A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

It's time. It's just time for school to start. So that's what we did. On Monday I did so much organizing!  I filled the basket that we're using as preschool/entertainment for The Munchkin and Sugar Bear with a variety of activities.  I set up the new chore schedule.  I worked on our new bulletin boards.  I put away lots of baby/toddler things that we don't need now that we have only 2 preschoolers coming to our house. We also had a long visit with our case worker. (There was so much to document!) I've been crocheting a little bit lately, and it's true that Mom can inspire the kids by doing! These are Baymax's hands as he learns how to single crochet. Notice the Pokemon in the background. :) In the evening, we gathered for reading.  It was our penultimate reading of   In Search of the Castaways.  Everyone was predicting the end and literally jumping out of their seats with excitement as plot twists were resolved and predictions came true. Suddenly...

I handed out new chore assignments this week, so everyone has worked diligently and with a (mostly) good attitude. The new assignments are challenging for a few of the kids, and I keep reminding myself and them that learning takes time. And I totally forgot to assign a kid to tidy/sweep the mudroom! Little Princess is supposed to work herself out of a job by teaching Lola and Brother how to feed the chickens, so I guess I can give that job to her in a few months. :)  We released 3 or 4 butterflies this week. Only 2 viable chrysalises (yes, that's a correct plural--I looked it up) remain . . . nope!  Ladybug just found a new butterfly!!  We'll release it in a few hours, when its wings are full, and it starts fluttering around the enclosure. Only 1 left! It is so very true that watching a caterpillar munch and crunch its way through plants, then wander about searching for just the right place to rest, then change into a chrysalis, then emerge as a butterfly is completely mi...

Pixie and Super Star and a couple of their friends went to a big Christian "You Are Loved" celebration for teen girls.  They get all physically pampered and beautified, fed dinner, and are then spiritually fed and beautified.  It's a fun night for 200+ girls. This is the week that I have to admit that big families do have their drawbacks, and one of those drawbacks is that kids can be lost in the crowd. In spite of all my best efforts, Belle has been lost for weeks now, and I just found out. Ladybug's, Brother's, Rose Red's, and Super Star's needs are loud and big and fierce, and I've focused on them for a very long time.  Belle's needs are so quiet. I didn't hear them or see them. I checked in verbally with her almost constantly, but I didn't follow through with actually looking at her schoolwork or keeping up with the sit-down meetings that we used to have. She's been perfectly on top of her Symposium work. I though...

On Saturday I folded laundry for a looooong time.  Pixie took my picture with most of it--we'd already put a few piles away.  That's not really a school thing, but it is a time-management thing, and time-management is part of homeschooling.  Truly, having all of the folding be my job is NOT working! We went to "The Kitten Farm" on Sunday for Family Night.  Following are a gajillion pictures because I feel happy when I look at them and because I didn't feel like being selective. Last week's tractor pic may have been frame-worthy, but this shot is one in a million!                 Photo credit:  Sir Walter Scott It was honestly hard NOT to bring a kitten (or three) home. We tried to get a card-worthy photo of all of the kids . . . this one won't make it into anyone's mailbox, but it make...