I have a plan!

Here it is, my plan for the 2010-2011 school year.

I had a hard time making it all fit, and I'm still not sure if it's going to work, but I am excited about this upcoming school year. There are so many things we want to learn, and I have to keep reminding myself that this is NOT my last year of homeschooling. Whatever we don't get to this year will have a spot next year (in theory!).

Ian's Course of Study for 6th grade

• Spelling- Abeka Spelling and Poetry
• Grammar- Abeka Language B (continue from last year)
  
• Writing- EIW Medieval History Based Writing Lessons

• Math- Teaching Textbooks (software and workbook)
  

• Science- The Critical Thinking Co.- Science Detectives (software)
• Science- Evan Moor- Simple Chemistry (experiments and workbook)

• Logic- The Critical Thinking Co. - Building Thinking Skills (software)

• History-Greenleaf Press- Famous Men of the Middle Ages with study guide
  

• Language-Memoria Press- Latina Christiana 1
  

• Music- Guitar (software)

• Bible- Apologia-Who is God- Worldview Course
  
• Bible- Secret of the Scribe (Christian Theology and Ancient Polytheism book with study guide)

• Lego Mindstorm (robotics and computer programing)

• Memory Work- Memorize 2 long poems (from spelling book), Macbeth's Fameous Speech, Basic science definitions and basic make-up of common elements eg. H2O, Bible Passage- Romans 8:28-39
  

Mayah's Course of Study for 3rd Grade

• Spelling- Modern Curriculum Press- Spelling Workout
• Phonics- Phonics Pathways, and Explode the Code workbooks
• Writing-Peace Hill Press-Writing with Ease
  
• Grammar- Peace Hill Press- First Language Lessons

• Math- Abeka- Arithmetic 2
  

• History- Story of the World vol 2- The Middle Ages

• Science- Evan Moor- Daily Science, and I Love Science! (computer game software)

• Language- Latina Christiana 1

• Bible- Who is God? Worldview Course

• Home Economics- Guide to Good Manners for Kids, Little Book of Manners, * we will also do Tea parties, Cooking, Sewing, make friendship bracelets and whatever else we feel like.

• Memory Work- Memorize 2 long poems from spelling book, Macbeth's Fameous Speech, Bible Passage (Romans 8:28-39) and a few other things I still need to plan.
  

In addition to all that, the kids will also be participating in the Royal Rangers/M-Pact program, playing sports (flag football and basketball for Ian and cheer leading for Mayah), Gym and Swim at the Y, Mayah will take Gymnastics, and Ian will take Karate.

Kids are so cute.

Mayah's Goodnight Prayer:

Dear God. Thank You for the sunshine we had today. And thank you that we got to play in the mud, even though we got in trouble for it and got sprayed off with the cold water from the hose. It was still fun. It was worth it. Amen

Who's Idea Was It To Get A Dog, Anyway?

So, the furry little critters that live in my house and take up space on the floor caught a juvenile crow in our back yard the other evening. Fortunately, we caught them before they killed it, and it seems to be ok, other than the fact that it can't fly.

JP put it in a kennel in the garage for the night with some food and water, then in the morning, he put it up on the roof where it would be able to hop onto some low hanging branches and climb up into a large tree. It did not stay on the roof, however, and decided to come down to the back yard.

It's parents are still anxiously hovering (loudly I might add), and I am hoping that they are seeing to it's nutritional needs.

The worst part is that, while the poor little guy is our back yard resident, the dogs cannot roam freely, and must be leashed to take care of business. This is not a problem for Charlie, the beagle, but it is, however, a problem for Sara Beth, the persnickety mutt who likes to make our lives difficult. She won't do her "business" on a leash. Instead, she hovers by the back door and whines, then as soon as she's out there, she just stands around looking confused. She is making me crazy. I hope that little bird heals fast, cause Sara Beths own life might be at risk if this keeps up.

I didn't realize how long it's been since I have posted here.

So, here is a rundown of our life lately...

In April, I went to Tennessee (by myself!) for a brief visit with family, then my sisters and I went down to Gulf Shores, Alabama for a girls vacation. We decided, during the 8 hour drive down, that our big brother might not appreciate being pestered via text messaging by us, so we promptly began texting him with hourly updates of our adventures. The texting lasted for the entire 3 days of vacation, complete with pictures.

Last year, when we had our girls vacation in Chicago, we all got tattoos, but this year all we got were fabulous shoes and great tans. (See above)

*****

We are wrapping up our school year, finishing June 11th. I have managed to downgrade our commitments by ending music lessons and gymnastics. We will finish the year strong, though, curriculum wise- having accomplished most of what I set out the do this year.

The summer will bring a few reading and math lessons, but I have managed to bribe the kids into thinking that this is a good idea.

Testing will come in June, and I will most likely have them evaluated by a teacher (Jane Sullard, who did their evaluations last year.)

*****

I started a new diet a few days ago, called the HCG diet, and it's working really well. I am excited to finally get the weight off and reset my body back to lower measurements. The Naturopath that I am seeing is really positive about the changes, and so am I.

Oh my, how embarassing.

My 10 year old went to the Children's Theater today to see a play about Norse Myths. A dear friend of mine took him along with her 2 children. I took care to put him in nice clothes, khaki pants and a polo type shirt. I carefully instructed him on his behavior and manners. Then I dropped him off at my friends house and she assured me she would bring him home after the play.

About 2 minutes after my friend dropped him off at my house, I looked down at his feet and realized he was wearing a pair of old shoes that had A HOLE IN THE TOE!!! I mean, his big toe was protruding out of the gaping portal in the front of his shoe. After I got over the shock of his audacity to wear those shoes out of the house, I asked him why he was wearing them. He has 2 pairs of very nice- INTACT- shoes in his closet. He shrugged and said "I could only find one shoe for each pair." That's a boy for you. It never occurred to him to ask for help finding his shoes when there was a perfectly matched, old and holey, pair in the closet. Needless to say, I threw the offending pair away so as not to be confronted with this breech of fashion etiquette again. I hope.

Getting Healthy...

I am starting the Fat Flush Plan on Monday. It's tricky to do this kind of eating with a family, so I am getting them all in on the action. JP is doing the Plan with me, but not going quite as hard core. He does have to work, and I accept that :)

The kids are having the sugar in their diets significantly reduced. I am not nearly as careful as I should be about monitoring that kind of thing. Instant oatmeal for breakfast, canned fruit for lunch along with processed cheese... those things add up. I think Ian will have the hardest time with it. He looked a bit panicked when I informed him that I was throwing out all the candy and marshmallows.

I am attempting to avoid arguments and heated negotiations with the kids by making up menu choices and putting them on the fridge. Breakfast, Lunch and Healthy Snacks menus will at least help them understand what I mean when I say, "eat something healthy," and relieves me of some kitchen duties.

We were laughing at ourselves last night coming out of Frey Meyers with a cart full of flax seed, organic eggs and kale. Now we only need Birkenstock shoes and some hemp clothing to fit right in.