Homeschool Mother's Journal - 10

Just a typical day :)

In my life this week.... Last week was all about roof repairs (which incidentally we are doing ourselves because NO contractors have time in the near future due to making repairs after the hurricane)...anyway, this week...my front loading washing machine kept my clothes hostage for several hours until I played with it enough for the door to unlock.  We have the original Neptune Washer.  It's 13 years old.  We knew a few weeks ago that it was on its' last legs, but the hubby wanted another front loader and I, the primary laundress, have been saying that I wanted a top loader for thirteen years (he picked out the Neptune 13 years ago because of its' energy efficiency).  I am constantly starting a load of laundry and finding "one more thing" I could have thrown in; I have issues with keeping the door closed and fear of mold growing....  Anyway, we could not come to an agreement on what washer to buy a few weeks ago, but now that this one WENT I made the judicious decision while my husband was sleeping to buy a High Efficiency Top Loader--Best of Both Worlds!  The one we bought uses less energy than a front loader, so my carbon-foot-print-reducing-obsessed husband is happy and it is top loading so I can throw in that sock that I always find after the door locks on the front loader!

In our homeschool this week.... A mastered finding the area and the circumference of circles in Math and P mastered mean, media and mode averages.

We have been doing an experiment with beans, some in the dark, some in the light and charting their growth.  The ones in the dark grew faster.  Now we are trying to determine if their placement (taped on paper in different directions) has anything to do with how fast they sprout.

The girls finished Week 9 in their writing curriculum.  As part of her assignment on descriptions this week, A wrote a paragraph that could be the beginning of an awesome novel!  They began writing a play with roles for many of our Thanksgiving guests.  They will take a break from their formal Writing curriculum until after Thanksgiving so they can fine-tune this play.  (This is a big deal for me, I feel that it is right, but I am so afraid that the Curriculum Police are going to show up and throw me in a dungeon for abandoning curriculum for a week!)

We finished reading From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and prepared for our trip to the Met this weekend!  We are getting very excited for the trip--and have some things we will be looking for in the museum!

We are taking a break from Medieval history to study the pilgrims' journey to the New World, which we will continue until Thanksgiving.  We are also excited to start reading The Courage of Sarah Noble next week!

Helpful homeschool tips or advice to share... last year read-alouds did not work for us.  The girls ended up finishing the books on their own because they couldn't wait for me to get home from work to finish a chapter!  This year, we are enjoying reading together.  I do have to thank Mary at Homegrown Learners for her inspiration in this area!  My advice is: even if something doesn't work for you now, it may down the road...

I am inspired by... Ohio!!!!!

Places we are going and people we are seeing...As A said Sunday night, "We have a packed week!"  Monday the girls had sewing lessons, Tuesday they came to work with me and had choir and youth group; Wednesday was their first Drawing Club; Thursday was homeschool soccer and lunch with my grandma and Friday they spent time with their public school friends who are on break from school this week for Teacher's In-Service!

My favorite thing this week was... Jason and I often go for walks together in the evening to just talk and be together.  On Monday the girls decided to come with us...we joked about going trick-or-treating again and then ended up deciding to Christmas carol for our homeschool neighbors.  It was a blast!

What's working/not working for us... having a full social calendar means that we don't get as much school work done...we are working on creating balance!

Time with my Grandma is priceless :)

Questions/Thoughts I have... if you go out in the morning, do you discipline yourself to get math or other 'school work' done in the afternoon?  We don't seem able to do this.  Once we get home, we all want to just do our own thing.

Things I am working on... trying not to worry about the future and remembering that God is in charge!

We are reading.... A's Writing curriculum had an excerpt from The Hobbit and A expressed an interest in reading it.  Jason was all over it, as the Lord of the Rings trilogy is among his favorite books. Jason has been reading and discussing the books with A!

I'm cooking.... chicken parmigiana, caldo de pollo, soy & ginger marinated pork chops and pasta with cranberries & Pumpkin seeds in a brown butter-sage sauce.

I'm grateful for.... my MOM and DAD who pick the girls up on Mondays so I can work; they take the girls out to lunch and my mom gives them sewing lessons and then my dad brings them home when I get out of work!

I'm praying for.... Our leaders and also, since we can't get anyone to call us back on the roof, I am praying that Jason and I will be able to install the soffitt vents over Thanksgiving weekend and they do the trick!

This weekend I am looking forward to.... going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, getting to see the Egyptian area through the girls' eyes and spending time with my Aunt and Uncle!

A photo, video or quote to share...  This sweet little girls created a little nest for herself at homeschool soccer and then burrowed down to write in a journal.