In My Life This WeekI have come to the conclusion that I can predict rain with more accuracy than ANY meteorologist. How? It's QUITE simple! No matter how blue the skies, if I hang out a load of laundry it WILL rain. :sigh: Perhaps I should reconsider the dryer...
Things I Worked On
A wall repair. I noticed something amiss with part of a wall near the bay window right before our vacation. It's slowly gotten worse over the weeks, so an insurance agent was called in and a contractor found to fix what needed fixing. But I guess *I* really didn't work on that! :wink:
I also, sadly, rolled up the chicken wire around our garden, pulled up the metal posts, and stored everything. The kids and I have decided that our lives are just too busy to continue our "yard garden" and will stick with the Square Foot one next season. But I'm excited to share that we have at least 9 Sugar Pie pumpkins; that's 9 more than we got last year. :wink:
In the Kitchen
Cati made our favorite cookies this past weekend: Tollhouse Chocolate Chip. We just flip the bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips over, and follow the recipe, but you can find it here. Unfortunately she cooked them at 450 degrees: burnt edges and gooey middles. I picked up another bag of chips, Halloween ones this time, and she plans on trying again.
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High School Happenings
I suppose I can't call Jake a HOMESCHOOLER anymore now that he's attending high school elsewhere, so here's a section JUST FOR HIM.
I kind of thought Jake would have a HUGE adjustment to his EARLY starts - he's the kid who likes to stay up late and sleep in until noon - but he's surprised me. HE'S not the one with "wake-up whines". (See the next section. :wink:) His days are LONG though, starting at 6:20, heading off at 7:00, returning home around 5:00. He's a trooper though...because he's LOVING this new STEM school.
But what's not to love? There are NO textbooks. The kids work in teams and solve problems or build models of concepts. They discuss and share ideas and give presentations. They jump on their new school-issued lapbooks to share on-line resources and play games. No homework. They have 1 1/2 hours for lunch, "social time" and adviser meetings. DEFINITELY not your typical public school!
(I'd have some photos, but he's a TEENAGE BOY. Need I say more? LOL)
Homeschool Happenings
Our first full week back...and it went, um, mostly well. There are ALWAYS some "hiccups" along the way to be worked out, but I'm happy with how things are going. Despite a few STILL TIRED, EARLY MORNING tears and some quiet grumbling, we had a productive week. Do you suppose the kids will adjust to our earlier mornings NEXT week?
So, we had a disappointing start to our Life Science studies. Our first experiment didn't work and needs to be repeated. We were testing to see if sugar kept wild flowers alive longer. What we didn't anticipate was the CAT eating the petals off the flowers. :wink:
Highlights
❀ Easy Grammar (10 Lessons): Prepositions, Prepositional Phrases
❀ Daily Grams (5 Days): Capitalization, Punctuation, Contractions, Verb Phrases, Sentence Combining, Plurals
❀ Spelling Power: Lists 1-6 (C), Lists 1-4 (S)
❀ Bridge to Terabithia (C) and Dinosaurs Before Dark (S)
❀ Saxon 76 lessons 10-14; Math-U-See lessons 8D-F, Test 7
❀ Animal and Plant Cells, Renewable/Nonrenewable Resources, Habitats, Labs: Bread Mold, Food for Flowers, How to Use a Microscope, Self-quiz Chapter 1 (C)
❀ NROC U.S. History Lessons 1-6 and Label U.S. Wall Map
We also signed up for our homeschool co-op classes starting in October (because we need something else to do :wink:). Sam will be taking Flat Stanley, Environment and Wildlife Studies and Lego Club, and Cati will be helping with the preschoolers (to get babysitting experience), and taking Environment and Wildlife Studies too, and then Arts and Crafts (where they're supposed to make soap, learn to use a sewing machine, and maybe even weave baskets).
People and Places
❀ Meandering and Gabbing with A__ (Me) ❀ Movie and Pizza Night with Buds (J) ❀ Scouts (All) ❀ Jazz and Concert Band (C) ❀ Library (Me) ❀ Co-op Class Sign-ups (C/S/Me) ❀
Something to Share
As ALWAYS, linking up to these WONDERFUL blogs:
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I truly enjoyed your weekly recap. The school sounds interesting. I think I had heard of something like that. Or, maybe not. Sorry to hear about the garden, but sometimes (self included in this one) we take off a bit more than we can handle. ((gasp))
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! And doing EVERYTHING now without a spouse, well, most days I'm exhausted by dinner time. But these kids are worth the "energy"!
DeleteI know I say this each week, but I am amazed at how much you accomplish each week. You have such a wonderful mix, too, of out-of-the-house and table work. I am struggling to find the balance between those two this year, and having a hard time of it. The STEM school sounds amazing.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Phyllis! When I read about your weeks, I wonder how you find such creative ideas! But I think our the OUT-OF-HOUSE activities have taken over! LOL
DeleteHuzzah to your first week full back to school. LOL on the cat eating the petals...a factor probably not considered in the hypothesis...lol
ReplyDeleteWOW That is a lot of sugar pumpkins. Sorry the garden did not work out 8( Not familiar with STEM school..sounds cool! Enjoy your weekend!
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, Melissa. It's a school with a STEM focus. Although there are Fine Arts such as Arts and Music, you're not doing to find a lot. Jake is totally into STEM so this is a GREAT fit for him, and it's also a school that wants to do things differently: more hands-on, more team work, more discussion and presentations, more in the community. It's a nice balance between homeschool and public school.
DeleteI think I want to go to a STEM school now :-) I also think I'm having a harder time than the kids with the early wake-up calls. I think I could have stayed in summer learning mode all year!
ReplyDeleteOh, me too! By Thursdays I was dragging in the mornings, but my son was doing OK. I was spoiled by sleeping in during the summer months!
DeleteHi Jessy! I totally empathise with the busy schedule! But those coop classes do sound like fun. I'm glad Jake is settling into his High School routine well. LOL about the cat - I guess it likes sweet petals :-D
ReplyDeletehave a great weekend! Lucinda
Usually co-ops don't work out for us - usually because they sputter out into nothing - but I have hopes that this one will stand the test of time. Great organizers!
DeleteIt does sound like a good first full week back, even if there were hiccups. The early mornings are hard to adjust to. We just finished our 6th week and we haven't adjusted yet. LOL.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you were able to find time for yourself this week. It's so important to make sure there is time for more than school and kids activities.
The STEM high school sounds wonderful. Where were those types of schools when I was younger? :)
I can sympathize with your science lab problem. Our big cat eats all kinds of flowers We can't have any inside, or at least inside at a height he can jump to. The kittens eat all cords and string like items. So, science often has to happen in the basement. LOL. Send the humans to the dark recesses of the house.
Have a good weekend and I can't wait to hear how next week goes.
Time with a friend and to yourself is always a GOOD thing. I'm glad you had that this week, despite the fact that the cat ate the petals from your flowers ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking with Collage Friday!
What an interesting high school. My daughter is taking two classed at local PS and she is a late sleeper as well but like your son adjusting to the 6 am mornings. Greet week!
ReplyDeleteIts always nice to get a little adult chat time. I had to giggle at the cat nibbling your science experiment. What a great week. I'm stopping by from the Hoggatt Homeschool
ReplyDeleteIt very often rains here JUST because I put my laundry on the line. LOL Which reminds me, I need to get going on my laundry this morning... Glad Jake is doing so well at the new school! We have trouble getting ourselves moving in the mornings too, and I guess it will take some time to make it a habit.
ReplyDeleteOh, so it's going to rain where you are today, huh?? LOL
DeleteWhat a great week. You know that I love homeschooling so much but that STEM school sounds like something Keilee would LOVE! I would love to just get a group of kids to do things like this. I am thinking of doing a Project Based Learning class in Co-op next year. That is what I love about homeschooling, not 2 weeks are the same. Laughing at your cat eating the flowers. ;) Glad you enjoyed your adult time. I know as a single Mom how hard [impossible] that can be. :)
ReplyDeleteThere are also charter school with an ARTS FOCUS, too, Karen. Even better for Keilee! It doesn't have to be STEM. But I think she's doing just fine at home! :wink:
DeleteWe have a STEM school here where I live at. They are excellent choices. It's rather difficult to get into though. My kids did public/private school first so they are less apt to want to go back - for now.
ReplyDeleteGlad to have found your new blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Jessy!
ReplyDeleteI have returned to the blogging world and am seeking you out again :). So fun to see what you all are up to.
We have our chickens all out in the coop we built and they are so much fun! Thanks for your advice last spring...
We have a charter school that just opened near us that I am watching. Coastal Harpswell Academy. My kids are not old enough to attend so I have the opportunity to watch it for the next two years to see how things play out.
Looking forward to reconnecting.
Hey! My blogging has also been lagging this summer, but with fall and school back in swing...Let the reconnecting begin! LOL
DeleteNice re-cap. The high school your son goes to sounds amazing. Glad you could get some time away just for you!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing about your first week back. It is always great to see what other homeschooling families are up to. Thank you for linking up this week to the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop :-)
ReplyDelete