Homeschool Log - Catching Up Friday and Saturday January 8 & 9, 2010

Thursday night we had a dusting of snow and some bitterly cold temperatures, along with wind. Friday school was canceled. Seven school age kids ended up here so we had a snow day too.

Saturday was pretty much a lazy day for all of us.

Here are some pictures from Friday.

 

 

Socialization is certainly not a problem here.

Computer Lab?

All three kids with the laptops they got for Christmas.

Homeschool Log Thursday January 7, 2010

It's snowing again. Sadly, at least for me, the forecast is for 1 to 3 inches. I want a couple of feet of snow. I want to be snowed in.

This morning both Austin and Amanda did their typing lessons at Dance Mat Typing. Austin did a math lesson at Mr. Ankers Computation and a language arts lesson at Gamequarium. Amanda did her math and language arts lessons from her workbooks.

Austin and I spent about 15 minutes reading together from  The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Great Illustrated Classics). Amanda finished reading The Call of the Wild (Great Illustrated Classics).

Because I had a meeting to go to this afternoon we didn't get to do any reading together this afternoon.

Both kids watched an episode of The Dog Whisperer on NatGeo and Touched by an Angel on the Hallmark Channel.

Austin played Deer Drive and Treasure Masters, Inc on his computer. 

This evening Austin and Amanda spent part of the evening at their grandparents house. They came home a little earlier than usual because it started snowing and we weren't sure how bad the roads would be.

Chores, helping with the younger kids and taking care of their pets rounded out there day.

Homeschool Log Wednesday January 6, 2010

Cold, cold, cold. It is just plain old cold here.

We finished reading Ecclesiastes today and also read 1 Kings 11. The Bible we're using right now is arranged in chronological order and we've enjoyed this version. It is easier to follow. We also read a chapter from  Rilla of Ingleside.

Both Austin and Amanda enjoyed having friends here this afternoon. And while I stay inside and complain about how cold it is, they bundle up and go out to enjoy some fresh air. I'm so glad to see them do that. And I'm so glad I get to stay inside!

This evening the child/youth program at our church resumed after a two week Christmas break. All three kids went as well as Amanda's two friends who were here this afternoon. Austin came back full of excitement about all the fun things that are being planned for the youth group in the next few months. It sounds like he's going to be busy.

Chores, helping with the kids, computer games and watching some TV rounded out their day.

Homeschool Log Tuesday January 5, 2010

I think we found our rhythm again today. Things just seemed to go a lot more smoothly than yesterday.

Both Austin and Amanda worked on their Dance Mat Typing lessons. Austin also went to  Mr. Anker's Computation and did lesson number 5 on addition and then to Gamequarium and watched Adjectives for Armando (Part 4).

Amanda read chapter 1 from the Call of the Wild (Great Illustrated Classics) by Jack London. Austin spent about 10 minutes reading with me from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Great Illustrated Classics) by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Amanda did the Signs and Symbols worksheet from the Hayes Math Skills and Drills Addition workbook and the Direct Objects worksheet from her Language Arts workbook.

This afternoon we read Ecclesiastes chapters 8 - 10. Some of the imagery there gave them both the chuckles. We also read a chapter from Rilla of Ingleside.

Amanda said she wants to take a break this week from cooking but Austin is still enjoying time in the kitchen. This afternoon he made Spicy Chicken Wings and we had them for dinner. They were scrumptious. No leftovers.

 

 

Amanda published another post on her blog this afternoon. This one is about her pet rats. Austin worked on a post but did not quite get if finished, so he plans to finish it tomorrow.

TV today was mostly Disney although they did watch the last half of one episode of It's Me or the Dog on Animal Planet.

Amanda played a lot of Solitaire and Austin played a lot of Treasure Masters, Inc. and Deer Drive.

Austin played outside with two of his friends when they came over after school this afternoon.

Chores and helping with the daycare kids rounded out their day.

Homeschool Log Monday January 4, 2010

Today didn't go quite as smoothly as I had hoped. I felt like we kind of bumped along. It took both Austin and Amanda much longer to get through with both chores and schoolwork than I thought it should. I think maybe I had some unreasonable expectations about how smoothly and quickly the kids would be able to transition back into things.

We did enjoy our reading time this afternoon. We read Ecclesiastes 4-7, then we read a chapter of  Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery. I like the history that is covered in this book. It is set in the early 1900's during the time of World War 1.
This afternoon both kids worked on their blogs. Amanda's blog post was all about her our cat.. Austin's blog post was mostly random pictures from his camera.

Chores and helping out with the kids rounded out the rest of their structured time today.

During their free time they spend a lot of time on their computers again.

Amanda loves to play Solitaire and Spider Solitaire. She also enjoys dividing her LPS collection into families or categories and than typing up lists of her categorizations.

Austin plays Deer Drive, Crazy Machines, and Treasure Masters, Inc. The science and logical thinking in the Crazy Machines games is great, and all three games have definite value in problem solving, analytical skills, etc.

Austin and his friend Zac bundled up and went outside for some fresh air and exercise this afternoon. They had a good game of Hide and Seek Tag before they came back in.

We added some music appreciation to our day by enjoying two CDs - Amazing Grace: Classic Hymns and a CD from the Ultimate Worship Collection.

Back on Schedule

We have enjoyed our Christmas vacation but it is definitely time for us to get back on schedule. I think we're ready for a new start.

I've made a few minor changes to our school schedule. The main one is that I want Austin and Amanda to work  on their blogs each day. We had started doing this the beginning of the year but somehow it slipped through the cracks. The other changes were doing Bible and literature time each day instead of twice a week. All of these changes are easily incorporated into our day and the kids seemed to be fine with them.

Here are a few pictures from our day today.

Michael practiced his cutting skills.

 

 

Austin helped me restock the collage box for the daycare kids.

Amanda helped make grilled cheese sandwiches to go with our tomato soup for dinner.