Christmas

I pray all of you had a nice and snuggly Christmas.

New plan

I can not wait til next year. I am so looking forward to doing school with the idea of taking December off. I can't tell you how much we've enjoyed staying home, watching Christmas movies, playing games and just playing with each other. This has been the less stressful Christmas season we've ever had. Although I've not let out of the house, at the risk of them getting sick. Go to my other blog for that whole story, and you'll get a glimpse into my craziness.

I even printed out a lapbook for the kids to do this week, but never did it. Maybe next week. I think they'll be beside themselves, so I'll need some kind of distraction. :)

Less stress

After experiencing many sicknesses in our house over the past two months, I've decided to take off December. I know that sounds crazy, right? But I have been so stressed and I need this break. I've never done this. The kids are just doing math and reading. I've decided that we will do fun things instead. Yesterday we made a gingerbread village. We had fun even though it turned out awful. :) See my other blog for photos. The day before that I baked cookies while they played. They've been making crafts all by themselves. Even my anti-fun boy is doing them!! Yesterday they were punished for complaining by not being allowed to watch TV at all. They were forced to find things to do. They usually play all day anyways, but this time time there was no break. They were forced to get creative. They were up super early, so it made for a very looooong day, but we survived.

I love how not doing formal school is really making this month less stressful. I am feeling great. Now all I have to do is stay away from people, so we don't get sick again, and all will be great. :)

I think we'll take next December off as well. I like the break. As I sit here, I can hear my kids laughing and playing in the clean basement. (No TV makes for a lot of cleaning time) You can even see the floor now!!

Well, that didn't last long. They just asked for "Prep and Landing". We recorded it two days ago. So it begins.

weekly highlights

I am so sick of winter already, and it barely started. This week Sassy decided to get sick again. Bronchitis, infected tonsils and right ear. And it make it even better, she had to sleep on one couch for two nights, while I slept on the other. By sleep, I mean she coughed til about 2, then woke at 6ish. We never got any sleep. So needless to say, we aren't doing any school. Little man is doing math only. I think I'm gonna take the month off. I don't wanna start Europe for two weeks then a two week break. Pointless. So we are gonna do math and reading and crafts and baking. Fun stuff. I hate this.

Whoa, Baby!!

It's been a whirlwind of a week. Well, actually two weeks, to be exact. My hubby had brochitis, then I started feeling a bit "oinkish", and Sassy started feeling icky also. Luckily Bubba was perfect, so we sent him to my parents. My niece was there also, while her brother was "oinkish". We were a bunch of fun people. Then I had the worst sore throat, so I went to the docs to find out that I had enlarged and red tonsils which made way for a loss of my voice. How could I teach while whispering? So, needless to say, there was no teaching last week, and since this week is short, why bother. I have been playing math card games and making them read this week. That's it. Why bother start new lessons with a 3-day week? Pointless. So, I'm hoping to be in the swing of things next week. We are starting Europe next week.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

weekly highlights

What a fun week we had. I have been able to keep up with everything that's written in the lesson plans. Shocking, I know!!

I pulled out the Reading Rods-sight words edition for Sassy. She got a kick out of doing a few of the cards. I totally forgot I even bought them. She didn't even complain when I gave her a little quiz. I find that if I give them workbook pages instead of my own, they don't complain. So, thank God, that in the reading rod workbook it has a page with two columns of 15 blank lines for spelling practice. So I gave her 15 words to write and then I gave her the flashcards with the correct spelling to check her own work. She loved it. That girl of mine sure does keep me on my toes. :)

I have had to work with Little man with his McGuffey readers, just to make sure he really does it. This week we are gonna start with some dictionary skills. Some of these words I don't even understand. But he needs to improve on his ABC order.

They had a fun day at MAFA on Wednesday. I was even able to shop for a winter coat while they were there. Usually I stick around and chat with my girls, but everyone was going in different directions.

I love the fact that they are getting art and drama every week. They get to choose their classes after Christmas and Little man told me that he wants to do drama. They are doing "Wizard of Oz" for the year end production. I hope he gets a part and does it well. He's nervous about performing in front of people. Sassy wants to take cooking and art. She loves art.

We had a short week again. It was my birthday on Friday, and I didn't want to teach. I swear, one of these weeks we'll do school all five days. :) But that's ok, we kinda like having a chill out day.

Thank you!!!

WOW!! I am so amazed at how many responses I received after my last post. This is why I love homeschooling. Their are so many women willing and able to help you and give you advice and encouragement whenever you need it. You guys ROCK!! I just hope I can repay you with some of my wisdom....who's laughing over there?!?! Hope ya'll have a great week.

Howdy!

I am so behind on posting. Little man was sick last week with pink eye and an ear infection. So we sent Sassy away to both her grandparents houses for three nights. So we really didn't do school. Then this week, we're still in Brazil and trying to do the geography game every day, even if we don't do anything else. They really enjoy that game.

Sassy is three weeks away from her new math. I told her that when she finishes Alpha she won't start Beta til after Christmas. So she'll just do online drills and the occasional workbook page. She was very excited for that. Little man is struggling with the multiple digit addition problems still. His answers almost always have alteast one number wrong. I feel so bad for him when that happens. He takes it personally and thinks he's stupid. I keep trying to tell him that Sassy's math is easier, and that's why she is done so fast, so he doesn't need to be speedy and mess up. But he doesn't like that his takes forever. But he needs to learn that he can't have an attitude about it. That's why he lost his bionicles for the day today. Daddy was home and didn't like the tone in his voice or the attitude towards me. The principal is in the house. :)

All in all we are liking ECC. It is very light, so on days we are busy or sick, we can just do math and our readers and then stack it to another day.

I hope everyone else's week is going better than mine. :)

So much for being caught up

I was doing so well this week. Or so I thought. We are going to Splash Village for Hubs birthday on Saturday. Yep, that's right, my hubby is a weenie baby. So he really doesn't get to spend the day celebrating. It's spent getting costumes ready and making sure everyone is well rested for a night of candy eating and game playing. Poor guy. :) And we had a sleepover planned for Little man. He was gonna go over his best buddy's house tonight. So I've been trying to slam 5 days worth of school into three. But last night Little man decides that he was gonna change it up a bit and get sick. Yep, he threw up around 3:30 am. So there goes the sleepover, MAFA and school for today. So now I get to slam 8 days into five next week. Yay me!!

I think the poor boy worked himself into it. This was gonna be his first sleepover at a friends house. We have anxiety issues over here. He gets them from me, and I get them from one of my parents. :) You should see us on vacations. We are a fun family. :)

She can be taught!!

I am having the best time teaching Sassy this week. I know I said this last week, but I am just so excited. :) I have been using Phonics made plain with her since last year. But I really wasn't doing it often. She was also doing the reading/language books that go along with McGuffey readers. But this year I decided, after much agony and confusion, that I was gonna take a step back and get back to the basics with her. I stopped using the reading books and I bought a $10 phonics book. She is still doing a lesson in her McGuffey reader every day and I have her do a page or two in her phonics book. I've been doing the letter flash cards so she learns ALL the sounds, and now we're into a few blends. I'm gonna slowly throw in a few more blends every week, just to keep her trying. She has also, just this week, completed all the pre primer and primer sight words. She recognizes all but 6ish. She is so proud and I am super excited. While I watch Transformers2 tonight with Hubs, I am gonna make flash cards with the next batch of words on them. I can hardly contain my excitement over this. I never thought this would happen.

What's even better, is that she reminds me about her letters and words. I get so caught up in the everyday teaching and preparing, I sometimes forget. But, thank God, she never does.

Also, the website that I use for everything, but My Father's World, is Homeschooling books. It's about an hour away from my house, and we used to drive there every year and look around and let them look at all the homeschooling stuff. But they moved to a warehouse, so now we can't look around, only pick up our orders or have them shipped. They are about the same price, if not cheaper, as some other homeschooling catalogs. We like to support our Michigan businesses as much as possible. That makes us very happy. And, as you know, Michigan is going downhill very fast. So if you need anything, check them out first. I just thought I'd add my two cents in. :)

weekly highlights

This week has actually been great. I know, I'm shocked too. :) Sassy, I think, is finally starting to "get it." I hear angels singing when she is doing school. No complaints at all this week. If you read my last post, you can see how she's doing. They love My Father's World. This week we are in Canada. I was gonna do the soap carving yesterday, but we had "a day" yesterday and I wasn't in the mood. I'm hoping for next week.

Dick and Jane are the best. Sassy has a bunch from the library this week. She can read them almost all by herself. She is so proud. She is even gonna bring one of them over to my parents house today. They love to hear my kids read. They encourage my kids so much. Hubs told me to order some online for her, instead of waiting for the library to get them in. But it's so hard for me to spend $$ on something I hope she won't be reading by the end of the year. But I'm sure I'll get some, or have the family get some for Christmas or her birthday in February.

Little man is now starting to get the whole rounding thing. That is quite hard to master. He's still working on problems like:
30,000+2,000+500+80+6=
But I'm hoping he'll get it by next week. He's at lesson 17 in Math u see. She's in Alpha, and still trying to figure out the basics. But she's almost done. She'll be on lesson 26 next week. I need to remember the online drills for them. They love using the computer for school. I just don't think they should be using it all the time. I'm a bit old fashioned.

How did your week go?

I love homeschooling

Ever have one of those days where you actually think "this crazy homeschooling thing is pretty good"? Well, today was that day. Little man woke up early, had breakfast and then asked if he could start school. My brain may not be on at 7:30 in the morning, but ears are. Did you just ask to start school? Yep, I heard correctly. So, before Sassy was even awake, he's doing his spelling. Sassy would NEVER do that. When she finally got up(8:15) she had b-fast then played for a bit. I asked her if she wanted to start, but, the reaction was interpreted as a big ol' "NO". When little man went for a haircut with Daddy, she wanted to start then.

I was so surprised at how much she is remembering. She struggles with reading, but she's getting better. I was so happy to have her fly through the sight word flash cards and the letter sounds flash cards. She is starting to remember that some letters have three sounds. YAY!!!! Yesterday, she even wanted to write on the white board. She was coming up with simple sentences all on her own, and the spelling was correct also. :) "I sit on a chair. Mom sat on a chair. Dad sat on a chair." She learned how to spell chair from the label on the chair next to her. I labeled lots of things around the house. Chair, door, table, freezer, cabinet, drawer, bathroom, etc. Chair is the only one she remembers. But I'll take it. :)

When I was teaching them together today, there was NO arguing, whining or complaining. I was shocked and happy. I was, again, looking for the hidden camera or a man behind a door with $$ for them if they were good. Now, when I'm done with lunch, I'm taking a nap.

How's your day going?

Sadness

This was taken from the email sent to me by the HSLDA.


A longtime champion of homeschooling rights around the globe, Home School Legal Defense Association Senior Counsel and Director of State and International Relations Christopher J. Klicka was called home by his Lord on October 12, 2009, at age 48, following a 15-year battle with multiple sclerosis. An attorney, spokesman, lobbyist, and homeschooling husband and father, Chris is survived by his wife, Tracy, their seven children (ages 11–21), and his parents, Ardath and George Klicka.

“Chris was both a people person and a goal person. He cared deeply about people, but was also driven to always do more!” says HSLDA President J. Michael Smith. “He was the most determined person I ever met in my life. Even with all the things he accomplished every day at HSLDA, he continually wanted to tackle new challenges and serve homeschoolers in more and better ways. He was so focused on the homeschooling world, but he was also very much focused on his family and dedicated to raising his children.”

An integral part of Home School Legal Defense Association’s staff for 24 years, Chris was HSLDA’s first full-time employee, first executive director, and first full-time attorney. He believed passionately that homeschooling was the best educational method for children and demonstrated that passion in every area of his life.

Chris and Tracy homeschooled all seven of their children. He traveled across the United States (and around the world) defending families’ right to homeschool and advocating homeschooling. He participated in countless radio interviews on homeschooling issues. He wrote five books on homeschooling, penned numerous articles, and had two more books in progress when he passed away. He lobbied state legislators, U.S. senators, and foreign diplomats to support homeschooling. He sought greater freedom for homeschooling parents and students in every area—from local school districts to sports associations, college admissions departments, and military recruitment requirements. He sought to educate the educators, truant officers, policemen, judges, and even social workers about the benefits and legality of homeschooling.

Even deeper than his passion for homeschooling was his deep love for his Lord. We may never know how many people Chris inspired to homeschool or continue homeschooling, or how many people he inspired to draw near to his Lord.

“Chris’s accomplishments as a lawyer for homeschooling are clear and of value that cannot be overstated. He was one of the most important pioneers of our movement,” says HSLDA Chairman Mike Farris. “He believed that this truly is God’s way to teach children to love God. He believed it deeply. His conviction was infectious. He was a man of single-hearted devotion that I have never, ever seen equaled. The passion that Chris felt for the mission to which God called him never, ever, ever, ever dimmed, even slightly.”

HSLDA deeply appreciates and honors Chris’s life and his dedicated contribution to our organization and to homeschooling. Our staff will miss him more than we can express, and we are praying with and for his family. The homeschooling movement has lost one of its greatest advocates and friends, but Chris leaves an incredible legacy of freedom and awareness of homeschooling to the thousands of homeschooled students whose parents have made The Right Choice.

”I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.“ II Timothy 4:7-8

”Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.“ Revelation 2:10

Weekly homeschool highlights 10-9-09

Well, I really don't have must to highlight this week. Since we took three weeks to cover Mexico, this week was a bit light. They read and did math everyday with a splash of Mexico thrown in. They really got a kick out of learning spanish words and sayings. I was excited cuz I knew how to say all of them. After three years of spanish in HS, a little stuck with me. But all the rest, I'm gonna look stupid. :)

They did go to MAFA again on Wednesday. They were learning about WWI and WWII, so they made trenches out of homemade play dough. They were so excited. This is such a blessing to me. One of the people that run it asked me if I'd like to be a teacher's assistant, then one of my kids would be free. Hmm....It sounds tempting, right? But this is MY time. Three hours of no kids...guarenteed. I thought about it, but I just couldn't do it. I NEED my alone time. I was able to download all my Christmas songs into my computer so I could put them in my iPod later. That took an hour to do. I could never have done that at home.

Today it has been raining non stop up here. I feel like I need a boat to go anywhere. So they've been playing all day and watching movies while I bake. I did mix them some imprompto play dough out of flour and water. They loved it! They sat there and played for an hour playing. I was shocked, but happy.

How did your week go?

Weekly homeschool highlights

I'm gonna try to write the highlights every week, just so I remember.

Let me see.....what did we do? Well, we did make our tissue paper flowers for our fiesta that we were supposed to do today. But we have had a couple of choppy weeks, so the fiesta will wait til next week. It didn't help that I didn't get my library books for Mexico til the end of the week. But, that's ok. In the winter, when we are stuck inside all the time, I'll have plenty of time to keep up and do everything at the right time.



We also tried out MAFA. (Masters Academy of Fine Arts) It meets Wednesdays from 1-4 all year long. The bonus is that I don't have to teach!!!I get an actual break every week. It teaches them art, drama, music and history all within the same century. This year they are studying the modern century. So they are gonna learn about the last 100 years. Both of my kids loved it. I was surprised that little man loved it. He is my anti-fun, anti-everything guy. But he was excited afterwards. So we are gonna sign up next week. The other moms and I will go out to McDonald's and let the little kids play while we talk. I won't have any kids to watch. Three hours of silence from my children. Music to my ears. :)

Today we went to the fire department for a field trip. My hubby did our tour. My kids love to go and look at the trucks. They probably could've done the tour themselves, they've been there a million times. :) But it was fun still. And we'll be there on Sunday for the open house.

What were your highlights?

Hard times

I am totally dragging these past two weeks. We're studying Mexico, but not. They know where it is, but nothing about it. I'm gonna have to stay an extra week. We haven't done any of the crafts yet. We keep doing other fun things. But I'm hoping to get back to it. I'm gonna go out today and get the craft supplies, and we are gonna do them. :) I'm guessing week 6 will just take us two weeks to finish. That's the beauty of homeschooling, when life happens, we stop and pick up where we left off. I love homeschooling.

Friends

Some days I wish I could move to the country, where my house is the only house on the street. Why, you ask? Well, I hate that my kids don't have any neighborhood kids to play with. I mean the kids around my house are the same age as mine, and they all play together. They are nice, but mine don't get invited over. So mine just watch them from the other side of the fence. I feel bad. I think they look at mine like they are weird or something. Well, they are a bit odd, aren't all homeschoolers? :) I just wish that they wouldn't even have to deal with that. If we were all alone, they wouldn't have a care in the world. I think I'm just gonna have to have friends over after dinner time. We usually do our play dates after lunch, til about dinner time. So the other kids never see my kids with friends. It doesn't seem to bother mine. It just bothers me.

Does anyone else feel this way?

Blog roll

For those looking for other My Father's World blogs. Click on the button, and it will take you there.





I've been super busy this past week with my brother's wedding and my kitchen. But this week we will be visiting Mexico. I am super excited. We are having friends over this week to help us make a pinata, and then next week they're gonna come back for a fiesta. Now if only I could stop blogging and listening to K-Love, and start teaching. Happy Monday!

Get schooled

I found this on someone's blog and I thought I'd share it with you. I'm thinking of getting some to compete with "O" Get Schooled campaign. What do ya think? Get Homeschooled everyone.

My Father's World

This year we are using My Father's World ECC. We are loving it so far. Sass even said, last week, that she loves school this year. She likes doing more stuff, not just writing in workbooks and reading. She may not understand all that we are doing, but she likes it. Little man doesn't complain at all. I think this year may actually be fun. :) They love using the maps.

We're still trudging along with Math-U-See. Slowly but surely we will finish. Little man is about half way done with Beta and Sassy has about 7 more weeks left of Alpha. I was hoping to have her done with it my the end of this month, and him done at Christmas, but they are having a hard time comprehending basic math facts. So we are taking the next two weeks and do flash cards for review. I don't know why I worry about it. It's not like they're going to "real" school anytime soon.

Sassy is still working on her reading. But, my motto is "She'll get it when she gets it." I'm not gonna worry about it. She's in 2nd grade and I think it'll click my the end of this year. She lacks the confidence, really. She doesn't even wanna try most days. We're using McGuffey readers for both of them. So she reads one story every day. It's just the right length, so she doesn't freak.

We're just using a simple workbook for his spelling. A page a day....Perfect. I need to get one for her. She hasn't done spelling yet. I think a workbook would be perfect for her. I think it would help her be comfortable while learning new words. I think I'll get one this week. She does better knowing that if it's in a book/lesson, then she has to do it without complaint. I like that. :)

I'm actually doing science this year. I hate science, but they love it. So, I'll be teaching it. :)

First day, kinda

We've been doing school for about a month now. But it's been so sporadic, due to the kitchen, or lack thereof. But, today is the local schools first day. So I figured we best do something today.

We were gonna work on Latitude and Longitude. I've waited long enough though. I had to poke holes in our new kitchen walls. :) Hubs was fake crying while I push the little push pins in the wall. It had to be done. I can't teach geography with out our big maps. I only put up the world, not the U.S. That will be after the counters.



They did pretty good. Sassy will be embarrassed to see her jammies in the picture, but we don't get dressed for school. I'm still in my jammies as I type this. Comfort is key. School at the table, desk, floor or where ever you want. No stress.

New blog

I am gonna attempt to have a school blog. I am gonna use this to show others that I'm actually teaching my kids and not just letting them play all day long. I'm gonna take lots of pictures from our day to day activities. And, I'm hoping to, one day, print this out and have a memory book of my homeschooling days. Since I have no time to scrapbook, this is the best way to do it. :)

This is my third year of teaching my kids. I can't imagine them in school all day long. I went to school to be a teacher, but I stopped when I got married. But I always worked with kids. I taught pre-school, I always babysat then I was a part time nanny up until a month before my son was born. Then I stayed home and raised him, and then his sister. When we moved into this house we were so happy to be three blocks away from the local elementary school. We walked to take little man to kindergarten. But kids were not the way we remembered kids to be. So we put him in private school for first grade. And we hated it!!! We loved the school, but hated the fact that he was gone all day. I loved being around my kids. Half day was fine for pre-school and kindergarten, but all day was no fun. So I talked to a friend and she brought up homeschooling. In the back of my mind I already thought about doing it, but I never knew how. Well, I figured it out and jumped right in full force. So Sassy has only been to pre-school. I've taught her kindergarten through now 2nd grade. Little man 2nd through now 4th. It has been hard some days. But mostly we enjoy learning together. I also love to see them get along as siblings. They are each others best friends. Even though they would never admit it. They are together all the time.

Hubs is a firefighter, so homeschooling fits us perfectly. We can take a day off in the middle of the week to spend the day together as a family, or go on vacations on off peak season, when everyone else is in school. I am so blessed to have a hubby who supports me and helps if I need it. Some days we'd like to pay the yellow bus to stop and pick up our kids and take them to school for the day. But, mostly we love being a close family.