Week 13

We have 3 NaNoWriMo winners in the house!  DD16, DD13 & DS10 all finished on 11/29!

DD16 drew DS10's characters for him:

She also drew an amazing number of other races to populate his world.

Here are some quick sketches of 2 of her own characters.

DD11mo became DD12mo!  Her simple "Hobbit" Cake (an idea I got from Slowly -- Slowly Climb Mt Fuji) turned out just right!

DD16 & DD13 are preparing for their upcoming Switzerland-Germany-Italy trip with my parents!

DD16 German Family page

DD13 German Color page

DS10 actually picked up a non-fiction book to read, on his own!  And he came to me, repeatedly, telling me interesting tidbits.  He is an excellent reader (taught himself at the age of 4) but doesn't spend nearly as much time reading as his siblings!  So, hats off to author Steve Sheinkin of Which Way to the Wild West?

DS8 is doing so well with Singapore's Challenging Word Problems 2.  And with Writing with Ease 1.  But I want more for him -- richness, depth, meaning, inspiration.  I'm contemplating changes for January.  Even as I contemplate Christmas presents.  And travel plans.  And dentist visits.  It never ends.

DS5's reading: progress, progress!  We're continuing to move along in OPGTR (ank/ink/onk/unk today). He is making connections and recognizing words and bits of words and other such things that make a mom smile!  I want to add to his school day in January also...

Only 3 weeks until Christmas.  Only 4 weeks until 2010!  I'm not ready.  Are you?

Week 12

Short, efficient school week! Wonderful visit to my mother-in-law's house for Thanksgiving!
1/3 of the school year complete!

DD13's page of animal words

 Thank You notes from left to right: DS5, DS10, DD11mo, DS8

Kids all got to make wooden building's with MIL's husband's woods scraps & nail gun!
I stayed out of the basement...

Week 9

WEEK NINE?
Time flies when you're having fun...and sometimes even when you're not!

Not that it was a bad week:
DD16 finished her heraldry study (military history) and is beginning to research apples (horticulture & nutrition). DD13 & DS10 continue to progress in the respective Latin courses (despite me!). DS8 finished his Sound & Light science book (need to find him something new). DS5 is cheerfully moving along in his workbooks with no problems at all.  DD11mo thankfully doesn't care that she still doesn't have shoes!

NaNoWriMo is going well -- DS10 gets up at his usual 6:00am and writes, DD16 has her turn at 7:00am, and DD13 at 8:00am.  DD16 writes again the evening to get her complete word count.  I'm glad I'm not writing...

We studied the history of voting on Monday and Tuesday, with a "field trip" to our local polling place...the school where my younger ones would go if we didn't homeschool.  I meant to look around but since there was no line, it was in and out lickity-split.  We chose the electronic polling option and I was letting each of the kids push a vote -- since there were 5 things to vote for and we had decided ahead of time.  However, I was reprimanded and had to push the last two buttons myself. Ah well.  It was an experience.

On to the weekend!

Week 7

Noteworthy accomplishments this week: 
DD15 finished her herb research (pictured above)!
DD13 has scored another 100% A+ on a Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings quiz!
DS10 finished Writing with Ease Level 1, on to Level 2!
DS8 finished Chapter 5 of Math-U-See Gamma!
DS5 can recognize the word THE and has stopped sounding it out!
DD10mo has her very first sippy cup!

Not accomplished this week:
Nature Study, Art, Poetry...

Coming up next month: NaNoWriMo!

Week 4

Week 4 Announcement: All my curriculum has finally arrived including Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings!  Oh, happiest of days!  DD15 & DD13 started immediately and plan do lessons on Saturday and Sunday, too.

We probably won't do that every weekend but DD15 has to get 4 permanent teeth pulled next week.  We have a new orthodontist -- his assessment & x-rays reveal a myriad of problems that have been caused by the braces and/or should have been corrected over the course of these past two years.  I'm angry.  But DD15 (to my amazement and motherly pride) is willing to do what it takes to get it right, even if that means two more years in braces.

DD13 has been researching sugars and sweeteners for her nutrition course.  I told her to put all the informations she learns about polysaccharides, glactose, xylitol, etc, etc into an easy to read format so that I can read and understand and join knowledgeably into conversations!

DS10 started The Great Latin Adventure 2!  He did GLA 1 last year and I had planned to review all summer, but alas...  He is reading Chemistry: Getting a Big Reaction this week.  Not a literary tome but I couldn't remember what book I'd picked for him this week!  He does read a lot on his own but all fantasy brought home from the library by his sisters...primarily Dragonlance novels this month.

DS8 has been reading a lot.  I still can not believe that he has only been reading since last summer!  He started Little House in the Big Woods (thank you, Writing with Ease!) and I read him the first few chapters of the original Pinocchio (again, thank you, WWE!).  He then read the next six or so on his own and I read 3 more aloud tonight.  I've never read it before.  Only watched the Disney movie, years and years ago.

DS5 is wrapping up learning the sounds of the letters with OPGTR.  We'll do XYZ tomorrow so we can start reading on Monday.  He is easily making his way through Singapore's Earlybird B...academics are seeming to come naturally for him!  Which means less stress for mom & student. :)

DD9mo is taking more and more little steps...often two at a time.  I'll say she's toddling. Her new favorite game is "roll the ball."  Her 1st top tooth as finally cut through -- and she's slept better the last two nights.  Happy baby! Happy Mommy!

Yesterday it rained and rained and rained some more. DD15 &13 took a long walk. Elves don't mind the rain, you know. DS8 & DS5 played outside for most of the day. They came in to "do school" and have their "computer time" but the rest was spent outside. Several changes of clothing and washings of muddy feet and many worms rescued... DS10 & DD9mo & I stayed inside, though it was neither warm nor dry. Sort of damp and clammy. We've some adjusting to do from moving from the Western Desert to the Eastern Swampland! Including to the size of the insects. The person who told me "the bugs are bigger" was not kidding.

Thus ends the first month of the 2010-2011 school year!

A Monday in September

By "Weekly Report Friday" I've forgotten what we've done.  But this isn't so much about school as it is "a day in the life" of a homeschooling family of eight.

6:30am Wake up and head down stairs.  Boys are already up in the family room reading.  They are allowed to get up at 6:00am.  This is because I used to get up at 5:30am... Juice our "green lemonade" of kale, lettuce, apples & a lemon.
7:00am Make dh's breakfast of saute´d broccoli, mushrooms, onions & red pepper on a bed of baby spinach. Then pack his salad lunch.  Baby wakes up.
7:30am Make whole wheat pancakes for everyone else's breakfast.  DD15 cooks the pancakes. Nurse the baby.
8:00am Forgot to start with our reading of Psalms and Proverbs.  Do a hodge-podge of school with the boys while the girls are off doing their own schoolwork.
9:00am Read All American History and discuss with the 3 older ones.
9:45am More school with boys.
10:30am Decide to go grocery shopping...in the rain.  Take the oldest & the youngest with me, leaving DD13 to do school while boys play computer games.
11:45am Amid the unpacking of groceries, DD15 cuts up the watermelon for a snack, I cut up the butternut squash for lunch and decide to try making Peasant Bread using 100% whole wheat flour.  DD15 feeds watermelon to DD9mo and then gives her a bath.
12:45pm Hurry everyone to eat their squash & veggies.  Give DD15 & DD13 instructions for finishing bread, making their Barley Mushroom Stew, completing chores and of course, having computer time.
Leave for D&D.  Still raining.
1:30pm Enjoy myself sitting and chatting with with the other homeschooling moms who all seem to enjoy the fantasy genre and natural living...just like me!
4:45pm Come home to dinner cooking.  Ah, the joy of having teens!
5:00pm Try Peasant Bread.  Heavy, dry, little flavor.  Children declare it perfect for serving to weary travelers at an Inn.
6:00pm Eat Barley Mushroom Stew and fresh veggies and more bread. Some children eat outside.  Too rainy for me.
6:30pm Hubby finally arrives home to his cold stew and dry bread. Guess he gets to play the roll of weary traveler.  Then he has a conference call!
7:00pm Since we can't listen to Dad read, we watch a travel video on Switzerland in prep for girls' upcoming trip.
7:30pm Try my kumbucha tea (got the starter last week at D&D).  Fizzy & tasty!  Put into 3 jars on the counter.  One with nothing added. One with a little lemon juice added.  One with lemon juice and honey added.  Made more tea to begin process again.
8:00pm Put boys to bed. Let girls know they may have computer time.
8:30pm Put baby to bed.  Sit by hubby reading Book 2 of the Wheel of Time on his kindle and read The Wednesday Sisters. Ahhh...
9:30pm Baby crying.  Nurse her.
9:45pm Make stovetop popcorn to sustain the late night crowd.  Read more.
11:00pm Baby crying at being left out of the late night crowd.  Nurse her. Say goodnight to girls.
11:30pm Finish book, leave hubby reading his kindle and go to bed.
12:00am Baby crying. Nurse her.
12:30am Baby crying. Nurse her.
3:30am Baby crying.  Go in and she's quiet.  Go back to bed.
5:00am Baby crying. Nurse her.  Wonder when she will be done teething....
6:30am It's Tuesday morning!

Week 3

The first 10 elements of the periodic table created with chickpeas, black-eyed peas, and lentils!

 

Weekend: 

• Applied for passports for DD15 and DD13! They will be traveling with my parents to visit my newly married sister in Germany & Switzerland at Christmas.  
• Played D&D...still getting used to our new characters.
• Took a family walk to the elementary school playground. 
• Went to Lowe's to look at lumber for building raised garden beds. 

The weekend was not what I had hoped it would be...which was a trip out to the Shenandoah Valley to a Civil War event. I have not yet come to terms with the fact that my family spends the weekdays working or doing school and on the weekend they want to do nothing.  Whereas I do the same and then on the weekend I want to do something...I guess because otherwise it is all the same to me.

School Week: 
DD15: Finished her Military History Battles assignment!  She did an excellent job recreating the maps. I'll post some of those soon!

DD13: Started All American History 2.  99/100 on first Henle quiz.  Moving along in learning German!

DS10: Attended his first non-family D&D group!  This is a homeschool group of boys who take turns DMing, I think it will be a great fit. (For me too -- I got to chat with the other mothers and came home with some kombucha tea starter!) Began All American History 2.  Worked on Real Science Odyssey Chemistry but without the recommended multi-color marshmallows!  See picture at the top.

DS8: Read The Little Horse...I told him to read 2 chapters a day and he read the whole thing!  And he was my latest reader!  Started Writing with Ease 1 and began reading Little House in the Big Woods.  Started Math-U-See Gamma and Jane Ervin's Reading Comprehension B.

DS5: Began yellow Handwriting without Tears book.  Began Singapore's Earlybird Math B.  Learned H-M in OPGTR!  Can't wait til we get to blending!

DD9mo: Standing so well!  She's taken a couple single steps.  So not quite walking...YET!

Week 2

Skinny-tail the Squirrel, one of the three to frequent our "bird" feeder

Highlights of Week 2

Five in a Row:  Make Way for Ducklings, using the book that had been given to my dad when he was a little boy!

Bible: Continued reading in Psalms & Proverbs.

MOM: Rainbow Resource box arrived!

DAD: Evening read-aloud Stonewall Jackson: A Life Portait by K.M. Kostyal

DD15: Staked out spots for her raised beds and arbor (horticulture credit).

DD13: Began Henle Latin using the MODG Syllabus.

DS10: Completed 15 pages in his brand new Liftoff Logic 2 book.

DS8: Memorized 7 continents & 5 five oceans in memory binder.

DS5: Learned B, C, D, F & G in Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading.

DD9mo: Letting go and standing!  And still squirrel watching.

Week 1

The 2010-2011 School Year has begun!


DD15 & DD13 are both working on course work for high school credit this year.  However, they are currently spending two weeks in the Midwest with relatives -- I've heard they've been horseback riding, clay oven building, jelly making, swimming, apple picking, concert attending, tractor driving...real living, real learning.

The rest of us got out the school books we currently have and got started!

Bible time: New this year.  A last minute addition.  This week it consisted of DS10 reading a Psalm followed by each of us (DS10, DS8 & I) reading a verse from Proverbs 10, a short prayer by me, and finally a singing of "Father I Adore You" while holding hands and walking in a circle around DD9mo.  It was a good addition to the week, but DS5 is not engaged (except during the song!) and none of us recalls much about what we've read by dinner.

Memory Binders: Also new this year.  Each boy has one with his work listed in the front in a page protector.  Following in page protectors are memory/copywork items including full name & address, days of the week, continents, seasons, etc.  They have the week to copy all in permanent marker (erasable with rubbing alcohol). On Saturday they recite what they know for Dad.  If they have something memorized it will go to the back of the binder.  If not, they'll copy it again next week.

Five in a Row: Peter Rabbit from Vol 2.  We listed all the vegetables Mr. McGregor grew and looked them up in seed catalogs.  Then DS8 made a graph of how long til harvest each one took.  While he was graphing, DS10 & DS5 attempted this How to Draw a Rabbit Lesson. DS10's two drawings are at the top! We made current buns...the recipe I found on the internet wasn't the best though.

DS10 began Math-U-See Pre-Algebra, Singapore's Challenging Word Problems 4 and Comic Strip Math. He orally completed the first several rules & exercises in Woolley's New Handbook of Composition (graciously borrowed from my mom's school days).  I think this will be a favorite!  He read aloud from CLP's Nature Reader 4, completed 2 labs in RSO's Chemistry, and read Linnea's Almanac by Cristina Bjork.

DS8 began Singapore's Challenging Word Problems 2, read And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? by Jean Fritz and started her The Cabin Faced West, and started a review of the rules from First Language Lessons.  When we get to where we left off last year we'll go back to the book.  He read aloud from CLP's Nature Reader 2 and started a Sound & Light science book.

DS5 learned the 5 vowels from Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading and played 2 math & 2 phonics games.

DD9mo spent her time primarily squirrel-watching, but she also work on improving her crawl and trying out her two bottom teeth...