Mid-Semester

I truly feel like we should be at the mid-year mark in school,

but I guess we are only about a fourth of the
way into it, huh?

Well,
I'd love to know how many of you are doing!

It seems that we have finally found a routine that works
for us...
just in time for it all to change because of
a VERY busy basketball season quickly approaching.

And I also have those days that I don't think I can go
any further in homeschooling.
Not that I don't like it or am not willing to
give it my all...
it is just really difficult on days when my kiddos
are so whiney about it all.
And then there's my 3 year old who demands attention
almost constantly.

It's exhausting.

But, thankfully we do have some really good
days that keep me going.

And I also have a WONDERFUL homeschool
mentor (Martha) who is ALWAYS there
for me when I need encouragement.
Seriously everyone,
if you don't have a Martha of your own,
you need to find one!

Plus my sweet husband is VERY
supportive and listens intently when I
bring him my concerns and complaints, which somehow
always leaves me a little refreshed.

So,
I guess for us...at least for now,
we are holding our own and pressing on!

How 'bout you?!

settling into a routine that works

Well,
I reckon everyone has been schoolin' for
at least a week or more by now, right?

How's it going?
Are you feeling that your routine is set yet?

For us,
even though we started early in August,
we didn't get near as much done as I
had hoped in order to compensate for our time off
while we are in China.
So....my students will be doing some
work while we are gone.
Much to their chagrin.

And just as I feel like our routine is getting,
well, routine....it's all about to change
with our newest child joining our family.

So...our subject for this post is,

What is your routine?
I'd love to hear what time you start
each day,
and what time you finish.

Also....
if anyone has any great advice for me
as we are welcoming our 13 year old into
our happy(ish) homeschool,
I'd love to hear it.
She is 13 and VERY SMART,
so I'm told.
Any advice on curriculum or
what the first few weeks and months
should look like (school-wise) with a newly adopted child,
that would be great!

Homeschooling and Housework...can a girl be successful at both?

Let me start with this...
The above picture is NOT my house.
I repeat, NOT my house!

Though things are quite askew around here,
it's not quite that bad.

We are, however, knee deep into school
and the housework does, indeed...suffer.
In fact, it suffers greatly.

So here's the subject for our latest discussion:
Do you have any *magical* advice or
system that helps you keep things neat and tidy
while also homeschooling?

Now listen,
if your house is, as mentioned above,
neat and tidy,
I will require you to submit a picture.

Ok, just kidding.
Sorta.
Actually, it would only depress me if I knew any of
you actually had it ALL together.

So, let's go....
Do you schedule your housework?
Do it as you can?
Save it for Saturdays?

What's your method to control the housework
madness while homeschooling?

dealing with distractions

Even though we have just BARELY started our school
year, the distractions are already present...loudly present.

I'm not sure there is a simple solution to this problem...
because some distractions are necessary
(Dr. appts., trip to the post office, etc.),
then some are just so tempting to welcome with open arms,
aka, a call from a friend.

In the past, I've tried to keep our focus but never
really made a big deal of getting off track
with our school work,
but this year is very different because both of my
students (well, the two I have at the moment) are
high schoolers and they really must work hard to get
all their subjects completed by the end of the year
in order to have a full and impressive transcript.
And I DO NOT want to work into the summer.

So, does anyone have a great solution to this?
Do any of you do 4-day weeks in order to
put those errands and Dr.'s appointments on the
5th day?

Do some of you simply require your students
to do "homework" in the evenings?
I really try to avoid that but I think it's going to happen for us this year.

Your thoughts?

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pre-schoolers

I would love to hear how some of you handle your
pre-schoolers while you are trying to get
school done with your older kiddos.

Lucy has thoroughly enjoyed the big fat
workbook that I bought for her at Sam's...
though she doesn't exactly do it correctly...
but, who cares.

But that only carries her over for a short time.
She loves watching TV (of course)...which
I always feel guilty letting her do but golly,
it's such a life saver sometimes!!
The good thing is she really only likes videos
that have singing and dancing in,
so she can fully participate.
I count that as exercise...and exercise is good, right?!

Having a little one around is still so new to me,
especially when it means trying to
keep her occupied with something meaningful
while teaching my boys.

Any suggestions??

handling frustrating days and some dinner ideas

We are going to attempt to start school next week.

Next.Week.

I have a lot of organizing and planning to do before then!

But one thing that keeps running through

my mind is,

how can I better handle those

days that will come...

when I will be frazzled, irritated and

downright frustrated.

I'd like to know from you all,

especially you veterans at this homeschooling

thing...

how you handle those kinds of days?

Please don't say you go hide in the closet....that's my thing! Please
tell me there are other options.

Also....

because no matter what kind of day it is, our families

need to eat (they're funny that way)....I would love to know

if you have any default dinners that you always

have on hand to throw together when you

just don't feel up to something

wonderfully creative.

Math

After asking you all for information about
you and your homeschooling family,
and what curriculum you use....
I quickly found that there is a wide range
of variety.

I should have expected that since
I myself, after wasting a lot of money on
things that just didn't work for us,
use a vast variety of resources and curriculum.

Today I'd like to chat about Math.
Since that's an important core subject,
and there are lots of options out there,
I would like to hear your
thoughts on what you really like...
and don't like so much.

I have always used Saxon Math,
which I have always liked...
until Nick hit pre-algebra and I really struggled
teaching it to him. I found that I was
just getting by and that wasn't really
teaching at all.

I sought the advice of homeschool mom
extraordinaire, and my real-life good friend,
Martha.

She quickly and excitedly told me about
Teaching Textbooks.

If you aren't familiar with it, it is
so great, especially for higher level
math. It comes with a text book
and program for your computer where the
guy teaches each lesson
(not a video, just his voice while he
demonstrates on a graphic-type "chalk board").
But best of all,
for EACH and EVERY math problem,
you can pop in a separate "solutions" CD,
click on the problem in question
and the guy explains and walks you through
how to work the problem.

It is amazing!
Pricey, but amazing!

I would love to know if any of you are
familiar with this...if you like it...or not.

Other Math programs that you all liked
(based on your comments on my personal blog)
were, Sonlight, and Math U See.

So, your thoughts on Math....??

Welcome!!

I can't believe I'm starting another blog
but I'm pretty excited about having a gathering
place for homeschool moms!

Since time is short...all the time,
I probably won't post more than once a week.

However, what I'd love to see is,
for those of you needing encouragement,
answers to questions, suggestions, etc., etc....
anything homeschool-related,
to leave a comment.
Then, it would be great for other HS moms
(ok, dads too), to check in and leave
a comment answering questions or giving suggestions.

Make sense?

So, PLEASE check back frequently
to read and leave comments.

We'll see how that works for a while!

I plan to continue gathering info regarding
all of you out there who would like to
contribute.


Let's start with this topic:

Socialization.

The most frequently asked question that I get
is..."but what about socializing for your kids?"

I.hate.this.question.

Why is it that in public schools, people constantly
complain about large class sizes,
yet a class size of about 4,5,6...10,
(Mom and kids),
is so anti-social???

Give me a break!!

Don't get me wrong...kids need friends.
They need activities (limited).
But day by day I can't think of anything more
important than the one person on earth
who loves these precious kiddos more
than anyone (ok, dad too),
teaching them and pouring into them
God's goodness.

How do you answer the question of
socialization??