I’m trying to organize my weekly reports a little better, with subheadings and stuff. Hope it makes for easier reading! 😉

The basics

After much thought and prayer, I decided to drop geometry for Lindsey. She doesn’t need it now, nor will she likely need it for whatever career path she may take. If she does, she can learn it then. It had become nothing more than an exercise in frustration, and although she was trudging through it, things “learned” under duress tend not to stick. Things are going well enough in other subjects, so I don’t feel the need to torture her with something she really hates. However, we haven’t abandoned math altogether. This week she began doing a business math, and told me she actually likes it (even though it takes FOREVER, according to her!) because she can understand it and see a purpose for it. So I’ll have her work through this book, and she’ll still do the Dave Ramsey personal finance course, and that will be plenty of math for Lindsey.

Kathryn enjoyed the writing assignment for history last week. It was to write a letter, as if you were a child back in pioneer days whose parents have announced plans to move out west as homesteaders; the letter was to be written to your grandparents expressing your thoughts and fears about this new undertaking. She did a great job, with none of her usual hesitation, because she is so familiar with that time period due to all the historical fiction she’s read for years, including the Little House series.

Math with Teaching Textbooks is still going well for Kathryn. In fact, school in general is going rather well for both girls. There are have been several times this week when we’ve all been sitting at the table, doing schoolwork, and even though there might be occasional grumbling, there is mostly silliness, good-natured joking, and laughter. I like it.

And when Ken is home, our homeschool is even crazier. 😉
He had Kathryn snap this photo while Lindsey was finishing schoolwork last Friday. {Caption, anyone?}

Enrichment Classes

Enrichment classes are still going well, and Kathryn’s bat mitzvah classes started back up last weekend with a 3-hour Hebrew class that included a review from what they learned last year, plus a good deal of new material. This is her second and last year of mitzvah classes.

Lindsey is enjoying her painting class, and this week they finished up a painting they started last week. You can see some of the texture in this photo, but it looks even better in person.

We’re doing something totally new this year: BAND!
I’ve known about a local homeschool band for quite a few years now, but they’ve now moved to a location less than three miles from our house! Since the audition/instrument-fitting day was last week, Kathryn and I talked about it and chose to give it a try. After much consideration, she decided she wanted to play the flute — like I did. The kids got to try out the instruments, and that confirmed her choice of the flute. This week, we brought home a shiny new friend, even though class doesn’t meet until the first week of September. I was pleasantly surprised about how much came back to me once I had that flute in my hand (and totally kicking myself for selling mine 8 or 9 years ago because they’re expensive now!). I’m happy to be able to help Kathryn learn. She is doing amazingly well so far!

Nature Study

Although we still haven’t started doing an “official” nature study each week, I’m really not concerned about that because I’m being intentional about pointing out things or, more importantly, listening when Kathryn points things out to me.

Our hummingbirds provide entertainment and we’ve continued learning about them as we watch their sometimes crazy antics around the back porch feeder. For a while, we only saw one female, but we now know we have at least five hummingbirds that frequent our yard. I watched one sip nectar from the honeysuckle near the driveway, from the butterfly bush, from a flowering shrub in front of the house, and even from the strange flowering thing on top of our lettuce (I don’t think it’s suppose to do that but I’m new to lettuce-growing and I don’t think we harvested correctly!). Their agility never ceases to amaze me!

We had a monarch butterfly in the yard! We have many, many swallowtails and painted ladies, but this is the first time I’ve seen a monarch here! Kathryn and I chased it around the butterfly bush, and of course I grabbed my camera.

What we’d mistakenly been told were Russian hornets are really Cicada Killer Wasps. Doesn’t that name sound scary? Seeing 2-inch long wasps fly around the yard is a bit scary, too, but it turns out they are not as scary as they seem. In fact, the males are stingless, and the females only sting if you step on them or catch them — or if you’re a cicada.

My other life (as a photographer)

I hosted a party last weekend for the women’s portrait photography project I’ve worked on for the past month. It was fun, and it was the first time I shared the photos with any of the participants in my project. If you watch carefully, you may recognize at least one face in my little slideshow. 😉

Linking today with:
– Homeschool Mother’s Journal at iHomeschool Network
– Weekly Wrap-Up at  Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
– No Fear Homeschool High School at The Daisy Head
– Collage Friday hostess Mary at Home Grown Learners

Jamie

Wife, mom, J-ma. Introvert who enjoys good books, sunshine, and authentic conversation. Often seen with a steaming mug of tea in hand – unless it’s lost yet again in the microwave. Read more »