An announcement...

We're expecting another blessing next year! This one is due sometime around April 1st. It's a bit of a surprise, but we're pretty excited.

I've not been feeling that great, but so far I'm hanging in there.lol

The littles are so excited about this new little one! Names have been flying around like paper airplanes.lol I have to say that I'm pretty much out of names. I've been joking that I'm going to set up a jar and let everyone put their favorite names into it. At least then, I can say, "Go put it in the jar." Instead of being continuously peppered by kids non-stop all day long. (How 'bout Trucker?lol)

In other news, Allison will be taking three classes at the college instead of two. They had an opening for Spanish and we jumped at it. This is the best possible class line-up that we could have hoped for. She's taking English Comp, College Algebra, and Spanish 1. Next semester, if all goes well, she'll take PreCalc, Spanish 2, and a beginning Chem class. She's also decided to join one swimteam instead of two. She really liked the highschool coach and will go there.

I guess that's it. lol Here are some photos from the past two weeks...

Evie and Sophia hamming it up...


Jon, the snake catcher...


He's also the "Do math/science on my hand guy" too.


Isaac's creation... It's really huge and he wouldn't let us put it away for THREE days!...
Just for perspective, our tiles are 18" square...



Blessings,


Lisa

Long time, no see...

I think that next year, I may just take the whole summer off from blogging. At least if I announce it, I wouldn't feel so guilty about not getting around to it.lol

Things have been crazy-busy here. Here's an update, for my records of everyone and what the future holds for them. LOL

Allison- She's going to college this year! Pretty neat! I happened to look into the dual enrollment program at our local college and it is a perfect fit for her. My dh and Allison met with the D-E coordinator last week and she was very impressed with Allison's test scores and her work ethic. She appoved her immediately for the program and now Allison is enrolled in two classes this semester and will take up to three classes next semester. In other words, she will finish out all her credits at the college and I'm actually DONE with one student. Wow! What a shock for this to come one year early. It's a great opportunity for her though and it allows other colleges to see that she's ready for college work.

In other news, she's also decided to join two different swim teams this school year. She'll go to the local high school team and the YMCA year-round team. This is along with working too.

Jon- Here's Jon's subject list for the year...

MUS Precalc
Apologia Adv Chem
Apologia Physics
Notgrass World History
IEW Adv Communication Series
Teaching the Classics
Japanese 2

He's also continuing with Boy Scouts. It's his hope to become an Order of the Arrow this year and I think he'll do just fine.

Genevieve- Here's Evie's list...

Formal Curriculum...
MUS Alpha
Apologia Astronomy
Spell to Write and Read
I Can Do All Things

Informal...
We bought her 150 readers for this year. They are levels 1, 2, and 3. She'll be reading through the ones that interest her and we'll save the ones that don't for the next two. We got GREAT deals through ebay.

I'll be reading classics to her from our collection of books. They will cover a range of different subjects. My plan is to follow her interests and to also broaden her knowledge base. The more she knows, the more she'll want to know. :)

We'll also begin memory work and reading the Bible each day.

She's also going to continue with gymnastics two days a week. She's made wonderful progress this summer and her coach is very happy as is Evie. It's a sport that she really enjoys.


Isaac- We'll begin preschool with him. VERY gently.lol I'll work on teaching him his letters, counting, sharing...lol All in good fun. I've been visiting the Dollar Store and Michaels to refill our activity bins and have found some fun things to keep him and Sophia busy this year.

Sophia- Activity bins. Lots of them.lol We'll be rotating her around to different rooms and different activities all day long until the school work is done for the day. Trying to keep her busy, will be the hardest part of the school year! I'm also working on some Montessori practical tray exercises to keep her and Isaac busy too. I'll have a dish washing bin, a veggie peeling tray, and a cheese cutting tray.

I'm also working on schedules for chores, revamping the menus and grocery lists for fall/winter, and organizing the new school space.

I guess that's it for now. lol I've got to get off this computer and get back to work.

Blessings,

Our Plans for Next Year...

Tis the time of year to begin thinking about next year's curriculum. I'm working on our budget for this year and knowing what we'll need helps me keep the spending in check. Here's my list for now, although it may change depending on the kids' interests and apptitude.

Allison 12th Grade

MUS PreCalculus
Notgrass American History
Notgrass World History
Powerglide Spanish 2
IEW Advanced Communication
IEW Essay Writing Prep


Jonathan 10th Grade

MUS PreCalculus
Apologia Advanced Chemistry
Apologia Physics
Notgrass American History
(Language Arts from Notgrass)
Tell Me More Japanese 2
IEW Essay Prep


Genevieve

MUS Alpha
I Can Do All Things Art
Hooked on Phonics 1st grade
Various Readers
Copywork and Memorization

I'm considering Los Banos for history and doing unit studies for Science. I may just use Beautiful Feet American History since I already own it. I'll definitely use what science books we have on hand since I have soooo many. I'll also keep my Enchanted Learning subscription and I'll use Homeschool Share for our projects.

Isaac

Rod and Staff Preschool
Preschool rotation

Sophia

Activity boxes and preschool rotation.

Well, I think that's it. If anyone has these items, except for the MUS Alpha and the I Can Do All Things Art, I'd be interested in purchasing them. What an exciting year this will be!

Blessings,

I know I haven't written for a couple of days. Let's just say I'm tired.lol Sophia is being a baby. Isaac is using markers on any surface closest to wherever he finds a marker. Genevieve has been needing a little extra mommy time lately and so I've been working on Sing, Spell, Read and Write with her. I've been working on what the older kids will be studying starting next week and trying to keep the house in order. Oh, yeah, and I've been trying to get some sleep each day.lol I've also been trying to declutter each room so that when the kids start school next week I'll be able to easily keep the house together. Ok., maybe not easily but at least to a point where I won't be embarrassed if someone comes over.lol I also gave Isaac a buzz cut for the summer.

Here's my boy with his new do.

Here's my two critters hamming it up for the camera.
Here's Genevieve being serious.

So far the older kids will be using most of the same books as before our break. I've decided to add in a few new things though. Here's their schedule..

These are the subjects we hope to finish within the next few months...

Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1

SL 5 (for Jon)

SL 200 (for Allison)

Apologia Biology

New subjects...

Movies as Literature

Life Prep for Homeschooled Teens

Electives...

Ballroom dancing (Allison)

Guitar (Allison)

Home Economics (Allison)

Culinary Arts (Jon)

Computer programming/gaming (Jon)

Confirmation classes (Jon and Allison)

Jon's birthday is next Tuesday and he'll be 13! I can't believe how old my kids are.lol I know we are all looking forward to beginning school again and getting back to some kind of schedule. It's been a little crazy with everyone just doing whatever for the past few weeks. It seems that more messes get made when we aren't busy. I just hope that I can keep up with everyone. lol

Blessings,

Lisa