Hi everyone! A smoother day here. Mostly because the preschooler was busy outside for most of the morning, the TV was fixed (for latin DVD) and the computer didn't give me any trouble. Thank goodness! Just grabbing a quick bite, then I'm headingoutside to hopefully finish the burdock out of the milk cows' pasture. They're impatient to be in there lol. This afternoon we still need to tackly memory work, "morning time" loop and writing for ds, reading for dd. Not sure how I'm going to get both done at the same time? Maybe just more practice with the editing pages so they can attempt them on their own. Waiting for reading horizons (online) to get up an running for dd. It will be so nice to back away a bit from phonics instruction for this girl!

Me neither. Hang on: Molly Abby Woof John White dog Lou Tibby Nova Gus Chance Kate Page Choke Sorry. Only 13. But dh is making noises about breeding Nova now that all but one cow dog is over the age of 4. They are NOT pets. We have kennels outside for when they're not working. They've actually saved dh's life (literally and figuratively) many a time when he's working, so I put up with them with as much grace as I can muster lol.

Jean in Newcastle, your bunny is adorable!! He sounds like a real character too! My kids would love a bunny, but with 14 dogs, it just seems plain unkind!

Afternoon all! I'm feeling a little frazzled, but I would still count the morning as a success. Even though the computer was being stubborn and slow (it's ancient, to be fair!). To buy myself a little breathing space, I went to set the preschooler up with a Scholastic story DVD but then the TV wouldn't turn on!! What the heck?! So put it in the laptop, crossed my fingers she wouldn't touch anything, then went back to the computer. DS had a melt down over math because he's been camping/fishing/hunting for two weeks and it was culture shock for him. It took the other DS 30 minutes or more to do 2 ETC pages! And I know they're easy for him! At least DD's typing program eventually started. Things sorted themselves out. And I didn't lose my cool lol. So I guess it's a win. In the midst of that chaos, I went and resuced an Aero bar out of my office closet and passed pieces around. My kids thought I'd lost my marbles cause I NEVER do that, but it did help us all, I think :) But not much chill time for me today. Off to cut and pile more burdock, then I'll go for a walk into the sheep pen to check on them. If I add a podcast or story to the burdock and soak up the sunshine on the sheep check, I could count that as chill time I guess! After that, we have memory work, afternoon morning time and then I'm going to introduce the older two Evan Moore's daily editing pages and see how that goes. Give them each a red pen and see if they like being the "teacher" lol. But first, finish my tea and hobnobs!

Before you start typing, just make sure you're past any of the quotes and computer mumbo jumbo. I usually put a few spaces between whatevers up there already and what I want to type, just to be safe. And really, I figured it out, no worries :) Be kind to yourself. A new baby is a new baby. Everyone needs time and grace, including you!!

Well, my wayward campers are finally home! Back to reality on Monday. Except we have a planned trip with the homeschool group to the local corn maze lol! So maybe back to reality on Tuesday :)

Hi guys! l just wanted to pop on to say I haven't abandonned ship, we're just taking our planned 2 week break for hunting/fishing/camping. At least 2 out 4 kids have been gone all week - a few days it was all four! We started mid-august just to have this time to breathe easy. I feel like so much learning is going on and i don't have to stress about missed math and reading cause they did it already lol!

Morning ladies. My last student leaves me today to go south to visit an auntie and get her psych ed test tomorrow. So I'm switching over the boys clothes to fall, vacuuming the basement, making cottage cheese and maybe Queso Blanco, and cooking up a boxful of pears for pear sauce. And reading the Odyssey. Haha. How many things do you think I actually get done today?! FYI, I ordered DD9's CLE 500 with the first Teacher's Manual (501-505) That I could fit into her budget for now (She gets a loaded credit card that is refilled each trimester). By the time she gets into the second half of the program, the cards will be reloaded and I'll need to order ds9's next level :) You guys are right. Having the whole student page is wonderful, I never really thought about how the answer key would be formatted. Plus, I do on occasion use the extra practice sheets or alternate quizzes etc. Glad I asked and was made to think about this!

Good for you for calling it in. Gotta do whatya gotta do! Another easy day here with only one kid. Still have some spelling, writing and reading to do, but math and independent stuff is done. Got the forms for her assessment filled out. Reading the odyssey like mad. It's suprisingly engaging. I've procrastinated on this for quite awhile. I thought it would be tough slogging.

Okay, thanks ladies! I'll check these titles out :)

Critter, a question if you don't mind. Well, really, it's for anyone who uses middle grade CLE math. Do you get the Teacher's manuals? I really only use them for quick and easy marking, not for teaching or the extra samples or even really the extra practice pages. . . Well, maybe the extra practice pages. My question is, do you just order the answer sheets, or the whole Teacher's Manual? Whichever one you chose, why did you choose it? TIA :-)

If my ds9 LOOOOOOOVES Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, what else would he enjoy? He's a struggling reader that is an avid Audible books fan and he's just finished this series. He wants lots of action, adventure, wars, etc. I just don't want anything more graphic than this series. . . any suggestions?

Well, three out of four kids are gone again, but the one that is left has a bit of catching up to do. So far so good. She's gotten her independent stuff done, and we've done math, spelling and reading together. She's asked to do a chalk pastel youtube video and I'll probalby do a bit of writing with her later on as well. I need to order her next level of CLE math but I may have run out of money on her card! I'll figure it out,pretty sure she'll need it by Christmas. A bit of tweaking and set up to do before we "start for real" once the other kids are back again.

Morning :) Town day for us. ASL class was cancelled this week so I had extra time to move my milk cows' pasture and wax the round of cheese I made two weeks ago. Gonna head into town as soon as the kids are done lunch. They *were* going to "help" dh butcher a cow but that's been put off till tomorrow now. We're gonna hit the library in town as well as the toy library, then there's a Not-Back-To-School party at the park. DS9 has his first guitar lesson at 410 - he's so excited it's not even funny! We're very, very out of groceries, so we'll hit up the grocery store too, whenever there's time. It's kind of chilly and overcast so I don't worry about the bags of food sitting around today. Have a great day everyone! Critter, just wanted to say that while I still prefer to tackle breakfast on my own (quieter so early and much less mess!) my two oldest have begun preparing snack and lunch on their own this year and it's been awesome! I don't have to try and figure WHAT to have nor do I need to make it while trying to keep someone's lessons on track - or lose some productive morning time, alternatively. It's worth it to train them to cook, that for sure!

Got our morning stuff done. Will start the afternoon in a few. We took yesterday afternoon "off" to attend a Holistic Ranch Management meeting. It's always family friendly, lots of really great people and kids, potluck dinner. Kids had a blast playing like only farm kids know how :P We didn't get home till after ten, but still had a decent go this morning. DD9 has a psyched assessment next week and I'm really stoked to see the results and figure out what to do next with her! Okay. Gonna go get our afternoon stuff done - the first one that has worked out this week!

Man, bit of a rough morning. DD9 is the most needy kid of all. She wants me to sit next to her for every. little. problem. The 7yo works better! Way better. I actually think he'd prefer to be entirely independent lol. DD has been doing long division for a year. She did them all last week, but today couldn't piece it together and wanted me to walk her through it so she wouldn't have to put in so much effort. Despite the fact that I was in the middle of math with her brother. Yes. Please. Let's all drop everything because you don't want to look back to last week and see how you completed an exact same problem. Sigh. She can be so frustrating. Okay. Rant done. It's already 5 to 2 and we're starting back up early today. I feel like I could use more time before faced with children, but a neighbour has started holding yoga classes and I'd like to attend at 330. We usually do an hour outside, an hour of quiet time, and then an hour of school, but I'm switching quiet time to when I leave for yoga so dh can do computer work while I'm gone AND we still get a writing class in. Off to holler at the kids to come in - wish me luck!

We did our Friday today. It's different than the other days. We don't do math !! That was actually an oversight lol, but the kids were so excited I may let it stand, but throw in a math game or Bedtime Math or something somewhere. As a group we do Geography (Visits to South America and Australia. I think it's going to be great!) and a "sessional class". We school six weeks on, one week off - I call them sessions. This six week focus is Growth Mindset, positive attitude and the like. Earlier the kids each brainstormed a list of things they want to learn this year and they have an hour or so to pursue them. Part of that time is with me and part of that time is independent. So: -DD9 made a chocolate cake (she wants to get more practiced at baking and cooking, as well as sewing). -DS9 drew a sportscar off of Youtube and practiced archery (He wants to learn to draw better and join the archery club. I'm going to start doing Drawing With Children with him but have to read it first lol!) -DS7 kind of got the shaft today. Most of his "wants" are asking how things work: batteries, steam engines, remote controls etc. Robotics? We watched a couple of youtube videos on Youtube, but most of his time was taken up with his brainstorm session -DD3 and I will probalby do quick baking projects. Cookies mostly, playdough, rice krispie squares, that kind of thing. We'll be better organized next week! Wrapped up the morning with a 1/2 hour on Science and History each. I have both in a fairly long loop for afternoon "morning time" but just to make sure we progress, I added it to Fridays as well. The morning went really well. I think we're all going to enjoy the change of pace from work, work, work all week :) This afternoon I was trying to decide between a poetry tea time with fancy teacups from the thrift store/hand-me-downs or an art video & documentary. I think now that we have chocolate cake, we'll HAVE to do poetry tea time right?!

Sahamamama, you are wonderful :) Come any time :P We went for a walk yesterday, I took a clip board. Anything the kids noticed or talked about I wrote down. It was a really sunshiny fall day around here so it was a lot of fun. Today we narrowed down the choices to six. DS wants to draw a map of the ranch. I'm leaning toward google maps, but maybe we can find some kind of compromise. Or maybe I should let him do it and see what happens. He'll either surprise me or decide it's too hard and ask for google map? In any case, each kid chose one of the six topics. We'll start researching next week - or when hunting season ends, if that's the way life is going to go! I think everyone is really excited :) And as for margins, I think I just overestimated the amount of time a lesson would take with my second grader. I gave him a half hour for Song School Latin and a half hour for Learning English Through Literature, and in reality, it really doesn't take that long. Glad I didn't overthink that one (SOOOOO unlike me!) because it's paying off!!

Sahamamama, sounds like you've been sticking to the plan - that's the hardest part! Critter, laughed when you said toast is fancy :) My two oldest have been making snack and lunch for the kids every day and it's been fantastic! Got our morning done. I think I've FINALLY planned our day with margins!! It might be a miracle!! I plan for something to take 30 minutes and in reality it takes 20. And then when something else takes 45 instead of 30, we're not doing to bad :) It's wonderful. Usually everything takes 45 when I plan for 20 :P This afternoon, after a read a loud and memory work, we're heading outside for a nature walk. I'd like to do a "trail guide" for our ranch. We pick out a route, then research, write and illustrate a pamphlet to go along with it, then show it off to visitors who come stay for a weekend. We've got an eagle's nest, a tadpole pond, a salmon creek, a major historical river, all kinds of wild berries, a moose swamp, beaver sign, a historical log cabin (falling down, but the history is still there!) etc etc. I think it could be a great project if I just *do it*, we could learn a ton and have a great time. Hopefully we can come back in in time to finish up yesterday's writing lesson.

Didn't get time to check in today at lunch as I was on the phone with the umbrella school getting a few back-to-school details sorted out. DD9 will qualify for Reading Horizons funding :) I'm so tired of teaching that girl phonics lol, I'm hoping this will be a good fit :P Did a full day today! A regular morning (Reading, math, spelling etc) and a regular afternoon which included our Read Aloud (starting easy with Rudyard Kipling "How the Camel got His Hump" and the like), Memory work (binders a la Mystie Winckler). Then our afternoon loop lessons consisted of a 1/2 chapter in history and a freewrite. Then they tackled the first lesson in IEW A, but didn't get the whole thing done. I'm only doing 30 minutes of writing per day. After that, I shut 'er down. We're all sick of school by that point lol Did good! Kids did good! I'm satisfied :-)

Today was town day for us. Pretty lax,since nothing has started up yet for the fall, but soon it will be full with an ASL class, piano lesson for dd, swimming lessons for all and finally a guitar lesson for ds9. Hopefully in there will be time to go to the library, the grocery store and the Toy Lending library! Oh! And if I'm lucky, the candy store and the liquor store lol. Next week is a "Not back to school picnic" :) Back to the grindstone tomorrow. Maybe I'll get the afternoon in as well? Never did get back to school on Monday lol. Unexpected company, cow crisis etc.!

Just got my nearly 10yo dd to complete the Placement Assessment. I was wondering if I should put her in C or D, but according to this, it should probably B - and not even the short version! I think she rushed a bit for the first nonsense word list, but that's not even a real big component of placement (only for a note on supplementing). Wow. I expected higher? She finished REWARDS last year and I was pleased with her progress. Id say she's reading approximately grade 4 level right now but her fluency is quite low. Any thoughts? Are the placement assessments accurate?

Afternoon ladies :) Well, the 3yo ended up staying home this week instead of going to visit grami as planned. So it was full bore ahead today! And it went fairly well. Some summer retention issues of course, it felt a little overwhelming to have to focus our brains for the that long lol. DD9 got home from her dad's yesterday and I suspect the two 9yo's are being sort of silly (they missed each other) because ds9 didn't get all his math done and he's usually done first. He'll finish it during quiet time. DD9 made lunch and was so proud of herself, it was really sweet :) Love having 9yos take care of lunches and snacks! 3yo and 9yo got into a mini-fight while 9yo was reading to her, so I hope that isn't going to be par for the course! I'll talk with 3yo a bit later, sounds like she was being a turkey. Not that dd9 is 100% innocent! This afternoon: Outside time, quiet time, memory work, "morning time" and writing. At some point we'll all drop everything and help dh unload the trailer of firewood but I think we could all use the exercise and the brain break! Have a great afternoon everyone!

Had another good morning. Less issues than yesterday so we got some twinges taken care of I guess. My preschooler leaves to stay with my mom for a week and my dd9 is back from her dad's on the same day, so next week will probably be about the same. Actually, if I'm being honest, my 9yo dd probably about as much work as my 3yo dd! Drama, drama, drama lol. This afternoon will do another CAP Narrative 1 lesson, memory work and a few light things for "morning" time: Mad Libs and a few picture book read alouds I think.

Hi ladies! Here I thought I was the only one starting at this odd time, glad to see a few others starting up :). I know I keep popping up here and there, telling you I'm back, then disappearing. Reality is that even though I LOVE this kind of thread and I love the ladies on here, I just don't seem to be able to find a reliable time to check in. I really don't like to start my day out on the computer, so my early morning tea/book time is out and then the day just gets away on me lol! But over the last year I've realized I absolutely NEED to take better care of myself so I'm hoping that if I set a time midday to check in - after cello practice, before afternoon school starts! - I'll be able to be more regular here. Fingers crossed! So. Today is technically our first day. But dd9 is away at her dad's :P. But the boys really want to start early so they can go hunting in September with their grandparents so I'm hoping this will all work out somehow. The morning went fairly well - as good as first days usually go, but a little better with one less student! Math may be the toughie as so many days off have gotten everyone out of practice! Found a few little kinks to be worked out, but really, pretty minor, all things considered. This afternoon we tackle Memory Work, "morning time" and writing. I'm planning on using IEW A as my main writing lessons, but with dd9 gone I think we'll do a lesson from CAP Narrative 1 instead. Okay. Just made myself a chai tea. Will go chill it in the freezer before adding milk so I can have it iced while we get the rest done. Just send the two youngest to chill in their rooms for ten minutes. They've played so well together for hours, I think they need a break from each other!