Weekly Wrap Up- The Desperately Busy Edition (Pt. 1)

Last week was very, shall we say, challenging. I posted about it on my other blog- I'm Livin' My Dream.  This week was much easier in most ways, but it was very busy.  The next two weeks will be equally busy.  I was pleasantly surprised by how much school we were able to accomplish.

Monday, we had a fairly normal day- school, gymnastics, and soccer.  Jason headed up to Charlotte to pick up our new van (see the post about last week), so I had gymnastics and soccer to handle.  Thankfully my mom helped with the shuffle.

Tuesday, Kathryne had a doctor's appointment with the orthopedic surgeon to look at her shoulders which have been causing her problems.  Jason's mom stayed with the others.  When I came home, we still had time to do some of our together work.  Tuesday afternoon was a drama class for Kathryne- the first one with this group.  She really enjoyed it and is looking forward to the class and the production of Alladin at the end.

Wednesday was another normal day of school and then church activities.  The kids went home with Jason's mom to spend the night; so they had the day off school Thursday, and I had some alone time.

Thursday, I went out to lunch with my high school English teacher.  It was so much fun to catch up and chat.  Thursday afternoon was gymnastics and then Charles's soccer kickoff.

Today was mostly normal school.  I had to run out to get groceries as I had put it off for so long we were about to eat the table!  This afternoon was gymnastics and a birthday party for Charles.  The guys are gone tonight to the mountains to hang out with friends, so the girls and I are home alone.

We have another pretty busy week coming up next week with several field trips.

For more weekly wrap ups, visit Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Sometimes I Forget...

Sometimes I forget just how big God is.  I changed several things in our curriculum this year.  I had different reasons- not enough depth in what we were using, the desire to have a more Biblical focus, recommendations from others.  I know, on an intellectual level, that God is in control of ALL things and that He knows best what my children need in our schooling endeavors.  But, sometimes I forget on a heart level.  I think I am in control, and I'm choosing this curriculum.  I'm calling the shots because, obviously, I know what my kids need.

Not so. As we have started into our new curricula in more depth, I am seeing again and again how God is using this to work in the hearts and lives of my kids and in my life as well.  In science (Apologia), we are constantly learning about how our Biblical worldview shapes our thinking about science.  In history (Truthquest) we are constantly evaluating the changes in our culture in the light of a Biblical worldview.  And of course we have our Apologetics course from Answers in Genesis that I just "happened" to stumble upon at the homeschool convention.  To top it all off, guess what topic our youth group started in with this semester- Godview!

Over and over I am having the opportunity to talk with the kids about important issues- how they view the world, how they view life, and how they view God.  I am amazed anew at God's work in all the little details of our lives.  And I am so thankful to be on this homeschooling journey that gives me the privilege of sharing the truth in my kids' lives in so many ways.

Weekly Wrap Up- The Getting Into the Groove Edition

We are deeply entrenched into our school schedule now.  Well, maybe not deeply, but we are getting there.

I am noticing that it is taking longer to get school work done this year- something I expected now that I have two middle schoolers.  I'm pleasantly surprised at how well the older kids are responding to the increased amount of work.  I tried to really prepare them, but I was a little concerned.  Most days I am finished with our together work- Bible, history, and science- by 11, leaving them an hour before lunch and however long they need after to do independent work.  I also get together with just the older kids sometime around 1:30 and do Latin, logic, and apologetics (although not all on the same day!).

We have quite a bit of extracurricular activity going on this year.  We'll be doing science with our science group twice a month.  Charles is doing soccer.  And Ashlyne is now up to 6 hours a week in the gym for gymnastics- plus an extra private lesson most weeks.  Ashlyne and Rachel are doing choir and AWANA at church.  Kathryne is helping in AWANA and Sunday School.  Charles is in the middle school choir.  And Kathryne and Charles are both attending our middle school weekly program.  Whew.  Even looking at it makes me tired.

Highlights this week:

*I am loving our Truthquest history.  I'm pretty sure the kids are too.  I read aloud, and they almost always want me to read more.  I only wish I had started Truthquest sooner.  This week we read about New Zealand and Australia- commonwealths of England. 
*We are also enjoying Apologia General Science.  I have the little girls listen along and do some of the experiments with us.  Today the older kids had to use the scientific method to discover why a flashlight would no longer work.
*Ashlyne and Rachel and I are reading Little House in the Big Woods as part of The Prairie Primer.  I am so amazed at Rachel's narrations this year.  Last year, I had to struggle to get her to narrate one sentence.  Now she always wants to go first and has great recall of the story!

Monday, we'll be taking school off as Daddy will be home on Labor Day, so we'll have a short week coming up.

For more weekly wrap ups, check out Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.