Weekly Wrap-up: The as-normal-as-it-gets edition

This was a pretty normal week.  Maybe a little boring.  We focused on our basics work (math, English, history, science, Latin, PE, music), had art and writing classes, and did some good reading.  I don't have any cool photos of fun experiments or fabulous projects my kids are working on.  We didn't have any field trips this week, either!  (I'm hoping to get in something good next week.) 

I wasn't going to post a wrap-up today because of our rather mundane week.  Photographs of Life of Fred math papers, writing class assignments, and programs for battle robots would be pretty dull, wouldn't they?  But I changed my mind because sometimes the week isn't full of fun and exciting stuff.  Sometimes we just have to stay home, sit down, and get some work done.  It can be hard sometimes to convince my kids that that's true; sometimes I have a hard time convincing myself!    But it's not always fun and photogenic.

My kids aren't big on projects anymore.  We read, write, and talk.  We talk a lot.  Some of our best homeschooling moments occur at the dinner table.   Our days of making a model of the Nile delta in a lasagne pan and a pyramid out of sugar cubes are over.  I am not sure I miss them!  They were fun days, but I like what's going on now too.

I've been talking and thinking about relevance a lot lately. My kids are at the age when the things they are learning have to be relevant to their lives.  They are asking "why" a lot more now.  Not "why is the sky blue" but "why is this important for me to know?"   But that really is a topic for another time.

Enjoy more Weekly Wrap-ups at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.   And post your own!  You don't need an exciting week and lots of photos.  I just noticed that Kris (our hostess) had a quiet week too.  We all love reading about the things other homeschoolers are doing.

Weekly Wrap-up: Distraction edition

This was the week of distractions:  An orthodontist appointment.  A sick child.  A car needing service.  A women's ministry meeting at church.  Documents and letters to be written and emailed or faxed. 

How am I supposed to fit in the homeschooling?

Some weeks don't seem as productive as others.  I don't like being pulled away from my kids during the day. I want to be available to them, to help them in their independent work when they need it, and to read science and history and literature to them. In my darkest moments, I know that if they were in school they'd have the full attention of their teachers at every moment; they'd never have to wait for  help with a difficult math problem or do something on their own because their teacher was too busy. 

Oh, it might not work out that way, you say?

The highlight of the week was a viewing of the IMAX movie Hubble.  We hadn't set out to see an IMAX movie this week, but we had to go to the Franklin Institute, a science museum down in Philly, to pick up a membership we'd gotten via a great internet promotion.  We went right after the orthodontist visit in which I learned that my girl needs braces now, and headgear soon.  We needed something fun after that.

The move was fabulous but the conversation afterward was even better.  All throughout the movie I was thinking about the incredible universe God created.  The images I saw and the information I learned just made it more obvious that there is a Creator.  Afterward, I was so happy to hear my kids relating the same thoughts, unsolicited by me. We spent a lot of time talking about space, God, and creation. We mused on the idea that the universe just came about randomly and wondered how anyone can believe that, given what we see every day.  (Your mileage may vary on that, and we won't hate you if that's the case.  We won't understand you, though.)   The talk went on and on.

When we got home I was able to put my hands on this book on our shelves, now apparently out of print:

This book is by the same authors:

The Hubble also has a mention in the Usborne Internet-Linked Science Encyclopedia (Usborne Internet-Linked Discovery Program) which leads to Hubblesite and more information.

So was it a productive week after all?  My children moved forward in their skills; maybe not as much as I'd have liked.  They also moved forward in their knowledge and understanding of the world, our place in it, and God's role in it.  Not so bad for a week with a distracted mom and a sick kid, eh?

See more weekly wrap-ups at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.   

Weekly Wrap-up: Food prep edition

Even though we did many other things this week, it seemed like it was all about food prep.

The Boy Scout is off on a campout again this weekend. Tomorrow is the annual "no utensils" cooking night. The boys have to devise a dinner to be cooked on the fire without cookware. As far as I can tell, the only things allowed are knives and a plastic bag for mixing.

This is not his first time doing this trip, but it's his first time in charge of a group of boys. He had to plan the meal and acquire the food, then figure out how much each boy owed for his share.

This was not easy for him. His plan is chicken cooked on hot rocks, potatoes baked in the ashes, and an attempt at "bannock bread on a stick." That's just biscuit dough wrapped around a stick and held over the low fire to bake. Apparently it is something many have tried but no one has mastered.

He also planned and has to cook two breakfast, but more conventionally - he can use a camp stove and a griddle. 

It was pretty exhausting getting all set up for this 36 hour campout. But I guess it will get easier over time.

Also this week we had a fabulous field trip, went to a carnival and confirmed that we are not carnival people, and did some actual school work. Tonight my girl had a soccer game under the lights.  That is, once the lights came on. They played the first half with sunlight, but, whoa, it started getting dark.  And darker. Someone called the city about the field lights and about half an hour later they came on.  It was a long evening.

All in all, though, a pretty good week. Still, I'm glad it's over!

As always, I'm linking up with Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.  Come join us!

Weekly Wrap-up: The homework edition

This was the week our "real" classes started up. You know, the ones that don't happen at the kitchen table or even at home; the ones with a real teacher.

And real homework.

On Wednesday it was art, taught by a teacher set free when a local private school shut down.  It was fabulous. And, the kids each got a sketchbook and some homework:  draw your favorite shoe.  It's a ballet flat for the girl, a hiking boot for the boy.  Love it.

The hiking boot drawing isn't ready for publication.  It's not due till next Wednesday, after all. 

Wednesday afternoon piano lessons started up again, with a new teacher in a new location.  "I like her style the best of all the teachers I've had."  Love that too.  Also more homework, or at least more specific homework, than any other teacher.

Thursday was beginning composition.  [Cue ominous music here.]  This is a class for older beginning writers.  I think that means kids whose moms thought they would learn to write naturally and finally had to admit that that wasn't going to happen so a class was needed. Or maybe that's just what it means for me.  This class utilizes the methods of the Institute for Excellence in Writing; the teacher came highly recommended.  The moms are invited to stay so we can learn the techniques, too, so we can help our kids (and maybe ourselves).  So far, so good. 

The homework for this class is to outline and rewrite a short article.  It's due Monday, but the kids get extra points for early submission.   Mine didn't exactly fight over the computer to get theirs typed up yesterday afternoon, but almost.

Throw in some orthodontist appointments for both kids, a back xray for my girlie to check on her scoliosis, startups of both Boy Scouts and robotics club, and there's a full week.

This was also the week of The Lord of the Rings. The boy has been disappearing as much as possible to read.  We knew he'd love it.

Like most weeks, it was a mix of good times and bad.  We didn't get as much done as I would have liked.  We never do.  I've decided that I overplan, and will continue to do so on the chance that we'll have an easy week and get everything done.  It could happen!

More weekly wrap-ups at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers!

Weekly Wrap-up: The short edition

This was the week we finally got back into a homeschoolish routine.  We got out all the books and actually did some work in all of them.  We read and discussed the Declaration of Independence; we progressed in our Bible study (The Most Important Thing You'll Ever Study: A Complete Survey of the Bible). We read our new science books (Singapore Science) and even completed a couple of observations.  (My kids would not call them experiments because they didn't involve chemicals.)   We got back into Latin (Getting Started with Latin) and English and Math.

We also had a not-back-to-school beach trip.

We also finally got back to the gym. Our local Y has a youth program twice a week for ages 10-12 in which they learn the different machines, proper weight training techniques, and gym etiquette.  At age 13 they can start visiting on their own. I need to get my 13-year-old on a routine for visiting.  My 11-year-old is still confined to the youth class, much to her disgust.  It's a great way for them to build some habits that Mama never learned. We went sporadically over the summer, skipped a few weeks, but are working on getting back into the routine.

Next week our art and composition classes start up.  The Boy Scouts start meeting again; Girl Scouts won't be far behind.  My girl starts up with her new piano teacher too.  Oh, and soccer!   Busy weeks coming up.

We're also thinking of participating in Geography Bee.  Our local homeschool group is getting some people together for group study and practice.  Not sure if we can fit that into our lives but it looks like a lot of fun.    If anyone has anything to say about it, let me know in the comments.

So that is my weekly wrap-up and a look ahead.  Check out more wrap-ups and post your own at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. 

Weekly Wrap-up: Back to work (sort of) edition

This could be subtitled:  Why Latin never gets done around here.

This was the week we were getting back to the books.  The tablework.  The math!  It was time to get back into a routine. I was all set on Sunday to get started Monday morning. 

And then my girl got invited to spend the day swimming with a friend.  Of course I said yes. It's still summer and the friend is going back to school next week.  Why not let her go?  So my boy and I did some work. Not too much.  Not as much as I'd wanted.  But we do a lot of things together so it didn't make sense to go on. 

Then there was the unexpected errand in downtown Philadelphia on Tuesday that led us to visit a science museum.

This isn't a museum; it's a church.  Isn't it a beautiful building?

On Wednesday we had to make one last trip to the YMCA pool before it shuts down.   We did a little work in the morning before we left.

On Thursday we finally stayed home and worked.  We even got the Latin in!  And a science experiment!  Composition, spelling, math tests.  Aaahhhh.  And no one complained, probably because they knew that the next day we were going on yet another field trip, to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.

It costs more than 15 cents to visit now.  But it's still a bargain!

Looking for raptors.

This had been planned for a couple of weeks, so  even though we hadn't had a full week of schoolish work  I couldn't bear to cancel it. I'm glad I didn't - it was a great day with lot of exercise, fresh air, socialization lessons, and birds.  Well, we didn't actually see many birds.  More details and pictures on this fabulous place tomorrow.  Tonight, we're going out for dinner - a rare treat. 

So there you go.  See more Weekly Wrap-ups at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Weekly Wrap-up: VBS edition

This was the week of VBS (Vacation Bible School to the uninitiated).  Our little church has one every year.  I will say straight up that VBS is not my favorite activity.  I don't know what my favorite church-related activity is, but I don't seem to have much of a heart for children's ministries.  There, I said it out loud.  Still, we participate because we love the church and thus we support the programs.  If I could not support the programs, I guess I would need to find a new church! 

Two years ago I ran the crafts, the seminarian helped with games and sound, my boy also helped with the games, and my girl was a student participant.  That was a harrowing week for me. 

Last year we had other things going on and just skipped it.  I felt a little guilty - there are never enough volunteers - but got over it.

When it was time to sign up for this year, we decided it would be a family event.  Both kids could be teen helpers. The seminarian could do sound again.  And I found myself saying I would teach pre-k and k.  It had to have been the Holy Spirit speaking through me because there is no way I would volunteer to teach the four- to six-year-old group on my own.  None. Ever.

Of course the week turned out to be fun, exhausting, annoying, boring, exciting, too loud... all together.  I received lots of hugs, had some nice talks with a little girl who is nervous about her new school, watched a sweet little boy run crazily around the play area yelling "my brakes are out!" so the big boys would chase him, and drank a lot of coffee,  Oh yeah, and presented the Gospel. 

And even though VBS was only from nine till noon, the rest of the day was shot.  We came home, ate lunch, washed the t-shirts, got ready for the next day, and vegetated.  I'm sure my kids will never recover the brain cells lost to VBS songs (Game Day Central, where heroes are made! - if you know that one, feel free to leave a comment thanking me for getting it stuck in your head again) and the hours of Xbox they played to decompress.

Want to hear a bright spot, though?  I decided to go to Costco to buy some drumsticks (the ice cream kind, not the turkey kind) for the volunteer staff. And they were on special!  A box of 16 ice cream treats for $5.99 instead of the usual $7.99!  That is an amazing price and I thank God for His providence in this small thing.

My kids were also thankful that we ran out of our usual breakfast food so they got bread pudding this morning.   It's not so very different from French toast, right?  Maybe a little more sugar.  And among the stale bits of bread in the freezer there was some whole wheat, so it's healthy!

See more Weekly Wrap-ups at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.   Post one of your own!

Weekly Wrap-up: Soccer week

While everyone else is starting school up, we're still in summer camp season. This was soccer week.

Let me tell you about these cleats.

My boy signed up for a township soccer league last year, but he had a bad season; he was sick through most of it and missed all but one game. This year he opted not to play - too many other things going on - but wanted to go to the soccer camp he'd attended last year. I wondered about the cleats. Was I really going to have to buy cleats for one week of use?

There was no way last year's cleats could fit. We'd had to buy new sneakers, church shoes, and hiking boots. Still, just before he left for Scout camp, I had him try them on. I knew he was going to say they were too tight.

To everyone's surprise, they fit. He outgrew all his other shoes - why not these? I asked him if they'd seemed loose last year. Not really, he said. Maybe a little... I checked again - are you sure they fit? I didn't want him complaining of sore feet on the second day. They were and are fine.

God stretched the shoes. That's the only explanation I can come up with.

Oh, but he's complaining about his feet hurting anyway. It's not the shoes, he says, but the wear and tear from Scout camp and now soccer camp. His feet may never be the same, he says.

We dipped our toes into the homeschool waters by doing some math review. We usually don't need a lot of review because we usually don't take the whole summer off. This was the first year we took such a long break. My boy feels some motivation/pressure this year to bring himself up in math. I attribute that to his involvement in robotics club - not because he's lacking any skills needed for it, but he's around mostly older boys and he's seeing the difference.

(This is one of the great things about homeschooling. He would be going into 8th grade if he'd been in school, and would be in the junior high robotics club if his school had one. But his group has both middle- and high-school kids in it. I love the large age range and the fact that there are older boys for him to look up to.)

We don't buy many DVDs but after enjoying the Planet Earth series (received as a gift a few years ago), we eagerly bought the newest David Attenborough set, Life. With everyone exhausted after four hours of soccer, we have been enjoying this.

For some reason my children chose the reptiles episode as the first to watch so we spent most of the hour going "ewww" and "gross" and making other noises of disgust. But they also got a kick out of the pebble toad and the pygmy gecko which led to a little googling which is another reason I love homeschooling.





See more weekly wrap-ups at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Weekly Wrap-up: Girls' week edition

This was the week the girls took over the house.

I have one girl and one boy. They are only 18 months apart and they mostly get along really well. Mostly. When one goes away, the one left behind gets a little lonely. But the girl feels it more. She needs contact! So with the boy away at camp we tried to plan as many events with girlfriends as we can. This week that meant two sleepovers and an all-day tea party.

But how do I keep those girls occupied? We are not mani-pedi sort of folks so the spa treatments are right out. Better for us are craft opportunities:

A visit to a garden for sketching:

And movies. Lots of movies.

Our house is small so the only place to have a sleepover is in the family room in front of the tv. There is something glorious about lounging in front of a movie late into the evening with no parents around to say "don't sit so close!" and groan at the lame plot lines. The girls can giggle and talk through the movie because no one cares about the dialog; they've seen it all before.

Next week the boy will be back and while there will be visiting girls in the house sometimes, it won't be quite the same.

Find more weekly wrap-ups at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Weekly Wrap-Up: The Off to Camp Edition

Where did the week go? Cliche, I know. Even my kids have been noticing how fast time slips away.

There were two main events this week: the completion of the Harry Potter Film Festival (we are all caught up now) and the Boy Scout's marathon of preparation for summer camp. This involved shopping, packing, phone calls, and lots of reminders about proper dental hygiene. Poor guy; he has an orthodontist appointment the day after he gets home.

Remember that nice clean desk from yesterday?
















This is how it looks when my Scout is getting ready for camp. If you click to enlarge, you can see I'm acquiring some new photo skills, helped along by my 11-year-old. Note the word "acquiring." Don't be too critical.

Why not just look at the rest of the living room too? At least he's leaving tomorrow. It was only like this today; yesterday his room was the staging area and I didn't have to look at it.

But it wasn't all camping prep. I also ordered more homeschool stuff and made more plans. I had planned to have the children check in on their math books so see what was left to do before moving on, but I only managed to remember to get one to do it. I was delighted - she was not - to see that her next thing is a unit test. Perfect review! I told her to do the test the next day. We both forgot. Well, I forgot. She might have just kept quiet about it.

So since we were totally unproductive and the house is covered up in camping equipment, what better thing to do than make an impromptu visit to the oh-so-cute Jack Frost Luncheonette, a local walk-up burger and ice cream place. For the first year we lived here it was very mysterious: it never opened. Then one spring day during our second year it did, but we didn't get there till almost the last day before winter closure. So far this year we've made it twice. I'd love to try their cheesesteak but so far I've just nabbed bits of my kids' gigantic ice cream cones.



An appropriate late-summer event, I think.

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Weekly Wrap-up, July 30

We are still in summer mode this week. This is the first year I've taken most of the summer off; we're usually year-rounders. We needed it, though, or maybe I just needed it. But I am starting to think about getting back to our routine before summer laziness becomes the routine. That will be hard, as August is pretty full of summer activities: Boy Scout camp for a week, then soccer skills day camp, then helping at our church Vacation Bible School.

But first we will probably complete our Harry Potter film fest. My kids came late to the Harry Potter party; my boy read the books last summer when he was 12; my girl is still thinking about it. But they are enjoying the movies. We watched four of them this week and the last two are on their way from the library!

We did about as much back-to-school shopping as we needed to, having gone way overboard with the paper and composition books and pencils in years past. We did get a cute notebook for my girl, mainly because she craves cute notebooks, and a pocket portfolio sort of thing for the Scout to keep track of his patrol and merit badge stuff. I love school supplies and was sorely tempted to buy more. But, really, we must learn self-control.

We also bought the boy some clothing for Scout camp. And a hat, to replace last year's hat not lost, but outgrown. Most of the summer hats are sold out now; it's retail fall! Get going if you need camp clothes!

We are doing a lot of reading, together and separately; this week we finished one book in the Wolves of Willoughby Chase series and started another.

We did dip our toes into the schooltime water by starting to read The War for Independence by Albert Marrin. So far, so good, though we are going a bit slowly through it, because we're still busy with summer.

Read more Weekly Wrap-ups at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Weekly Wrap-up

Every now and then (about once a week, actually) I see a reference to The Weekly Wrap-Up and think "I ought to do that sometime." But I never get around to it. Finally, I am.

The theme this week is curriculum. Homeschooling mothers love to talk curriculum! Here are our plans for the 2010/2011 school year... as I know them so far. I have two kids, roughly 6th and 8th grades.

History is always first in our house. Yes, it's a homeschool cliche. I can't help it. First half of the year will be American Revolution and the Constitution; second half will be the start of a new cycle of world history with Veritas Omnibus I. You can read how this came about here, if you like.

We have a new curriculum for Bible Study which I am very excited about: The Most Important Thing You'll Ever Study by Starr Meade. You can read more about this here.

For math, I'm sorry to say that we are picking up where we left off when we started our summer break. I had wanted to finish the books, but it didn't happen. OK, I couldn't make it happen and keep my kids and myself sane. So one child will finish Math-U-See Delta and move into Life of Fred Fractions and Key To Fractions. The other will finish the fractions books and move into Life of Fred Decimals and Key to Decimals. Whew.

Science is not decided. Science is never decided. Though my kids, at least my son, seem to have a pretty good handle on science topics. We are somewhat Charlotte Mason-ish in this way: lots of good books, observation, experiments.

For English we use a few resources. Both kids will be working in Our Mother Tongue for grammar. My boy will continue to work on his composition skills by working on Boy Scout Merit Badge worksheets (and earning the badges), article analysis, and other means as they come up. A writing curriculum does not work with this child. My girl will just write. She can do that. I use AVKO Sequential Spelling for the nonwriter/nonspeller. The child who can write can also spell. We don't use any curriculum for vocabulary except books. Both kids will read and be read to, a lot.

We'll continue Getting Started With Latin, and try to be a little more intentional and regular with it.

My girl wants to learn French so I am toying with Memoria Press First Start French. I'm still trying to decide if she is serious about it or not. She also takes piano lessons and likes lots of time for arts and crafts.

Both my children are active in Scouts, and my son participates in First Tech Robotics League so they have cool not-so-extra curriculars going on.

PE means going to the YMCA for gym time and swimming, walking/running the dog, playing with our new badminton set, and are just generally active.

I guess there is not all that much actual curriculum in there. But, those are our plans!

You can find other Weekly Wrap-Up posts, or post your own, at Weird, Unscocialized Homeschoolers.