Queensland. It's still all so unreal. Very excited!

Our last week, and I can finally announce that we're moving! Yay! http://mrsbrooke.blogspot.com/2014/05/weekly-report-weeks-39-40-and-were.html

I'm back! Week 37 Only three weeks of school left?!?! When did that happen?

Hey friends! How were your weeks? I'm trying out something new this year, and I've decided to concentrate on having FUN during February, instead of being mad about how cold and gray it is. If you're interested in sharing your ideas, I have a link-up at the end of this week's report. Fabulously Fun February, Week #1 (Weekly Report Week #22) Enjoy your weekends!

Hey all you lovelies! :) Happy Friday! We had a good week: Weeks 20 & 21 Looking forward to seeing what you've all be up to! Have a lovely weekend!

Mine's up: Cookies & Cocoa http://mrsbrooke.blogspot.com/2014/01/cookies-cocoa.html

Mine is up: Week 19

I'm playing! Got some cute shots of two of my kiddos playing in the yard: Junebug & Monkeyboy

Week 13: Bonk your head, Pull out some teeth, and make pizza

I don't think you're being too rigid or strict. I've had to move that way in recent years myself. It's hard to get all that work in otherwise. When my grandmother started to notice that everyone was scattering because of school, activities, etc., she instituted Sunday Night Dinner. Every Sunday, all the people who live around her come over for the afternoon/early evening, and it's a potluck dinner where she supplies the main dish. The date and time are set, and everyone is happy with it, and everyone gets to see each other. Maybe that could be an option for your families? Given that it's a two hour drive, perhaps the hosting location could alternate, or you could meet on even-dated Sundays, or just the third Saturday of the month? Things like that. You're competing against a stereotype that we homeschoolers have the most flexible schedules in the world. The grandparents believe this lie, and perhaps feel insulted or a little unloved because, even though you supposedly have all this flexibility, you're not using it on them. I can understand why they're frustrated. They'll feel frustrated until the day they really do realize that you don't have time for that. I don't know what's going to help them understand that, but that is how it is. You're not alone in feeling like a big ol' meanie for standing your ground on this issue. Lots of us are dealing with it, and turning our cheeks time and time again when people refuse to believe that we need to be home to do school. Just because a handful of other homeschoolers do it differently, doesn't mean we all do it that way, or that we even want to do it that way. To each their own, I have found a way that I like, and hurray for everyone.

I'm basically just forcing myself to blog right now, so this week's report is pretty bare: Week 12, Drive-by Blogging. Still, school done. Hurrah.

Mine's up! Dyeing Yarn, Halloween & Gold Leaf Anyone else suffering from a Halloween "hangover" today? ;)

I've done the whole co-op and lots of extracurriculars thing, and it just doesn't fulfill my reasons for homeschooling. I homeschool for the rigorous academics, and I need to be at home, teaching my kids, in order for that rigor to happen. Co-op and Park Day take up too much time--getting kids ready, travelling, being there, travelling home, getting the kids back on schedule (which rarely happens because I'm absolutely exhausted from having to keep track of four kids out of thirty in an unfamiliar environment). I go to a lot of effort to draw up lesson plans that provide plenty of good reading choices, experiences, and activities. When I join up with a group, I find that my lesson plan has to be pushed to the side in order to accommodate the group, and the group has never risen to the level of my lesson plan. I am a freakishly stressed-out woman on co-op or park days because we're trying to get everything done before we go. Why push the kids to finish up quickly to go to something that isn't as good as what they'd be missing at home, and I somewhat dread? To be clear: The women in the co-op/Park Day--I love 'em. They are excellent women who take homeschooling and motherhood seriously and I admire how they run their families. I think I only stuck with the group for so long because I like the women so much. But the group takes away more than it provides, in the long run. It's just getting to the point where I have to choose "better" over "good"--and my lesson plan is better, despite how good our co-op can be. Each one of us homeschools for slightly different reasons, and I've yet to find another homeschooler in my area who is as focused on rigor and depth of academics as I am. I've actually been teased a fair amount for how much I expect of my kids, and some people think I'm flat-out killing off their "love of learning" because I insist on worksheets being completed and sloppy work re-done. I don't need that in my life. And, oh my goodness, I cannot handle another conversation about gluten-free, sugar-free or dairy-free lifestyles. I like McDonald's and I am at peace with the pleasure I get out of eating salty french fries. As far as extra-curriculars, they fall into the same vein of thought--if they're not offering something better than I already have planned, we don't need 'em. I provide athletic opportunities, I teach art, we do crafts. I do farm out the piano lessons because I do not want to teach them. No need to torture myself. My kids have friends, we have church, I have my Knit Group...we have a full life, no need to add more.

We just finished our Week Ten. Good week. I'm good with either forum, but I think just posting on the K-8 board might lead us to miss out on some high school WRs. WRs are a general topic, spanning all the grade levels, which would allow it place on the General Board. Just my thoughts. :)

Finally, a good week: Week #7

Or maybe they're busy teaching their kids?

We're done, too. Long week. Week #4

Your daughter sounds like my eldest daughter, myself at that age, and my now-second grade second-born daughter. I don't know what it is, but second grade just set off a big bunch of negative experiences and stubbornness for all three of us. I'm starting to think it's some sort of phase. My eldest appears to have grown out of it now in her fourth grade year, just in time for the next daughter to start up with the same behavior that drove me batty for these past two years. Math, handwriting, and spelling were sore subjects. I failed math in the second grade. It just suddenly didn't make sense anymore, even though I didn't have problems with it in the first grade. It started making sense again for some reason in the third grade, and I was fine by fourth grade. I went on to the accelerated math track in high school, so don't worry too much just yet. I can't explain why it happens, but it does happen. I cried and cried over math that entire year, but I still had to do it...which is probably why it started making sense the next year. I have no idea how the situation could have been helped. Hugs to you, it's not fun at all.

We're done with our week, too! Civil War Days & Raspberry Picking

I blog at Brooketopia, which is mostly an online journal of our homeschooling adventures. I try really hard to post a weekly report each week, and I sometimes will do Wordless Wednesdays. I really love photography and color, so I try to include a lot of colorful photos, unless I'm in an essay-writing mood. I'm much aligned with TWTM method of education, and we also do a lot of Juliette Girl Scouting and nature walks. I am not a tutorial or workpage kind of gal, but I do sometimes post about my own creative projects (mostly knitting).

Yay! Thank you!

Wow, 30 minutes a day for a 6yo? We only do 15 minutes a day, and it's fine. Mine are 6 & 9. I'll expect them to bump up to 30 mins. at 10yo. The rule in our house is 1 musical instrument and 1 physical activity once you graduate the 1st grade. I am not chauffeuring any more than that. We have school to do, chores to do (that never get fully completed!), grocery shopping, library visits, and I believe firmly that young children need free time to figure out how to entertain themselves. I do not sit with my kids for practice. They need to figure out how to do it themselves. Piano lessons are a perfect situation to learn how to learn without Mom. I set a timer for practice time--15 minutes, and when it goes off, then they can "mess around" if their other chores and schoolwork are done. (I'm nearby to remind them to get back on task if the music doesn't sound "assigned.") I don't know how you're defining "rigor," so I'll just say that I expect my kids to practice what they've been assigned and to complete their theory exercises each day during practice time. If they're working on something else, I remind them to re-focus on the work they're supposed to be working on. Refusal to practice means a threat to discontinue their piano lessons for a month because I'm not paying for something they're not doing. They've always grumbled and picked up their books once we get to that point. (Some days you just don't want to practice!) :) I expect them to do the work they've been assigned; I don't know if that would qualify as "rigorous." Don't run yourself ragged when your kid's only 6. You've got the teenage years for that. (In the spirit of full disclosure, my girls do start Girl Scouts (Juliettes--not in a troop) in K. So they have those activities for K-1, and then alongside the physical activity and piano lessons starting in Grade 2.)

I've had proficient readers who didn't want to read. It took finding the perfect series of books to hook them--but then they'll pick nothing up if they're not interested, after finishing the series. I worried for a while, but then decided it wasn't worth worrying about--but I did instate a policy of "reward books" for 100% on spelling tests, where they can cruise Amazon and pick out something that seems interesting. There's been a lot more recreational reading (and 100% spelling tests!) ever since. If she likes the social aspect, why not have her read to the five year old?

I remember reading this sort of thread here a few years ago and someone posted the idea of pulling up to a PS, opening the side door of the minivan, and throwing water balloons at everyone before squealing out of the parking lot. I always think of that when I'm trying to come up with Back to School ideas; the mental image is just so entertaining.

First week of the new school year!