The Homeschool Mother's Journal

In my life this week ... Okay, really, I am over the heat! I'm all for summer temps (well, not really) but temps over 100 degrees every single day for weeks on end is more than I can handle! My garden is yuck, despite the watering. I even have bushes and trees dying. We don't feel like even stepping outside. It's gross, really.

In our homeschool this week… We have actually not done a thing this past week. At the end of last week we went to a Science Camp. Then this week my sister and niece are visiting, so we are busy spending time with them. Today, however, we are hoping to do Barb's Sunflower Study from Handbook of Nature Study's July activities calendar because we have some Co-op friends coming over.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing… Brynne has one more night of Dance Camp tonight. Then my husband and I are going for a much-needed-way-overdue night away to celebrate our anniversary that was last month. Other than that, we're staying in to avoid the heat.

My favorite thing this week was… Sitting next to my son at Brynne's Dance Camp with the two of us with our noses in books, side-by-side.

What’s ~~working~~/not working for us… THE HEAT! And being off our schedule keeps us from doing our daily reading. We still have a month before school starts, though, so we can hit it hard again starting next week and get in three good weeks before school starts again.

Questions/thoughts I have… Where are my Teaching Textbooks materials?

Things I’m working on… more U.S. History! And now I only have about three weeks to get about five units done. I am going to be busy the rest of the summer! I am also working on Brynne's birthday party that is next month.

Books I’m reading… Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller, Seasons of a Mother's Heart, by Sally Clarkson (reading with the moms in our Co-op Playgroup), More Faith in My Day by Emilie Barnes (my daily devotional).

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

The little gal visiting next door this past weekend.

School takes on many forms in the summer months. Hop on over to The Homeschool Chick to see what it looks like in other homes.

CTC Math {Schoolhouse Review}

We found our groove with math this year. I found a curriculum that both of the kids respond well to and seem to enjoy (as much as one can enjoy math). We have spent the whole year learning the ins and outs of multiplication and were just a few lessons away from being ready to move onto the next year-long level on division. And then an opportunity to review the 12 Month Family Plan from CTC Math became available. To be honest, I wasn't very enthusiastic. I mean, why mess with the methods that have worked so well? When I was chosen to review the product I didn't go into it with the level of enthusiasm that it deserved. We have been using a dvd/workbook curriculum with great success. The 12 Month Family Plan from CTC Math is a web based curriculum. As we have not had a lot of luck with those types of programs, I went into this review with a negative attitude. And then my socks were knocked off by how great it is. In fact it is so great that we are going to continue to ...

Veritas Press Self-Paced History: Old Testament and Ancient Egypt (Schoolhouse Review)

For the past several weeks we have been reviewing Veritas Press Self-Paced History: Old Testament and Ancient Egypt and the Old Testament and Ancient Egypt Flashcards from Veritas Press . As we were entering into our more easy-going summer schedule, and had just concluded a two-year Old Testament Bible course, I was happy to try out this product as it appeared to be something that Eli and Brynne could do together, alone, and would act as a review of the Old Testament presented in a different way. And I was right. Each Veritas Press Self-Paced History program includes 160 lessons teaching about 32 events in history. They are designed for children in grades 2-6, and it is recommended that the student be a minimum of 7 years of age at the time of the first lesson. What We Received We received a full one-year subscription, for one child, to the online Veritas Press Self-Paced History: Old Testament and Ancient Egypt program and the accompanying Old Testament and Ancien...

Cells ~ It's What's for Dinner

Dawson made edible cells on Friday. He made an animal cell pizza ... and a plant cell chocolate chip cookie ... He reviewed what he's learned about cells the past two weeks, and I had dinner made by someone else. Win, win!! I am linking up at Science Sunday at Adventures in Mommydom.

MissMOEJuly 20, 2011 at 4:09 PM
Other than the heat, looks like a great week. My dh and I are headed away for the weekend to celebrate our anniversy also--enjoy your time away.

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