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First Week Back After Break – Homeschool and Life Happenings

Jan112018
January 11, 2018 by 4 Comments

You know what they say about the best laid plans, right? After getting everything lined up to start up after our Christmas break, Monday morning started with a call from the ER. My grandmother had called an ambulance and spent some time with the doctors there and needed someone to bring her home. (She is fine – no worries.)

So – the day already had a big kink in it and the plans to whip everything into magical shape (because you know it would have all fallen into place right.this.moment) went a bit out the window. 

Incidentally, those pens above? My absolute favorite ever. And of course the homeschool planner is too. But erasable and pens to color code things are my love language.

BEFORE I FORGET – don’t miss this giveaway from WriteShop (our favorite homeschool writing curriculum). Maybe you are looking for a mid-year switch, or want to learn a little more, but don’t miss the chances to enter and win!

The boys and I jumped back in with history right away (and yes, our dog likes to be a part of everything we do). While I read through lessons this week on Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, the boys helped me sort and count LEGOs from several of our kits that we are through using and getting ready to sell. 

Keeping hands busy while listening is a HUGE help. :)  

Our mornings have been starting off with CNN10 again. The boys have missed that after a few weeks off over break (me too!). 

Overall, it’s just been getting back into the daily routine: history, reading, math, grammar, writing, reading aloud, science, etc…

Laurianna’s classes have started back up for the spring semester. In addition to English and her second anatomy class, she is taking a Developmental Psychology class as well. Monday she interviewed for a lifeguarding position at a nearby pool and will be starting work with them on Friday. She is rather excited about the new job. :) 

McKenna has been spending time working on biology this week. We’re back in the routine of co-op class and lab with our friend, so she had some prep to do. 

Currently we are studying classification. Our lab this week focused on the identification of various leaves and insects and learning how to classify. We’ve had to edit the labs a bit from what is suggested because we switched mid-year from our other program. 

One thing we are already struggling with though – finding that balance and jumping back into the routine of getting things done (and not getting distracted). McKenna has had a few days this week where her schoolwork has extended a bit late into the evening. 

I’m trying not to push her too much on getting behind (or staying focused), because this is something she really has to learn to manage on her own.

And finally, we’re working hard on filling out passport applications and getting everything lined up for our trip to the Netherlands in May. I won’t talk about how many times I’ve messed up the second page of every application and how many times I’ve reprinted it. At some point I’ll get it all correct and we’ll submit them in the next week (hopefully). 

That’s all for our week back to school. How are you all doing – and what have you been up to? 

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Filed Under: 11th grade, 5th Grade, 7th Grade, 9th Grade, Weekly Wrap Up 4 Comments

Still No School (but lots of rest) – Homeschool and Life Happenings

Jan52018
January 5, 2018 by Leave a Comment

This week has been a slow and wonderful week. Truly. 

We started off the week driving home from upstate NY where we had been visiting Rick’s family after Christmas. It was COLD, you all.

Saturday was a balmy 16 degrees, so the kids were excited to go ice skating at the local rink. That lasted less than an hour, but hey – they did it, right? 

We returned home with crazy low temperatures at -22. Yep. We were ready to head back home. :) 

One thing I am so thankful for – we invited two families over to spend New Year’s Eve with us. One family spent the night (best idea ever), and while the adults enjoyed sitting and talking for hours, the kids all ran off and occupied themselves with cookie decorating and food. It was truly wonderful. 

And in that white bowl above is one of the BEST APPETIZERS EVER. Super easy and unbelievably yummy – bacon wrapped mini potatoes. Served with an aioli sauce, you may want to eat the entire bowl. Ask me how I know. 

Ringing in the new year with friends though was really the best. We all had so much fun catching up, laughing, and relaxing together. 

Somehow I misjudged our time off before Christmas, thought we had another week that we would be able to take off, and then managed to mess up our break. Whoops. 

We decided instead to tack the extra week off during the first week of January since Laurianna hasn’t started classes at the community college yet. And it’s bone-chilling cold here as well. 

All of the Christmas decorations were packed away, the house cleaned and organized, and we are ready for the upcoming week (well, almost). The fireplace has been on quite a bit as well, helping keep the house nice and toasty. Meanwhile, I’ve been curled up with a GREAT book (seriously, it is amazing how timeless the points in the book are), we’ve been playing games, and just BEING without needing to be anywhere or doing anything in particular. 

And that is a lovely thing. 

Next week, we’ll be back in the school routine (and I have some new routines planned for the kids to hopefully kick us out of some habits and add some new things in). 

How was your week? 

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Filed Under: 11th grade, 5th Grade, 7th Grade, 9th Grade, Weekly Wrap Up Leave a Comment

5th Grade Mid-Year Homeschool Update

Dec282017
December 28, 2017 by 7 Comments

The week before Christmas we shared a mid-year update for our 11th grader,  one for our 9th grader and our 7th grader. This week we will wrap it all up with our 5th grader, Kaleb. 

Our main focus this year has been Kaleb’s reading, since he has struggled in this area for quite some time. Confidence is a HUGE goal and fluency – and the first one can be tricky. One thing I love is that one of the subjects he loves (science) helps incorporate both of them into our day – and subtly. :) 

That definitely has helped him out as he realizes that he KNOWS the words and can read through the bulk of the material. 

5th Grade Homeschool Update

All that said, here’s a peek at what we are using this year and how it’s working for us. 

Math – This is one of Kaleb’s favorite subjects (this and science). Along with working through his own program, he is having fun sitting with McKenna once or twice a week and watching her work on Algebra. :) It’s rather sweet, and especially fun when he can answer the questions while she is working through them. 

History – One of the main switch ups for us this year was our history program. Granted, it wasn’t huge, but around the end of October Zachary mentioned that he wasn’t particularly enjoying the history we were using (not a set curriculum per se, but it just wasn’t working overall). After one lesson, he started spouting off all this information about the topic that he had learned years prior via Mystery of History. 

At that point the boys asked if we could use that program instead. We’ve gone through the set with the kids in years prior and have all the books, so we pulled them out and have been working through books 1 and 2 instead. 

Handwriting – We pulled out Printing Power Plus to use this year and really focus in on helping Kaleb write smaller. He is NOT a huge fan of anything handwriting related overall, but we’re trying to tighten up and get it more legible and enjoyable. He has worked through the one book and we will be moving on to the keyboarding part starting in January. 

Since his book is completed, the trade off is having him physically write more in his other lessons. (When I tell you all this is most-hated, I don’t know that you fully can grasp how much.)

Growing with Grammar 5 and Soaring with Spelling are the additional two programs we are using to have him write our answers and practice his handwriting, which is working well. 

Reading – We’ve pulled out some older readers for Kaleb to work through in the upcoming weeks, but the last few months he has really made some great progress in this area – something that is encouraging to him (and me). 

Yes, it’s slow-going at times, but progress is always wonderful. 

We are working through our All About Reading lessons as well as reading other books around the house, and that has been a good mix for him. 

Science – This is another area Kaleb LOVES. When working on this subject, it’s almost like you can see the little wheels in his head moving. Nancy Larson Science 4 has been a great fit for us this year and has been especially fun when it ties in with McKenna’s biology lessons too. Earlier in the year they both were working with microscopes, so he had the chance to look at many of the specimen slides we ordered for her. 

Lego League – At first, Kaleb didn’t seem super thrilled about Lego League. You might laugh when you hear why: Sunday football. 

The only time we could find for the four boys to meet was on Sunday afternoons. Kaleb is a HUGE football freak. Meaning, at age six, he knew more about the game and players than I know myself. 

It took him a bit to adjust to the few hours in the afternoon (haha), but it ended up being one of the highlights of his fall. The group will be getting back together in a few weeks to rebuild their robot and learn more about programming so they are prepared for next year’s tournament. 

One of the hardest parts (but in a good way, since it pushed him out of his comfort zone) was the presentation the team needed to make. They put together a skit and had to read their lines and perform in front of a small panel. Kaleb was literally shaking and so nervous during the trial runs – but again, it was a growing experience for him. In order for the team to do well, they had to work together in ALL areas. 

Co-op – Kaleb is in a small group with three other boys and they are working on science experiments together (some edible and some just for fun). It’s been a lot of fun and something he looks forward to twice a month. 

As for all the extras (art, Bible, geography), those are all subjects we are rotating through as we have time during the day. The programs we started with (other than history) have been working very well and in just a bit we will be back in the full swing of the school year!

How is your year going? 

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Filed Under: 5th Grade, Curriculum Choices, Kaleb, Weekly Wrap Up 7 Comments

7th Grade Mid-Year Homeschool Update

Dec212017
December 21, 2017 by 1 Comment

The past few days I’ve shared a mid-year update for our 11th grader and also one for our 9th grader – today, our 7th grader, Zachary, is on deck.

In the first bit of this school year, our boy managed to become both a teenager and also pass me in height. Zachary is currently eyeball-to-eyeball with his dad, but OY!

Incidentally, boy wonder has one of two dress codes, even when the weather is freezing: a sweatshirt and pants or NO SHIRT and shorts. Because of his growth spurt lately, I’m rather inclined to let the shorts go all winter and not deal with finding him pants unless absolutely necessary. (true story)

I’ve realized we have very few pictures of him this year. Someone isn’t as happy to see the camera pulled out most days. :) 

7th Grade Homeschool Update

One thing that we started this year – watching CNN10 in the morning with both boys. They have really enjoyed this addition (and it’s only 10 minutes to our day). Our biggest frustration with it is our streaming speed. Inevitably it freezes up as we are watching and it’s easy to get distracted and/or sidetracked because they want to finish it. 

Here’s a peek at what we have been working on this year for 7th grade: 

 

History – One of the main switch ups for us this year was our history program. Granted, it wasn’t huge, but around the end of October Zachary mentioned that he wasn’t particularly enjoying the history we were using (not a set curriculum per se, but it just wasn’t working overall). After one lesson, Zachary started spouting off all this information about the topic that he had learned years prior via Mystery of History. 

At that point he asked if we could use that program instead. We’ve gone through the set with the kids in years prior and have all the books, so we pulled them out and have been working through books 1 and 2 instead. 

Writing – This is one area that is pushing Zachary into a bit more independence this year. I had his WriteShop 1 text printed and spiral bound which has been GREAT for him – mainly because he can’t lose it. (cough)

Not that my child loses anything. Ever. 

I truly love the WriteShop program and the foundation it lays for future years with our kids. It has been instrumental in helping our girls become the writers they are and is encouraging to see Zachary working hard in this area as well. 

Boy Scouts – Granted, I know it’s not on the list, but Zachary has been rather motivated by Boy Scouts this year and moving up in rank. Kaleb was able to join this fall too. His troop is working through one badge a month (above would be part of his cooking badge). 

It’s been great too seeing him take his brother alongside and help him out with Scouts as well and also more leadership with his troop. He ultimately would like to become an Eagle Scout by the time he is 16. 

Science – This is one area that Zachary has been moving through rather quickly. Typically he is supposed to work through 2 lessons and one lab each week, but he ends up working on more lessons. 

He’ll complete his book before the end of the year for sure, so we are looking at some other options (STEM related) for him to add-on. 

Co-op – We only have one co-op we are a part of this year, and Zachary has been working on a forensics class. It’s one we pieced together using several different texts for our middle schoolers and has focused on different areas such as handwriting samples, fingerprints, and other similar topics the last few months. 

Bible – Zachary has almost finished up the last two books in the Who is God series. This is another area that he has been working ahead in. 

Vocabulary: We actually haven’t started this yet! We will be starting after the first of January on this. 

Math: Pre-Algebra is actually going great! Truly. :) It may not be his favorite of all subjects, but he is doing well and that’t the important part. 

 

How is YOUR year going so far? 

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Filed Under: 7th Grade, Middle School, School Year Updates, Weekly Wrap Up, Zachary 1 Comment

9th Grade Mid-Year Homeschool Update

Dec192017
December 19, 2017 by 2 Comments

Yesterday I shared a bit about how our 11th grader is doing mid-year and today I’d love to share a little about our 9th grader, McKenna is faring. 

In short – fabulous. 

This has been a year of her discovering new passions and jumping in with both feet. There are still struggles to find the right fun:work ratio (fun is always more tempting, isn’t it?), but McKenna has been doing great finding her own groove. Granted, it isn’t always the way I might have her do it, but for me that’s also a part of this whole high school journey – guiding her, but giving her the freedom to make her own decisions (and helping redirect her when needed). 

9th Grade Homeschool Update

McKenna has 7.5 credits on her plate for this year. Several of the classes are using programs we have used in past years (history, math, literature, and Latin), and a few of them are new to her (or us) this year. We did make a change in one program around the end of October (biology), which I’ll share more about below.  

History – Notgrass has a great format that we really enjoy. Each lesson is broken up over the course of five days and has a weekly quiz and project. We are only using the history portion of the program (it includes a literature and Bible portion as well, but we have opted not to use either of those). 

Science – This is an area where we’ve made a big switch this fall. We are working on this class with another family and together decided to change programs. We started out with Biology from Science Shepherd, a program we used with our oldest a few years ago. When Laurianna worked through it, one of our other friends taught both her daughter and Laurianna. 

While the program wasn’t quite what we expected, when we pulled it out this year to go through with two new girls, both were struggling to fully comprehend some of the concepts – and truthfully, the moms were having a hard time too. Some of the answers were hidden in subtext and odd places and trying to wade through was rather difficult. We did love the labs we were working on and worked through nine chapters before making our switch.

We found a new program, The Riot and the Dance, which we really liked the layout of and found it explained things in a way our girls both understood much more clearly. The book is full of hand-drawn illustrations and analogies that give you an “aha” moment – something we love. 

Our plan with this is to merge some of the labs from the new program with the ones we had initially planned on doing with our other biology program (I may like the mashup we’ve put together). One other thing that we like about this program as well is there are weekly quizzes at the end of each chapter, tests after every three chapters, and then unit tests so the girls are constantly reviewing the information they are learning. 

(So far our only complaint is there isn’t an answer key for the chapter questions at the end of each lesson.)

Drama – This has BY FAR been one of the best things we decided to do with McKenna. She loves singing and truly has an amazing and unique voice (yes, I know we are biased parents, but she does) and stepped out of her comfort zone and auditioned for a role in Les Miserables. 

Acting is something she has decided she would like to continue pursuing in the upcoming years. Auditioning was a challenge for her since she had never done anything like it before, but when she was placed in a part (not the part she had hoped for), she fully embraced it and ran with it. 

Over the course of the class she made some great new friends, and as parents we learned the ins and outs of working behind the scenes. Rick helped out by running sound for the production (something he loves). This past month, Rick has also been looking at various recording programs for the kids to use as they record some music together. 

Literature/Writing – One of the books we read this year, The Count of Monte Cristo, about kicked McKenna’s bum. Weighing in at 1200 pages, it was about the death of her. This is one of the classes we are working on with a few other kids and so far they have read through four different books: Robinson Crusoe, Walden, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Heart of Darkness. 

During the spring semester we will read through four more books. Each of the book units takes us four weeks to work through and the kids work through a cycle of three papers: an author profile, an approach paper, and an essay. One of the weeks the kids work on peer reviews of each others papers and then take an extra week to make adjustments to their paper. 

Latin –  Visual Latin is one of McKenna’s “no problem” classes. She is in her second year of the program and loves the teacher. 

Personal Finance – I love seeing a subject carry over into real life. McKenna has been fully embracing the principles being taught in Foundations in Personal Finance. One of the first things we covered was putting aside the $500 emergency fund which she recently completed. 

Her next goal is saving for a car, even though she still has a bit of time until she will have her license (she has a little over a year until that can happen), but it’s great seeing her set goals for herself and treat her money with responsibility and planning. 

Currently we are talking about not incurring debt when attending college, and as she follows along with her older sister’s journey, it’s a great hands-on look at how there are other options available when working toward a degree. It’s also given her some time to sit and consider what she would like to do after college (still deciding on that). 

Math – Geometry is the subject of the year for McKenna. Math really isn’t her favorite subject – ever – but many days you can find Kaleb sitting along side her with her explaining things to him. It’s rather sweet. 

Swim – Over the course of this fall McKenna hasn’t been able to participate in as many meets as she would have like because of the weekly drama classes. The next few weeks have us in a bit of a lull, but things will pick back up after the start of the year.

 

That’s about it for our 9th grader up to this point. You can read our 11th grade mid-year update here. I’ll be sharing how our 7th and 5th grader are doing as well soon. 

How is your year going so far? 

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Filed Under: 9th Grade, Curriculum Choices, McKenna, Weekly Wrap Up 2 Comments

11th Grade Mid Year Homeschool Update

Dec182017
December 18, 2017 by 5 Comments

With four kiddos, it seems a bit overwhelming to share a mid-year update all in one post. For both my sanity (and yours), breaking it up over a few individual posts makes a little more sense, no? 

This week I’ll be sharing a bit about each of the kids and will start off with our 11th grader, Laurianna.

There is a tricky balance in this year for me personally with Laurianna. There have been a lot of firsts: getting her drivers license just before we started school, taking classes outside the home, visiting colleges… exciting things for sure, but my mom heart is really having a hard time in some many ways. 

Watching your firstborn grow up and become independent is a hard and scary thing. On the one hand, this is what you have been wanting and praying for over the years. On the other hand, there is a releasing that is oh-so-difficult. There is joy is seeing passions develop and grow, and meanwhile the reality that there are only a few years left with her at home can quickly overwhelm. 

11th Grade Homeschool Update

Last year this time we were dealing with some major health issues with Laurianna, and the start of this year had us still visiting various specialists (it’s been the year of medical bills to say the least). Since the start of the fall, Laurianna has had a few rough days health-wise, but overall she has really been doing much better. 

And that alone, people, has made a WORLD of difference. 

This fall Laurianna had four classes on her plate. Two of those classes were completed at the local community college and the other two will carry over into the spring (math and foreign language): 

Laurianna has really THRIVED in her classes at the community college. She has jumped in and truly applied herself, working extremely hard at all she does. 

(Sometimes to the detriment of her classes at home – just saying). 

While it’s great to see her pushing herself and excelling in her classes at college, we have had talks at home recently about not forgetting there is a balance – and still other classes that need to be completed as well. Again with the balance. 

This is where the newer independence of having a license, friends that are more accessible now thanks to said license, working, and all the fun stuff come into play and create some wonderful life lessons. 

Grades for her fall classes at the community college are in and hands down her favorite class was Anatomy & Physiology. She loved both her professor and the content, which made it a definite favorite – and she can’t wait for the second class in the spring semester. 

Her English class was honestly not well-loved, mainly due to her professor. In that aspect, she is rather thankful it was only one semester – and we have also learned the value of reading reviews of potential professors via the Rate My Professor site. While we realize some of the ratings are subjective, as we read through her current professors reviews, we definitely could agree with much of what was said for both of them. 

All that said, I am rather thankful that Laurianna had a taste of two completely different teaching styles and had to figure out how to work toward her goals for each of the classes. 

As for her classes at home (I suppose you could say the true homeschooling, eh?), she is plodding through Pre-Calculus – and I mean that quite literally. Laurianna hasn’t been overjoyed with the subject (she would rather be done with math, thank you very much), but this is her final math class for high school. 

11th Grade Changes and Updates

For the spring semester, Laurianna will have a few changes to her schedule. She has completed two college-level classes so far this year and received a high school credit for each (earning 2 credits so far). Here’s a peek at the spring classes, where she will be focusing on three more classes that will apply toward her nursing major: 

At some point in the upcoming months, Laurianna will also take her SAT test. She completed her PSAT and will be going through a prep class this spring too. 

Laurianna has also been babysitting (a LOT) and working for a local small business, both of which she loves. This summer she met a few new families and really connected with them, making it even better since they are regular jobs that help her keep up with her monthly expenses. Having your own car is great, but you need to keep it running! :) 

As for college, we do have a bit of time for final decisions, but it has been great to sit down with the university Laurianna wants to attend and also our community college to map out a plan for the upcoming years. Initially she had wanted to attend all four years at the university, but the more we have talked to both schools, the better option appears to be a few years at community college and then completing her degree at the university through a RN to BSN program the two work together on. This program will also save us a significant amount of money in the long run as well, so double win. 

One plug I will make here: don’t be afraid to contact colleges your child is interested in attending and reach out to them with questions. It can be overwhelming, but it has also been wonderfully informative. The earlier you can reach out, the better too! Talking to the colleges has given us a game plan for the remaining time Laurianna has in high school (I’ll be sharing more on that later) and calmed my nerves quite a bit! 

Stay tuned – I’ll be sharing more on the other kids in the upcoming days. :)

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Filed Under: 11th grade, Curriculum Choices, Laurianna, Weekly Wrap Up 5 Comments