The Homeschool Mother's Journal

We are in the full swing of things now. And I couldn't be happier.

In my life this week ... I would call this the first week of normal for me. I have a schedule in place, loads to do, but excitement to do it all. I thrive on "normal" and routine, so am happy to be where I am.

In our homeschool this week… Our full schedule starts, with the exception of a couple of extra-curricular activities that start in the next couple of weeks..

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing… We'll mostly be home, getting used to our new schedule. On Friday, Brynne and I will go hang out with our friends for a while. We saw them a lot this summer and have been too busy to hang out lately.

My favorite thing this week was… watching Dawson take his first IEW assignment seriously, and then producing a beautiful poem about America!

What’s ~~working~~/not working for us me… Having my laptop sitting on my desk in the kitchen. It is entirely too easy for me to "check" my e-mail or Dashboard for blog updates. Then I end up getting hooked in and am only partially there for our lessons, housework gets behind, and I find myself "checking out" of my real life. It's distracting and not fair to my kids or my husband (when he gets home and I'm doing the same thing.) Starting today, the computer is in my office at the front of the house. I have scheduled computer time in the mornings before everybody gets up. I won't touch it again until lunch time. Then I won't touch it again until 3:00 when school is over. Then it's off-limits once Rick gets home in the evenings.

Questions/thoughts I have… Have I planned too much for Brynne this year in the areas of history and science? I think what we are going to do is going to teach her so much, and be fun. But would she enjoy it more if we were doing Five in a Row instead? If/when we bring Eli home for school, I plan to do Five in a Row. Should I have just gone ahead and started that with Brynne this year?? Obviously it's too early to tell. But that's just something I am keeping tucked into the back of my mind.

Things I’m working on… Just fitting everything in every day in a smooth and fluid way, and not over-doing it so much that I am a zombie in the evenings when Rick and the other two kids come home.

Books I’m reading… Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner, Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone (Dawson's read-a-loud) More Faith in My Day by Emilie Barnes (my daily devotional).

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

I looked out on the back porch on one of our cooler days a week or so ago, and found Crusoe just relaxing on the patio furniture with the wind blowing on his face. He had let himself out the back door and was enjoying the day.

Visit other homeschool mothers at The Homeschool Chick.

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.

A New Year, the Same Me

Happy 2019! It is that day of the year where everybody is up extra early starting their new exercise routine, eating only healthy foods, cracking open the pages of a new planner and Bible study, and debuting their Word for the year. You chuckle or roll your eyes, but you are doing at least three of these things. By the way, so am I. So let's start with the Word of the Year. Mine this year is Lagom. It's the Swedish word for "not too little, not too much, just right". It's a concept of being, doing or having just enough. So let's rewind to last New Year's Day. My Word was Might. And that's how I planned to tackle my year. And, I did. I worked out hard, I mommed hard, I traveled hard, I worked hard. And it was a good season. It prepared the way for this year. I accepted the Challenge I set for myself and succeeded. But, I don't need to keep up that pace. I am at a place in my life where I can kind of sit back and enjoy my life without f...

Science Sunday ~ Hmmm ... Let Me Think About It!

This week in our study of the Human Body , Brynne moved on to the Nervous System . Our first stop was a Pamela Hill Nettleton book called, Think, Think, Think: Learning About Your Brain . As part of our discussions about the brain , and the fact that it's the BOSS of the body, we discussed the importance of the spinal cord . We did a hands on spinal cord project by alternating gummy Life Savers and wagon wheel pasta on a pipe cleaner. We talked about why there was the "squishy" stuff in between the vertebra and how the back can bend and sway because of it. We completed "The Brynne" by adding the stomach, small intestine and large intestine, from our study last week of the Digestive System (although I just realized I have the large intestine coming out of the stomach, when the small intestine should be) and the brain and spinal cord. We are now done talking about the parts of the body and will conclude our study of the Human Body with a two-day unit ...

UnknownAugust 22, 2011 at 8:51 AM
Oh, I'm the same way with the laptop! My plan is NO LAPTOP during school hours - the kids can use the desktop for research IF needed and I won't use it because it's frustratingly slow - and use it only in the evenings after the kids have gone to bed and my husband is writing. Those 10 minutes of "checking" always turn into 2 hours for me!
Aloha AcresAugust 22, 2011 at 11:28 AM
Just recently I've also made the decision to limit my screen time. It's made a great impact on our family (and our home .... things are so tidy now) :o)

Have a wonderful 1st full week.

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