My Homeschool Week

It is time for the Homeschool Mother's Journal which is a wonderful way to keep track of our weeks while we homeschool our children.  Just click on the link to participate.


In my life this week...I was able to attend my 30th high school reunion with a good friend this week.  It really was a blessing to see some faces I haven't seen in years.  I was worried that I was going to feel uncomfortable, but people were very friendly and we all had a good time.

We are also gearing up for Thanksgiving.  My two college sons will be home this week to celebrate with us.  I am really looking forward to seeing them.  My mother-in-law will also be with us after she had a mild stroke.  Therefore, we need to really clean this week because she is on blood thinner, and we don't want her cutting herself by tripping over toys, etc.  It is harder to stop the bleeding when one is on this medicine.


In our homeschool week...

***Math - (Middle School) - Number Lines, Fractions, and Mixed Numbers; Averages and Line Graphs; Factors and Prime Numbers; and Corrections (Kindergarten)  -  Adding and Subtracting; Money; Telling Time (new concept: knows there are 60 minutes in an hour).

***English - (Middle School)  -  Conjunctive Adverbs with Diagramming; Prepositional Phrases with Diagramming (Kindergarten)  -  Created and wrote two sentences for journals, initially choosing nouns and verbs and then expanded our sentence afterward; MCP Phonics.

***Religion - Discussed two religious articles on "Removing Blinders" and "Augustine's Searh for the Truth" and came up with 25 points to think about and how these points can change the world.  Instead of listing them all here, here is one example:  Something To Think About:  Reading the Old Testament wasn't enough to convert Augustine.  He came to know Jesus through the Church.  How it Can Change the World:  All people can have a relationship with the Lord!  The Church is here to welcome all.  (Kindergarten)  -   Read two Bible stories (Joseph's Dream and The Proclamation of the Kingdom) and recorded them in journals.

***Vocabulary - (Middle School) - Took written quiz on ten vocabulary words and their meanings.

***History - (Middle School)  -  Read Text and completed Workbook on Spanish-American War.  Noticed discrepancy in number of casualties reported in two different sources.  The Spanish-American War was probably the easiest war America has fought as there were hardly any casualties for the Americans.

***Science - (Middle School)  -  Read Lesson on 'Change in States of Matter.' Also studied vocabulary and completed workbook.   (Kindergarten)  -  Conducted three experiments on 'Cold Air being Denser than Warm Air.'  Also discovered that this is also how airplanes can fly.  1) Piece of cardboard did not fall off the top of a glass filled with water when we turned it upside down because the cooler air was pushing up against it.  2)  Strip of paper was pushed up toward the faster moving warm air when we blew on it. This occurred from the denser air underneath the paper pushing upward.  3)  Blowing through a straw pushed an item forward better than blowing without the straw.

***Writing - (Middle School)  -  Completed first draft of Religion paper.  (Kindergarten)  -  Wrote sentences in journals.

***Latin - (Middle School)  -  Worked on syllabication and accents.  Also added new Latin nouns to vocabulary index cards.

***Reading  -  (Middle School)  -  Read and finished novel "Escape from Warsaw" for History.  Completed all draft chapter summaries.  (Kindergarten)  -  Read library books, We Both Read books, and stories from CSC.

***Art - Drew and colored pictures in journals.  (Middle School) - Analyzed two dramatic paintings by John Singleton Copley and Peter Paul Rubens.  Painted a picture of something dramatic in her own life.  (Kindergarten) - Painted

***Music and Phys. Ed. - Piano Lesson and Ballet Lesson.


I am inspired by...all the friends I saw again this week.  Every week they inspire me at our homeschool co-op.  I was also inspired by my good friend that went to my reunion with me.  I'm also inspired by my husband who has a tremendous amount of discipline and self-control.


Places we're going and people we're seeing...High school friends and co-op friends.


My favorite thing this week...was being able to see the children at the co-op learning so much about their faith, writing, and science.  We discussed the Kingdom Parables in the bible and started understanding what it means to compare things.  As you know, Jesus uses many analogies in His parables.  We discussed the 'Mustard Seed' and 'Pearl of Great Price.'


Questions/thoughts I have...How do you stay organized?  I do by keeping track of a laid out proposed plan every week and recording what we actually do beside this plan.  It takes two columns:  Planned and Actual to record our homeschool efforts.  We seldom accomplish everything that is planned.  Nevertheless, I can go back and compare from week to week what we need more or less of during the current week.  If there is an area we missed one week, the following week we will pick up on it.

Also, why do my children say that we are not homeschoolers but that we were homeschooled (up until ninth grade).  Is it more grammatically correct?  Is the word 'homeschool' in the dictionary yet?  People say, "I'm a ninth grader."  There is nothing wrong with saying, "I'm a homeschooler?"  I think my kids just want to stress that homeschooling happened in the past, and they weren't homeschooled all life-long.  They did have a positive experience in the private high schools they attended.  I don't think we would be as fortunate had they attended a public high school.


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

"Learn the wisdom of compromise, for it is better to bend a little than to break." Jane Wells (not when it comes to principal though)