5 Kind Things...

I was "tagged" by Life Adapted and asked to answer these questions.

5 kind things I have done for strangers:
1. Today we saw a young lady with 2 small children running down the road, crying. We stopped, offered her a ride, got her home and gave her our number to call later if needed.
2. I have given money to people in the check out line that were short on cash.
3. I love paying for the food of the person behind me at a fast food place just because.
4. For every foster child that comes to our home, I develop a good relationship with their birth parent, allowing phone calls if possible and providing parents with updated pictures as often as possible.
5. I love working at the local food bank that is operated out of our church.

5 kind things I do for my closest friend, partner or child:
1. I cut my children's sandwiches in triangle for them still...even my 15 1/2 year old.
2. I make fruit smoothies for them with my magic bullet when they are feeling down.
3. I surprised them with a trip to an large amusement park last fall.
4. I cry with my girlfriend when she is having rough moments in life (and help her eat chocolate anything to help her feel better :)
5. I help my dad at least 5 x's per week to remember how to save things on his computer, sign onto AOL, remember his passwords, etc...

5 kind things I do for myself:
1. I maintain "mommy time" every night for 1 hour.
2. I constantly commune with God.
3. I forgive myself for parenting mistakes.
4. I buy Mandarin oranges that are just for me.
5. I home school my children which still thrills my heart.

5 things I do for fun:
1. I play games on pogo.com after school.
2. I watch reality t.v. ( I know, I know)
3. I go camping.
4. When I can't go camping, I camp in the back yard, fire pit, marshmallows and all.
5. I read blogs.

The Bells Toll No More!

Our school schedule has 8 class periods which helps us to have an end point for each class. When I started HSing, we just did language arts until it was done and then math until it was done (which sometimes took forever to get done and so nothing else would get done). Thus our schedule.

I searched the Internet for a bell system that would meet our needs and finally found the Invisible Clock II. I love it and it is funny because sometimes when the children are in the middle of a lesson that is tough and the bell rings, they cheer and rush away for break; "saved by the bell." It works for me too when I am teaching a lesson (that I have repeated); when the bell rings I take great delight in rushing them out of the classroom, telling them that their next hour's teacher will be upset if they are late. (If you play crazy enough, they'll leave ya alone LOL)

Anyway... for the last few days of school, we will have free schedule. The bells are turned off and the battery will be removed for safe storage until fall ... and we chug along.

In The Home Stretch.....and stretching and stretching....

I think we are going to make it to the end of this school year (I say dramatically).

Jordan is completely done with Bible class and only has 2 more lessons in Language Arts. Earlier in the school year, her laptop crashed and it took me a couple of weeks to replace it. Jordan was such a good sport because we lost all of her work and she had to restart 4th grade again, but she has caught up and is closing in on the last few lessons for each class.

Jeffrey is done with Bible, Health, History & Geography, Language Arts and Science. He is taking his final test in State History and because he restarted Algebra I, he still has that to finish.

We were aiming to be done by the 30th, but may now have to go until June 4th. I think I have the fever worse than the children.

Just....

I just wanted to say that things are well.
I just wanted to make note that my children are
healthy,
well-behaved and
happy.
I was just sitting here and realized how satisfied I am,
how blessed I am,
how well I am cared for by my Father in heaven.
I just wanted to say that things are well.

Jordan's Cursive

When we started cursive lessons, She, her (that girl LOL!) did not want to learn it... at all! I let it go for a while, but printed all of her spelling words in cursive only. Being the princess that she is, she remarked one day, "You know, cursive letters are kinda pretty with the loops and all." I GOT HER!! It took her about 8 weeks to learn. Here are samples:

Happy Mother's Day!

:)De

The Summer Curriculum Is In (With no fanfare from the children)

We basically homeschool year round, but our summer days are very abbreviated and usually only focus on the areas that need practice or reinforcement. During the traditional school year, I aim to get 180 days in, but because I know that I school during the summer, the children are allowed to trade in a limited number of their school days for Saturday school or added summer days. This year their attendance was so good, that summer school will only have to be 6 weeks long.

Our summer curriculum arrived this week and I am pleased with my choices. The children ... not impressed. Ninth grade algebra was difficult, so Jeffrey will be using the Algebra Survival Guide (ASG). (Thank you Kysha for such a great recommendation.) He will be doing HBJ Handwriting to slow down the damage that is being done to my eyes trying to read his writing (LOL) and finally, he will be reading for comprehension.

4th grade Jordan will transition to 5th grade by using the Summer Bridge Activities For Young Christians, Fourth Grade Math Review (Math Review Skill Builders) and Spectrum Writing.


My 1st grader that attended PS has come so far from when he was first placed in our home. They told us he would not learn to read or write. They were WRONG! He has learned so much and I want to be sure not to push him just because of age, but to keep him at a pace where he can experience success. I have decided to let him repeat 1st grade to solidify and enhance some of those basic skills. This summer, James will be working with the Dolch Kit, Readers Are Leaders Phonics Program and Summer Bridge Activities for Young Christians.

Finally, 4 yr old Jackson will continue work on color, alphabet and number recognition.

We will all be studying the book of Job this summer along with all the camping and fishing that we can squeeze into each day.

Summary by Jordan

The title of my book is Dive. The name of the chapter is "One". The name of the author is Gordon Korman. The names of the main characters are Kaz, Dante, Adriana, and Star. Star is a girl and she is handicapped. Kaz is a boy and he likes to dive. Dante is a boy and he is colorblind. Adriana is a girl and she loves to find stuff.

The kids joined a diving program for the summer. They where supposed to work for a person named Cutter who promised them they could help him map the ocean. Cutter was not really trying to map the ocean; he was trying to find a treasure. Every morning he left earlier and earlier to try to avoid taking the kids out in the ocean. Since he kept leaving them, they found some one else to take them out diving and they ended up finding treasures.

Because of what has happened, I think Cutter is still going to find treasures. I think he is going to figure out that the kids know about the treasure.