In my life this week ... I am back to being more like my usual self. I attribute that to just giving up all of my own rights to allow someone to get what he thinks he wants. In the long run, I think I win. I was able to focus more on living each day to the fullest. I spent a lot of time planning for the upcoming school year. And I had some joyful moments knowing that my new baby niece will be here soon (and I get to go help my sister get her nursery ready this weekend), and seeing a 20-week pregnancy picture of my cute little sister-in-law who is pregnant with her and my brother's first baby.
In our homeschool this week ... We signed up for the Summer Reading Program and brought home our basket full of books.
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| Brynne checkout out about 20 books of all kinds. Eli stuck to his usual non-fiction. |
We also had an incredibly fun day learning about the Transit of Venus and celebrating with some friends at a viewing party!!
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| We read books, watched videos, made cookies, drew Venus, and then viewed the Transit! |
Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share ... Check your local theatre(s) for their 2012/2013 season line-ups. This is one really great way to come up with literature-based unit studies. I did that on Wednesday and our calendar of unit studies is already filling up!!
I am inspired by ... local community events. Exhibits, theatre productions, and movies get my wheels turning!!
Places we're going and people we're seeing ... We took our first trip to the water park on Wednesday.
My favorite thing this week was ... seeing this little girl's smile at her FIRST piano lesson. She was so excited and her teacher has assured me that she is going to be an awesome pianist!
What's working/not working for us ... Getting up at a decent time to start our day. We are rising around 9:00 each morning, taking it easy for the better part of the morning, and not really getting anything "done" until lunchtime. But, strangely for me, that is WORKING for us right now. Not having nightly activities to get to makes it much easier. I would like to get into a little more consistent morning schedule for myself, just because I seem to feel more energized all day when I do. But, for now, I'm not worrying too much about a little rest and relaxation. That will be over all-too-soon.
Questions/thoughts I have ... When you do some schooling on a summer day, do you count it as a logged school day? For instance, we definitely logged our full day of learning about the Transit of Venus as a school day, because we learned ALL DAY. But, if you were to, say, have a day of going to the library, doing scripture memorization, reading, playing an educational game on the iPad or working on the computer for at least an hour, and going to a music or physical education activity, do you count that as one of your required numbers of school days? (btw ... I didn't count this last one that I described, but I was just wondering.)
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| Stack the States. An iPad app FAVORITE! |
Things I'm working on ... Organizing a unit study schedule for next year, based on activities of which I am already aware.
I'm reading ... Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by The Countess of Carnarvon, Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv, and I am listening to a good ol' Danielle Steel book on cd (44 Charles Street) on my 10-hour car trip this weekend.
I'm cooking ... That schedule I was going to make and keep? Well, I made it. I shopped for it. And I haven't kept it. But the good news is now I have all those meals for the NEXT two weeks. And I won't have to go back to the store.
I'm grateful for ... My husband who is working overtime hours so that we have the CASH to go on our family vacation, for me to go to Missouri and then to Portland to help both my sister and brother with painting to get ready for their babies, and for our anniversary trip. He is working so hard, and I appreciate him.
I'm praying for ... My sister and her baby. She is measuring 5 cm. smaller than she should be at this point. I had the same problem with my Eli, and he was a low-birth weight baby with some neurological delays that we still work with. Ashtyn will be a blessing, like all babies are, but I know that it is unnerving for a near-due mama to hear that there are complications.
A photo, video, link, or quote to share ... If you have a Bass Pro Shop in your area, they have some great Family Summer Camp crafts, workshops and activities that are FREE. Go to their site to check it out.
I am also linking up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers and Homegrown Learners.
Looks like a great week. Love the advice you shared and the link to Bass Pro (I didn't know they had Family Camp type activities in the summer!).
ReplyDeleteGreat photos of your daughter at her first piano lesson!
Prayers for your sister and baby.
Nicole -- I love the picture at the piano bench! These are the same books that I put my little guy in last month when he started. They are by far my favorites -- yay!!!
ReplyDeleteI love that you are going on a family vacation and get to have an anniversary trip and some time for yourself helping prepare for a new baby.
Life is good! Thanks for linking!
Nice to meet you - visiting from Homegrown Learners linky. Technically we don't stop learning even though I plan for about an eight-week break over the summer. I won't count any of those days. Submitting attendance seems a tad foolish when every day could be counted :) Yes - we've got a Bass about an hour away and I'd love to participate in some of their activities (and my husband has some gift cards to burn!)
ReplyDeleteWe haven't been getting up very early lately either. I always feel like I wish we were, but we have really been enjoying our time as a family in the evenings. So it has been harder to get to bed at a decent time. I am always so embarrassed when the neighbor kids come over and part of us are still in our pajamas.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful week.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Dawn
I really wanted to go to the Venus Transit viewing party, and we had too many other things on the calendar and couldn't make it happen. Your projects look great, as do all the wonderful pictures!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a nice week! I hope things continue to be less stressful for you! My rule about counting days is that we must cover at least 3 subjects and learn something new...or a field trip that is new.But I don't count many days in the summer. LOL
ReplyDeleteYour daughter looks SO excited about piano lessons! It's wonderful that she has this opportunity.
ReplyDeleteOur family tends to get a "late" start to the day, too--you're not alone! :-)
Brynne looks so happy about piana! Yay!
ReplyDeleteDo you have to log days in your state? I don't necessarily track our days, but I have 180 days of lesson plans for most subjects (less for some electives) and when I get to the last lesson plan, we are finished with that subject for whatever grade year we are on. Was that clear as mud?