A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

We just finished the last chapter of our history book !  This accomplishment officially marks the end of our school year.  (Just to review--we took several months off last fall for the birth of our little I.8) I am a bundle of mixed emotions. Relief .  The burden of organizing the kids through daily school is lifted.  I can breathe more easily. Dread .  Temperatures still climb over 100 each day.  The idea of having housebound, unorganized children is enough to make me want to hide my head in the sand. Anticipation .  Now I have time to research and plan for the semester ahead.  I love planning. Hope .  I'm hopeful that my E12's requests for more independent work will bring a light and joy to her life that will fuel a true love of learning. Satisfaction .  I love learning with my children, and knowing we're making progress makes my heart happy. Here we go.  Into a break that includes Cousins' Camp and lots of empty days ...

Last week we finished our Astronomy book. I loved doing astronomy with the girls.  Next week is the Perseid meteor shower, so hopefully we'll get a good look at the "falling stars" while we're out in the country at my sister's house.  I hear the girls talking about planets and space travel, so I think they learned some good stuff. But I'm glad to be done.  Many homeschoolers admit to not finishing books and there are ever so many books that we have not finished, but when we can complete a course of study, I feel good about it. I like finishing a task.  I like starting a new one. Chemistry is next on our list. (But not until after our August break)

This weekend was our homeschool association summer family dance.  80s themed.  Everyone was invited to come in costume, and my girls were determined to accept that invitation.  So on Saturday, after chores, we dug through our closets and costume bins to find what we could, then we headed out to a local thrift shop to fill in the gaps. While we were there I found a pair of tennis shoes for A5.  Hers disappeared a month or so ago.  We've turned the house and van upside down trying to find them all to no avail.  I bought the shoes; they're pink . . . with laces. So far in her short life A5 has only had shoes that fasten with velcro. The adventure has begun. We sat down on Sunday to learn to tie shoes.  I was determined to work slowly and patiently.  She was convinced she could do it perfectly the first time. Shoe tying is hard work. I watched her pudgy little hands--still baby hands in so many ways--struggle to copy what my experienced ha...

Getting computer time at our house is very important; I limit computer time severely because I realized one day that the daily 1/2 hour turns I thought they were getting were actually 2 and 3 hour screen-time fests as they watched one another take turns.  Now the older kids get 1/2 hour turns every other day with intermittent turns to request library books or check facts here and there.  The little girls use the computer every day--unfortunately, as a babysitter.  [It's a bad habit that we're working on breaking.]  At any rate, when Mom says yes to the computer, it is cause for much rejoicing in the land. Today J8 and S9 were working on their Individual Pursuits; they're working their way through an Usborne science experiment book.  They love it!  Today they were in the middle of building a contraption out of a yogurt container, string, hard candy, and sundry other items when it was time for S9 to have her turn. "Would you like to have your turn later s...

Little I.8 is teething.  He is more miserable than any baby I've ever had.  Frozen blueberries, ice cubes, and frozen peaches seem to work the best, but they can only be used intermittently, and he won't nurse well. He's not sleeping either. So when he was screaming in misery as I tried to lead a history lesson, I turned to E12 and asked her to read aloud to her sisters as I attended to the baby.  She wasn't happy about it, but she complied.  I left the room hoping to return to at least find all of the older girls still in the same place I left them. It only took 5 minutes to see that I.8 was going to need my full attention for quite some time.  We're trying to finish school by the end of the month so that we can take a break in August.  I wanted to get that lesson completed, but my wiser side finally admitted that my baby was far more important than my schedule.  I walked into the kitchen to release the girls from our afternoon lessons and found...

We went to the library on Friday morning.  H2 selected her basket of books and retired to her favorite rocking chair to look through them while she waited for her sisters to make their own selections.  I walked across to the periodical section to see what homeschooling magazines might be offered.  As I browsed, I turned to look back at my H2. She was not where I left her. A quick glance revealed her new location; she sat in a miniature chair with her book open flat on a miniature table in front of her.  She held her hand in a small fist with her index finger out as she pointed to the words on the page.  She was "reading." My heart caught in my chest as I saw my small daughter working so seriously at being big. ************************* E12 found a book on fashion drawing.  At first glance she was dismissive.  But later she pulled the book out, and soon she had a stack of clean paper and freshly sharpened coloring pencils at hand.  She stu...

Temperatures are crossing the 100 degree mark every day.  Today was just too hot to head outside and continue working on our bird house. Soooooo . . . what to do for Matters of Interest? I pulled out a book on my shelf and looked up something quick and easy and "cool." We hung spoons on our noses. While the girls were finishing up their copywork, I hung one on my nose and just sat quietly.  It took at least 3 minutes for anyone to notice me, but when E12 did, smiles erupted all around. "How do you do that?" "I've done that before!" "Mom!  What are you doing?!?!" I smiled enigmatically and told them to finish up. When they were done we all hung spoons from our noses.  It was hardest for E12.  She persevered.  She succeeded. Along the way M10, S9, and J8 had a blast hanging spoons from their noses and seeing how long they could keep them up.  J8 was even able to jump gently a few times before it fell. A5 and H2 watched us ...