Curriculum

In case you're curious, here are our current curriculum choices for the year.  (I say current because homeschoolers are known to change their curriculum mid-year because it's not working for the teacher or the student.)


Math -- Saxon

Spelling -- Spelling Workout by Modern Curriculum Press

Grammar -- First Language Lessons by Peace Hill Press

Writing -- Writing with Ease by Peace Hill Press

Handwriting -- Zaner-Bloser

History & Science -- We are using Classical Conversations as our spine (main resource) and supplementing with various texts, encyclopedias and library books

First Day of Homeschooling

I know you've been waiting, with bated breath I assume, to see how our first day of homeschooling went, right?  Wait no longer, my faithful 3 readers!  Here now, for your reading pleasure, is a summary of our day.

I had grandiose ideas of having some cool first-day-of-school kinds of activities to make the day special.  You know, things like a special breakfast.  Some crafts.  An "about me" sheet to fill out.  Things of that sort.

Since I didn't want to start out cooking some big breakfast that then I'd have to clean up later, I decided to try my hand at making some monkey bread as a special treat.  I figured the combination of biscuits, cinnamon, and sugar... surely the kids would love this!  And surely it would be a snap to make!  Only I completely misjudged the time it took to make it (and then bake it, and then let it cool). 

And as I was about to serve the kids the monkey bread, Jack mentioned that his foot hurt; he's mentioned this several times in the past several days.  So I took a look at the bottom of his foot and sure enough... a splinter.  I accidentally let the word "splinter" leave my lips and Jack went into hysterics.  He was inconsolable at the thought of having the splinter dug out of his foot (Jack has strong anxiety when it comes to any hint of bodily injury or pain).

So now we're an hour behind in our day, my 6-year old is in hysterics, and I'm thinking that this isn't how I wanted our first day to go.  Cade ends up tucking Jack into bed with a plethora of blankets, books, and pillows.  Jack calms down, and I start math with Cade. 

The rest of our time went OK.  it was a fairly light day because most of what we were doing was introductory lessons in our curriculum.  There are a couple of tweaks to be made and some things to add, but for the most part, a successful day.

Here are some back-to-school pics I took of the kids:

Claire (4)

Cade (8)

And Jack (6).  Unfortunately, Jack was in a sour mood and didn't feel like taking pictures.  This was the best I could get.  He was in the process of folding his arms at me to let me know he wasn't happy.

And then all 3 kids together.  Jack was still miffed about something and Claire wasn't sure where to look.  :)

It's really hard to get all 3 kids to look the same direction at the same time. But I was thrilled that Claire was offering the hook-em horns sign without being coached.

So all in all, a good day.  I think we'll try this again tomorrow.  :)

August

And now it's (near) the end of August.  Where does the time go, I ask you?  Apparently I've been a little too busy to update the blog.  Sorry 'bout that. 

Not much is going on with us as a family.  Well, I take that back.  There are some things going on...

• Scott is about to start his long-awaited education at Dallas Theological Seminary.  He is so stinking excited about it. The term "giddy like a school girl" comes to mind.
• I will start homeschooling the boys (for real now... not just in math) next week.  I'm sitting up in the school room right now, looking at all of the glorious books we'll be cracking open next week.  Should be fun!  Or at least good for some Frantlings fodder.
• Mom's addition to the house is coming along nicely.  It's bricked, sheetrocked and textured, and the trim has gone in.  Not sure exactly what the next steps are.  But hopefully in a month or two it will finally be finished and she can move back into her expanded space!
• I've been taking photos of houses that my friend JT is listing for sale; this has been a fun little side job, as my friend JT is a hoot and it's really decent money for an hour or two of my time.  
• It's been stinkin' hot here.  As in 107 for the high.  *sigh*   I'm really looking forward to the winter.  Really.  Really looking forward to it.  Did I mention that it's been REALLY hot here?

That about does it.  Claire and Jack have been playing nicely together the entire time I wrote this blog entry... the odds that it will continue into the near future are not good.  So I better wrap things up while everyone still has their appendages.