Weekly Update 30/09/11

This week was busy but it had more to do with things unrelated to homeschooling. There were errands to run, folks to visit and doctor's appointments to be kept. Next week, with me officially in the four week countdown until my due date, it gets worse. A little part of me wants to stop the homschooling and just rest for the next month but most of me is thrilled with the progress the kids and I are making and doesn't want to stop just yet. So we keep plugging away.

Our progress this week is best summed up in the following photo.


We got timelines up for both Ancient and Medieval history (although the medieval history one is the chopped up one on the bottom and needs to be moved so it goes straight across). Harry put King Menes of Egypt on his. The books were sorted to get rid of anything we don't need or have finished. The built-in bookshelf was emptied of knick-knacks and filled with the new binders for their different subjects and related reference and activity books. Dish trays now only hold textbooks and work books. Computer speakers were moved in so that I can plug my MP3 player in anytime we need to listen to Story of the World, music, audio books or lectures. Bristol board was put up for us to stick on visual reference materials like maps and charts related to history and science.

With our days getting more routine, the kids' work getting more consistent, and homeschooling time getting more non-negotiable it seems that the space we use for work is getting more organized and useful. *phew* It feels brilliant.

PS: I made that table runner all by my lonesome one day last year when I was bored.

PSS: It's my birthday today. I'm 38.

Wordless Wednesday (With Title-Defeating Commentary)

The start of the day from the front porch.


After the tough stuff, Harry does some history and builds pyramids.


Then, with school over, onto making Martians with his Martian Matter supplies. Feel for the poor Martians because they're only headed for dissection.


The nest of baby spiders Harry discovered in the box that held his Martian Matter stuff.


While the son played the daughter plugged away (and hid from the camera). 7+ hours of school work today because she didn't finish yesterday's work when she should have. Heh heh heh. Good thing she's a good sport.


The game of Monopoly where Harry mercilessly, "beat the poop out of," (direct quote from the boy) his mom and dad. His tired dad and pregnant mom no less. Daughter choose to play the Xbox 360 after all her work.

Why NOT to Consult Your Child on Curriculum Purchases

Catherine has whipped through Grammar Voyage and is ready for more grammar. I was going to order Jensen's Grammar . Jensen's Punctuation has been a great success and we could finish it in a year.

Yay! Right?

No.

I told Catherine that her choice was either Magic Lens V.1 (the next in the series after Grammar Voyage) or Jensen's and tried to sell Jensen's on the fact that it was just one more year as opposed to three for Magic Lens.

Her eyes got big, she hugged her Practice Voyage book and put the back of her free hand to her forehead and cried, "No more grammar after next year? But I LOVE grammar."

And she does. She really, truly, deeply loves it. And the MCT materials are why.

Jensen's would have been maybe $40 Canadian after shipping from a local supplier. Magic Lens is $50 US, for just one year, plus $27 shipping to get it here to Canada.

Needless to say I ordered next year's as well since the RFP lady said it would also fit in the box (not so the third volume though) so I'll at least save the shipping next year but holy macaroni, I just about keeled over.

But her eyes were SOOO big...

The Benefits of Latin

Catherine and Harry got the day off Friday due to lack of motivation on my part. I have learned that there will be days in this pregnancy when I just have to sit back and rest and Friday was one of them. So today was catch-up day.

Extraordinary kid that she is she started her work with almost no prompting. While she worked on her grammar she called me over to explain how much she felt punctuation and Latin, especially Latin, were helping her grammar.

This wasn't a surprise to me. I've watched as her increasing knowledge of Latin has helped her grammar and spelling, had her make connections in language she's never made before, helped her French, and generally filled the world of words with an excitement and wonder that they hadn't had for her before.

She followed up her grammar comment with, "I love Latin. It's so cool."

I couldn't agree more.

The Benefits of Low Expectations

I made lunch a little while ago. I got a little creative and when my son saw what I had done he was enormously impressed and showered me with compliments about what great cook I was.

What did I do?

I mixed cut-up hot dogs in with the Kraft Dinner.

Weekly Update 09/23/11

It was a busy week this week and I finally came to realize that not only are the mornings off limits for appointments and such, most afternoons are going to have to be as well. While Harry's work can be done in a morning Catherine is not so lucky. While most of English as well as Math,French and Latin can be done in the morning that still leaves history and science (on alternating days thank goodness), writing and violin. And just those 3 subjects often take a good 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

*sigh*

And guess what? Although Catherine loves Latin her first real interest when it came to ancient languages was Attic Greek (blame Homer). We worked through A Greek Hupogrammon so she could learn the alphabet and then retreated, stumped by the search to find a good homeschooling course that wasn't Koine (Biblical) Greek. But just last night on the evil Well Trained Mind forums another posted mentioned Athenaze, a text from Oxford University Press on learning, you guessed it, Attic Greek. And I had to mention it to Catherine. Her eyes lit up.

No, we will NOT be adding Attic Greek this year but I suspect it will be entering the lineup next year. And no, we will not be dropping Latin or French. And yes, my daughter will be learning some scheduling, organization and study skills this year. Why do you ask?

Catherine did do well in history this week, starting The Teaching Company's Early Middle Ages audio course. Her writing work wasn't completed though but I've got a promise for her that she WILL complete it tomorrow afternoon. I also dug out a vintage algebra text that I think I bought in a used book store in Newmarket, Ontario. Catherine liked the looks of it and needs a little more review then she's getting from her current text so we might dive into it a bit in the coming weeks.

Harry's big excitement for the week was when the Purolator truck arrived with the next levels in his reading and spelling programs. He was thrilled! Thrilled and yet sometimes trying to get him to work through Apples and Pears is like pulling teeth. I think though, being able to see those books also meant seeing his progress. One year ago he couldn't read at all. Now he's worked through two levels of reading and one level of spelling and only seems to be progressing faster as we go. Such a relief for both of us after several years and several programs that amounted to nothing.

We made a trip to the library where I picked up Adventure in Atoms and Molecules for his science this year. We DO have the Singapore My Pals are Here program but it's very light on experiments and what it's very good with, thinking skills, aren't really hitting home with Harry. It takes a little more reading skill and focus then he has right now. We'll finish out the books we have but rather then get the rest in the series I think we'll start a science notebook and either dive into Adventures with Atoms and Molecules or physics experiments so that he and Catherine (who I think I'll use Hewitt's Conceptual Physical Science with) can have one subject they can work on together. Not at the same level of course but parallel.

You'd think I'd have had this sorted before we started up our work. Not so. I wonder if that ever happens.

Thrifty Thursday

A lot of the materials we us in homeschooling are things I pick up at local thrift stores or yard sales. I thought it might be fun to post pictures here and invite others to who also buy a lot of used materials to do the same.



One local thrift store is the product of one women's ministry and as a result has a great deal of religious material. Much of it is too conservative for me but these items seemed useful. One book is a bible study book that I thought might have some interesting questions the kids and I could reflect on. The other is a Jesus comic. Yes, a Jesus comic! How on earth could I leave THAT behind? The cassettes are the entire New Testament as read by Darth Vader. Okay, James Earl Jones but he did Darth Vader's voice in the original movies so that's the next best thing, right?



I'm a sucker for good binders so as soon as I spotted the ones above I knew I was bringing them home. They're clean, solid and have clear plastic on the covers so the kids can make up a cover and slip it into the plastic. The book on Feudal society might come in handy with Catherine learnign about the Middle Ages, the National Geographic video will be viewed some family movie night and The Young Victoria is for me to relax with. The 10 cent roll of register tape is the start of timelines for the kids.



The best find at that thrift store. I went in looking for a good dictionary after yet more frustration from my daughter with her little Webster's Student Dictionary. Awful little thing. There was nothing on the bookshelves but when I turned around to leave I saw that handsome beast lying on a side table just waiting for me to notice it. $5 just for it but it was worth every single penny.