The Homeschool Mother's Journal - August 30, 2013

I would like to post to The Homeschool Mother's Journal this week and Weekly Wrap-Up.  This was our first week back to homeschooling this year.

In my life this week...My girls started back to their wonderful Catholic high school.  Therefore, it was prime time to start homeschooling my second grader.  It is always so much easier to homeschool him when everyone else is at school or work.  The week didn't finish off as I had planned because my girls had off on Friday and I had to bring them for their physicals so they could participate on the swim team this year.  Plus, hubby had off on Friday.  So we didn't do any homeschooling on Friday.  It was a shame because I was going to begin note booking with him for his history.  The beginning of the week was also a little rough because I had to not only drive the girls to school on Monday...but also pick them up.  Usually my hubby picks them up.  This took away from our homeschooling day.  Wednesday my husband also stayed home to work to stay out of the traffic from the Martin Luther King celebration in WDC.  This also cut into our homeschooling day.  Nevertheless, we accomplished some important things in our week.

In our homeschool week...

Religion:  Devotion, Bible and Prayers everyday.  We discussed the importance of prayer and vocations.  One of our favorite verses was: "For the virtuous his paths are level, to the haughty they are steep..." Sirach 39:24.  We say the five daily mysteries and a decade of the rosary with a morning offering.

Math:  Word problems, patterns, addition, equal groups, fractions, time, money, line segments, regrouping, subtraction, hundreds, liquid measures, shapes, dates

Latin:  Completed Lesson 1 - Learned seven Latin words, vowel sounds, and watched instructional CD

English:  Alphabetical Order and Sentence Types - Declarative, Interrogative, Imperative, and Exclamatory

NOL Journaling:  Wrote draft on Three Cajun Pigs. The virtue was diligence and the bible verse was Proverbs 13:4. Drew and colored picture and neatly wrote the final.  We orally discussed his edits.  I will have to work harder on having him be more serious about the edits next week.  I think I'll be using our new white board for this.

Spelling:  Survey Test and Placement Test

History:  The Glory that was Rome, map work and test. Learned about the Celts of Britain and the story of Craith and his companions.  We will be learning about Beowulf next week and I can post our note booking pages on this.

Helpful homeschool tips...I use my journal idea every week.  Here is a link on my website for some of the most recent stories we drew and wrote about:  http://www.nucleusoflife.com/apps/blog/show/32669614-nol-sample-stories-group-4

Places and People...We went to Cold Stone for ice cream after the physicals on Friday.  Have you ever had their smoothies?  Best smoothie I've ever had and only 110 calories.

My favorite thing...There is something so heart warming to observe puppies and children together.  I'm so grateful to have rescued our puppy, Bella, from the shelter back in February of this year.

Whenever we begin our homeschool day, we cuddle on the couch together with our Bible, devotional, and rosary.  Bella comes right over and lays between us.

My son is seven and his four older siblings are either in private high school or college.  Therefore, he is our last child being homeschooled and Bella is a welcome friend to him.  It is such a joy to see him interact and play with Bella between subjects while we homeschool.

On Wednesday, my son hurt his knee when he fell on the hard floor in our basement.  My husband and I both heard his cries and ran to see what happened.  Of course, Bella ran right up to him and started wagging her tail and licking him all over.  His cries immediately turned to laughter.  Bella is a great comfort to us while we homeschool.  No wonder they call them man's best friend.

My kids favorite thing...My second grader is excited because I ordered him a nice sling shot this week that will be coming in the mail.

Things I'm working on...I'm still working on getting a learning center for homeschooling in our basement.

I'm cooking... Oven roaster, potatoes, and peas

I'm grateful for...My oldest college son who was here on Monday and took my second grader to the pool.

I'm praying for...The country of Syria

I rewarded my kids by...I let my girls get pedicures before school started.

Something I have my eye on...A day to put up my white board.

A photo...Here is my son and our puppy Bella in between subjects as we homeschool.

Simple Woman's Daybook

It is time for a Simple Woman's Daybook for this Monday, August 27th, 2013.

Outside my window...it is sunny and warm here in Maryland and I just returned from bringing my daughters' to their first day of school.  My son fell asleep on the way home.  I  think he got up too early.

I am thinking...that it been awfully nice being able to take hour long walks with my hubby lately.  We have a good conversation as we escape the house and the kids and get good exercise at the same time.  It is also such a joy to be out in nature.  Sometimes...less is more!

I am thankful...that my oldest son came home from college and got the best hair cut I've ever seen on him.  He is so handsome with this new layered hair cut.  I am also thankful that my two college sons were home yesterday evening for dinner and rosary together.

In the kitchen...we had pork chops and mashed potatoes last night.

I am wearing...a grey tee with blue and yellow shorts with flip flops.

I am creating...We are attempting to create a learning center for homeschooling.  Hubby cleared out most of the clutter downstairs and now we have to hang the white board.  I am also creating one of the crafts for my journal writing class.  I was able to work on it yesterday while I waited for my daughters at a half day high school orientation and senior picture day.  I did get a lot done.

I am going...to bring my two daughters to their first day of school today.  We are using the school's bus service to bring them from Maryland into Virginia this year.  I used to have to drive all the way which took about 40-45 minutes one way.  It will cut about 20 minutes off our traveling time and we will be able to get home earlier to begin home schooling. (So much for starting early...my son is tired!)

I am wondering...how the co-op is going to work out as we do not have normal class rooms with desks, tables, or a black board.  The students will be sitting on coaches and plush seats.

I am looking forward to...our first class for journal writing in September.  The children have such a good time.

I am hearing...I put Fox and Friends on in the morning.

Around the house...my oldest is getting ready to return to college and my second grader fell asleep on the couch. 

I am praying...for all my kids in their educational growth and making good social decisions.

One of my favorite things...was attending the co-op gathering the other night where I was able to meet so many nice moms.

A few plans for the rest of the week...are to begin homeschooling and finish making our learning center.

Here are some pictures to share when we visited my mom a couple weeks ago.

Seven Quick Takes

It's time for 7 Quick Takes over at Conversion Diary.  If you would like to participate, just click on this link.

1)  Today we are going to visit grandma in West Virginia.  My mom is the sweetest person I've ever known.  I rarely get to see her and I worry about her.  She fell and hit her arm on the coffee table and had to where a cast for a little while.  She is eighty years old and it is getting harder for her to get around.  My brother lives with her and tries to take care of her but he is sometimes not too dependable.  If we do not head over to see her today, I'm afraid that we will not have time once the school year starts.  I haven't seen her since last spring at my daughters Confirmation.  I wish I could spend more time with her.  Our family gets so busy and my mom no longer likes to drive much as she has some difficulty with her vision.  I am looking forward to spending some time with her and the kids today.

2)  My daughter is going to be a senior this year and it's that time to start preparing things for colleges.  I can't believe my baby girl is growing up.  I am so proud of her.  She is more than I ever was or could be in life.  She volunteers at a local hospital, helps coach children on the swim team, life guards as her summer job, ushers at Sunday Masses, , enjoys membership in the National Honor Society, and chooses swim team as an activity year round.  When I was her age, I was working full time and going to a local community college part time.  I was not involved in my community and helping families the way my daughter is today.  She is doing the right things and has a commitment to customer service that is heart warming to see.  Just the other night, I went to pick my daughter up from work at the pool.  There were two groups having parties and they were taking their time packing up their items to leave the pool because it was closing.  All those life guards rallied together to clean up and help the families out of the pool to leave at a reasonable time.  It was great to see her work hard with others to achieve a common goal.  She continues to amaze me.  I am so proud of her.

3)  My children are my life.  That is why I talk about them so much.  My oldest son recently broke up with his girlfriend of two years.  I know it was difficult for him.  It is very interesting though as he is more approachable and friendly now without her.  She was a very nice person but there was something in their relationship that was blocking him from being the person he is today.  He does not talk about the situation and is very private and respectful toward others.  Therefore, I often ponder about this.  It is so hard to grow up sometimes as my other son was the one who got dumped by his girlfriend and he is heart broken.  He knows she needs more space and independence and it is hard to see him struggle with honoring her with this request.  He has come a long way and is doing much better now.  I wish there was a way to help them avoid becoming too serious with someone while they are away at college.  They are both at a very challenging and important time in their lives.  I am always praying for them...please offer a prayer for my two oldest sons with me!

4)  It is so important to be clean and sanitary.  For the second time in our 26 years of marriage, yesterday I hired a sweet couple to come clean my kitchen and bathrooms.  I am so glad I took the plunge to do this.  To be honest, I get so busy picking up clutter, washing dishes, and homeschooling that I have no time and energy to do it right.  It is so hard to get those stains out of the toilets.  It so cute the way this husband and wife team work together to help families clean.  Some people have a talent for this.  They are so much better and quicker at it than I am.  I am so appreciative of their work and efforts.

5)  It is a busy time of year getting the kids ready to go back to school.  There are so many errands to run and books and supplies to buy for the school year.  I often wonder how I am going to fit it all in.  We're making progress though.  We are ordering books, getting hair cuts, getting supplies, attending some pre-school events, and (God Willing) setting up a small learning center in our basement.  I have to order a large dry erase board for the wall.  I remember teaching in classrooms at a local Church and I utilized the blackboard constantly.  It will be a big benefit for our homeschooling endeavors.

6)  Here is a picture of our family on the vacation we just had in Ocean City, Maryland.  It was so nice to get away before the year starts.

7)  I am excited this year to participate in a local homeschool co-op once a week.  I have found in homeschooling both genders that boys need socialization more than girls do.  There is something in the male species that thrives when they can be around friends.  My girls were more content just being.  Boys have to get out and experience life more at an earlier age.  The homeschool group will also be able to attend Mass every week.  This is a great asset...to keep their faith at the center of their educational experiences.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

It is time for a Simple Woman's Daybook for this Monday, August 12th, 2013.

Outside my window...it is evening here in Maryland after a bright sunny beautiful day.  I spent a large part of my day driving my daughter to and from her volunteer job at the hospital and life guarding at the pool.  I enjoyed a glass of Merlot this evening after being out all day.

I am thinking...that it will be a nice change this year to belong to a home school co-op once a week and have my writing class every third Thursday.

I am thankful...that we just got back from the beach and had a great time.  The weather cooperated with us as they were calling for rain in Maryland last week quite often but it always cleared up for us on the beach.

In the kitchen...we had an oven stuffed roaster and rice

I am wearing...a yellow tee with blue and yellow striped shorts with a blue and grey sweat jacket on.

I am creating...We are attempting to create a learning center for homeschooling.  I have to buy a large dry erase board tomorrow to hang on the wall.  We also have to clear out junk.

I am going...to my mother's house in West Virginia Friday.

I am wondering...how my mother is doing as she broke her left wrist when she fell.  She says it feels better and the cast will be removed this week.

I am looking forward to...our finished attempt at creating a learning center.  Also, to have the object they hook on clothes to catch shop lifters from leaving the store to be removed from my new sneakers tomorrow.  They were mailed to me with the object still on the sneaker.  Go figure!!!

I am hearing...my daughter watching Duck Dynasty.

Around the house...my dishwasher needs to be unloaded and I still need to unpack my son's clothes.  My three oldest are either working or at college and my hubby and seven year old are at a scout meeting.  The dog is resting.  It is pretty quite except for the t.v. and my typing.

I am praying...for my oldest son who is moving from one place to a townhouse right off campus at University of Maryland.  He will be in graduate school this year and he left this morning.

One of my favorite things...is the fun we had on our annual vacation to Ocean City.  We went out to dinner two nights.  The rest of the time we ate at the beach house.  It was very relaxing but it feels good to be home and starting to begin the school year.

A few plans for the rest of the week...is getting a pedicure with my two daughters this Wednesday.

Here are some pictures to share from our vacation last week in Ocean City, Maryland...