Last Report for summer 2011

This week CC read A Winter's Tale, The Tempest, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Secret Garden, Stories from Ireland, and a couple more Max Axioms.  She's having trouble with the Secret Garden because she doesn't like the main character which is new for her. She's doing math and reading daily along with using some iPad apps to play with geography and presidents.  She loved her first day of her new enrichment school.

I started reading  A Treasury of Children's Literature to LB.  She restarted her tap dancing class.  She's still doing phonics daily and enjoying lots of free play and stories.

We went to the pool, judo, mini-golf, and many nature walks.  The girls spent a hot day playing in the shade of our big tree.  LB woke up before me one morning to do her phonics (seriously, I hadn't even turned on the coffee pot yet).  We had Friday science with our friends.


Nothing really says "End of Summer" like buying those school supplies.  Picture me at 8pm on Tuesday night at Staples  trying to find the last two items on our extremely ridiculous school supply list for the one-day-a-week ps school.  I need 1 Red 1/2 inch binder with two inside pockets and 200 lined 3 1/2 x 5 inch index cards.   I start with the nearly empty school supply bins.  Where are those index cards?  I give up and move to the binders.  There are no red binders left.  None. Zero.  Zilch.  Ten minutes later, I find a 1 inch red binder with inside pockets dumped on the bottom of a clearance rack and grab it then start checking the upper shelves where they keep the extras.  I finally find a red half inch binder under a stack of tabs (I needed 8 of those too).  I choose to go with the red half inch with no inside pockets and abandon my red one inch with the inside pockets.   After 30 minutes, I am halfway done with my list.   I decide to check the other side of the store to see what's there because I am boring myself with school supplies, and there they are.  The ruled index cards.  I actually feel a momentary feeling of victory then laugh at myself and return home.  Summer must be over by now.

Summer Report 7

Momma bear enjoyed our cottonwood tree before she took the cubs further away

Summer is starting to look more like school around here.  I finally pressed "Buy" on my Rainbow Resource order.  One thing was on backorder so it will be maybe two weeks before we get the last of the school books.   CC went back to fencing.  LB will start back to tap dancing next week.  We had our last summer park day with our friends. I've ordered an extra inhaler for CC to leave at her enrichment school and printed out the forms so she can carry one.  We also bought new shoes for school and started choosing fall clothes.  There's just been a bit more hustle and bustle around here.

Before the haircut and before BB went back to Japan

CC spent most of the summer reading Jules Verne books, but has switched over to Heidi for a change of pace and also read Stories from Scotland this week. I picked up some Max Axiom books to see what level they would be around here.  CC likes them, but I think the science content level is a little low for 5th grade.   She started reading a brain book that I bought to accompany our science unit and really enjoyed it.  She's almost finished with the MM geometry book that I'd printed out for her to use during the summer.  She wants to continue doing  geometry alongside LoF Decimals when school starts.  She also tried on her uniform and met her new teachers. 

I had counted the lessons in LB's ETC 3 book and marked when she'd start the school year so I could put the lesson numbers in my weekly plans.  When she saw the marks in her book, she decided that she should be doing the first grade work now and caught herself up to those lessons.  It is really good that she's ahead of my plan, but it kind of ruins my plan.  I guess I'll just remove the lesson numbers from my spreadsheet instead of trying to keep ahead of her.


Hubby and I took a day off this week to celebrate our birthdays and anniversary.  It was terrific to spend most of day with just the man I love.

A view from our hike this week

Where we stopped for a birthday lunch

Happy Birthday

Summer Report 6

Our Favorite Spot for Dinner

I guess we aren't the only ones that like this shady spot behind our house

No need for the book to identify those tracks, but it is good to double check

A lovely new path

A beautiful place to hike

It is hard to try to tell a story from this week because it was long and strange. Bears moved into the wonderful woody area behind our house. We hiked a wonderful trail that we'd never tried before. BB went back to Japan. CC went from long hair to a pixie cut. LB was sick most of the week. I managed to get a migraine the day I was getting over a migraine so I had the joy of two in a row. My BIG meeting at work was wonderful even though the migraines kept me from feeling as prepared as I would have liked. The weather changed from 90's to 60's then settled into the 80's.

We're still continuing our small bits of school work through the summer which have included math, reading, and phonics. This week, we started up science again with Mendelian genetics.  I replaced the ClassicQuest lab which used hair color with a Dragon Genetics Lab I had found.   The kids had a lot of fun with it.

It is always  hard to get into a rhythm after BB goes back to school.  It takes a while for a the old/new normal to settle in. 

Summer Report 5 - Packing up summer

The girls with their battle gear

I have always loved swings since I was little.  The one at the Ren. Fest. was HUGE.

Taking a break for a cold  treat

Can you imagine him telling his parents about his career plans?

Triumphant

LB teaching BB how to play the board game she created

CC creating with clay

We played Boggle last night with cookies.  BB taught LB how to play.

This week we've enjoyed the beginning of the end of summer. I finally made the last decisions on school stuff, ordered some clothes for BB to replace clothes he's just worn through while at school, ordered the material required for CC's enrichment school, made decisions on sports schedules for fall, and enjoyed the last of the Renaissance Festival for the year. In the next week, we'll buy BB a suit to wear for internship interviews and send him back to Japan for his last year of college.

This week at work, my boss told me that I had done a good job. I was told that I'm a valuable member of his team which made me feel good. And just because life is wonderful, I also received an evaluation of my job as homeschool headmistress. Last night before we played Boggle, BB sat down with LB and showed her how to play and helped her to start learning how to find words. We have special rules for early readers so she ended up outscoring me. It was wonderful to have BB initiate LB into a family game. Looking at them, I knew I have been doing a good job.

Summer report 4 - Things to do that aren't school

Climb down a tree?

Do a little research

Color with the baby

Make a water slide

Spray your sister

Walk the dog

Chase Rainbows

CC's favorite word this week is hyperbole.
LB's favorite word is hypothesis (or hypoposis as she says it).

Summer Report 3 - Reflecting on a Day and a Plan

One morning this week, CC read American Fairy Tales while she was eating breakfast. After she finished the book, she did a couple of Perplexors then worked on her MM math. LB copied graphics from a doggie supply website into a document as part of a game the girls have created. When she was done, she did a page of phonics with G-Ma. They made and ate lunch then went to a pool party with friends. It occurred to me today that this was a terrific day of learning even if it wasn't school.

I always encourage new homeschooling mothers to picture the kind of school they would want their kids to attend then work towards that. The atmosphere here was of learning that was authentic and relaxed. I want to keep that feeling in mind when I'm making plans for next year. I don't want the good things I have in mind for school to crowd out the best things.

Summer report 2

CC with Lacey and LB with Apple

Buddy, the Mutt

We are slowly getting back into the swing of summer after being gone for a couple  of weeks.  When we got back, the kids spent the first day doing art projects because they had missed art.  The next day back, we restarted our daily math, logic, and phonics.  CC declared, "I just love geometry!"  I guess two weeks isn't too long to go without math (we're working through MM Blue sets over the summer to keep things fresh until we start Fred Decimals in the fall).   LB read one of her phonics readers and  realized that she was really good at reading still.

One of the series of hands and feet by LB, the kitchen floor was nice too

Part of the playset CC is making for small toys she's also making

The girls spent the day yesterday playing outside all day and guarding the new chickens in case our mutt, Buddy, decided that the new chickens are fair game.  Today, CC is off to watch Harry Potter with hubby while LB is making a treasure map and planning a treasure hunt in the yard.  BB stayed behind in FL to visit more family.

As for me, next time I go on vacation, I should really make room for a day to rest when I get back before I start work.  I have suitcases to unpack.  But if I planned an extra day, I'd just decide to spend it on vacation too.  Oh well.   At least I know what I'm doing this weekend.

Beach trip, Home

After  two weeks and 3000 miles, we are home.

I'll miss the beach

Beach trip - the homecoming and 4th of July

After a week at the beach, we turned left and headed inland to the land of my youth and my family's family.

The Woods where I spent my youth

My Old House

Berries

Flowers

A Parade

Fireworks

Home

Beach Trip Day 5

BB being washed ashore

CC getting ready for more boogie boarding

My sister riding a wave ashore

BB carrying CC past the waves.

Thanks Surf Rescue

It was a good day at the beach.  Now time for a swim in the pool.

Beach Trip Days 1-4

After 1500 Miles and a detour through New Orleans for lunch, we're at the beach.

Gumbo and Po'Boys.  Yum

New Orleans

That is LB and my sister (she's the one holding LB above the waves)

 

 my niece is there too