This and That

• We have much more hope right now that  the house we are hoping to buy really will be ours. I'm not good at waiting for answers and it's been rough waiting since Thursday evening for them. But finally this evening we were able to talk to someone and it looks like it's going to happen. Not set in stone yet but hopefully heading that way. I'm excited again.
• I took this picture yesterday to commemorate the joy of seeing brother and sister getting along. Unfortunately it didn't carry over into today. I know they love each other but Wow! They can really argue!

• We are happy that two more new children joined our crew this week. Kansas is 7 years old and is here 2 -3 evenings a week and Jayden is 15months old and here 6 mornings a week.
• But I was sad when this morning, the very first morning that Jayden was here, he fell and bumped his head on the door frame resulting in a rather larger goose egg on his forehead. Why do these things always seem to happen on the first day?
• We had two children out sick today. I hope they feel better soon and we see them tomorrow.
• Our new history book The Story of the World Volume 1 finally arrived. We started it yesterday and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately our afternoon school session was interrupted so we didn't get to read any more of it today. We were able to get math, reading and Bible done before I had to call an end to schoolwork for the day because of very cranky babies. I had planned to include history and literature today as well but it just wasn't going to happen. But tomorrow is another day and should be a much easier one. I sure hope so anyway.
•  
• This afternoon a friend of ours from church came over and had Doug help him work on his truck. Michael enjoyed going out and "helping."
• And now I think it's time for me to go make sure I have things set up to run smoothly in the morning. First child is scheduled to be here at 5:15AM.

Homeschool Reflections - Looking Back at September

This year we started our homeschool year the day after Labor Day. It took us a couple weeks to find our groove we seem to be in a good place right now.

Our routine this year is very simple and takes about two hours a day. Math and Independent Reading are done in the mornings between 10:00 and 11:00. The math assignment is done first and when that is finished the rest of the hour is filled with independent reading. A few of the books the kids have read so far this year are The Black Stallion by Walter Farley (Amanda), Black Beauty by Anna Sewell (Austin and Amanda) and The Story of King Arthur and His Knights from the Classic Starts series (Austin and Amanda).

Our second hour of work is in the afternoon when the little kids are napping. During this time we sit down together and I read aloud. We do Bible, Science or Social Studies (alternating books) and Literature. Our Bible reading takes 5 - 10 minutes and then we finish the first half hour with the Science or Social Studies book that we are reading. The second half hour is spent reading our literature books. So far this year we've read Don't Know Much About Space by Kenneth C. Davis and Death on the Nile (A Hercule Poirot Mystery) by Agatha Christie.

This system is working very well for us. I feel like we are covering the basics without taking too much time away from all the other things that are capturing their interests at the moment. Things like building endless models with K-Nex, nursing a sickly abandoned kitten back to health, self inititiated reading just because the book looks interesting, walks through woods and fields, and watching The Learning Channel, Discovery Health and Animal Planet. It allows us time to work together as a family in our home daycare business and gives them the opportunity to earn money of their own. And, of course, earning money and learning how to manage it is another important part of their education.

And I do not have to worry in the slightest about lack of socialization. Amanda has five really good friends and Austin has three that they spend time with, both in their homes and with them in our home. Then there are all the families we learn to know through our business. Add to that activities at church and time spent with extended family and they are in no way lacking socialization.

So over all I feel like our first month of school for this year has gone very well and looking forward to October.

Catching Up

It's been almost a week since I've been here. I didn't intend to be gone this long but things have been pretty busy.

Austin's 14th birthday was Tuesday (8/31) and Michael's 4th birthday was Friday (9/03). We had a small party for them here at home on Sunday. It's amazing how fast they are growing up and I am enjoying seeing them grow and learn but at the same time I find myself wanting to hold on to each day as it passes, not wanting to miss a moment.

Austin had a friend here from Friday evening until this evening. Amanda had two friends here overnight Saturday night and then another friend came to visit for a  few hours Sunday evening.

Even though today is Labor Day we were open for business and had seven daycare children. My helper came in for awhile but left early because her allergies were bothering her so bad she just wanted to go home and try to sleep.

I spent a large part of the day doing the final preparations for our homeschool year which begins tomorrow. I had gotten all the materials we need but needed to organize a little and plan out our time. The current plan will probably take us about 2 1/2 hours a day. I'm looking forward to it and I think Austin and Amanda will enjoy their studies. Math may be an issue because neither of them like it but we will do that first thing in the morning and get it out of our way. We are doing a lot of reading aloud with me reading to both of them. We always enjoy learning this way, it gives us a chance to learn together. History, science, Bible and literature are all going to approached this way, at least at the beginning of the year. There will also be silent reading assignments for each of them.

So I guess I'll get some rest and get ready for our fun tomorrow.

Homeschool Moment

Amanda working on her assigned reading while eating a snack with the younger children.

Homeschool Log Sunday April 18 - Saturday April 24

Austin and Amanda
Day by Day Kids Bible
Monday - 2 Kings 15:17-35, Isaiah 6,2 Chronicles 27:1-6, Micah 1:1-9, 16
Tuesday - Micah 4:6-7: 5:2,4-5: 6:6-13; 7: 7-8, 10, 16-20
Thursday - 2 Kings 15:29; 16:1, 4-5; Isaiah 7:2-19, 23-25
Friday - Isaiah 8:1-8, 11-14, 18-20; Isaiah 9:1-7; Isaiah 10:5-27









Agatha Christie - Peril at End House

Chapters 4 -8 I had planned to only read through chapter 7 this week but after pleas of please, please read one more chapter, I read another one.










Gamequarium Math Videos
Monday - Hip Hop Math Tables (9's)
Tuesday - Three is a Magic Number
Thursday - Naughty Number Nine
Friday - Lucky Seven

Field Trip
One Saturday we went to the Riverfest Wildlife Shows with friends and had a great time.



Austin
Reading
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Great Illustrated Classics) pages 170 - 210

My Audio School 
Monday
Ancients - Greece - Aesop's Fables from the Junior Classics by William Patter
           The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse through the end.
           The Iliad for Boys and Girls by Alfred J. Church through The Repentance of Agamemnon


Social
 Sunday Austin had a friend (Zac age 11) over. He went to church with us and stayed for the afternoon to play. On Monday afternoon Zac was here again for about an hour after school. On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons Tristan age 12 was also here for a couple hours after school. Also on Thursday his friend Gabe age 10 was also here. His time with his friends included riding bikes, playing tag, caterpillar hunting, playstation games, computer games and whatever else it is boys do when they spend the afternoon having fun.

Independent Living Skills
Austin spent a lot of time this week in the kitchen. His job was to do any work on dinner that could be done ahead of time and then to empty the dishwasher from lunch. This gave him practice in keeping his workspace organized, following instructions, measurements, fractions including adding and multiplying since we often double or triple recipes, and thinking ahead.

He also had his daily chores to do as well as household assignments on his schedule that he has to read and complete during the time alloted for these activities.

Another of his daily activities is helping with the younger kids. This helps him to learn to understand the needs of others and to think about and understand how others may be feeling.



Amanda
Reading
The Widow of Larkspur Inn  (Book 1 of the Gresham Chronicles) by Lawana Blackwell - chapters 15 -19.












My Audio School 
Monday
Ancients - Greece - Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin
         George Washington and His Hatchet through Androclus and the Lion

Social
On Wednesday evening Amanda's friend Holly age 11 was here for a couple hours after school. They went for a walk together, and played playstation games. Friday evening she spent the night with Arielle (13) and Sierra (10). Then Saturday they came over and spent the night with Amanda. They went on several walks, watched movies, played computer and playstation games and played with the younger kids.

Independent Living Skills
This week Amanda was in charge of making and serving lunch. Our lunches are usually simple - homemade lunchables, sandwiches, soup, fresh fruit and vegetables, etc. She also had her household work, chores, helping with the younger children and taking care of her pets.

She has also taken on two large projects. First she has been discovering the joys of paperwork by keeping up our USDA food program daily logs. She has to log which children were in attendance for each meal and the food served. She's doing a great job with this.

Her second large project is redecorating her room. At this point she is getting it ready to paint. The walls have been washed, most of the wallpaper border scraped from the top of the wall and the masking tape is on the woodwork. And she has done nearly all of the work herself.  I'm hoping she can start painting this week.

Both Austin and Amanda had a great week and I'm very proud them.

Childcare Photo Journal - Riverfest Wildlife Shows 2010 Saturday April 24, 2010

We took the kids to a wildlife show this morning and really enjoyed it. I almost backed out of going because it was rainy, I hadn't had much sleep last night and some schedules had changed and I wasn't sure how to coordinate everything. But in the end Doug and and our friend, Carla, who suggested this outing in the first place convinced me to go along. I'm so glad I did. Although it stayed cloudy and cool the rain stopped for the two hours or so that we were there and we were able to get the schedules worked out. One parent met us there to drop off two kids which worked out fine.

Because of the lighting, or lack of it, my pictures are not the greatest but I guess fuzzy pictures are better than none.

The first presentation was given by The Wildlife Center of Virginia . 

 We met Edie, the American Kestrel.

An opossum, whose name I cannot remember.

And Buzz, a Great Horned Owl.

While waiting for the second show to begin I snapped a few photos of some of our little group. Doug, Michael, Arielle and Carla.

Austin, Hunter and Sierra.

The second presentation was done by Reptile World and they did an awesome job. I loved the way the information about the animals and was presented in an easy to understand, fun and engaging manner.  It was easy to sense a true love for the animals as well as for the children. 

 

Liam was so fascinated!

 

Cobra!

Snake egg