'll have to put that on the list, although I guess perhaps it would be better in the spring, we read a beautiful story of a kitemaker for Japan studies yesterday so I thought it would be nice.

 

I want to try and have a family time of all of us reading at once but I don't know if I can pull that off with 2 not reading but I like the idea. We all collected quotes and shared them yesterday, I plan to continue this today. I'm trying to think of some writing I could do with all of them and me but mind is drawing a blank. I need your inspiration Critterfixer! We can do haikus today, I think even I could manage that :) but my list of ideas is pretty small!

 

Just for kicks- tentative plan(lets see how far I stray from this!):

8- breakfast- readalouds- chores

9-math for the girls+ spelling +writing for dd8- start on windsocks/ history and science for ds

10:30 1 pg math + spelling+grammar for ds/girls work on windsocks 

11:30 Nature walk/Outside time

12:30 lunch time

1:00 ds finish rewrite/dd8 read

1:30 ds finish math- phonics with dd5

2:00 Poetry tea; write haikus(everyone) and read poetry

3:00 Manically clean the house since we have our kick off for robotics at 4pm at MY house!

 

Already I'm off because dd is doing math with me now but perhaps that means I can squeeze in the phonics lesson with dd5 in our 9 am block instead of later :)

 

eta- I loved your comment yesterday about enjoying your time schooling your boys Critterfixer. I'm feeling incredibly blessed right now, it is an awesome obligation but one that is very rewarding as well. I thought last year was our best yet (although the end of the year was a rough due to my health) but this one is starting out even better.

[Critterfixer]

I don't know, Soror, you sound pretty inspired to me. You come up with the neatest things for your dc to do and make. I'm lucky if I can think of something fun to do once every few months. That is going to be the hardest part of the creative study I set myself to do this fall--taking my inner artist out on a explore. But it sorely needs the time, if the whining note in the morning pages is any indication. :lol:

We are getting around as slow as slugs today. The weather is perfectly wonderful this morning. It's almost, not quite, cool. It should heat up as the day goes on, but for now, we are meandering through French and Latin, pausing to listen to the cicada talk in the forest behind the house, and in general, getting our work done at an amble.

Nothing new today for consideration, unless it was writing sentences in French (the boys did better than I did!) and doing some diagramming for grammar today. We are easing in to story writing, but today I will probably have the boys divide the model into acts, then chose which scenes they favor for imitating. 

I need to feed bees this afternoon, and I should clean out the chicken house. I need to cook. In fact, lunch is going to be pretty much fruit and cheese unless I do.

[MrsRobinson]

Today's plan:

 

kids play outside all morning while I pack boxes. Check!

 

After lunch, kids get baths for plans we have tonight.

 

Reading, math, set out the learning baskets/ quiet time.

 

Dh will be home early so I'm going to take advantage and dash to the grocery store kid free even though my normal shopping day is Wednesday.

 

Dd is doing really well with her math. What I thought were large learning gaps have turned out to me minor. I don't remember being taught more than one way to solve math problems. I looked at this multiple ways thing being taught now as a huge hurdle. So far, I'm being proved wrong! Dd actually said "oh, I get it!" yesterday! Meanwhile, I'm thinking, "really?! I barely get it!"

[Soror]

Critter- I need your inspiration with writing!!!!

 

Our day has vaguely resembled the schedule I posted.

 

I've been a bit of a spaz with trying to get things cleaned/keep it somewhat clean and get everyone fed and schooled. However, several things have been marked off the list so that's something. We hunted wildflowers for our nature walk, I let the girls choose and of course that was their pick. We ended up by the beehives and found some thistles, which were hosting a multitude of various other creatures. We all drew the thistles and I made a weak attempt at a butterfly and spider, which is hard because they're never still. We're back now for lunch and ds is writing from his outline today. Still up today is phonics with dd2, read-alouds with ds, and haiku- poetry tea with everyone. And.... cleaning the house, outside, and getting ready for our meeting - and that's that I've got 2.5 hrs to get it all done so I need to get with it. 

[Critterfixer]

 

Critter- I need your inspiration with writing!!!!

 

One person's inspiration might be someone else's idea of pure torture. Writing today involved very little writing. We took the model and worked out the first act in the Rivalry plot. Then I took two other stories that I'd pulled from the library shelves with the same plot and we pulled the first act from those as well and discussed them. If I feel up to it, I may work have them work the rivalry theme into their stories tomorrow, pitting their characters against the swarm of horseflies. Or more likely, I'll see what they come up with and see if they do it on their own. Most of the time, I pretty much point out the direction and we see where we end up. 

The boys are taking on history and science with a much more jovial attitude than they had yesterday. It's not so scary once there is a bit of method to it, but I hear giggling, so I'd better head back in that direction and see if they are giving Cicero a mustache or drawing faces on thunderhead clouds.

[MeaganS]

So I forgot that being pregnant means that you stop sleeping well. So I've been super tired.  I even took 2 naps in the last week, and I NEVER take naps (maybe like once or twice a year). This means that I have been petering out by about 2 pm. Happily, school is usually done before then and the only things that really suffer are dinner and laundry. 

 

School has been great this week so far. The older two are zooming through their work and we've been getting done before 11 most days, which is awesome. Co-op on Monday was nice, although I really need to figure out a way to spend those two hours. Once older DD gets the hang of changing classrooms, I can use that time to run some errands, but until then, I have to sit around, which is fairly boring. I've been reading a lot of fluff lately and DH challenged me to read something with more substance, which I agreed was probably a good idea. So I started Great Expectations. Thanks to my stellar public school education, I've never read any Dickens before, so it should be fun. But 2 hours in a folding metal chair reading it isn't going to fly.

 

Oh, and today, dh performed foot surgery on one of our hens who had a bad infection there. He's a resident, so he's actually done similar procedures on people before, but chicken foot anatomy is a bit different. And I had to hold her down. And I'm squeamish about touching animals, which I think comes from the fact that I never had any pets, or any desire for a pet. The chickens are the most I've been able to do, and that is mostly because they are so hands off. Anyways, I think it went well and only time will tell if she gets better. She was hobbling around the yard after the fact, so here's hoping. There's nothing like hearing your dh exclaim, "it is like popping the greatest zit ever!" while trying your hardest to hold a chicken still and look the other way. Poor Honey Chicken.

 

And DH is on his last two nights of night rotation which he has been doing for a month and I've seemingly run out of chick-flicks to watch. So now I'll probably spend the next hour scanning Netflix and Amazon trying to find something, because heaven knows, I'm probably not going to curl up with Great Expectations. :)

 

[Aurelia]

It's only Tuesday, and it's already been a long week. Work has been so busy I don't have the energy to do much when I get home. It was too much effort to even sit up in my computer chair. Yesterday was especially bad because I had to sign DD up for her new tumbling schedule after talking on the phone for 6 hours, and the gym was noisy, with little kids swarming all over the area where they were doing the sign-ups. On the plus side, I finally can plan our schedule for the semester, but then again, it's going to be SO busy, with either tumbling or gymnastics 5 days a week. Plus choir.  :willy_nilly: At least math got done today, and some reading, writing and history. Maybe we'll get to science and literature tomorrow.

[Critterfixer]

Here's hoping all you tired folks get a good night's rest tonight! I'm hoping for one myself. 

 

And DH is on his last two nights of night rotation which he has been doing for a month and I've seemingly run out of chick-flicks to watch. So now I'll probably spend the next hour scanning Netflix and Amazon trying to find something, because heaven knows, I'm probably not going to curl up with Great Expectations.  :)

 

Never my favorite. But BBC did some great work with Bleak House and Little Dorrit. My boys adore Little Dorrit. It's on their favorite list of movies to occupy a week (there's some scary stuff, had to edit a little). It would be a way to have your Dickens and rest too.

 

 

 On the plus side, I finally can plan our schedule for the semester, but then again, it's going to be SO busy, with either tumbling or gymnastics 5 days a week. Plus choir.   :willy_nilly: At least math got done today, and some reading, writing and history. Maybe we'll get to science and literature tomorrow.

 

 

Ouch. 

[Soror]

Aurelia- that's a brutal schedule, I hope your able to figure it out.

 

Meghan- OH, much commiseration on the sleep issues and pregnancy. It sounds like you got to do some hs science there with the chicken surgery.

 

Critterfixer- all that sounds lovely but my knowledge of anything fiction is nearly non-existent, I can guess what you mean by the meaning of the words but that's about it! I'm guessing you just pull that from your head since you yourself like to write?

 

 

We finished our day with silent reading time for everyone(I did pull it off- although only about 15ish min) but hey that is a start and not bad considering my ages! We then read some haikus and wrote one together, if I wasn't so tired I'd type it up. The girls wanted to do one about nature and ds wanted something funny, we compromised and wrote one about the cat killing a skink which we witnessed during nature time.

 

Our robot meeting went late, as expected and then some unexpected happenings got us in bed even later, our heads didn't hit the pillow until 11. I'm expecting a late start today, I have a dr's appt at 4 as well so we'll be operating on a compressed schedule. I think we'll just keep it simple with the extras, the girls still have the project from Monday we haven't had time to do and I've got some fabulous science books to read for the girls(yesterday I read, "Why do the Elephants need the Sun- lots of wonderful info but still yet engaging to read- this is the type of science books perfect for the girls!). If things go fabulously I have a paper mache globe project for them to start from Science of the Seasons which I know they'll love but we'll have to see if we have the time to pull it off, it will probably wait until tomorrow!

 

Ds and I will be going over editing today, although first I'm going to have him do this, he has a smaller checklist from IEW, which hopefully will be easier for him (although I will be adding in a few basic things on there because even those tend to slip his mind). 

[MrsRobinson]

Today's plan:

 

kids play outside all morning while I pack boxes. Check!

 

After lunch, kids get baths for plans we have tonight. Check​

 

Reading, math, set out the learning baskets/ quiet time. Check

 

Dh will be home early so I'm going to take advantage and dash to the grocery store kid free even though my normal shopping day is Wednesday. Check

 

Dd is doing really well with her math. What I thought were large learning gaps have turned out to me minor. I don't remember being taught more than one way to solve math problems. I looked at this multiple ways thing being taught now as a huge hurdle. So far, I'm being proved wrong! Dd actually said "oh, I get it!" yesterday! Meanwhile, I'm thinking, "really?! I barely get it!"

 

Shamelessly quoting myself because for the first time I'm pretty sure EVER in my life I got done everything on my list!!! Now, the question is was it all because of this awesome accountability you all provide? Or is it because I am really trying to set reasonable expectations and not try to accomplish everything in a day? Nah! That can't be it! :lol:

 

Having the kids spend the morning outside while I pack worked really well yesterday so I'm going to try it again today. This afternoon, we'll tackle reading, math and some science thing dd found on a box of cereal. She was jabbering about it so fast that I didn't really get it but I guess I have to look up some info about penguins. That was all I got. So I guess I need to take a closer look at that. Oh, and we have a piano lesson and dinner at the in-laws. So glad I already have the grocery shopping done. That is a huge task off my plate for today.

 

Aurelia- I don't know how you juggle such a busy schedule!! I can barely make it to 1 weekly piano lesson!! You've got it together more than I do!

[Critterfixer]

 

Critterfixer- all that sounds lovely but my knowledge of anything fiction is nearly non-existent, I can guess what you mean by the meaning of the words but that's about it! I'm guessing you just pull that from your head since you yourself like to write?

 

That might be one place it comes from. On a good day.  It helps that CW Homer is narrative writing. That's stories. I can do stories, because they teach themselves. If I want to teach descriptive writing, I grab a story. If I want to teach plot (any one of the 20 I want to cover), I grab another story. If I want to teach character, I grab a story. Same with style, mood, humor, etc. Grab a story. 

Essay writing is going to cramp my style, though. :laugh:

 

Very, very tired today. I haven't been able to get to sleep properly in about three nights now. Sometimes my brain just won't shut off and let me get some rest. Hopefully it's about done churning for a bit and will let me get some rest tonight. All the same, we are getting on with the day. I hope to get through spelling and grammar before lunch. I need to cover the last two acts of the Rivalry plot today so that we can get to imitation next week. I'm just so sleepy.

 

ETA: Got spelling done. Not grammar. Okay by me. We'll get that after lunch, and after I lie down to read Jane Eyre. I said we could watch the second disc of the movie tonight for movie night. One child was all smiles and clapping hands with excitement. The other swears he'll boycott in favor of writing his adventure story. Oh, well. Can't please everybody.

[Soror]

Critter- I'm with you on being tired. We've mostly done everything BUT dd hasn't read to me and I haven't read to the girls(we're reading The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me right now and they are just loving it) however right now all the girls are happily and quietly playing and I'm too tired to care. I think I'm going to rest a bit before I have to get ready and then maybe dd can read aloud on the way to my dr.'s appt and I'll read some to them tonight at bedtime. I really, really, really don't want to go anywhere, especially a dr's appt but I know I need to, snuggling down and reading or napping sounds much more inviting right now!

[Soror]

 I hope to get through spelling and grammar before lunch. I need to cover the last two acts of the Rivalry plot today so that we can get to imitation next week. I'm just so sleepy.

 

ETA: Got spelling done. Not grammar. Okay by me. We'll get that after lunch,

This is too funny that is how it was here, I wanted to make it through spelling and grammar before lunch but I gave up after we finished spelling. We did both grammar and writing done after we finished lunch.

[Critterfixer]

Well, we made it. The boys just finished up their last few things they had to do. I had to go get my hair done, and it took longer than I anticipated. But we are home now, getting ready to watch Jane Eyre. Looking forward to bedtime tonight, for sure. Yawn!

[Heidi]

I just crossed off two items off of each of my 6th and 4th graders' curriculum lists.  I want to be a more relaxed homeschooler but find it difficult to let go.  But I did it!  I put the books back on the shelf.  Maybe I'll even sell them.  One of the books that I just *love* and my kids hate is R&S English.  It needs to go away, at least the kids' text, so I'll stop being tempted to assign it. I think I'll keep the teachers manual for myself to go through if I ever get the time or fancy.  I was just never taught grammar and I've learned so much from those books.  We're doing English Lessons through Literature now, which has light but sufficient grammar included, plus we're doing Latin, and I know that is enough grammar.  It is enough.  Good bye, R&S English.  I will always love you...

 

I also crossed off Classical Composition.  There are similar writing exercises in ELTL.  I'm not ready to sell CC yet because I really like it.

 

I do LOOOOOVE ELTL.  If you don't own it and use it, you should.  As well as CLE math.  Is there a negative review of CLE math out there?  I actually met someone yesterday at a homeschool party who was selling her grade 2 CLE Math because *her daughter didn't like it* (whatever :001_rolleyes: ), so I bought it.  I thought I had scored because I needed that level.  Until I realized I was doing grade 2 with my grade 2 daughter and I already own that level.  Doh!   :banghead:

[arliemaria]

I just crossed off two items off of each of my 6th and 4th graders' curriculum lists.  I want to be a more relaxed homeschooler but find it difficult to let go.  But I did it!  I put the books back on the shelf.  Maybe I'll even sell them.  One of the books that I just *love* and my kids hate is R&S English.  It needs to go away, at least the kids' text, so I'll stop being tempted to assign it. I think I'll keep the teachers manual for myself to go through if I ever get the time or fancy.  I was just never taught grammar and I've learned so much from those books.  We're doing English Lessons through Literature now, which has light but sufficient grammar included, plus we're doing Latin, and I know that is enough grammar.  It is enough.  Good bye, R&S English.  I will always love you...

 

I also crossed off Classical Composition.  There are similar writing exercises in ELTL.  I'm not ready to sell CC yet because I really like it.

 

I do LOOOOOVE ELTL.  If you don't own it and use it, you should.  As well as CLE math.  Is there a negative review of CLE math out there?  I actually met someone yesterday at a homeschool party who was selling her grade 2 CLE Math because *her daughter didn't like it* (whatever :001_rolleyes: ), so I bought it.  I thought I had scored because I needed that level.  Until I realized I was doing grade 2 with my grade 2 daughter and I already own that level.  Doh!   :banghead:

 

Is CLE Math much different from Rod and Staff?  I found the R & S Math 1 text on PaperbackSwap.com and so I got it.  I bought the two workbooks from Memoria Press.  Maybe I'll do CLE next year.

 

I have FLL so I plan on doing that this year, but I like RLTL and ELTL.  Possible future purchases.  They just seem pricey to me so I've held off.

[Heidi]

Is CLE Math much different from Rod and Staff?  I found the R & S Math 1 text on PaperbackSwap.com and so I got it.  I bought the two workbooks from Memoria Press.  Maybe I'll do CLE next year.

 

I have FLL so I plan on doing that this year, but I like RLTL and ELTL.  Possible future purchases.  They just seem pricey to me so I've held off.

 

I have no idea how different they are.  I used R&S math 1 a long time ago and then switched to MM because I liked the conceptual stuff better than the traditional approach in R&S.  I'm a recent convert to CLE math.  I used it last year with my oldest, and this year I switched everyone over to CLE.  I just like it.  I prefer it over MM.  I would say, looking at samples, that R&S leans a little more drill and kill imo, but I'm not certain.  I'm sure it's a great math program, so if it works this year you should definitely stick with it.  CLE just works really well for my kids.

[arliemaria]

Well I had an update typed and it deleted.  Things are moving along, albeit a bit slow the last few days.  We spent today cleaning.  The house looks better than it did before the baby was born, FOUR months ago.  That is a good thing.  Back to school in earnest tomorrow.

A neat school related thing today:  I signed up for the Natural Inquirer.  Well actually you don't subscribe, but order issues.  They are free, however. 

[MrsRobinson]

Good morning! Yesterday wound up being very different than what I'd planned. The kids were outside playing, I was packing in the garage and Pa-Pa pulled up and offered to take the kids for the day and dh and I could bring them home after dinner that we'd already planned at their house. Awesome!!! I got tons of packing done!! Here I thought that what was slowing me down, was having to stop to feed the baby every few hours and stopping for random diaper changes. Nope! Apparently, its the constant requests for food from the older 2. :glare:

 

Today, we will do the lessons we didn't get to yesterday. I think I may have dd follow me around the house and read out loud to me as I get things picked up and organized. She is reading material that is just above her reading level so I have to be on hand to correct any mispronounced words. Which, by the way, I'd like to see what her reading level really is, just for grins. Can anyone recommend a reading assessment? TIA!

 

I think that will do it for today. The kids seem really tired from their exciting day yesterday so we'll probably take it pretty easy today.

 

Critter and sorror- hope you all are feeling more well rested today!!

 

Heidi and Arliemaria- its interesting to see you discussing CLE and MM. I bought MM somewhat because so many were saying they liked it better than Singapore Primary (which I was overwhelmed by just looking at). Now I keep seeing people say they like CLE better than MM!!! I can't win! :svengo:

[Critterfixer]

I'm a little better rested today than yesterday. However, I'm starting out the day with a wicked headache. Medication is on board and I hope I'll be feeling more like myself soon. I don't think we will be very productive today. Nobody is complaining, but nobody is moving very fast, either. It looks like it will be one of those plod to the finish line kind of weeks for us. 

[mama25angels]

Hi ladies! I'm still here and we've started school. In the midst of starting school I've had to hope my college Ds get his classes straightened out, several appointments with the dentist and orthodontist and one for me for lab results. We have gotten Latin, morning time, phonics, literature and Bible done. I hope to have fewer appointments next week.

[Soror]

Mrs. Robinson, go by what works for you and your student, there are always varying opinions and if you just go with the direction of the board the wind changes every little bit.

 

I'm personally not a fan of CLE, I honestly just thought it lacked conceptual teaching and was too easy TBH. I had ds start it last year for some review and I had him do it alongside BA.  This year he is doing MM alongside BA and while its not perfect either(I'd prefer spiral and fewer problems)I I like the way it teaches better and there is more depth to me. All that being said my daughter might end up with CLE, she revels in reviewing and an incremental spiral,  not to mention she likes working on her own, right now she is using Horizons and I plan to keep her with it until it doesn't work anymore but CLE is high on my list for her, not everyone needs the same thing. 

 

My kids are working like speed demons today, I'm not sure what has gotten into them! Ds is finished entirely, record!!!! I just need to read to the girls and I have some projects they may want to do, although as of late they have been busy with their own projects, which works for me!

 

Tonight the girls are starting art lessons, we're going to try every other week now and I scheduled it right before dance so actually it should work out perfectly because ds' TKD is earlier, I can drop him and then they can do art.

[Tawlas]

I'm here! I've all of a sudden decided we need to stock up on snacks and frozen foods for the start of school. So instead of relaxing and basking in the sun before our abrupt start to school next week, I'm slaving away in the kitchen. Gad. So silly of me, I just know it, but it *should* pay off in the end. I've got all kinds of healthy (and healthy-ish) muffins, frozen "oatmeal pucks" with fancy toppings (nuts, pb, berries, cream, maple syrup etc), quinoa energy bars, pizza buns, enchiladas, frozen crockpot meals, pickles, breakfast sandwiches, jam, on the shelves and in the freezer. I picture just throwing snacks at the kids all day so I don't have stop and make something. Really interrupts with our flow. But they'll need play breaks, so I may be over doing it. . . still. Nice to have options!

 

As far as the CLE debate goes I like MM for some kids and CLE for others. . . MM is better for conceptual work, but CLE is fantastic for a mostly-independent program (even for young kids - like grade 2+) for those that need a more spiral-like approach. I think I have the best of both worlds in that I teach my oldest with MM so when a new concept comes up later in CLE with my second, I can introduce it the MM way. :)

 

Oh! And Ds's reading program FINALLY ARRIVED. Will get it hole-punched (student pages) and coil bound (my pages) on Saturday. I'll file his pages on Sunday. Nothing like leaving things to the last minute!

[Critterfixer]

We are still working. It's been a rough kind of day. I'll be glad to get to the library this evening, that's all.

[Soror]

Hang in there critterfixer! 

 

We had reading in the afternoon and the girls made their wind sock. 

 

Speaking of creativity I put the book: Art Before Breakfast: A Zillion Ways to be More Creative no Matter how Busy you Are on my hold list at the library, I'm hoping for some inspiration and ideas :) I now need to get up and cook something but I'm tired and don't want to!!!

[mama25angels]

Critterfixer so sorry you're having a rough day!!

 

Tawlas so glad the reading program finally arrived!

 

Soror yay, for finishing in record time!

 

 

Well, we're registered for our co op classes and we got a bit of work done today. It was a little stressful but we made it!