Our family's thoughts are with all the families affected by this damaging storm.
In our homeschool this week...
Went really well! I'm happy with how the week went! We were kinda busy this week, but was still at home quite a bit! Which is a good thing!
It was a little touch and go there on Monday with Zachary with his sentences, but Tuesday he wrote them out perfectly and all on his own for me! And he had this HUGE smile on his face when I told him how wonderfully awesome he did! SUCCESS!!! :)
Arlee was working on a report to turn in for a contest, but ended up getting sick the week it was due and was unable to turn it in. She had worked REALLY hard on it...and did go ahead and finish it. {I will be posting it here over the weekend...because I think it was really good, and more than just us should see it!} It was about the Doolittle Raid. I was really happy with all the research and time she put into this paper! She worked on it, on and off, for about 2 months or so. We started it all off by watching "Pearl Harbor"...the one with Ben Affleck. She also had a bunch of books and other documentary dvds to watch as well about Pearl Harbor and The Doolittle Raid. I really enjoyed learning things along with her because she would share with me the things she thought were interesting.
Once she finished her Doolittle paper, we moved on to her next topic...the Holocaust. First off we watched the movie, "The Devil's Arithmetic"...we made it just part of our "school day" by popping some popcorn, and all piling in front of the TV. It really hit her hard. She was crying during the movie...she REALLY felt it. I've been hearing info coming from her for the past few days as she has begun reading thru the books I had picked up for her from the library about the Holocaust.
Frost has done well this week! Last Friday night we found a Salamander outside my in-laws house...the very next day he was looking things up online...all on his own...one how to care for it! What to feed it, how it's habitat should be set up...LOVED IT!! I told him that he should work on a project about Salamanders...but we didn't get to it this week! Would still love to do that with him...with all the boys actually!
For Zach and Liam, I've been really looking into the Ohio State Standards booklets I have to make sure we are covering things.
I think we have a good routine going...well, at least the start of one! You have no idea how happy I am for that!! It's been a LONG time in the making!
Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share...
I am inspired by...Frosty has been working REALLY hard on his Merit Badge stuff for Boy Scouts this week!! I'm totally counting these as part of his "learning lessons"!! He worked for 2 hours yesterday cleaning up our yard...yeah, it was THAT bad....plus we've been working on cleaning out our attic, little by little, all part of his Family Life Merit Badge! I'm most proud of him because of for the most part, HE has taken the initiative to start working on what he needs to get done! That is HUGE for him!! One day, he got up before any of the rest of us, and hopped on my computer and was doing some work on one of them! He has REALLY impressed me this week!
Places we're going and people we're seeing...
Saturday... COOKIE BOOTH!! Our amazing Girl Scouts sold 112 boxes at their booth this morning! WAY TO GO GIRLS!! PLUS, because of the tornadoes which ripped thru our county the day before...they collected donations to help those families. I was able to call and donate $150 to Red Cross on their behalf. SO VERY PROUD of those girls!
Sunday... Stayed home for the entire day!! Yippee!!!!
Monday...Boy Scout's Leader/Parents Meeting, Danny was able to go along with me! We got him all registered...he's looking forward to going to Summer Camp with Frosty, and maybe even getting more involved in the troop!
Tuesday...Met a good friend, who turns out to also be the leader of our older Homeschool Girl Scout Troop. She took me to Starbucks...YUM! And we did LOTS of great planning for our troop! REALLY looking forward to whats coming!
Wednesday...Zachary had his piano lessons. Today his teacher filled out his completion certificate and wrote him a little encouraging note at the back of his finished book...and she already had his new books ready to go!! He is VERY excited to be moving ahead with his lessons...as are we! He's been doing such a great job!
Thursday...Arlee went to her Writing Club...said she read one of her stories she wrote for school, which was very sad, and got teared up while reading it, and almost got one of the other ladies attending to cry as well. Shared with them all about the Honorable Mention she received from sending in her poem to a contest thru a Cincinnati newspaper...one of the ladies gave Arlee info on another poem contest that she could enter! :)
Took the boys over to McD's for a Playtime @ the Playland homeschool outing I had set up. There were 4 families including us...ALL BOYS!! Frosty, after about 30 to 45 mins, stepped out of his box and talked with the other 13 year old boy there! They ended up hanging out out in the main part of McD's playing cards! Looked like they were having a great time!
Picked Arlee up and headed home for a couple hours before leaving for another library program right uptown. Took Arlee & Frosty to this one. They made Popcap Art! What fun! And FREE!! Gotta LOVE that!!!
Got my library card updated and such...which I've needed to do for quite some time! Got Arlee & Frost their own cards, too! They were both REALLY excited, and both checked out a few things! :) Now I have to keep up with 4 cards...hmmmm...what exactly was I thinking?? :)
Also picked up our new glasses!! Four out of 6 of us needed them!
Friday...Took Frost to a friend's house to spend the night. Our wonderful friend will will taking him to his Merit Badge Class Saturday morning! Which we are VERY grateful for!! Danny & I went grocery shopping together...counts as a "date night", right?? :)
My favorite thing this week was...This was technically last week, but wanted to share...Arlee winning an Honorable Mention from a writing contest she entered! She got 2 notebooks and 2 pens. She is very excited, and very proud of herself...and we are quite proud of her as well!
What's working...So I think I have found a good set up for organizing lessons. Right to the left of my desk, I have a small shelving unit. On the top shelf, I have this file holder/divider thingy. I have 4 manilla files for the 4 days that we do school each week. I will go in over the weekend, print out any papers that we need for that week...mostly it's just for Zach and Frost.
Then on each day, all I have to do is grab the folder for that day and all I need it right inside. If we don't finish something, I just move it to the next day's folder. If we complete it, it goes right back into the folder. {I will be putting together binders to hold all their papers soon.}
On the front of the folder is a paper clip so I can attach a "schedule" paper...I use that to write down what we have done. At the beginning of this week, I began to start keeping scores of their worksheets, projects, "classes". I just move that over to the next days file folder at the end of the day so it will be ready to go.
It's very simple...I know...and I think that is exactly why it is working for me!
Under the divider thingys...there is a slot that Arlee can use to "turn in work" if she needs me to look it over.
Things I'm working on...Trying so hard to finish up a scarf that I've been working on for way too long! It's one for my niece, and I'm sure she's thinking that I have just forgotten to finish it up! It's been crazy trying to find the time to sit and knit for the past few weeks. Which is sad because I love it so.
I'm reading..."Green Angel" by Alice Hoffman and "Family Feasts for $75 a Week" by Mary Ostyn.
A photo to share...
Sorry, it's a little blurry...but you can definitely see that proud smile he has! :)
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Congrats to your daughter on her writing award and to your son for finishing his piano book! Both are wonderful accomplishments! :-) I just love that your kids found a salamander and now they can study all about them. Homeschooling is such a blessing in that they can study something that is interesting and relevant to them. :-))) You sound so organized! You need to come here and help me out, lol! :-) Great, great week! (we love WWII history here, too!) Thanks for visiting my blog and for your kind comments. Many blessings for a great weekend! Lisa
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa for visiting me as well! :) And thanks for the "congrats"...I will pass those on to the kiddos! They'll love it! I may sound organized...but I'm not sure if that is what I would call it! LOL!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to following your happenings! :)