I had intended to post more here on the blog once we got back into the school routine, but these first few weeks have still been busy getting everyone back on a schedule and figuring out how all of the activities fit in around that, and how to be in two or three places at one time. ;-)
I can also blame the productivity boost/crush of acquiring an iPhone and an iPad a couple of weeks ago. I've had lots of fun figuring those out. I love love love that iPad, more than the phone even. I've found lots of fun apps that are also educational and there is always a line for Momma's iPad. Last night when Ryan was gone I discovered that there is a Catan app, so watch out!
Adding a fourth official student to the homeschooling has been an adjustment. Sadie's foot is actually feeling worse instead of better, and Ava gets to have a tooth filled/capped/something $$$ next week. Ya know, the usual. This week has been particularly "fun" because the transmission on my van (a.k.a. Bessie, I have no idea why the girls picked that name) finally died after hangin on for the last 2 years. It is being rebuilt and so I have not had a car since Sunday night. That has meant that all of the driving around I usually do to get kids everywhere is further complicated by getting my husband to work and the fact that his car only holds 4 people. I can't wait for Bessie to come back home!
At least we can keep a sense of humor about the craziness that is our life!
We started the new school year on Monday, nice and early in the morning. All four kids are taking a "homeschool PE" class at the YMCA this year. It is really awesome -- they meet twice a week for 90 min, half a skill practice (this week was soccer), half swimming technique. They loved it, and I love the time off! After that we came home and got down to business. It was nice that everyone was excited to start back up.
Noteworthy event of the day: both Josh and Sadie lost a tooth on the first day of school! What are the odds?
1) The kids played in a YMCA-sponsored kickball league. It made for interesting logistics, since Ava and Sadie played different games at the same time, then Delaney and Josh would play after them (luckily on the same team). They liked it so much that they all want to play soccer in the fall! Did I mention that a nanny would really be nice??
{Ava with her kickball medal}
2) A major component of summer has been swimming. Aside from vacation or sick days, we have hit the pool almost every weekday. We rotate between the two neighborhood pools, the YMCA pool, and a friend's neighborhood pool.
3) The kids and I have done a lot of reading this summer, and I even sponsored a family reading club with prizes for completing reading goals. Josh read the Percy Jackson series (he won a Wii game). Ava had 20 books read to her (she won a Barbie). Sadie is reading 10 books aloud to me and has 4 more to go. Delaney is reading the American Girl Felicity book and also Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Both girls are learning about priorities -- remembering that if they want to finish their reading club list before school starts (the deadline), they better get busy! I finished the last two Fablehaven books, Candy Shop Wars, and am almost finished rereading Wuthering Heights (I win a pat on the back from myself).4) I have finally managed to get Josh to love playing Monopoly with me. Sometimes we play each other on Pogo, sometimes we play at the table (tournament style, which goes much faster than regular play).
5) After discovering that you get what you pay for in bed frames, we ditched our old one and just had our king mattresses on the floor. I was figuring out how to get Ryan on board to spend the $$ it would require to get the sleigh bed I was wanting, when a local furniture store cleared out all of their showroom floor models and for probably half or less of what I was going to spend on a bed, I got an entire bedroom group + a new dresser for Sadie. Gotta love a good bargain!6) I have been working on a major unpacking/decluttering/garage clean-out/closet reorganization. I have been unpacking boxes that have been moved around at least 4 times now (new rule -- no boxes in the garage, everything must be out on open shelves). I discovered that I have a habit of buying picture frames and then never putting anything in them! (But I have plans for a new display up the stairway.) This also included sorting through all of our food storage and finding new places inside for it. That led to more reading about fun ways to use food storage and to the purchase of an electric pressure cooker.
{We discovered a couple boxes of kids' books that had been hiding, it was like Christmas!}
7) We have continued to enjoy a bounteous harvest of various tomatoes and peppers. I am now making plans for a fall garden expansion that I hope to accomplish over Labor Day weekend.
8) We took what seemed like a never-ending road trip to Colorado to visit Ryan's family. What do you think my kids did a lot of? Swimming! :-D We got to know our cousins even better over the 6 days of driving -- we just might have to take another trip to Oklahoma sometime!
9) We've had another round of doctor's visits and tests with Sadie. That girl is trying to send me to an early grave! The good news is that so far the kidneys are not taking any of the blame. We have enjoyed a long time of avoiding doctors' offices, but I think that time may be coming to a close. However, we are very blessed that overall she enjoys good health and is still able to run around and play and have fun.
10) Josh turned 12 last week, he's getting to be an old man now. He took a few friends to play Laser Tag, then we had a bash over at our house with a huge water slide rental. He's old enough to enjoy some priesthood responsibility at church, and so I got him his first suit -- snazzy! It was great to have family and friends nearby to celebrate.
{Thanks Don, for snapping a pic for me on our way to church!}
{Josh after a visit to the LEGO store}
11) Ryan and I had our 14th anniversary on Monday. We were able to sneak away for a temple date while we had family in town. We definitely did not know what we were getting into 14 years ago, but dang it I love him and each year is better and better!Now we are getting ready for school to start on Monday! Summer was pretty relaxing but maybe a little too fast. I spent yesterday cleaning out the schoolroom and getting supplies ready. Today I am getting scheduling finished up (I like that I am in charge of my own "teacher work days" -- they start and stop when I say they do!). I'll do a separate post soon about what we're using with each kid this year.
I've had a few people ask me about finding fun ways to review skills with their kids over the summer. These are the tools I use year-round when we need to add a little pizzazz to our school plan. If you have some more ideas, please comment and tell me about it. Enjoy!
Some of our favorite games & resources online:
online alphabet and reading practice (my kids LOVE using this when they need a break from reading aloud to me)starfall.com
tons of online math games (my kids' favorite is Meeblings)
fun little videos about a wide variety of topics -- most fall under their paid subscription, but there are quite a few free offerings, and they have a little quiz at the end
free worksheets sorted by grade level
customize your own worksheets to review money
create your own spelling lists to review and test online
make your own D'Nealian handwriting worksheets
free graph paper -- customize your own!
create your own (LDS) scripture reading plan
All of the other stuff:
Professor Noggin -- these little trivia games can be played to learn about a wide variety of topics, and have two levels of questions so our whole family can play together. My kids LOVE these.
All of these are fun ways to teach/review math and logic concepts: Rush Hour, Qwirkle, Connect Four, Uno, Memory
Any of Peggy Kaye's books are wonderful for parents to use with their kids. She gives specific instructions for fun review games that are sorted by skill level. All of the games are quick to put together, so you can sit down, flip open the book, find a game, and be playing it after a few short minutes of prep time. Most libraries carry at least a couple of these, but you'll certainly get your $11 worth if you buy them instead.
Our favorite science store carries all kinds of kits that are fun to do. That link takes you to one of their demos for a science project you could do even without buying anything from them. Josh had fun with the 4 cylinder engine kit as a project last summer, and we ordered lots of dissection critters from them last year, too. Ewww.
Turn those creature-catching moments into educational experiences your kids will remember with a book like Pets in a Jar or other local guides. Be prepared to host an ever-changing zoo of critters on your back porch!
There have been many times that a well-meaning stranger (or even friend) has asked one of my kids, "So what did you do for school today?" MANY times my sweet little cherubs have answered, "Oh, we didn't do any school today." I used to be a bit mortified and try to explain that we actually DID do lots of school that day, but if my kids think that the stuff we did was too fun to be considered "school," then I will just take that as a compliment. I certainly don't think anyone should sit a child down at a desk and do hours of worksheets on a school day, much less on their summer break. So remember to HAVE FUN with your kids and do things that you'll both enjoy together. :-)
Today marks the last day of the school year for our kiddos, and they are plenty happy about that. (Nevermind that they will actually be doing some review stuff and all during the summer, shhhh.)
Delaney marked finishing off her math and phonics books by ceremoniously hurling them from the 2nd story balcony.
Next year we'll have a 7th grader, 5th grader, 2nd grader, and KINDERGARTNER! Aaahhh!! I think my baby Ava didn't get the memo that she's supposed to stay the baby foreverrrrrrrr.
Looking forward to a lazy summer. You can see from Sadie's nice dark olive skin that we've been getting in some good time at the pool already -- a favorite break in the afternoon after schoolwork and before dinner.
My current project has been unpacking (finally) and sorting and {gasp} purging homeschool materials. There is never enough room for all of the school stuff I want to keep. Oh well!
(I actually couldn't get all of the stuff into the same frame, so there is more than this even shows!)
The girls decided to decorate their new "boats."
That's also Delaney attempting to get some work done.
The purge is good because I've discovered a few things that I've been thinking I wanted to buy and use for next year, but had forgotten that we already had. :-p
Never got around to posting these from our trip to the San Antonio Botanical Garden back in March. It has been on our list of things to do for awhile and we can finally cross it off! The weather was really nice, and it was a fun place to check out. It's not somewhere that we would go but probably every few years, though.
Had a little blog break last week, oops! It was a very busy week and I'll tell you more about that tomorrow. Here is Josh with a "self-portrait" sculpture he did for his art class. Only 27 more days of school for him this year before summer break! He takes the state standardized tests tomorrow and the next day, then we're gonna take the last two days this week off to go camping with our church group. The K12 virtual academy has worked really well for him this year and we have already registered him again for next school year (7th grade). I still feel like it brings together some of the best things about public school and homeschooling.
I didn't take a picture of the part where he added a LEGO gun to this guy and had him shootin' everything up. :-p Boys.
Recent Comments