Weekly Update

Here are our highlights of the week. There were a few "lowlights" too, but I won't get into those now.

1. Yesterday the girls and I (ok, mostly just myself) finally got our loft, aka school room in order for the year. The room is almost completely finished. I have a couple more furniture pieces to purchase and some new chairs and then we are done. But right now the room looks much more organized and inviting than it did over the summer. Yeah!

2. Karley is beginning to correctly guess the starting letter of some words. She is understanding that the letters each make a different sound and is showing interest in knowing what those letter sounds are.

3. Julia did her first real cartwheels and kick up to hand stands this week!!! Not only that but she has finally figured out how to do seatdrops on the trampoline! Her strength and her confidence are flourishing right now!

4. I discovered this week that after several months of piano playing my fingers are stonger than John's!!! I can do things with my 4th and 5th fingers that he cannot. Yippee. For once I can say that I am stronger than him.

5. We got to do a science lab in the kitchen. Julia thought it was fabulous.

6. Tomorrow morning we are doing another science lab outside. We decided to wait until the weekend for dad to join us too. Julia is very excited to go on a nature walk and do her plot study. She has our bag all packed.

7. There are only four school days next week!

The First Several Days...

Well, we are off to a good start. We began a week early because Karley was back at preschool and because I thought it would be good to have a few days "in the bank." The very first day was awful. Julia balked when it came time to do math. She managed to stretch it out ALL DAY. But the rest of the days have gone well. I spread our work out during the week and planned lessons in each subject for the first month. Classes on campus will be different this year since the new campus is still under construction. Classes are supposed to begin in about a month. In addition to classes offerred through school Julia will continue with gymnastics and piano. Karley will continue with her ballet/tap class (and hopefully will be in her very first recital in December!).

I'm thinking about posting to the blog on a weekly basis. That way I can share the highlights of our week with you without creating too much more work for me! When great or unusual or funny things happen I'll post those too.

The three greatest moments from last week include:

1. Julia finishing the rest of her math for the week without a single complaint and nearly without any mistakes.

2. Julia finishing all her work on Friday by 9:30 in the morning, that is to say BEFORE her sister woke up! This allowed the two of them the whole day to play, for us to run some errands, and a special afternoon treat for a first week well done.

3. Julia completing her first art assignment (draw a composition) after a rough start and a "go try again" from me. I told her that the reason we did not complete the art lessons last year was because she always drew cats. And that if she wanted to have art lessons this year she would have to do the assignment not just draw a cat each time. Here is what she came up with, titled Baby Teddy with Lemon Drop:

We're Back!

Well, it has been a long, and yet short summer.

There have been many happy times and sad times too.




















We have travelled abroad






















and close to home...



























We have grown.....


















































some of us have lost and grown teeth...






















We have ventured into new physical activities.....


a new, more rigorous gymnastics class for Julia

























and a cute beginning ballet and tap class for Karley.



We also made a special new friend this summer.
















But now, it is time to get back into our routine again. We have had a longish, short summer filled with many memories, but now its time to get back to work (and it feels good).

All Done!

Well, we did it. We completed our first year of homeschooling. Julia is delighted to "be a first grader now." She was hooting and hollaring around the house earlier. I find myself feeling a bit the same, but a little tamer than she. Looking back I can tell that she has/we have made great progress. Her skills have improved greatly in all areas: reading, penmanship and spelling, math, understanding of science and history, art skills, music skills, even her athletic skills.

This summer will be a welcomed break for all of us (I think Karley is ready for the school year to be over too so that her playmate isn't busy all the time doing things that mom tells her to do). We will finish up her animal notebook with a few marine mammals and will continue reading, but I think the rest we are going to take a break from for awhile. As our advisor says, Julia needs time to soak up all that she has learned the past several months. I think my brain could use a break too. Which brings me to the upkeep of this blog. I think it too will take a summer break. I'm looking forward to doing some things for myself this summer (yeah, right! I'll be driving kids around all summer between piano lessons, gymnastics lessons, and swim lessons). I would like to get in some grown-up Great Books reading, some long overdue scrapbook projects, some household projects, and of course planning some fun new things for next school year. So, for now good-bye! As things get going late summer I will resume posting to the blog (who knows maybe even more frequently!). Adios!

Next Fall's Agenda

This coming week I meet with our academic advisor for the final time this year. We will be handing in our last work samples of the year and choosing curriculum for next year. For first grade we are looking at:

1. Reading: We will continue with our phonics-based reading program (we will probably finish this by Christmas break), The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading

2. Spelling: Spelling Workout

3. Penmanship: Handwriting Without Tears (we will probably finish the second grade book by Christmas break)

4. Vocabulary: Wordly Wise (second grade book)

5. Grammar: First Language Lessons (We currently use this book and are about half way through "first grade". It has 100 second grade lessons as well. If we keep at our current pace we might be able to finish this book by the end of the school year.)

6. Math: We will use both ShillerMath and the boring-ish (but much easier to get her to do it) Houghton-Mifflin

7. History: We will continue with The Story of the World: Ancient Times. We are about half way through this book and when we finish in the middle of the year we will pick up the next level: Medival Times

8. Science: We are going to try a new program called Read, Explore, Absorb, and Learn Science (REAL Science). We will do the Life Science level. It will repeat some of what we have done this year with the addition of plants and human body, but it is a hands-on observation, experimental approach (and one that I don't have to create on my own!)

9. Art: We may try Artisitic Pursuits again. I also think Julia will take drawing class again next year.

10. Music: Julia definitely wants to take her Music Appreciation class again next year, and she will continue to take piano lessons.

11. Spanish? She may take this again at school.

12. PE: I think she will continue with gymnastics and group fitness classes at the gym when it fits into her schedule.

13. First Grade Writing Class. I believe she will want to take this class at school too.


I'm also starting to think about preparing Karley for Kindergarten. She and I will start working on her penmanship skills and her pre-reading skills too. We may also do some fun crafty, seasonal things with other younger siblings at school when the older siblings are busy in their classes. I sure hope this is a restful and rejuvenating summer!

An unexpected gift.....

Perhaps she is growing up??????

Our First Piano Recital!

Last Saturday Julia and I performed in our very first piano recital. Julia was much more relaxed than I was. She played a short tune called On the Swing. I played the Sleeping Beauty Waltz. We had fun, we learned a lot, and I think we will be even more prepared for the next recital in the fall.