Well, if you’re new here you might not realize that I’m sort of a reluctant teacher. It’s not that I don’t possess the joy of teaching. Sometimes it is fun. The thing is that I cannot enjoy having so many things to do. There’s a fourth grader to teach, a third grader to teach, and a toddler running around. I finally threw in the hat and sent Daniel to pre-school, but it’s only three days per week, so sometimes he’s […]
» Read moreSpring is one of those things you can’t help but notice. That’s the way it is with beauty. It is inspirational. When beauty surrounds you, you can’t help but feel better. It’s funny how on my sick days I often feel too miserable to want to do chores, but I’m rarely feeling bad enough to not want to go out for a walk in the sunshine. It’s positively healing, isn’t it? I think that when you are surrounded by small, […]
» Read moreIt was an unusual week of home schooling, mostly because Alan insisted I spend a large part of it teaching standardized test-taking skills. I made a go of it, but you can’t teach someone how to have a type-A go-getter personality. Either you have it or you don’t. My second child does not. “Caleb, you missed every single question about this story. You did not read the story. You absolutely did not.” Caleb replied, “Well, it had a picture, so […]
» Read moreThese are the kinds of fun things we get to do in Classical Conversations, our home school tutoring service and curriculum. Look closely at his picture to see if you can find the eel coming out of the coral. (Hint: middle-left, It’s a profile with an eye.) Classical Conversations is a rigorous way to approach home schooling, but it is also fun. It has definitely raised the educational bar for us. ******** If you felt like you were reading the […]
» Read moreErrand Day I am going to attempt to take 4 children on a MEGA grocery shopping trip. If I do not return, you all now know why….. The day is actually off to a good start. A plumber installed a new faucet. It doesn’t leak into the cabinet, it doesn’t leak into the sink, it doesn’t spray water off to the side, it has no hole shooting out water from the handle. It’s all very EXCITING. We went on our […]
» Read moreI’m flipping out today. I’m a little bit stress paralyzed. I thought I would start school on August 17th, but that’s not going to work. My grade book is set up for school to start on the 10th. The entire school calendar and all of my plans are set up for the 10th as the start date. How did I get my plan so confused? I’ve got most of the learning materials ready, but I don’t have the cleaning and […]
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I feel like I will have an extremely firm grasp on my science plan by the time I finish poring over all these books! One interesting thing about the classical approach to education is that we pull the focus AWAY from good ol’ textbooks and look to real life experience and “living” books instead. (By living books, I just mean books that are not sold as textbooks.) However, I do actually have several ‘textbooks’ that we will reference this school […]
» Read moreIt is 2:30. Nobody mess this up. JD is sleeping. Dan is voluntarily in his room building something with Lego blocks, Caleb is building a stunt course out of train tracks down stairs, and Joshua is in the Lego closet building something too. I have to make sure no one sees or hears me. If I am seen, this wonderful moment will be spoiled, and they will start asking me questions… Uh-oh. They are all together again, but at least […]
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(Please note that I do collect advertising fees when you purchase through links on my page to Money Saving Mom or Amazon. However, I am not affiliated with Brain Pop. How I wish I were!) I’ve mentioned before that Brain Pop Jr. is a hit at our house. As part of my planning for next year, Cycle 1 of Classical Conversations, I combed through each week and lined up the material with the corresponding videos. I am not a Brain […]
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It’s pretty much done. There are 4 days of school left. This chapter of our life is closing, and it’s one of those chapters that I’m speeding ahead, skipping a few paragraphs, and moving right on to the next chapter. In fact, let’s put the whole book down and go on summer vacation because I am so done with this chapter!! Ew. I do not like the things I learned about myself this year. BLEH! Can I escape with a […]
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