Finally gave in and bought a science curriculum - Christian Kids Explore Chemistry. I just have to admit I need a more structured curriculum. Unfortunately I've discovered 2 typos already and of course that bothers me. But, the kids enjoyed chapter one and it gave some good background I wouldn't have gotten into. I still need to be more disciplined on doing lots more experiments.
Going along OK in MUS. The facts just don't come very well but it's getting better. I know J is anxious for more interesting math and he is getting that, a bit, with the daily math warmups and the math detective. I need to find a similar problem-solving book as we are almost done with math detective.
The reading is going well. E finished The Courage of Sarah Noble and the study guide. J is almost done with The Minstrel in the Tower. He told Dad last night that he would like to read more but is only allowed to read a chapter a day! So I fixed that this morning.
Attitudes are OKish. J had a meltdown today over not being able to play/work on airplane models until he was hungry for breakfast. But we got over it after he had some juice - blood sugar?
PE and art continue.
My own reading is going OK as I'm reading about bees a lot. Nothing with greater depth than that at this point...
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Feb. so far
Not a good logger.
Reading continues, checklists continue. J has started reading Minstrel in the Tower, E The Courage of Sarah Noble, and we are going through Progeny Press study guides. So far so good. J is on book E of Maps Charts and Graphs. It is now challenging him! Finally. He needs more challenge and so far he is enjoying it.
The next Progeny Press book I want to do is Charlotte's Web. Also, we picked up The Sword in the Tree for the homeschool book discussion group. That'll be interesting.
My own reading is going OK. Put down Hugh Ross, picked up All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes by Ken Myer. Also reading The Beekeeper's Pupil by Sara George.
Finished Ten P's In A Pod. Nice story, inspiring, not great lit. Trying to think of something really really good to get lost in. Thinking of Wind in the Willows before I miss the window on that one.
Reading continues, checklists continue. J has started reading Minstrel in the Tower, E The Courage of Sarah Noble, and we are going through Progeny Press study guides. So far so good. J is on book E of Maps Charts and Graphs. It is now challenging him! Finally. He needs more challenge and so far he is enjoying it.
The next Progeny Press book I want to do is Charlotte's Web. Also, we picked up The Sword in the Tree for the homeschool book discussion group. That'll be interesting.
My own reading is going OK. Put down Hugh Ross, picked up All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes by Ken Myer. Also reading The Beekeeper's Pupil by Sara George.
Finished Ten P's In A Pod. Nice story, inspiring, not great lit. Trying to think of something really really good to get lost in. Thinking of Wind in the Willows before I miss the window on that one.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
1/28 - 2/1
All is going pretty well. We haven't been doing so well on getting the checklists completed for each day. Something always seems to get left behind. But everyone is reading well, and pretty often, and enjoying what we are doing for the most part. Of course there are the problems of writing. We have really slowed down on MUS. The past few days I've given them tests we previously skipped. They are very easy! But perhaps that helps with confidence and reinforcement. It is nice to give an A+.
J continues in PE and is getting fewer wall sits each time, mostly. He's not gotten very many days in a row with none, however.
Both kids are enjoying our slow Bible study. I was having them read the passage to me but it is more efficient to read it over breakfast so I do it. But I should have each of them take some time to read it during the day. We stopped trying to memorize the beatitudes which we need to get back to.
Have started something new - using Progeny Press study guides for reading. J is doing the Minstrel in the Tower and E is doing The Courage of Sarah Noble. Well, he started on ch. 1 today and did well. Of course he does not want to fill out the workbook so we are doing it orally. E was to do ch. 1 and 2 but could not get beyond ch 1 for some reason. Because of company coming and time pressure, I didn't push it. Tomorrow. Of course we have our Wednesdays too.
My own reading is suffering as usual. Almost keeping up the Bible reading and of course I have my weekly Bible study. But I have two other books going: Brunelleschi's Dome and The Beekeeper's Pupil and am not doing too well on either. Maybe tonight?
J continues in PE and is getting fewer wall sits each time, mostly. He's not gotten very many days in a row with none, however.
Both kids are enjoying our slow Bible study. I was having them read the passage to me but it is more efficient to read it over breakfast so I do it. But I should have each of them take some time to read it during the day. We stopped trying to memorize the beatitudes which we need to get back to.
Have started something new - using Progeny Press study guides for reading. J is doing the Minstrel in the Tower and E is doing The Courage of Sarah Noble. Well, he started on ch. 1 today and did well. Of course he does not want to fill out the workbook so we are doing it orally. E was to do ch. 1 and 2 but could not get beyond ch 1 for some reason. Because of company coming and time pressure, I didn't push it. Tomorrow. Of course we have our Wednesdays too.
My own reading is suffering as usual. Almost keeping up the Bible reading and of course I have my weekly Bible study. But I have two other books going: Brunelleschi's Dome and The Beekeeper's Pupil and am not doing too well on either. Maybe tonight?
1/28 - 2/1
All is going pretty well. We haven't been doing so well on getting the checklists completed for each day. Something always seems to get left behind. But everyone is reading well, and pretty often, and enjoying what we are doing for the most part. Of course there are the problems of writing. We have really slowed down on MUS. The past few days I've given them tests we previously skipped. They are very easy! But perhaps that helps with confidence and reinforcement. It is nice to give an A+.
J continues in PE and is getting fewer wall sits each time, mostly. He's not gotten very many days in a row with none, however.
Both kids are enjoying our slow Bible study. I was having them read the passage to me but it is more efficient to read it over breakfast so I do it. But I should have each of them take some time to read it during the day. We stopped trying to memorize the beatitudes which we need to get back to.
Have started something new - using Progeny Press study guides for reading. J is doing the Minstrel in the Tower and E is doing The Courage of Sarah Noble. Well, he started on ch. 1 today and did well. Of course he does not want to fill out the workbook so we are doing it orally. E was to do ch. 1 and 2 but could not get beyond ch 1 for some reason. Because of company coming and time pressure, I didn't push it. Tomorrow. Of course we have our Wednesdays too.
My own reading is suffering as usual. Almost keeping up the Bible reading and of course I have my weekly Bible study. But I have two other books going: Brunelleschi's Dome and The Beekeeper's Pupil and am not doing too well on either. Maybe tonight?
J continues in PE and is getting fewer wall sits each time, mostly. He's not gotten very many days in a row with none, however.
Both kids are enjoying our slow Bible study. I was having them read the passage to me but it is more efficient to read it over breakfast so I do it. But I should have each of them take some time to read it during the day. We stopped trying to memorize the beatitudes which we need to get back to.
Have started something new - using Progeny Press study guides for reading. J is doing the Minstrel in the Tower and E is doing The Courage of Sarah Noble. Well, he started on ch. 1 today and did well. Of course he does not want to fill out the workbook so we are doing it orally. E was to do ch. 1 and 2 but could not get beyond ch 1 for some reason. Because of company coming and time pressure, I didn't push it. Tomorrow. Of course we have our Wednesdays too.
My own reading is suffering as usual. Almost keeping up the Bible reading and of course I have my weekly Bible study. But I have two other books going: Brunelleschi's Dome and The Beekeeper's Pupil and am not doing too well on either. Maybe tonight?
Friday, January 27, 2006
1/24 - 1/27
Have been doing pretty well on reading each day, along with keeping up the checklists. As usual we fall short on science. I don't understand why as the kids love experiments. But we never, or rarely, seem to get to them.
Lots of discussions about the Reformation as that's our time in history now. We read about Katherine von Bora (M. Luther's wife) in Heroes of God by Katie and Dan Montgomery. Also read about Michelangelo (M. Venezia) and Leonardo Da Vinci - J read M. Venezia's book on him. J is very excited to start studying LdV, as there is a box of "stuff" related to him waiting for us to get to him in history. Well, we are there. We also read a story about him in the Montgomery book.
In science I plan to continue using the "True Book" series and Usborne to learn about the elements, and Usborne to learn about compounds and mixtures. I do want to do more experiments.
Reading is going pretty well. Still struggling with writing. I do want to start some sort of creative writing activities but am at a loss of how to implement with my reluctant writers.
Today (1/27) - Mozart's birthday. We didn't do much as we went to the A. C. Gilbert Discovery Village in Salem. Listened to the radio broadcast of a concert in Salzburg, and heard the bells ringing at the moment of M's birth - every church in Salzburg! Rather thrilling. We have a book or two and a cd or two that I hope to get to tomorrow.
Lots of discussions about the Reformation as that's our time in history now. We read about Katherine von Bora (M. Luther's wife) in Heroes of God by Katie and Dan Montgomery. Also read about Michelangelo (M. Venezia) and Leonardo Da Vinci - J read M. Venezia's book on him. J is very excited to start studying LdV, as there is a box of "stuff" related to him waiting for us to get to him in history. Well, we are there. We also read a story about him in the Montgomery book.
In science I plan to continue using the "True Book" series and Usborne to learn about the elements, and Usborne to learn about compounds and mixtures. I do want to do more experiments.
Reading is going pretty well. Still struggling with writing. I do want to start some sort of creative writing activities but am at a loss of how to implement with my reluctant writers.
Today (1/27) - Mozart's birthday. We didn't do much as we went to the A. C. Gilbert Discovery Village in Salem. Listened to the radio broadcast of a concert in Salzburg, and heard the bells ringing at the moment of M's birth - every church in Salzburg! Rather thrilling. We have a book or two and a cd or two that I hope to get to tomorrow.
Monday, January 23, 2006
1/23
Forget logging on the weekends. We don't do anything much, except reading.
Today J had an appointment with an allergist and tomorrow we are starting some new drugs. Very interesting conversations, especially learning that J gets chest pain and an acid taste in his mouth sometimes. Reflux!? Could be. So the next few days could be interesting as we get adjusted to new meds. We have a boatload!
Continued with Matthew 5, on anger today. Very timely as J has had so many problems lately in this way.
Both kids got their library cards yesterday! It was out of desperation as we had 11 books on hold, a huge pile to take out, and almost up to our limit on my card. The prospect of having 300 library books in this house is frightening. E is very excited and has already placed some requests.
I am almost finished with Daughter of Time. We are progressing on The Garden Behind the Moon but it is starting to creep me out now so I may drop it. Also reading Fine Print, Joann Johansen Burch, about Gutenberg. We are finally to the Renaissance!
Keeping up my daily Bible reading, mostly. Am a little behind on Exodus but if I stop wasting time this afternoon I can catch up tonight. But of course I am not reading the Matthew passages listed in the TT for the Bible-in-a-year reading since I am reading that with the kids.
Today J had an appointment with an allergist and tomorrow we are starting some new drugs. Very interesting conversations, especially learning that J gets chest pain and an acid taste in his mouth sometimes. Reflux!? Could be. So the next few days could be interesting as we get adjusted to new meds. We have a boatload!
Continued with Matthew 5, on anger today. Very timely as J has had so many problems lately in this way.
Both kids got their library cards yesterday! It was out of desperation as we had 11 books on hold, a huge pile to take out, and almost up to our limit on my card. The prospect of having 300 library books in this house is frightening. E is very excited and has already placed some requests.
I am almost finished with Daughter of Time. We are progressing on The Garden Behind the Moon but it is starting to creep me out now so I may drop it. Also reading Fine Print, Joann Johansen Burch, about Gutenberg. We are finally to the Renaissance!
Keeping up my daily Bible reading, mostly. Am a little behind on Exodus but if I stop wasting time this afternoon I can catch up tonight. But of course I am not reading the Matthew passages listed in the TT for the Bible-in-a-year reading since I am reading that with the kids.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
1/17 - 1/19
Very pleased with our Bible reading - the kids are actually eager to read each day. Of course now they sometimes argue over who got to read more. Arrgghhh. J as always gets a lot out of the Bible but the application is still not there. Tomorrow we start the Mat 5 section on anger. We'll have to take that one very slowly...
Today we finished The Monk Who Shook The World by Cyril Davey. They loved it, of course. Moved on in SOTW to read about Henry VIII. I don't plan to spend much time on him as the kids know enough for their ages. They are excited about getting to the Renaissance and Leonardo etc.
I'm pretty satisfied with our checklist system. Today we made another adjustment and moved the Bible reading to the very first thing. I think that helped, though before we were finished E started complaining of hunger. So we didn't do our prayer checklist, which should not slip either. And when it was time to write up the science experiment, J lost it because it was too much writing. So I am not sure what to do about that. They did a spelling test today which, to him, is a ton of writing. 25 whole words. Oh my! The horror. It didn't help that I packed up all the science library books in my own little fit. I didn't get angry, but it seems a waste to do the experiments etc if the kids don't care that much.
My own reading continues to suffer badly. Tonight I was going to start working on Sarah's bunting, since tomorrow is her birthday, but another late night for E so that didn't get done either. I've been at loose ends with C out and not feeling great - the GERD contributes to my anxiety, which affects the GERD, which contributes... arrggh again. I am keeping up on the daily TT but forget the novel - think I read a chapter y'day - and keeping up on the OT daily reading but not the NT.
Today we finished The Monk Who Shook The World by Cyril Davey. They loved it, of course. Moved on in SOTW to read about Henry VIII. I don't plan to spend much time on him as the kids know enough for their ages. They are excited about getting to the Renaissance and Leonardo etc.
I'm pretty satisfied with our checklist system. Today we made another adjustment and moved the Bible reading to the very first thing. I think that helped, though before we were finished E started complaining of hunger. So we didn't do our prayer checklist, which should not slip either. And when it was time to write up the science experiment, J lost it because it was too much writing. So I am not sure what to do about that. They did a spelling test today which, to him, is a ton of writing. 25 whole words. Oh my! The horror. It didn't help that I packed up all the science library books in my own little fit. I didn't get angry, but it seems a waste to do the experiments etc if the kids don't care that much.
My own reading continues to suffer badly. Tonight I was going to start working on Sarah's bunting, since tomorrow is her birthday, but another late night for E so that didn't get done either. I've been at loose ends with C out and not feeling great - the GERD contributes to my anxiety, which affects the GERD, which contributes... arrggh again. I am keeping up on the daily TT but forget the novel - think I read a chapter y'day - and keeping up on the OT daily reading but not the NT.
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