Thanks!

Thank you, everyone, for all your kind words. I feel 100% better. We even did school this week. We are loving the Olympic lapbook. We are doing do parts everyday. It says if you do one part, it will take a month. So, I'm hoping to be done around the start of the Olympics.

We only did two days of France this week. We're going to Splash Village tomorrow, so we're done with school for the week. Today is MAFA. So, it's a light day. So, we only did lapbooks and math. Sassy did have to write, but not by choice. 25 sentences of "I will obey my mom" She whined and crabbed and talked sassy and she earned sentences. Lucky girl. :) She earned her name today, too. :)

I remember learning the countries of Europe when I was in Jr high, I think. Well, I forgot almost all of them. We're really trying to do the geography game, but we are doing terrible at it. :) We have forgotten almost every country. So we decided that we are gonna work on one at a time, not all three at the same time. Way too confusing. But they know more at their ages than I did, so it's all good. An understanding, not perfection, right?

Hope your week is going well.

Olympic lapbook

This isn't much of a weekly recap. But here it goes.

With the Olympics starting very soon, some of my friends were looking for lapbook ideas. One of my friends in my homeschool group sent this to us. I bought it. It looks so cool. Here's the site.I can't wait to start next week. It says it can take up to a month to do all of it. But, I plan on doing it in less. I also have Mario and Sonic at the winter Olympic games, that we're gonna do with school also. The kids are gonna be surprised when they get to do the Wii during school. I am gonna earn brownie points with them. :)

I've been sick all week AGAIN! I feel like bricks are sitting on my cheeks. So, needless to say, we didn't do school this week. They did do some math. So now Sassy is done with Alpha and is taking next week to do only online drills. She is super excited. Little man has 5 more weeks to go, then he can take a week off before he starts Gamma. It's only fair.

OK, I'm off to steam my face again. Have a good weekend.

weekly review- Norway

I don't know about you, but last week went by much better than this week. :) Little man had trouble with his asthma, which then turned into a cold of sorts. So we did no school Monday or Tuesday. Wednesday we were able to get some things done. We learned about hibernation and migration. I was so thankful it was simple. I haven't been in the mood for anything lately. I think it's the weather, and the fact that my kids haven't had a playdate in over three months(sickness). And if the kids don't see their friends, I don't see my friends. :)

Anyways, yesterday we did our Lapland felt squares. Well, actually they ended up making maps and things. But it was art, so no one cared. It's been forever since art was done at home. They do it every week(when they're not sick) at MAFA, so I don't really worry about it. Again, another thing I'm trying to work on. Making school more fun.

Little man is doing so well with his math. I am so excited that double digit subtraction with carrying is not hard. Clocks seem to be giving him more trouble. But, he got a watch for Christmas, and I think it helps him to look at it and then look at the digital clocks to check himself. Kinda neat to see. Sassy is on her last week of Alpha. Then she is gonna do online drills til February. She needs a break.

Today, we only got as far as math. I'll have them read to me later. I was busy making biscuits and bread and cleaning the house a bit before our guests come over today. PLAYDATE!!!

I'm looking forward to going to France next week. I'm hoping to find some yummy food to make. Any suggestions?

Hope you're having a great week.

We're baaaack!!!

Well, actually, we never left. It just feels like it. :) After taking all of December off we are finally getting back to it. Monday was super hard. The furnace guy came while we were schooling. And let me tell you, it's VERY hard to yell and not let everyone else hear. My kids were awful. Little man didn't remember how to make 63 using his manipulative's and Sassy wouldn't try to read to save her life. They both lost Legos for the day and Sassy lost her Barbies as well. And mom lost her mind. When you take toys away form your child you have to be prepared to be the child's toy. Normally they'd be fine, but since Legos is all my son plays with, I was in trouble. :) I made it.

And now, two days later, he remembers his math and he knows how to subtract double digits with regrouping and carrying. I though it was gonna take longer, but he got it. And that is a miracle in itself. Here I thought it was gonna take him weeks to get it. Two days....No problem.

I did have a talk with Sassy though. I told her she NEEDS to start reading more. And if she isn't where she needs to be by the end of the school year, I'm gonna have someone else teach her. She was not too happy about that. I'm trying to push her a bit, that's all. I refuse to read her EVERYTHING next year. She'll be in third grade, and I think that's long enough time to learn to read.

I have decided to keep going with My Father's World next year. Creation to Greeks. I am so excited for this. All the Bible stories in the beginning is gonna be great. I've also decided to do Handwriting without tears cursive for both. I'm gonna start practicing the printing with them now and throughout the summer. But, then cursive. I tried Bob Jones cursive, but we stopped. I can barely read Little Man's printing, so we need that first. :)

I am so thankful that I have a friend who gave me math u see Beta and Gamma teacher books and DVDs. Now all I had to do is buy the student books. Little man will start Gamma around March, Sassy will do Beta in February. She has one more week left, but I want her to do some online drills first, just to practice.

I am always rejuvenated after the holidays to get back into school. We have a curriculum fair in March that gets us all excited again. This is why I am discussing next year. I need to get my list together, and compare vendors. This fair has a used book sale, so I REALLY need a list, or I end up with all kinds of stuff I don't need yet. And this year we're trying to pay off debt, so I can't go wild. But luckily, I can teach them all year for under $350. That's including math and LA. That will make Hubs very happy. Heck, that will make ME very happy. :)

I'm wondering, am I the only person who starts making her list when this year's not even half way done?

Back into the groove

I don't know about you, but I'm soo ready to get back into the groove of school again. We've had the best, less stressful December ever. That is a goal of every year, be done by the first week of December. We had a great Christmas and we are looking forward to a wonderful year. Go to my other blog for my thoughts on this coming year.

My school goals are very simple. Sassy will learn how to read securely by the end of 2010. We will be "caught up" to the other kids out there. By caught up, I mean Little man will be doing math that everyone else is doing. We do math-u-see and he isn't very motivated, so we're farther back than I'd like. But I am determined to rearrange my teaching habits to more of a sit down with him and make sure he understands before I send him to do it by himself. I've just sent him to do it, then when he gets it all wrong he has to do it again with me. I'm hoping if I take the time to work with him, he will understand and be less stressed about it.

I've always loved the fact that we're done by lunch time, but I think they aren't "getting it" in that time period. So we're gonna take our time and have fun, and if it takes til after lunch, that's fine by me.We're gonna be doing Europe, so that will take a while. And, I am NOT gonna stress about them learning where the countries are. As long as they have a general idea to where they are, I'm good. Less stress.

As for Sassy, I need to her to read. She can't go into third grade without secure reading. I refuse to read everything to her next year. So she's gonna have to do it and try a little. She's stubborn and won't even try to sound out a word, she just moves on and forgets about it. Arg!! I need her to read. She is embarrassed when other kids find out, but that's not enough to motivate. Maybe bribery will work. Money always works, right?

Well, here's to 2010. May it bring everyone health and wealth, with a bit of smarts rolled in. :)