Staff, Please Report to the Office...

After today, my summer break is over. All... well almost all of my curriculum is here. (I am still looking for a good foreign language "Spanish" curriculum. By good I mean a program that can be adjusted over 1st, 5th and 10th grade and is cheap/free.) Switched-On Schoolhouse has been loaded for 5th and 10th grade and I have browsed through my teacher guides for 1st grade Lifepac. My orientation letters are complete and will be mailed out next week. Available classes are listed.
The children pick the order of classes during orientation.

I am still tweaking homework schedules, but they are pretty standard.

My son made two desk last year as part of his woodworking. He will need to make another as my 1st grader does not want to use his Spiderman table any more (they grow up so fast LOL).

I need to start/finish lesson planning for state history and take the time to adjust the SOS Curriculum to fit our needs (not difficult, but time consuming) to be ready for a Sept. 2nd start. Believe it or not, my crew is asking for an early start! I hope their enthusiasm last past the 1st week. LOL

It's $ Time... I Mean Football Time.

My 10th grader starts football practice today. He has been playing since he was 7 or 8 years of age. The community teams in our city are pretty affordable, it's the equipment that empties pockets, wallets, purses and that big ole jar of change that you keep on the dresser. And of course, his feet grew 1 1/2 sizes this summer so he needs new cleats. But we have been blessed to have very decent coaches and great booster clubs so it is always worth the cost. Oh! and we tackle (some pun intended) that socialization concern that people have. LOL

:)De

The Naming of A School

I have enjoyed seeing all of the different names of home schools while bouncing around Blogger. I have read many different reasons that people home school, but I now wonder how families named their schools?

Dressing for School

I have always been one of those parents that preferred school uniforms. I like the ease of picking out clothes in the morning:


Mom:"Would you like to wear the white shirt with the blue pants or the white shirt with the blue pants?"

Kid: "Sigh!!"

LOL

It also makes laundry easier for me. With a steady stream of foster children (sometimes there are six kids to one mommy) there is lots of laundry and having similar loads is easier.

My kids went to school where uniforms were required. When my son came home to be schooled halfway through 6th grade, I required him to continue wearing uniforms, 1) to instill in him that he was still "in school" and 2) because I had spent a great deal of money on those uniforms and we were gonna get our money's worth!! The habit just stuck. For us, it helps to distinguish school time from home time and the kids like changing into play clothes when done with school. The laundry ease still applies and when we go on field trips, people seem to respect us as a school group.

This year I am hoping to develop a logo for our school. As a back to school gift, this year I am giving each child a new polo shirt with our school initials and mascot name. This simple logo is what I have so far:


I found a seller on E-bay that does 'em (she says the extra stitching won't be on the shirts). It was a bit of a splurge, but the kids have always talked about having shirts with our school name on them. I think they will like them.

On the Road Again!

I am usually wary of new terms and phrases that quickly develop in the ever-changing and fast-paced pop culture... but we are on a "stay-cation"!

We are big time campers and spend many weekends out "in the woods". This weekend, we are at a local hotel that had a family special with a 2-room suite, free high-speed Internet (just right for us web-heads) and free continental breakfast (an amenity I am sure they will change after my 15 year old boy gets done).

The swimming pool calls!
:)De

The Ten Commandments

Summer

We are clipping right along. The study of the book of Job has been enjoyable and the children have lots of insight regarding Job's situation. I am surprised and pleased.

Everyone is doing well in their classes and I can see progress all around. We love the more relaxed schedule and sleeping in (except for the fact that my family members are all early risers and call me before 6:30am to ask what we are doing; "Sleeping" I say groggily.)

In everything give Him thanks!
:)De