Return of the Googly Eyes

Our 2013/2014 Student Body

Busy

We have been so busy that I have had little time to post or document anything.

High school started last week and Pre-kindergarten started back with review and learning a new schedule. He will start his curriculum tomorrow (9/16/13).

We switched from R*setta St*ne Spanish to SOS Spanish due to needing a program that could be used on more than 1 computer at a time. Jordan will take high school Spanish and then she wants to take a half year of French. I think she is taking a photography class as an elective, but I am not sure.

I advertised, interviewed and hired a young lady from our homeschool group to come assist once a week with 1 of my *Twinkies as she is struggling to keep up in a few classes and seems to need just a bit more support. She can do a large majority of her lessons on her own, but once she gets stuck it is hard for her to get back on track. Many times if I let her sit up at my desk, she is confident enough to pull it back together. The problem is that it leaves the other 4 with less easy access to my support. We will try for a month to see how it goes.... should be interesting.

I am very much enjoying this year! I love seeing my kids learn new things and find info that makes them say, "Mommy, did you know......?" with excitement in their voice.

First Week = Success!

We had a very pleasant first week. A good start to what I hope to be a great year. We are still reviewing last years skills, but we did start a new music theory class as the plan is to learn the piano and recorder this year. They are all very excited.

Next week, Pre-K and 10th grade start (although she may be doing school on the fly as my dear friend may need some help. She is a brand new homeschooler this year!)

We don't have any big plans for the weekend, but we are looking forward to the 3 days.

Happy Weekend, All!

Orientation & First Day

I am back up and running. Orientation cards will go out today in the "fake mail" :) We have Entertaining Angels tomorrow and then will have orientation on Thursday. My new laptop does not have some of the same programs that my old one did, so I will have to use something else for school i.d's and class schedules. I just this minute won a bid for 3rd grades curriculum! Yipee! The kids say they are excited and ready... in fact, last night Jackson and Jeanna got their school uniforms out and ready with socks and undies. LOL! 

First day of school for elementary minus pre-k is Monday, August 26th with High School and Pre-k starting after Labor Day.  

And She's Done!

Jordan completed the 9th grade last week! She was so excited and I am happy she made it as it was rough for a time there. The program we use has a great deal of essays, reports and projects. Almost one for every unit of every class with the exception of Algebra. So with New Testament, World Geography, English I, and Integrated Physics and Chemistry classes, each with 10 or more units, there was a huge amount of writing  Writing is not her strong suit. There was a lot of it that was repetitive, so I took quite a few off of her to do list.

James is coming along in 4th grade and is nearing the finish line. He is excited to be shopping for next years curriculum. Funny kid. My old G8way laptop finally started dying (it's over 10 years old) and so we had to switch to my HP Mini...he loved the small notebook, but I could not get his Bible class to transfer to it. He had to use the G8way for Bible class. He was always so amazed at how big a difference the screen size was as he switched back and forth. The mini is very convenient for taking school outside to enjoy the weather. Next year I will have 4 kids on laptops....I think mini's are the way we are leaning. Time to get on E-b*y!

Jackson is doing well, but is a bit behind. He works steadily, 2nd grade is just a big switch from 1st grade and the work load is heavy. He is a meticulousness worker and likes stuff to be just right, so he sometimes gets hung up on things that may not really matter to the lesson's requirements. I loaded some 3rd grade onto 1 of the laptops so that he could start practicing doing SOS and he really enjoys that. Switching from workbooks to laptops is a big change.

Jeanna is making progress. It is a very slow trek for her as she gets "stuck" often and needs loads of coaching to get back. When she first came she was on a very strict sensory diet that we had kinda worked down, but I am seeing a need to get back to it a bit more. Her dysregulation comes quickly, with me sometimes missing her triggers. She likes school and when she is on task, she does very well.

Joshua has completed Pre-K. He really mastered many skills during the year. He will continue this summer with large and small gross motor skills. I still have not decided about next year, but I am leaning to another modified pre-k. I just am not ready for him to do the Kindergarten curriculum yet.

Next week is a school week...the following week is a week off.

PT

When Joshua first came to our home he was eligible for PT due to low muscle tone and his severe lack of balance. After about a year, he no longer received services, but still had some delays. I think because he had made such progress they kinda felt like we would do the rest. We did, but just coincidentally as life went on. This year as part of his pre-k program, I had incorporated some physical therapy in...just little fun bits. During winter testing, he was still showing some major delays in large motor skill related to balancing, so this last week we did some PT every day. I wish I would have taken a base video to show the difference. These videos are from March 6, 2013.

The Shepherd

In Pre-K I use Bible ABC Printables which uses a LOTW. Last week it was L and the story came from Luke 15. After hearing the story a couple of times, I asked him what the good shepherd does for the sheep and he said, "He gives them red grass and dry water." I corrected with "green grass and clean water" and he made the correction, but the very next time I asked, he went back to red grass and dry water.

I was his teacher last week as Jordan was not available, so when she ask him today what he had learned last week, he repeated, "He gives them red grass and dry water." I don't know why...but that is funny to us.

Weekend Happenings

We had a great weekend. I actually rested on Saturday which was nice. We did rearrange the shed to put the mower in back and bring the snow blower and shovels out to the front, but it was an easy job with many hands helping. We still have so many leaves it is not even funny. The kids did 10 bags of leaves in the front yard alone last week and by Saturday there are easily 7 -8 more bags worth on the ground. The back yard.... Oh My Goodness. We have an Ohio Sycamore Tree that has the biggest leaves. Some have a 14 inch span. Our neighbor has a huge Oak which hangs more in our yard than theirs so we get most of the leaves. So we have quite a few left to rake.

The children took their progress report cards to church yesterday and received signatures from many of the members. It was a nice way for them to be accountable for their school work to others and it was nice to see so many members invested in encouraging the children to do their best.

We use 1 inch white binders for school. The kids keep their schedules, calendar and everything else they need to do school on the run (as we seem to do more than school in the home some weeks). I had a few extra binders, but used the last one to replace a broken one. I got on E-bay to find more and came across an item titled, "1" Heavy-Duty Binders Not Full of Women -- 3-Ring, Clear Overlay, Lot of 12". I fell out laughing! I wrote the seller to tell them how funny it was and they wrote back saying thanks and that he just could not resist. Funny! I still need to find cheap binders.

My Pre-K teacher is ill today so I had to sub for her. ~Smile~

To my local bloggy friend: I am so very sorry and heartbroken for you. I am praying for you and wish you so much Peace!!

6 Week Progress Reports

The time is flying and yet sometimes it feels like we are standing still. Progress reports have gone out and most are very happy. 1 of my 2nd graders does not have enough grades yet, so we are waiting for that.

Jackson is doing well in most areas. Bible verse memorization seems to be more difficult for him this year. Spelling however is a strong area with him earning 100% on all of his spelling test thus far.

James is doing very well this year. History and Geography gives him a bit of trouble as it is so abstract to him, but he is doing better at keeping up this year.

Jordan is having a wonderful year so far, earning a 4.0 GPA for the first marking period. She enjoys New Testament Survey and Science.

Pre-K is coming along nicely. He is very eager to read and has almost mastered his high frequency words list.

Wednesday is Entertaining Angels. We now have approx. 274 people on our list and are now purchasing between 300 and 400 items each month. It is an amazing and wonderful experience. certainly bigger than we ever imagined.

Moving along....

What Happens Next?

This morning Pre-K was working on sequencing. In his workbook it showed pictures and then asked, "What  will happen next?" One of the pictures was eggs in a nest, the eggs cracking, beaks poking out and then baby birds. Jordan pointed to the eggs in the nest and then to the eggs cracking. She asked him, "What will happen next?" and he said, "You make toast!"

New School Room

I have been talking about this for 2 years now and this summer we were finally able to get our school room. We really like it and especially like that we don't have to break down school in the evenings and weekends so that we can eat at the table or have our living room back. Also with the school room being downstairs we actually "leave" school in the evenings which is very much needed.

Custom Monogram!

Pre-K Bible lesson

homework drawers

Joshua is already very good at puzzles

Second and fourth grade busy at work

Working on stacking.

The student with perfect attendance

Pre-K's circle time calendar.

The new and improved play/recess room.

Looking Back & Looking Forward

James has been in school for 2 weeks now and has done well. He is anxious to start doing homework full time, which I know sounds odd, but he really likes doing homework.  He has had 2 projects so far; (1) a report on state flowers and (2) a letter to a friend explaining why Peter left his job to follow Jesus. I like SOS a lot, but the projects can get to be much. There are usually 2 per unit, per class. With 5 classes of 10 units each it works out to 100 projects or essays for the year. Too much. I usually only keep the ones that reinforce the lesson and any that sound "fun" to the kids, like in science.

Jeanna finished her first half week last week. She reviewed letter sounds, long and short vowels and phonics. I taught her to count to 200 and we talked about 1's, 10's and 100 places. I will spend 1 more week on that kind of review to catch her up to the 2nd grade curriculum that we use. She is eager to learn, but needs lots of repetition and brain gym breaks.

This week, Jackson starts on Tuesday and Joshua starts on Wednesday.  They are both very excited.

Great news!! We finally finished our new school room! It is Beautiful and we are all so happy. I will take pictures to post later this week. We got the whole basement repainted and the floors had the tile removed and masonry paint applied. This weekend we went down just to sit in the room and grin. LOL!

No school on Monday due to an appointment.

Have a great week.

"Preschool"

My youngest turned 4 years old on Tuesday. He is the one I refer to as "Preschooler". He does have a name... I was kinda waiting until the adoption to introduce them officially. Also, I have decided that he is not going to do the preschool curriculum again, but is ready for Pre-K. I don't usually like to start my kindergartners until they are six, so I am not sure what will happen next year.

Anyway...Happy Birthday, Kid!

Orientation

We had orientation Moday and it was crazy. My printer would not "listen" to my computer. Microsoft Office was "not responding" and well...it was nutso, but it was us and everyone was excited to see their new books, schedules and even their homework schedules. My student body has grown so much. Of course, the dog had to be included as he tends to have perfect attendance!

1 Down, 2 To Go

Pre-K finished his school year last week. He did very well this year and is more than ready for kindergarten. I completed a basic skills test with him that was in the back of his Handwriting Without Tears workbook and he did great. This summer he will do Summer Bridge.

2nd grade is in the last unit of all of his subjects. With our 4 weeks in Nassau and our 2 week spring break, 3 foster kids and 1 sickness, we just got behind. He is working hard to finish by the end of this week. There is the distraction of the 2 little kids, but we press on. This summer he will do some Summer Bridge, but I intend to let him start school a little early as his computer skills are needing work and the SOS program is more intense than Lifepacs.

6th grade just has a few more writing assignments to do before she is done. This year her lack of motivation to do school has affected her ability to demonstrate her actual skills. She will do Summer Bridge also.

Our 5 year old foster child has very few skill, particularly small motor skills. This child is also very overweight and lacks self care skills such as pottying, dressing, and washing them self. This summer I will be teaching lots of basic skills.

Our motor home, Big Bertha, has been repaired and I cannot wait for our 1st camping trip.

New Stumbling Block

Jackson has Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) which makes speech and language difficult for him, but he has come such a long way. We are working on rhyming words which is giving us a bit of trouble right now. Researching strategies to help, but there seems to be very little information out there.

Our 1st Spelling Bee

So much fun!!!



Pre-K did very well even with the fact that he was using the 1st grade list. He was the littlest guy up there, but did well. He came in 4th.



2nd grade had a hard time with his very first word and had trouble knowing what to do, but he sure looked handsome during his brief time on stage. He received a ribbon for participation.



6th grade did very well, she was in the end matched up with a friend and they both showed such great sportsmanship. She took 2nd place with her friend winning 1st place. BTW, this lovely won last year as well and her mother won national spelling bees back in the day. LOL! They are serious!



Overall, it was a neat experience and all say that they want to do it again. I may try to find some local ones in the meantime.

10 Week Countdown

We have about 10 weeks left of school. The time has gone by pretty fast and it has been a very good year. I have really enjoyed teaching my pre-kindergartner and he has surprised me so much with what he was able to learn and do this year. Yesterday he had a reading page with a picture for coloring and we were cracking up at the way he added himself and siblings to the picture. See how the kids are hanging out the window? I asked why they weren't in their car seats and he just laughed and slapped his knee. Too funny. He is like an old man sometimes.

I have also kinda taken this attitude of exposing him to lots of things, even skills above his level just to see what he will do and I am always surprised at his abilities. Many times I will give him a page and not tell him what to do to see what he will come up with.

Spell the Word...

Our home school group is getting ready for the annual Spelling Bee and all 3 of our Rotties will participate this year. We have printed off the list of study words and are going to spend the next few weeks bumping up our phonics study. Pre-K is not really ready to spell yet, but there are enough of his sight words on the list to let him at least have the experience. This Mama is very nervous as I am usually very squeamish about photographs as my children who were adopted locally, but we really want to have this new experience.

In History and Geography, 2nd grade has been studying about different cultures and this unit focuses on the Japanese culture. Today he learned about writing the numbers 1 - 10 using a brush and water-colors. He really enjoyed this and 6th grade has asked to learn to do this also. I think I will let 2nd grade teach her.

Some Review

Last week we had to do some major catching up in both 2nd and 6th grade. We also tried to get just a bit ahead so that we could maybe extend our spring break. We are so looking forward to going to London, Ontario and staying here.

2nd grade is learning to borrow for subtraction





Pre-K is able to write all of the letters from Handwriting Without Tears so far and is starting to write his high frequency words from memory.

I blocked it out, but he is also starting to write his middle name on all of his papers. It's funny because most times the line is not long enough and he always draws more line that curves down the side of the paper.

6th grade is not wanting to admit it, but she has enjoyed the adding, subtracting and reducing of fractions in math class. She has been working hard to avoid doing her science projects. I told her that if she put the same amount of energy towards getting them done as she does to avoid them, she would be done with most. So far we have done one on emulsion, color wheels and spectrum's and we are doing a 4 week study on the change of shadows with the seasons. It involves taping a piece of paper on the floor at the exact same spot, at the exact same time of day once a week for 4 weeks and marking the sun and shadows. We have done it for 2 weeks and can already see the changes as winter gives way to spring.