The boys are taking it easy today and the two little ones are playing nicely so I am getting our school calendar planned out. I can really only do now through the end of 2013 since we won't know until January what the husband's vacation will be. As of now, our OFFICIAL school year will start July 29th and end May 30th. That includes 3 weeks off in September, 2 weeks off at Thanksgiving, 3 weeks off for Christmas, and an undecided week off for spring break. I've also looked up all the one day student holidays our local school district has and written them off our calendar as well so if the opportunity arises, they can spend some time with their friends. If not, we'll work those days, too. I anticipate that we'll do some school time in June and earlier in July, too, when the boys get bored or complain about it being too hot. I would like for us to be year round but I really want to be flexible during the summer months. Any weeks we do before the official start day will get taken off later in the school year whenever James gets time off. We just need to be flexible for his vacation time and still get a minimum of 36 weeks of school time in.
I am really enjoying the Debra Bell Ultimate Homeschool Planner! It is really making it easy to see the year at once and get everything planned out.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
3rd/6th Grade Plans
We are wrapping this school year up next week! Our first year of homeschool down! Woo-hoo! I've already got most of their 3rd and 6th grade curricula ordered and some of it has already arrived. We are making one big change so far. This year, the boys shared one core from Sonlight (Core D: American History, Part 1). This was mostly done out of fear... I feared I would not be able to do two completely different lesson plans while managing a preschooler and a 1 year old. Also, it saved us money. The change? We are splitting them up. I don't regret putting them together but I do feel like Nelson would benefit from being more challenged which would be too challenging for Henry.
Henry is going to go back one to Core B+C. This will give him an introduction to world history. He is moving up to 3rd grade readers and language arts (also through Sonlight) and Singapore Primary Mathematics 3. He started the math this week and will likely work on it through the summer. He went ahead and started his next level of Handwriting Without Tears (cursive), too.
Nelson is skipping Core E and moving up to Core F. This includes language arts and readers as well as history of the eastern hemisphere. He is moving up to Singapore Primary Mathematics 6 which we also started this week. It has pre-algebra which I love!
I am still undecided on science. I think they will be sharing science again. If so, we'll start Exploring Creation with Botany from Apologia and move on to Zoology. If I seperate them, I'll have Nelson do Sonlight's Core F Science which is human anatomy. You can get it customized for boys or girls. He is getting to the age where I think anatomy would be good for him... you know, with puberty coming up and all. Pardon this interruption but... Oh my! I really cannot believe my husband and I have to start thinking about puberty and all the talks that come with that. Where has time gone? James has had a few small talks with Nelson but not ALL the specifics yet. Back to curriculum. For P.E., they play sports when they are in season (baseball and basketball and sometimes football). Outside of that, we get lots of outdoor playtime, bike riding, nature walks, and when the weather or heat don't allow for it, we do an excercise video together. The one we like the most is the Advocare Workout Series - Can You 24? What I like about it is, each routine is only 24 minutes but we all FEEL it, you can watch the instructions on how to do each move before you start the workout which is GREAT for kids and clumsy adults like me, there are different levels and many different routines, and you can do one routine or do an hour of them or anything in between. (shameless plug - I'm a distributor so that link will take you to my order page. I wouldn't recommend it if I didn't believe in it!)
We are still on the fence with electives. Music lessons? Foreign language? I don't know. They will definitely do things like that in later years but right now they do so many life skills with their dad on his days off and they will be learning farm life as an "elective" now that we have our land. That may be it for this school year.
The boys are both interested in doing school work throughout the summer but we are undecided on official year round school or traditional school calendar. We may just do school work when they feel like it during the summer... you know, when it's blistering hot outside and we're bored is being said... and just get a little ahead. Or we may plan out an actual year round schedule. I don't know yet. We are definitely taking the month of September off so we will at least be starting the official school year early.
Soooo..... there you have it. Our plan for 3rd and 6th grades!
Oh! I almost forgot! I bought everything through Sonlight and Apologia last year. This year I shopped around and found great prices on our math curriculum at Love to Learn. They have great shipping prices and I received the order quickly. I will also be ordering Henry's next handwriting book from there. I found Nelson's complete Core F used and it worked out really well! I saved money and everything was in great shape when it arrived.. like new! The previous owner made copies so I recieved all the original consumables too. Check out Homeschool Classifieds to see if you can find what you need! Just be sure to communicate with the seller and ask questions to make sure you'll be getting what you need. Amazon is an authorized seller of Apologia and you can get free shipping through amazon so that is where I bought our Botany books.
I would love to hear what your plans are for the next school year and where you do your school shopping! So leave a comment below! :) Happy Homeschooling!
Henry is going to go back one to Core B+C. This will give him an introduction to world history. He is moving up to 3rd grade readers and language arts (also through Sonlight) and Singapore Primary Mathematics 3. He started the math this week and will likely work on it through the summer. He went ahead and started his next level of Handwriting Without Tears (cursive), too.
Nelson is skipping Core E and moving up to Core F. This includes language arts and readers as well as history of the eastern hemisphere. He is moving up to Singapore Primary Mathematics 6 which we also started this week. It has pre-algebra which I love!
I am still undecided on science. I think they will be sharing science again. If so, we'll start Exploring Creation with Botany from Apologia and move on to Zoology. If I seperate them, I'll have Nelson do Sonlight's Core F Science which is human anatomy. You can get it customized for boys or girls. He is getting to the age where I think anatomy would be good for him... you know, with puberty coming up and all. Pardon this interruption but... Oh my! I really cannot believe my husband and I have to start thinking about puberty and all the talks that come with that. Where has time gone? James has had a few small talks with Nelson but not ALL the specifics yet. Back to curriculum. For P.E., they play sports when they are in season (baseball and basketball and sometimes football). Outside of that, we get lots of outdoor playtime, bike riding, nature walks, and when the weather or heat don't allow for it, we do an excercise video together. The one we like the most is the Advocare Workout Series - Can You 24? What I like about it is, each routine is only 24 minutes but we all FEEL it, you can watch the instructions on how to do each move before you start the workout which is GREAT for kids and clumsy adults like me, there are different levels and many different routines, and you can do one routine or do an hour of them or anything in between. (shameless plug - I'm a distributor so that link will take you to my order page. I wouldn't recommend it if I didn't believe in it!)
We are still on the fence with electives. Music lessons? Foreign language? I don't know. They will definitely do things like that in later years but right now they do so many life skills with their dad on his days off and they will be learning farm life as an "elective" now that we have our land. That may be it for this school year.
The boys are both interested in doing school work throughout the summer but we are undecided on official year round school or traditional school calendar. We may just do school work when they feel like it during the summer... you know, when it's blistering hot outside and we're bored is being said... and just get a little ahead. Or we may plan out an actual year round schedule. I don't know yet. We are definitely taking the month of September off so we will at least be starting the official school year early.
Soooo..... there you have it. Our plan for 3rd and 6th grades!
Oh! I almost forgot! I bought everything through Sonlight and Apologia last year. This year I shopped around and found great prices on our math curriculum at Love to Learn. They have great shipping prices and I received the order quickly. I will also be ordering Henry's next handwriting book from there. I found Nelson's complete Core F used and it worked out really well! I saved money and everything was in great shape when it arrived.. like new! The previous owner made copies so I recieved all the original consumables too. Check out Homeschool Classifieds to see if you can find what you need! Just be sure to communicate with the seller and ask questions to make sure you'll be getting what you need. Amazon is an authorized seller of Apologia and you can get free shipping through amazon so that is where I bought our Botany books.
I would love to hear what your plans are for the next school year and where you do your school shopping! So leave a comment below! :) Happy Homeschooling!
Monday, April 29, 2013
It's 12:30a.m. and I'm....
It's 12:30a.m. and I'm up looking at the Farm & Garden section of craigslist and googling milking machines. Ha! I can honestly say I never expected stuff like this to be on my mind in the middle of the night! James and I are SO anxious to get our farm going. Our goal in farming? Well, to sustain our family - provide enough milk, eggs and produce for us and if we have extra we can sell it. Maybe beef, pork, and chicken too. I don't know how I feel about eating animals that I personally took care of... I'm afraid I'll have the "it's my pet" mindset but maybe not. Oh, and bees! We might get brave enough to get a beehive. That would probably be James's baby though. I'm terrified of getting stung. We have so much work to do to get things going. It feels like it is taking FOREVER. Partly because it took so long to find land and partly because we're excited and wanting to do everything N-O-W. We have some secondary dreams, too. A petting zoo. And a baseball field. Yep. A baseball field. In our yard... er... pasture. We have 24 acres to work with. Half of it is already cleared and has a garden on it. The other half is heavily wooded and COVERED in poison ivy and poison oak. I don't know what poison sumac looks like but it's probably there, too. We also have dewberry vines, ant hills, and what I think is coastal hay. Well, I am going to try and force myself to sleep now. G'night!
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Ballpark Nachos... yum.
Kash has been on again off again when it comes to sleeping in his own bed all night long. The last few days he has stayed up and wow... what a great night of sleep I've gotten! I hope it sticks with it. Another exciting Kash thing... he has told me TWICE this week that he needed to go #2 BEFORE he went in his diaper... we actually made it to the toilet! Yay!!! Wiping a baby butt that has used the toilet is way less messy than one that has used a diaper. I cannot wait for this to be consistent. He has been using the toilet for #1 a lot lately but only when prompted. He hasn't told me yet that he needs to. I am ready to be out of the diaper stage ONCE AND FOR ALL!
Jack has had so much personality coming out. I love this age. Except for the part where he thinks he's bigger than he is... he hasn't quite finished the transition from baby boy to little boy and he gets really upset when we put him in the "little boy" category. He wants to do everything Nelson and Henry does and has meltdowns when he can't. BUT.... he is getting so funny, so full of personality... He jokes and teases us. He is also becoming protective and helpful with Kash. It's really fun to see them interact.
Henry is going through some change that I can't quite put a finger on yet. He's.... spirited. :) He's been testing me with his attitude lately and is really hard on himself when he doesn't or can't do something just right. He's a pretty loving kid, though. I still gets lots of hugs and kisses from him! He also likes to joke and make us laugh.
Nelson is definitely entering that preteen phase. He's kind of moody sometimes and trying to be grown up but is definitely still a kid. He is loving that it's baseball season and is trying so hard to be a great pitcher! He is really turning into a responsible young man.. He is so helpful to his little brothers and to me, too. He is very talkative and loves to share what all he has been reading.
James is in the middle of a bathroom remodel in addition to his paying job. :) It's been a good learning process.... he's good at it and could definitely do a lot to build our future home but he's learned that he does not want to. We'll definitely be having someone else do the work for us when the time comes. We are both super excited about our land... the kids too... and spend a lot of time dreaming about what we want to do with it. We have lots of ideas. We can't do much until we get this house finished (the bathroom remodel and some touch up painting throughout) and we put it on the market.
I have been learning alot about doing things (in the kitchen) the homemade and traditional way. I really enjoy the process of grinding flour and making bread... and learning about fermenting. So far the carrots are the only thing I've fermented (besides the wildly unsuccessful garlic) and I LOVE them. I'm still trying to perfect making bread from fresh ground whole wheat flour. Everything except one batch of biscuits has been edible but could stand to be improved. My kids don't always enjoy the learning process but we are all eating healthier so it's good. I will admit though.... sometimes it's a lot of work and I'd rather go buy a loaf of bread or, like we did this week, eat two meals out at the concession stand during baseball practice. Wow. I do enjoy the taste of and benefits of healthy eating but I don't think I'll ever stop enjoying my ball park nachos! Everything, even junk food, in moderation... right?
Jack has had so much personality coming out. I love this age. Except for the part where he thinks he's bigger than he is... he hasn't quite finished the transition from baby boy to little boy and he gets really upset when we put him in the "little boy" category. He wants to do everything Nelson and Henry does and has meltdowns when he can't. BUT.... he is getting so funny, so full of personality... He jokes and teases us. He is also becoming protective and helpful with Kash. It's really fun to see them interact.
Henry is going through some change that I can't quite put a finger on yet. He's.... spirited. :) He's been testing me with his attitude lately and is really hard on himself when he doesn't or can't do something just right. He's a pretty loving kid, though. I still gets lots of hugs and kisses from him! He also likes to joke and make us laugh.
Nelson is definitely entering that preteen phase. He's kind of moody sometimes and trying to be grown up but is definitely still a kid. He is loving that it's baseball season and is trying so hard to be a great pitcher! He is really turning into a responsible young man.. He is so helpful to his little brothers and to me, too. He is very talkative and loves to share what all he has been reading.
James is in the middle of a bathroom remodel in addition to his paying job. :) It's been a good learning process.... he's good at it and could definitely do a lot to build our future home but he's learned that he does not want to. We'll definitely be having someone else do the work for us when the time comes. We are both super excited about our land... the kids too... and spend a lot of time dreaming about what we want to do with it. We have lots of ideas. We can't do much until we get this house finished (the bathroom remodel and some touch up painting throughout) and we put it on the market.
I have been learning alot about doing things (in the kitchen) the homemade and traditional way. I really enjoy the process of grinding flour and making bread... and learning about fermenting. So far the carrots are the only thing I've fermented (besides the wildly unsuccessful garlic) and I LOVE them. I'm still trying to perfect making bread from fresh ground whole wheat flour. Everything except one batch of biscuits has been edible but could stand to be improved. My kids don't always enjoy the learning process but we are all eating healthier so it's good. I will admit though.... sometimes it's a lot of work and I'd rather go buy a loaf of bread or, like we did this week, eat two meals out at the concession stand during baseball practice. Wow. I do enjoy the taste of and benefits of healthy eating but I don't think I'll ever stop enjoying my ball park nachos! Everything, even junk food, in moderation... right?
Monday, April 22, 2013
First Ever Giveaway!
Okay, I just bought this amazing planner called The Ultimate Homeschool Planner by Debra Bell (and sold by Apologia). I have not started using it because I'm saving it for planning our 3rd/6th grade school year (coming up). I have looked all through it and can tell it is going to be great! It has tips for planning the year out, teaching tips, places to record field trip info, weekly praises and milestones and anything else you want to remember, goals for each student (up to 6 students), yearly planning page, monthly calendar, and weekly calendar pages. Everything you need!! Because I am so excited about it, I am going to do a giveaway!* Not sure if you are interested in this planner? Check out this site for description http://art.apologia.com/landingpages/DBPlanner/ AND this site for sample pages http://debrabell.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Ultimate-Planner-Sample.pdf
This giveaway is not sponsored by Debra Bell or Apologia. It's just because I like it! :) I do recommend checking out their websites though for more awesome products.
To enter*...... a Rafflecopter giveaway
*Open to US residents only at this time.
This giveaway is not sponsored by Debra Bell or Apologia. It's just because I like it! :) I do recommend checking out their websites though for more awesome products.
To enter*...... a Rafflecopter giveaway
*Open to US residents only at this time.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
It's been an eventful few days...
Boston Marathon bombing. West, TX fertilizer plant explosion. Tragic. Heart breaking. Too close to home (the explosion). This makes me weepy and emotional and I don't like that. It also makes me thankful and reminds me to count my blessings and hug my hero (firefighter/medic husband) and my kids close.
There have been some exciting events this week, too. We have been praying and looking for land for a long time. We finally found some a couple of months ago... again. We made an offer... again. We weren't rejected this time like we were on every other piece of land we found. We closed on the land yesterday! One of the many blessings I'm counting!
There have been some exciting events this week, too. We have been praying and looking for land for a long time. We finally found some a couple of months ago... again. We made an offer... again. We weren't rejected this time like we were on every other piece of land we found. We closed on the land yesterday! One of the many blessings I'm counting!
Friday, March 15, 2013
Grinding Flour, Raw Milk, and Fermenting. Oh My!
Thanks to my aunts, I have been learning a lot about different eating & cooking habits. I've bought wheat berries from Azure Standard (along with a lot of spices from Oregon Spice!) and successfully ground my own flour and made whole wheat biscuits and bread. Soooo delicious!
I sought out and found a local dairy farm to get raw milk from. It cost less than what I was paying for organic milk at the grocery store, it's richer, creamier, and more nutritious, too. Another plus? The farmers gave my family a tour so we had a nice homeschool field trip!
I did my first ferment this week and today was tasting day. I was a little scared but oh boy was it good! I used the "Crunchy" Carrot Sticks recipe from the Cooking God's Way Lacto-Fermenting book. I also used their air-lock system. It was very easy! The carrots are still crisp and have a nice garlicky tang to them. They will definitely help satisfy my crunchy cravings and will be a better choice than all those tortilla chips I'm use to snacking on! If you like pickles or green olives... anything pickled.... you'll like these! I may try their green bean recipe next. I am not a fan of... as in I HATE... green beans... but, maybe raw fermented green beans would be good? We'll see!
I sought out and found a local dairy farm to get raw milk from. It cost less than what I was paying for organic milk at the grocery store, it's richer, creamier, and more nutritious, too. Another plus? The farmers gave my family a tour so we had a nice homeschool field trip!
I did my first ferment this week and today was tasting day. I was a little scared but oh boy was it good! I used the "Crunchy" Carrot Sticks recipe from the Cooking God's Way Lacto-Fermenting book. I also used their air-lock system. It was very easy! The carrots are still crisp and have a nice garlicky tang to them. They will definitely help satisfy my crunchy cravings and will be a better choice than all those tortilla chips I'm use to snacking on! If you like pickles or green olives... anything pickled.... you'll like these! I may try their green bean recipe next. I am not a fan of... as in I HATE... green beans... but, maybe raw fermented green beans would be good? We'll see!
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