Curriculum fairs

On Saturday, I went to Homeschooling Works. It is a yearly thing for me. It is the local curriculum fair of us Michiganders. Since Hubs and I have have been buckling down in the budget, I needed to be smart in my purchases this year. Which meant I couldn't go and buy everything I saw that I think I might use sometime. :) I was going to buy what I needed first, and if there was any extra money, then I could buy stuff I wanted.

Well I go there early so I could go to the used book sale first. Since the only thing that I needed was Math U See Gamma, I was free to look at things I kinda needed, but it wouldn't kill me if I didn't get. Cuz if you order the math and they don't have it there, they'll ship it for free. So I could shop for other things knowing I can still get the math. So I made a B-line to the readers. Sassy wanted easy readers and The Boxcar children. Little Man NEVER wants books. So, there were no requests from him. :) He was gonna suffer with whatever I get him.


Well, I hit the jackpot in the used book sale. I bought 20 Boxcar Children, a book about Amelia Earhart, Ben Franklin and a couple of readers. I didn't get sucked into buying things I would never use. I know our local library has all of them, but I want them to be able to grab them and read them whenever they want. It's good to have a home library.

I also got Handwriting without tears Cursive for both of them. And a bunch of other informational books that they can either read or just look at the pictures. The knights/castle one is for Little Man. I also bought a multiplication wrap up for Little Man to use with his math this year. Gamma is all about multiplication, so I thought this would work perfectly.

At first, like every other time Little Man gets something new, he didn't like anything I bought, and told me I wasted my money. But I remained calm and today he told me that did think some of the things were cool. Now I'm not expecting my kids to get as excited as I do when I buy lots of books, but a simple thanks would be nice. Sassy was thrilled with her dot to dot coloring book and all the other books I got.

I love going to this book fair, not just because I get lots of wonderful books, but because I get to see lots of wonderful friends. Some of these people I see on FB, but not in person, and some of them I only see here. So it's kinda like a mini homeschool reunion. :) And the best part of this one, was that I actually had money left over!! That NEVER happens. (insert sheepish grin)

Our curriculum budget, this year, is $500. Since My Father's World is NEVER at Homeschooling Works, I didn't need the entire amount. So I had $200 to spend here, since MFW is about $300 for both kids. Like I said before, I was focused on what I needed. Since I have about $50 bucks left, I can buy a little LA workbook for Little man and a new science or board game for them both. Or I may have to order the addition and subtraction wrap ups instead of the games. After the reaction I got from the multiplication, I think that's what I need to do. :)YAY, more shopping!!!

I can't wait til next year.

weekly highlights

This week was full of well, school. I actually did school. I am so proud. And I was complaining to my friend Terri that at the rate I'm going, we won't be done til the end of June. That is too much pressure. I want to take July off, then start up in August with Creation to Greeks. But I was a poor planner this year, between the many sicknesses and deciding to take December off at the last minute, I don't wanna be stressed at the end. So, my wonderful friend told me that she combined two weeks into one. WHAT?!?! Why didn't I think of that??? Well, guess what we did this week? Saudi Arabia all in one week.

We even did science too. They were very interested in the endangered species and pollution sections. Since we are really jumping into recycling, they are very curious about the enviroment. I must say that this is the most interesting parts of the whole science program.

The weather was perfect this week, so we spent a lot of time outside. By we, I mean the kids. I'm an indoor girl. :) Although I was plotting out my new garden site. I can't wait!! I know the kids are gonna love doing the garden again. I'm just trying to figure out what kinds of fruits and veggies to plant. Hmmm....

I was even approached my a new neighbor who was wondering if we homeschool. I guess the kids screaming down the sidewalk on scooters in the middle of the day was a dead giveaway. :) The funny thing is, that when the neighbor yelled from across the street, I knew what she was gonna ask. I almost stopped her by saying "Yes we homeschool , and my hubby works for the fire department." But, I think that would've came out strong. So I let her ask the questions. And sure enough, that's what she wanted to know. Gosh, I am so smart.

The only day I didn't do school was Wednesday. Usually I like to atleast do math, but it was busy day, electronically, for me. Which means, I was busy texting, emailing, Facebooking, and talking on the phone all morning. I NEVER do that, but sometimes it happens. I'm usually quick in conversation, but the kids weren't being bad, so I figured I'd keep talking. Next thing I knew, it was lunchtime, then MAFA. Such is life.

I'm attending a local curriculum fair on Saturday. I am so excited!!! They even have a used book sale there also. I have my list all typed out and ready to go. Little man needs Gamma and, if I can find some new to me books, that would be great. I'm shooting for Magic tree house and Boxcar children. Sassy doesn't need anything, but she wants me to find some easy readers for her. I think I may pick up Handwriting without Tears cursive for both kids. Sassy's been asking for cursive all year, but I knew Little man wasn't ready for it. But, since he'll be in 5th next year and she'll be in 3rd, that makes them about even in the maturity level. :) I didn't wanna teach it twice. So next year, should be an interesting one. Who am I kidding, I'll probably start using it now. The only downside of the fair, is that MFW is never there. So I still have to buy it later. But that actually works out better for. Cuz, if I get it now, I wanna use it now. So, it's a blessing in disguise.

The weather man is reporting MUCH colder temps for next week, so hopefully I can keep moving along, even though "we" won't be able to play outside. I want this year to be over!!! It's been fun, but it's time.

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?

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. :)