I would begin with Joseph Bruchac: http://josephbruchac.com/

Tuesday 8/30 Prayer History lesson & activity Spelling (all 3) Roots Up (all 3) Grammar (all 3) Composition (all 3) Math (all 3) Assigned Independent Reading with written work (all 3) French (all 3) Outdoor exercise (all 3) + my exercise time Regular chores, meals, laundry, pets & hygiene Book Club Read Aloud: By the Shores of Silver Lake

I was (at first) picturing actual small squirrels.... Anyway, this is the key, right? To be available (sort of looking, to make sure no one sticks, say, a knife into a plugged-in toaster), but not too available (as in, "Here, let me take over and show you how it's done"). That's a tough balancing act, I find. My 11 year old is Little Miss Confidence in the kitchen, which is a fairly accurate self-assessment on her part. She is capable, something we keep trying to get her father to comprehend on Saturday mornings. "Let her do it" has become my new mantra to him. I'm not really a sink-or-swim type, but there is a need at some point to let it go, you know? He would chase everyone out of the kitchen and do it himself, but what's the value in that? So I tell him that he can teach them, too. The eggs-toast-and-tea (in our case) breakfast is actually quite challenging. Simple on the surface of things, but complicated to perfect the timing. Otherwise, burnt toast or cold tea, alas. We do hard-boiled eggs, so that simplifies it a bit (for now). They are getting the timing down pat, but they each do a separate meal job (on three week rotations), so it's a solo act. I'm trying to picture your mud-puppies in the kitchen. :willy_nilly: :willy_nilly: And you're over here, all cool, like this: :thumbup1: The simplest breakfast mine do is "Variety Breakfast" -- a few slices of deli ham, left-over hard-boiled eggs, some nuts or seeds, some fruit, some cheese, graham crackers -- basically, a collection of easy-to-grab things. They don't want this too often, since they are also clamoring for "hot breakfast." (As if!) The second-simplest breakfast they do is either oatmeal or cream of wheat. They consider cold cereal to be a non-breakfast, LOL. We've been told! Apparently, it's a SNACK. My oldest makes raisin-spice bread in the machine, and they toast it up the next morning, then put on cream cheese. Easy and quick. Muffins made ahead of time are an easy-grab breakfast, too. French toast would be a hit, but I haven't been up to teaching that, yet. Perhaps for lunch sometime, to get in practice? Homemade waffles are (IMO) easier than pancakes. My girls make those for supper sometimes (with assistance). I'd like a few less carbs in their diet. How do to that in the mornings, without a ton of eggs and sausage, I don't know. Has anyone here heard of scrapple? My dad (from Philly) eats it (he's 84, so it can't be too bad). I grew up to the sound of a percolating coffee pot (on the stove) and the (awful) smell of frying scrapple. :ack2: All the parts of a pig that don't make it into a hot dog, cooked up into a gray brick with cornmeal mush. Yum. :ack2:

Sunday 8/28 We went to church in the morning, then had lunch at home. In the afternoon, the girls put on their long-awaited Teacher Appreciation Day. They presented programs and notes of thanks. Then they took turns playing pieces on the piano, singing together, and reciting several poems. The grand finale was a hilarious re-enactment of "The Owl and the Pussy Cat," performed by a stuffed cat, a handmade felt owl, a pig puppet (with a ring in his nose), and a homemade construction paper turkey. All of the costumes, scenery, and props were thoughtfully and creatively prepared by the girls. The cat was wearing a faux-mink cape from their doll clothes collection, and they even had a real shilling. It was so fun, they did it twice! And I got presents! Then I gave each of them a "So Glad You Are My Student" note and adorable note card sets (they love to write notes to everyone they know). It was a good day. Monday 8/29 Regular chores, meals, laundry, pets, exercise, hygiene Prayer Bible lesson JBQ test out (all 3) Independent reading check-in (all 3) Independent work check-in (all 3) Math (all 3) Vocabulary (all 3) French (all 3) Reading with written work (all 3) Grammar (1) Composition (1) Free time Book Club: By the Shores of Silver Lake Early bedtime for girls? (a person can dream)

Oh, accountability. I should probably get to work now, right, Critter? (slave driver that I am)

It was Springfield, MO. First at Evangel University, then at AGTS. :) I enjoyed my MO days, but since I was on my own out there, it was kind of lonely. If I had had a family there, that would have made a difference. I always think that perhaps, someday, I may end up back out in MO, perhaps a bit further north, but you never know. My husband (California Boy) has no interest in living in the Midwest. Of course, he's never lived there. Then again, I have never lived in California, and I can say with certainty that I have zero interest in living there! I hiked a lot in Missouri, absolutely all over the place. Miles and miles and miles of country out there, LOL, and cows, llamas, and emus as far as the eye can see. ;) But we finally made it up to what, in New Jersey, is considered "country." ;) Not the same, but still pretty. Again, I have cows on the hills behind my house, horses on the property behind our backyard (free for me!), roosters and peacocks and guinea fowl across the road, and a very crazy donkey two houses away. He is the most cantankerous critter on the street. Ee-haw, ee-haw, ee-haw, all day and half the night. We hear the cows and calves on the dairy farm behind our house, especially in the spring when the farmer separates the mamas from their babies. They bawl all night, too. LOL. I love it! The first night I heard the peacocks, I was coming from the mailbox, up the driveway in the dark (with a little flashlight). I nearly jumped out of my skin! :scared: I came inside and my husband said, "Was that a howler monkey?" LOL. "No, Honey, it's a peacock." He didn't believe me, so I googled "peacock," then put the computer speaker in the open window. We had that peacock across the street answering "our" peacock for at least an hour. Country fun. :) That, and the 9,563 baby peeper frogs we had in our pool last spring. Hands-on Science at its finest. The guinea hens are my favorites, though. If you crossed a turkey with a chicken, that would be a guinea hen.

This will be me in about seven years. The opinions about everything have already started. ;) The other day, my mother asked me, "What will you do when you're done homeschooling?" Me: "Something else!" I am enjoying this part of the journey, both the parenting and the schooling, but I'll be ready to move on to the next season of life when it comes along. I agree, this is the plan from the start -- the kids get on with their adult lives, and we get parts of our lives returned to us.

I lived in Missouri for six years (two years in MO, then five years back East, then four years in MO). I found these fascinating. Have you seen these? http://www.missourilife.com/life/thong-trees/ https://showmeoz.wordpress.com/2014/12/09/indian-bent-trees-history-or-legend/ https://roadtrippers.com/stories/mysterious-bent-trees-are-actually-native-american-trail-markers?lat=40.80972&lng=-96.67528&z=5 I've hiked a lot in the East, and have never seen these here, but in Missouri, they were all over the place.

Make sure it's just the water this time.

Can you keep all your skin on this time, Critterfixer? No, it will not go away, and neither will your children. They are there, so please educate them. Hey, this is the accountability thread, right? So I will tell you: GET TO WORK! :nopity: :toetap05: :biggrinjester: :leaving:

Our plans for this week -- Sunday 8/28 Church Lunch Teacher Appreciation Day! :) Monday 8/29 Regular meals, chores, laundry, pets, exercise & hygiene School Work -- a full day Family supper & evening read aloud Tuesday 8/30 Regular meals, chores, laundry, pets, exercise & hygiene School Work -- a full day Family supper & evening read aloud Wednesday 8/31 Regular meals, chores, laundry, pets, exercise & hygiene School Work -- Math + something else Grandparents' Visit Thursday 9/1 Regular meals, chores, laundry, pets, exercise & hygiene School Work -- a full day Family supper & evening read aloud Friday 9/2 Regular meals, chores, laundry, pets, exercise & hygiene School Work -- a full day Family supper & evening read aloud Saturday 9/3 Yard work Weekend chores & errands After Labor Day, the recreation options open up a bit. Parks and beaches are then free (they are not free from Memorial Day to Labor Day). After all the taxes we pay in New Jersey, I'm not paying more to get us into a park or onto the beach! So, we'll probably do yard work next weekend, then the following Saturday do our usual post-Labor Day outing -- either a park or (more likely) a beach. I need to see the ocean at least twice per year, or I feel like I'm land-locked. Not fun, if you've grown up near the ocean! We're an hour from our favorite beach now, so not too bad. It's a pleasant ride. We pack a picnic and just enjoy the day. Looking at this week's list, though, I can see that we thrive on routine, LOL. Choir starts the following week, and church midweek starts the week after that. Only two "outside activities" this year, and I am so glad. No more Monday nights out. Woohoo!

Saturday 8/27 Hubby & the two youngest did hours and hours of yard work. It's a start, but we need to put more hours into it as we go into the fall season. Finally, we have some tools that actually do the job, so that makes an enormous difference. Our old rake was shot, our old clippers were worthless, our old weed whacker lasted about five minutes. This new weed whacker is a monster, let me tell you. New tools, sweet! My oldest & I did the usual indoor work all day -- cooking, cleaning, beds, bunnies, laundry. We kept people fed and hydrated, then got them washed and in clean clothes. And swept up all the dirt and grass they tracked back in all day long! Tomorrow is church, then Teacher Appreciation Day. ;)

Bets -- Reading this makes me tired! :svengo: Are you driving 1.5 hours TO band and 1.5 hours FROM band? Yeah, I'd be whipped, too. :grouphug: Hang in there. I was in marching band in high school, and I loved it. Fun memories. Go Blue! But we were in public HS, and we always walked, so my parents did no carting.

Friday, August 26 (Day 5) We had sort of a half-day of school today, because the girls wanted to "rehearse" for Teacher Appreciation Day, which is to be held on Sunday. ;) This was their own idea, and I like being appreciated, so I decided to go along with it. School: Math (all 3) Grammar (all 3) Spelling & Vocabulary (all 3) Composition (all 3) Assigned Independent Reading ["A.I.R."] (all 3) Book Club: By the Shores of Silver Lake Life: A restful morning (I needed it today) Cleaned entire upstairs (hubby & me) Free time in the early evening (girls) Long, intense workout (me) Meals, chores, laundry, pets, exercise, hygiene & rest Tomorrow's Plans: Another half-day of school (Math, Grammar, Composition (1 kid), something else?), followed by yard work. Or perhaps I'll send the girls out first thing after breakfast, to get in 2-3 hours of yard work in the morning, then come in & shower, then settle in to some school work, then perhaps a nap or quiet time. That sounds better, I think. Outside first. It's supposed to be a beautiful day here. ;)

http://gradespelling.com/ OR https://www.spellingcity.com/ OR http://spellingclassroom.com/login/

Thursday, August 25 (Day 4) Prayer Bible lesson History lesson & activity Math (all 3) Grammar (all 3) Spelling (all 3) Independent Reading (all 3) Piano Practice (all 3) Junior Bible Quiz (all 3) Outdoor Exercise Chess/Free Time Family Movie Night Regular chores, meals, exercise, hygiene, pets & laundry Tomorrow's Plan: We'll do a half-day of school work (Math + Composition + something from Group Work + something from Independent Work), then the girls will have the rest of the day to themselves. They are planning a Teacher Appreciation Day, to be held on Sunday afternoon. They tell me that they need "time to rehearse." This ought to be good. ;) Saturday: Another half-day of school work, followed by hours and hours of overdue yard work. Baths, then bed.

Wednesday, August 24 (Day 3) I think the girls have settled back into the school day routine. Everything was done more cheerfully and with more joy today than in the past two days. So that was something to be glad about! Regular chores, meals, pets, exercise, hygiene, and laundry Phone calls -- (1) my endo for test results, (2) made an appointment for Squishy's annual check-up Prayer & hymn Science lesson & quiz Spelling (all 3) Vocabulary (all 3) Composition (all 3) Math (all 3) French (all 3) Independent Reading (all 3) Piano Practice (2 out of 3) Outdoor Exercise (2 out of 3) Chess (all 3) Family Time (all 5) Early Bedtime (all 5) :)

Take heart, you are in good company. I think we are all, more or less, looking back at our own childhoods, our own educations, and doing our best to create for our children something better than what we had. Then we turn around and take another look at our kids, and go from there. :grouphug:

I don't know if this will help (enough), because (in the end), we ditched Memoria Press for most things. It wasn't a great fit for us, either, and I am the ultimate box-checker. But, I like to make up my own plans, and check my own boxes, LOL. Having said that... what we did when we did use Memoria Press (we never bought a full grade level) was to either (1) do much of the workbook orally, or (2) cross out all the busy work. We read the books that came with the workbooks, but the workbooks themselves were not that thrilling. Example #1: Story Time Treasures & More Story Time Treasures -- Just as they were, we used both sets of books & workbooks, and LOVED these for 1st grade. They were perfect, and we did them again with the twins. Example #2: Literature Guides for 2nd Grade -- These may have changed since then (I know the recommended books have changed), but at the time, I thought the assignments were a bit much for a 2nd grader! Even my very verbal, happy-to-write oldest would have been overwhelmed with all that writing (and research! in 2nd grade!). We only completed one-and-a-half guides out of the four literature guides that year, and it was a waste of time. I didn't care for The Courage of Sarah Noble (my daughter didn't, either), but for some reason, we trudged through that book and the guide. About halfway through the literature guide for Little House in the Big Woods, we stopped the literature guide, and made a diorama instead. We liked Tales from Beatrix Potter, but the literature guide didn't add to our enjoyment, so we skipped it. We also skipped the literature guide for Mr. Popper's Penguins. Instead, we listened to the audio book while traveling, which was much more pleasant than completing a boring MP workbook! We did some of the workbook assignments orally, and some in writing. But I didn't do those guides again at all with my twins. Life is too short to do literature guides with 2nd graders. Lesson learned. Example #3: Literature Guides for 3rd Grade -- These were actually better, at least at the time. We only chose two books & guides -- Farmer Boy and Charlotte's Web. I think these guides were actually worth doing, and formed part of our literature work for that year (along with some traditional "book reports" that my daughter enjoyed doing). But, again, we didn't repeat any MP literature guides after this. I think they are a ton of busy work, to be honest. I'd rather just enjoy reading together, talking about ideas, explaining concepts, defining words, and snuggling. The kids get big soon enough. Example #4: What's That Bird? (Science) -- Well.... we read the books that came with the study guide. We love those books, it's just that (again) the workbook is so... tedious and... unedited and... uninspiring. It's hard to explain, but if you have a package, I'm sure you can see it, too. After a while, all the pages look the same. So, instead of plodding through all those MP science pages, we used that package to light our own fire. We studied birds all year, through all the seasons, hands-on, eyes open, using all the resources we could find. There are so many, and it's completely unnecessary to turn Bird Study into the drudgery that it would inevitably be with the Memoria Press guide. Example #5: Prima Latina and Latina Christiana I -- All three girls have completed Prima, and my oldest completed LC I, and we are now either done with Latin (forever) or taking a break for a year. We'll see. I'm still not truly convinced that Latin study (as a language) is the be-all and end-all of education, but I do think that roots are wonderful, grammar is great (in English, hello?), and history is good to know. However, even if we do come back to Latin, I doubt it will be with MP products. I am now severely allergic. All that to say, there has to be something of merit in the package, or you probably wouldn't have been drawn to it in the first place. Spread it all out on a table. What draws you? Don't lose hope. There is still something. What did you picture yourself and your son doing, when you wanted that package? I'm sure you didn't imagine yourselves filling out workbooks for five hours a day, so what did you see? Reading? You can still do that. Talking, having conversations? Still allowed. ;) Carefully copying, writing, narrating? It's all still available to you, but you will probably have to take a hatchet to the actual MP products. At least, that's what we had to do, to make them fit a living, breathing child. Put your son first, before the pile of workbooks, and you will come out all right. HTH.

Tuesday 8/23 Accomplished so far: Prayer (there cannot be enough of this, offered up on my behalf...) Bible lesson History lesson & quiz Spelling (all 3) Vocabulary (all 3) Math (all 3) Composition (all 3) Assigned Independent Reading (all 3) Piano practice (all 3) French (2 out of 3) Still to complete: Regular chores, meals, laundry, pets, exercise, hygiene, and family time; the girls are out in the yard, running & playing soccer, so it will be showers & supper when they come in, then... Book Club Read Aloud: By the Shores of Silver Lake (new book tonight!) :) My husband is "working from home" this week. He really is working, but he's cranky because we do annoying things, like teach and eat and speak and breathe. And, it's annoying to me to have to tip-toe around that nonsense, on this already difficult-enough First Week of Back-to-School. Can you tell I'm irritated? :glare: I generally try hard not to be, but go the library if you want peace and quiet. I'm having a hard enough time, simply shoving your summer-saturated offspring back into the Disciplined Life and the Eight Essential Subjects, so why are you glaring at me? :toetap05:

Monday (Day #1) ;) Prayer Bible lesson History lesson & quiz History memory cards French orientation (our French set up for the year) Vocabulary Spelling Assigned Independent Reading (with written work) We were going to get to Math & Composition, and possibly Science, but got derailed by a phone call that I thought was from my daughter's friend, but turned out to be this friend's mother -- inviting us to the park! LOL. It was such a beautiful day outside, one of the nicest we've had in a long time (humid summer). We said yes, and I'm not sorry we did. There were three sets of identical twin girls at the park today -- one set of 4 year olds, my 9.5 year olds, and a set of 17 year olds with long, brown braids. They all got a kick out of seeing other sets of twins. A cute line-up! :) A big crowd of kids, young and old, all playing together so well. It was great, and my friend (who also homeschools) and I got to talk shop. A good day. Tomorrow, Math for sure. ;)

Cliff Notes?

Well, ladies, it's probably time to get back in the saddle again. Sigh. When I was planning the year's work, I was excited about it. Tonight, with tomorrow morning looming, I am dreading another climb. At any rate, we had Orientation this past week, along with getting our feet wet with a few things. One of the girls capped off her summer by finally getting her two-night sleepover at Grammy's. The other girls, who had already gone to their grandmother's house earlier, worked on crafts, exercising, and organizing. We're caught up on most of the housework, except for laundry, which is never done. All the prep work for the entire school year is done. I don't know why I'm dreading tomorrow.... Someone please tell me that it won't be terrible, that the year will go along smoothly, and that we will all be proud of ourselves when we cross the finish line of 4th, 4th, and 6th in June. June! :svengo:

:iagree: When my nephew was in 7th grade, the total weight of his textbooks was more than his weight, fully-clothed, with shoes. He was expected to bring home ALL of his textbooks every night (for homework), then cart them ALL back the following day (for class work). My sister went ballistic, LOL (she's good at that). In the end, the school loaned them a full set of textbooks to keep at home, and he kept another full set at school in his locker. He was the shortest kid in his class in 7th grade. He is 21 years old now, and 6' 4". ;) I wonder what weighs more than your girl? :scared:

:iagree: We found much of the MP guides to be busywork. With the CLE answer keys, I use a large magnifying glass. Seriously, I have a magnifying glass in my pencil box, just for CLE. Otherwise, it's impossible to see things like fractions and exponents! So tiny! At least this year (4th & up), the instructor guide for Math won't have each student page reduced to one-fourth the full size. :glare: