Homeschool Mother's Journal ~ Summer Week 7

In my life this week ...This week as been a mixture of busyness and home time. I was glad to have a day at home yesterday to do some reading, blogging, school organizing, and laundry. The kids enjoyed a day at home relaxing and playing in their pj's. Some days we just need that!

In our homeschool this week ...This was a great week of learning. We spent Monday doing some reading.

On Tuesday we went to another Bass Pro Shops Family Summer Camp workshop, this time on Camping.

On Wednesday we celebrated Independence Day while having a school day learning about it, and then some family fun with swimming and fireworks.

Yesterday Brynne and Eli spent a lot of time playing Minecraft on the iPad. They only build things, not really play anything on it. But they have got some mad building skills! I am wondering if we have some future engineers or architects on our hands.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share ... If you have a grumbler (my Eli is a grumbler), try this simple motivator. I put blanks on a piece of paper representing letters to a word that informs them of a reward they will receive if there is no grumbling when they are asked to do their different assignments. They earn a letter for each non-grumbling time. If they earn all of the letters of the word, it reveals their reward (Like Wednesday, I set their work up into four sets so that they got a letter for each set of assignments that did not include a grumble. They were very excited to learn that we got to go SWIM at the end of the school day.)

I am inspired by ... our county's history. I don't know if I would ever have enough time to teach my kids everything there is to know.

Places we're going and people we're seeing ... Today we are going to see our good friends, while us moms do some planning for our joint ventures for schooling our girls this year. The girls are going to play with the supervision of a babysitter. Next year, we are planning a mom's planning weekend away. Yay! This weekend, we are DEFINITELY going to Missouri to see my family and to spend a night at my parents lake house. Do you know I have never revealed to my little ones that my parents have a lake house? I'm not a lake person and the thought of wrestling them at the lake did not interest me at all. But, now they are older and ready for the adventure! They will have a great time with papa.

My favorite thing this week was ... definitely the 4th of July. It was a great day of learning about the birth of our country, fun crafts, good books, exciting fireworks, a cookout, and swimming. And it was a day of being a family. I am blessed.

What's working/not working for us ... My anti-grumble motivator worked on a short-term basis. Using the Grumble-Meter with that reward-earning system is definitely going to be great for us! Eli loves to earn rewards, and this will give Brynne the opportunity to encourage Eli not to grumble. They can work together.

Questions/thoughts I have ... I am so excited about the few changes I am making to our schedule this year. It's amazing how my priorities have changed in just two short years. I have begun to realize the importance of those extra-curricular acivities, like physical education and nature, and they will be a huge part of what we do this next year.

Things I'm working on ... Our weekly school schedule, our first unit study on The Olympics, and Living Math to correspond with our weekly MEP (Math Enhancement Programme) lessons.

I'm reading ... Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by The Countess of Carnarvon, Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach. (YES, I am still reading all of these. I am REALLY hoping I can get Marigold Hotel finished at my parents' this weekend. With no internet service there, it should be easier.)

I'm cooking ... Nothing for a few days. But starting Monday I am back to my Acronym cooking schedule.

I'm grateful for ... my home and my family.

I'm praying for ... my sister and new niece, one of my mentors who has been diagnosed with breast cancer, close family relationships.

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

Brynne, Dawson, Wesley (Dawson's bud), and Eli swimming on the 4th.

I am also linking up at Weekly Wrap-up with Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

and Collage Friday with Mary at Homegrown Learners.