Whew! I made it through these past two weeks.

 

 

In my homeschool life these past two weeks…

We have done quite a bit of outdoor activities.

We took a scenic route and had a dinner picnic. 

We got in our first boating trip of the season.  I love that my Father-in-law owns a boat. The best thing about our boating trip was all of the neat things we were able to look at with the Discovery Scope (Review coming).  We saw a ladybug and the water we were swimming in.  (Do this after you get out of the lake, EWWW!)  We were able to check out the sand and even some of our lunch.

We went on a hike and had a picnic lunch.  The hike was a little harder than I would have normally taken Tyler on to walk.  I usually stick him piggy back style in my Moby.

We made it and enjoyed our lunch and played around a while in the shade of the caves and arch.  The hike back out was much easier. 

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

It has also been softball tournaments week and will go into next week.  We have been very busy practicing and spending some of our evenings at the softball field for games.

My favorite thing this week was…

Tommy advanced belts in his mixed martial arts.  He worked hard and practiced every day even outside of class.  I am so proud of him.

What’s working working for us…

Our summer schedule has been working out nicely.   Emily has been getting in typing each day.  Using Keyboarding for the Christian School.  Tommy has been doing copy each day using Copywork for Future Heroes.   Along with that we have been alternating our math choices each day between IXL and Prof B.  Then each of the kids have choice reading for at least 20 minutes each day.

We’re reading… 

Tommy finished The Hunger Games and is now reading My Side of the Mountain.   Emily is reading Catching Fire.  Katey reads any easy reader book she can get her hands on, but only for the amount of time I make her read.  I cannot wait for her to pick up a book on her own and read by choice.  I am reading Mockingjay.   

We’re cooking… Emily has been in a baking mood.  She has made blueberry muffins twice, from a box, but whatever.  I have really been enjoying the Pressure Cooker I got for Mother’s Day.  Tonight I made a vegetarian dinner.  Vegetable Casserole.  Just get any veggies you have and mix with cream of mushroom soup and pressure cook until done, about 10 minutes.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

We were washing our truck one day and Tyler got ahold of the hose and squirted it right at Dad.  It was hilarious. 

This post is linked to:

 Homeschool Mother’s Journal

Weekly Wrap Up.

Route 66 Vacation

 

I have always thought about how fun it would be to take a Route 66 vacation.  I have family that lives in Arizona near Route 66.  This spring while we were down in Arizona we spent some time traveling Route 66. 

Our first stop was Oatman, Arizona.  An old mining town.  We got to feed Burro’s.

See a gun fight.

Feed some more burro’s.

Went into an old gold mine.

 

Eat at a really neat restaurant and left our old time tab there.

Fed even more burros. 

We went out to the Desert Bar, where they have an outdoor church. 

We got in lots and lots of swimming, on the lake and in the pool.

Then we headed back onto Route 66 and headed to the Grand Canyon Caverns. 

We are huge Cars the movie fans around here.  We got to see Peach Springs, (Radiator Springs was named after Peach Springs.)  We got to see the fire truck that inspired Big Red.

We went into the Caverns and discovered that they are a fall out shelter for over 2000 people.  

We had so much fun.  Next year we hope to actually go to the Grand Canyon.  

Summer schooling plans & goals.

 

 

We usually take our summers lighter on the book learning and let natural learning desires shine.

This summer is going to be a little different for us.  As some of you may have heard The Old Schoolhouse has changed in a few ways and one of those is that we are going to be doing reviews through the summer. 

On top of reviews this summer we are also going to have a 3 subject day.  Which will include 20 minutes of reading a book of choice.  Which we all have set personal reading goals.  (I will blog about those a little later)  20 minutes or one lesson of math.  Of which I am letting them do fun math.  Such as internet games, fun worksheets, especially reviewing items in which they struggled this past year.  The 3rd subject can be their choice.  Right now Emily is doing History.  Tommy is learning about Pioneers and preparing to go on TREK. ( A 3 day pioneer reenactment).  Katey is doing preschool with Tyler.  (Before Five in a Row.  These 3rd subjects are able to be changed at any time.  I know that Emily is looking at taking a photography class as well as learning to type better and get in more sewing.  Tommy is looking at learning more life skills as well.  He would like to get better at yard work, learn more mechanic skills, (like how to change a tire, change oil, etc.).  Katey likes the relaxed arts and crafts preschool time with Tyler.  I think she will continue to enjoy that, but if she wants more I will be ready to let her. 

We are also planning some camping trips and fun things to do right around our town. 

I am hoping to get all of  our next years schooling planned out.  However I would like to leave room for “rabbit trail” learning.

Homeschool Mother’s Journal Summer Edition 6/3

In my life this week…   We officially finished school last Friday!  This week has been crazy.  We were out of town over Memorial Weekend and returned home late Sunday night.  Tommy had to put flags out in people’s yards throughout the neighborhood with his scouts on Monday.  Then on Thursday we had some family come to the city, so we drove 4 hours to go visit with them.  We stayed there until tonight (Sunday).  We had such fun with them, but we are so glad to be home! 

In our homeschool this week… Even with all the traveling we still are sticking to our summer school schedule, which I will be blogging about very soon.  I will share the basics here.  Each day at least 20 minutes of reading (child’s choice).  20 minutes of math practice using IXL (review coming soon) or Professor B Math (review also coming soon) and one more subject.  Choice for the most part.  Emily is working on finishing up a Civil War unit in history.  Tommy is working on some writing skills using Copywork for Future Heroes (review coming soon).  Katey’s subject choice has been to join in with Tyler’s Before Five in a Row activities. 

I am inspired by… A single homeschool mom I know.  Who homeschools her 4 children and goes to nursing school full time as well as working part time.  I have no idea when she sleeps.  She is amazing!  I know she has great support and a little help.  But, WOW!!

My favorite thing this week was…  B…..B……B……Boating.  We love watersports.  We went boating on Friday and the weather and water was absolutely perfect!

What’s working/not working for us…  Taking summers easy but not letting the learning stop works for us.  We also have an Amish hour each day.  Where we turn off all electronics and find something else to do.  Most days I don’t even have to kick kids off of electronics, they are usually already doing other things.  But they still know that we have Amish hour each day about 2pm.

Things I’m working on… I have a few goals I am working on for the month of June.  Here they are.

I’m reading… I am in the middle of Mockingjay
  The third book in The Hunger Games series.  After that I have set a goal to reread the entire Harry Potter series before September. 

I’m cooking…  I got an Electric Pressure Cooker for Mother’s Day so I have been practicing using that. I have made rice bowls

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

I got some amazing pictures of the moon tonight.  It was purely beautiful.

June Goals

 

 

I have loved these goal setting posts.  They do keep me motivated because I feel slightly more accountable. 

I know I know I haven’t done a post for May.  However, mistakes don’t make me give up.

So starting fresh with June

~ I would really like to blog more.  I feel sometimes that it is an outlet for me.  I enjoy sharing stuff.  Blogs really helped me with my beginning homeschooling years.  Actually who am I kidding, they still help me.  I want to do this without being a “slave to the blog.”  There was a point in time that I had my kids do things just so I could post them on my blog.  Shameful, I know.  They were fun things, it is just sometimes they didn’t fit into our day right.  I hope I am going to be able to do both of these things (build my blog without being a slave to it)  with the help of Mama Jenn and her blogging planner!

~ I NEED to cut down our grocery budget.  I currently spend about $1000 a month between gas for the cars and groceries.  This budget has to be cut down drastically.  I plan on doing this by most likely not doing EMeals anymore.  I have loved it, but I do need to feed my family cheaper.  I may try to alter their menu plans to be cheaper by switching out sides expensive meals.  I am also going to go back to couponing.  Not extreme couponing but using Grocery Smarts and having a spending book where I write down every time we spend any cash or money at the grocery store/ gas station/ etc.  I will let you know how that goes.  We can do this. I haven’t had a car payment in over a year and we just purchased a new truck, so that is the reason for these cut backs!  There are more cutbacks we are making besides groceries.

~ I want to be more on top of things around the house.  I can wash clothes all day long, it is the folding and taking care of that I despise. I want to feel like my house is clean again, like I can be on top of it.  It is not that it is dirty. It is the everyday stuff that gets me, picking up, dishes, cooking, etc.  I am going to really work on having a happy heart while working on this.  We do 15 min quick cleans once or twice a day but I still feel like I need 15 min cleans every hour. I will be writing about those later this month also. 

I am feeling like these things will be great for me to work on.  I can sense that June will be a great month.  We have really simplified our schooling process for the summer.  I feel that I will be able to focus on household things more and get them more organized and into a routine which will in turn help next school year go much more smoothly. 

 

O is for Opportunity

There have been many times in my life when I have been handed an opportunity and it came by way of scaring me out of my comfort zone. 

 

Let me share a few examples of them with you.

About 1 1/2 years ago my husband sensed layoffs coming and began to look for another job.  He found one in a small town more than 200 miles away from anyone we know.  We decided to think and pray about it.  The next day we were given our answer loud and clear.  He was laid off.  We were lucky enough to have family looking for a place to rent.  So we rented out our house to them.  We packed up our 4 kids and moved.  It was absolutely the scariest thing I have ever done.  If we failed we would be all alone.  I did leave myself some cushion, or at least, these things made me feel better.  I still had my house in my old town to go back to if the job and town didn’t work out.  It is “only” a 4 hour drive “back home”. 

Well here we are just over a year later and I have been extremely happy with the town we live in and my husband has been extremely happy with his job. We recently sold the house in our old town.  While I definitely miss family down there.  This new town is my new home. 

Looking back I realize what an opportunity this has been for my family.  Ever since I married my husband (almost 9 years ago), we have talked about moving to a small town.  This job gave us that opportunity.  My kids are so happy and so are we! 

While there are lots of homeschoolers there, an active homeschool group was almost non-existent.  I decided to plan a Valentine’s Day party and met quite a few homeschoolers there.  I found out about a great Karate Studio that quite a few homeschool and public school kids go to.  I also found out about the very few co-op classes taught by moms.  My daughter did take a co-op class this year.  Next year is looking much more active.  We have been planning field trips, rotating who is planning what.  We are planning much more co-op classes.  I am even going to teach one.  I don’t know which one. 

I cannot even begin to tell you how many opportunities have been because we JUMPED out of our comfort zone and took the huge risk we took. 

Opportunity has also came to me by way of homeschooling. We have been able to take off peak vacations (soon I will write about our Route 66 trip we just got back from).  We have been able to go back to the city to see family when someone has got sick or is visiting from out of state.  My kids still learn while we are on vacations, however I feel it is extremely important to have a strong sense of family and compassion. 

 

Who Lives in the Sea?

 

 

 

What if I told you you could Dive Into Your Imagination to find out?  (what a fun play on words!)

Dive Into Your Imagination is a video series created by Annie Crawley (known as Ocean Annie).  She has been an underwater photographer, a ship captain and a diving instructor.  Now she wants to share some of her knowledge with us!  She will do it through captivating underwater scenes, as well as help us remember with some fun songs.

 

In this series there are 3 DVD videos:

Dive Into Diversity

What Makes a Fish a Fish?

and the one I received, Who Lives in the Sea?

But wait, there’s more.  Ocean Annie has now created educator guides to go along with the videos.  These are packed full, and I mean packed full with great ways to take your child’s interest in ocean life farther than I could have imagined.  Who Lives in the Sea Educator Guides are available in two age-group versions. Each educator guide covers eight chapters with 6-7 activity station per chapter aligned with common core and next generation standards. As your students explore amazing animals such as dolphins, sea lions, cephalopods, and whale sharks, they will learn literacy, science, math, geography and more. There are more than 150 extension ideas to keep your imagination flowing!

Now, I do believe that the educator guides were written with public schools in mind.  The price point for these is $299.  Don’t go running away screaming, just yet.  Ocean Annie knows that price is out of many homeschoolers budgets.  She is offering the accompanying guide free as a PDF version to homeschoolers who purchase the DVD at $19.95.   Plus to give us a double bonus, for the month of June she is also offering free shipping.  There are some details of how to receive these special offers.  To get the educator guide for free you must specify in the notes that you are a homeschooler.  DO NOT ADD THEM TO YOUR CART, unless of course you want to pay full price.  She will get them emailed to you.   I would also suggest that you act fast as I am not sure how long these specials will be going on for. 

Wouldn’t this be a fun learning opportunity for summer?

 

To see what others thought of this check out this post. To see a wide variety of reviews check out our crew blog.

Disclosure: As a member of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew I review products like this, which I receive for free in order to be able to share my honest opinion.